“I’m sure. Don’t worry about us, we’ll have a good time.” Running his hand down my arm, he intertwines our fingers.
“Okay, well, she knows where her clothes are. I’ll text you a list of what she needs, or have Aggie help you pack up for her. And if you need to, I’m sure that she’ll let you bring her there for them to watch. And then…”
“Hey. I’ve got this routine down by now. Go. You’re going to be down to two hours by the time you get back to your car. We got this. Don’t worry about anything here. Just worry about Sophia.” Pulling me in, he kisses me deeply before letting me go.
“I’ll call you when I land. Is that okay?” I ask as I walk away.
“We. Are. Fine. Go.” He punctuates each word for me to listen.
“I love you, baby girl!” I yell.
“I wuv you, Mommy!”
Climbing into my car I can feel the tears pricking at the back of my eyes. I knew James was bad news, I knew I should have called Ryder and sucked up my pride when it comes to him. Hewould’ve been able to take care of Sophia and keep her safe. But I kept my mouth shut and now she’s being kept at a secret safe house in Montana three hours from her home.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I will the tears to go away and reverse my car out of the driveway toward the highway leading south to the airport.
I won’t let Sophia wake up alone, even if it means putting myself in the middle of the snake’s den.
Thanks to the airport being two hours away, I made my flight by the skin of my teeth without a second to spare. Unfortunately, true to Ryder’s words, Damon was there waiting for me when I landed. It was a tense, long ride to the safehouse with just us two in the car.
He didn’t speak, and I didn’t attempt to make him. It worked out just fine for both of us.
Ryder was waiting for us when Damon dropped us off. Luckily, he walked over to a guest house at the front of the property instead of into the small ranch home with Ryder and I.
He walks me back to the room that was set up as a makeshift hospital room already.Oh, to be that powerful.
“Tell me everything.” I say dropping my bags and rushing to her side to hold her hand.
“She’s sedated so her body can heal. She’s got six broken ribs. A fractured eye socket. And concussion. Along with multiple bruises and scrapes in varying stages of healing. He’s been doing this for a long time.”
My lack of emotion at the news must have gotten his attention. “Did you know?” he asks gruffly.
“I tried to get her to tell you. She didn’t want to stress you out with all that’s going on with Hugh. I almost called you last time.”
“Last time?” His fists ball at his sides.
I suck in a deep breath, hand him my phone. “Scroll through that album. I’ve screenshot every new bruise and cut each time we would see each other. Even on video calls. I wanted the evidence if I ever needed it.”
“Shit!” He throws my phone down into my outstretched hand and paces the small room. “How the fuck did I let it get this bad? I knew he was an asshole. I’ve hated him every day. I knew he was hitting her, but I didn’t know it was this bad. Hugh wouldn’t listen to me. He didn’t care. I should have known then that was a red flag.”
“It’s not your fault, Ryder. You know your sister. If she didn’t want you to know, you wouldn’t. She’s stubborn as fuck.”
“Well. Look where that got her.” He takes a deep breath and grabs my bags by the door. “I’m going to run these to your room down the hall. Give you a minute with her. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”
Nodding, I turn to Sophia, rubbing my thumb over the top of her hand.
How did I let this happen without saying anything? I let my friend go through this. I let this happen as much as Ryder did.
“Oh my God! Sophia!” I reach out to grab her hand. “You’re finally awake.”
“Aubs? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Maine. If they know you’re here…”
“Shh. Don’t worry about it Ryder has it covered. He called me and there was no way I wasn’t coming. We have to get you out of here though, Soph. You can’t keep going like this.”
Her face pales more if that’s even possible. “Where am I?”
She moves her head, trying to look around the room. Her breathing hitches as her heart rate increases on the monitor.