Rescuing the Unknown, Protecting the Loved

Chapter 1

“Oh, s**t!” The harsh words flew out of his mouth and echoed around the walls of the car. 

Dammit! He had just hit someone. A woman.

Edward brought the car to a stop on the side of the road along the gravel patch that bordered the two lane back road. His hands shaking a little, he secured the hand brake and just took a deep breath. 

His heart was slamming against his rib cage hard enough to cause discomfort. Without thinking, he raised a hand and rubbed it against his chest to ease the pressure forming there. After a few seconds, he turned to look out his back window.

But there was nothing he could see behind his car from his driver’s seat except the red glow of his taillights into the dark night.

“f**k!”

This was all he needed, an accident in the middle of the night. In the back road between two cities. This was a road he knew catered mostly to farms on the outskirts of the city. Which also meant he was in an area with more cows and chickens than human beings. He turned his head and looked around just to confirm his theory.

The road was dark, no sign of any other cars traveling through it or crazy women running around. There wasn’t even a cow or goat grazing nearby. Not that he could see much, considering how dark it was beyond the range of his headlights.

Taking another deep breath, he resolved himself to the inevitable. He had to go out and check how bad it was. He wasn’t the kind of man that would run from an accident just because he didn’t want to face the unpleasant outcome that may come from it. And even if he had contemplated such a despicable act, Lorenzo would definitely rip him a new one. That was not them. They had their faults, many of them, but running from an accident was not one of them.

He replayed the incident in his head as he unbuckled his seat belt, noting a minor ache in his shoulder where the seat belt had pressed into him as he hit the brakes hard. 

The whole thing had happened so fast. He had only seen her when she ran directly in front of his car so suddenly out of nowhere. In that split second Edward had seen her eyes widen as she froze right there directly in his path, paralyzed by fear. The phrase: a deer caught in the headlights came to mind.

There hadn’t been time to do much. He had been cruising at over a hundred. Enjoying the open road and the calm that came from pushing a beautiful car to do what it was built for. 

Reflex was the only thing that had come to his rescue, and hers if he was lucky. He had swerved hard to the left to avoid her even as he hit his brakes, but he couldn’t be sure he hadn’t hit her. The sound his tyres had made when they skid across the road was guaranteed to give him a nightmare or two for the next few days.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough disturbing facts and images in his head to feed his nightmares, but at that moment, the close call took top of the list.

If he thought about it, it was hilarious. He had faced death in many scenarios since he was only twelve years old. His life hadn’t been an easy one, but it was one he had no desire to leave anytime soon. Especially not in a wracked car stuck in some back road all alone.

As he finally stepped out of his car, rage was beginning to boil under his skin. His mind began to form a few choice words he would like to tell the stupid woman if she were still alive. Sweet Jesus, he hoped she was still alive. He was not equipped to deal with a dead body right now.

Edward’s thoughts went back and forth on the worst-case scenario he was likely to find as he made his way to the back of the car. He contemplated already calling the guys, but he wanted to first see what he was dealing with. He came to the back of the car, but again, he saw no one. No dead stupid woman laying on the tarred road, or one groaning in pain nearby. 

Frowning, he took out his phone and activated his flush light. The seconds ticked by. Cool wind howled from one direction to the other, rattling the leaves of nearby trees and blowing away the sweat that had begun to form on his skin. A shudder went through his body. 

Edward took more steps away from his car. With the help of the light, it only took a few more to locate the stupid woman who didn’t know the dangers of running into a road in the middle of the night, or at any given time, for that matter.

He was already opening his mouth, ready to start his lecture on common sense and road safety, but the words suddenly froze in his throat like a lump the size of a full grown lemon. The realization he had a bigger problem dawned.

It was easy to recognise that it was the same woman who he had missed with his car by the skin of his teeth. But what that split second view of her hadn’t revealed to him was the state she was in.

Edward swallowed the nerves that threatened to make an appearance. Needing a better look, he used his phone’s flush light to look at her entire body, moving his hand left and right. He still stood over her and hadn’t dared to touch her. Frankly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. 

The woman was barely dressed. In fact, that was an understatement, Edward thought. The only thing covering her body was a pair of what he assumed were white cotton panties and a matching bra. The material of both items of clothing was covered in filth and dirt, and blood. Her feet were also bare and covered in cuts, like she had run for several miles without shoes in very rough terrain. He couldn’t imagine how badly they hurt. But the woman couldn’t complain of pain, seeing that she was unconscious. 

Edward shot a look around the area again, wondering if someone was chasing the woman. There had to be because he clearly saw a pair of broken handcuffs dangling from her left wrist. There were bruises on countless areas of her body. The concentration being on her arms and legs. Her torso didn’t look so bad. At least that gave him a little relief. Most likely, her vital organs were safe.

She wasn’t a tiny woman. Edward guessed she was easily five-eight, a few inches below his impressive six foot four inches. Her body sprawled on the cold, hard tarred road was lean but not skinny to the point of visible bones. She did, however, have a very nice pair of breasts that were almost spilling out from the top of the bra and a small waist. 

Edward blinked. Where the hell had his mind traveled to appreciate the woman’s boobs? He wondered. A shake of his head did little to realign his thoughts. He wasn’t a teenager who couldn’t think straight when they saw a little skin, for God’s sake. And the current situation definitely didn’t call for such perverted thoughts. He gave his head another shake and focused on what was important. 

His first worry was to find out if she was still alive. Unfortunately, it was too dark, even with the help of his phone’s flush light, for him to determine if her chest was rising as it should with regular breaths. 

He looked around again to make sure they were still alone; he didn’t need any unnecessary surprises. His right hand went to rest on the handgun he kept on him in his jacket, then he crouched down and checked for a pulse, two fingers to her neck. Her skin was cold and covered in sweat, blood and dirt, but he felt the telling signs of life. He quickly checked her for serious injury by gently running his hands over her body, pressing his fingers against some cuts, but found none. Then he just looked at her and took in her state again.

“s**t!”

This was definitely not how he had expected the night would be.

~~~ 

The sound of the call connecting barely completed before he spoke into his headset. “I may have lost my sanity for a moment and done something stupid without thinking it through,” Edward said as he drove. This time he kept his speed just a little above decent and his eyes wide open for any more unexpected people jumping into the road.

Gabriel paused with his beer bottle halfway to his lips. “You bought me a horse? I mean… you are only joining us for drinks. No need to get me a gift, man,” he said with a chuckle. Across the little table at the back of the bar, Trey chuckled and shook his head.

The little bar they had chosen to have their drinks at was not the rundown kind of place that made one’s skin crawl. It was a pretty classy place, with excellent beer and expensive snacks. So it meant the noise was not deafening, and Trey could hear everything Gabriel said into his phone.

“I am serious, Gabriel.”

His tone did sound very serious, and it caught Gabriel’s attention. The man put his beer bottle back down on the table. “What happened?”

Edward swallowed, it could be heard even over the phone. “I hit someone with my car on my way.”

The way Gabriel suddenly sat up had Trey putting his bottle down as well. He mouthed the word ‘what?’ to Gabriel but his friend silently told him to wait as he asked, “Are you ok?”

That was what mattered foremost in Gabriel’s mind, Edward’s state. Then they would worry about whoever he had hit. Gabriel was already going through several medical conditions in his head that would require immediate attention. He listened closely to catch anything telling in Edward’s voice.

“I am fine. She on the hand… not so much.”

Gabriel exhaled in relief. “She? Ok, skip that… Where are you? Where did it happen? Are you still at the scene? Is your car damaged?” The questions were flying out of Gabriel’s mouth one after the other, but he couldn’t help it.

Edward’s answer, though, was not one he expected. “I fled the scene before anyone got there.”

“You fled the scene?” A healthy dose of incredulity could be heard in Gabriel’s voice.

“Well… I fled with the scene,” he corrected and looked at the unconscious woman in his backseat through his rearview mirror, then quickly returned his eyes to the road. One accident a night was enough, thank you very much.

Silence met his statement, and Edward wondered if he had lost the connection. He took the phone from the cup holder where he had thrown it and checked. No, he was still connected.

“Gab?”

“Give me a second.”

Edward then heard some movement. The background sounds of chatter and laughter in a bar amplified and faded in waves. He waited. Focusing on the road again had him noticing he was almost reaching his destination. He dared exhale in relief.

After almost a minute, his friend’s voice came back in his ear.

“Trey and I are out of the bar. Where are you? We are coming to you.”

~~~ 

Gabriel crouched down by the couch and checked the woman. He then lifted the warm washcloth and cleaned the woman’s cuts and bruises, checking for bleeders. After a moment, he grabbed the antiseptic wipes from the first aid kit and repeated his actions.

Edward watched and paced the hotel room like a caged wild animal. He had driven straight to one of his hotels, knowing he would have all the privacy and security he would need at such a short notice. No one even saw him carrying an unconscious, injured, almost naked woman into the hotel. He had used his private elevator straight from the underground garage to the penthouse.

Trey and Gabriel had arrived just minutes after from the bar. Despite Edward having told Gabriel he was fine on the phone, the doctor in his friend had still insisted he check him over before he moved to the woman.

“How bad is it?” Edward finally asked after what he felt was enough time for Gabriel to do an assessment.

His friend continued his careful cleaning and bandaging of each cut. He had a stitching needle already set up next to him, in case some cuts required extra attention.

“Could be worse.”

“Meaning?” Both Trey and Edward asked at once.

Gabriel looked over his shoulder at the two. “Most of these, if not all… are wounds and cuts from hours before, maybe even days. You didn’t injure her. Well… you didn’t make her worse.”

The frown on Edward’s face deepened. “Then why is she still unconscious? She wasn’t unconscious until she almost kissed my car.”

A snort escaped Trey next to him.

“Your car isn’t that nice to deserve kisses.”

“Oh, shut up, Trey,” Edward snapped, and returned his attention to Gabriel. “What’s wrong with her?”

Gabriel stood up, pulling the surgical gloves off. “Take a pick… She is dehydrated, the bruises are clear signs she was beaten up by someone stronger than her. She is obviously exhausted. Heaven knows how long she ran. Damn… she looks like she has been through hell.” He looked at the handcuffs they had removed from her wrist. “Through a boiling hell by the looks of it… She was probably running on fumes when she stepped onto the road. Her body just gave up.”

All three men stood silently, looking at the woman on the couch.

Now that he had more light, Edward could see the woman was actually beautiful despite everything. Her short brown hair was a mess and pointed in every direction, but there was no denying the attention her lips demanded. They looked red and pushed out as though she were pouting. A small nose and long eyelashes made her look almost like a doll. What color would her eyes be? He wondered.

Thankfully, his personal thoughts were interrupted by Trey’s voice.

 “Should I call Lorenzo?”

Edward immediately shook his head. “Please don’t, he will just worry and be on the plane over here by midnight. Let’s keep it to ourselves for now...we will tell him later.”

“You know he won’t be happy we had a problem and kept it from him.”

He knew. Lorenzo was worse than a mama bear. Over protectiveness had nothing on him, especially after the incident with Ted almost a year ago. And now with a wife and kid on the way, the man took keeping an eye on them to a whole new level.

Edward scratched the back of his neck. “Talk to Trick first. Let him see what he can find out before we bring it to Lorenzo.”

“With what?” Gabriel asked suddenly. He pointed at the woman. “She is still out cold. I will put some fluids in her, but I can bet it will still be some hours before she wakes up and can hold a coherent conversation that provides answers. She has no identification on her.” He reminded them unnecessarily.

Gabriel raised his brows at the two. “What exactly is Trick supposed to use to get information on her?”

He thought for a moment. “A picture? Facial recognition software and shit.”

Trey already had his phone out. “I will do it. The sooner we know who she is, the sooner we know what to do.”

They all agreed. Information was the difference between life and death in the world they lived in. They needed to know what to expect. The handcuffs and injuries already told a very disturbing story.

Trey moved closer to the couch, pointed his phone at her, and took a picture.

“Should we have cleaned her face some more?” Gabriel asked, almost to himself.

Trey shrugged, his eyes fixed on his phone as he sent the picture to Trick.

It took less than a minute for Trey’s phone to ring. He lifted it to show the guys. “Trick.”

“Yes?” Trey said once he answered the call and put it on speaker.

“Why are you sending me pictures of a woman in need of a bath and probably a doctor, by the looks of it?”

“The doctor is already in the house,” Gabriel said.

There was a moment of silence, then Trick spoke, “You guys are together? Wow, wild night?”

Edward lost his patience. He grabbed the phone. “Trick, get your head out of the gutters… we need you to do some digging.”

“Edward?” Trick sounded more amused than shocked. “Damn, guys, three on one? Really? No wonder the woman looks like that. Is she still alive? But, guys, I am offended you didn’t call me to join the party.”

“Trick!”

The hard warning in Edward’s tone snapped the man out of further jokes thankfully. “Okay, okay, alright… what do you need?”

“Everything.” Edward stared at the woman Gabriel was now connecting to an IV bag. “I need to know everything you can find about her as soon as possible.”