They took her to a surprisingly clean bedroom and then set her down on the edge of the bed. Another man curled a blanket around her shoulders.
“Here, lady.”
She gripped the fabric in front of her, hiding as much as possible. She stared at them as they looked down at her.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“We saw what was going on, and we don’t like that shit.”
One of them reached for her, and in a panic, she scrambled from the bed and into a corner of the room.
“Lady, we’re not going to hurt you,” the man said.
“How about we try to fix you up? You have blood all over you.”
She shook her head.
“I can get you some clothes.”
She felt safer with these men but was still in shock and severe pain because of her earlier treatment.
“Just leave me alone right now,” she said.
“I’ll call for someone to help you. They’re good guys. They might not look like it, but looks can be deceiving.”
Another guy ran into the room. “Fuck, Ross, those bastards are knocking on everyone’s doors looking for her.”
“We need to hide you. There’s a secret door, but we have to hurry,” Ross said.
Her legs felt like they were about to give out.
“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.”
She hobbled over to him and cringed when he gripped her upper arm. He moved his clothes around in his closet, then pushed the wood on one side and opened it.
“Get in here and stay until I come to get you. And be quiet even if it sounds like they’re tearing the place apart. They won’t find you. We won’t let them.”
She walked in and sat down against the wall. She covered herself with a blanket and rested. He closed the door leaving her in darkness except for a thin stream of light coming from a crack in the wood. It wasn’t two minutes later when the front door crashed in. She pressed her hand to her mouth.
“What the fuck do you want?” Ross yelled.
“Where is she?” Teddy yelled.
“Who?”
“One of my whores.”
Another one of Ross’s men laughed. “You let a chica get away?”
There was a gunshot and then yelling.
“What the fuck did you do that for? That just about hit him,” Ross said.
“Tell me where she is?”
She could feel sweat start to slide down her back. Would they give her up if another one of their men got hurt?
“Leroy, you stay here with a gun on them,” Teddy said. “The rest of you go tear the place apart.”