Walker (Bowen Boys) (2 page)

“Those damned men. What the hell were
they thinking running her down like they were?” He looked up at Khan when he
growled. “What you got to say, boy? Spill it.”

“She’s human. The better question is
what the hell was she doing on our property with them? We don’t need their kind
around here.”

“She wasn’t with them. She was being run
down by them. That one had already shot her a couple of times and if’n you had
seen her face and body you’d know that you’re barking up the wrong tree.” George
lay down on the mattress after being lifted up by Dylan and Khan into the bed. “Wouldn’t
be right of us not to help her. She probably saved my hide too. Nearly pissed
myself when she showed me that rock.”

Corrine had no idea what he was talking
about, but didn’t say anything. The old fool was out of his mind. She started
to climb up in the bed with him when Khan pulled her back down.

“You ride inside and I’ll stay with him.
My mom won’t be riding in the back like that.”

She wanted to smack him and hug him.

“Please.”

“All right, but you let me know at the
first sign of trouble.” She looked at George and felt her heart twist a little,
remembering him falling like he had. “He’s stubborn, but I love him.”

“Of course you—” Khan stopped and looked
to out toward where she’d sent Walker. “He’s found her. He said she’s weak and
has lost a great deal of blood. He said he wants to treat her at the house.”

She waited for what she knew was coming.
When he didn’t, she did for him. “And you told him no.”

“We don’t need her kind sniffing around
where we live. For all we know, she might have done this so she could get close
to us to expose us.”

Corrine didn’t say anything, but hugged
him to her. If she thought she could get away with it she’d hunt down that
woman who had hurt her son and rip her throat out. But this one needed their
help now. The door closed with a hard snap and she looked over at Dylan who was
driving. His raised brow said a great deal, but she didn’t give him what he
wanted. She didn’t have any answers either.

“Khan said your brother found the girl. Go
that way.” She pointed to where Walker was. “We’ll put her beside your dad if
we have to. But we’re not leaving her out here in the woods to die alone.”

Dylan nodded and started the truck. Reed
sat beside her and he stared out the window. He was still mad and she wanted to
comfort him, but knew that he’d not be happy with her if she did. Even though
he was her baby, he was a grown man.

It took them ten minutes to get to where
Walker was. He was a man now, having shed his panther. But he didn’t look any
less dangerous. She watched him pace as they got closer and wondered where the
girl was. When they pulled up beside the tree where he was she got out and looked
at him. He was more than a little upset.

“They beat her with what appears a whip.
She’s been shot three times, one in the shoulder, the left thigh, and once in
the right calf. How she got this far is beyond me.” He moved from the tree and
Corrine saw her then. He’d covered her with his flannel shirt. “Her heart rate
is slow, but she’s strong. Healthy. If we take her to the hospital, we’re going
to have to explain what—”

“We
are
taking her to the
hospital. That’s final. I don’t want anyone coming around here and asking
questions we don’t have answers for.”

Before she could say anything to Khan,
his father did.

“Walker, put her in here. Right here
beside me. We’ll take her to our house and help her there.” No one moved. “
Walker
.
Do what I tell you. Khan, move out of the way. You don’t want to help, that’s
fine, but you aren’t going to be a hindrance either.”

Corrine moved toward the girl with Reed.
They were going to do it even if no one else did. As soon as she saw her,
though, she couldn’t move. The girl looked close to dying.

“They did her wrong. I didn’t see any
signs of rape, but they hurt her. She smells like them.”

She looked over at her son when he stood
beside her.

“I’m going to find them and, when I do,
I’m going to kill them slowly for what they did to her.”

Corrine looked back at the girl and
wiped away her tears. “Your dad said she saved his life. That she did something
to distract them from finding him so they could both run.”

Walker nodded. “I want you to take Dad
back to the house and you bring the truck back, please. Then you and I will
load her up and take her to the house.”

His voice was low, lower than it had
been when he was telling her what he’d found out about her not being raped. She
looked at him, wondering why he thought she’d leave his dad over coming out to
help this poor little girl. When it occurred to her she could only stare at him
with her mouth open.

“Yeah. I didn’t see that one coming
either. She can’t ride with Dad and I don’t want to hurt Reed when he helps me
lift her.” He put his arm around her and held her close to whisper the rest. “I
will hurt him and you know it. Can you please help me with this?”

“Yes. I’ll take your…can I at least tell
your father?” He nodded, then shook his head. “Walker?”

“I can’t bring her into this. You have
to know that. She’s a human and we’re not even close to being…” He glanced at
her then away. “Khan will wish her dead. I can’t have my family torn apart
because I suddenly find myself with a mate.”

Corrine looked at Khan who seemed to be
ready to murder someone, anyone who dared to speak to him. She looked back at
Walker and knew that he might be able to hold his own with his brother, but
Khan was the leader of them now and as such would be naturally stronger than
his younger brother. She looked back at the girl who had no idea how much
trouble she’d caused by simply being a victim. “I’ll stay here with her and
Dylan will bring the truck back. We’ll take her to the hospital and leave her
there.” He started to protest, but she cut him off. “You don’t want her then
you will not make yourself nuts with her being here. I’ve spoken and you’re
going to obey.”

She sat on the ground next to the girl
and held her hand. She was cold, but her pulse, while slow, was strong. Corrine
didn’t know what to do about her being Walker’s mate. She could see his point
about Khan, but she doubted that he’d harm her knowing what she was to his
brother. However, she would make it difficult. When the truck pulled away she
looked at her second son and hurt for him. Then looked back at the girl.

“You poor thing. So much love could be
yours but for the hatred of another of your kind. She hurt his brother and
now…” She looked at Walker again. “And now you’re going to be hurt more, I
think. Or maybe you’ll be the one to bring him around.”

Twenty minutes later the truck pulled
up. This time there was only Dylan in it; the other had apparently stayed
behind. The mattress was covered this time and there was a medical kit beside
it. Along with a few blankets, there was some bottled water and some of her old
rags.

Corrine watched as the girl was lifted
by Walker and put gently in the back of the truck. He stiffened when she cried
out and her heart hurt for them both. As soon as she was lifted into the bed
beside the girl they were off. She told Dylan to take them to the emergency
room. Walker told him to take her to his house. Dylan nodded and started the
engine. Corrine wondered where they would end up. She wasn’t the least bit
surprised to see that they were headed to the house. Things were about to get
interesting for them all. Walker was in for the time of his life. She only
hoped that the girl beside her could fix it.

Chapter Two

Lynne felt as if she was coming up for
air when she woke with a rush. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears,
fearing the unknown and that the Ingram boys had found her after all. She
really had hoped that the panther would have found her, knowing that for
whatever reason, he would have made her death quick. Before she could linger on
that thought she heard a noise and looked toward it.

“Hello, dear. How are you today?” Lynne
watched her approach what she now realized was a bed. “I know you’re probably
hurting very badly, but you’ve been here for several days and I wanted to make
sure your family knew you were all right. Can you tell me who you are?”

She did hurt and was hurting more by the
second. As parts of her body began to scream at her, she looked around the room
the best she could. It didn’t look like anything that the Ingram’s might live in.
This place was much nicer and a great deal cleaner. Lynne tried to focus on the
woman’s face and got the impression of dark but graying hair and a friendly
face. It took her two tries to answer her.

“There’s no one.” She closed her eyes
against the overwhelming pain. “Not even a cat.” The laughter from the woman
startled her and she peered at her through what felt like sand and fuzz.

“No, you don’t own a cat. We would have
known that right away.” She came closer and sat down on a chair that Lynne had
just noticed and took her hand. “You’re going to be fine, my dear. You should
try to rest again. Next time you wake up, I’ll have you some broth made.”

Lynne closed her eyes and started to
drift again when she suddenly remembered something. “Don’t let them hurt that
cat. He wasn’t hurting anyone. And please don’t give me back to them. I don’t
want to die by their hand. They’ll make me suffer.”

“They won’t get to come near you again. You
just rest, and the cat? He’s just fine too. A little on the ornery side, but
going to be just fine.”

Lynne heard her, but didn’t think she’d
heard her correctly. She couldn’t hold her eyes open any longer and let herself
drift away. She knew fleetingly that something was taking away the pain, but
didn’t have time to think about it before she was in a black void.

The room was bright with light when she
woke the next time. Or at least the time that she was awake for more than a few
seconds. She’d been laying here thinking about how much she hurt and wondered
where she was when a noise sounded close to her. Opening one eye, she saw an
older man sitting in the chair that had been occupied by the woman from before.

Lynne had seen her sometimes when she’d
wake screaming in pain before. She’d not meant to do that, but her own voice
was what had awakened her. The woman had comforted her, soothing her with
softly spoken words. Lynne had no idea what they were, but had slipped away
when she’d taken her arm. Lynne knew she was giving her something for pain and
whatever it was made her feel very good. The man clearing his throat had her
looking at him.

“You’re safe here. My mate and I have
been caring for you for ten days now. I don’t know how long those men had you,
but you are safe here with us.” His voice seemed to rumble from his chest. “Can
you tell me who you are?”

“Lynne.” She swallowed to try again. “Caitlynne
McCray. But I go by Lynne. Where am I?” She hurt, but not as badly as she had,
and she began to take inventory of her body. The man leaned forward and picked
up a glass with a straw hanging out of it. He offered it to her and she turned
her head. He didn’t say anything as he put it back on the bedside table.

“I’m George Bowen and my wife, who’s
been caring for you mostly, is Corrine Bowen. You’re in our son’s home. My
second son’s home. Walker has been your doctor.” He leaned back in the chair
and smiled. “You’re very lucky that we found you when we did. Those men meant
to harm you.”

They had. But she didn’t say anything to
him. She needed to get out of here and find the pricks so that she could use
her own kind of punishment on them. She was up to her thigh when she felt the
shooting pain there. He must have noticed her whimper a little.

“He removed the bullets. There were
three altogether. And the lashes on your back are healing nicely. He had to
stitch up a few of them, but he said you’d not have too much in the way of scarring.”
He picked up a small cell phone when it rang and spoke quickly to someone on
the other end. “Yes, she’s awake now… No, I don’t believe she’ll be able to do
that just yet… I know what you said, Khan, but this isn’t your house and he can
let whomever he wants, whenever he wants, stay here… You do that.”

He hung up the phone and she tried to
sit up. He stood up, but didn’t come to her aid. Just as well; he might be old,
but she was pretty sure he could take her if he wanted. By the time she was
sitting up, she was covered in sweat and in so much pain that she thought she
was going to be sick with it. The door opening had them both looking toward it.

The man standing there was more than big,
he was fucking huge. When he stalked, no other description for it, toward the
bed, she cowered. When he didn’t move any closer, she looked at him.

“I won’t harm you.”

She shivered at the sound of his voice
and pulled the cover up over her shoulders. Even that small movement wore her
out.

“I was only going to check on you before
I went to the hospital to see to another patient.”

“She only just woke up, Walker. Come and
introduce yourself to Caitlynne McCray. Oh, she wants to be called Lynne.” The
younger man looked at the older one and seemed to glare. Lynne was startled by
his bark of laughter. “You don’t scare me with that look, young man. I’m your
father. Come here and speak to her. I’m going to tell your mother that she’s awake.”