Steele’s Redemption

Chapter 2

Jake

“You did that?”

She didn’t answer. Her mouth opened, then closed again, her whole body shaking too hard to get words out.

I crouched lower. “Hey. It’s okay. You don’t have to answer that.”

Behind me, Nash was already on the phone. “Ambulance. Unconscious male, possible head injury.” He gave the address, hung up, and looked at me. “Called it in anonymous. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Good.” I kept my eyes on her. Bare feet. Blood on her lip. One side of her face already swelling. “Cops’ll probably follow the ambulance. You don’t have to be here when they do.”

Her eyes widened, and she pushed herself onto her knees like she meant to run.

“Easy.” I held up both hands. “Nobody’s making you stay. I just need to know a couple things so I can help you, if you want help.”

She went still.

“Do you want to leave? Away from here?”

A jerky nod.

“Somewhere safe? Family? Friend?”

“No.” Her voice barely carried. “There’s nowhere. I was trying to get to the bus station.”

“That’s three miles, and you can barely stand. I’m not judging. I’m saying you don’t have to walk.”

I glanced toward the man on the lawn. His chest was still rising.

“Is he going to have people looking for you?”

“I don’t know. He knows people. I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“Do you want medical attention? I can take you to a hospital.”

“No.” Immediate. “No hospitals.”

“Okay. That’s your call.”

She looked surprised that I didn’t argue.

“I’ve got a shop a few minutes away. Couch, bathroom, door that locks. Or I’ll take you to the bus station if that’s what you want.”

She looked past me at the dark houses.

She’d screamed loud enough for us to hear her over the bikes.

Not one neighbor had come outside.

“Your shop,” she whispered.

I stood slowly. “Marcus has a spare helmet. You’ll ride with him. I’ll stay right in front of you.”

Marcus stepped forward and held out the helmet. She flinched when she reached for it, and he immediately backed away.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Sirens sounded in the distance.

Time to go.

⸻

Ten minutes later, we rolled into the back lot of Steele Custom Bikes.

She climbed carefully off Marcus’s bike, wincing when her feet hit the pavement. Marcus reached instinctively for her elbow.

She jerked away.

“Sorry,” he said, stepping back.

I unlocked the side door. “After you.”

She hesitated.

Dark building. Three strange men in leather. Rows of motorcycles disappearing into shadows.

I couldn’t blame her.

“Office is through there. Nash and Marcus are leaving. I’ll lock up behind them, and the office locks from the inside.”

She studied me, then stepped inside.

I flipped on the office light and nodded toward the couch. “Sit if you want.”

She perched on the edge, arms wrapped around her ribs.

Nash stopped at the doorway. “Call if you need us.”

“I will.”

Marcus gave her a small nod, then followed Nash out.

I locked the shop and returned to the office.

“Can I ask what happened tonight? Only what you’re comfortable telling me.”

Her eyes dropped to her hands. “He came home. I was trying to leave. He found out.”

I waited.

“He hurt me. Later, I tried to get out after he fell asleep. He woke up and chased me. He grabbed me outside, and I found that rock.” Her voice cracked. “I didn’t mean to—”

“He’s breathing. Nash called an ambulance. You were trying to get away.”

She looked down again.

I didn’t ask what he hurt me meant. The bruises told me enough for tonight. Whatever else happened was hers to tell when she was ready.

“Can I look at your face? I won’t touch you without asking.”

“Okay.”

I knelt in front of her, leaving space between us. Up close, the damage was worse—bruising across her cheekbone, a split lip, swelling near one eye. She guarded her ribs with one arm.

“This might sting.” I held up antiseptic and gauze. “Can I clean your lip?”

She nodded.

She hissed when it touched but didn’t pull away.

“You should get the ribs checked.”

“No hospital.”

“I remember.” I grabbed an ice pack from the mini-fridge and wrapped it in a clean towel. “I know a clinic. Tomorrow, if you want. Tonight, you don’t have to decide.”

She pressed the ice against her cheek.

“There’s water in the fridge. Bathroom’s through there.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I don’t even know what you need.”

Her eyebrows pulled together.

“I don’t know if you’ve got somewhere to go tomorrow or someone you want called.”

I realized then how little I actually knew.

I didn’t even know her name.

“There’s no one,” she said. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“Nowhere?”

She shook her head.

“You can stay here tonight. Couch, locked door. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out what’s next.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve got an empty couch and you need somewhere to sleep.”

She looked toward the bathroom, then back at me. “Will you still be here? If I need something?”

“I’ll be at my desk.”

“All night?”

“If that makes you comfortable.”

She disappeared into the bathroom, and a second later, I heard the lock click.

I sat on the edge of my desk and dragged a hand over my face.

I didn’t know her name. I didn’t know who the man on the lawn was to her, though I had a pretty good guess. I didn’t know what had happened inside that house or what might come looking for her.

Guesses weren’t facts.

The bathroom door opened a few minutes later. She came out with her face scrubbed clean and damp hair clinging to her neck.

“Better?”

“A little.”

She settled onto the couch and pulled the blanket around herself.

“Office door locks from the inside,” I reminded her. “That’s yours.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t have to talk anymore tonight.”

Her eyes glistened. “Thank you. For not making me explain everything.”

I nodded and turned toward my desk.

Within minutes, her breathing slowed.

There was a stranger asleep on my office couch.

I didn’t know her name.

Didn’t know what she’d left behind or what morning would bring.

But tonight she’d needed somewhere to go.

For now, that was enough.