Cajun Protection (6 page)

“I know. He destroyed a lot of her clothes,
she is gonna need more.”

“Her panties were gone too, weren’t they?”
Wolf never stops what he is doing. Making myself useful, I grab
some juice and start a new pot of coffee.

“Yup, I didn’t find any, and only grabbed the
bras that weren’t ripped. She didn’t need to see that place.”

“You know it was him?”

“Yeah, it is him. Remember what she said
about a bear, there was one on her bed with a flower. Can’t be hard
to put two and two together.”

“Son-of-a-bitch. I swear I’m gonna kill him
before we get our bounty.”

“Not kill, but rough him up some. I think she
has been doing everything on her own and she is easy prey for him.
Not anymore. I have a plan, and yes she is part of it.”

The coffee finished so I pour myself a cup
and sit at the small table as Wolf starts to put food on three
plates. I turn on my iPad and check for any leads that came in or
if we have a new bounty to catch. We can’t always be in the office,
and to be honest, we lost our last office chick because Gunner
fucked her. Wolf broke his nose because of it. We have a rule, no
fucking people at work. But my plan with Zoey might stretch the
rule some. She called to me on a deeper level. Growing up I always
relied on myself, but Wolf and his mom, Liz, were always there if I
needed them. Zoey had no one. I grew up with shitty parents and
people always looking down on me, running me out of places when I
tried to look for work or food. Zoey survived her childhood, but it
wasn’t until her gran passed that things got worse. Me, it was the
opposite. It wasn’t until I left that things got better. Maybe
that’s why I feel so connected to her, the overwhelming need to
protect her, and fuck her, which sent all my rules out the window.
But was she worth it was the bigger question I needed to ask
myself.

I look up a few minutes later and see her,
hair damp and pulled into a side braid thing, she is wearing baggy
clothes. Oddly enough my cock took notice too, because I know
beneath those sweat pants she has no panties on. Damn, I have to
reach below the table and readjust my jeans. Fucking zipper.

“Sit,” I say, and she does, but she is biting
her lip. I notice that about her. I had heard that some chicks do
that, normally I will ignore it but she has these fat plump lips
and I want nothing more than to bite and suck it too.

Wolf sets a plate piled high with scrambled
eggs, bacon, and toast. Nothing too complicated, but still real
food. Zoey picks up her fork and takes a small bite of her eggs. I
watch as her eyes close and she enjoys the flavor. A small hum
comes from her and she starts to dig in with gusto. Both Wolf and I
watch as she inhales her food. When was the last time she ate a
real meal? Damn, we need to feed her more. However, our silence
must have startled her as she looks up at us both and drops her
fork.

“Sorry,” her head hanging down.

“Don’t be, eat your food. I’m glad to see you
eating. When is the last time you had a real meal?” I ask her. But
she doesn’t start to eat again.

“I had dinner the other night,” she says,
getting defensive with me.

“And that was what?” I’m not letting this go.
She needed to answer my question so I know what she has been
through. The only time I got food was at school when we got free
breakfast. Or when I went over to Wolf’s house.

“Food.” Okay, she did have some spunk in her.
God, I love women with spunk.

“Answer the question, what did you eat?” Wolf
commands.

“I had PB and J,” she says in a hushed
voice.

“You had a sandwich?” I ask. But she
snorts.

“I wish I had bread, nope, right out of the
jar, but I only had a little bit of jelly. So mostly a spoonful of
peanut butter.”

“Shit,” I mumble under my breath. She really
is stretched to the max.

“Eat then, and we will make sure you’re taken
care of,” I say.

“I can do that,” she yells.

“No, here is what’s gonna happen. You will
eat everything on your plate, we then will head into the office and
take care of some things. You will work for us until this shit is
resolved. But you need clothes and we can do that too. There is a
small shop next door. And, Zoey,” I want to make myself clear
before I finish the sentence, “if you don’t do as we say, I have no
problem spanking that sexy ass of yours until it’s red and you
won’t sit for a week. Understand?” Wolf lets out a small growl of
approval and it’s good to know he is on the same page as me. I
watch as she swallows and nods. Good, now that everything is
settled I dig into my food.

Today is going to be fun.

I watch as a mix of emotions play on Zoey’s
face, but she doesn’t say anything. I can tell she is doing her
best to deal with a shitty hand. But what is shocking me more is
that she is going with the flow and not crying over it. I have
never run across a woman as strong as her, or maybe it is just a
front. Either way I don’t have time to analyze why she is the way
she is. Drinking my coffee quickly, I cringe as once again coffee
grounds have found their way into it. Shit, I need to figure this
one out. I notice she ate all her food, but didn’t touch her
coffee. Maybe she isn’t a drinker.

“We leave here in ten,” I say as I pick up my
plate and set it in the sink. I hate dishes. Normally Hawk will get
mad at me and just do them. I keep everything else clean. After
being in the Corp, it’s easy to make as little mess as possible, so
cleaning is simple. But I’m in need of a shower. I bypass everyone
still sitting at the table and head back to my room. I can see she
laid her clothes out in a small pile on top of her bag. And from
the looks of it, Hawk didn’t really grab much. It’s all plain
clothes, nothing that stands out. Forgetting all of her items, I
head to the bathroom. It’s larger than the spare one, but not that
big. It has a shower-tub combo, a double sink, and a towel rake.
None of which I had a say-so in. I turn the knob to hot and peek
around. She doesn’t have any girly soaps one would normally see
with chicks. That would explain why she had a musky smell about
her, she used my soap. Stripping out of my clothes, I shower
quickly, washing off the remainder of my sleep. I’m not one to sit
inside a shower for hours, so I wash and dry within five minutes.
With a towel wrapped around my waist, I find my clothes in a
drawer. Time is on my side today as I’m dressed and ready to go by
the time I see Zoey finish tying her shoelaces.

“Wow, you’re really fast.” Her shocked
expression makes me chuckle. To me it’s normal. Don’t waste time on
simple shit and spend more time on things that matter. Growing up
my mom would set a timer so we were in and out quickly, otherwise I
would stay in the water praying school would just go away. But lord
help me if I didn’t get out when the timer when off. She would send
my dad in with a bucket of ice water, and throw it on me. It only
took me twice to figure this out. And oddly it came in hand when I
left home too.

“Ready?” I ask while I pull my jacket on. She
stands when Hawk opens the door. Soon we are all outside and in my
truck. Since it is going to be an off day, and Snake and Gunner
aren’t in, we can show Zoey the ropes and have her go down the
street to the shop. I have my younger cousin who can help. Maybe I
should call her. After all, she does have a concealed license and
it will save both of us time. I’ll call her once we are in the
office.

I pull into a spot in the front of the
building. I see Wild Bounty written big and large across the
window. The stupid little closed sign hangs for everyone to see. I
admit if we had an office assistant we would be open, but damn it
if Gunner didn’t fuck that one up, literally.

“We go straight inside and you don’t touch
anything. I got some work to do,” Hawk grumbles at her while he
brushes past us and walks to the back office we both share.

“Can you make coffee?” I hated that machine
and the one at the house isn’t any better, but if I wanted a cup, I
grabbed it on my way to work.

“Sure, is there a special way you guys like
it?”

“Um, black, like normal coffee, why?”

“Oh nothing, I got it.” She turns to walk
away from me.

“Zoey, why did you ask? Is there something
wrong with the coffee back at home?”

“Oh no, well I mean if you guys like slug
with grounds its perfect.”

“I don’t, we just can’t figure out the damn
machines. Old one broke and the new one’s stupid. Whatever happened
with hitting the fucking on switch?” I complain, but she
giggles.

“Okay, I got it. How about I be in charge of
coffee then, okay?”

“What else can you do?” But as the words
leave my mouth, I can tell I hurt her feelings, but she doesn’t say
anything, just nods. I notice this is a giant pattern with her,
stupid nodding and not saying anything. I’m waiting for the day
when she doesn’t nod and she starts to yell. It will be a loud,
scary, and hopefully therapeutic day for her. “I gotta make a
call.” Turning on my heel, I head back to the office. Hawk is
talking to the guy we use to help gather traps. But I need to put
that aside for a second. Fishing out my cellphone, I hit the number
I wish I didn’t have to.

It rings twice before she picks up.

“Hey, cuz, fancy you callin’, something goin’
on?”

“Hey, Shaylene, gotta a favor to call in.”
Shaylene is my cousin, and maybe the only other person I can stand
to talk to in my family. Not that I don’t love them all, their
great, but very loud and in your face type of people.

“Ah huh, sure ya do? Let me guess, got
another tourist who is hanging around too long after last night?
Oh, no wait, you and Hawk are in jail this time? Okay that’s all I
got, only on my second coke today.”

“Shit, Shay, nothing like that. We have this
case and the chick involved, well she lost everything, and, well,
now she needs clothes.”

“Wait what? Then why don’t you ship her ass
home to her momma?”

“Ain't got one. No family, nothing. Her
family home burned down this morning, and the town ran her out. Bad
stalker case. So ya up to it?”

“Well damn, shopping. As much as I like it, I
was hoping to sit on my fat ass and do nothing. You owe me, ya
hear.”

“Loud and clear.”

“Be there in twenty then.” With that, she
hangs up the phone. I just hope Zoey can handle Shay, she is sweet,
but has a wicked tongue when she is pissed. But then again, maybe
it will be good for her. However, right now, my nose caught the
whiff of something amazing. Fresh coffee, oh yeah, this is going to
work out just fine.

I don’t know what he is talking about with
this coffeemaker. It is a dream machine, top of the line, and
something I would love to have. After fixing the setting, I made a
fresh pot. I also saw a pile of paper on the desk and a computer.
Whoever the office assistant is sucks. Nothing is organized or
anything. Not sure what exactly I should be doing other than making
coffee according to Wolf, I start cleaning. Old plastic coffee cups
tossed in the trash, and food wrappers.

I’m not going to pretend that his comment
didn’t hurt me while I organize the paperwork. It is a simple task
that a trained monkey can do, so it gave me plenty of time to
figure out what the hell I’m doing next. I don’t have money to stay
anywhere and no car to even sleep in. Shit, I don’t even have
panties. I think this is the first time in my life I feel lower
than lower. Guess things can always be worse, but I just don’t know
how. I have lost everything, my apartment, again, and Gran’s house.
All of it—gone. Nothing will ever be the same again. I can either
mope about the damn thing, or pull up my big girl panties and move
on. Well if I had any panties to wear. Maybe I will just give them
up anyway, less things Andrew can take away from me. I seriously
need to get off my pity party and work.

“You make coffee?” I don’t need to look up to
know it is Wolf behind me. I am used to his scent now, granted it
smells so much better on him than me, but still I can smell
him.

“Yup, you had it set wrong, I fixed it. I’ll
make a new pot when this one is gone. You’re almost out of cups,
and you need more copy paper for your printer, although you may
want to look for a better one, the one you have is on its last leg,
and you’re missing the part that holds the paper in place.” I
ramble off some other things I know will help organize their front
office better. I can tell whoever ran it before wasn’t used to
organizing and setting up a system to help the guys out.

“Um, sure, make a list and we can get it
later. Look, Zoey,” the way he says my name makes me stop what I’m
doing and look at him.

“Something wrong?”