Sin City Auction (Nevada Bad Boys 4)

Technically I found you…

“What do you mean by take me downtown?” I wasn’t really given much choice; the officer just started walking towards the door.

“We need a statement and then we’ll get that animal locked up for all the awful things he did to you. We saw the video. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He pushed open the doors and I was quickly escorted to a squad car.

The video? What video?

“I’m sorry if what I’m saying doesn’t make sense to you, Detective.” I sighed and stared down at the table.

“You’re telling me you agreed to all of the shit that Rick Washington did to you over the last two days?” He used what I learned was Ruckus’ full name.

“I did.” I nodded. “I mean, you heard what I said on the video.”

In the time that I had been in the interrogation room, I had learned that Ruckus was the one that hurt Carlos. I had learned that Tommy was in the hospital. I had learned that Carmella was dead. It seemed that Ruckus and one of his brother’s fighters were in custody. Then, I got to live out all of the dark and depraved things Ruckus did to me in fast forward on grainy security cameras with terrible audio. They didn’t pick up everything, but they picked up enough to make me blush and wish I wasn’t watching them in front of someone I didn’t know. In fact, I wanted to just crawl under the table and die as soon as I cleared Ruckus of what they thought he did to me against my will.

“Fucking hell…” The detective closed the folder and turned off the television. “You need a therapist.”

“My parents know about this?” My throat closed off and I thought I was going to suffocate or vomit—I wasn’t sure which would come first.

“Once we figured out who you were, we called them. We haven’t showed them this video, but we did tell them that we thought you had been kidnapped, tortured, and sexually assaulted. I’m not sure how we turn that into you being into it the whole time.” He stood up and held the folder in his hand. “But that is between you, your parents, and Jesus Christ. They’re waiting in the lobby. T

he detective opened the door and when I stepped out of the interrogation room, I felt like I was doing the walk of utter shame. Eyes were on me and I had to assume some of them had seen the video. It felt like the walls were caving in. My breathing got shallow and it felt like my throat was going to close off like it had when he told me that my parents knew where I had been. Suddenly, at the end of the hallway, a familiar face appeared. It was the only face I needed to see. I found my strength. My legs started moving and I ran towards him.

“Ruckus!” I squealed and as I got to him, I leapt into his arms.

“Oh fuck, thank god you’re safe.” He hugged me, holding me off the floor for what felt like an eternity.

“Never let go of me.” I started to cry. “Please…”

“I really like it when you beg.” He chuckled and squeezed me tighter.

17

Ruckus

I was proud of Madison when we walked into the police station lobby. Her parents were angry, and I guess it isn’t easy to convince them that the guy you’re leaving with didn’t kidnap, torture, and do horrible things to you after the police had just told them he did. I shook her father’s hand, kissed her mother’s like Tommy would have done, and did my best to convince them that I wasn’t the evil incarnation of everything they had been told. I was more impressed that they managed to put themselves together and show up at the police station to do anything as a united front considering what Madison had told me about them. In the end, I held her hand tight while she stood up for herself and we left together.

“I want to swing by the hospital and check on Tommy.” I was still holding her hand when we walked out of the police station.

“Yeah, of course.” She nodded. “Do you have your phone on you?”

“I do.” I reached into my pocket and pulled it out.

“Awesome, get us an Uber.” She stopped near the curb.

“How do you do that?” I raised my eyebrows and stared at my screen.

“Here, I’ll download the app.” She smiled and took the phone from me.

“He’s stable.” The doctor held my brother’s chart in his hand as he spoke. “I wish I could say he’s out of the woods, but it was a fairly serious injury.”

“Is he able to talk?” I felt Madison squeeze my hand for support.

“Yeah, he’s okay as long as he doesn’t get out of bed.” The doctor nodded. “Honestly, if he wasn’t so hopped up on cocaine, the shock would have probably killed him. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it probably saved his life because he didn’t really feel near as much pain as he should have.”

“That figures…” I chuckled and shook my head.

“Anyway, he’s down the hall if you want to see him.” The doctor pointed and we started walking in the direction of Tommy’s room.