Jett (24 page)

“And it’s not fair!” His voice began to rise in anger, and I began shaking.  “I love you, Jett!  You saved me, you know? All those years on the battlefield, all those days you sang to me while I killed those men?  And afterwards? It was you that cleansed my soul every time.  Now, I’m here to return the favor.  You’re clean, deep down, Jett.  I just know it.  They haven’t ruined you, there’s still hope.”

I felt like I was going to be sick as I watched him begin to pace around the room.  

“You know it didn’t have to end like this.  Oh, but not that this is the end.  I mean, it’s really just the beginning for us.  But if you had just kept your legs closed, if you had stayed pure like I know you are deep down inside, then we wouldn’t have to go through this.”

He disappeared again, this time up the stairs, almost tripping as he went up them.  I heard him rummaging around up there, and then I heard the sound of water running.  When he came back down, he had taken the shoes off and with a strength I didn’t know he possessed, he picked me up, chair and all, and carried me up the stairs.

The bed was turned down, and he had lit candles all around the room.  They glimmered in the darkness, the only other light coming from the attached bathroom.  There weren’t any windows, and I almost couldn’t see at first.  He put me down just outside the bathroom door, and when I saw the items laid out on the counter in there, I began to struggle against the ropes again, desperately wanting to escape.

Neatly lined up in a row, I saw scissors, razors, steel wool, a steel brush, an assortment of cleansers - bleaches, floor strippers, ammonia, alcohol, peroxide - along with hairbrushes and makeup.  The tub was filled with steaming water.

He laughed at my efforts to free myself, and once again I felt the gun pressed to the back of my head.  

“Don’t be silly, sweetheart. But of course you would think you could escape.  You don’t know who I am, do you? I’m Sergeant Jack Anderson, a decorated member of the U.S. Army, my dear.  I possess excellent skills, you know.  You’d be impressed if I named all the awards I’ve won. But I won’t bore you with the details.  Just rest assured you aren’t going anywhere, so don’t even try.  You’re going to be purified right now, and that’s that.”

He walked into the bathroom, and grabbed the scissors.  Returning to where he had placed the chair I was strapped to, he went around behind me, and gathered my hair in his hands.  I cringed, and when I heard the first snips of the scissors, I knew he was cutting my hair.  Tears began to roll down my face and the terror continued to fill my heart.

“This hair…it’s filthy.  It’s touched so many filthy people.” He was muttering to himself behind me.  When he was done, my beloved locks were lying on the ground below me like a pile of dead snakes.  

“Oh, my dear!” He exclaimed suddenly.  “What am I thinking!  I totally forgot the music! Stay here, darling, I’ll be right back.”

He ran back downstairs, and within moments I heard my voice trailing up the stairs. It was one of the first songs I had ever recorded, one of my first hits.  It was the last thing I wanted to hear.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

I peered into the window of the cabin, and as soon as I saw him, I knew we had found them.  The crazy fucker was dressed in some sort of costume, looking vaguely like Jett.  His back was turned and he was turning on a CD player in the corner.  The cabin filled with Jett’s voice, and my stomach churned.  My eyes scanned the cabin quickly, but she was nowhere in sight.

I gestured to two of the men to go around the back of the cabin, and Rusty and the others stayed with me.  They were watching the spectacle before us with wide eyes.  

“What the fuck…” Rusty whispered. 

“I have no fucking idea.  Jett has to be in there somewhere.”

“I’m sure she is.  Maybe upstairs?” he asked, nodding towards the staircase.  Crazy Jack began spinning around the room, his head thrown back in ecstasy as he began pinching his nipples, and singing along loudly to Jett’s song.  He was wearing a fringed jacket that was completely open in the front, his chest bare and exposed as he danced around the room and fondled himself. 

When his hand trailed down and he began cupping his erection, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Let’s go.  We’ll break the door down!” I whispered to Rusty.

“No, wait! Give it a second.  You see his gun there on the table? We don’t want to give him time to grab it.  Wait till he’s danced around to the other side of the room.  God, what a fucking freak.  Is he supposed to be dressed like Jett?”

“I don’t fucking know,” I growled.  “I just hope she’s alive.”

Moments later, Jack did exactly what we were hoping.  He danced into the kitchen, leaving the gun lying on a table by the stairs.

“Now! Move!” I said, my gun already drawn. Rusty and the boys followed me, and we paused a beat, then slammed into the door all together.

Jack never expected us.  He screamed like a little girl when the door splintered in half.  We barreled through it, and I was on him in a flash. I threw my weight against him, landing on his body in the kitchen, and pushed my gun into his mouth.

His eyes bugged out of his head, full of fear and surprise.  

“Where’s Jett, motherfucker?” I growled.

He mumbled incoherently, and I felt Rusty pulling me off of him, his own gun poised directly at Jack’s head.

His eyes darted upward, and I left him there with Rusty while I raced up the stairs.  When I saw Jett, I almost collapsed in relief.

She was a mess.  Tears ran down her face, her mouth covered in duct tape, her hair chopped to pieces and lying at her feet, her limbs tied to the chair.  But her eyes filled with joy when she spotted me, and I embraced her hard, my heart pounding violently in my chest.

As gently as I could, I removed the tape from her mouth and she sobbed.  

“Oh, Colt!  Oh, my God!”

“Shh, baby, it’s okay, I’ve got you,” I said, soothing her as best as I could.  “You’re okay, let me get you loose, okay?”

She nodded, her sobs intensifying as she stared at me with wonder.  “I’m so glad you found me, thank you so much, he’s so fucking insane —,”

Her voice was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot and we both jumped.

“Fuck, stay here!” I said, as I grabbed my gun and ran back downstairs.

“Don’t leave me, Colt, please…” her voice trailed off behind me, and when I reached the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Jack was dead. His eyes bulging out of his head, a bloody river flowing out of his chest and onto the floor around him.  Rusty stood over him, a satisfied look on his face.

“Fucker killed Jesse.” 

I stared as he stalked away, putting his gun in the back of his waistband.  

He turned to me.  “You find her?”

“Um…yeah, she’s okay.  Upstairs,” I replied, taking one last look at Jack and then turning to run back up the stairs.

“What was that?” she asked, her eyes filled with fear.  I never wanted to see that again, I decided then and there.  Jett would never be afraid of anything again, not as long as I could help it.

“Jack’s dead, baby,” I said, pulling her close to me. “He’s never gonna fuck with you again. Now let’s get you out of here.”

I untied her and helped her down the stairs and outside.  I sat her on a bench on the porch and found a blanket on the couch to wrap her in.  

My brothers streamed out of the cabin one by one, a trail of bad ass, leather wearing saviors that once again had proven to me exactly how loyal they were.

For years, there was nothing else in the world I had cared about more than them. 

And now, there was Jett.

She clung onto me, her tears subsiding and replaced by sighs of relief.  

“It’s over…” she mumbled.  “It’s finally over.”

****THE END****

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“Ha!” Jett said, as she threw her cards down on the table.  “Full house!  Take it off, baby!”

Colt laughed, cocked an eyebrow and slowly placed his cards on the table one at a time.  

“One. Two. Three. Four.  Four of a kind, darlin’, that beats your full house. I think it’s time for
you
to take it off! That leaves nothing but your pretty little panties, sweetheart.  Do you need help with that bra clasp?” he asked, his voice taunting and full of amusement.

“Shit! You always win, that’s not fair!” Jett said, standing up and reaching in front of her to unclasp her black lace bra.  Her breasts escaped their confines, spilling forward in a gorgeous display of femininity.  

Colt whistled appreciatively as she flipped him off and laughed.

They had spent most of the last three months alone at the cabin, playing cards, cooking dinners, taking long walks in the woods and getting to know each other again.  Colt had spent most of his time behind bars playing poker once he decided getting into fights wasn’t going to get him out of there any sooner and he was excellent at it.

“I’ve just had a lot of practice, baby.  And I gotta admit,” he said with a smile, pulling her into his arms. “A chance to look at those magnificent babies is quite a strong motivator for winning.”

“Yeah, yeah…like you need an excuse!” Jett replied, snaking her arms around his waist.  “After these last few months, I’d think you’d be tired of them by now.”

“These?” he replied, grabbing a handful of each one. “No fucking way.  Never!”  He dipped his head, his mouth engulfing a hardening nipple and sucking lightly.  Jett’s moans echoed in the cabin, the place that had quickly become their sanctuary.

The smell of a bubbling stew filled the cabin.  Jett hadn’t had a drink in three months, instead spending her time cooking.  They had both gained a few pounds, but it only served to fill out her curves a little more.  She didn’t care so much, now that she wasn’t on a stage every night.

After the nightmare with Crazy Jack, Colt had insisted she take a long break.  The only way she would agree to do that was if he took the break with her.  

And he was right, she needed it desperately.  She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Sam had betrayed her so deeply, and she was weary to trust anyone at all now.  She was happy to hole up in her cabin with Colt for a while.  

It was healing.  For both of them.

They were still reeling from Jesse’s death, too, but they were working through it, each of them forgiving the other, and reminding them to forgive themselves at the same time.

They had both agreed to not think about the future for a while.  Eventually, they would deal with it, but for now, they were just enjoying each other.