Page 143 of The Outsider
“Waiting for us. Let’s get the horses.”
The weeks after the attack on the Post were rough as fuck.
When we got home, Kimmy went straight to bed, and I couldn’t blame her. I lifted Claire into my arms and carried her upstairs to our ensuite bathroom. She didn’t even protest.
“Let’s get cleaned up,” I said, and pulled my ruined t-shirt over my head.
Claire didn’t react as I started the shower. She just nodded with a blank look on her face, like she wasn’t sure where she was, before stripping down.
I needed to take care of her.
The hot water was a goddamn revelation. We were both sticky with sweat and dried blood. I had Claire sit on the small bench inside the shower. She looked so small and so broken that my chest hurt. Her beautiful red hair was caked with blood and dirt, and her pale body was covered with cuts and purple bruises. Each one felt like a punch to the gut.I promised to protect her.
I grabbed a shampoo bar and the detachable showerhead. I rinsed her head, carefully avoiding her stitches, and she sighed and relaxed into my touch. I gently washed her hair, watching bloody water circle the drain. When it finally ran clear, I offered her a bar of soap, and she scrubbed herself down while I washed up.
Once we were clean, I knelt in front of her and kissed every bruise on her trembling body, telling her things that couldn’t be said with words. For the first time, her eyes showed emotion, and she touched my cheek.
After, she got into a nightgown and sat on the edge of the bed. I braided her wet hair, if only because my touch seemed to be the only thing that calmed her. We didn’t speak again until I tucked her into our bed.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and I gave her one more kiss.
Despite how fucking wrecked I was, I went straight to the Lodge to find Danny. Predictably, he was in the command center, sitting behind his desk with his crutches leaning against the wall behind him. When he saw my face, his expression changed to alarm, and he tried to stand up. He fell back into his chair on his ass.
“Damn leg,” he blew out in frustration. “I’m losing my mind with no time in the saddle.” He looked back at me, his blue eyes searching my face. “What’s wrong?”
I glanced over my shoulder into the lounge. Nobody was around this early, but I closed the office door anyway. The last thing I needed was to be overheard.
I took a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk and sighed, rubbing my tired eyes. Danny raised an eyebrow.
“You look like hell,” he observed, and I gave a bitter chuckle. “Who died?”
I winced at his choice of words, and he leaned forward, eyes widening. Finally, for the third time, I went through what’d happened at the Post with Asha and Zach. I told him everything, feeling a weight slowly lifting from me. For the first time, I was telling someone I didn’t have to comfort, who didn’t depend on me. The closest thing I had to a brother.
Danny listened in silence, frowning and rubbing his beard. I didn’t know what to make of his reaction.
“He attacked you that night,” I said with a sigh. “Asha confessed, and from what I overheard him saying, I think it’s true.”
At that, Danny’s eyes widened. He glanced at his medical boot. Frustration and anger snuck into the crease between his brows.
“So, what happened to Asha?” he asked, still staring at his boot.
“I shot her,” I answered.
“And Zach?” His name came out as a growl.
I swallowed hard. “I shot him, too.”
Danny met my eye, and for a long moment, we just stared at each other. He finally broke the silence with a single, clipped syllable.
“Good.”
Relief flooded my limbs, and I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands.
“I know I’ll have to go in front of everyone and tell them, but—”
To my surprise, Danny snorted. “Why the hell would we do that?”
I looked up at him. “I'm an outrider…and I killed a Valley resident.”
