Chapter Text
Life at home was miserable; Waverly’s father was a drunk. He made a habit out of spending his paycheck at the local bar or gambling it away at poker. Then he started playing cards without so much as a dime to his name. He began making promises he couldn’t keep, and those who played against him knew damn well he would never hold up on his end of the bargain. Sadly, that didn’t stop people from collecting the money that was owed to them.
Motorcycle engines roared louder as they got closer to the Earp homestead. The old ranch style home was silent, and as the sound coming from outside grew, those who lived inside the house became worried. Hearts pounding in their chests so loud they nearly drowned out the sound of the engines.
The motorcycles stopped just outside the homestead and all fell silent. Ward, who passed out drunk on the couch, continued to do nothing but snore. His three daughters, on the other hand, were all trying to breathe through their noses, so they didn’t make much sound. They all could pretend that they weren’t home, but the lights illuminated the entire homestead, so all they could do was wait.
Willa, the oldest sister at 23, took it upon herself to check on their father. Signaling for her younger sisters to stay put, she left the upstairs bedroom and headed towards the stairs. Wynonna, a year younger but just as determined, tip-toed over to the closet to grab the saw-offed shotgun kept hidden there. “Wouldn’t be Earp’s if guns weren’t hidden all over the damn house!” Waverly heard her older sister mumble.
Just as Wynonna turned back around, the sound of men yelling erupted through the home, and then shots were being fired. “Get out of here, baby girl!” The middle Earp ran towards the bedroom door. “Go now, Waverly. Whoever is here, they ain’t friendly.”
“What about you?” Waverly shot up from her spot on the floor and grabbed ahold of Wynonna’s wrist.
“I have to check on Willa and Daddy.” The youngest Earp watched her sister slip from the door, and it took half a second for her brain to catch up before going over to the closet and grabbing her backpack.
More gunshots rang out as Waverly scrambled over to her dresser and grabbed whatever clothes she could get her hands on including a small brown paper bag filled with money; how much, the sixteen-year-old wasn’t sure. It had been a while since she’d counted it last. Shaking out her thoughts, she ran out of the room and to the bathroom, stopping in front of the medicine cabinet; the brunette could have sworn she heard Wynonna yell ‘run,’ but it was too muffed. Taking whatever her hands could get ahold of, Waverly bolted back out of the bathroom but came to an abrupt stop with a gasp. Guess Wynonna did tell me to run. Oops!
“Going somewhere, little girl?” The man grinned devilishly. He had long blondish-brown hair, a grayish goatee and an eye patch over his left eye. Waverly instantly knew him as one of the members of the Revenant Gang, Malcolm Ramaker.
Before the brunette could respond, Malcolm grabbed ahold of her. Waverly fought against him as best she could, but to no avail, she wasn’t strong enough. The teenager tried kicking him in any and every direction her feet could manage, but the man just held down her legs and tightened his grip. Once Waverly realized it was no use, she did the only thing she could do at that point.
“WYNONNA!” Waverly screamed at the top of her lungs. “Daddy, Willa! Help!”
“Waverly!” Wynonna responded, but it still sounded muffled.
Malcolm walked down the stairs, laughing at the scene in the living room. Ward was on the floor, bleeding. Willa was in a tight hold by another man, with a gun pointed to her head. Wynonna wasn’t too far from Willa and was also being held onto by another gang member. Waverly looked at both her sisters, they each sported split lips and shiners on their right eye. Both their clothes stained in blood, mostly likely Ward’s, Waverly thought. She glanced over at her father and the excessive amount of blood that was pooling around him and assumed he was dead.
“You two will get me the money that your dear father owed me.” A man with a Mohawk and beard growled out. The fur coat he wore made him look more menacing than ridiculous.
“Go to hell, Bobo!” Willa growled. “You just killed him. That means we have paid your debt.”
“Don’t think so. That doesn’t put cash in my hands and Ward here,” Bobo gestured to the man bleeding out on the floor. “Owes me quite a bit. Unpaid debt for his tab, on top of his gambling problem. He owes my boys and me so much. I want it all back.”
“Fuck off, you shit ticket!” Wynonna yelled. “You’ll never get a cent out of us.”
“I figured you’d say that. Malcolm? Escort Ward’s youngest outside.”
In a blink of an eye, Waverly was being shuffled out of the house. She heard her sisters screaming her name and demanding Bobo let her go, but the man ignored them. The air was cold against the brunettes exposed skin, though that didn’t matter. What did, was the two other men approaching her with rope, what appeared to be duct tape and some type of bag? Waverly went to fight against Malcolm again, but before she could, a fist connected with her face and everything went black.
____________________
1 Year Later:
It felt like hours, even days before Waverly had woken up from being jostled around the trunk of a vehicle. During her “road trip” Waverly reflected on everything that had happened. A blonde woman breaking into the abandoned building Bobo had kept her in, to being kidnapped again by said woman, who went by the name of Constance Clootie. After being crammed into the trunk of a pink Cadillac, Waverly wondered what she did in the last seventeen years to deserve to be thrown around like a rag doll. She tried to come up with ideas to escape but with the lack of oxygen, and the smell of alcohol heavy enough to make a burning brewery smell like roses, Waverly couldn’t think clearly to save her soul.
At some point, Waverly started counting. Every time the car made a turn, she would recalculate again and filed the last number away; hoping it would be of use for her later. Waverly did her best in figuring out what direction they were heading in. Left, twenty-seconds, right, sixty-seconds, another right, so on so forth. It reminded her of a roller coaster ride. So many twists and turns that you eventually forget where you’re and enjoy the ride. Sadly, Waverly would never enjoy it knowing that the beginning of that ride would not end in the same location.
Wrists tied behind my back. Ankles tied together though I can move my legs … Waverly shuffled herself onto her back, crushing her wrists into the trunk but she didn’t care, she had to get away, no matter what the cost was. She moved a little more and felt a sharp edge that caused pain in her arm. A knife, just what I need! It took a bit of time, but Waverly could grab the knife and cut the rope that bounded her wrists together. Once free, she cut the tie around her ankles and then stopped. Waverly listened carefully to hear any noise coming from inside the car, and noted that there were at least two men, talking loudly and had a thing for… Rihanna? The music and the talking were so loud, Waverly was positive that some thudding noise would go unnoticed.
Sure enough, Waverly was right. After a few hard kicks, the door to the trunk swung open. Waverly had seconds to complete her plan; it wasn’t much of one but it was the only one she could come up with. Maneuvering herself onto her knees, the teenager bashed her head against the door to reopen it then used her hands and feet to push herself out of the trunk, barreling onto the pavement.
There was no time to react or feel pain; Waverly had to get to her feet and run, and that's precisely what she did. The sound of a car coming to a screeching halt jolted the brunette to move faster. She had rolled a few times when she hit the pavement, so her arms and legs were killing her though that detail was minor compared to being actually killed by Clootie’s goons. With her jeans and shirt slightly ripped, skin scraped with blood trickling down and staining her clothes, Waverly pushed on.
And so she ran. Waverly had no clue where she was or where she was going but one thing was for sure, she had to continue running. No matter how badly her legs hurt, she had to keep pushing forward. She thought about changing her direction, taking a left turn or a right, but figured whoever was chasing after her would catch her. The only logical thing to do was to run straight.
In the darkest of night, the leaves on the trees making it so the moon couldn’t give her any type of light, Waverly did her best to see what was directly in front of her. Branches hitting her face, falling over a tree causing her to trip and losing a shoe in the process. A second later and the other shoe joined the other, leaving sock covered feet to protect whatever came next in the woods.
Waverly ran faster than she ever had in her life. She wasn’t sure if the men in the car were still following her, but she wasn’t about to stop to find out either. I have to get away, I can’t turn back or go any direction. They’ll catch me if I do! Waverly thought. The woods ended and became a wide-open land where anyone could see her. That’s when the brunette noticed it. The sun creeping over the horizon, rays of pink and orange hues in the sky, becoming a reflection not too far off in the distance; the sun barely met the top of the cliff Waverly was sprinting on. This also meant one thing; Waverly was running out of land to run on and had to make a decision of a lifetime.
She skidded to the edge of the cliff, looked down and gulped. That is a long way down! It was intimidating and terrifying and could very well result in death if Waverly jumped. Her mind raced with endless scenarios of what would happen. Turn left, they’ll catch me. Turn right, they could still get me. I can’t run back the way I came because that would guarantee in them finding me. I only have one-way t-.
“I can see her!” A gruff voice echoed through the woods.
Waverly froze. Blood ran cold, and the only sound clear was the pounding in her chest that vibrated throughout her entire body. She willed herself to move, but it was like her feet became cemented to the ground. The brunette could hear the men rustling through the trees, yet she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“We have her now, boy’s!” The same male voice rang out, but Waverly ignored it.
Only one way to go. Waverly took three steps back and then ran forward, pushing her feet off the edge of the cliff as she jumped.
____________________
The day had started out well; everything was going according to plan, and another shipment from Mars had come in. Bobo had just come back from the border between the states and Canada. He had another meeting with Bulshar Clootie. Though Bobo hated working with the man, Bulshar was a valuable asset to his and his brother's gangs. When the day finally ended, Bobo slammed the door closed to his single-wide trailer and walked over to the fridge to grab a beer. After shutting it, he went over to his couch and slumped down onto it. His body felt drained; so many of his men caused problems that ended with Sheriff Nedley coming out and threatening to arrest them. Bobo couldn’t help but laugh at the man.
Bobo Del Rey was the kind of man to be feared. The way he walked with his chest always puffed out to show his dominance and how he growled every time he talked. People would turn away from him as quickly as possible, hoping to never see him again. Some would say that if they had tails, it’d be tucked between their legs while running in the opposite direction. Everyone in the town of Purgatory knew not to mess with Bobo and to never to do business with him, but that didn’t always work out the way people wanted.
After finding out that the previous Sheriff, Ward Earp, needed money and his father started giving the idiot “loans” to help pay for his drinking ways, instead of taking care of kids, he knew that was his ticket to making a boatload of money. The thing was, Bobo didn’t plan on killing Ward, but after the man shot at him and almost succeeded at putting a bullet in him, that was when Bobo lifted his own gun and fired. Moments later, the oldest daughter, Willa, came down the stairs, shooting her own gun. Wynonna, who also carried a weapon of her own, soon followed her. The whole ordeal became a mess, but an idea hit rather quickly.
Ordering Malcolm to retrieve Waverly, his angel, was the right choice. With Ward dead, he needed a new way to make his money. Stealing the girl and making the older sisters come up with a way to pay him back was the perfect plan. That night Bobo promised Willa and Wynonna that he wouldn’t hurt the youngest as long as the two cooperated, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t rough the girls up in thinking he would go against his word.
Unfortunately, after the first year went by, Bobo started to get relentless. Willa and Wynonna weren’t holding up their end of the bargain. The two had a limit to how much was supposed to be paid, or at least how much the Del Rey brothers were expecting to get within the first year. It wasn’t that much. Ward had borrowed approximately a hundred grand though the girls didn’t know that. Asking for ten times the amount seemed like a reasonable deal if it meant getting free money out of it.
Bobo’s cell started ringing, causing him to wake with a jolt. He groaned when he saw that it was his brother, calling him at an ungodly hour. “What!” Bobo growled.
“We have a situation.” Mars panicked.
The gang leader sat up quickly and gripped his phone. “What kind of situation, Mars?”
“She’s gone. The girl is missing.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I just checked on her this morning. She was exactly where I put her.”
“Bobo, I’m standing in the abandoned building you picked, and she’s not here! Someone knew where she was, took her, and in the process, the bastards killed a few of my men!” Mars whined.
Clenching onto his phone, Bobo could feel his face heating from pure anger. Someone figured out where he had placed Waverly. No one but him, Mars, and a few of his men knew about that location. He shouted into the cell, telling his brother that he would be there soon. Bobo ended the call, jumped up from the couch, threw his phone at the wall, and watched as it shattered into pieces. His breathing got heavier, and before he knew it, Bobo was throwing anything and everything he could get his hands on.
* * * * *
It didn’t take long for Bobo to pull onto the road that the abandoned building was on. The arrow on the speedometer pointed at a hundred the entire way there. How he never got pulled over was beyond him, though whatever cop dared to stop him would have ended up dead. There was no telling what Bobo might have done when he was too busy figuring out which person was stupid enough to steal from him. Waverly Earp was his bargaining chip, and without her, he no longer had any leverage on the Earp sisters.
A thought came across Bobo’s mind. For the past week, Willa and Wynonna had acted differently. They started showing more confidence whenever he spotted the girls walking around town. Over the last year, they had been miserable, and it showed. The middle Earp began drinking more, and it was possible that she surpassed the amount of whiskey Ward would consume in a day. While Wynonna spiraled out of control, the oldest kept a level head and was making money to pay off the Del Rey brothers. Yet, there was just something off, that bothered Bobo immensely, that he couldn’t figure out. The thought evaporated just as quickly as it came when Bobo remembered that his men were watching the Earp girls and had constant updates on them. So their confident streak had to be related to something else.
The abandoned building came into view, and Bobo questioned himself why he picked a location so far away. If he had driven any slower, it would have taken him two hours longer to get there. It was the fourth place he had moved Waverly too. There was always a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that someone would find the girl and the whole operation would be a bust. Newly acquainted Sheriff Randy Nedley was adamant about helping the Earp girls. Bobo told them not to get the police involved, but it had seemed that after not seeing the literal ray of sunshine at his house all the time, because Waverly was best friends with the Sheriff’s daughter, Nedley knew something was wrong and started an investigation all on his own.
Bobo kicked out his kickstand on this Harley. He winced when he realized what he had done. The Harley Davidson was his prize possession, and he always took better care of the bike than anything else he owned ironically. Bobo squared his shoulders and stormed towards the building, taking in the scene in front of him. There were tracks left in the dirt, undoubtedly made by a car; Who was driving was still unknown? He knew for a fact that none of his men took Waverly since all of them owned motorcycles and would have had to steal a car to get their hands on a vehicle. Bobo also knew that all the other gang members, though not too bright, were smart enough to never double-cross him.
As he approached the door, Bobo came face to face with his brother. “About time you arrived!” Mars growled. “What the hell were you thinking, Bobo? Moving her, again? The fuck was wrong with the last place that actually had a security system instead of this ancient, outdated place?”
“The cops are searching, and you damn well knew that! Keeping the Earp girl in the same place is too risky of someone finding her.” Bobo glared at his brother.
“Well, someone found her anyway, now didn’t they?” Though it was a rhetorical question, Mars was expecting his younger brother to answer. “Who would have known that she was here, beside my men (that are now dead) and us?” he asked. “The Earp sisters?”
“Impossible! They haven’t left Purgatory in over a month, there’s no fucking way they would have known where I was hiding their sister.”
“Who would have known, then? Huh?” Mars yelled, making his words echo off the walls of the building.
“I don’t fucking know, but whoever did will wish that they never crossed Bobo Del Rey.” The revenant gang leader turned on his heels and walked out the building, with Mars quickly following behind him.
“Where the hell are you going now?”
Though Bobo didn’t have the slightest idea what he was about to get himself into, he honestly didn’t care. If the Earp sisters found out that he had lost Waverly, then he and Mars wouldn’t get any more money from them. That was a risk that he wasn’t willing to take, so he had to do whatever it took to get Waverly back. What Bobo wasn’t sure yet, but somehow his meeting with Bulshar Clootie that morning would not be his last one, unfortunately.
Bobo turned back around and faced Mars. “We need that girl back, and I will find her.”
“And if you don’t?”
“There is no don’t! I won’t stop searching until I have Waverly Earp back as my prisoner and I will do whatever it takes to make that happen!”