I hung up and she blinked even more.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I licked my lips. “Your dad was forced to do something he didn’t want to do. Using his duties as the mayor to make them happen, or to be overlooked. I don’t know. But he’s in a very important position. If we do what you were about to do, the things that we need to know may not happen just yet due to him being on a psych hold at the hospital. Let’s go up there.”
• • •
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I made my way into the room sans Six—she couldn’t face her father just yet—but the mayor of Dallas being high as a kite wasn’t one of them.
He looked at me and blinked. “Ahh, the man that’s fucking my daughter.”
I didn’t rise to the bait.
“Why did you try to hide your suicide attempt?” I asked. “What’s going on? I need to know everything right the fuck now.”
Ivan’s eyes didn’t widen as he heard what I had to say.
In fact, he didn’t even look all that upset that I knew.
Actually, if I had to put a name to what I saw, I would say it was relief.
“It all started when Ines was…”
“Six,” I corrected him.
His eye twitched.
“I’ll get back to that later,” he explained. “But for now, we’ll call her Ines.”
I didn’t interrupt him this time.
“I was contacted when Bruno and her became friends through school.”
I felt more than heard Bruno tense behind the curtains where he was keeping watch making sure that nobody came near.
“His stepfather was a piece of shit. Saw them walking home with each other one day and asked his kid about her. Ines. He somehow found out that Ines was my daughter and thought that was great news to have. He went to his boss—I still don’t know who this boss is, by the way—and told him that my daughter would be perfect leverage to use against me. He was right. The next couple of weeks, I started to get calls to the office about various things. Favors that needed forgiven with the police. Turning a blind eye here and there. Getting rid of something. Stupid little things that mayors do every day. I ignored it. Until they started to threaten Ines. They started to get a little bolder in what they asked me to do. Bruno’s stepfather, Larry Dumas, got this great idea that instead of inflicting punishment on Ines, he’d do it on his stepson, and make Ines watch. She’d come home, tell me, and then the point would be made.”
He swallowed hard.
“It nearly broke her. I put her into private school to get her away. I put her in private school that was so private, and so far away from everyone and everything, that she wouldn’t be touched.” He licked his lips, his voice scratchy. “I don’t call her Six. The reason I don’t call her Six is because they know of Six and an Ines. They think that they’re two different people.” He licked his lips. “When she was first transferred to private school, they found out almost immediately—it was why I sent her there. Didn’t want her here as leverage to be used against me if I fucked up or didn’t do something. Which I did a lot at first, because I didn’t want to be doing it. But the school fucked up and put a Six and an Ines into the system. Not sure how or why. Hell, I even had to pay two tuitions. But it worked really well, because they ‘made me bring ‘Ines’ back home.’ Which I did. They think. I pulled her out of the school. Paid some tutor to come teach my ‘kid.’ And then they continued to threaten killing her without realizing that she wasn’t actually here. And I continued to isolate myself from Six. Made sure that she stayed as far away from me as I could make her.”
“But you bring her to dinner parties,” I found myself saying. “Why bring her to those if you don’t want her to be seen?”
“She doesn’t go to many. Only the ones that I really, really guilt her into. And those are the ones that I know are safe. That I know that they won’t come to, because they’re scared of you. They won’t come anywhere near you,” he said softly.
I blinked at his words. “They’re scared of me?”
“They’re terrified of you,” he confirmed. “The only ones she ever attends are the ones where you’re there, and they’re not. She gets ‘seen’ but she can’t be ‘touched.’”
“Do they know where she lives?” I found myself asking.
“They don’t.” He shook his head. “Six won’t touch her inheritance because she hates me and hates what that money represents. For all intents and purposes, they leave Six alone because they have ‘Ines.’”
“That makes no sense. Two kids, whether they be fictional or not, would be better leverage,” I said.
“True,” he confirmed. “But I told them that if they touched Six, I would kill myself. I would take myself out of the game. And they don’t want that.”
“Was that why you attempted to kill yourself this time? They’re targeting Six?” I asked, heart pounding.
“They won’t touch her now. They know she’s with you,” he said. “And again, I don’t know what you are that they’re so scared of you, but they will never touch Six again because apparently you were seen with her doing… things.”
The parking lot of the gas station.
That’s the only way that this would’ve been known.
“They had another man at the last party that works in Kilgore. They saw you holding her in the gas station as you checked out. He knew who you were. Who she was. Relayed it to whoever needed to know.” He swallowed. “As for why I did it now… she’s protected now. I don’t need to do that anymore.”
I tilted my head slightly sideways. “You don’t think she’d suffer if you succeeded?”
He wiped his tired eyes. “I think that I’d rather her hate me and suffer a little bit than have her wind up like one of the girls that I’m helping get sex trafficked through my county.”
And there it was. Confirmation.
“You weren’t the only one,” I said softly. “There are more girls. They’re doing it through quite a few counties. That’s why I ran for mayor of Kilgore. I didn’t want them doing it in my area anymore. Hell, I don’t want them doing it at all, but I’m only one man. As soon as I found out about it, I started maneuvering myself into a position to take over.”
“I know,” he said. “We’re all very much aware. You are hell bent on making them pay. I commend you. Just know that you now have something to lose.”
My stomach clenched at his words.
He was right.
By having Six, I became vulnerable.
“You got names?” I wondered.
“No,” he said. “Just Larry Dumas and whoever his boss is.”
I knew that Bruno was already tracking his stepfather down.
The only problem is, Larry Dumas was a little weasel, and knew how to hide really, really well.
“I think that you need to appoint someone for the time being while you heal,” I said. “I don’t want you to leave. I might need you later as we start to fix the things that you broke.”
Ivan swallowed hard and nodded.
“I’ll let you know who you can appoint. After I do a background check on them all. Make sure to find the one that’s the steadiest.”
“That’s not how it works. There’s a chain of command,” he said. “If I’m out, then someone else that’s under me gets automatically appointed.”
I grinned. “How about you let me worry about that.”
Ivan sighed. “I’m tired of worrying. I think that I’ll let you.”
Good.
Turning on my heels, I made eye contact with Bruno.
He was fuckin’ pissed.
He didn’t say anything until we were outside.
Six, who was standing next to Laric holding his goddamn kitten, turned to me.
She looked at me with worry in her eyes.
“It was my fault,” Bruno said. “I’m glad I stayed away.”
I looked over at Bruno.
“Don’t stay away now,” I suggested. “Because Six i
sn’t going anywhere. She loves you. Even despite you staying away from her. She might very well need you by the time this is all over.”
Bruno didn’t say a word.
“Find your stepfather,” I proposed.
His eyes caught mine. They were lit with fire.
“I will.”
“I know you will.”
CHAPTER 17
Why go to work when you can light yourself on fire and feel the same way?
-Text from Six to Lynn
LYNN
Six weeks later
“Now that you’re all here,” I said as I glanced around the group. My new team. The one that would help me defeat the child-trafficking ring that was decimating our area. “I want to discuss jobs.”
Patrick grimaced.
“For all intents and purposes, you’re going to appear to be normal men. I don’t want you to get a hard job, or one that you’ll be at twenty-four seven. But I do want you to appear as if you’re just a normal guy. Go to work. Go out with your friends. Date. Whatever you want to do. But I want you to be ready in case you’re needed. And I want you to realize that there may be things that I need you to do outside of those hours.”
Each man nodded.
“I have a few businesses that you can choose from,” I said to the men. “I own a strip club that’s newly opened outside of Kilgore city limits. For that place, I’m in need of a bouncer that’ll work the door, but also be my eyes and ears at the club. A manager when Bruno nor I can be at the club. That one is about forty-five minutes from here. I own a bar that’s right off the lake. I’m in need of a bartender/manager there unless you want to straight up buy it from me. I also own a private investigation firm that’s missing a couple of private investigators. Now, I have a couple of suggestions where I think you all would fit, if you choose to work for me.” I paused and set my eyes on Hunt and then Zach. “You two, I have need of your services full-time. Both jobs will appear to be legit, you’ll get a tax return, you just won’t be doing the actual job that the IRS thinks that you do.”
Both men nodded, not saying a word.
“You can all work the rest out amongst yourselves. I’ll be happy either way it goes.” I murmured, then turned to Trouper. “I might need you to fly to shit places. That okay with you?”
Troup’s eyes lit up like the Fourth of July.
“Yes,” he said.
Outwardly he appeared calm, but you could tell with just one look that he really liked the idea of flying something. Anything.
I knew he would.
“I don’t want to treat y’all like prisoners,” I said. “I want you to live your life. I know y’all are good men. I know that you’re tired of being locked up for shit that should’ve been taken care of through other means. But I need you to keep your noses clean. I can clean up some messes but getting yourself on national news is going to make it hard to do that.” I crossed my arms. “I have your parole officer advised of things. He won’t expect you to check in, but he is going to know where you all are. Most of you got out on ‘good behavior’ thanks to the strings I was able to pull. Don’t think that they won’t put you back in there. I might not be able to get those strings pulled a second time. Not if I want to keep this operation anonymous.”
All of them nodded.
It was Trouper who spoke up.
“I want to spend some time with my woman,” he said. “I’m tired of not being able to live with my family.”
My lips twitched. “I already told you I wanted you to live your lives. You’re not my slaves. I just need help. And what better way to get that than by the people I know that will do the wrong/right thing, even if it takes them away from who they love?”
Trouper looked taken aback.
“You don’t care?” he asked. “That I almost killed someone?”
I tilted my head slightly. “You don’t care that I have killed multiple someones?”
Trouper’s lips twitched.
“Hey, Woody!” I heard my woman call. “I’m fuckin’ starving. What the hells bells is taking so…” She trailed off as she finally made her way into the room. “Oh.” She blinked when she saw the room full of men. “This the new team of badasses?”
None of them cracked even a small smile.
She moved closer to me almost automatically.
“This is them,” I confirmed. “Patrick is in the corner on the left. Standing up behind him is Hunt. Laric you know. Bruno you know. Absinthe—Sin—is at the opposite side of the room in the corner. Zach is closest to you. Trouper is the one with the scar nearest to you leaning against the wall.”
Six waved at them all shyly.
“I’m just gonna go…” she said as she darted out of the room.
“She’s cute,” Hunt said. “She looks familiar.”
“You met her during school. We all went to the same middle school,” Bruno offered.
Hunt nodded his head in understanding. “I think we sat at the same loner tables a time or two.”
“We did,” Bruno confirmed.
“If you so much as hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
We all blinked at Laric’s words.
And they weren’t directed at any of the men that I’d just gotten extracted from prison. They were directed toward me.
“Okay,” I said. “But I hope I never give you reason to think that I hurt her.”
Laric nodded once, and that was the end of that.
“What’s first on the agenda?” Sin asked as he leaned back in his chair. His strong arms crossed over his black t-shirt-covered chest.
“That would be finding my stepfather,” Bruno said. “Which is what I’m currently trying to do.”
“Why can’t you find him?” Trouper asked.
“Because he’s a slimy weasel that hides when the going gets tough.” Bruno paused. “Or when he knows that I’m looking for him.”
“Sounds like this is nothing new for you,” Trouper said. “I’ll help. I have a few buddies that owe me favors. I want to get back to showing my face around the area anyway.” He paused. “While I’m doing that, I’m going to find a house and my woman.”
“I have to go deal with my wife, too.” Hunt.
All eyes turned to him.
“You’re married?” Sin asked.
“Sort of.” Hunt stood up and walked out of the room without explaining a single thing.
They all turned to look at me.
“If he wants you to know, he’ll tell you,” I shrugged.
Zach snorted but didn’t comment.
“Class dismissed.” I stood up and went searching for my wayward woman.
I heard the clomp of boots as they followed behind me, but ignored them as I went into the kitchen where I assumed she would be.
But she wasn’t there.
Frowning, I walked through the house searching for her, only she was nowhere to be found.
Pulling out my phone, I called her.
“Hello?” she answered on the first ring.
“Where the hell are you?” I asked.
“I’m going to feed my cats and spend some time with them,” she said. “They’re lonely.”
“Bring them back here,” I blurted.
The words were out of my mouth before I’d even thought to pull them back.
“What?” she asked.
“Bring them here,” I suggested.
I didn’t mind her cats. They were independent felines that weren’t completely awful to be around. Honestly, half the time I didn’t even know they were there. And the other half when I did notice them, it wasn’t because they were in my face, but because they were on the way to the food bowl.
“I can’t bring them there,” she argued.
“You can,” I said. “You’ve been practically living here for six weeks now. You only go home to get more clothes and play with your cats. Bring them here.” I paused. “In fact, never mind. I’ll be over there in a minute.”
With that I hung up, walked out to my SU
V, stopped by Lowes and picked up some boxes, then went to her house.
When I arrived, she was standing in her yard looking at me like I’d grown a second head.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I got out of my SUV, popped open the back hatch, and pulled out the boxes.
Her eyes widened like saucers.
“The cats don’t really need all that much,” she said as she stared hard. “I can get it all into my car.”
I walked toward her with the boxes.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’m sure that’s the case.”
“Then why the boxes?” I asked.
“I’ve permanently moved to the house in Souls Chapel. I have a ton of space. You’re renting. And I don’t want you to stay here.” I shrugged. “I want you with me.”
She stared at me as if she couldn’t quite comprehend what I was saying.
“But, we barely know each other,” she finally settled on, waving her hands. “You haven’t even dealt with me during a period yet. That four days you were busy with your duties to the city, and we didn’t even stay in the same bed at night. This is a really terrible idea.”
I grinned and walked past her into the house.
“This is only to get the essentials right now anyway,” I said. “Since I’m the one wanting you to move in, I won’t completely make you get rid of your place. We’ll keep it.” I paused. “Actually, if you’re not opposed to it, we can let one of the boys whose freshly out of the pen stay in it. That’ll keep him from having to look for a place.”
“I thought you gave them the choice to stay at your place,” she said, following behind me close on my heels. “That means they have time.”
“I gave them the option, yes,” I agreed. “But none of them will take me up on it. Hell, even Laric and Bruno didn’t take me up on it, and neither one of them have a place. Bruno’s living out of a small trailer at the campground, and Laric’s renting a one-bedroom studio apartment above a hair salon. Neither one of them wanted to stay with me while they were getting on their feet.”
“Has Bruno been in jail?” she asked suddenly.
“Bruno’s a very private person, honey,” I said. “He’ll open up one day, but I’m not going to tell you everything that happened to him.”
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