by CC Dragon
“Not me. I’m fine here.” Greg sat back and stared at Mary Lou.
Paul and I walked away.
“He’s a bit off his game,” Paul said.
I nodded. “Changes are hard and Lance isn’t helping. Mary Lou isn’t very grounded in reality. Greg has very little game when it comes to women and dating.”
“I can believe it, given his former profession.” Paul smiled.
“Guilt is powerful. I just hope it works out. That they work out for the best.” I had no insight into love or romance, my own or my friends, so all I could do was hope they figured out what was best for them.
“Romance getting in the way of your work?” Paul asked.
“You or their drama?” I teased.
“Either.” Paul nodded.
I shook my head. “Their drama is theirs. I won’t let it get in the way of what I need to do. You are a help. Keeping me sane.”
He offered his arm.
“So old-fashioned.” I took his arm. “I’m glad for Matt and Ivy finding people. Having a support system makes you stronger. In this work, that is a big help.”
“See your mystery woman yet?” Paul asked.
I shook my head. “She has big blue eyes. Blonde hair. Hard to miss. Looks sweet.”
There was shouting near the entrance and we turned around.
Lance had arrived and Greg was trying to keep him out. Security was on hand within seconds.
We rushed over. “Greg,” I said.
Lance took a swing at Greg and Greg dodged it.
Lucifer walked up and nodded. The guards pulled Greg and Lance apart.
“I’m safe here, Lance. You need to stop stalking me and being a jerk,” Mary Lou said.
“This is a public place, I can enter. Greg started the fight,” Lance said.
Greg stepped back to stay next to Paul.
“You have to control your temper,” I shot at Greg.
Greg shook his head. “Lance is obsessed. Or possessed. I can’t get close enough to figure out which.”
I looked at Paul. A possessed Lance made a lot of sense. With even his own brothers telling him to move and finalize the divorce, Lance was ignoring everyone. Well-meaning advice from all corners was falling on deaf ears.
“You think he’s possessed?” Paul asked.
“Hard to tell without getting close. He’s acting worse than ever before. Maybe he’s always had some low-level demons and he got an upgrade?” I suggested.
“We need to get him tied up at the mansion to find out,” Greg said.
“No. That’s kidnapping,” I replied.
“What if he kills her?” Greg shoved Paul aside and got in my face. “Then it’s on you.”
Paul pulled Greg back. “Stop it now.”
Greg swung around and confronted Paul. “No way, new guy. You don’t give orders around here.”
“Greg, I’m starting to think you’re the one who is possessed and obsessed. Go home. Go see your friends at the monastery and get checked out. Figure out your crap because you’re ignoring the church case. You’re getting into fights. You’re nearly as bad at Lance.” I pointed my finger in his chest.
I didn’t feel evil radiating. More like love and a lot of mixed-up emotions.
I wasn’t close enough to get any read on Lance but I didn’t see how I could help him anyway.
“Go,” Paul said to Greg.
Greg stormed out the front door and Lance sneered with pleasure.
“I’m not getting back with you, Lance. No matter what happens with Greg and me. Never. Your brothers have grown up, why can’t you? Spoiled rich brat. You don’t get anything in the universe that you want,” Mary Lou shouted at her ex.
“I’m a Weathers. Yes, we do,” Lance replied.
“Look, let’s try to be civil. You’re welcome at this bar if you don’t harass my employees.” Lucifer nodded to his security. “If you continue to make threats, I’ll have you arrested. If you touch anyone out of order, I’ll have you arrested. But I hate to ban a rich patron.”
The security guys let Lance go and Mary Lou looked concerned. Lucifer put an arm around her and led her away from her ex.
I kept an eye on Lance but he didn’t approach me.
He went to the bar and ordered a drink.
“What good will that do?” Paul asked.
I shrugged but froze mid-shrug. The girl I’d been looking for just entered. “I have to go for a minute. Found her.”
I approached the girl. “Excuse me, did I see you at church?”
She shook her head and tried to make it to the ladies’ room.
“Please, I saw you here before and at the church. If you need help or anything, I’m not working for anyone. I just sensed you were in trouble.” I approached her like she was a baby deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming truck.
“You don’t know a thing. Don’t go back to that church. They were talking about you,” she said.
“I don’t fit in well. Do you fit in here?” I asked.
“Just don’t come back to the church. Don’t tell anyone anything about me,” she said.
I cocked my head. “I don’t know anything about you. What’s your name?”
She glared at me. “You’re one of them. You read minds or futures. Something.”
“My gifts come from God so don’t worry about that. You can trust me.” I held out a business card. “Call if you need anything.”
“Everyone says God sent them. It’s the one thing no one can prove or disprove. It’s how they force people to obey.” She shook her head and tried to hide the tear slipping down her cheek.
“I’m not trying to get anyone to obey or prove a thing. There are a lot of false prophets and people who use religion for evil. You don’t have to follow anything to get my help.”
“That’s what they all say, at first.” She snatched the card and bolted for a private room.
“Everything okay, Deanna?” Lucifer asked.
“What room is that?” I asked.
“Private. Secrets are only valuable if you keep them,” he said.
“The girl who went in there isn’t twenty-one. I could have the place emptied and get you in trouble,” I warned.
Lucifer nodded. “You could. But most of those underage patrons have high quality fake IDs that might fool some police. If that’s the only violation, you’re a nuisance. Is it worth calling in your chips with the police to piss off Lance? I promise I’ll keep an eye on him and protect Mary Lou.”
“This isn’t about that. I saw a girl too young to be here,” I insisted.
Lucifer smiled. “I promise I will investigate and make sure the doormen are checking IDs properly.”
Moans and groans came from the bar.
Lance doubled over and puked on the floor.
Paul crossed over to me. “I think that’s our cue to leave.”
I nodded and pulled out my phone. I texted Matt to come and deal with his brother. He was drunk or sick or both...
“Let’s go.” I headed for the front door.
Late that night, there was a tap on my bedroom door. I snatched my fuzzy robe from under Tish’s warm body and got a grumpy meow in return.
Wrapped in the cat print robe, I opened the door.
Matt’s face said he had a lot on his mind.
“Want to talk?” I gestured for him to come in.
He sat in the old tapestry chair as Tish surveyed him from my bed.
“How’s Lance?” I asked.
“Sick still. I think it’s food poisoning. Sudden and violent. Hopefully it’ll get through his system. He can keep down liquids enough to avoid the ER but he’s staying with John at a hotel for tonight. What happened at the club?” Matt asked.
“He and Greg got into it. Security broke it up. Lucifer tried to be nice and let Lance stay. He was kind of a jerk but he got a drink. Shortly after he got sick.” I shrugged.
“You think it was something there?” Matt asked.
I frowned. �
��I’m not an expert of illness or poison but anything that fast acting probably wouldn’t still be making him sick. He didn’t finish the drink so he didn’t get much of it. If someone slipped him something before, then maybe. But it could be the stomach flu or legit food poisoning.” I agreed the circumstances were suspicious, but Lucifer wasn’t that obvious.
“Possible but I want to talk to Lucifer, too,” Matt said.
“You think he’s after Mary Lou.” I smiled.
“I’m not jealous, at least you know that much.” Matt laughed.
I nodded. “I don’t think you should go down there and cause trouble yet. Lucifer is smart. He’ll be dotting those Is and crossing those Ts. Any glasses would’ve been washed clean by now. There is no way to prove anything. If Lance stays away, it’ll be over. Good old-fashioned aversion therapy.”
“You’re siding with him?” Matt asked.
“No, but if you’re trying to build a case it’s too weak to act on yet. Trust me, I was there. I saw underage kids. But with high quality fake IDs, it’s not worth doing anything unless we can get them for more than serving a few kids underage.” I had to pick my battles when the stakes were high.
“Fine, but if you get a chance to ask Lucifer about things, his intentions...it might help. I’ll feel better if I know he didn’t deliberately make my brother sick.” Matt stood. “Maybe I can sleep now.”
“Good night,” I said.
Matt left and I wondered if I was letting Lucifer get away with too much.
Chapter Eight
Mary Lou took her turn to pound on my door just as the sun was coming up.
“De, wake up,” she insisted.
I didn’t bother with a robe as I pulled the door open. “What?”
“Greg never came home,” she informed me.
Rubbing my eyes, I went back to my warm bed and left the door open. “He’s grown.”
“He’s upset about Lance. You don’t care?” she asked.
“I care. But he might need some space from you. You’re not your normal self, Mary Lou,” I said.
“No, I’m free. Maybe you don’t like it. Maybe it’s too much for Greg? That doesn’t mean I don’t still care about him.” Mary Lou tapped her heel.
“Care about him? Clinging to him? Maybe you need to heal from one breakup, and get your life together. Right now, it’s all too much to feel normal or real. I’ll check on him but maybe you need to let him decide what’s right for him. If he needed a night away, he should be able to take it,” I said.
“You think I’m suffocating him?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I think you both need some space. Your life is changing and still in flux. Lance is pissed because you hopped from marriage back to Greg.”
“Tell me how you really feel,” Mary Lou shot back.
“I feel exhausted. You’re exhausting me and Greg. We’re trying to support and take care of you and I think it was a mistake. You need to take care of yourself. Bringing you here was nice of me. You jump into Greg’s bed again so fast, divorce not finalized... That’s how you chose to handle it. Your hubby was a jerk but you married him. You chose that. You could’ve had a little more class getting out of it. Your choice, but it affects others.”
“Well, I guess I’ll get back to work. I’m sure you’ll check on Greg and take care of him.” Mary Lou shook her head and walked away.
I felt uneasy. Maybe I shouldn’t have challenged her so much but she was trying to staff down checking on her boyfriend to me. That was weird and I didn’t like it.
I walked down the hall and tapped on Ivy’s door.
She answered, still half asleep.
“Greg didn’t come home. You want me to check on him?” I asked.
Ivy was Greg’s cousin and sometimes family had a better handle on things.
She shook her head. “I’ll find him. Mary Lou is making us all crazy. You get back to work. Do your normal stuff.”
I nodded. “I feel like that divorce has hijacked our lives.”
“Get back to normal. Something must need your attention beyond your friends,” Ivy yawned.
“Not sure what now. I want to help my friends but sometimes I have to remember they need to handle things on their own. All I can do is be there. I can’t decide for them. Let me know how Greg is when you find him?” I asked.
Ivy nodded. “Will do. Have a good day.”
“You too.” I closed the door and headed for the shower.
By the time I had my second cup of coffee, I was getting mysterious texts from Candance. The girl from the club and the church. She wanted to meet.
She couldn’t get caught. It had to be in the middle of nowhere.
I had to go alone.
It could be a setup. It could be genuine fear.
I agreed to her terms but waited for Gunnar to come downstairs.
“Got any plans today?” I asked him.
Gunnar shrugged. “You’re the boss. What are we doing?”
“You need to keep your distance but watch me. Girl in danger. She wants me to come alone. Make sure I don’t get kidnapped or something,” I said.
“Done. I’ll follow you and keep a safe distance.” Gunnar filled up a travel mug with coffee.
“We’ve got an hour or so, but I don’t know where the heck this is.” I texted him the address.
“The land of swamp people and gator catchers.” Gunnar shook his head. “Take a gun. I’ll be armed, too.”
I nodded and headed upstairs for my Glock.
An hour later, we were in position. If she was from swamp people, they’d probably spot Gunnar and she’d never show. But I wasn’t crazy enough to go alone to a meeting in unfamiliar territory even if I believed the girl was just scared of being caught.
I sat in my SUV and texted the girl to let her know I was in position and what I was driving.
Ten minutes later I spotted a girl in a pink dress, her hair whipping in the wind. She took big steps because the ground was swampy and her boots stuck in the mud.
I drove to her and she hopped in.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded. “If they catch me, I’m dead.”
“Very dramatic for a girl who didn’t want to talk to me a in club but trusts me now. Why?” She wasn’t afraid of me but I’d expect her to be.
“You stood out in church but you tried to keep quiet. No one like you would come to that church.” She looked at my jeans and T-shirt. ‘The church warns girls not to go with outsider women. That you’re trying to lure us away to be like you. But honestly doing nothing but having babies, cooking, and cleaning—or sexually satisfying my husband isn’t much of a life.”
“You have a husband? He wants you to go to the club with him?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“No husband or he doesn’t want you at the club?” I pressed.
“No husband yet. I was caught flirting with a guy and so I have to be married off.” She gathered her hair and twisted it in a knot behind the back of her neck.
“What’s going on? Churches like that don’t encourage girls to go to clubs,” I said.
“Some do. Some are not what they seem.” She shook her head.
“Do you want to go somewhere more public and get food? Talk it through?” I offered.
“No, they have eyes everywhere. No one out here will betray me.” Candance took a deep breath. “The church is big on women being quiet. Obedient. If you have a family that can afford you, that’s fine. But if they have too many girls—there is pressure. If you have a woman who acts out, it’s a big problem. They move things around so we stay apart from normal society and dependent. But they stay around New Orleans where the men can sell what they need to for money. They get rid of the problem women.”
“Sell? What does the church sell?” I asked.
“Women. When you become a problem, they threaten to marry you off to anyone who will take you,” she said.
I frowned. “Does that mean you are a polygam
ist group?”
“No. Too many women mean they marry you off to anyone. Anywhere. Marriage is good. Single women are bad. Young virgins are valuable to some.” She looked down at her hands.
“Valuable? This is sex trafficking.” I wanted to call in the FBI.
“They call it a finder’s fee for a matchmaking service. But it’s not optional for the woman. That’s part of why I’ve been at the club. I’m hoping to meet someone to get me out of this. The church is trying to match me with men.” She brushed away a tear.
“We can get you out. You don’t have to go back,” I said.
She shook her head. “I have to go back. I have friends who want out. I have sisters who need me. When they find someone who wants to pay for me, I’ll escape. If you can help then...”
“We can bring in the police. All you have to do is testify. Tell the truth,” I said.
“If I do that, they just pick up and move everyone to another area. They have a scatter plan. You’d have to catch them together and with their guard down. And have proof.” Candance looked around, paranoid.
“You can get proof. You have a phone. They let you out to go to a club. I know the owner of Dungeon. I can be there without suspicion. You can leave messages and evidence. I can have men there to protect you. Don’t underestimate me,” I said.
“I want to get my sisters out,” she said.
I nodded. “We will find a way. You’re eighteen?” I asked.
“Nineteen,” she answered.
“You’re an adult so that’s good. One step at a time. Don’t let them suspect. Are you safe? If you need to be rescued, I can arrange it.” I texted Gunnar to approach.
“I’m safe for now. What are you doing?” she asked.
“I want you to know one of my guys. Just in case. You need to know he’s safe.” I hit the button on the window.
Gunnar parked his car and stepped out.
“This is Gunnar. He works for me. He’s gay. If you need help, he’s your guy,” I said.
Gunnar waved.
Candace nodded but didn’t look Gunnar in the eye. “Thank you. I need to go. I’ll be missed if I stay too long.”
“Okay. Stay in touch,” I said.
Candace was gone in a blink. She marched off into the marsh and trees.
“What the heck?” Gunnar asked.
