by Rhea Wilde
“Put this on.”
I turned and saw the driver of the limo had stepped out. He held a black leather bag in front of me, his arm extended forward.
“What?” I said to him.
“Put this on. Put it over your head.”
“What? Why?”
“If you want to meet Victor Castle, put the bag on. Otherwise, you can go take a fucking walk.”
This is insane.
I looked at the bag. There was no telling what I was getting myself into. They could be sending me into a trap. I wasn’t prepared to defend myself any better than Kimmy was.
“Are you gonna put the fucking bag on or what?”
“Fine,” I sighed.
I swiped the bag out of the limo driver’s hand and tucked it over my head.
What the hell am I doing?
Everything went dark. The bag was hot and it was hard to breathe. Hands on each of my arms guided me forward. I bent down and took a seat inside of what I assumed was the limo. The door closed and I felt us speeding off.
“What’s this all about?” a voice said to me. “What kind of business proposal you got?”
“My proposal is only for Victor Castle and no one else.”
“…We don’t get too many people like you. Usually they’re young punks looking for a piece of the action or young girls trying to make a name for themselves. It must be some kind of offer.”
I bit my tongue and didn’t speak another word. I just closed my eyes and prepared for the inevitable even though I didn’t know what it was exactly.
What the hell am I doing? How am I gonna get out of this?
I was heading right into the lion’s den. There was a chance I wasn’t even going to speak to Castle.
My nerves began to build up. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Sweat appeared on my arms and underneath my shirt. I swallowed nervously as the limo slowly came to a halt.
“This way.”
The limo door opened and I was dragged out.
“Stand up straight. On your feet. Walk this way.”
A hand on my back pushed me forward. I kept walking, unsure of how many steps I’d taken or what direction I was heading. After a few seconds, the bag came off of my head. I blinked my eyes and looked around.
It appeared to be a warehouse but I couldn’t be sure. The ceiling stretched up several stories but it only housed a few tables in front of me. Boxes filled with God knows what surrounded me. I wasn’t too hung up on the decor though because the first thing I noticed was the men lined up against the wall. Each one of them was more menacing than the last. They didn’t look out of the ordinary. I wouldn’t have mistaken them for the guys I saw in the city at the wrong time of night. But they weren’t smiling. They were all in a bad mood. And they were all staring at me.
I was so distracted by them I didn’t even notice the man sitting in front of me.
“Welcome,” the man said, his voice smooth and calm.
I looked at him and he smiled back at me.
He leaned back in his chair, his fingers crossed with one another and his hands resting in his lap. He wore a pair of sunglasses, so I couldn’t look him in the eyes. His hair was jet black and slicked back over his head and tied into a ponytail. He had a goatee that looked like he managed it every few hours to avoid a single hair getting out of place. He was pale. His skin was light like he avoided the sun. But his physique was anything but sickly. Even underneath a black suit and tie, I could see his broad shoulders and stout chest pushing on the fabric.
It took me less than a second to know it was him.
Victor Castle…
He eyeballed me from behind his shades. I stared back at him. I was seething. I wanted to leap forward and strangle him across the table. I didn’t even know the truth but I wanted to hurt him. Just the way he sat there made me sick to my stomach.
His lips slowly curled into a half-smile as he looked at me.
“So… You have a business proposal, you say? I find that hard to believe. I think the old shipping clerk got tricked. You know, I don’t like it when people waste my time. And I certainly don’t like it when people lie to me. But you know who really doesn’t like either of those things? Bender over here. Bender doesn’t like it because he has better things to do. Isn’t that right, Bender?”
He pointed behind me. I turned around and I saw the mountain of a man I saw exit the limo standing behind me. I clenched my jaw and maintained my composure before turning back to the man sitting in front of me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “How rude of me? I am Victor Castle. And you are?”
Don’t do anything crazy now…
I thought about it for a few seconds. Against my better judgment, I decided to go all-in.
“My name is Sheila Cooper. You put my friend Kimmy Woods in the hospital.”
“Ah,” Castle said with a smirk. “There it is. There’s the proposal. I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. I don’t even know who you’re talking about—”
“Yes, you do. She was a girl. She was only a teenager.”
“Kimmy… Kimmy… Oh! Now I remember. She actually spoke about you. I do remember her mentioning a Sheila. In fact, you were the reason I couldn’t come to an arrangement with her.”
“Arrangement? You beat her half to death!”
“I didn’t lay a finger on her. Nobody in this room did.”
“And I suppose she ended up in the hospital all by herself.”
Castle gave me a grin that made my stomach turn.
“Kimmy could have been special. She would have been one of my best girls. She would be wealthy and successful. But she didn’t want it. She kept mentioning something about not wanting someone to worry. About not wanting to let down Sheila. I suppose this is all your fault.”
“You son of a bitch—”
I moved forward without thinking. A hand quickly grasped my arm and held me in place. I looked behind me and Bender stared back at me. It was enough to put fear into any person’s heart.
“I didn’t do anything to that poor girl,” Castle said as he stood up from his seat. “She made her decision. Now, some people might argue we make a lot of mistakes when we’re young but you live and you learn. Of course, she might not live to learn what she did wrong but that’s just life.”
Victor moved closer to me. My teeth were grinding into dust with every step he took. He moved right in front of me and I continued to struggle against Bender’s grip on my right arm.
“You’re a grown woman though,” Castle continued. “You should know better than to make mistakes. Mistakes like coming to me and confronting me about something I never did.”
“You hurt her. I’m gonna make sure you pay for it.”
“You can’t prove anything. Nobody saw anything. Nobody was there. Some poor girl ended up in a ditch. How it happened, nobody will ever know.”
I reached up with my free arm and slapped him across the face. His glasses shifted enough for me to see his green eyes. They stared back at me for just a second before he straightened his shades. The men lining the walls all took a step toward me. Castle put his hand up to stop all of them.
“Settle down, gentlemen,” he said. “The woman is just trying to let off some steam. She made a mistake and she’s a little frustrated.”
He straightened his tie then slicked his hair back over his head before calmly taking a seat back in his chair.
“If I ever see you again, it won’t be as pleasant as this meeting,” he said. “It was a pleasure, Sheila. But I don’t think your proposal is something I’m interested in. Now… escort this lovely woman away. Take her, I don’t know, back to the shelter. That’s right… The shelter where all of those poor souls go when they’re down on their luck. Kimmy told me all about it.”
Bender secured my other arm. I continued trying to struggle against him, my eyes still locked on Castle.
“I don’t want anything to happen to all of those poor people. But they might make the wrong decisi
on. Think about it, Sheila. Make sure they don’t make the same mistake you just made.”
Before I could do anything more, a bag went over my head. My yell was muffled. All I could do was move in the direction I was being forced.
Chapter 11
I had a lot of time to contemplate my next move. It was a good thing I did, considering I didn’t know what my next move was going to be.
My encounter with Victor Castle went about as well as I expected it to. I didn’t have any evidence, but I confirmed he was the one responsible for what happened to Kimmy. There were countless other crimes he was responsible for as well. The most important thing was I was still alive. I still had a chance.
The chilling warning Castle gave me stuck with me. A room full of goons and an over-sized thug made sure of that. But Castle himself was more intimidating than I could have imagined. I couldn’t let that stop me. I had to keep going. I had to do something.
I replayed the situation over and over in my head several times while I rode in the limo. I was thrown out of it a few moments later. I stumbled forward to find myself right in front of the shelter I worked at. There was no telling how much they knew about me based on my connection to Kimmy. I had to protect myself. I had to protect the people in the shelter.
I spent the next few hours by myself. Marie wasn’t interested in having me work at the shelter for even a little bit because my knee still wasn’t 100-percent. Even sitting in my office and counseling people was too much for her. I wasn’t interested in the earful I knew she’d give me.
So I waited. I sat in the park to pass the time. I watched all of the people. The city residents all enjoyed their summer. Families had small picnics. Kids ran in the grass. Couples cuddled close to each other and basked in the warmth of the blistering sun. My thoughts were empty as I watched everybody go about their day.
I didn’t know how long I’d sat there. I’d gotten so used to the sun and the heat of the summer I didn’t notice when it started to slowly die down. With nighttime approaching, I headed over to Underwood.
I had enough problems. Explaining to Noah I’d searched for Castle without him was just another concern I’d forgotten about.
When I arrived, Lou glanced at me for just a second. I thought he would have shooed me away but he didn’t. He let me walk by him and into the garage, where I saw Noah hard at work like he always was.
His shirt was off. Sweat darkened his skin. The grease from his work blended in with the tattoo stained on his arm. He glistened underneath the light of the dim room. In nothing but a pair of jeans and some work gloves, Noah put his tools to work underneath the hood of a small car.
Something was different though. As soon as I stepped in, I heard the music playing. I looked over to the side and saw the small MP3 player. The music wasn’t loud but it was enough to fill up the room and eliminate the old silence from before. It was some metal band I couldn’t place.
“You took my advice about the music,” I said.
Noah looked up from underneath the hood and nodded his head to me.
“Yeah. I talked to Lou and he didn’t seem to mind. It was something he was going to throw away.”
“Is this the kind of music you’re into?”
“Some of the guys in my squad, yeah… I just got used to it. Before it all just sounded like noise but they tried to explain it to me. A bunch of screeching guitars and guys chanting like they’re trying to summon a demon. I still don’t get it but you get used to it. Some things just take time.”
“Yeah… Listen, Noah…”
Noah went back to work underneath the hood. While he was distracted, I rubbed my hands together in a way to relieve some of the anxiousness I began to feel.
“I know you’re busy,” I said.
“It’s all right. I can talk and work. What’s on your mind?”
“It’s just… It’s about Castle. I—”
“You went after him already. You went to the docks without me.”
Noah kept working on the car without skipping a beat. I blinked in confusion and shook my head as if it would make me understand what he just said.
“What?”
“You went after Castle,” he said as he stood up straight and finally turned to me.
“What? How do you know?”
“Because I think I got a good idea about what you would do and what kind of woman you are.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah. You’re the kind of woman who thinks it would be a good idea to walk around the city alone after a night of drinking. You’re the kind of woman who promised justice to a little girl when all you had was a name. You’re a woman who takes it personally when someone else, an honest, innocent person, is down on their luck like the people at your shelter.”
Noah stopped looking at me then went back to work.
“We were supposed to go together,” he continued. “I knew I couldn’t stop you. It would have been dumb to think you’d wait for me to get off work so we could go together.”
I was stunned. I was also relieved that I didn’t have to explain anything to him. The blunt reasoning he gave me made sense. I just wasn’t sure how well it sat with me.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s who you are. I just wonder if you realize how dangerous of a situation you put yourself in.”
“I realize that. I realize that now more than ever.”
“Good. Then now you know this isn’t a game. You can’t go into this blind.”
“Noah—”
He stood up again and closed the hood of the car. While he took his gloves off, he moved closer to me.
“I know you’re trying to do the right thing,” he said. “Some poor girl is stuck in a hospital because of what some heartless asshole did to her. You promised her you would do something. You did what any decent person would have done. But you’re going about this the wrong way.”
“And what way should I be going about this?”
“You just… You have to be more patient. You have to wait for an opportunity.”
“You planned on going to the docks with me? This was your plan just as much as it was mine.”
“I knew there was no stopping you. I just wanted to do my part. You would have hated me if I didn’t help you get some information. I would have hated myself if we hadn’t spoken to Tommy.”
It was strange to hear all of this from Noah. I looked down at the ground and tried to process all of the information.
“I’m sorry. I—”
“You don’t have to apologize,” he interrupted me. “I’m on your side. I can’t stop you from doing what you’re going to do. I just want you to know I want to help.”
I looked up at him and he was smiling. The sincere look on his face was one of the few comforts I had in my life at the moment. The familiarity I saw in his eyes made me feel like I was talking to a childhood friend.
“So, how did it go?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Victor Castle. Did you find out anything about him?”
“I…”
I turned around and slowly walked in the other direction.
“I did more than that. I… found… him.”
“You found him?”
“Yeah,” I said with a nervous chuckle.
“Hold on. You met Victor Castle?”
“It wasn’t really a meeting. It was more like a warning.”
I turned back around to look at Noah and the sincerity on his face was gone, replaced by a seriousness that made me uncomfortable to see. Noah was one of the most kind-hearted men I knew. Seeing him the way he was now meant something was wrong.
“I guess that’s not surprising,” he sighed. “Victor Castle has a reputation. I don’t even know the guy but I’m concerned about him. Men like him don’t get a reputation without doing something. This is serious.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Good. We both agree on that. Lis
ten…”
He moved closer to me as he continued to speak.
“I want to show you something. I want to take you somewhere. Tonight. As soon as I get off work.”
“Where?”
“Just… Just trust me. It’ll only be a few more hours, okay?”
“Yeah. Of course. I don’t mind.”
I took a seat in the corner of the garage and Noah returned to work. He didn’t say much. He seemed happy and focused on what he was doing. It was easy to get distracted. Watching his body twist and turn underneath the hood of the car would have been enough to keep any woman distracted. Now and then my thoughts would linger on the dilemma I found myself in. But having Noah there with me was enough to give me some measure of comfort.
I didn’t know how much time had gone by when Noah put the hood of the car down. He cleaned the grease and sweat off of himself and covered his physique in a tight grey t-shirt. His muscles bulged, probably aching from a long day of toiling in the garage by himself. For a moment, I remembered our night together. I wondered if he were thinking about it, too. But now wasn’t an appropriate time to mention it.
After he was done, Noah rolled his chopper out of the garage like I had seen him do before and he offered me a seat behind him.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see. Just wait.”
I hopped on the bike and squeezed him tight. I’d gotten used to the nauseating feeling of speeding along on a bike from last time. Wrapping my arms around Noah while the city zoomed by me was a feeling like nothing else. The wind blew against my face and through my hair. The breeze was enough to make me forget that the city was on fire in the middle of a hot summer.
I was just beginning to enjoy myself when we arrived at our destination. We were in the parking lot of a lone building. There was no visible sign but the lights were on and even from this distance I could see what was inside.
“Is this—”
“Yes,” he said. “Come with me.”
As I got closer to the building, I looked inside of the windows and my initial observation was confirmed.
“Those are guns,” I said.
