Hindrance

by Angelica Chase

  How long had I been out?

  I knew he wanted me to tell him what had happened, but my mouth couldn’t form the words. Instead, I dialed 911. Yes, I cared, and if Devin was left to bleed to death and I could have prevented it … I couldn’t live with that. After I called the police and gave them the address of the injured man I shot—conveniently leaving that part out—I hung up.

  “And you shot him?”

  “Yes, out of fear. He was standing when I left.” I took several calming breaths before I questioned him. “How did you find me?”

  “Tracking device on your cell and cars. We discussed that, remember?” I nodded, very much in the same state of mind as he was when he’d told me about it months ago. He sent a text as I looked around us, suddenly terrified I’d never feel safe again.

  “Oh my God,” I cried into my hands. I couldn’t stop shaking. I reached in my purse for my emergency Xanax but Cedric stilled my hands.

  “Okay, Nina, before you medicate, let’s switch seats and I’ll drive you home, okay?”

  I looked down at my hands, sure I would see blood on them, but there was nothing. I pulled at the rearview to look at my face and realized I had makeup on. Makeup, how trivial was makeup? Why the hell did we try so hard to hide our flaws? What was the point? Anyone who truly knew you would see them; no amount of paint could truly cover up the ugly in someone.

  Suddenly the dim light from the parking lot showcased every flaw I had. I began wiping at my face furiously to erase them.

  “Nina,” Cedric said calmly. “I need you to listen to me. I want you to get into the passenger side, okay? I’ll give you a few more minutes to collect yourself and then you will need to tell me what happened.” I nodded, still not really hearing him, but moved to get into the passenger seat, keeping my gun close.

  I buckled my seat belt but Cedric stayed where he was as he waited for me to talk. It was a little over ten minutes before I was calm enough to relay the story.

  “He was … mutilating her. With her consent!” I closed my eyes, trying to erase the image of the bloodied girl from my mind.

  “He’s in the one percent.”

  “Pardon?”

  “I’m sure you have heard of BDSM.”

  “Oh, God, not the Dom shit again!” Despite my comment, I perked my ears up because I knew whatever he had to say might actually be on point.

  “The community has a small amount that practice extreme BDSM. It’s not news to me, and honestly, if I stumbled upon it, I would have to take action. It’s some sick shit, consensual or not, and highly illegal. If you could find the victim, we could have him arrested. She wouldn’t even have to press charges because the state would.”

  “I have no idea who she was. She left and actually refused my help before she did.”

  “That’s how he gets away with it, and it’s typical. Some of these people have serious issues. Some of the women either enjoy the abuse or find release in it. They are like cutters, but to the extreme.” He glanced over at me and I shook my head, disgusted. I remembered the girls moan in between screams and shuddered.

  “Look,” I told Cedric, pointedly, “this may not be news to you but my life, my childhood, my upbringing, and what I thought was nightmarish about it was pretty fucking normal. This … shit … is not normal.”

  “It is to Aiden.”

  I felt the nail drive through my heart at the loss of who I thought he was. “He’s a monster.”

  “Very much so. But to him, it’s pleasure.”

  “How do you know so much about this?” I turned to Cedric, who eyed me with concern. “I’ve become aware in a few situations I’ve had to get involved in. Nothing as extreme as the one you’ve described.”

  “So there is nothing we … I can do, to put him away? To stop him?”

  “Yes and no. It would be extremely difficult.”

  A few minutes of silence lingered as I let my mind wonder. All I felt was dread at the thought that Devin might be lying there. Aiden had called us his hindrance. Without Devin, how far would he go?

  “I have to know if Devin’s all right. I just left him there!”

  “I have a confession,” Cedric said suddenly.

  Oh, God. I eyed the gun I still held in my lap and he smirked. “Nothing you’ll need your gun for, Nina, but you really are improving on awareness.” I let my shoulders slump as the calming effect of the Xanax kicked in. I gave him a ‘what is it?’ look.

  “I’ve been working with Devin to find the man who was hired to kill you.”

  I snapped my attention to him. He lifted his fingers up and straightened them in a ‘I know’ gesture. “At first I was suspicious, but when he gave me the number that Eileen texted to carry out the order, I followed up. That’s how we found him. It turned out to be some drunk living here in Savannah that Eileen knew from high school back in Charleston. He wasn’t a professional. He was just down on his luck, needed quick money.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I wanted to make sure he was our only threat. I didn’t fully trust Devin and I didn’t want you relieving me fully until I was sure.”

  “And now?”

  “He was found in his garage in his car last night, dead. Apparently Eileen didn’t pay him, so he gassed out.”

  I felt nauseated as I eyed him.

  “Hang in there, Nina. The hard part is almost over.”

  “Oh, there’s more,” I said as I opened the car door, retching onto the cement. When I finished emptying myself, I closed the door then locked it.

  “Yes,” he said calmly. I hated that he was so calm, but one of us needed to be. “Isn’t there always?”

  A loud knock on my car window made me jump. It was Devin. He looked like hell and was ghastly white. I turned on Cedric.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Nina, I just had to tell him you were safe.”

  “You son of a bitch!” I honked the horn, garnering the attention of the restaurant goers who turned to look at us as Devin got into the back seat.

  Cedric addressed me with caution. “We are not going to hurt you.” I pulled my gun from my lap, pointing it back and forth between both men.

  Cedric spoke again. “Nina, you can exit the vehicle now and neither of us will follow you. You are free to go.” I looked at Cedric and then back at Devin, who looked at me with alarm before spouting off, “I really would love it if you would put that FUCKING GUN DOWN!”

  “Don’t yell at me!”

  “Stop shooting me!”

  Cedric grinned at us then turned on my ignition. “Where the fuck are you going?” I squeaked, suddenly sure I should’ve taken him up on his offer to exit the car. Cedric took the barrel of the gun and pointed it at him. “Keep it on me, Nina, okay?”

  I was completely out of my mind as I lowered it, choosing to see how this night would play out.

  “The Barracks,” Devin instructed.

  “Sure you can make it, man?” Cedric looked in the rearview, concern written in his features.

  “It’s just a deep scratch.” I looked back at Devin, who was already looking at me. “I never wanted you to see that.”

  “Well, I guess I was meant to,” I answered, still terrified. “What is The Barracks?”

  “Give me ten minutes, and I promise you’ll know everything.” Devin stared out the window, dread covering his features. “And then you can finally be rid of me.”

  We rode in silence, and I peeked at Devin as the shadows from the passing lights moved over his features. He was so insanely beautiful, even at his worst. He remained silent during the trip as I watched him, trying desperately to make sense of it. He finally looked at me as we pulled up. I turned my attention to the shack they had taken me too, and went stiff with fear. The building was boarded up, but I could see –arracks on the sign that was covered by one of the boards. The entrance was lit, but it was completely abandoned. It was absolutely terrifying.

  “So this is where I die,�
�� I mumbled.

  Both men chuckled dryly as Cedric got out of the car. Looking at Devin, he said, “I’ll give you two a minute.”

  I gave Cedric a puzzled look before he gave me a nod. “You are so fucking fired.”

  “You don’t need me anymore, anyway. You are safe, Nina.”

  I sat stunned, wanting to yell at my new best friend some more as he walked away from the car. I turned on the air conditioning, enjoying the cool air as I finally rested my gun in my purse.

  “I pictured a lot of things when I met you, Nina Scott, but never in a million years did I picture us in a car with me at gunpoint.”

  “Things change, people too, wouldn’t you agree?” That was the Xanax talking, I hoped he was as impressed with my calm demeanor as I was.

  Devin, sensing my inability to no longer tolerate any more bullshit, started without hesitation. “Our parents started this club. Our fathers were brothers.” I looked forward, briefly studying the heap of wood, trying to picture the building in its prime.

  “It was the first club in Savannah for the sexually promiscuous, and they overcame a ton of hurdles to open it.”

  “Lovely, really, Devin. A little gasoline and a match could do wonders for the place.”

  Devin chuckled as he always did at my sarcasm. My treacherous heart betrayed me as it reminded me I missed that.

  “Are you high?” he asked, still amused.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” He paused again, looking at me for a moment. “I’ve missed you so fucking much, Nina.”

  “That’s not what I came to hear.” I didn’t believe my own voice as I said it. He nodded before he continued.

  “Aiden’s family was the richest in Savannah, or rather his father once was. He had a huge hand in real estate. Their family home was built on the land you own.”

  “It was never Eileen’s.”

  “No.”

  I shook my head, pressing my lips together to keep from reacting before I heard the rest.

  “You can imagine growing up in an extreme BDSM household is kind of strange. My parents hid it from me mostly, while Aiden’s parents didn’t … at all. I would spend most summers at Aiden’s house and watch the odd goings on. I never really thought of it as wrong. I’d witnessed it since I was very young. Women tied to chairs half naked at the dinner table, different men dragging women around the house by their collars at parties. Sex was spontaneous and everywhere in the house. Aiden’s parents took us a time or two inside the club when mine were out of town. By the time we were old enough to play, we weren’t playing cops and robbers. We had imaginary subs of our own.”

  I cringed as I looked at him, but he seemed unaffected. “Jesus, Devin.”

  “My home was … more normal, I guess you can say, while Aiden grew up in the dark. Literally. The older we got, the more we … well, I realized how wrong things were, and it didn’t change as we grew up. They never hid it, and never planned to. Aiden’s mom was a junkie and wasn’t around much, anyway. And soon after the club opened, she stayed there most of the time ‘keeping the clients happy’. We were told to keep our ‘fucking mouths shut’ by Aiden’s father, who slapped him around a little to drive home the point. He was a real son of a bitch, and he treated his subs horribly.

  “As things progressed in the house, I noticed subtle changes in Aiden. He would go away when I spoke to him at times, simply dazed, just not paying attention, but he would always come back. One time I found him bound and gagged in the closet. His father had done it and left him there for an entire day. He was covered in filth. He was only eight. I went home that night and told my mother and the next day my parents took Aiden away, threatening his father with everything under the sun.”

  “You were both raised as Doms.”

  “I guess you could say that. My father was strict with my mother. I noticed the behavior and I knew it well. I wasn’t immune to the power he held over her. But I still knew it was consensual between them. Still is.

  “Aiden adjusted perfectly at home with us. It was pretty awesome for me to have him around since I was an only child. I’d suddenly gained a brother. His father never came for him, and if it bothered Aiden, he never showed it.”

  I nodded, trying my best to remain silent as Devin stared out the window and into his past.

  “When we were sixteen, I caught Aiden getting rough with his girlfriend. She left the house crying and Aiden closed up for a year after that. I think he was searching for a way to control his urges and thought he’d found it in her. He seemed heartbroken by it.”

  “You mean he’s capable of love?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll never really know.” Devin continued to stare at the building. “Needless to say, when he started dating heavily in high school, I became concerned, constantly on his ass, riding him over how to treat girls. We fought a lot, mostly out of my fear he would do it again. I loved him, but I was afraid of what he’d do even then. I could see it in him. He was a lot like his father, but I never voiced the concern to my parents. High school ended without incident, but what I didn’t know is that he’d spent his senior year experimenting on Eileen’s sister, Sandra.”

  “What?”

  “Aiden’s first victim was Sandra, my ex-wife’s sister. She’s a fucking monster in her own right and encouraged him in his sickness. I never knew of the connection until after I was married. This was hidden from me.”

  I nodded.

  “After graduation, Aiden came to me one night, completely covered in blood and crying for his soul. He was talking out of his mind and I kept asking him whose blood it was, but he refused to tell me. I was sure there would be a dead body or something by morning, but nothing ever came of it. And he never confided in me again after I went running to my mother. I was freaked out. I didn’t know how to help him. My mother made excuses for him, and less than a week later, it wasn’t even an issue. I knew then he might be a lost cause.

  “When we graduated high school, we parted ways, two different men. After years of only holidays together, I began to notice Aiden coming back into himself. He seemed better, happier. I was happy for him, no longer afraid of the monster he might become. When I decided to move to Charleston, he came with me. He was the first investor in my firm. I felt like I had my brother back. He’d told me in school he’d treated himself by learning about his urges, and learning to control them. I saw what you saw when you met him.”

  My heart was pounding as he continued. He let out a harsh breath. “Two years ago, and a month before I met you, Aiden mutilated the Governor of Georgia’s daughter.”

  “Oh, God, Devin.”

  “Aiden was fucked and was actually forced to relinquish his fortune to buy his way out of it. He was forced to sell his shares in my company to pay the good Governor, who took the loss of his twenty-five year old daughter’s innocence and turned it into profit. When Aiden came to me to liquidate his shares in order to pay him off, I flipped my shit, going to the Governor myself, pleading for him to do the right thing and hold Aiden accountable. Aiden found out and we had a blow out. He’d just cost me my company and ruined his own life

  “At the time, I had just asked Eileen for a divorce. She was determined to find leverage on me, and her sister gave it to her. Sandra is the one who sets up the meetings between Aiden and the women he tortures.”

  I felt my stomach roll again as I twisted my hands in my lap.

  “Anyway, Aiden encouraged Sandra to tell Eileen, knowing the damage it would cause. Eileen jumped on it and offered to bail me out with her father’s money, and I took it. She also agreed to keep quiet about my help in the cover up. No one would invest that amount of money in a company. It was either sink or swim.”

  Don’t I know that saying.

  “You didn’t cover anything up, Devin. You were just aware.”

  “Isn’t it the same?” Guilt covered his face as he finally looked at me. “I may not be the monster, but I’m the monster’s cloak. I’ve thought of a million differe
nt ways to handle the situation better since having met you.”

  I let my tears fall as he looked at me the way he always did when he was sincere. I just didn’t realize it until that moment.

  “You fucked my entire world up, too, but in a good way.” He winced and covered his arm as his lips turned up in a smirk. “You were so damned crazy with a need to fit in, you didn’t see how fucking immaculate you were as is. I fell in love with you our first meeting, and have regretted it ever since.” He chuckled as I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “I’m not a good man, Nina. The things I’ve done have ruined me from ever being truly good for any woman, but I couldn’t shake the way you made me feel. The way you looked at me. I wanted to deserve it. I lied about my marriage, I hid these things from you, and you had every right to flee.” He faced the window again.

  “I think Aiden witnessed his father’s sickness vividly when he was young and something happened that he never confessed. He had a thirst and he was ashamed of it, at least at first.

  “A few months after Aiden was taken from him, his father was found hanging in that shed. He’d burned his house to the ground before he did it. Aiden’s mother was already long gone. She’d run off with some junkie from the club, and Aiden inherited all of his fortune.” He cleared his throat, as if to keep his sadness away. “I lost my brother a long time ago. I should never have let it go this far. Part of me didn’t think I should be responsible for his shit. I told myself I wasn’t his keeper. I ignored it, acted like it had nothing to do with me. I had a life to live of my own. I had broken all ties with him personally, but once I saw the two of you were involved, there was no escaping it. And you wouldn’t let go of the goddamned land.” He shook his head slowly back and forth with a small smirk.

  I stayed quiet as I pieced together my time with Aiden. He was every girl’s dream, and he’d made it that way, making it impossible to believe anything different. He’d played his part so well, I couldn’t help but to wonder if any of it was genuine.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me,” I cried as I trembled, knowing the truth.