by Hart, Eve R.
“Any word on the other stuff?”
“No word. I don’t think anyone from that hick town has even looked into it.”
“Are you sure? Maybe Mullins is keeping a tight lid on it,” I said. I knew Cable had said that there hadn’t been any calls made, but there were still things that could slip by. He couldn’t monitor every single thing they did. Every single email they used or phone. I wasn’t blaming him, I was just covering all of our asses.
Connor grinned, a guilty kind of one.
“If there was something, I’d know. Got a little piece in the department that likes to keep her nose in everyone’s business. Thing is, no one notices because she is just a file girl. But she’s in and out of everyone’s office all day long. She knows everything. And all I have to do is fuck it out of her.”
I shook my head but couldn’t hold back the smile from my face.
“But I never said that,” he finished with a serious look on his face.
“Loud and clear, man,” I told him as I sat back.
“How are you going to handle it?”
“Still thinkin’ on it. But from what we gather, I don’t think they are going to want any heads turned in their direction. I’m worried they might kill the mother to keep it all quiet.”
“Damn,” he breathed out with a shake of his head.
The more I thought about it, the more I got this twisted feeling in my gut.
This had turned into a big mess.
I needed to get it handled as soon as fucking possible.
I slid my glass across the table.
Connor didn’t hesitate to toss it back.
“Alright,” I said and followed B-ry out of the booth. “I’ll keep you updated if there’s anything you need to know.”
“I hope I don’t hear from you,” he replied as he leaned back in the booth to look up at me.
With a nod, we headed out, Blade getting up and taking up the rear as we passed by.
“I’m gonna ride,” I told them as we climbed onto our bikes. “Got some plannin’ to do.”
I took off thinking I needed to plan fast. Not only because I needed to get this shit taken care of, but also because I wasn’t going to miss Abigail’s dinner.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Petra
Midori had been smart. She kept her sister entertained enough with movies and nail painting and such. Enough to where the girl wasn’t asking questions. And the next day when that didn’t work any longer, she took Amy out to show her the town.
I sent Garen along with them for two reasons. To keep an eye on them to make sure nothing happened and to listen.
Midori hadn’t returned to work since she’d been taken. I was in no rush to have her back. While I was down a girl, I knew it was best to let her work through what she needed to. The last thing I needed was for her to get in a room with a client and have a meltdown.
Garen sent me a text and I headed up to Midori’s apartment.
He stepped out just as I reached the door.
“Amy is asleep and Midori is in the shower,” he told me right away so I would know that he wasn’t leaving the two of them alone to talk.
There were dark circles under his eyes and even I could see that he looked a little aggravated.
“Is there a problem? Do I need to put someone else on them?” I asked flatly.
“No,” he rushed to answer. “I’m fine. I just don’t get much sleep sitting upright in that chair.”
I nodded figuring that one of the girls had the bed and the other took the couch. That didn’t leave many places for Garen to sleep.
“Is the sister suspicious of your presence?”
He hesitated on his answer which caused my head to tilt while I studied him closely with my eyes.
“Midori told her that we are… together.” He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “I moved the chair into the bedroom and Midori has the bed.”
I nodded understanding what he meant.
“Have you touched her?” I asked with a raised brow.
“No,” he told me, his eyes devoid of any kind of emotion. “My problems are mine to deal with and I plan on keeping it that way.”
I didn’t miss the way he was throwing the conversation we’d already had in my face.
I let it slide because I saw that he believed the words that came out of his mouth.
“I need to know things now. I can’t wait any longer. With the sister here, I don’t feel comfortable.”
“I understand,” he told me with an unhappy nod. He wasn’t going to stand in my way. He worked for me and he knew that.
“I think they were close at one point. This is me guessing here, but they were raised in a town that was strict with their religious beliefs. A small town, but you know that much.” I did and he knew it too from the information we’d already gathered. “I think Midori ran because she was too smart. She knew what was going on and she didn’t want to be a part of it.”
I didn’t have enough information to agree or disagree with that statement.
“Midori is worried about what is going to happen to her sister now that her dad is dead and her mother is in jail,” he said not even fazed by my silence. “She’s worried that her mother is in trouble.”
“Why would she worry about that? If she has been arrested then she’s more than likely sitting in a jail cell or out on bail. I’m sure she has a lawyer by now.”
He shook his head as if telling me that I wasn’t understanding it. And I wasn’t.
“It’s a small town, Petra. One that sounds like it stays small for a reason.” My eyes narrowed slightly at him and I was telling him to spit it out. “They have secrets. Things they don’t want people to take notice of. Marriage certificates for girls that have barely reached puberty. Children bred only to keep the word alive and spread their beliefs. Law enforcement with blood ties placed there to keep things quiet.”
“So what you are saying is that they will do anything to keep the silence.” It wasn’t really a question. More of a pointedly made statement.
“Yes.”
“Then we should have nothing to worry with,” I said with a small shrug. “If they silence the mother because they don’t want any attention, then it dies there, right? Even if they want to get Midori back, they have to see that it didn’t work the first time. I’m sure they realize that they are up against something much bigger than they can handle.”
Garen let out a sigh as his head shook back and forth.
“Petra, they are probably going to kill their mother,” he said. “Who is going to take care of Amy then? Huh? Is she going to come live here? How is Midori going to support her? Or explain to her how she makes a living? Or what about, how are they going to feel about losing the only family they have left?”
I could sense the anger in his tone rising with each word he said but he managed to keep his voice low so that no one would hear.
“I see your point,” I told him, holding my hand up so that he would stop his incessant rant. Maybe a part of me felt sorry about the mother, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made in order to protect others. I had no connection to this woman other than she was Midori’s mother. When Midori came to me, she made it seem as if she wanted nothing to do with her family. So why should it matter?
I already had a few answers to that running through my head.
This didn’t make things easy but that also didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to take care of it somehow.
“What do you suggest I do?” I asked him because short of driving down there and killing everyone that stepped in my way, I had no clue how to handle it.
“I don’t know, Petra. This is bigger than anything we’ve had to deal with before.”
That was true. While I might have come up against more evil people, this problem wasn’t tied up with a nice bow. It was spread out and it seemed like with every head we cut off, another one grew.
“Send Midori to my office when she’s done,” I said and then turned o
n my heels.
Garen and I would come up with a plan, I knew it. But I also knew that it was something we were going to have to think on. I wouldn’t go in without being prepared, and Garen wouldn’t let me even if I tried.
Down in my office, I pulled the vodka bottle and clean glass from my bottom drawer. I poured a healthy amount before tossing it down my throat.
I waited, having a feeling that it wouldn’t be long.
Midori’s knock was soft and when I told her to come in, her steps entered hesitantly.
“Garen said you wanted to see me?” she asked softly.
Her hair was still wet, and she had on a pair of sweat pants and a baggy shirt that hung off her shoulder.
“Have a seat,” I told her sternly.
She did, her legs seemed to give out as she attempted to lower herself down.
“I understand that this hasn’t been easy for you,” I tried to be as soft as I could manage. “But I can no longer wait for you to snap out of it. I need to know things that you can tell me. I don’t like being blindsided, and I was with this.”
“I know,” she said her head dropping down in shame.
Remembering how shaken she’d been when I watched her on the feed, I figured she knew they were coming for her.
“Did you know they were here?”
“Yes. Well, sort of. I guess, I had a feeling they were coming for me,” she answered. “My father called me a few weeks before… that day. I told him that I wasn’t ever coming home. Then my brother called me and I told him the same. I figured that if they came here then they’d see where I worked and who you were and they’d back off.”
“It seems that didn’t happen.”
“No, it didn’t. But I also didn’t think my brother was crazy enough to kidnap me.” Her anger was showing. I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at me or her brother. “I never meant for things to get so out of hand.”
“You should have come to me right away. I could have fixed it. As it was, you put many lives in danger and one of Iron’s men ended up dead.”
I thought about Iron then, seeing the look of pain that was on his face clear in my mind. It was a burden that I couldn’t help ease.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“What about now? How am I supposed to fix this and keep it contained? Your ass isn’t the one on the line. I don’t think you understand what is at stake here.”
My heart began to speed up and there was a fire filling my veins. I knew what it was, I had felt it before. Only those times I had been out for blood. I didn’t want to be angry with Midori and I didn’t want to hurt her, but I also needed to know that she understood the seriousness of the consequences to her actions.
“What do you want me to say, Petra?” Her eyes fell downcast as she let out a resigned sigh. “I don’t like lying to my sister but I get that I have to in order to keep us all safe. Her included.”
I believed her. It didn’t make the whole situation any easier but at least it was one less thing I had to worry about.
“I need you to tell me everything. Start from the beginning,” I said calmly.
With a sad nod, she started her story.
I listened silently as she told me about her childhood.
She explained how she was raised with the word of the church and how she had believed it blindly for a long time. It wasn’t until she was nearly eighteen when she realized that what was going on around her wasn’t something she wanted to be a part of. She had been lucky because she hadn’t been married off young. Her father held no power, working a pointless job most of his life. She hadn’t been a sought after prize, especially with her looks. Tears were in her eyes as she told me all of this. I wasn’t sure why she was crying but I had to admit that I felt a sense of anger flicker through me.
When she told me that, I paused. I tried to see her from these peoples’ point of view, but I couldn’t.
Midori was striking in her looks. It was part of what made me hire her. I knew that there would be men that would be thrilled with what she had to offer. And that was before I knew everything she’d be able to do. I think she didn’t even know herself at the point I had given her a chance.
I couldn’t lie, I knew she was a little innocent. Not quite a virgin but she still had that bright, wide-eyed look to her.
She explained how she was raised in a town where everyone went to the same church and held the same values. Her family never traveled and as far as she was aware, not many of the townspeople ever left town unless it was to go to a nearby town for something they needed.
When she told me that her best friend had married at fourteen, a cold chill ran through my body.
Midori told me that it was a normal thing and she didn’t realize how wrong it was until she was nearly eighteen.
That was the reason she ran. She had been moving from town to town the three years before she found me.
“She was uncomfortable,” Midori said talking about her friend. “But I don’t think she knew what was going on. They didn’t teach us any kind of sex education, of course. And we had learned that you were made to serve two things, the Lord and your husband.”
She stared blankly at the wall behind me. The sound of my nail tapping on my desk brought her back. With a quick shake of her head, she carried on.
“It showed weakness when I left. My family looked weak and my father looked even weaker not being able to keep me under control.” She let out a choppy sigh. “Deep down, I knew they would want me back and that they wouldn’t ever stop looking for me.”
“These are all things that I would have liked to have known before they found you,” I told her with a flat expression. “But there is nothing to be done about it now.”
“I’m sorry, Petra,” she said and began to cry harder. “I didn’t think anyone would get hurt. It was me they wanted. If you hadn’t…”
I gave her no sympathy in my look. I refused to see that I had done the wrong thing by going out and searching for her.
“I was wrong,” she said. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I know that you’re angry with me and all I want is to fix it.”
“I’m not mad,” I told her with a small shrug. “However, you have lost my trust and I haven’t decided if you can even earn it back. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to keep you and your sister safe.”
“Thank you,” she said softly as her chin dropped to her chest. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now. With our mother in jail, Amy has no one to take care of her.”
“Are you the only relative left?”
“Yes. Well, we have a grandfather but our parents put him in a nursing home a few towns over when he started showing signs of dementia.”
“So you will have to take care of her. Maybe you should put your focus on that right now.” I realized that she had been through a lot with recently but it was time for her to start figuring out how to shake herself out of it. Maybe if she had something important to focus on then she wouldn’t sit around letting her mind relive that night.
“I’m going to see what I can do about getting your mother out. You are going to help me,” I said.
I had no intentions of involving her more than to get information out of her and her sister. I knew when it came to the girl, Midori would have a softer touch.
They weren’t going to know that my plan was more than simply saving her mother. I had to make sure that nothing ever came back on me, her, or the club.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Iron
I had a plan.
I had men coming along to back me up.
I had it all set.
Except for the Petra part.
I realized I was in a relationship now and though it was club business, I really should have let her know. After all, she was kind of part of this whole thing. It was her ass on the line before mine. All connections led to her business and her girl. And while I knew she’d never give me or the club up if she got caught, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her
until it was done.
See, the problem was that I knew her too well. And if Petra knew that there was something that involved her, she’d want to have a hand in it.
I had to protect my woman, even if it was from herself.
If I told her the plan, she’d insist on going along and even more than that, she’d want to take the lead. It wouldn’t matter if I threw all the logical reasons she should stay out of it at her, once she had blood on her mind, there was no stopping her.
I pulled out a change of clothes figuring I’d probably need them at some point. I thought about Petra with everything I piled onto my bed.
She would hate me for this when she found out. And I knew that she would. I was just hoping that it wouldn’t be until after it was over. I blindly prayed that she wouldn’t try to walk away from me because of it.
I paused, looking down at my bed. I saw Petra there in my mind, her arms and legs wrapped around me while she slept.
I’d do anything to protect her just like I would my club.
Even if that meant I lost her.
Yeah, I’d be kickin’ myself for this decision later.
I knew I wouldn’t get away with leaving town without seeing her one more time. That didn’t mean that I was going to tell her anything. But if shit with her and me went sour, I wanted to have one more night.
I left my stuff neatly on the bed once I had it all together.
The ride to her place was quick.
I took the elevator up to her penthouse and let myself in.
“Iron?”
I heard her heels click across the room as I stepped out of the elevator.
“I need you, Pet,” I said and didn’t wait for her to reach me.
With wide steps, I scooped her up into my arms. My mouth was on hers before she had a chance to say anything.
Petra had been in my bed many times but I’d yet to see hers. That was going to change tonight.
“Take me to bed,” I said as my lips grazed her neck.
She took my hand, and a brief look of silent understanding passed between us when I pulled back to look into her eyes.
