Eli kept his eyes fixed on the traffic, making no effort to reply and Tori maintained her claim on Michael’s hand, giving him a small squeeze.
The car navigated in concentrated quiet for several minutes. Tori watched out the window attentively. She outwardly wore her placid disguise, although the lack of knowledge wore on her nerves. Noticing the sign as they crossed into New Jersey, she began to feel a heightened amount of curiosity, what the hell is going on?
Michael had perked up as well, peering out his own window more keenly as the landmarks were becoming all too familiar. Passing a sign that read Short Hills, Eli finally began to explain. “We brought you here so that you can help us assess a situation, at the request of the victims.” He twisted in the seat and spoke to the man seated behind him.
Michael muttered, “Oh, shit,” under his breath and studied his wife’s profile carefully as Eli continued, Tori focused on the man who spoke.
“Two days ago, the home of your former employers was vandalized, and several of the staff murdered. For some reason, these men think you will be able to help with this investigation. So, here you are.” His voice sounded cross, as if he were suppressing his negative commentary on the decision to bring Michael in.
Tori inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, as this really had nothing to do with her, and she was only there for the moral support of her companion. Meeting his gaze, she managed a weak smile of reassurance, noting the tense lines that marred his handsome features.
The car pulled through a large pair of wrought iron gates and onto a large estate, making its way around the curving drive to park in front of the massive home. The sun bright in the late afternoon, Tori continued to gaze about with great interest.
Using their German for privacy, Michael commenced to give her the rundown on what he knew. “This is one of the houses Indelible owns, one that they all share. They have individual residences, but this one they bought together for times when they were working in New York, which is fairly often.”
His eyes peering around more rapidly, he continued, “The estate is roughly eleven acres and the house has seven bedrooms or suites, each with a private bath, walk in closet and sitting area, plus a whole assortment of other community rooms. It’s a fucking palace. Theirs is a real rags to riches kind of story, if you get what I mean, and this is their showplace.”
After taking his summary in, Tori nodded. “What were your security details like?” she probed, causing Michael to swing his head around to look at her. “Sorry, old habit,” she shrugged off the question with a sheepish smile.
“We only kept a few security personnel here at the house,” he returned her grin, I’d be more shocked if she didn’t ask, “And the gate is or was manned twenty-four-seven. One inside on the cameras. Two that patrolled the house and grounds. Pretty light. No idea if they had changed any of that, though.”
The car rolled up in front of the entrance, and Eli got out. Opening the door for the couple to exit, Michael climbed out and Tori slid across the seat to look up at the enormous structure. “How many square feet?” she paused to inquire.
“Just over nineteen-thousand, all told,” he replied, grasping her fingers once more as they made their way up the short flight of steps and inside.
Smiling, Tori noticed he seemed to be holding onto her more than normal as they reached the doorway; that or I’m holding onto him.
Inside, the spectacular entry brought the house to life. The main staircase came down right into the foyer of the great hall, the floor made of a bright and cheerful checkerboard pattern laminate. There were large living areas off to both the left and right, and a hallway that went down the left side of the staircase, leading farther back into the house.
Immediately, Tori noticed that many of items she could see were smashed and broken, which gave her a chill, a small house in Scottsville, Texas, coming to mind. Relax baby girl, just some punks trashing the rich guy’s house, she tried to calm her jittery nerves.
To the left of the front door stood a table, where the pair dropped their packs on the floor underneath. Turning to Eli, they waited to be given a rundown on what was going on, but he remained tight-lipped, only motioning for them to follow.
Trailing behind him, they were led down the narrow hall. They weaved through several other rooms and passages before arriving at a very large kitchen on the backside of the dwelling. Upon entering, Tori could see all four of the band members scattered around the room. Michael entered first, releasing her for the moment, quickly met by a warm welcome.
“Thank God you came, man,” Brian Madson pounced over to him, slapping his hand in a hearty shake.
“No worries, man,” Michael nodded, “I’m gonna do whatever I can to help get to the bottom of this.”
The rest of the group eagerly echoed his sentiments, and Tori felt a little out of place as she surveyed the opulent design and listened to their familiar, manly banter. Yeah, I can sure see the riches. Stepping out from behind her husband to have a look around, the guys made their first realization she was present.
“Hey, you found your girl,” Cody Pierce, their lead singer commented, surprised to see her.
The girl he spoke of did not respond, lost in thought as the group of men carried on around her. Moving towards the far wall, she could see the wide yard, filled with various shades of lush green and bright floral splashes. Beneath the window, the wall had been painted with thick splotches of black spray paint. Well, this don’t look good.
She could hear the men talking, and suspected they were discussing her, distantly registering her name had been mentioned. She had become too engrossed in the odd things she had seen to worry about socializing at that particular moment, and paid no attention to the aimless chatter.
Michael noted her absorbed state, taking the opportunity to show off his wedding band, “Yeah, Tori’s my wife, not just my girl.” He grinned broadly at his former employers, a group of men he had come to think of as friends.
The four men congratulated him, although they were not as enthusiastic as he would have hoped. He recalled that Brian, the guitarist of the group, actually had a strong dislike of the girl. Probably a bit of rivalry there, Michael surmised, but then again, Tori’s pretty good, so it’s justified.
Furthermore, he knew Collin, the bass player, had offered to add her to his list of female conquests. She had turned him down, which surely didn’t sit well with the man. This only brought him a sense of deep satisfaction, having won the prize for himself.
Getting back on task, the men began to share details about the incident. Tori, taking up a squatting position, intended to have a closer look at the graffiti under the window, as something appeared to be showing through from underneath. She reached up and began to flake off bits of the paint.
Noticing her intrusion, Brian intercepted her with a small punch on the shoulder, “Hey, don’t touch anything,” while giving her an angry scowl. “You don’t even belong here.”
Well, he seems as fond of me as ever, she noted with a grimace. She blinked up at him for a moment, “I’m only trying to help.” I guess he’s right though; it’s Michael they wanted, not me.
Rising, she pursed her lips while Eli admonished her with a small, irritated wave of his hand, “Just… stay out of the way.” He spoke in French, and his use of their once private language disheartened her further in light of how things had turned out between them.
Shoving her hands into her pockets in a disgusted manner, she did her best to comply. Sufficing herself to visual investigation, she glared at the spot from a short distance instead, as if concentrating would reveal what lay beneath the dark smudges.
A few minutes later, the group led Michael on a tour to survey the damage, as it appeared to be random, with only parts of the house being affected. Hanging back as the men, followed by Agent Founder, exited the room, Tori dropped to her knees beneath the window, again picking at the flecks of ebony paint. There’s something lighter underneath… why paint on the wall and
then cover it?
A sick feeling washed over her as one of the covered symbols held a familiar shape. No fucking way. Gotta be a coincidence. Her heart pounding, Tori got to her feet, eager to rejoin the group before they missed her.
Exiting the kitchen, she scurried down the hall. The last thing I want is to have Eli come looking for me. She had no desire to talk with the man alone, convinced no good would come from such an encounter. Following the voices through the maze, she continued to see marks that had been left on various walls along with the smashed furniture and decorations that had her stomach tightening into a series of knots.
Recalling her thoughts from their plane ride, she felt odd that Michael had once worked in the house, and she reminded herself the connection had actually been the Dragons. It had been a few months since he had explained to her how and why he had taken the job with the band. Trying to remember the details, she knew that Eddie had instructed him to apply for the position.
Reaching a room at the end of a hall with no other exits, she realized she had made a wrong turn and would have to backtrack. Damn it. Dead end.
Her thoughts continued as she retraced her steps. Basically, his job was intended to allow him access to Brian, on a personal and full time basis. Why? Continuing her tally of what she knew, she deduced that the position had been the reason her husband had ridden with the group of outlaws that raised her; he wanted to earn the assignment.
And, it was an odd job in itself, as Eddie never cared about anyone personally; so his being sent here had to be business. His motives for the move were unclear at best, leaving her with little to ease her mind, or convince her that the two facts were not related.
It could still be a bunch of punks… but Eli said staff members were murdered. Vandals don’t usually take it that far, or attack places that are guarded. Hearing the voices growing stronger, she observed that the house itself was indeed immense.
No wonder these guys seemed so spoiled when I first met them. In essence, they were rich beyond caring what other people thought of them. This is only one of their properties, and it strongly evidences that they have enough money to do or buy whatever they want. For a moment, she almost felt sorry for them, being separated from normal everyday people in that way.
Confident she had caught up to the group, Tori considered if their assets could have been a possible motive for the attack. It does seem likely, as a lot of this stuff they tore up seems expensive. As it is, we have to rule out this other possibility before I go making suggestions as to the culprits. Unless I get some real, concrete proof, I would just look like a crazy woman.
She started to make a sharp right turn into a study, and then hung back for a moment, noticing more paint beneath another window across from the door frame. Turning away from the dark splotch and peeking around inside the small office as she entered, her blood turned to ice in her veins.
Someplace Safe
The group had made their way into the tiny workplace ahead of Tori, and were busy discussing a message painted on the white wall behind the smashed desk. The letters were crooked, but easy to decipher - WHERE’S OUR BITCH? - surrounded by a plethora of graffiti and markings. Michael had inquired about it, and the group was running through the growing list of female persons they were personally involved with that could be the intended reference.
Her breath growing shallow, Tori could see that everything had been destroyed in the room, or so it appeared from the door. Cautiously making her way further in, still staring at the message, her mind ran in a chaotic loop. Arriving in front of the smashed writing table, she noticed a doorway on the left hand wall that led into an adjacent room.
To the right of the doorway stood a tall, wooden bookcase, and this had not been touched. The hairs on the back of her neck had begun to prickle as she felt drawn to the crowded shelves, inching her way closer, and realizing that the items were intact.
Stopping in front of the collection of photographs and memorabilia, her breath slowed to a deep pant, oh my God, it’s a shrine. The items were all rather old, and there were photographs of a family, consisting of a mixture of a man, woman and two children featured in all of them.
A large picture of the young girl with long dark hair and blue eyes sat smiling at eye level, with a good sized stuffed bear sitting next to it. She frowned at the brown plush toy, he looks familiar… but missing something… a ribbon for his neck? She resisted the urge to touch the matted fur and could feel her hands begin to tremble as she asked timidly, “Who’re these people?”
“Hey, don’t touch any of that. God damn.” She could tell Brian felt more than annoyed as he snapped, “That’s my family, and it’s all I have left of them.”
Michael cleared his throat in reaction to his tone but said nothing, aware of the man’s protective sensitivity of his past.
Tori turned to look at the collection’s owner squarely. He had dropped his gaze to his feet. Drawing a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he struggled to keep his manner even. “They died, when I was a kid. I’m sorry; I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” Brian gave a failed attempt at a smile, the stress of everything happening around him leaving him feeling raw. Fucking bitch; God, why is she even here?
“In a car,” Tori stammered, and he looked up from the shoes he had been inspecting.
Running his right hand through his near black hair he reluctantly agreed, “Yeah, in a car accident.”
Tori could feel her heart pound as she pushed for more, “In a car that burned.”
At this, Brian’s head snapped to face her, and he only nodded for a moment, then gushed in anger once more, “How the hell did you know my family burned to death in a car?” No one knows that shit!
Tori fell into full on panic, her palms stinging as she clenched her fists, nails digging into the flesh. Shifting her eyes quickly up and down the shelf, then across the desk to the message on the wall, she bolted around. Grabbing Eli by the front of his shirt, she slammed him against the empty space on the left side of the door frame. She held him pinned easily, being at least five inches shorter than her and very slight in build.
Not to alarm the others until the time came, she chose to use their French to curse him, “Why the fuck did you bring us here?” glaring in wait of his response.
Eli stared at her blankly, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He remained flat calm and allowed her to grip him without a struggle, but had chosen to maintain the conversation as privately as possible.
Michael moved to cut in, “Easy, love; we don’t wanna go assaulting the federal officer,” even if he is a piece of shit, he added to himself.
“What the hell is going on here?” Brian joined the conversation, also in the foreign tongue.
Hearing his words, Tori froze, absently releasing the man she had been clutching. “You speak French?” she asked in bewilderment, returning the conversation to English.
“Yeah, of course, my whole family did. My mother was from Quebec.”
Tori stared at him for a full ten seconds, her mind racing, trying to fit all the pieces into place. Licking her upper lip anxiously, she began to make demands, “You,” she poked Eli in the chest, “Get them out of here. Now.” Towering over him, she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
His anger reaching boiling point, Eli fought back. “Look, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you’re in no position to be making demands.” His face grew flushed as he spoke, and Tori realized she had never seen him angry before.
Cutting him off, she spoke in a condescending tone. “You don’t get it, huh? Well, let me spell it out for you.” Her arms flailed about her as she punctuated her explanation. “Michael was their bodyguard because Eddie sent him here. To watch this guy.”
Tori swung her hand to indicate Brian Madson. “This,” she held her arms up and twirled in a slow circle to indicate the area around her, “This is a trap, and you brought me right into it.” She did her best to remain in control, the adrenaline c
oursing through her body.
“A trap?” Eli began to laugh, “And have you forgotten that Eddie is dead? I wouldn’t have thought so… since you’re the one who killed him,” he taunted her, perhaps trying to make her look foolish.
“No, you stupid prick,” Tori clenched her jaw as she bit the words at him and spun around, snatching a black marker off of what remained of the desk. Climbing over the rubble to reach the graffiti covered wall, “This… is a scorpion.” She drew a box around one of the symbols that surrounded the message, “It’s Brett Spears’ mark; leader of the Scorpions - the man who offered Eddie three hundred thousand to buy me from him before I killed him.”
She moved back to the bookcase, panting and waiting for her words to sink in as she studied the contents of the shelves more closely. The smirk disappeared slowly from Eli’s face, and he shifted his gaze to Michael, “Is that true? Did Eddie Farrell send you here?”
Michael gave him a small nod, “Yeah, he did.” He admitted the fact while shifting nervously as he looked over at his former employers.
“So who the hell is Eddie Farrell?” Brian demanded with upturned palms.
Michael started to explain, but Tori cut him off. “We have no time for this. We are in deep shit.” She slapped her open left palm with the side of her right, as if to chop it, “You’ve gotta get all four of these guys outta here, right now! You gotta take them somewhere away from here… and away from me. A place not associated with any of them in any way...” Her voice trailed off as she spoke, her hands moving about her in desperation.
Turning around anxiously in a type of bouncing motion, Tori folded her hands in front of her face, “I warned you. I warned you this would happen and that they would pay the price for what I’ve done.” Looking over at Eli, the tears formed in her eyes as she begged, “Please, get them out of here.”
A New Life Series - Finisher Set Page 2
