She twiddled a strand of her crimson hair around her fingers and hummed in thought.
"I.. was just passing by and..."
What the hell am I doing?
"You wanna come in?" she asked.
I shook my head.
"No," I said with a definite firmness. "I'm not coming in."
"Suit yourself. What are you doing here then?"
"I... I don't know. I just... I just had nowhere else to go!" I cried.
I burst into tears and slumped against the door frame.
"Woah. It's okay. Look. Just come inside. It's freezing."
She pulled me into the lounge and dropped me into an armchair.
"It's okay. It's okay," she said and held my hand.
That was the thing about the house. It could be pure evil or it could be a helping hand.
"What's the matter? Your man kick you out or something?"
I nodded, unable to tell her the truth.
"Let me get you a drink."
She disappeared into the kitchen and emerged with a can of beer.
"Sorry. None of the fancy stuff around here."
I took it gratefully and pulled it open. Taking a few sips, I reeled back my lips with disgust but carried on drinking regardless. I needed something to take the pain and panic away.
"Where's Phaedra?" I asked. "She's usually awake all night."
"Gone," said Katy.
"Gone? Where?"
"All I know is that she went to the country. Someone said she's at her parents' place or something. I don’t' care. As long as she's not on my back and I don’t' have her nagging at me about curfew all the time."
She took a long gulp of her beer and slammed the can down on the coffee table.
"Gone," I repeated. "Why did she leave?"
She shrugged and threw up her hands.
"Someone overheard her on the phone talking about Judge Kennedy. You know, the old dude who's always cruising around here and likes his hookers as skinny as they are high."
"The judge?"
"Yeah, apparently some shit's going down with him so she took off."
None of it was making sense. My mind was beginning to unravel.
"I'm looking for someone," I said. "Someone I really love is missing but there's no way I can go to the police."
"It's not that doctor, is it?"
"Jesus, word really does get around fast."
"Yeah, when he didn't show up at the hospital this morning he was reported missing."
"What?"
"Yeah!"
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. After a few taps, she pulled up a recent news article.
BILLIONAIRE DOC BOSWORTH MISSING AFTER BEING TAKEN HOSTAGE
My heart began to pound as I skimmed over the article. A few words jumped out at me.
Kidnapped. House ransacked. Police suspect robbery gone wrong.
The walls around me were shifting. Katy's lips were moving but I couldn't hear a word she was saying.
Where do I go? What do I do?
"Oh, Jesus Christ!" I heard myself say as though my words were coming from a faraway place.
"Hey. Sit back down. You don't look well."
"We gotta do something!"
"Here, just relax okay. Phaedra left her address and phone number down in case of emergencies. We can call her."
"Her address?"
This was just about the craziest idea I'd ever had but what else was I supposed to do. She was at the center of all of this. If anyone knew anything it had to be her.
"Here," said Katy as she pulled a sticky note from the notice board. "It's way out in the ass end of nowhere."
I looked at the address but I didn't recognize it.
"You know where this is?" I asked.
She shook her head. Satnav would tell ya, I guess.”
"I need a car," I said. "You know how to hotwire one?"
"Does your grandma know how to suck eggs? Fuck yes, I know how to hotwire a car!"
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Now?”
“Yes now! Get moving!”
Chapter Eight
PHAEDRA
"Phaedra this is not a good time!" spat Kennedy, his voice crackling down the phone line.
He was always spitting at me, making me feel as though I didn't deserve even a second of his attention.
"When is a good time?"
"Not right now."
"Where are you?"
"None of your Goddamn business. Since when were you so interested in my whereabouts?"
"Just tell me where you are."
"Fuck you."
He hung up. I was so angry I felt as though my body was being charged with rocket fuel. Behind me, Kirsty was pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"That didn't sound as though it went well."
"It didn't"
She sat down at the kitchen table and rubbed her eyes.
"Where do you think he is?" she asked.
"It's as much a mystery to me as it is to you."
She looked up at to the clock. It wouldn't be long until the sun would rise and this house would be shrouded in an auburn glow that illuminated all the dirt and rot.
Across the table, Kirsty's mind was wondering away to a deep place. She tapped her fingers against the table and stared into her coffee.
"I have an idea," she said. "I think I know how we can find him."
Her eyes remained cast down to her cup as the thought, her fingers still tapping away like rapid Morse code.
"I know a girl who's been with him," she said.
"Been with him?"
Part of me knew what she meant but I needed to hear it.
"Yeah. Been with him. As in, he's paid her and not just for sex."
Her finger tapping reached a crescendo then her hand fell flat on the table.
"Kennedy has a wicked cocaine problem and he'd do just about anything for the best he can get. Money's not an issue. I'm sure you know that."
I moved to speak but before I could say a word, headlights beamed in through the window. At first, I assumed it was the old man in that rusted red tractor of his. Then I remembered what the time was.
"Who the hell is that?"
Like vampires struck by the sun, we both shielded our eyes from the shock of light.
I moved over to the window and leant across the sink. There was the sound of tires on gravel and the rumble of an engine. As the headlights turned off and my vision returned to normal, I found myself looking at a red sedan. Two girls were in the front. A jolt of recognition shot through me when I saw their faces.
Kirsty was close behind me, looking over my shoulder as the two figures stepped out from the car and hurried up to the front door.
"Is that... Is that...
"It is."
"What are they doing here!"
"I think we're about to find out."
Before I could draw a breath, a frantic knock sounded on the door.
"What do we do?" asked Kirsty in a pointless whisper.
There was no point in pretending we weren't here.
"Let them in," I said. "I doubt they're here just for fun."
Chapter Nine
ETTA
Hell wasn't a word I could use to describe the car journey out here. It was so much worse than that. Last month I hadn't done anything illegal in my life besides being caught drinking peach Schnapps as a teenager. In the last week I had turned into a villain, a girl who thought it acceptable to injure, to steal cars. To kill a man...
I'd had a hand clamped to my face all the way out here to stop myself vomiting. Katy was at the wheel, talking the entire time still clad in her skeleton onesie, popping bubblegum and singing along to the radio whenever one of her favorites came on.
It was like we were just two regular girls ploughing down the highway in the middle of the night like we'd known each other our whole lives. As I watched her face in profile, her youthful features framed by the lights on the dashboard, I wonder
ed how often she did this kinda thing. I was starting to suspect it wasn't an infrequent occurrence.
Now, standing in front of the house that was barely visible above the tops of the corn field, I felt like collapsing to my knees. Everything in me was telling to give up, to let myself go and fall away. But I had to find Lincoln and the thought of him spurred me on to smack my hand against the door.
"Phaedra!"
I knew she was in there. Just like back at her the Waters' House, a single light was on to accompany her insomnia.
Slowly, the door creaked open to reveal a dark hallway. The smell of mildew and disinfectant filtered out. In the doorway, stood Phaedra with her hair tied back so tight her wrinkled forehead was pulled flat. Behind her, a young girl lurked in the shadows.
"Katy! What are you doing here?"
"Kirsty! What the hell are you doing here?"
The two girls ran to hug each other, excited to stumble upon one another like teenagers bumping into each other at the mall.
Phaedra and I watched them disappear into the kitchen in a flurry of chatter before speaking.
"What are you doing here? Your billionaire gets bored of you already?"
"I need your help," I said, disinterested in small talk and snippy comments. "I need to find Judge Kennedy. He has..."
"Bosworth," she chimed in.
"Wait, you knew this."
"I know a lot of things."
"There's no doubt about that," I said.
We glared at each other, unspoken, complicated hatred sizzling between us.
"Come in," she said. "I think we have a lot to talk about."
~
"You look like you've crawled out the grave," said Phaedra as she placed a mug of cocoa in front of me.
"I feel like it."
"How did you find us?"
I nodded over to Katy who pursed her lips and looked down to her hands.
"The emergency book," she said.
Phaedra rubbed her fingers across her forehead.
"Well, you're here now. Let's get to it. We're all looking for the same thing. Except for Katy. Something tells me you were just looking for an excuse to break curfew."
"Can you blame me!" she moaned with her red hair bobbing up and down. "Place is dull as dishwater."
“Focus!”
Kirsty slapped her hand into the center of the table.
“We have a lot to do and it all needs done immediately.”
She glanced in between Phaedra and me, sensing our tension.
“I’ve no doubt we have our differences but the goal for tonight is straightforward. The three of you are to head back into town. I’ve texted a friend of mine and she’ll meet you outside the house. She knows what to do from there.”
“What about you, Kirsty? Where are you going?”
“I’ve called the camp already. I’m staying here to make sure all the children get there safely.”
“Camp?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
She shot me a look to silence me and I kept quiet.
“Who’s this friend of yours?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Her name’s Cherry,” replied Kirsty. “She met him not that long ago but he’s pretty into her already.”
“What kind of a name is Cherry?” I asked.
“A cute one now get going.
~
The three of us were in the car looking up at the house. If it was any other group of people on any other day we would have made a quaint little rapscallion group of girlfriends. But there were no smiles or raucous antics from inside the car. Just stony silence.
We all watched as a figure shimmied toward the front door, her heels clicking on the ground like the sound of crickets.
"That her?" asked Katy as she leaned forward, excited.
"You're just here for the fun of it, aren't you?" said Phaedra. "It's just one big adventure to you."
Katy shrunk back.
"It's her," I said. "Long blonde hair and skinny. That's what Kirsty said she looked like.
I clicked the door open and she heard me, her ears pricking up at the sound of something so innocuous to most people but a common sound in her life. That and hearing customers' pants hit the floor.
"Kirsty called," she said as she walked over to meet us. "Something about that prick judge."
"What do you know about him?"
"He loves it when I suck his balls."
"Geez. Apart from that."
"He loves blow."
Her voice was sweetly innocent but the way she spoke wasn't. I felt uncomfortable looking at her like I wanted to take her home and tuck her up in bed after a hot dinner.
"You can bring him here?" I asked.
"I can try," she said.
"Can you try really hard?"
She grinned and darted her tongue out over her lower lip that was coated in so much red lip gloss it looks as though she'd busted her way into a jar of strawberry jelly.
"Oh, I can try hard, alright. Real hard."
She licked her lips again and I shuddered.
"I can't thank you enough," I said. "But please, hurry."
Chapter Ten
JUDGE KENNEDY
"Will you get outta here? Go get some cigarettes or coffee or anything. Just make yourself useful for once."
O'Neil glared at me before sliding off the table he'd been sat on for the last two hours like a fucking gargoyle.
"You know a please wouldn't kill you."
"It might," I said. "You're not a doctor."
He was seething but what was he gonna do? He wasn't the boss here. I was the fucking boss. I
I watched as he grabbed his coat and made his way toward the door, sidling up to me as he reached for the handle.
"You're getting out of hand," he said.
"What you talking about?"
"All that shit up your nose is making you crazy."
"Shut the hell up."
His cheeks were puffed out and red with anger but he didn't say another word. Instead, he slinked out the door into the night.
Now it was just me and the doc. I was starting to think he was losing his mind. He'd been mumbling to himself for almost half an hour. For a while I thought he was having a spiritual experience, repeating a mantra over and over again but then I realized he was just going nuts.
I wasn't surprised. I'd go nuts too if I had to stare at O'Neil's face all the time.
My phone rang from somewhere deep in my pocket. As I moved to answer it, I fumbled in my pocket. These days my hands seemed to shake like a leaf. I dropped my phone on the ground but was pleased to see it hadn't shattered. The noise, however, had snapped Bosworth awake. He flinched and glanced up.
"You don't look so well," he said as I struggled to pick the phone off the floor.
"What do you care?"
"I don't but as a doctor I feel obligated to tell you that you look like shit."
"Delightful."
"I mean it. The veins in your eyes look as though they're ready to pop. It wouldn't surprise me if you had a heart attack or a stroke on the way."
At last, I managed to grab the phone and slid it open.
"Fucking doctors," I mumbled as I walked away.
Turning my back on him, I edged my way over to the door as I took the call.
"Who is this?"
"Aaw... You don't remember Cherry?"
"I told you not to call me!"
"But it's important!"
"Honey... I know your pussy's real important but I got a lot on right now."
"I got the blow you wanted."
Fuck, that was the last thing I needed right now. Or was it the best? I needed to stay sharp, to keep my head in the game but I was starting to get tired and the supply tucked away in the inside of my jacket was starting to disappear.
"You'll like it," she said.
"Oh, there's no doubt about that."
"So pure it'll make your whole face numb and it'll keep your dick hard for hours."
<
br /> "No, honey. That's what you're for."
I looked back over at Bosworth who was slumped against the wall. He didn't look as though he was capable of standing up let alone escaping. I walked over and checked the restraints around his wrists. They were so tight there was a circle of blood around his arm.
"Meet me on the south side of Eglinton Rd."
"The industrial estate?"
"Yeah. I'll be outside in my car. Don't take your time."
~
I heard her heels before I saw her. She came up behind the car, her long bird like legs galloping through the mist.
"How's my boy?" she laughed as she opened my door.
"How's my girl?"
She didn't waste any time and jumped onto my lap. I couldn't resist the feeling of her body pressed up close to mine and grew hard in an instant.
"Hmmm... You're wet already. I can feel the heat between your legs."
I slid a hand up her skirt and felt her slick lips. She bit into my chest as I pushed a finger inside her.
"Aw. Yeah, that's so good," she said and kissed me hard, her makeup smearing all over my lips.
She unzipped my pants and pulled me free.
"You wanna me to ride it, huh? You wanna feel inside of me?"
I glanced back over at the door to the warehouse. Bosworth was in there alone but it wouldn't be long until O'Neil would be back.
"Hurry," I gasped as she took me in her hands. "Ah fuck that feels so good."
She pumped her hand up and down faster and faster until I felt myself getting close to coming. Then, when I felt my buttocks pull tight as a knot of tension uncoiled itself from deep within my belly, she slid herself onto me. She screamed as I entered her and threw her head back, the frailty of her pale neck almost pearlescent in the moonlight.
I grabbed her hips and came hard and deep inside of her, yelling as I ejaculated.
"Fuck!" I clenched my eyes tight and felt the last shudder of pleasure drain away from me. "Jesus fucking Christ."
She slumped back against the steering wheel, laughing.
At first, I thought she was reaching some drug induced orgasmic euphoria but she was looking out the back of the car, her eyes tracking something as she giggled like a maniac.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
She laughed harder and pulled herself off my cock that was still wet and twitching.
Jewels And Panties: (Book 1-15) Billionaire Romance Series Page 31
