by Aden Lowe
I swallowed hard. "I don't need a cat to be happy."
He brushed one finger over my cheek, with a sappy-ass smile that said he'd gone completely around the bend. "I'm glad to hear that, darling. I feared the transition might be difficult for you." His fingers snapped, getting the driver's attention right away.
"Yes, sir?"
"Go back where we were. My fiancé has decided we don't need the cat."
Fiancé? I fought back a gag. Shit, I had to find some way out of this mess. At least, it seemed like Ryker and Stella might be willing to help. I felt like the biggest fool in the world for leaving Ryker like that. He'd been nothing but good to me, and I shoved it back in his face. Stupid.
Of course, that was just normal for me. Give me two bad choices, and I would take the worst one, every damn time. The driver stopped in front of my building again, breaking my train of thought. Panic surged. I had to find a way.
"Wait!" I laid a hand on Royse's arm before he climbed out. "I'd really like to let the cat go. Would that be okay? So I can say goodbye?" I kept my voice low and gentle, trying to be the woman he seemed to want me to be.
"Of course, darling, if that's what you want. Come, I'll walk with you." He got out and held his hand to help me. My skin crawled at the thought of touching him again, but I had no choice. He brought the cat cage and kept his other hand at the small of my back, guiding me into the alley.
I made a big show of leaning down to baby-talk the hissing, spitting cat like it was one of those spoiled rich-people pets. Oddly enough, it calmed a little at the sound of my voice. I managed to open the cage without getting bitten or scratched, and the poor cat darted out of the cage. He disappeared under the dumpster before someone could grab him again. Poor thing would probably have nightmares about being cat-napped for weeks.
The thought made me smile a little, and before I could move away, Royse wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. "It's so good to see you happy, darling." The man had definitely lost a few marbles or something, to go from trying to have a trick kill me to treating me like a princess or something.
Fear scooted over my skin at how easy it would be to tip him back in the other direction. The wrong word at the wrong time, and the switch would flip. If that happened, he would kill me himself. I had to be very careful what I said and did, and still find a way to contact Ryker.
"Thank you for taking care of me." I leaned into his side, hoping he would take that as a sign of affection. "Is it okay if I talk to my old neighbor and ask him to put food out for the cat?"
He squeezed me a little. "Of course, darling. Let's go." And just like that, he led me back to the front of the building and up to the door.
Now what the hell was I supposed to do? I hadn't dared to hope he might actually let me speak to Juaquin myself. At best, I thought he might have the driver pass along a message. But no, it seemed I would at least get to see Juaquin myself, even if Royse did the talking. He led the way into the stairwell, keeping a firm grip of my arm.
Juaquin appeared at the top of the six steps that led up to the first floor, a gun held down next to his leg. "What can I do for you folks?" There was no mistaking the hostility in his voice. He acted like he didn't recognize me. My drug dealer neighbor suddenly frightened me far less than the man at my side.
"Juaquin, it's Elena." Speaking first, without Royse's permission, seemed like a big risk, but I took it anyway. Getting hit by a stray bullet wasn't high on my list of things to do.
A broad grin settled on Juaquin's face. "Well, look at you, girl. Look like you done foun' Prince Charmin'. How you momma doin'?"
I forced a smile. "She's real good." I patted Royse's arm like a proud girlfriend or some shit, trying to figure out how to word things to give him the information I needed passed to Ryker. "Royse got her a doctor and everything. She even has a room of her own in his building."
Juaquin's eyebrows rose. "I'm glad to hear it. So that's where you stayin' at now?"
Royse cleared his throat as I nodded. "Oh, yeah, could you feed that little alley cat I was feeding for me? And if my friend Stella from the library comes around asking for me, just tell her mom's doing great and I'll see her as soon as I get settled." Hopefully, Juaquin would connect the dots and if Stella, or Ryker, came asking for me, would give them the message. I couldn't chance saying anything more direct.
Juaquin nodded, but his eyes narrowed a little. "Stella, huh? Remind me which one she is. You know I don't pay no 'ttention to names."
I widened my eyes and gave a fake giggle. "You know, the one that looks like a dude in a leather skirt. Little too much facial hair."
"Oh, yeah, I 'member that chick." He adjusted his shirt. "Not my type, but she smokin'."
"That's her. Thanks Juaquin, I owe you one."
Royse cut my reply short with a tug to my arm. "We should go, darling."
"Of course." I turned back toward the door.
"Hey, Elena."
I looked over my shoulder to see what Juaquin wanted.
"You don't owe me nothin', girl. I'll let your friend know. You just take care yourse'f, hear me?" His big smile nearly made me miss the deadly serious glint in his dark eyes. It looked like my whole act hadn't fooled him one bit.
"I hear you. I'll do my best." Before I had a chance to say any more, Royse led me back outside and to the car. Not long after, the driver stopped us in front of Royse's building, exactly where he first picked us up.
Royse told the driver to wait, and helped me out of the car and to the door. A man who looked exactly like the ones from last night met us there. "Take my fiancé to her suite, Green." He leaned in to kiss my cheek. "I'll be back in time for dinner, darling. Green here will help you if you need or want anything." And just like that, he went back to the car, leaving me alone.
Not sure what else to do, I followed Green inside to the elevator. The only thing I wanted to do was run to the basement and grab mom, and get us both the hell out of there. Even if I could get to her, though, she wouldn't be willing to go with me. She'd fallen hook, line, and sinker for Royse's craziness.
Riding up in the elevator, I tried to think back to the last real conversation I had with my mom before yesterday. For so many years, she'd been locked inside her own head, as if to escape the pain of her disease. It had been a long time since she and I had talked about anything more than my trying to convince her to eat. She had sometimes asked how my day had gone, but I lied, knowing she didn't really want the details.
Green opened the elevator gate about the time I started wondering if my mother even cared to know the truth about Royse and what was going on here. After all, he helped her to not have so much pain, and made her comfortable. With what she'd gone through, would anything else matter to her? Should it matter to me?
At the door to my rooms, I turned back to Green. "Do you think it would be okay if I went downstairs and had lunch with my mom?"
I held my breath while he appeared to consider. Finally, he nodded. "She has lunch at one. I'll come back up and escort you to her."
"Thank you." I hid my sigh of relief and slipped inside the big carved door.
Fear had kept me from exploring too much last night and this morning. I didn't think Royse would be too happy with me looking for weapons or a way out of his beautiful bird cage. With him at least out of the building, I might not get a better chance.
I started looking around carefully, worried Royse could have cameras in the rooms. I tried to make sure I just looked curious about my new home. Time got away from me as I checked out all the luxuries I'd only ever read about or seen in movies.
It seemed like just a few minutes had passed when Green knocked on the door and asked if I was ready to go to my mom. The temptation to fake a headache and keep exploring was hard to resist, but I also needed to find out more about my mom. It came as a shock that I knew so little about her, beyond her health shit. Hell, I had no idea if she would even really object to my being a whore to support us. I always ju
st assumed she wouldn't like it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ryker:
I slid into the driver's seat, once more not saying a word about Stella's smoke. "What was that all about?"
He exhaled a cloud of smoke on a half laugh. "Apparently, Mr. Royse's lovely fiancé missed her cat."
"What?"
"Fucker is completely off his rocker, man. He's calling your girl his fiancé and she's all frantic, shaking her head behind his back. Looked scared out of her wits."
"So, what, he went and got her a feral alley cat?" I didn't know whether to laugh or be furious.
Stella gave a full laugh. "He said she just moved to her new apartment, on the penthouse floor of his building, but it was a big change. Apparently that run-down shit-hole was where she lived before. He made a joke out of her being barely able to feed herself, and still she fed some stray cat on the street."
"He's bringing the cat back to his building?"
"So it seems. Wants her to be comfortable." Stella paused to shake his head and flip ashes out the window. "I have serious doubts about that cat, though. If a human ever bothered to feed it, especially on a regular basis, it shouldn't be so skinny. And the way it acted, no human ever touched it, either."
I sat there for a long moment, absorbing what he said and thinking about it. "You think she found a reason to come back to her place?"
He nodded. "I just can't figure out why. She didn't even get out of the car."
I started the car and pulled out, heading back past Elena's building. Shock almost made me stall the Chevelle when I spotted Royse's antique car sitting there again, in the same spot. But what surprised me more was the sight of Elena on Royse's arm, coming out of the alley. Royse carried the empty cat cage in his other hand, and kept smiling down at her.
Every instinct demanded I stop and grab her away from Royse, rescue her, but I forced myself to drive on by. Going as slow as possible without making the whole damn street suspicious, I watched in the rearview as Royse led her up the steps to the front of the building.
"Hang a left here."
I followed Stella's direction with asking why. All I needed to know was that he had a reason, or he wouldn't have said it.
"Pull over here and wait." He hopped out and strolled back to the corner, where he leaned casually against a wall. He looked directly toward Elena's building, not bothering to stay out of sight.
I slid down in my seat and watched in the side mirror as my Brother hid in plain sight. No matter how much I wanted to yell at him to make sure Royse didn't see him, I knew he was right. The easiest way to make someone suspicious, or make them think they were being watched, was by skulking around and trying not to be seen yourself. So I waited.
Less than ten minutes, and he headed back to the car. "Okay, they left again." He got in. "Let's get out of here for a bit, then come back. We need a less conspicuous ride."
Anxiety rolled my gut all over the place as I drove back to Stella's place. "Tell me again why I shouldn't just turn around, force Royse's car over, and take Elena from him?"
Stella sighed. "Wish it was that simple. She went back to him thinking she could protect you, and to find her mom. If she ain't found what she's looking for yet, she probably wouldn't leave with you."
"I could make her, though." Stubborn desire to do exactly that refused to be silent.
"You could." He nodded. "But if she doesn't know where her mom is yet, how long before she ditches you again and goes back?"
I brought my hand down hard on the steering wheel. As bad as I hated to admit it, the fucker was totally right. "So what do we do?" I pulled into a parking place next to his old beater.
"We go back to her building, see what she did while she was there. Maybe she talked to somebody. Or maybe we can find somebody with more information, at least." He got out, then leaned back in the window, tossing me a set of keys. "Here, move any firepower you have over to my ride. I'm going to grab us a few things, just in case an opportunity comes along."
I didn't keep many weapons in the Chevelle. The thing drew attention from every damn cop that spotted it, and I'd rather not get pulled over with a trunk full of illegal guns and ammo. Still, I had no intention of needing a firearm and not having one. I climbed out and grabbed a few spares from the hidden compartment I'd built under the rear seat.
By the time Stella got back with a heavy looking gym bag, I had climbed in his car and checked over all my weapons. He laughed a little as he got in the driver's seat. "Figured you had some hardware along for the ride."
I shrugged a little. "Yeah, just not much. Rather not have some trooper with an eye for muscle cars pull me over just to admire my wheels, then find a bunch of guns in it."
Stella laughed again. "Yeah, man, that'd be just about your luck." He coaxed his old beater into starting up, and we started back for Elena's place.
We didn't talk during the drive. For one thing, I was too keyed up to bother with conversation. Stella seemed unusually edgy, too. Nothing ever rattled him, but he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove. That by itself told me he wasn't his usual laid-back self.
Royse's car had disappeared when we drove back past Elena's place. I had to push back the feeling of failure and disappointment trying to settle on my shoulders. Allowing Royse to take her somewhere else went against everything my mind said about the situation.
Stella went around the corner and parked in the same space I did earlier. "Let's go see why they came back here."
During the walk to the apartment building, I felt like a kid on the way to the principal's office. Dread filled me at what we might find out. I didn't have to wait long, though. As soon as we started up the steps, the front door opened.
A tall, thin black man, probably about my age, stayed inside. "One o' you happen to be called Stella, get on in here."
Stella and I exchanged a look, then went inside. The guy led the way to a first floor apartment and motioned us inside. It made me nervous as fuck, but I went in, after a pause to make sure my .45 sat easy in the holster and ready. Inside the dimly lit apartment, we stood and waited while the guy checked up the stairwell, then closed the door.
He gestured for us to follow, and led the way into a kitchen that looked like a cross between a chemist's lab and some old granny's kitchen. "Which one o' you be called Stella?"
"That's me. You mind explaining how you know my name?" The scowl on Stella's face should have scared the guy to death. Seemed like Stella might have lost his touch.
The man grinned with a flash of gold teeth. "Got my ways. Ya'll know my girl, Elena?"
Holding back my growl of frustration sent my stomach rolling again. "Yeah, we do, and you got about three seconds to start talking."
"I gotta make sure ya'll the right ones before I can say anything." Bastard sounded stubborn as a mule.
The growl got away from me. "Look, man, she's in big trouble, and her mom is, too. Royse is dangerous as fuck. We ain't got time for this bullshit."
"I'm Juaquin, and I kep' an eye out for her last couple years. She looked good when she was here earlier, all dressed up and ridin' in a sharp car. How I know you ain't the trouble lookin' for her?" The guy's glare cut from me to Stella and back again.
The deep breath I took did absolutely no good. I explained as quickly as I could. "If you know something that could help her, we need to know now."
Juaquin nodded. "A'ight, I guess. Man scared the fuck out o' one o' my runners, back there prowlin' in the alley for a damn cat. After he caught it, they left in his fancy car, but came back a few minutes after and let the cat go. Came as a real shock to me when she came up lookin' so different." He repeated the conversation he'd had with Elena.
Stella listened carefully. "Well, at least we know she's okay and he ain't turning her out right now. And we know he didn't kill her mom."
"True, but that don't mean I have to like it." My jaw clenched until I thought my molars would crack under the pressure. "And we're no closer
to getting her back."
Juaquin went to the stove and pulled something from the oven. "Ya'll want some stuffed peppers? I got plenty."
My stomach rumbled loudly. "Thanks, man, but we don't have the time."
He shrugged. "Suit yourself. I got more to tell you, though, but you don't seem interested. Your loss." Within a couple minutes, he had found a plate and started piling it high.
Stella grabbed himself a plate and followed suit, leaving me no choice but to do the same. "What else you got?"
"You ever see the inside of Royse's building?" Juaquin went to the living room and dropped into a chair, gesturing for us to do the same.
I shook my head. "No, never been in it. Why?" Flavor exploded across my tongue with the first bite, reminding me stuffed peppers were definitely not on my food list. Fuck the damn food and training for the moment. I could get back on track when I had my woman back. This time, I didn't even resist the thought. I could work that shit out later, too.
"I'm a business man. I make a habit of keeping tabs on my competition. Shorty down at the courthouse got me copies of the floor plans for the renovation." Juaquin paused for another bite. "Anyways, if you plan on taking that fucker down, I want in."
That statement put me on edge. "Why would we let you in? We don't know you from fucking Adam."
"You got any other way of getting' a look inside that building without walking through the door?"
He had a point. Information about Royse's building would help. "Why you want in? Wouldn't it make more sense for you to lay low and not let him notice you? Then when he's gone, just move in and take over his territory?"
He nodded around another bite. "I was fine with that until a few days ago. Fucker killed my lookout, who also happened to be my cousin. I want a piece of Royse's hide."
I glanced at Stella. His almost imperceptible nod showed his agreement. We needed the damn floor plans that bad. "Okay, but you remember this is our operation. You do exactly as we say, when we say it. Understood?" Fuck, I hated bringing in somebody we didn't know. No way around it this time, though. I would just keep a close eye on him, and blow a hole through his skull at the first sign of a double-cross.
