Noah stops reading the report and looks up at me. His face is pale and then he rereads the file again, this time to himself. Natalia jumps up from the picnic table, Spanish flying from her lips, too fast for me to understand. She stops pacing and there are tears in her brown eyes.
“They’ve been lying to Ashley this whole time. Unfucking believable." Natalia spits out.
They figured out the same thing we all did when we read that file. The other bosses didn’t want Ashley to see that police report because it mentioned nothing about her little brother Austin being there. I had to hear the story from her lips, her memories, to know if he really was there.
“So, if Austin wasn’t there, where is he?” Noah asks.
“That’s the million-dollar question. I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that they’d hide his body. The only thing I can think of is that he was alive before they left, Ashley never saw him. They’ve kept him somewhere this whole time, but I don’t know where yet.” Then I ask, “If it wasn’t Austin’s body in the coffin who’s was it? Did they have a closed coffin for all of them?”
“There are only two people who know how the funeral went and neither of them are here and they’re not answering their phones either,” Ashton interjects. Just then the laptop dings, drawing our attention towards it.
“Fuck. Come on, lets go.” I bark out when I see the location from Rush’s phone.
We all sprint to the three remaining cars and jump in. Ashton, Noah, Natalia, and myself in Natalia’s car. Harris, Marks, and Ramirez in Quickshift’s car. We leave the third one behind.
We race down the mountain at top speed. Natalia is driving this time, taking the curves like a pro. She turns into one hairpin curve, cranks the wheel to the left, taps the brakes, and pulls the emergency brake. My hand grips the ‘oh shit’ bar above my head as her tires protest the turn. Dirt, dust, and stones kick up behind us at her rear end grips the road, and she pulls out of the turn.
My heart is knocking hard in my chest as Natalia takes more curves and we make our way to the bottom of the mountain. Ramirez is hot on her tail. Once we arrive at the bottom of the mountain, we tear down the freeway towards the abandoned community that Ashley’s parents died at. I pray to God we make there on time.
Chapter 40
Ashley
My fingers all the way up to my shoulders are numb as I shake the groggy, disconnected feeling in my head. My stomach is turning over and I’m going to be sick. I try to sit up, but I can’t move. Disoriented, I attempt to look around, but my head is covered with something, keeping me in pitch black.
Where the fuck, am I? What happened? Where’s Nolan? Rush? The rest of my crew?
The creak of a door opening and closing draws my attention. I try to sit up again, but the ropes cutting into my wrists tighten more. Each time I try to move, the ropes get tighter and tighter. I try to speak through the cloth covering my head, but my throat is dry and scratchy, no words will form. I take a deep breath, but that doesn’t help either. My stomach revolts in protest, my head is pounding, and there’s a ringing in my ears.
“Well, look who’s finally awake.” Shaun taunts, penetrating through my ringing ears.
I stiffen from the rage in his voice. Everything that’s happened, flashes through my mind as the cloth is lifted from my head. The bright lights blind me, and I try to hold in the dry heaves working its way up my throat, but it’s no use. I retched on the dirt floor, my head is resting on. Nothing comes out, but my head starts pounding even harder, making my stomach roll over again. I take a deep breath, keeping my eyes closed from the blinding lights and the sight in front of me. I choke on the dust on the floor and dry heave again.
“Sit her up.” Shaun barks out at someone.
Fingers grip deep into the flesh on my arms and I try not to cry out in pain. My left shoulder is throbbing, I think it's dislocated again. White hot pain shoots a path down to my tied hands from the movement and I’m going to be sick again.
“Don’t worry it’s the drugs we used to subdue you making you sick. Once your body gets them out of your system, the nausea will pass.” Shaun says. It sounds like he actually cares for a moment that I’m sick.
I shake that thought out of my mind. He doesn’t care. If he did, he wouldn’t be doing this to me. I try to speak but no words will form. I crack open an eye and take in my surroundings. I’m in a small room, with a dirt floor and four walls. My stomach drops when I recognize this place. It’s the cabin they brought Nolan and I to last time. There’s a figure standing in the dark corner I can’t make out. Shaun is sitting in a chair right in front of me that’s the only piece of furniture in the room. Shaun notices me watching him and his face shifts from compassion to anger. That’s the Shaun I recognize. He gets up from the chair and squats down in front of me. He brings a bottle of water to my lips. At first, I refuse to take a drink.
“Ashley, just take a drink.” Shaun barks out, annoyed.
My thirst makes me finally give in. I take a small sip, hoping it will stay down. The wetness coats my throat, bringing relief. I clear my throat when I’m finished and lean my head against the wall. Not wanting to talk, but knowing I need answers I ask Shaun the question that has been occupying my mind since all this first started.
“Why are you doing this?” I croak out. I despise the weakness in my voice right now.
“Why?” He asks, still sitting in front of me.
“Yes, why?” I ask again. I want to roll my eyes and give him the first smart ass remark that comes to mind, but I refrain. My body can’t take another beating right now.
Shaun gets up and starts pacing the small room. I open my eyes again but keep my head resting against the wall. The throbbing in my brain is slowly fading. He runs his hands through his shaggy brown hair. He hesitates to answer my question. I study his appearance and watch his body language. He has more arm muscles and tattoos running up and down them. The ink stops at the hem of his t-shirt. His body is stronger than when I first met him like he’s been lifting and working out.
“Do you remember the first time we met?” Shaun asks me.
“Yes, what does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, let’s just say, I knew who you were. I’ve known this whole time.” He spits out. Anger replacing the compassion that was in his voice earlier.
“What? How? Why?” I ask.
“Funny story,” Shaun says and sits down in the chair. “My father would never acknowledge me when I was younger. He thought I’d never amount to anything because he thought my mother was a whore. When I started racing, he saw I had the potential to be useful and finally talked to me. He told me about you and your family. Said if I wanted to be a part of his life, I needed to keep you close and get you to open up, to trust me with your family secrets, but you never did. Once Rush came back into the picture, you shut me out. You left me and that pissed me off. Then when you took over for your father and officially appointed Rush the head of the South side, I was so angry. That was supposed to MY spot, MY position.”
“But it only passes to family.” I advise him.
“Exactly,” Shaun says. His brown eyes penetrate mine. “I look like my mother, not my father.”
“Wait. You’re telling me…” I start, but Shaun cuts me off.
“Rush is my half-brother, the one my father acknowledges. The perfect child, with my father’s matching features. The only one he pays attention too.”
My stomach drops to the floor and I’m going to be sick again. I lean over and throw up the little water I had. My throat is burning, and my headache is coming back again.
“Where is Rush?” I ask Shaun.
“Of course, you want to know where Rush is. It should have been me by your side this whole time, not him. Me that you turn to. Rush is getting what’s been coming to him for a long time.” Shaun informs me.
“It’s not his fault. Why does he need to be punished for his father’s mistakes?” I ask.
“Because,” Shaun s
ays. He bends down and takes my jaw in his hand, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “He took you away from me. He gave you the idea to break up with me. If it wasn’t for him, we would still be together.”
“You’re fucking crazy, Shaun. We wouldn't still be together. You’re delusional and need help.” I fume.
That was the wrong thing to say. Shaun’s eyes turn from anger to bat shit crazy in a blink. I close my eyes and brace myself for the hit I know is coming. When he doesn’t make contact, I slowly open them and look at him. He has a faraway look in his eyes and his fingers tighten on my jaw. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I keep very still.
Suddenly the door swings open and hits the outside wall with a loud bang, making me jump. The two men that took us, Benson and Carl are dragging an unconscious Rush in. They have him propped between them, his head is down, and his feet are dragging behind. They toss him down next to me and Shaun snaps out of whatever memory he was lost in. He releases my chin with a hard push, knocking my head back against the wall with a thud. I hold the pain in the best I can and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Let’s go. We have business with my father.” Shaun spits out. He stops at the figure in the shadows. “If either one of them moves, shoot them.”
I can’t see who it is, and he must have confirmed what Shaun says because he turns and walks out the door with his two goons following. Shaun comes back inside and stares directly at me.
“You have two choices now. When I get back, you can either choose to be with me or you can follow your parents and meet them in hell. Think about it while I’m gone.” He turns and walks out the door before I even have time to answer. I already know what I’ll say. There’s no thinking about it. I’d rather die than be in the same room with that asshole. The thought sends a shiver down my spine in the humid cabin.
I glance over to Rush and try to access how much damage is done to him. He’s face down on the ground and I can see his back rise and fall with shallow breaths. Relief fills my veins that he isn’t dead. I scoot on my ass, keeping an eye on the figure in the corner, getting closer to Rush. I nudge him with my foot, but he doesn’t move. I do it again, still no movement.
“Rush, come on. Wake up.” I plead.
I nudge him several more times and he finally turns his head towards me, letting out a groan. A gasp leaves my lips when I take in Rush’s face. They beat the hell out of him. Bruises are appearing on his dark skin, and his right eye, lip, and nose are bleeding. His left eye is swollen shut. I wait as he cracks open his right eye and his gaze is glossy, looking right past me.
“Rush,” I demand.
His eye focuses on me for a minute then he closes it and takes a deep breath. His body convulses and I can’t help him.
“Help him." I scream at the figure in the corner. He doesn’t move. I watch as Rush’s body shakes and his breathing becomes harsh.
“Fucking help him NOW!" I scream again, fear paralyzing me to my spot on the hard floor.
Rush’s body stops moving and I can hear him throwing up bile in his throat. His body tenses and then relaxes, letting out a deep breath. I watch as his back moves up and down, slowly.
“Mother fucker. Untie me now." I order the figure in the shadows. “If you won’t untie me, at least let me see your face so I know who to kill when this is all over."
“No, I’m good.” his deep voice says from the dark corner.
“Fucking, pussy bitch. Figures you’d be a fucking coward and hide from my wrath.” I seethe.
My eyes focus on the corner where he’s standing. It’s getting hard to see in here. The sun is setting in the little window to the right of me. I can make out that he’s very tall, at least Ashton’s height. I squint my eyes at him, trying to make out more. He has broad shoulders but the rest of him is hiding in the shadows. My head is starting to hurt again, trying to make out the figure. I close my heavy eyes and lay down next to Rush. My head is even with his now and his breath fans across my face.
“Ashley,” Rush whispers.
“I’m right here.” I whisper back.
“I’m so sorry.” he groans.
“Don’t be, Rush. It’s not your fault. Rest and we will figure out how to get out of here. I’m sorry I dragged you into this.” I swallow the lump in my throat and fight the tears falling down my cheeks. This is my fault, all of it.
“Not your fault. It’s my father’s.” Rush states. He passes out from the pain he’s in and I ponder that statement. I look back over to the corner and decide to ask the guy some questions, hoping he’ll answer.
“Why are you helping Shaun?” I ask. He doesn’t respond. “Come on, at least give me something.” I shift on my side. “Why help a psycho like him who likes to beat girls when they can’t defend themselves? Did you see all the bruising on my face? That’s from him. He sneak attacked me like the fucking coward he is. He can’t hit me when I’m not bound or drugged. That to me is a coward. Someone who has no respect for anyone. If you think you’re safe doing what he asks, you’re wrong. Once he’s done with you, you’ll be a loose end and he will kill you.” I point out. I can hear him shifting from foot to foot. My eyes grow heavy and it’s hard to keep talking, but I need to get this guy to understand why keeping me here is a bad idea.
“Listen. I know you don’t care, but I found out today that my little brother never died. I believed for the last ten years, the body I buried along with my parents, was him. Nolan, my boyfriend, got his hands on the police reports from back then and I finally read them. I found out my little brother has been alive this whole time and now I’ll never be able to find him.” I close my eyes on a sob and a tear falls down my cheek. “I’ll never get to learn who he is and what he looks like. Someone took him away from me and hid him somewhere. I’ll never know who his first crush was, his first kiss, his first heartbreak. If you don’t let me go, I’ll never get to find him, hug him and tell him how much I miss him. That I love him.” The tears are falling freely now, splashing on the dirt floor. My body is shaking from the revelation of never seeing Austin again. Exhaustion takes over and I can’t stay awake any longer. I succumb to the sleep pulling at me and drift off.
Chapter 41
Nolan
“We’re almost there,” Natalia mumbles as she drives down the dirt road leading to the abandoned community. There’s something off about her, but she’s trying to hide it.
I look out the window and follow the palm trees as they fly by the window. Rush’s phone hasn’t moved from the same spot the whole time we’ve been driving and I’m getting more worried by the minute. I spot Ashley’s car in the distance, next to the chain link fence. Relief fills my body at the sight of it. Natalia parks her car right next to Ashley’s and Ashton gets out quickly, letting me out of the back seat.
“Ashley," I scream into the air. No response comes back to me.
“Boss," Ashton yells, pulling my attention in his direction. “She’s not here.” My heart sinks to my feet as Ashton’s words settle in.
“Where the hell are they?” I plead.
“I don’t know, but we need to figure it out fast,” Ashton says, picking up Rush’s phone in the dirt about two hundred yards away from Ashley’s car.
“Let me see his phone. Maybe there’s a clue in here.” Ashton hands me Rush’s phone, and I touch the side button, bringing it to life. He has a lock on it. “Natalia, do you know the passcode?”
“No.” She says shaking her head.
Ashton stands next to her and rubs her arms. I regard them for a second with a raised brow. Ashton shakes his head and ignores my silent question.
“It would be quicker if we didn’t have to jailbreak his phone, but we can still get in,” I add.
I plug his phone into the laptop and open a program Harris created for one of our cases. One positive thing I can say about these guys I have working for me is that they’re not all brawn, they have brains too. We can hack into anything and if we can’t figure out how to hack into something, they cre
ate a program for it. I watch as the program works its magic and everything Rush has on his phone is transferred.
“Ok done. Let’s perform a search for Ashley, Austin, or Shaun. Something’s got to hit.” I type in each name and wait. “I have a question for you and I don’t want you to get pissed,” I speak to Natalia. “Natalia, if you run the East side of the business, why don’t you know anything that’s going on?”
“Really, that’s what you’re going to ask?” She replies bitterly.
“Yeah, actually it is. It’s a question that’s been irritating me since all this started. She’s been captured three times, beaten and bloody the last two times. God knows what’s happening to her now. What are you hiding?” I glare at Natalia, crossing my arms over my chest. She shifts nervously from foot to foot avoiding direct eye contact. “You’re hiding something, and I want to know what it is.”
“Back off, Nolan,” Ashton snaps.
“No, I will not back off, Ashton. You know it better than I do that she’s hiding something. Pull your head out of her ass and see reality. I don’t give a fuck if it upsets her. She’s got something and won’t share it. We’ve been in this business long enough to know when someone is holding information.” I demand. Ashton looks down at Natalia and his eyes turn cold.
“Are you hiding something from us?” he asks. Natalia hesitates to answer and Ashton steps away from her. Noah’s face is outraged at her reaction.
“Natalia, come on. It’s Ashley we’re talking about.” Noah barks the fury in his voice surprises me. “Where is she? What do you know?” He takes a step away from her and crosses his arms. The kid has some spunk I’ll give him that, but he isn’t off my list yet.
“I…” Natalia trails off. She takes a deep breath and manages her emotions. “I found out that Shaun is Rush’s brother. Rush has no idea. His father cheated on his mother around the same time Rush was born.” She answers quickly.
“What!" Noah shouts. “Unbelievable. How long have you known?”
A lot of things are clicking into place now. The pieces are falling together. I hold up my hand to stop everyone from talking at once.
Racing Dirty, L.A. Page 26
