Curves Ahead: a romantic suspense novel

by Andi Jaxon

  Angel is curled up next to me, between me and the wall. The carpet smells like urine and sweaty socks. Laying on it makes me want to bathe in bleach but I doubt that would feel good on my back. Laying here on the floor, barely able to breath, afraid to move, cold, and hungry, makes me think of Ben. How did he live through this? His injuries were so much worse, the torture going on for days sometimes, but he kept going. I haven’t been here all that long, in the grand scheme of things, and keeping this little girl safe is what is keeping me from succumbing to the pain and giving in.

  The door opens and Mother’s perfectly manicured feet appear in front of my face.

  “Are you ready for a story?” she almost sounds like a schoolteacher, disgustingly sweet and completely full of shit.

  “Fuck off,” I croak.

  A swift kick in the stomach has me pulling my legs up. The stretch it forces on my back is excruciating and leaves me panting.

  “Keep it up, seeing you panting in pain gets me off.” She’s lost the sweet tone and is devoid of humor.

  “I hope you die a painful death.”

  She smiles but it’s completely evil. “I know you will.” She drops down to put one knee on the floor. “Mike has always had an attraction to little blonde girls. He loved Kristen Grace so much, but he would never touch her because she was mine.”

  She sits on the floor with her legs crossed. It strikes me that I don’t think I’ve ever seen her sit on the floor. Ever. She’s not fully dressed, her hair and makeup aren’t done. Who is this woman?

  “When I met Jonathon, I knew I would marry him, but he would never be enough for me. We made a deal, I would give him a child, and I would get to have sex with other men.” She giggles. Actually fucking giggles.

  “Why are you telling me this? I don’t want to know about your gang bangs.”

  She reaches over and smacks my bruised cheek making me suck in a breath between my teeth. “Stop being rude and interrupting.

  “After my perfect little girl was born, Mike started looking for one he could play with. It was then that Jonathon met Daniel Trubrown. Dan was struggling to pay for college and decided to start fostering kids because the State gives you money for it. He could use the money to pay for classes and such. The older kids take care of the younger ones, easy peasy.”

  Mike enters the room and Mother smiles like he hung the moon. Angel tenses behind me and starts trembling, she knows that nothing good will come of this.

  “Are you telling her the story, pet?” he coos as he drops to his hands and knees and crawls toward her. His beer gut is so big it’s almost on the ground, hanging over the edge of his pants.

  “Yes,” she whispers a second before he kisses her. I turn my head away and close my eyes, not wanting to watch this perverted show.

  Angel screams and grabs onto my dress, jolted I look back to see Mike pulling on her leg.

  “Let her go!” I scream at him, grabbing her under her arms and pulling on her. My back and ribs scream but I ignore it the best I can.

  “Then pay a-fucking-ttention!” he yells back.

  “Fine!” he lets go and I fall onto my back with her on my chest, groaning at the contact with the welts.

  Mother moans and bites her lip, shifting her legs so her feet are on the floor and her knees are spread. Her reaction to me in pain is sickening. I’m horrified, confused, and repulsed by her.

  “It took a while, but Dan found a little girl that looked just like my sweet little girl. She was two at the time, just about the same age. Like fate wanted him to have her. Mike brought her here to this room and played with her.”

  The more she says the more aroused she becomes. Her body is flushing, pulse has increased, and her thighs are pressing together. If there was anything in my stomach, I would vomit.

  “He had her for almost two years but she never learned to be a good girl, not like my sweet Kristen Grace. Even after beatings, starvation, even fucking her didn’t work.” She makes direct eye contact with me. She’s talking about me. I don’t know how to process all this, my brain is overloaded. Finally, the nausea wins and I’m clutching at my stomach as I dry heave into the carpet. Tears pouring down my face from the force of the contractions and the pain it causes in my back. With nothing to force out, I’m left gagging on saliva.

  Mother giggles again and claps her hands at my reaction but settles down and looks ready to cry when she starts to speak again. “One night, Kristen went outside and we didn’t notice. She liked to sit by the pool and stick her feet in the water. I didn’t see her fall in or hear her splashing. I found her later that night, dead in the pool.”

  Mike licks the tears from Mother’s cheeks and takes her mouth again. Angel shivers against me and I pull her tighter to my chest. I hope she doesn’t understand what is really being said, that she can forget this and move on with her life.

  “We called Mike of course, he helped us bury her and brought you to us. I didn’t want you, I never wanted you! But Jonathon insisted that we replace her, that having our precious child die would ruin his chances of being elected for anything. So I agreed. We cleaned you up, made you look perfect, but you never showed an ounce of appreciation for anything we gave you!”

  Mike runs his hand up her thigh and pulls on the crotch on her underwear. Oh God, please don’t…

  “Sneaking drugs into your food was easy enough when you would get out of control. I would tell Jonathon that you were doing something with school when in reality I was sending you back to Mike for some straightening out. It was hard work, but he loved it.” Her words become breathy as Mike fingers her.

  “There’s nothing like fucking a child.” He says while looking at her.

  “You’re a police officer! How can you promise to uphold the law and protect people when you are the worst kind of person!?” I can’t hold it in anymore, the question rips from my throat.

  Mike grabs a belt and swings it at me, this time getting me and Angel with it. She screams and curls into me, shaking so hard I’m afraid she’s going to break a tooth.

  All the horrifying things they’ve said and done flash in my head. Memories being triggered by the abhorrent story being told. I know what she’s saying is true.

  My mind has finally shut down and I’m blessedly numb. I can’t take anymore without a mental breakdown. Survival mode as kicked in and that’s all I can handle.

  My head is turned toward Mike and Mother, the images coming in through my eyes and right back out. He’s fingering her, she’s moaning, telling him how wonderful of a lover he is, and he’s telling her about the child slavery ring him and Dan ran. Jonathon was the start up cash but they were quickly rolling in money once kids started selling.

  Mike increases his rhythm, she’s climbing toward an orgasm as he tells her about the product testing he did, the way the girls would scream pushes her over the edge. She’s convulsing on the floor, breathing ragged, while he sucks her from his fingers.

  Every part of me is appalled. I need a shower in boiling water and to scrub my skin with bleach to get this situation off me. I’ll never feel clean again.

  Alex

  IT TOOK SOME DIGGING, but I’ve got that mother fucker. There’s a property in the area of the cell tower that was purchased by some corporation and was passed around to a bunch of different entities, but comes back to Jonathon Collins. No one has ever used it as far as we can find, but there’s a building with an address.

  Sean, another officer on the night shift, knows a guy in the Sumner Sheriff’s Department and called in a favor. At this point, there’s no one I don’t owe a favor to, but if that’s what it takes to get Kristen back, I’m happy to do it. The Sheriff’s drove out to the property and were able to get eyes on an old trailer that’s out there. It’s definitely seen better days, it’s rusty, covered in moss, and damn near falling apart. If it weren’t for lights on inside and a car parked outside, they would have assumed it was abandoned.

  I’ve made the drive down to Sumner, to talk to
the Sheriff’s department. Hoping I can convince them to put together a raid. My gut is telling me Kristen is in there and come hell or high water, I’m going. I’ll do it legally or illegally, but I’m getting her out.

  The door dings as I enter the building and the woman at the front desk looks up and smiles. “Hello, how can I help you?”

  “Hi, my name is Alex Bennet, I’m an officer with the Seattle PD. Any chance the Sheriff is in?”

  “Oh, let me see if he’s available.” She picks up her phone and I wait at the counter, too antsy to sit.

  “Hi, Sheriff, there’s an Officer Alex Bennet from Seattle PD here asking to talk to you.” She pauses, listening. “Of course.” There’s another pause. “Yes, sir.”

  She hangs up and turns back to me. “The Sheriff has a few minutes before he has a meeting. You’re welcome to talk to him now.”

  “Thank you so much.” I reply, following behind her to the Sheriff’s office.

  The door is open, but she knocks anyway, “Sheriff, Officer Bennet.”

  “Thank you, Carol.” A booming voice rings out.

  I enter the office and close the door before walking to the desk to shake his hand.

  “Officer Bennet, what can I do for you?”

  “Sheriff, this is going to sound ridiculous, but I need help.” We both sit and I explain the situation to him, show him the little evidence I have, and wait for him to shoot me down.

  “I know I’m too close to this. I know I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not allowed to be there if or when a raid happens, but I can’t keep out. I love her and damn it, I’m going to do everything in my power to save her.”

  He watches me, eyeing me over his steepled hands. “You’re sure about this?”

  “As sure as I can be without having been there and seeing for myself.”

  “Okay. I’ll pull in a few guys and we’ll go out there. It won’t be a full team and you will be there unofficially, you understand? You are not going to be the first one in. You’ll follow us. If you can’t agree to that, I’m not going to be doing this.”

  “Absolutely, you got it. I just need to be there.”

  He nods, picking up his phone. “I have a few calls to make, a meeting I have to take, then we’ll go. Be ready in three hours. Get with my tech guys and find out everything you can about that place.”

  I nod and exit, a calm settling over me for the first time in days. I’m doing something. I’ll have my girl back tonight. Just hold on a little while longer baby.

  After going over every possible blueprint of the trailer, I know it inside, outside, and upside down. Everyone has been told that Mike is a trained police officer and may be armed. The group I’m going in with seem awesome, four guys and a woman. Having a woman on the team is important in these types of instances. You don’t know what kind of trauma has occurred or how the victim will react to a group of big, heavily armed men storming in. We also don’t know if Kristen is the only one in there. For all we know, there could be multiple victims of this sick fuck.

  We gear up, the department lending me gear since mine is in Seattle and I’m not here officially. All weapons have been double, and triple checked, ammo loaded and locked, vests, helmets and the like are checked and rechecked. I’m in one of three SUV’s, bullshitting with the guys I’m teamed up with. Before something like this, it’s common for jokes and laughter to be heard, they need an outlet. We’ll park about half a mile away and walk the rest of the way to limit the odds of being spotted and the EMT’s will meet us there. Someone has been tasked with calling them in when we park so they get to us at the right time.

  It’s been a while since I was on a raid team but I’m 100% focused. I know my job and I will do it to the fullest of my abilities. The line of SUV’s slows to a stop on the side of the dirt road and we climb out, grabbing our weapons, jackets, and hats from the back of the vehicles.

  “Alright guys, our mission is to find the victim Kristen Collins,” he passes around her picture. “Mike Preston, a Seattle PD officer that may be armed and we should assume is dangerous, is probably there as well, he’s to be apprehended. There may be other victims on the premises, any place that is big enough to hide in will be checked and rechecked. Once any threat is neutralized, we go for the girl. Clear?”

  “Clear.” Is said in unison and we set off into the woods.

  It doesn’t take us long to get to the edge of the woods that surround the trailer. One lone street type lamp is outside, illuminating the area where Mike’s car is parked. The lead of our team gives out directions and we split off into two groups, front and back entry.

  I’m sent with back entry, mostly to watch the fucking door but with the comms, I’ll hear everything that is happening inside. Once Mike is captured, I’m clear to enter and find my girl. We’re in position and the breach order is given, a loud bang sounds, followed by shouting from the team.

  “Clear!” is called out, one right after another but there’s no mention of anyone inside. What the fuck is happening?

  Refusing to wait any longer, I enter through the back door. There’s a tv on and shit laying around, but no one is here. Where the fuck are they? Going down the short hallway, I check the bedrooms and it’s obvious no one really lives here. There’s no evidence of children or Kristen ever being here. There’s made beds and a dresser in each room but there’s no stuff. No trinkets, toys, clothes in a laundry hamper, nothing.

  Rage consumes me and I let out a bellowing yell that leaves my throat raw. Rearing back, I punch the wall over and over as I yell until the wind in my sails die.

  It’s a fucking decoy.

  Kristen

  I DON’T KNOW HOW long I’ve laid on this crusty, filth infused carpet but it’s long enough for my bones to hurt. The smells in the room don’t bother me as much as they did when I first got here. That’s both a comfort and a concern.

  My mouth feels like I’ve been eating cotton balls and my lips are cracking from the lack of water. The nights are cold, Angel and I cuddle together for warmth, but it doesn’t do much. Off in the distance, there’s a loud boom that reminds me of thunder.

  “Kristen?” Angel’s soft voice whispers.

  “Yeah sweetheart?”

  “I no like that sound.” She says, curling into me.

  “What sound?” I run my hand down her back to soothe her.

  “Boom boom!” since she’s been here for so long, she doesn’t speak as clearly as most kids her age. She doesn’t know as many words or how to speak in full sentences. It breaks my heart to know she’s been here that long.

  “I think that was thunder. Thunder can’t hurt you.”

  “I no like.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” She’s not my child but I feel so protective over her. She’s so young and innocent that I can’t imagine doing anything else for her. No one deserves this kind of life.

  It’s cold and dark tonight. If the windows were clean, I could see the stars. From what I’ve been able to see, granted it isn’t much, we’re in a small clearing in the woods. I miss the smell of wind in the trees and the breeze on my face. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been here forever, as if my life before this was a dream. I don’t know how that’s possible, but I have a feeling it has to do with the lack of sleep and food. Maybe the drugs I was given when I was taken play a part too.

  “Where go after?” Angel speaks up again.

  “What do you mean?”

  “After. Safe. Where go?”

  “Where will we go once we’re rescued?” I clarify, she nods her head. “Well, police will come and an ambulance. The ambulance will take us to a big hospital that has lots of doctors that will look us over, check us for ouches, and maybe give us some medicine if we need it. Then when the doctors say we’re ready, we’ll go home.”

  “Where home? Who there?”

  “Home is where we live. I’ll probably stay with Alex. He’s a very nice man that loves me and I love him. If the police say you can, you will
stay with us too.”

  She shakes her head no. “No. No man.”

  “He’s a nice man, I promise. He would never hurt you. He’s a police officer, he helps keep everyone safe.” Trying to explain this to her is so hard. I don’t know what words she understands.

  “Safe?”

  “Safe. I promise you this, even if they won’t let you come home with me, I will make sure that you are somewhere safe with nice people.”

  “Stay you.” She hugs me, careful to not touch my back.

  “I hope so too.”

  Angel relaxes and falls asleep using my arm as a pillow. This is how we’ve been most of the time since I got whipped with the belt. I’m so glad she’s comforted by me being here.

  The night is still outside, the tops of the trees sway gently in the moon light. I’m so tired but I can’t seem to sleep. I miss Alex. I miss his dumb man whore remarks, the way he makes me laugh at the worst possible times. I miss waking up to him climbing into bed and onto me when he gets home in the morning. Sitting with a cup of coffee in nothing but his stolen t-shirt listening to him snore while I’m writing on my laptop.

  I miss the way he smells, the sound of his laugh, and the look he gets when he sees me. Sadness clogs my throat and tears slide down my face onto the floor. Closing my eyes against the onslaught of emotion, I finally fall asleep.

  A huge boom rocks the trailer, waking both Angel and I up in a panic. Movement and yelling are coming from outside the door so despite my fucked back, I grab Angel and roll us so she’s against the wall with me between her and the door. The welts and bruises scream, stealing my breath but it doesn’t matter. I have to protect her.

  A shotgun loads, dropping my heart into my stomach as I wait for the shot to ring out. Instead there’s a pop and something heavy falls to the ground. My heart is pounding so hard I can’t hear much else as I curl as tightly as I can around Angel.