HIS SWEETNESS

by Leah Sharelle

  “I can do this.” The mantra played over and over in my head as I stood in front of the second worst place in the world, my parents’ house as the worst place. However, as I found out, pieces of crap cars didn’t bring too much money. In fact, it brought a grand total of one hundred and twenty dollars, and according to the man at the wrecking yard, he was giving me fifty dollars too much.

  So, here I stood, dejected and totally out of ideas. I had been through my tiny apartment looking through my meagre possessions to try to find something to sell. I had come up with a few ballet items and costumes that I could part with, but other than Granny’s watch, I had nothing of value left. I had already sold everything to keep up with all the ‘extra payments’ my mother and the family solicitor had hit me with every time they wanted to mess with me.

  And now I was here. Gypsies. A strip club run by a revolting human being, but a revolting human being who paid really well for short-time gigs.

  My stomach churned, not just with hunger but also with deep-rooted humiliation.

  I was just about to go in when my cell phone sounded in my bag.

  Rooting around for it, I answered it without looking at the screen. I was just happy to have a reprieve from going in for a few more minutes.

  “Hello.”

  “Sweetness.”

  Oh, that voice. My whole body sagged. I so needed to hear his voice right now.

  “Deck.” My voice came out in a ragged whisper. I was so close to losing it right now. I didn’t want to go in and dance in this place, but I really had no other choice.

  “Charlie, what’s going on? You weren’t at work when I went to pick up Squirt. I have been calling you all afternoon.”

  He had?

  “Oh, Deck, I’m so sorry. I must not have heard my phone in my bag.” I apologised as I moved closer to the large metal door. Shifty was expecting me. He had been after me to dance for him since he saw me dance at his niece’s recital last year. Of course, then I had told him to bugger off, disgusted by him. I was still disgusted, but now I was also desperate.

  The pawnshop only gave me a few hundred for Granny’s watch. If I put that with the pitiful amount I got for my car, I was still well short.

  After talking to Shifty, he guaranteed me the money I needed if I danced and stripped. I told him clearly that I would not be stripping. Under no circumstances was I taking all of my clothes off. As Deck was fond of saying—enough said!

  So we negotiated terms, and I agreed to dance tonight and all day tomorrow until four o’clock. One thousand dollars plus all the tips I could make.

  “Charlie,” Deck shouted into the phone.

  Oh, Lord, my mind was all over the place.

  “Deck, honey, I can’t talk right now. I’m sorry. I will call you tomorrow night.”

  “Sweetness, I swear to Christ I’m just hanging on here. Where are you?” His voice had gone impossibly deep. My legs had no choice but to rub together. I felt that voice all the way down to my core.

  Focus, Charlotte. I had a job to do, a not very pleasant one, but one that had already made my liquid lunch reappear in the bushes down the street—but I had absolutely no other option.

  “I’m in hell.” I ended the call, doing my best not to let Deck’s screaming voice begging to know where I was affect me. I had to do this. I needed to get my debts paid so I could finally get my mother out of my life completely. Putting my phone on silent, I slipped it into my bag, but not before I felt it vibrating with another call. Oh, Deck, please, forgive me, I asked him silently.

  Squaring my shoulders, I pushed my hair back over them, took a deep cleansing breath, the last one for a few hours, and then opened the heavy door.

  “Ah, Charlotte, I’m so glad you changed your mind.” Shifty was an okay looking guy. He was bald—by choice—he was stocky, not fat, but he was creepy as hell. My skin crawled as his leering stare took in my body.

  Ewww… Just yuck.

  “I’m here for two days, and that’s it. We agreed,” I reminded him straightaway. No way was I going to be here any longer than I needed to. “Promise, Shifty.”

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I know. Here is the short-term contract, all legal and aboveboard.” He stopped and nailed me with a glare. “But you have to be here for the time agreed upon. If you ain’t strippin’ completely, then I get my worth, too.”

  “Agreed,” I whispered, a sick feeling hitting my stomach again. Surely, there was absolutely nothing left in my stomach by now.

  “Okay, just follow the tables to the back and find the dressing rooms. People are already here as you can see. I want you out on the stage as much as possible tonight,” he warned me. All business. Obviously, Shifty was going to make this agreement work as much in his favour as it would mine.

  Well, I thought unhappily, not in my favour in a good way.

  Turning around, I picked my way through the haphazard chairs and tables. Some men moved, and some didn’t. This was not a good decision, Charlotte, my girl. I could almost hear my granny’s voice chastising me from the grave.

  Yeah, I thought as my bottom got pinched for the third time already. I was starting to believe that.

  12

  DECK

  “Charlie, Charlie, don’t you hang up on me,” I yelled to no one because she had, in fact, hung up on me. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I roared. I was so tempted to throw my phone but held onto it tightly so I wouldn’t use it as a projectile.

  Something was seriously wrong. The school, or should I say, a lovely purple-haired old lady called Violet, informed me when I picked up Shiloh from day care that Charlie had requested the next day off and left early today.

  Apparently, Charlie had received a phone call, and then minutes later, went to the reception teary-eyed and asked for the time off, leaving without waiting for the answer.

  Who had called her? Why had she been crying? And why the fuck hadn’t she called me?

  Jesus, I felt so helpless. My natural instinct was to protect her, to fix any problems. I want her to turn to me when she has a problem.

  Dialling her number once again, I waited and waited, but the fucker rang out. A-fucking-gain. I ran my hands through my hair. Luckily, I didn’t have too much hair on top. Otherwise, it would have been coming out in my fingers.

  Where the fuck are you, Sweetness?

  “Deck?” The sound of Booth’s concerned voice had me snapping into action.

  “Charlie is in trouble. I’m sure of it,” I said without preamble.

  Nodding his head, Booth took my information without question.

  “Shiloh?”

  “Vegas has her. She is upset she didn’t get to see Charlie after school.”

  “Does she know anything?”

  “I asked her how Charlie was the last time she saw her, and Shiloh said they had lots of fun in dance class, and then she went off to art class. Never saw Charlie again after that.”

  Booth nodded again, taking in the information, processing, and then trying to determine where to go from there.

  “Right, get Seb and Squid out there on their bikes. They know what her car looks like and the tag number. They can comb the streets for a couple of hours until it starts getting dark.” Barking out orders, Booth got the men moving in an orderly time and fashion. “Darth, you and Creed go check out the shopping areas. Mannix and Steel have to be at the grill and club, so it’s up to us. Deck, you and I will go to Charlotte’s place.”

  Thankful for my brothers, I found it hard to speak. I could feel it in my bones that Charlie needed me. I had to find her quick.

  “You got it, Pres,” Creed agreed readily. He came across as a hard-arse who didn’t give a shit, but I knew better. Charlie mattered to me, so she mattered to him.

  “Deck, we will find her, brother,” Darth declared. Then he turned and walked off towards his bike.

  I hope so was my last thought before I took off at a sprint towards my truck, Booth hot on my heels. We had to find her. The last words she said to me echoing through
my mind.

  “I’m in hell.”

  “Please, be okay, Sweetness,” I whispered as I started the vehicle.

  Hearing me, Booth gripped my shoulder and squeezed. “It’s going to be okay, brother. We will find her.”

  “We gotta. No other choice.” I pulled out of the compound car park and headed towards Charlie’s apartment, feeling those words down to my soul.

  ————

  I am pissed the fuck off. Not only was breaking into Charlie’s place the easiest thing I had ever done—no tools required, just my shoulder and a shove against the fucking pitiful door—but not one person tried to stop us, two large biker-looking dudes and no one asked what we were doing. Fuck me. She was moving from this place and quickly. If she tries to fight me on this, I will redden that beautiful arse of hers.

  “She lives here?” Booth asked as I pushed open the door. I only grunted in response, too fucking pissed to say anything coherent.

  But when I stepped inside, I suddenly found my voice.

  “What in the ever-loving fuck?” I yelled, taking in the scene before me. Someone had trashed the place. It was a small space with most everything in one room, but the chaos was unbelievable—drawers pulled open, their contents on the floor, and knick-knacks that I assumed had been on shelves strewn about on the floor—complete chaos.

  My heart went into double time.

  Was she hurt?

  “Sweetness,” I called out. In my mind, I knew she wasn’t there, but I just needed to say it. Just in case. I did, however, hear a low growling sound.

  “What the fuck?” Booth muttered, hearing the strange noise, too.

  Searching about, we pulled clothing up off the floor.

  “Fuck me, Deck. Check this big fucker out.” Booth removed a towel to reveal the biggest fucking cat I had ever seen.

  What did she say its name was? Winnie, yeah, that was right.

  “Winnie,” I said grunting at the cat that I swore to Christ stopped growling and looked at me—looked at me as if I had dared to talk to the fucker.

  “Jesus, I hate cats,” Booth grumbled, throwing the towel back over the cat. The hissing sound coming from it would have made me laugh had Charlie not be missing right then—and only God knew where and doing fuck knew what.

  “Booth, this is hopel—” I stopped when Booth’s phone started ringing.

  Putting the phone to his ear after he swiped the screen, he barked into it. “Go.” One word. Precise and quick. The best words to describe my CO and pres. “Which wrecker?”

  Wrecker? My eyes stayed riveted to Booth’s face as he talked to Squid, his voice louder than shit coming through Booth’s phone. Fucking deaf prick.

  “Head back to the club, brother. We will go on from what you have learned.”

  Booth hung up and took one last look around the room. I wanted to strangle him right then, but Booth got like that regularly, his tactical mind and powers of deduction taking over. I had to wait him out no matter how much I wanted him to tell me what the fuck Squid had told him.

  Fucking second after second ticked by and I still waited for something from Booth. Maybe he didn’t know shit. Maybe I should punch him in his fucking face.

  “Deck, I think Charlotte did this herself,” he finally said.

  But why the fuck?

  “What are you talking about, Booth? What did Squid say? What is this about a wrecker?” Answer me, you stupid fucking cock sucker, I screamed in my head. I needed to find Charlie

  “Squid found her car at Bob’s car wrecker on Plenty Road. Said Bob dealt with her himself.”

  “And? Why was she there? Booth, for fuck’s sake, mate, I’m barely hanging on here!” I pleaded. My arms ached to hold my woman.

  “Shit won’t go faster, Deck. Calm the fuck down, and use your head.”

  The authority in his voice pulled at the soldier in me. Something I understood and acknowledged. I needed to rely on my training to see sense and use my discipline to stay calm. The practical side of me could compute that Bob the wrecker had spoken to Charlie at some point today. Okay then, calming myself a little bit, I gave Booth a chin lift.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Nodding his head, Booth turned and started to walk out of the tiny apartment. I followed, turning once to take one more look around, remembering every tiny detail so if we needed to come back, I would know if anything had changed. I made sure to close the door so the massive feline didn’t get out, then I followed Booth down to the truck. I knew he was giving me the time I needed to pull my shit together, but my heart couldn’t take much more.

  “Right, back to the compound. According to Bob, Charlie came in to sell her car to him for some fast cash. Unfortunately, her piece of shit was only worth about seventy bucks to him. Even with a new battery and two new tyres.”

  I got into the vehicle and started it while putting on my belt. All the while, I tried to figure out why she would want to sell her car.

  “That’s all I know, so let’s get back and talk to Squid in person. And by then, hopefully, Darth and Creed will have come up with something. Okay, Deck?”

  I couldn’t answer him—my mind was going a hundred miles an hour. Never had I felt so useless. Not in the early days when Shiloh was an infant, and I had to walk the floors with a tiny colicky baby. Not even when my two friends were killed in a raid gone horribly wrong had I felt such an overwhelming feeling of being completely useless.

  “Brother?”

  Gripping the steering wheel a little tighter, I nodded my head, letting him know I’d heard him.

  “Yes,” I whispered softly.

  The drive didn’t take long. After I parked the car, we both jumped out and jogged onto the grounds of the compound. I noticed Squid and Seb’s bikes parked there, but Darth or Creed’s were not.

  “Pres,” Squid called out as soon as we got inside.

  “What did you find, Corporal?” I barked as soon as I made my way to him. Squid didn’t mess about with bullshit, knowing how important Charlie was to me.

  “Found her car at Bob’s place. She turned up at his yard at about one o’clock, crying and looking for some money for her car. Bob knew it wasn’t worth much, but he felt sorry for her, so he gave her one twenty for it. Overly generous if you ask me.”

  “Well, we didn’t,” Booth said with a growl, giving Squid a look. I was going to hit something. Squid would do. “Anything else?” I asked, barely managing not to grind my teeth to dust.

  “Bob said she had a watch and a few old ballet costumes she wanted to sell. He sent here to Mickey’s Pawn.”

  Yanking my phone out of my jeans pocket, I hit the speed dial for Creed’s number.

  “Yo.”

  “Mickey’s Pawn. She headed there about two hours ago.”

  “On it.” Before he hung up, I heard the roar of his Harley.

  “Now what, Pres?” Squid asked, looking at us both.

  Booth let out a huff of breath and said, “Now we wait. Not much to do until Creed calls back with information.”

  ————

  “Daddy, is you okay?” my beautiful daughter asked me as I made her dinner. My mind was far away from in the kitchen with my girl. It was out there somewhere with my woman, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on with her.

  Didn’t she realise that when I’d said all in, I really meant all in? Sharing problems as well as the other stuff—not just bathing Shiloh and reading to her together, but also the harder stuff, like sharing the fact she was obviously having financial problems.

  Yeah, we were taking things fast, but I had already gone through that with her. Our feelings and the spark we had sizzling between us meant more than time. I was not going to miss out or lose the chemistry I felt with Charlie. I was falling for her fast, but where was she with that? Obviously, not anywhere close to where I was if she couldn’t come to me for help.

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, I refocused on my daughter.

  “Daddy’s fine, Squirt. Now here i
s some mac and cheese and a glass of milk.” I tried to keep my voice upbeat. Shiloh knew nothing of Charlie’s strange absence, and I was going to keep it that way. Shiloh was about to say something else when Darth walked into the kitchen, the look on his face not at all what I was hoping for.

  “I got Squirt. Creed is back.”

  He was? I hadn’t heard the bikes return. Fuck, I needed to concentrate. My training was worth shit to me right now. I gave Darth a chin lift, and dropping a kiss on Shiloh’s soft hair, I took off to the main room.

  I saw Creed standing in the middle of the room, and Mannix had joined us. What was he doing here?

  As soon as I reached them, Creed wasted no time.

  “She pawned her grandmother’s watch and a couple of ballet costumes. Mickey took pity on her but couldn’t give her more than a loan. He said the costumes were nice, classic Swan Lake shit, and gave her fifty for the costumes and one-fifty for the watch.” He paused for a second, looking intently at me the way Creed did as if he were looking right through you.

  “What?”

  Creed looked a bit uncomfortable before he went on. “Mickey said she started crying, like really sobbing crying. He watched her pull out her phone and make a phone call. He didn’t hear everything, but he said as she walked out, he thought he heard her say the name Shifty.”

  Charlie had been crying. Oh, Jesus, my heart was hurting. Not silly crying because Darth wouldn’t call her Charlie—real honest tears from being in pain.

  “Who the fuck is Shifty?” Booth asked from behind me.

  Mannix cleared his throat.

  “Well, that’s why I’m here and not at the club. I rang Creed not long after he got this information. When I asked what was going on, he told me about Charlotte and the pawnshop and the call she made there.” Mannix seemed nervous.

  “Fuck, Mannix, what do you know?” I growled for what felt like the hundredth time today.

  “I know a Shifty. Prick is dodgy as hell. Runs a strip club further through town. Down past the old railway and old industrial area. He pays off the cops to leave his business and girls alone. I sent Squid over there to check the place out. He opens all day—sick fucks like to watch girls dance all hours of the day.”