Captivating

by Onley James

  “Where’s David Cane’s office?”

  Demi fumbled to unlock her phone, found what she was looking for and handed it over. The address wasn’t far from the studio. Elijah typed it into his Lyft app with shaking hands and passed it back to Demi.

  “Elijah, whatever you’re thinking about doing, don’t,” his mother said.

  Elijah ignored her, squatting down beside Demi. “I’m going to take care of this. I promise.” She just nodded, clearly still in shock. “Is there somebody you can call to come get you?”

  “I’ve got a car waiting downstairs,” she muttered.

  “Good. Go home. Check on Tobi. I’m going to find out the truth once and for all.” As he passed his mother, he stopped. “Oh, and you’re fucking fired. I want you out of my career and out of my life. For good.”

  “Elijah!” Lucifer called. “What are you going to do?”

  “I have no idea. But I can’t stomach the thought that he’s got some kid trapped with him right now and nobody knows what a monster he is.”

  “At least get Calder… or Shep,” she begged as she trailed him onto the sidewalk.

  “It’s way too late to act as if you’re worried about me now, mother.” The blue Kia Soul with the Lyft sticker stopped before him.

  “Can’t you drive any faster?”

  Calder gave him an exasperated look. “I’m doing the best I can, man. This is LA. There’s never not traffic.”

  Shep growled and tried to dial Elijah’s cell phone again. Still no answer. It had been twenty minutes since Lucifer had frantically tracked Calder down and told him that Elijah had gone after David Cane. The only thing Shep had working in his favor was that Elijah was likely also stuck in LA traffic.

  Calder swore as a car cut in front of him causing him to slam on the brakes. Shep’s heart raced as the minutes ticked by and his skin crawled with the need to do something or hit something or kill something. He felt trapped like a wild animal in a too-small cage.

  “Why would Elijah choose to confront him now? Three weeks ago, he was ready to kill me for looking into this. What changed?” Calder’s expression told Shep he knew more than he was letting on. “What?” he snarled.

  Calder heaved a sigh, twisting his hands around the steering wheel. “Lucifer said Elijah found out that Tobi is one of the man’s clients.”

  That caged animal sensation amplified as Shep imagined what that information might do to Elijah. “I thought he didn’t coach kids anymore?”

  Calder shrugged. “We were focusing on the money. We hadn’t started deep diving into the client list yet.”

  Shep slammed his fist on the dashboard. “God dammit.”

  “Hey, hey, hey. Leave Betsy alone. It’s not her fault your boy’s run off half-cocked. Elijah’s a big boy. He can handle himself.”

  Shep wasn’t so sure. Just a few weeks ago, Elijah couldn’t even utter the man’s name. Now he was swooping down on him like some angel of vengeance. What if he killed him? There’d be no way to justify it all these years later. Elijah would end up in prison. What if Cane tried to hurt Elijah? If the man felt cornered, there’s no telling what he might do. “Get there faster.”

  Twenty more minutes passed before they pulled up to a nondescript three-story stucco building with peeling white paint and brown trim. It seemed like such a seedy part of town to set up shop for a man with connections. But Shep supposed in this neighborhood people probably minded their own business, which Shep imagined was important to scum like David Cane.

  Shep quickly went to the sign and found the suite number with David Cane’s name attached. There was a rickety looking elevator, but Calder and Shep took the three flights of stairs to the top floor, drawing their weapons before they approached the door. A man in a cheap tan suit walked out of an unmarked office, making a startled noise when he realized both men held firearms. Shep held a finger to his lips while Calder waved the stranger away, letting the man know to leave.

  The office door stood open enough for Shep and Calder to hear Elijah’s voice. “Do you remember me?”

  Elijah’s voice shook, but with rage more than fear. Good. Shep peeked inside, realizing the voices came from a deeper interior office. They opened the exterior door just enough to squeeze past, each of them creeping towards the door which sat open only enough for Shep to see who he assumed must be David Cane. He was slightly built and balding, pushing close to fifty years old if Shep had to guess.

  The man’s high-pitched giggle raised the hairs on Shep’s arms. He knew a psychopath when he heard one. The man’s voice rang out, almost shrill in the silence. “Of course, I remember you. My star pupil. The great Elijah Dunne. Did you get my flowers? What about my phone calls?”

  Elijah’s voice trembled as he said, “What?”

  “My flowers. I’ve been sending them for months. You must have seen them. Your home, your trailer, your hotel room. I even called a few times, but I’ll admit, I was too… nervous… to talk. Still, I think you knew. Deep down I know you knew it was me.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Oh, don’t be like that. I prefer the term devoted. And I am, Elijah. I really am. I will always be devoted to you. The one that got away.”

  “Got away,” Elijah repeated. “I didn’t get away. You put me in the hospital.”

  Shep lurched towards the door as the man rose from behind his desk, but Calder put a hand up and pulled out his phone, opening his recording app.

  “I admit I may have been overzealous, but it was only because you were so beautiful. Your beautiful blue eyes still haunt me.”

  Elijah made a disgusted noise, pacing into view. “You’re fucking sick. You won’t get away with this.”

  Shep breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there was nothing in Elijah’s hands. He at least wasn’t there to kill him.

  “Get away with what?” the man asked, leaning across the desk.

  “Hurting other kids.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know what you mean?”

  Elijah balled his hands into fists at his sides. “I won’t let you do to them what you did to me. We had an agreement.”

  A look of genuine confusion fell across the older man’s face. “What agreement was that?”

  Elijah took a cheap pewter statue that sat on the corner of the desk and flung it against the wall just behind the man’s head. “Don’t play dumb. You know what agreement. The non-disclosure agreement. The one that said we wouldn’t press charges if you didn’t coach any more kids.”

  The man turned to look at the remnants of his award, his expression dismayed. “I promised no such thing. In fact, I work only with children. They have so much promise. So much potential. Look at everything I did for you.”

  “You molested me. You raped me. Did you touch Tobi? Did you hurt him too?”

  “Who?” the man asked, seeming to enjoy stoking Elijah’s anger.

  “Tobi Jones. You’re his coach. Have you hurt him? Did you? Because I promise, if you harmed one hair on that boy’s head, I’ll kill you.”

  Those words shredded Shep’s insides and fanned the flames of fury already burning him up from the inside out.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think you’re confused. I would never harm somebody as little as Tobias. He’s barely more than a preschooler. He won’t be ready for a bit longer but that’s okay, I’m patient. They grow up so quickly.” He moved from behind his desk but stopped beside it. “Listen, Elijah. Somebody clearly hurt you, but it wasn’t me. However, if you signed paperwork agreeing to keep your mouth shut about this abuse, then I suggest you do just that. I’d hate for you to get sued for breach of contract.”

  “You’re the one in breach of contract. You were never supposed to work with children again.”

  This time the man’s voice had a hard edge. He advanced on Elijah. “Once more, I have no idea what you’re referring to, but a word of advice, read over any contract you sign carefully and maybe don’t rely on a conniving woman to do
your bidding. I assure you I’m not in breach of any contract and I’m warning you once more… for your sake… to let it go. Mind your own business. You are a big star now. Leave the past in the past where it belongs. I’d hate for you to lose it all just when you’re moments away from getting everything you want.”

  A strange sense of calm fell over Shep, his rage dashed to embers as he made a decision. He pushed the door open and Elijah turned to look at him with confusion. “Sam?”

  The man, David Cane, was barely five-seven, he appeared small standing next to Elijah. He was almost childlike beside Shep. He stumbled back as his eyes landed on Calder and the Ruger pointed at center mass to his doughy chest.

  “Let’s go, rabbit. You won’t find what you’re looking for here.”

  “I’m going to call the cops,” David managed, fumbling in his pocket for his cell phone.

  Calder sneered at him. “Go ahead. We’ll wait. We’d love to tell them why we’re here.”

  “Listen, I don’t know who you people are, but you don’t want to get involved in this. This is a lot bigger than you are. Even bigger than him. You’d be smart to walk away,” Cane said.

  Shep wrapped an arm around Elijah’s shoulders leading him to the door. “Come on, rabbit. Let’s go home.”

  Elijah’s look of betrayal knifed through his chest. “You can’t be serious, Sam. We’re just leaving? He’s going to get away with this… again?”

  Once they were in the hallway, away from Calder and the prying eyes of David Cane, Shep gripped Elijah’s shoulders looking him in the eye. “Do you trust me?”

  Elijah didn’t hesitate, nodding his head. “Yeah. You know I do.”

  “Then just trust me. He won’t hurt anybody else.”

  Elijah gave a faint nod, shoulders slumping. This time the three of them took the ancient clunky elevator down to the first floor, before piling back into Calder’s extended cab pickup truck. Shep sat in the back seat with Elijah, who just lay slouched against him, like all the fight had left him.

  Shep picked up his phone and sent a text to Wyatt and Charlie explaining that Elijah needed them and asking them to meet at the house. Elijah didn’t speak a word the entire drive. That was Shep’s fault, he knew. Elijah thought Shep had betrayed him, kept him from getting whatever closure he needed. But one look at David Cane and it was clear the man would never admit what he’d done to Elijah or any other child. He believed he was above the law. Shep would prove that wasn’t so, but he needed to keep Elijah out of it… for now.

  Charlie and Wyatt were already there when they pulled up into the long drive of the house in the Hollywood Hills. One look at Elijah and they knew something terrible had happened. Elijah looked at Shep with confusion. “They’re your friends. They care about you. You should tell them your story. Tell them what happened to you. Get it out. I have something I need to do.”

  “What? You’re leaving?”

  “Only for about an hour. I want you to go inside and lock the doors. Set the alarm and talk to your friends.”

  Elijah fidgeted with his hoodie strings, his cheeks flushed and his expression anxious. “What’s going on, Sam?”

  “Trust me, rabbit. I will explain it all eventually, but right now, I need you to do what I say. Please. Let me do this.” He pulled his phone free and opened the CC feed. “I’ll be watching the whole time. Promise.”

  “You aren’t going to get yourself arrested or anything, right?”

  Shep grinned, smacking a kiss onto Elijah’s lips. “As if I’d ever get caught.” Shep turned to Calder. “You’re with me. Call Linc and get the rest of the crew back to the office.”

  Shep started to turn, but Elijah snagged him. “I love you. Remember that before you do anything stupid.”

  Shep shook his head. “I love you too. Talk to your friends. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  With Elijah and the others inside, Shep jumped back in Calder’s truck. He side-eyed Shep. “You gonna tell me what this is all about?”

  “I prefer to wait until we’re all together in a secure location.”

  Calder shook his head. “Shit, man. I knew you were gonna be trouble from day one. I told Linc and Jackson you were a goddamn psychopath, but they wouldn’t listen. They said it would be good to have a guy like you on the team, one who didn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Jackson said you were just a little off, but now I’m thinking you might be section eight crazy.”

  Shep blinked in surprise. “I’m not a psychopath.”

  Calder scoffed. “Whatever you say, man.”

  “I’m a high-functioning sociopath. There’s a difference.”

  “Yeah, sure. Okay, well I’m just telling you right now that I like my hands clean. Wet work isn’t for me. I have a delicate constitution.”

  Shep chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  By the time they made it to the office, the others had already gathered in the conference room. Linc stood from the head of the table, pointing to the boomerang shaped device in the center. “Jackson’s conferenced in. What the hell is going on?”

  Shep closed the doors to the outside office noise. “I need your help.”

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Charlie asked.

  Elijah shook his head. “I couldn’t say anything. There’s an agreement that my mother signed. She took money to keep quiet.”

  He sat with his head in Wyatt’s lap, Charlie curled around his left side, her limbs thrown over him like a rose scented octopus.

  Wyatt combed his fingers through Elijah’s hair. “You never signed the agreement. Your mother did. Besides, is that even enforceable? The man assaulted you, numerous times. Do you think if you went public he’d have the balls to sue you for breach of contract?”

  Elijah’s heartbeat stuttered out of sync. “I-I don’t know if I can look people in the eye and tell them what he did to me.”

  Charlie snorted. “You don’t have to look anyone in the eye anymore. It’s 2019. These battles are waged digitally. Reactivate your social media and tell your story. David Cane’s been running unchecked for ten years or more. There could be a lot of other victims out there just waiting for somebody to be the first to step up.”

  The thought curdled Elijah’s blood. Demi had texted Elijah to say she’d questioned Tobi, and he seemed oblivious to her inquiries. She would take him to his pediatrician’s later, but she was almost positive David Cane hadn’t harmed her son. But Charlie was right. There were other victims still out there, maybe hundreds. “What if nobody believes me?”

  “You’re a huge star with fifteen million followers and you just turned down a multi-million-dollar contract to stand your ground. They’ll believe you. The world will stand by you. This is a new era in Hollywood. People are fed up. With the TIME'S UP and MeToo movements and the documentaries coming out every day about the rampant pedophilia among executives in the industry, there’s no way people won’t believe you. And even if they didn’t, so what? We believe you. We love you. Shep loves you. You deserve to tell your story in your own words.”

  Tears sprang to Elijah’s eyes, but Wyatt swiped them away with a wet smile. He was teary eyed too. “I know what it’s like to live with a secret like this. When I finally told the world what happened, I took away his power. Their power. It turns out he’s hurt other people too. They’ve stepped forward. There will be enough evidence from one of them to put him away. Sometimes the good guys do win. You could save people’s lives. You could pave the way for other victims too afraid to tell their stories.”

  What did he have to lose? He loved acting, but if he had to give it up to get a monster or two off the streets than he owed it to the kids they preyed on risk it. Tobi could have been his next victim, tomorrow there could be another. He could be hurting somebody right that moment. The idea spurred him into action.

  “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  Charlie sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. “You will?”

  Elijah sat up, wiping at his stuffy re
d nose. “Yeah, just give me my phone before I change my mind.”

  It seemed to take forever. He first wrote it as an Instagram post, beneath a childhood picture of himself. Wyatt and Charlie hovered nearby but not close enough to stifle him. He had to stop several times just to pull himself together. He typed it out with almost clinical detail, his phone automatically correcting his typo-ridden story. He tried to come at it with some level of detachment just so he could get through it. He needed to pretend the innocent little face of his twelve-year-old self was a different boy. When he finished, he hit post and handed the phone to Charlie who then repeated the entire post as a series of tweets under Elijah’s account. Within minutes, hundreds of people shared it. Thousands of people called him brave and strong and tweeted haloes and hearts and praying hands.

  It was overwhelming. He had to step away from it. He fell asleep in his bed sandwiched between Wyatt and Charlie, but he woke to Shep leaning over him, undressing him. Elijah smiled. “You’re always taking my clothes off.”

  “You’re always falling asleep fully clothed and I like you naked.”

  “I like you naked too.

  “You sound happy,” Shep observed as he stripped. “I like you happy.”

  Shep slid into bed once he was naked.

  “Where have you been?” Elijah finally asked, stroking Shep’s bearded cheek.

  “Just putting in my resignation with Linc.”

  Elijah’s hand froze. “What? Why?”

  “Well, I can’t very well guard your body if I’m halfway around the world guarding somebody else’s,” Shep said.

  “Now you’re my forever bodyguard?” Elijah asked, scrunching up his face like he was trying the idea on for size.

  Shep captured Elijah’s mouth in a kiss. “Unless you have some other position in mind?”

  “I was thinking husband,” Elijah whispered.

  Shep smiled. “Oh, yeah? You want to marry me, rabbit?”

  Elijah pulled back to meet his gaze. “Don’t you want to marry me, Sam?”

  “I’ll take you any way I can get you. But I don’t think that’s a salaried position. I will not be a kept man.”