"No, sweetie, I'm not, and Forest doesn't want that. We want to help you." Sara's words were breathing things, filled with hope and light. They were soft and sweet, like her. Sara made me believe evil didn't exist in this world.
But it did.
She'd experienced it.
I'd experienced it.
And the tiny waif in the alley had too.
We were all victims.
I shifted on the damp concrete and cleared my throat. "My name is Forest, but do you know what my sister used to call me?"
The darkness didn't answer.
"She used to call me her little beanpole."
"You're not little." I could almost see the little girl's mouth twist, and her brows pinch together as her face screwed up in confusion.
No one believed I had once been little.
"No, I'm not. Not anymore, but when I was a kid, I was very, very small. And bad men got a hold of me. They did bad things to me."
"To you?" Awe filled her voice. "But, you're a giant."
"There was a time when I was tiny, and bad men did bad things to me. Sara and I…we don't want that for you. If you want…if you can trust us, we can give you more than chicken fingers and a blanket. And if you let me help you, we can do the same for your friends."
"He won't like that."
"He?"
"Ronald."
The kid shifted a little closer, but I couldn't make anything out other than the sounds of her scrambling. The light from Sara's phone wasn't that bright. It penetrated only a few feet, casting shadows on top of the darkness.
The thick mist coalesced into spitting rain. Little girls didn't belong on the streets in the darkness, in the rain, or in alleys where men bruised their flesh, and took what didn't belong to them.
Sara didn't seem to notice the chill, or that it had started to rain. She entered the alley without fear.
"Ronald doesn't sound very nice," Sara said.
"He's not." The kid answered almost too quickly. "And he smells. He smells real bad, and he's mean. Meaner than the J-johns."
My heart skipped a beat. This kid spoke with far too much knowledge about what should be something only adults knew.
"Well, I'm bigger now." I tried not to rumble, but my voice had grown to match the size of my body. I hoped it didn't scare the little girl too much. "I take care of bad men."
"You do?"
"I do, and if you tell me where Ronald is, I'll make sure he never hurts anyone again. Sara will take you someplace safe, and we can take your friends too. We don't want Ronald to do mean things to them."
"Y-you'll help them?"
"Yes, dear." Sara took another step into the alley. "We'll help all of you, but you need to trust us."
Something shifted behind what I could now see was a dumpster. Sara continued to walk into the alley while I remained seated on the concrete getting my ass wet.
"What's your name?" Sara held her phone up high, trying to shine as much light as she could into the alley.
I prepared to leap to her defense if something other than a child came out of the darkness. I'd learned to trust nothing and expect the worst.
But nothing stirred in the narrow alley except for the fluttering of trash when the wind kicked up.
Wait a second. That wasn't trash.
A tiny waif covered in tattered remnants inched out from behind the dumpster.
"My name is Sara," the little girl said.
"Like mine!" Joy filled my Sara's voice. She squatted on her heels and held out her arms. "We're like sisters."
"Sisters?" Awe filled the little girl's voice.
"Sure," Sara said. "I don't have a sister. Come here…Sara. What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."
The kid tucked her chin to her chest. "I'm not pretty like you."
"Hun, you're gorgeous, and you're going to be safe. Forest and I are going to make certain of it. Now, how about you come here? Let me hug you." Sara held out her arms.
To my surprise, the little kid vaulted into Sara's arms. All I could think about were lice and fleas. I'd have to decontaminate both Saras. The little girl shifted her attention to me; fear and wariness flickered in her gaze.
I understood her fear.
I peeled my wet ass off the concrete and stood to the side while Sara led little-Sara by the hand to the car. When I didn't move to join them, my Sara glanced over her shoulder.
"You're not coming?"
I gave a sharp shake of my head, then tried to soften my voice. But there was no softening a sound this big.
"Sara…" I spoke to the little girl. "Where do I find Ronald?"
Little-Sara's eyes widened, and she clutched at my Sara's hand.
"It's okay. Forest is going to take care of things." My assistant held the girl’s hand, pulling her close and wrapping an arm over her shoulder.
"I'll take care of Ronald while you tell Sara where to find your friends. We want them to be safe."
The kid looked up at Sara and whispered. Sara nodded then turned to me.
"He's at Old Grady's bar." Sara turned to the kid. "What does he look like?"
The kid drew a line from her eye to her ear. "He has a scar."
I walked them to the car, held the door while they climbed in, then made a note to have the vehicle fumigated.
"Okay, got it." Knocking on the driver's window, I waited for my driver, Reid, to roll down the glass. "Take care of her, and don't let her go off without backup. Call in the others."
"Yes, sir." Reid didn't bother with small talk. It's one of the reasons I liked him.
I stepped back and let Reid take both Saras to safety.
I should be happy with another rescue, but there was still too much evil to stamp out. And to date, we hadn't found a way to get to the vilest man on the planet. John Snowden, the elusive bastard, continued to evade my attempts to take him down.
After decades of preparation, I was tired of setting up the chess pieces. It was time to put them into play. But I needed Snowden to sit at the table. Once I found him, I would make him pay for all the crimes he committed.
For now, I had kids to save, a small-town pimp to put behind bars, and my demons to dismiss.
I could do this alone, but Sara would have a fit if I didn't go in with backup. A quick tap-tap-tap on my phone and I had a team inbound to meet me at Old Grady's bar.
Chapter Two
Sara
A low sigh of frustration escaped my lips as Forest wandered into the office. He sported a split lip and a cheeky grin, shoving both of them in my face with far too much pride.
He wanted a reaction, but I’d be damned if I played along.
He knew what I thought about taking chances and putting himself at risk.
I wanted to slap that smug expression off his face, and I would have if it didn’t require chasing after him with a step stool in tow.
I sported bags beneath my eyes, a bra left on far too long, and despite finishing my second coffee of the day, my yawns had yawns. I was getting too old to get by on two hours of sleep, but I was here.
At work.
On a Sunday.
Because Forest worked every damn day of the week and couldn’t understand how others might want a day off from the hectic hours he kept.
The man didn’t do leisure time. To him, that was a waste of time.
“Get Xavier on the line.” Forest rarely asked, said please, or God forbid let a thank you slip out of his mouth. Generally, he barked or growled and expected me to jump at his command.
But I was too tired to jump today or play his games.
I lifted the nail file I hadn’t been using and slowly, deliberately, filed my nails.
“I said get Xavier on the line.” His deep rumble vibrated the air and sent shivers down my spine.
“You do realize it’s three in the morning where he is?”
“So?”
“I’ll call him in a few hours.”
“I want to talk to him now.”
“Then, you call him.”
“What the fuck do I pay you for?”
“Technically, you don’t pay me. Skye does.”
He snorted, but it was true.
There had been a time when he went through executive assistants like water. After I spent a summer interning for him, something clicked between us.
He fired me immediately, but Skye stepped in when she saw how I didn’t let him get away with shit. Now, if he wanted me to go, Skye had to fire me.
Not him.
My job security was as tight as Fort Knox because Skye adored me.
“Well, I’m your boss, and I want you to get him on the line.”
“Do you have anything new to tell him?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll wait until he’s awake.”
“I want to know if he’s heard anything.”
“If he has, I’m one hundred percent certain he would have called you before he went to bed. And if something happened while he was sleeping, he would have called you as well. You’ll wait and talk to him at a reasonable hour, like a normal person, not because you want it now. We’re not doing tantrums, Mr. Summers. It’s far too early for that.”
Teaching Forest about basic civility was a job that never ended. He didn’t get people at all.
“Harrumph!” He stamped his foot.
“Don’t harrumph me. I’m your executive assistant, which means my job is to assist you and not let you make bad decisions that will piss off your business partners. Unless the sky is falling…” I made a show of leaning toward the window where I stared at the crystal blue sky. “Which it is not, I’ll call him at a reasonable hour. In the meantime, you look like shit and smell even worse. There’s a set of clothes hanging in your office and fresh towels in your bathroom. Take a hot minute to clean yourself up.”
“Don’t you want to know what happened?”
“Not really. I’m smart enough to figure it out. At least you didn’t go alone this time. I heard you had a swell time at Old Grady’s bar.”
“Swell time?” He pointed at me. “You’re making fun of me.”
“Am I?”
“I will fire your insolent ass.”
“You can try.” I lifted a finger, pointing back at him. “It’s rude to point.”
“You’re pointing at me.”
“Only to illustrate a point.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” he said with a grump.
“No, Mr. Summers, I am not, but it’s my job to assist you. Take a shower. You’re stinking up my office.” I flicked my finger toward his office door.
“Assistants don’t talk to their bosses like you talk to me.”
He was right about that, but most executive assistants didn’t work for a man-child like Forest.
“I’ll call Skye. You can discuss it with her. And I will call her because she’s at least in the same time zone as we are.”
“Don’t you dare.” He took a step toward me, but I just fluttered my lashes. Forest didn’t frighten me but having to talk to his sister gave him pause. I won this round, and he knew it.
A veritable giant who towered over the common man, he was impossible to ignore. Rooms quieted when he entered. Crowds parted in his presence. People took notice when he was near. Monolithic, with tree-trunk legs, arms nearly as thick, and a chest to break men, he was what people called a force of nature, and no one told him ‘No’…except me.
I called him something else.
Frustrating.
Irritating.
Annoying.
Amazing and wonderful.
He was perfection.
I called him boss when he wasn’t irritating me, and Mr. Summers when he was an ass. And then there were other, more colorful descriptors I used depending on my mood. I never called him Forest, at least not to his face.
That felt too intimate.
Someone to admire as well as fear, I admired him. I feared him, but mostly I adored him. I’d been in love with him since that very first summer when I interned for him. Not that he noticed. Not that he would ever reciprocate. Not that he cared.
Forest didn’t date women. He didn’t date at all. But he fucked. He fucked a lot of men.
My cause was hopeless.
Which meant, he remained a starring player in my fantasies, while I remained nothing to him.
His piercing, ice-cold stare could make the blood of his enemies freeze while simultaneously melt the hearts of women who couldn’t help but swoon in his presence.
I was not immune to his power, but I’d accepted I would never feel his powerful embrace wrapped around me.
There were two people he rarely touched.
His sister, Skye, was someone he used to never touch. Their past carried too much pain, but he was getting better about touching his foster sister.
I guessed time did heal all wounds, but there were deep scars that remained.
Then there was me.
Why he kept his hands to himself around me wasn’t something I understood, but he went to great lengths not to touch me. I might as well be a piece of furniture as far as he was concerned.
I took that back.
He would touch the furniture.
Which made me what? Was I that despicable?
He made me think so. And I didn’t date either. How could I? I was in love with a man who hated women and fucked men.
“You know…” My tone turned caustic. “If you don’t stop with this hero shit, you’re going to get yourself killed.”
Another snort from him had my shoulders lifting. I held back, not wanting an argument this early in the day. Frankly, I was too tired to get into it with him.
“I’m pretty damn indestructible. Don’t forget who saved you.”
Like I could ever forget. I owed Forest for bringing me out of the depths of despair. He saved me, and I never got past my hero worship.
He could never love me the way I loved him.
“Would it kill you to begin your little forays with a team?” I wasn’t letting this go. If he wasn’t going to take care of himself, I would do what I could. “You have an entire security force to back you up.”
He ran his hand down his body. “Do I look like I need backup?”
The man could be an arrogant prick.
“Everyone can use a friend, Mr. Summers.”
“For the record, I called for backup. I didn’t go alone, so get off my case.”
“Do they look as bad as you? Or did you tell them to stand to the side and let you take care of things?”
“I’m able to take down one measly pimp on my own.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He shook his head and refused to answer, which confirmed what I thought.
He brought backup with him, then ordered his men to stand down while he took care of Ronald the pimp.
“Looks like you misplaced your brain again, boss. Do you want me to call Skye and see if she can pull it out of your ass?”
Skye was the only person who could talk to Forest. She took none of his shit, and he deferred to her on nearly everything.
“I do not want to talk to Skye.” He shoved his index finger toward me again. “Don’t call her.”
“You have the manners of an ass.”
“Do. Not.”
“Okay, how about this. When you see someone for the first time in the morning, it’s customary to say good morning instead of picking a fight. Good morning, Miss Brenerkie. How are you doing today? Did you sleep well last night?”
I parroted an appropriate morning greeting, then gave a reply with a little more snark than usual.
“Why no, Mr. Summers. My boss had me up all hours of the night, and I got less than a couple of hours of sleep. I’m tired and cranky and dealing with a royal pain in my ass.”
“Whatever,” he said with an irritated shake of his head. “Just get Xavier on the phone.”
“Not happening.”
“I want Xavier.” His rumbly voice deepene
d, but I was immune to his threats. This was why Skye kept me around.
“I want you to stop stinking up my space. Take a shower. Change clothes. And I’ll think about getting Xavier on the phone in a few hours.”
“You’re fucking impossible. I’ll call him myself.” He gave an exasperated snort and lifted his arms over his head in frustration.
I didn’t blink and held back a laugh as he disappeared inside his office. He left the door open while my irritation climbed to an all-time high.
Honestly, I was pissed. Forest had nothing nice to say to me after calling me at oh-dark-thirty last night to go to the worst part of town. He treated me like I was at his beck and call all hours of the day. Like I didn’t have a life.
But really, who were we kidding?
I had no life.
But still?
Nothing? No ‘Good job!’ Or how about ‘How’s the kid doing?’ Or ‘I can’t thank you enough for helping me last night?’
Was he not interested in how little Sara and her friends were doing?
Nope.
I barely received a grunt. Not that a grunt was unusual. Forest didn’t do small talk, and he only used his words when he had something important to say.
My fingers curled in frustration. I had a mind to say a thing or two to him. For one thing, the man did not belong on the streets, tracking down bad guys and rescuing children at all hours of the night. He didn’t need to be doing it alone.
Alone!
A man with billions at his disposal, who owned a private security agency brimming with a virtual army of battle-tested soldiers, did not need to be walking the streets by himself where anything could happen.
Summers’ Industries could not afford to lose their leader. Despite what he thought, he wasn’t indestructible. Not that he cared. Forest should have called his team at the very beginning of the night.
But no.
He went off on his own, the gallant savior with only one thing on his mind.
Save the children.
What exactly did he think was going to happen? Did he think he could swoop in and scoop the kid off the street? To that little girl, his size alone made him the personification of a monster. She’d have PTSD for life.
Knowing Forest, that never occurred to him. Sometimes, his way of seeing the world, black and white with a list of tasks that needed to get done, blinded him to the intricacies of dealing with humans.
Forest's Fall (Captive Hearts Book 3) Page 2