by Erin Trejo
“I think he was only messing with me. Who really wants a club whore as an old lady anyway?” Before I have the chance to respond the idiot appears. Pulling Trin out of my arms and he drags her into his.
“I’d take you any day, darlin’. Didn’t I tell you that already?” Rebel asks. I can see the fear in Trin’s eyes but I also see the way he’s looking at her.
“Oh, for fucks sake,” I grumble taking down what’s left of my beer and walking away. I need to get home and changed for this run tonight.
Chapter 10
Henley
I have to use the bathroom so bad my stomach hurts. I chugged the water he threw in here but I wouldn’t touch the sandwich. I don’t know if he poisoned it or not and I wasn’t about to find out. I feel weak and tired and my body aches. I just want out of here. I want to go home and take a long hot shower and snuggle into my big warm comforter. I don’t see that happening anytime soon but I can dream, can’t I? The door creaks open and Ransom walks in with a stack of something in his hands. His eyes look tired, more so than usual. He walks over sitting in front of the cage and staring at me.
“You didn’t eat,” he says looking at the sandwich that still sits on the paper plate in front of me. I won’t acknowledge him with an answer. He has me caged like an animal.
“You’re holding me for ransom. I don’t trust you.” Ransom chuckles.
“Ironic, yeah?” I still don’t say anything as he looks down at the stack that I now see are pictures. He picks up the first one and looks at it before passing it between the bars to me. With an unsteady hand I take it.
“Who is this?” I ask when I look down at the picture of a beautiful red head. She can’t be much older than me if even that.
“Her name is Sadie Daniels. This one is Beth Anne Miller,” he states passing another photo through the bars. I look down and this girl is the same. Young. Beautiful.
“Andrea Zucker. Annie Baker, the list goes on.” He keeps shoving photo after photo my way and with each one my heart beats a little faster. Ransom finally drops the rest of the stack into the cage and watches me as I sift through them.
“Who are all these girls?” I ask but I have a really bad feeling that I don’t want to know.
“You don’t recognize any of them?” My head jerks up, my eyes locking with his as I shake my head no.
“Should I?” Ransom scoots closer to the edge of the cage, closer to me. My nerves are on edge not knowing what he’s doing but what can I do to stop it? Nothing. I’m trapped like an animal.
“Your dad took all these girls. He sells them off, whores them out. You ever wonder how you can walk around in those fancy fuckin’ dresses? How he can shovel money into your bank account and you live in that goddamn perfect house of yours? These girls pay your way in life!” He roars. My stomach churns bile rising in my throat. I bend over and heave, nothing but the water I drank earlier coming out. He’s lying. I know my dad runs prostitutes but he doesn’t kidnap young girls.
“He wouldn’t kidnap anyone,” I say wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Then why are you sick? You know he runs whores, yeah?” Looking up at him, I can see he truly believes it.
“I know he has a prostitution ring but I was always told that they were willing. He was just protecting them.” Ransom chuckles and wraps his fingers around the bars, staring in at me.
“I get that some girls like that shit. I understand but these girls,” he says pointing to the photos. “They didn’t want that life. These girls were happy once! They had lives and your daddy stole that from them to make a fuckin’ dollar! You live off those poor girls. Do you even give a shit?” Shaking my head, I slink back away from him. He’s insane. My dad wouldn’t do that.
“He’s not a monster! He wouldn’t just kidnap girls like that!”
“How are you so sure about that? You’re never around, Henley. You’re always out spendin’ money and prancin’ your pretty ass up into the most expensive clubs. How the fuck would you know?” He seethes with anger.
“How do you?” I test him back. He wants to push me? I will push back.
“I’ve followed you for a long time. You never saw me comin’. Your dad had business with my club a long time ago. Our older president let it slide but our new one? He wants what’s ours and I want to bring your daddy to his knees.”
“What did he do to you?” I ask a little hesitantly. Ransom’s eyes flare. That’s a sure tell-tale sign that I am right on track. My dad did something to him. Now I want to know what it was.
“What did he do to you?” he counters.
“My dad never hurt me.”
“I know that but did he ever love you?” His question stings. It shoves a stake right through my heart. Dad isn’t around much, never has been. I suppose in his own way he loves me. He gives me everything I ever wanted or needed. Reality hits me like a ton of bricks. Does he not love me? Does he use money to keep me satisfied? Ransom chuckles and stands, leaving the room to come back with another set of photos. Sitting next to the cage again, he stares down at them. His eyes water slightly but he takes a deep breath and blinks rapidly.
“You should eat that. If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you already. I wanted you to feel what these girls feel. I wanted you to hurt the way they hurt. Here,” he says passing another photo through the bars. When I take this one, my hands shake and the photo falls to the floor.
“Pick it up,” he growls. Tears fills my eyes but I reach down and pick up the photo. “Look at it. Look at what your daddy does to keep you in designer clothes!” When my eyes move back to the photo, the tears fall. The woman in this picture is barely recognizable. She’s been beaten or at least that’s what it looks like. Her face is bloody and bruised, her eyes linger half open. Dark lifeless orbs stare back at me.
“Is she…is she dead?” I gasp through the sobs. When I pull my gaze back to Ransom’s, sadness covers his features. My chest tightens seeing the look on his face.
“She’s dead. Killed right in front of her son.” Shaking my head, I can’t believe this.
“He did this?”
“I gotta go. Look at these pictures, princess. Look what you live for. They lose themselves so that you can live!” Ransom shakes his head and looks at me as though I’m the most disgusting person in the world to him. I watch him stand and slam the door before hearing the lock click into place on the other side before picking the others up.
“He couldn’t do this, could he?” the more I flip through the photos the more I can’t believe it. Tossing them all to the floor, I can’t look at them anymore. I just can’t.
Chapter 11
Ransom
Box after box, we move them around the warehouse. One thing we fucking suck at is keeping this shit organized. We can’t do it all right all the time.
“This is prospect work,” Triton huffs, stacking another box up along the wall.
“You want just the prospects sortin’ this shit? Last time we let them dumbasses in here Lego shot his goddamn foot off,” I snort at the memory. Dumb prospect.
“That was some funny shit though,” Triton says passing me another box. I stack them neatly along the far wall as we wait for our shipment of coke to come in. This is one of our bigger shipments and we need the space cleared for it. I can hear the vans pulling up, Triton and I sharing a glance before walking toward the doors.
“You about sick of Willy’s shit?” he asks as I watch the vans backing in. I grunt my response when the doors open.
“Miss me fuckers?” Jake says jumping out of the back of the van with his rifle slung over his shoulder.
“Not in the slightest. How you been asshole?” I ask taking his hand in mine and pulling him into a hug. Jake is a good guy from one of the other Chapters up north. He is a loaner at heart and likes to travel. It always made me wonder why he wasn’t a nomad. He takes all the runs he can get to keep himself occupied though.
“Been good, man. Been good. Just livin’ and rid
in’.” Nodding my head, he sets his gun down next to the van and hops back in to unload. We work our asses off unloading pound after pound of coke. Sweat drips down my temples when I hear the shots.
“What the fuck?” Triton asks glaring over at me. In the matter of seconds, I have my gun drawn, moving toward the sound. Peeking around the corner one of our four vans is taking heavy fire. In the darkness it’s hard as hell to tell where it’s coming from. Searching for the shooters, the van explodes. Metal and fire fly through the air.
“Move out! Everyone move!” I roar as the guys jump into the other vans and start pulling away. Jake and I jump in the back of the closest van to us, Triton in the driver’s seat. As we’re pulling away bullets ricochet around us. We fire back into the dark night not knowing who the hell is out there but smart enough to know we need to get the hell out of here.
“Clubhouse?” Triton calls out from the front.
“Gettin’ Neo on the phone!” I yell back. Wind whips around the back of the van until Jake gets the doors pulled closed.
“We’re takin’ fire! Lock down!” I growl into the phone. I heard Neo grunt before the line went dead.
“You watchin’ the mirrors?” I ask Triton as I climb up into the passenger seat.
“That shit was intense!” Jake roars in the back slamming his fists into the side of the van excitedly. I shake my head and smirk.
“Lockin’ down?” Triton asks as I keep my eyes on the mirrors. I don’t think they followed us this far and I’m sure as fuck that we lost a shit ton of guns in that warehouse tonight.
“Yeah. Drop me off near the bar. Gotta go home first,” I tell him. Triton eyes me suspiciously but I just flip him off and say, “I can’t leave our payment plan alone.” He nods his head and drives toward the bar. It’s not far from my house but my house is far enough back that no one notices it’s back there. It’s what I like about it. Privacy. Ten minutes later we pull up and hop out.
“Make sure the prospects are set up outside. I’ll be there soon.” Triton nods his head as I slam the door shut and jog toward the house. I watch my ass and all the area around me. You never know what kind of fuckers are out here and if they know it’s my place. Welcome to the life of a Soulless Bastard.
When my house comes into view, I jog toward it quickly. Taking the front steps two at a time, I race toward the attic. The faster we move, the better off we’ll be. Clicking the lock, I shove the door open and find Henley curled into a ball in the corner of the cage shivering. For some reason that pisses me off. I want her to understand those girls’ pain but something about seeing her that way bothers me.
“Get up, princess.” Her head pops up at the sound of my voice. Grabbing her other dress and heals from the floor, I walk toward the cage and unlock it.
“Put these on. We gotta move.” She watches me intently not sure that she really wants to do it but after one death glare, she does. She quickly slides the silk dress over her thin frame as I watch the curves of her body disappear. A shudder races through my veins as I look at her. Once she slips her feet into the shoes, she looks up at me. Her eyes are haunted and I wonder if it has anything to do with the photos I left for her. Passing her her makeup, I say, “Put it on. Make yourself look good.” Her hand shakes as she reaches out and takes the bag from me.
“Where are we going?” Chuckling, I ignore her, leaning against the side of the cage with my arms crossed over my chest. She squats in the corner, setting a small mirror on her lap as she applies her makeup. I’ve never taken the time to watch how precise they are when they do that shit. How perfect they need it to be. It almost annoys the fuck out of me considering a lot of bitches that wear that much don’t actually need it. Henley being one of them. When she’s finished she stuffs all her stuff back in the bag and holds it out to me. I take it and toss it onto the floor outside the cage before holding my hand out to her. She watches me unsure of if she wants to take it or not. I can’t blame her there.
“What are you doing with me?” She asks but her eyes still linger on my hand. My annoyance level is getting out of control. I drop my hand and step back heading toward the closet. Grabbing out a duffle bag, a chain and a set of hand cuffs I stuff them all in the bag and walk back toward Henley. Her eyes are watering and I can only imagine what she must be thinking.
“We can’t stay here right now. Shit’s happenin’ and we need to be on lock down.”
“What is lock down?” Again I hold my hand out to her and this time she takes it. Gripping it roughly in mine, I drag her out of the attic and down the stairs. Henley follows behind me, not saying a word as I lead her outside. Stopping on the porch, I glace around making sure there isn’t anyone lingering out there that shouldn’t be. Once I’m satisfied, I pull her along until I get to the truck. Tossing my shit in the back, I shove her in the front and buckle her in.
“I’m gonna trust you to not do somethin’ stupid while I’m drivin’,” I snap at her. Henley nods her head slowly not saying anything. After the photos I showed her, I sure as hell hope she doesn’t.
Chapter 12
Henley
I stand with my arms wrapped around myself in the corner of the room. People move and rush around preparing for the lock down. Ransom finally told me what that was on the drive over here. I watch him as he moves around the room giving orders. He holds an air of authority as he stalks through the room.
“Who are you?” A beautiful girl asks me. She doesn’t look very old.
“Henley,” I say softly not knowing if I’m supposed to speak to her or not. Ransom didn’t really give me any rules for the time I’m here.
“I don’t know a Henley. Who are you here with?” I look to Ransom wondering if I should tell her. Her gaze follows mine and her eyes snap back to meet my stare.
“Ransom? I didn’t know he was dating anyone. I’m Piper,” she smiles extending her hand. I slowly reach out and take it when I hear him snap.
“What the fuck is this?” Piper and I both turn to look at him. His dark eyes burn holes right through me. A chill races over my body but Piper doesn’t move. It’s almost like she’s used to this.
“I’m talking to your girl. Why didn’t you tell me you were dating?” Piper asks resting her hands on her hips.
“We aren’t datin’, Piper. While Henley’s here, you stay the fuck away from her.” The thunder in his tone stings but I knew this about him already. He’s fierce and focused.
“Who the hell do you think you are? I can talk to who I want, Ransom,” Piper snaps at him. She steps toward him, ready for a fight. I place my hand on her arm to stop her when Ransom’s eyes follow. I shudder and drop my hand quickly when another man walks up.
“What’s goin’ on? This our little paycheck?” He asks nodding toward me. I look at the floor trying to avoid the look in his eyes and the tears threating to leak from mine.
“Your what?” Piper speaks up but I’m too ashamed to look up although I don’t know why.
“Club business, P.”
“Fuck that Neo. You can’t really mean that. What are you doing with her?” Piper snaps stepping in front of me. I can see the backs of her legs but again I refuse to look up.
“Yo, Triton. You better come get your sister before shit gets ugly!” The man yells. That’s when I do look up.
“It was my fault. I was talking to her. I asked her name,” I say quickly trying to get the heat off her. She doesn’t deserve whatever they are going to do to her. Neo laughs, stepping closer to me, brushing Piper to the side. He lifts his hand and runs his thumb roughly over my bottom lip, smearing my lipstick across my face.
“You don’t speak without permission here. You are a sick little bitch; you know that? We don’t make it a point to hurt women around here but for a little ungrateful shit like you? I can make an exception,” he hisses when another guy walks up.
“What now?” The man asks but I’m locked on Neo’s gaze.
“This is Henley. The little rich bitch that lives off her dadd
y’s money. You know, the money that he makes whorin’ girls out?” Piper gasps and shame hits me. Glancing toward her, I can see the disgust on her face.
“Piper, go help Say, would ya?” The other man that I know now as Triton says. Piper eyes me up and down before doing as she’s told.
“You got this now?” Neo looks to Ransom. He nods his head, his bag slung over his shoulder before grabbing my wrist and jerking me towards a hallway.
“You watch your ass around here. I don’t know if you can tell but not everyone likes how you make your money.” I get it. I understand what my father does. Maybe I didn’t want to see it or I didn’t care before but I get it now. Ransom is doing to me what my dad has done to those girls all my life. Shame isn’t something that I’m used to. Regret isn’t a feeling I’ve ever had but the more I looked at those pictures, the more I knew what he’d done. Ransom opens the last door on the hall and shoves me inside, locking it behind us. I stand there not knowing what to say. What do I do now? Apologize? What good would that do me?
“Take a shower in there. I can’t stand seein’ all that goddamn paint on your face,” he snaps. I jolt but walk to the bathroom, slipping my feet out of my shoes before slowly lowering the dress. A hiss behind me pulls my attention. Glancing over my shoulder, Ransom stands there with his eyes blazing. He steps toward me, his warm hands coming up to unbuckle my bra. I let it slide down my arms as his warmth surrounds me. My heart beats rapidly in my chest at his closeness. His warm breath hits my cheek as he leans into me pulling my bra from my arms.
“You are too temptin’, Henley.”
“What do you mean?” His calloused fingers come to rest on my shoulders slowly moving down my arms as I quiver, my breath catching in my throat. Ransom’s lips slowly move to my shoulder, his breath tickling my skin.
“I mean; I want to fuck you so that you know what it’s like. I want to bend you over and take you until you can’t walk and tears slide down your cheeks,” he says huskily making bumps erupt over my skin.