by Poppy Flynn
There was a gate at the end, into the field she had described, obviously used by the farmer for road access. Micah vaulted over it and scrutinised the hedgerow. He walked all the way up what he believed was the boundary line for the property and then down again more slowly. He could scarcely believe that Melody had escaped through this hedge. It was dense and prickly with vicious, inch long barbs and seemed completely impenetrable. For the life of him, he couldn't work out where any part of it might be less compact.
Frustration mounting all over again, Micah peered through every part of the shrubbery. Finally, with his patience wearing thin and giving serious consideration to just attempting to kick in the gate or simply drive his car through the fence, which he wanted to avoid so he didn't give himself away, he spied a section that he could just about see a small amount of daylight through. It probably would have been more obvious if it hadn't been approaching dusk. He shook his head at the sheer will and effort it must have taken the barefoot, tarpaulin clad Melody to squeeze through the narrow gap. Micah concluded that if he could snap or force aside a couple of the thicker stems, then he might have a chance at getting through, himself. He'd worry about finding a quicker way out once he'd discovered some information about Melody but, as far as he was concerned, the bastard was going to be providing him with the gate key.
As he wrestled with the branches, he was grateful the bushes had been so closely spaced that they hadn't reached their full potential, making them easier to snap or prise sideways. Still, never had he been more grateful for the hours he spent in the gym, working on his powerful physique, than he was today.
Thankful for the dense, hide jacket he was wearing, Micah finally crossed his forearms in front of him to protect his face and bulldozed through the remainder of the barrier until he slid down the woodpile that Melody had mentioned on the other side.
As he perused the house, Micah stopped for only a second to wonder at his next move. There didn't seem to be any easy access, so in the end, he opted for the most obvious course of action and decided just to knock. Well, if you could call the fisted pounding he unleashed on the rattling framework knocking.
He was almost surprised when the sound of a bolt being thrown indicated that someone was going to answer. But maybe not as surprised as the vile specimen of filth who stood on the other side.
"Guthrie…" the swarthy, pot-bellied man began indignantly as he threw open the door without checking, obviously devoid of the slightest concern that someone unexpected might be standing there.
He didn't get any further. Micah grabbed him around the throat, cutting off his words with a gurgling choke as he pushed him backward into the house.
"Where the fuck is Melody?" Micah demanded with a threatening growl, loosening his grasp long enough to get a reply.
"I-I don't know what you m-mean," the repulsive jerk managed to stammer as he clawed at the bulging forearm gripping his neck.
"Wrong answer, asshole!" Micah snarled, backing him up until he hit the closest wall with enough force to knock the wind out of him.
"Now, I'm mighty pissed off that some thieving bastard has taken my girl and I want her back, so, for your own health, you'd better start talking."
"Your girl?" V spluttered, trying to get some traction under his feet as Micah lifted him off of the ground.
"That's right, my girl! So, you need to start giving me some answers, or you're not going to like what happens."
"I don't know what you're talking about, I swear!" the weasel implored, but his nervous gaze jerked off to the side toward an innocuous looking door on the left. Micah followed his gaze, and his eyes narrowed.
"You don't, huh?" he said silkily. "Then you won't mind if I just take a little look around then, will you. Why don't we start here?" he enquired, nodding toward the door.
"What?" Vinny's eyes widened and the look of guilt in them had Micah tightening his fist once more. "There's nothing down there," Vinny gasped around the constricting hold. "It's just the basement, nothing but an empty cellar."
"A basement, eh?" Micah replied with scary smoothness. "You know, Melody had a lot to tell me about a place like that, where she'd been kept like some kind of animal. Let's take a look, shall we?"
Vinny tried to desperately shake his head, but Micah hauled him away from the wall and wrenched one of his arms harshly up behind his back in a hammerlock while he pushed the smaller man forward.
"Open it," he growled ominously in his ear, securing the man in a headlock when he resisted.
"Now!"
Trying to ignore the blast of frigid air that greeted their entry, Micah resisted the urge to push the bastard down the concrete steps. This was where he'd kept his sweet Melody? In this dark, freezing hole?
"Light!" Micah barked and waited while Vinny scrambled around for the pull chord. "Now head on down, and you'd better watch your step. You wouldn't want to fall now, would you?" It was a threat, and it worked. Vinny headed meekly down the stairs, but it was when they reached the bottom that all hell broke loose.
Micah was briefly distracted by the sight of naked, welted flesh squeezed into an impossibly small cage, and Vinny took advantage of his momentary inattention to land an elbow jab to Micah's kidneys and pull free, whirling on the other man with his fists already flying. He landed a glancing blow to Micah's cheekbone, not enough to do much damage, but enough to pull him out of his shock.
Micah gave out a heaving bellow and bore down on the smaller man, ploughing into his face with an almighty punch that had the reprobate stumbling backward and landing on his back, clearly dazed.
"You fucking cowardly vermin, you'd beat on a poor, defenceless woman while she's locked in a crate and can't even defend herself?" he roared. "Perhaps I should give you a taste of your own medicine!"
Micah lunged after Vinny Sutton, grabbing him by the arm to hold him steady while he pulled back his own and pounded his fist into the bastard's face once more. His head flew back and blood spurted from his nose, which gave a sickening crack. The man's eyes rolled back in their sockets and he went limp as Micah geared up for another blow, but all he could see was the red haze of rage.
"Micah, stop!" Shouts from above him and the sound of several sets of hurried footsteps pounding down the steps were the only thing that saved the piece of scum.
"Step away from him, Flynn." Micah recognised the voice of Detective Jason Scott and immediately dropped his hold on the other man. Vinny Sutton crumpled to the floor, but although Micah knew he was undoubtedly looking at some kind of investigation into his actions, he couldn't bring himself to regret any of it.
Even less so when he whirled around to check on Melody and noticed thin beads of blood oozing from a couple of the weals Sutton had inflicted on her.
Detective Scott was easing her out of the tight confines of the cage while another policeman stood by taking photographs. Micah wanted to rip the camera out of the man's hand to give her a little privacy, but he knew they needed the evidence in order to put the bastard away.
"Micah?" Detective Storer's voice travelled down into the basement from where his wheelchair was parked at the top of the steps. "Get your backside up here." Undoubtedly, the man wanted to read him the riot act. But not right now. They could throw the book at him later. Right now, he just needed to make sure Melody was okay.
"Sorry, Andy," he shouted back. "It'll have to wait."
Jason Scott was helping her up, and now Melody stood on shaky legs, her lower lip trembling and tears welling in her beautiful violet eyes as she shivered in the chilly winter air.
Without hesitation, Micah stripped off his cosy, wool lined leather jacket and strode over to settle it carefully around her shoulders.
"It'll g-get soiled," she objected between chattering teeth.
"I don't give a shit," Micah declared, pulling her into his arms and gently folding her into a protective embrace.
It was only then, when he knew she was safe, that his heart finally eased.
Melody me
lted into Micah's welcome arms, unable to stop the tears from finally falling. She had been so ready, so prepared, so inside her head so that she could deal with what she had honestly thought was inevitable, that now she felt completely overwhelmed and it was taking her a while to get back into a normal headspace.
She gripped Micah tightly, almost afraid to believe that he was real, but he felt solid and safe, and the warmth of his body and the comfort of his hold was already starting to warm her, both physically and emotionally.
Rushing footsteps sounded loudly against the bare concrete, and there was the rowdy clamour of multiple voices all talking at once. V had come around, and his voice reverberated, voluble and protesting above the din, with his panicked denials, and underneath it all was the soft whirr of the camera as it catalogued everything.
Melody buried her face into the crook of Micah's neck and tuned out the commotion, allowing herself to relax for the first time since she had wandered outside the club and been attacked and abducted.
The reality of her last thoughts bubbled inside her mind, and the words in her heart begged to be expressed. Maybe it was neither the time nor the place, but Melody didn't think twice this time. She raised her head so she could look him in the eye and, moving her hands so she could touch his dear face, the words burst out of her unrestrained, "I love you, Micah!"
He didn't answer, but that didn't matter. The love was hers to give freely, and that was all she wanted to achieve.
What Micah did do was lower his head and capture her lips with his own in a deep and tender kiss, the likes of which she had never expected to experience again.
It seemed like eons later, but in reality, it had just been a few hours, and Melody was back within the security of the club's four walls. It wasn't much of a home as far as homes went, sleeping in a BDSM themed room with her meagre personal belongings shoved unceremoniously into a couple of carrier bags and hidden in a coat closet, or sharing the employee lounge area with Micah, as her living space, but despite all that it was the happiest one she had ever known, and Melody was thankful to be back.
Vinny Sutton—Melody still couldn't believe they shared the same name, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that—had been arrested and charged with a long string of offenses including abduction and kidnapping, rape, various counts of abuse and imprisonment and sexual assault. He was currently being questioned with a view to finding out the identities of the other six men who had corroborated with him to hide the truth, although Melody had at least been able to give the authorities the name Guthrie in relation to the perp at the club.
She had been questioned and re-questioned herself, first by Detective Andy Storer, then by a Detective Jason Scott whom she had never met before, but Micah seemed familiar with him, and then again by both of them together.
She had felt a little aggrieved at the constant line of questioning and how they asked the same question over and over in a slightly different manner as if they were trying to trip her up. But the detectives had both been kind and patient, and Andy Storer, with his all singing, all dancing wheelchair and his funky purple beard, had been casual and irreverent and had assured her it was just procedure, so they could ensure they had covered every eventuality in case things went to court. They were hopeful that V would plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence, but they were expecting him to go away for life, either way.
They had, at least, allowed her to remain in the comfort of the club for the duration, even if it had meant being ensconced in Micah's office, which they seemed to have adopted as some kind of operations room.
She hoped Desi, Charlotte, Luanna, and Laurel's husbands—the owners of the club—hadn't minded the disruption too much. She already owed them all far more than she could ever repay, and she hadn't wanted to bring any further disturbance to their door.
Detective Storer had, at least, been able to shed some light on the events of the past and how they had impacted on what had transpired in her life.
It seemed that Vinny Sutton had also once been one of Daddy's littles. That nugget of information had surprised Melody greatly, but once she had it, a lot of the puzzle pieces slipped seamlessly into place.
Vinny Mottram had taken Thomas Sutton's name but had never been legally adopted by him. He had walked away from the relationship they had shared, approximately nine years ago, wanting more independence, and Daddy had supported him initially, but Vinny had still been enraged when Thomas replaced him with Melody.
A couple of years later, when Daddy withdrew his financial support to enable him to stand on his own two feet, Vinny had realised that things outside the Sutton home were not quite as rosy as he had expected. He had spent a long time trying to creep back into Thomas' good graces, but by this time, Melody had been with him for three years and Thomas had moved on and wasn't interested in altering the arrangement. Not that he hadn't already been generous. It transpired that Thomas Sutton was rich and had purchased the house in which Melody had been held captive as a gift for Vinny, but apparently, that hadn't been enough. Vinny wanted to have his cake and eat it. He'd wanted independence but had still expected to enjoy the benefits of Daddy's wealth. Thomas, it seemed, had other ideas, and after endowing Vinny with the house and a generous settlement, he had withdrawn his support—or more accurately, the bottomless wallet Vinny had expected.
It had been a little while after this that the first arguments Melody had witnessed had begun, when Vinny had changed tactics and had started becoming aggressive instead, believing that he had some sort of entitlement. As a result of this, but merely as a precaution, Thomas had legally adopted Melody and made her his next of kin.
Of course, none of that explained why Thomas Sutton hadn't made any attempts to help Melody after Vinny had taken her from the home where they had lived together, but the police were planning on interviewing him next to see if he had any culpability in Melody's subsequent captivity.
Melody was sad about that. She couldn't imagine that he'd had any part in it, but she didn't want to think that the dear old man who had saved her from the streets had betrayed her that way.
It was the early hours of the morning before everybody finally took their leave, and even though Melody was used to the late nights by now, she was exhausted. She could scarcely believe that all of this had happened in a single day; it seemed to have stretched on forever.
Dr Xavier had popped by to check her out and had dressed a few of the welts. She'd been subjected to far worse in the past, though, so in that respect, it really wasn't so bad.
Not even bothering to suppress yet another yawn, Melody allowed her eyes to droop as Micah said his goodbyes to the last people to leave and check that the building was locked up.
She must have nodded off, because her eyes flew open with a start at Micah's steady gait and she realised he was holding her in his arms like a baby and walking toward the boudoir.
He lay her gently in the bed. She was already swathed in her cosy, fuzzy pyjamas, feeling warm and comforted and he snuggled her down under the covers and tucked her in like a child.
When he straightened, Melody gripped his forearm to stop him from moving away. "Micah? Please don't leave me," she begged without shame.
Micah detached her hand from his arm and kissed her fingers. "I'll be right back, sweetheart, I'm just going to switch off all the lights," he promised.
Melody couldn't settle; her eyes remained wide in the muted shade of the night until he returned and climbed into the big bed with her. She immediately rolled over, using his shoulder as a pillow, and when he pulled her close and snuggled her against him, banding his strong arms around her in comfort, she finally managed to sleep.
It wasn't over yet. Melody wasn't sure if she had expected it to be or not, but the following day, bleary eyed and slightly subdued, she was met with the news that the authorities still hadn't managed to trace all of the men Vinny Sutton had finally given them names for, and Guthrie was one of them. Now Melody had to wonder just how much of a th
reat these people were to her. Hopefully, they'd be long gone, taking off somewhere far away while they hoped to escape detection.
The only positive thing was that no charges were going to be pursued against Micah for his actions. Melody was truly thankful for that. She wouldn't have been able to live with herself if he'd been prosecuted for coming to her rescue.
There was worse news still to come, and Andy Storer had grilled her once again, this time on everything she could recall about the argument that had taken place between Vinny and Thomas on the day she'd been abducted. Not that there was much to tell, as she explained over and over, because Daddy had locked her in her room.
"Okay, that will be enough," the detective finally sighed. "What you've told us corroborates with what we found at Thomas Sutton's house.
"What do you mean?" Micah asked. He had insisted on sitting with her, unwilling to let her face this alone, and she was more grateful to him than she expected.
"How can there be any evidence left after all this time; we already know it's been several years since all of this took place."
Detective Storer cleared his throat and looked away for a moment. Then, facing them again, with a sigh, he said, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we believe we have found the decomposed body of Thomas Sutton at the house where you were taken from, Melody."
Melody let out a shocked sob. "What do you mean?" she whispered shakily, reaching blindly for Micah's hand.
Andy rubbed his hand over his bald head. "We went out first thing this morning to question Mr. Sutton, but there was no reply. What we did notice was that the gardens were seriously overgrown and there seemed to be a glut of post piled up from what we could make out through the side window, bearing in mind that it is semi-opaque glass, so we couldn't get a very good view."
"However, it was enough for us to decide to take a look around the property. Detective Scott checked the windows and saw evidence of a struggle, toppled furniture, broken objects, and from that, we decided there was probable cause to execute a forced entry into the property. When we got inside, we found a corpse which the coroner has initially agreed to be between approximately two and five years old. He has confirmed the body is that of a male, believed to be between sixty-five and seventy-five years of age. Luckily, the teeth are intact, and we are expecting hard confirmation from his dental records very shortly."