by L. Wilder
“I’ll head downstairs while you get her settled.” Nitro placed a bag on the edge of the bed. “Get her a shower and changed. Everything you’ll need is in the bag.”
When he turned to leave, Tristen went to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. She slowly released him and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you for all of this.”
With a quick wink and a coy, little smile, he replied, “You just did.”
With that, he turned and walked out of the door. Tristen stood there staring aimlessly at the door before she started towards the bathroom. “You know… I don’t think there’ll be a shower long enough to get the feeling of filth off me.”
I followed her into the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Steam quickly filled the room. I looked at Tristen and found her staring into the mirror. “For tonight, let’s just focus on the makeup and bad hair. The other is going to take some time.”
“I don’t even recognize myself anymore.” Her fingers trembled as she started to remove her clothes. “I know nothing’s really changed. I’m still me, but I feel so… different.”
I knew she was hurting, but I truly believed it when I told her, “You are different. You’ve been through hell and back, and you survived it all. You’re stronger now, wiser, and hopefully you’ll be able to look back on this day and know you beat them.”
“Somehow, this doesn’t feel like winning,” she scoffed as she stepped into the shower.
“Maybe not now, but someday. You’ll see.”
Chapter 17
Big
When Stitch and I left the hotel, we decided to bypass the airport altogether. We didn’t have a ticket for Lauren and weren’t prepared for the questions they might ask, so we headed back to Washington in the rental. The last few hours were a blur. Even after all the mile markers we’d passed, my mind was still focused on the hurt look on Josie’s face when she kissed me goodbye. I knew letting her go was the right thing to do, but it still cut to the core. She’d gotten to me in a way no one ever had, and seeing her take off in Nitro’s truck just about broke me. I wanted to stop her and claim her right there in that fucking parking lot, but it wasn’t the right time or place. Whether I liked it or not, I had to be patient.
I’d tried to focus on the road ahead, but she was still on my mind when Stitch asked, “You reckon Cotton calmed down by now?”
“Doubt it, but not much we can do about that now.” I’d called Cotton when we first left LA to let him know what had gone down with Nitro. The conversation didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.
“We decided to drive back… We got ourselves a tag-along.”
“Gonna need more than that, Big.”
“It’s one of the girls at the auction. She’s just a kid… Nitro, kind of bought her.”
“Bought her? What the fuck are you talking about?” he growled. Bringing a kid back wasn’t part of the plan. Nothing that had happened in those past few hours had been planned, but it’s how it all played out. Getting Cotton to accept that wasn’t easy. Eventually, after a great deal of explaining, I managed to make Cotton understand why leaving the kid behind wasn’t an option. Trying to explain why Nitro had taken Tristen wasn’t so easy.
“What the fuck do you mean he took her?”
“He took Tristen and Josie with him.”
“Where the hell did he take them?”
“He didn’t exactly say.”
“Goddammit, Mike. Tell me what the fuck he did say!” he snapped.
“They’d been pumping drugs into Tristen since the day they took her. She was all fucked up, Prez. A fucking nightmare. He saw that she was gonna need help and said he was going to make sure she got it. He didn’t give an exact location.”
“What made that motherfucker think he could just take off with her without going through me first?” His voice was filled with anger as he shouted into the phone.
“Nitro has a mind of his own, Prez,” I tried to explain. “And in his head, he thought he was doing the right thing for her.”
“Don’t give a fuck what he thought. He knows damn well he comes to me before he makes any decisions like this, especially when it involves someone from the club.” He growled with frustration. “I’ll deal with Nitro. Get your ass back and be thinking about what the hell you’re gonna do with that kid.”
He was pissed, and I couldn’t blame him. He was our president, and he took his role seriously. Nitro had double-crossed him and the club by taking Tristen. It was going to take some time for Cotton and the others to understand why he’d done it. As for me, I think she got to him. Not sure how, but something happened between them at that auction, some kind of silent connection, and while I didn’t understand it, it meant something to him.
When I pulled through the gate, I turned to Stitch. “Gonna have to figure out what to do with Lauren.” I opened the door and stepped out of the truck. When I opened the back door to get her, I told him, “We’re gonna have to find out where she came from and see if there’s somebody who can take her in.”
“I don’t know, man. You said she seemed pretty freaked when you mentioned getting her back to her folks. Probably a reason she doesn’t want to go back there.” He got out and headed to the trunk to grab our bags.
“Either way, we gotta find out.” Lauren’s eyes opened as I lifted her out of the truck. “Hey there, kiddo.” I lowered her feet to the ground and smiled. “We’re here.”
Her eyes widened as she looked around. When she spotted the high metal fences with barbed wire and tall electric gate, she probably thought she’d traded one prison for another. “What is this place?”
“It’s just our clubhouse. Don’t worry, you’re safe here.” I reached for her little hand, and it trembled nervously in mine as I led her towards the back door. “Come on. We’ve got some friends we’d like you to meet.”
Looking at her now, I was glad Stitch suggested that we help her clean off all that makeup and get her some new clothes on the way home. With her new hoodie and sweatpants, she actually looked like your typical teenager instead of some cracked-out kid prostitute. I opened the door and found Cotton and Cass waiting for us when we stepped inside. I didn’t miss the disapproving look on Cotton’s face as we approached them. “Like you two to meet Lauren.”
“Hi there, Lauren. I’m Cass.” Cass’s face lit up with a bright smile as she turned towards Cotton. “And you can call him Cotton.”
“Hi, Cass. Hi, Cotton. Nice to meet you,” Lauren answered softly.
“I just made some pancakes. Are you hungry?” Lauren gave her a little nod, so Cass stood up and motioned for her to follow. “Come on to the kitchen and I’ll get you fixed up.”
As soon as they were gone, Cotton turned to us and asked, “So, that’s the kid from the auction?”
“She is,” Stitch answered.
“Fuck. She’s like eleven or twelve.”
“The whole thing was fucked up, Prez. You wouldn’t have believed it unless you saw it.”
Cotton reached for a beer and then turned to me. “Got any idea what the hell we are going to do with her?”
“We gotta find out what the deal is with her folks. When I mentioned taking her home, she freaked out. Need to know why. Thought Cass might help me talk to her so we can find out what’s going on.”
“Don’t need to waste any time with this, Mike. She’s just a kid. No business being here without someone to look after her.”
“I’ll go talk with them now. I’ll let you know what I find out.” I stood and started towards the kitchen.
Before I walked out, Cotton called out to me. “You guys did good. Glad you made it back.”
I nodded as I continued towards the kitchen. When I walked in, Cass and Lauren were sitting alone at the table. Lauren was trying to eat, but her trembling hands were making it difficult. It was then I realized she wasn’t dealing with a case of nerves. Like Tristen, she was suffering from withdrawal
s. Cass’s eyes were filled with concern as she said, “She’s been telling me about Tristen. Did you know they were in the same room together?”
“I had no idea.”
Lauren looked up at me and my heart broke when I saw the tears in her eyes. “I really wish she was here with me.”
“You’ll see her again, sweetheart.” Cass looked down at Lauren’s trembling hands and shook her head. “We need to call Doc so he can make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s about to start having withdrawals, Cass. The shakes are just the beginning. Not sure how much help Doc’s gonna be.”
“If he can’t help, then he’ll know someone who can.”
I reached for my phone and sent him a message. Once he responded, I told her, “He’ll be up in a few minutes.”
“Good.” Cass looked back at Lauren. “Can I get you anything else?”
When she shook her head no, I said, “I need to ask you a few questions. You good with that?” She nodded, letting me know it was okay, so I continued. “Where are your folks?”
Panic filled her eyes as she looked over at Cass. Seeing that she was freaking out, Cass put her hand on her lap and said, “It’s okay, sweetie. Big Mike is one of the good guys. You can trust him.”
She hesitated as she looked back at me. “They’re back in California. We moved there a couple of years ago when my dad lost his job.”
“Can you tell me their names and their address?”
“Please… don’t make me go back there. Please.”
“No one is gonna make you go back there, Lauren. I just need to know what we’re dealing with. We can’t have any loose ends.”
“Okay.” Her eyes dropped to her lap. “My Dad’s name is… Robert Baker. Mom’s name is Debra.”
There was something about that name that seemed oddly familiar, but I just couldn’t place it. “Okay. That’s good. What about your address?”
“We were living on Pine Street in Sunnybrook, California, but I doubt they still live there.”
“Why? How long have you been gone?”
She fiddled with her fingernails as she answered, “A week, I guess. Maybe two. We move around a lot, so they’ve probably already left.”
“Why’s that?”
After she took in a deep breath, she looked up at me with a frustrated look. “My parents aren’t good people, Mr. Mike. They’re never home, and when they are, they’re completely smashed. Mom told me that dad got into some trouble with this man he worked for. She said he came up short on one of his deliveries and owed some people some money. The next day, he told me I was going to go stay with my Aunt Claudia for a while. I believed him until I heard him talking to his friends. He was bragging about all this money he was gonna make and how much better their life was going to be once I was gone.”
“Damn.” Seeing the turmoil etched on her face, dark and full of sadness, made it impossible not to feel sorry for the kid. I’d heard of some pretty shitty parents. Hell, mine weren’t the fucking Cleavers, but hers might’ve taken the cake. Selling their own kid to pay off a fucking debt was incomprehensible.
“Please don’t send me back there,” she pleaded. Her face was growing paler by the minute and her tremors seemed to be getting worse. “I can’t go back.”
I leaned towards her and placed my hand on her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out, but for now, you need to get some rest. Gonna have a friend of mine check you out and make sure you’re okay.”
She brought her hand up to her head as she mumbled, “Okay… I’m not feeling so good.”
Cass stood up and helped Lauren to her feet. “Let’s go to Tristen’s room. You can lay down there until Doc comes.”
Before they left the room, I called out to Lauren. “I’ll come check on you in a bit. Doc will get you fixed up.”
“Thanks, Mr. Mike.”
Once they were gone, I headed back to my room and sat down at my computer. Thinking it was time to do some research on Lauren’s folks, I pulled up Robert Baker’s rap sheet. As soon as I saw those beady eyes staring back at me, I was thrown back in time. I was back in that bathroom in juvenile hall, surrounded by Baker and his pack of wolves. The fear and the shame I’d felt for being so weak and afraid flooded my mind. As a kid, Baker was an asshole, and after all these years, nothing had changed. He was still a fucking asshole, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Lauren. She’d been telling us the truth when she said her parents weren’t good people, but that was taking it lightly; they’d both been in and out of jail more times than I could count, locked up for something all the fucking time for all kinds of dumb shit, from DUIs and public intoxication to armed burglary and drug distribution. Over the past three years, their address changed from one dump to the next. Poor kid didn’t stand a chance with either of them.
The longer I looked at Baker’s face, the angrier I became. Rage crept down my neck and radiated into my hands as they curled into fists. Before I realized what I was doing, I found myself hacking into his bank account. After I wiped it out, I opened a new account in Lauren’s name and deposited all the money into hers. That was just the beginning. I cut their power, their phones, and maxed out all their credit cards, leaving them both flat broke. By looking up his criminal record and his statements, I found the name of the drug dealer Baker had been caught dealing for. I hacked into his dealer’s bank account and transferred all his money into Baker’s, making sure to leave a trail straight to him. A move like that would have Baker’s head on the chopping block, so it was only a matter of time before he’d find his end. I could’ve spent all day fucking with him, but Cotton was expecting me to come up with a place for Lauren to go.
I was running out of options when Maverick walked in. “Having any luck?”
I looked over at him and shook my head. “Nothing so far. From what I can tell, the poor kid’s got nobody.”
“Cass was pretty shaken up by some of things she told her.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty fucked up that a kid her age has been through the things she has.”
“Maybe Doc can help her get through some of this stuff.”
Remembering everything Nitro had said about Tristen, I knew it was going to be a difficult time for Lauren, especially with everything that had happened with her folks. “Thinking it isn’t gonna be that easy, brother. She’s gonna need some real help after all she’s been through.”
“Then, we’ll get it for her.”
I ran my hand through my hair with frustration. “What the hell are we going to do with a young girl? She can’t just live at the club.”
“We’ll figure something out. That’s what we do,” Maverick assured me. “For now, we gotta focus on getting her through the next few days. The rest will come with time.”
Chapter 18
Josie
It’d just been a little over a week and Tristen was already looking more like herself. I knew it had everything to do with Nitro and the rehabilitation center he’d chosen for her. It wasn’t exactly conventional, but that’s what I liked about it. Nitro and I were able to stay on the same premises with Tristen, so after she’d gone through their detox program, I could actually spend time with her. She was getting stronger each day, but the endless nightmares and terrifying memories were still getting to her. Thankfully, the counseling and group therapy seemed to be helping. The sessions lasted for hours, morning and afternoon, and while sometimes they were exhausting, I could tell it helped her to have someone to talk to. Each day she was getting better, which meant we were getting closer to going home.
While Tristen was in her sessions, I spent my time reading by the pool or catching up on my classwork for school. I was way behind, but thankfully, I’d been able to work it out with my professors to complete my last few projects online. Once I’d finished my latest assignment, I went to check in with Nitro. Like most days, he wasn’t hard to find. He’d claimed a small corner in the lobby where he spent most of his day working. When I walked up, he was sitting at the table, ta
lking on his phone.
“Doing better.” He nodded silently as he listened to the other end of the line. He was wearing his casual clothes, dark jeans, and basic white t-shirt with just a hint of cologne. The sun reflected off his fancy, platinum watch as he held the phone up to his ear. “Gonna be here as long as it takes, brother. Got no other answer for you.” He clenched his fist at his side. “I understand that, but it doesn’t change anything.” He glanced over in my direction, and when he saw me sitting down across from him, he turned his head and mumbled something I couldn’t quite understand. After he finally hung up the phone, he cleared his throat and looked over at me. “How is she this morning?”
I wanted to ask who he was just talking to, wondering if it might’ve been Mike, but I decided to just let it go, knowing he wouldn’t tell me either way. “Pretty good actually. She just left for her group session.”
“Good to hear.” He turned his attention back to his laptop, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was really doing. There were three cell phones sprawled out on the table, along with his newspaper and one of the most expensive laptops on the market. It was clear the man made a ton of money. He’d made no attempt to hide it, but after all this time, he’d never given me any clue how he’d made his fortune. I’d tried to figure it out on my own, thinking maybe he sold organs on the black market or he was some kind of drug smuggler. While I had no idea what he was into, my instincts told me it was something illegal. He was too secretive for it to be anything legit.
Unable to fight my curiosity, I asked, “What exactly do you do, Nitro?”