“What are we going to do? I’m not riding in a van with a dead girl in the back.” Oscar tells me with his eyes on Andrei, and he too looks like he wants to kill him.
“Bring her in here. We’ll get Andrei here to call the cops,” Andrei starts to fight against the ropes that bind his hands. “Either that or we leave you here and call them. You have a choice!” I look to Patrick, Sam, and Will, “Please can you bring the girl in?”
They nod, but not one of them wants to do it. I don’t blame them, I haven’t seen her body, but I know it’s bad, and for that, I’m going to kill Andrei and Misha. Just like I killed that fucking rapist David Masters, he raped and stalked Winter, he was infatuated with her, and there was no way he was ever going to stop his obsession. I hired an inmate to shank him in his cell, it was worth it. Winter is a different person now. No one deserves to be haunted like she was.
“What did she do to you? Why did you kill her?” Oscar comes to stand beside me, everyone wants to kill this fucker, and it’s taken all our willpower not too.
Andrei looks confused like he doesn’t know what the hell we’re talking about; I don’t buy the act at all. Who doesn’t know that they have a dead woman in the back of their van? We hear the warehouse door opening, and I don’t turn. Instead, I watch Andrei’s face. I want to see his reaction to seeing this dead girl. He doesn’t turn his eyes still on Misha, so I walk around and stand in front of him. They bring the body past him; Andrei’s eyes widen as he sees the woman. “Net!” He tries to break out of the restraints; he starts shouting in Russian, a language that no one in this damn fucking warehouse knows.
The guys leave the body beside Matija Subotić, and I finally get to see the girl, I know why they are so mad and disgusted. This woman is barely eighteen, they’re right, there’s not a part of her that hasn’t been beaten or abused, and I’m wondering who the hell did this to her. “Who is she?” I don’t even recognize my own voice. It’s cold and hard, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so disgusted at someone in my life.
Andrei’s glassy eyes meet mine, and I’m so confused at this moment in time, why is he upset? “He asked you a goddamn question, now answer it!” Will shouts at him, he’s ready to kill him, and there’s not one of us that would stop him if he doesn’t give us any answers. “Who is she? Don’t say you don’t know!”
“Darya.” His voice cracks as he says her name. He pronounces it as Dah-rey-a. Who the hell is this girl?
“Who is Darya?” Oscar actually manages to say her name correctly, something that I think I would have butchered if I’d have tried.
“My sister! What happened to her, who did this? I’ll kill them!” He screams, the tears falling down his face. Fuck, this isn’t what I expected, what the fuck is going on?
“Who would kill Subotić and your sister and set both you and your brother up for doing it?” Sam crouches in front of him; Sam knows what it’s like to lose a sister. “You know who’s done this don’t you?” Andrei nods but doesn’t say who he believes has done this. “Who?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I think its Marić and Grgić. They’re the crazy ones, but if they did it, they did it on Kovačević’s orders.” He tries to break through his restraints again, if we don’t leave here soon, he’s going to break them.
“Why would Dominik Kovačević order them to kill your sister and Subotić?” I’m curious since I had a theory that it was Miroslav Petrović that had set this up and had planned to take over the band of misfits.
“He hates taking orders from Subotić. He hates Subotić and what he made Natalia do.” We’re all looking at him a little lost, we have no idea who the hell Natalia is and what Subotić made her do. “Kovačević loves the idea of power.”
“Who is Natalia?” I ask needing to have all the information possible as quickly as possible, we really need to leave.
“Natalia was Kovačević’s fiancée until Subotić offered her a job at his strip club and turned her into a whore,” Andrei explains, and it makes sense. Kovačević wants revenge and what better way than to take over as the head of the band of misfits.
“It’s time to go; we need to leave before the cops get here. It’s time to make your choice, are you coming with us?” I give him the choice, and I want him to take it because we need someone on the inside to fucking help us.
We’re sitting outside the strip club in the van that Andrei and Misha drove to the warehouse. Will and Patrick in the front keeping an eye on who’s coming and going from the club while Oscar and I are sitting in the back with Andrei and a still unconscious Misha. The back door opens, and Sam gets in, he drove our car here. “What is this club? Is it a front for drugs? For prostitution? What about guns?” I ask Andrei as I quickly send a text to Skye; this has taken a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would.
“Yes, to all, it is the biggest one in Europe and the most valuable. Why?” Andrei moves so he’s closer to Misha, we haven’t tied Andrei up whereas we have Misha restrained because when he wakes up, he’s going to try and break free and none of us are in the mood to be dealing with him.
“We need to know what we’re dealing with when we enter the strip club. Are we going to be confronted with guns?” Sam asks just as Misha starts to move, his eyes open and he starts to struggle. “Misha, it’s nice of you to join us.”
Misha’s eyes slice towards Sam before they turn to his brother; his look is one full of accusations and betrayal. His top lip curls up and he and Andrei start having an argument in Russian and fuck, I have no idea what the hell they are saying. Andrei’s face is red, and his eyes narrowed at whatever the fuck his brother is saying to him, he reaches for his brother and grab him by his shirt. Pulling him, so their faces are touching. He doesn’t shout, but his voice has a dark tone to it, again he speaks in Russian, but I hear the word “Darya.” They’re talking about their sister.
“Enough!” Oscar shouts pissed off that they are arguing, and we have no idea what they’re saying. “What the hell is going on?”
“He doesn’t care that Darya is dead. He is not my family!” Andrei finally let’s go of Misha, but he won’t look at him. “He’s the reason she’s dead, I will not forgive him!”
“Why would they kill Darya?” Misha asks him, he doesn’t believe him.
“Why would they tell us that Subotic wanted to meet us at the warehouse when he was dead? Why would they give us the van that has our sister’s dead body in it? You need to open your eyes, Misha, before we all end up dead.” Damn, this is too fucking much. We don’t need this shit right now, we need to find Addison. These fuckers, the cops can deal with them.
“What’s going to happen if we go into that strip club? Do they know we’re coming? We don’t need to have them firing at us when there are innocent people around.” Sam’s right, the last thing we need is them firing in a fucking strip club.
“No, they don’t. We didn’t know that you knew about the warehouse or the strip club. Is Darya really dead?” Finally, Misha realizes that he’s fucked up, he’s now helping. Hopefully, he knows where Addison is.
“I’m sorry, but she is.” Oscar seems to be really sympathetic, “Do you know where Addison is?”
He nods, “She’s….”
“Umm, Boss, we have a problem.” Will interrupts Misha just as he was about to tell us where Addison is.
“What it is?” My voice is hard, what the hell is important to interrupt when we’re about to get vital information.
He points toward the strip club, and I lean up, so I can see out of the windshield and fuck me… “What the hell is my wife doing here?”
Chapter Nineteen
Skye
“Are you crazy? Skye, you’re pregnant, you don’t need the stress!” Winter stares at me like I’ve lost my damn mind.
“I know that I’m pregnant, and I know that it might be a little crazy, but I can’t sit here waiting. I need to find her; every day that goes by without even a speck of informa
tion kills me. You heard Ryder, he told me that I could go to the strip club, Sam said you can come too.” I have a smile on my face, yeah, they guys meant when they are with us, but they never actually specified it.
“She’s right! So, come on, while the guys are out doing their macho bullshit. We’re going to get dressed and go to this strip club and see what we can find and have us a bit of fun.” Thank God for Maisey, she is used to being in the midst of the action, and now she’s stuck babysitting us, and that’s not fair to her, she came to Smithy International to be part of the team, I understand that she volunteered, but that’s beside the point.
“Fine, you win! Besides Sam gave us all guns so we can bring those with us.” Winter finally relents.
“I also swiped a few knives from the bag of goodies Sam got.” Damn, who’d have thought that Maisey was a thief? She starts clapping her hands at Winter, “Chop-chop, it’s time to get ready.”
“What do you wear to a strip club anyway?” Winter seems really confused, I have a dress, and I have shorts and a cute tank... that's about it.”
“Show me the dress!” Maisey’s excitedly bouncing as she sits on my bed.
Winter rolls her eyes at the excitement, “Fine, how about we all go and get ready and meet back here in an hour? If I’m wearing a dress, then so are all of you!” She points at us threateningly, but I can’t hold in my laughter, “What’s so funny?”
“Are you this bossy with Sam?” I’m still laughing, and Maisey joins me but something crosses Winter’s eyes, and I instantly regret saying it, “Sorry, I’m so stupid.”
“No, you're not, just haven't built up the courage yet. I know Sam wants me to be more… bossy as you say, in the bedroom but I just can't do it yet. He's dead; I should be able to do things like that with the man that I love. It’s so stupid to be still hung up over this, when does it end?” God my heart just breaks for her. She's right when will this ever end? Looking at her now, she's come such a long way, but there's still that part of her that is scared, and it's understandable, and I get it. I just wish there was something I could do to help her.
“Have you spoken to Sam about it?” We both turned towards Maisey, “Sorry couldn't help over hear, but seriously have you spoken to Sam about this?”
Winter instantly shakes her head, “I can't, and I don't want him to think I'm that fragile girl he met. I'm not her anymore, I'm stronger and better. But with this, this is different. I feel vulnerable again.”
“Sam will want to know. He loves you; he wants to make you happy. If you tell him what you're feeling. How vulnerable you feel. He’ll do everything he can to make you feel safe and less vulnerable.” I tell her, I know Sam, and I know that he’ll hate that she feels like this.
“I know, but I have to work this out myself. I know if I tell Sam he’ll do everything he can, but I need to know that I’m not powerless, that if I need to, I can help myself.” I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her. “What’s that for?”
“You are the bravest woman I know, I fucking admire you. What you went through and how you’ve come out the other side. God Winter, you are an inspiration to everyone out there who’s been through something similar.” I have tears in my eyes as I tell her, she truly is remarkable. I’ve heard the stories and witnessed the aftermath of both men and women being raped. It’s happened to so many of them, too fucking many of them. Each and every single one of them isn’t to blame, and I wish so many of them could get the help they need to see them through the darkness.
“Don’t make me cry! Sophia’s the strongest woman.” A sad smile crosses her lips, and her eyes are glassy.
“Yeah Soph’s strong, I’m not denying that. She’s overcome a lot but you, I watched you hit rock bottom.” The quivering of her lip tells me that she’s on the brink, she’s going to break down and cry, “But you got back up, you faced that fucker, and you survived. You are strong, you let a man in. You let a man love you; you let a man touch you. So yeah, you’re the strongest woman I know.”
“Hell yes, you are.” The sound of sniffling makes my head turn, Maisey’s crying, she waves her hands in front of her face trying to stop the tears. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She does that a lot, apologizes for saying things when others are talking.
“You’re not interrupting, you’re family too.” She smiles, but the teary eyes make me frown, “Why are you crying?”
She waves her hand in front of her face again, “Ugh, ignore me. We’d better get ready. Meet back in an hour?” She’s dodging the question, and I’m wondering why but I leave her be, she needs to be able to tell us in her own time.
“Yes, you both had better be wearing dresses too.” Winter laughs as she leaves the room leaving both Maisey and me alone.
“I’m sorry for getting emotional.”
I shake my head and sit on the bed, “Don’t be, we’re all entitled to be emotional. Hell, the men do it more than us, they just call it brooding. Want to tell me what’s wrong? What got you so upset?
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Winter but listening to you tells her how strong and brave she is made me think of my sister.” I’m confused, Maisey’s never spoken about her sister before, “She died when I was nineteen, it’s what made me become a cop, it’s why I joined the FBI.”
“What happened to her?” I can’t believe her sister died, I swear to God, Smithy International should come with a damn warning sign. Do not apply unless you have had something terrible happen to either you or a member of your family. Also, do not get involved with a member of Smithy International, it only brings pain.
“She was raped by her college professor. Nobody on campus believed her; they called her a liar and a whore. Hell, even the Dean brushed her off and told her not to make up lies. Turns out the professor told the Dean that Emily had been making advances toward him the whole semester. When he firmly turned her down, she made up the rape story.” I don’t know how the hell she’s staying calm as she tells me this. “Emily ended up hanging herself because she couldn’t cope with it. She wrote me a letter; I still have it to this day. She went to the cops and reported him the day she… umm… died.”
“Please tell me that they arrested that asshole?” I want to find him and rip his balls off.
“Yeah, Emily wasn’t the first girl he did it too. When she died, girls came out and told their stories. He’d been raping girls for years; Emily was the first one to speak up against him. The other girls left college; we think he expected Emily to do the same.” Her sad smile hurts my heart, even though I haven’t known Maisey for very long, she’s part of this family, and I hate that she’s hurting. “At least Emily got the justice she deserved.”
Something clicks, “Wait, did your sister go to Raleigh? Was this the Raleigh Rapist?” She nods, “Geez, I’m so sorry. That must have been tough.” I don’t know what to say, that trial went on for months, they believed that he’d get away with it. So many of the girls didn’t want to testify and were withdrawing their statements, but they got their conviction in the end, and he’s spending the rest of his life in a jail cell.
“It was hard, and the trial was torture. Having to hear what my sister went through, hearing the statement that she gave to the police wrecked us. My parents haven’t been the same since and neither have I. He’s locked up like the animal he really is.” Her tortured voice is full of emotion, and I have to blink a few times to stop the tears from falling. Damn, being pregnant has turned me into a damn fountain. “She’s at peace now, and for that I’m grateful.”
“Yeah she is. You must be proud knowing that your sister saved many more girls from going through the same thing. I’m sorry that she had to die in order for them to see she was telling the truth. She was strong, she wanted justice, but she was let down by the people who should have protected her.” I reach across and give her hand a squeeze, I feel like I should offer some sort of comfort.
“I’m so proud of her, just as you
are of Winter. Speaking of which, I had better get ready as should you.” She gets off the bed and turns to me as she reaches the door, “Thank you, you’re the only person I have told that story to. The joys of marrying your high school sweetheart.” Before I can answer her, she opens the door, she’s finished talking about this, and I doubt she will do it again.
This goddamn dress, I can hardly breathe in it. It’s a bit on the tight side, but it’s my only fancy dress. I sigh and pull the hem down again, it keeps riding up to my thighs. Thank God Ryder’s not here; he’ll blow a damn gasket. It’s going to have to do, it’s not like there’s a shop that I can go to and get a new one. I search through my luggage trying to find shoes that will go with this dress, I know I brought a pair of heels with me that match this dress, and I just need to find them.
There’s a knock at the door, and I get up off of the floor and answer it, it’s Winter, and she looks hot. She’s wearing a fuchsia bodycon dress that hugs her curves, she is wearing hot pink high heels, and I’m jealous of how amazing she looks, “Where’s your shoes?” She asks as she crosses her arms over her chest.
“I’m trying to find them; will you help me?” I hear the elevator and the clicking sound of heels hitting tiles before it’s silenced by what I presume is the carpet in the hall. I hope that’s Maisey, I could use all the help I can get finding my damn shoes. Winter and I turn to the sound of cursing, yep, it’s Maisey. “What’s wrong with her?” I whisper to Winter when we see Maisey swaying as she walks toward my room.
“How the hell are you standing in those shoes? She points accusingly at Winter, who is standing perfectly poised as she wears heels every day.
Winter shrugs, “I’m always in heels, and I’ve been wearing heels since I can remember, why?”
“It’s like walking in moon boots!” I burst out laughing, Maisey is so dramatic.
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