Hart of Darkness

by S. B. Alexander

  I growled, recalling a conversation between Duke and me in his penthouse about eight months ago, right before I’d signed the mortgage papers for the shelter.

  “She’s probably dead,” Duke had said.

  “How can you stand there, dressed in your fancy suit, and tell me Grace is dead?” I’d shouted at the top of my lungs. “How can you believe that? No one has found her body.”

  “I’ve seen what the streets can do to people. Come on, Dillon. Use that smart head of yours. It’s been four years since Grace left home. Don’t think for a minute I didn’t go looking for her. I did. If she’s still alive, maybe she doesn’t want to be found.”

  “Or maybe, brother, someone kidnapped her.” That was the last thing I’d said to Duke. Since then, we hadn’t spoken, even though he lived in the city.

  I rubbed my eyes, shook off my ire and every other emotion burning through my body, and went into the shelter.

  As soon as I was inside, I heard a car’s engine. Rafe was monitoring the cameras on Norma’s computer screen. “VW. They’re parking in front of the house.”

  I stalled in the doorway that connected the entry to the common room. “Where’s Norton?”

  “I did what you said and called Josh in. He’s got his eye on Norton.”

  The doorbell rang.

  Not taking his attention away from the screen, Rafe said, “Two girls. One looks in bad shape.”

  I hurried the short distance to the front door, with Rafe not far behind.

  When I opened it, my eyes landed on the redhead first. Her hair was disheveled, her body was black and blue, and it appeared she’d been rolling around in a pile of leaves. Then my gaze flicked to the blonde, and my jaw came unhinged.

  “Dillon? I’m Maggie. You called.” Her voice slid along my tattooed arms, smooth, silky, and downright ball-squeezingly sexy.

  I opened the door wider.

  The redhead immediately padded in, appearing a little agitated. She craned her neck up at Rafe then pivoted on her heel and went back to the door. “I’m out of here.”

  Rafe and I swapped confused shrugs.

  Maggie blocked the girl. “Nadine, they’re not going to call the cops.” Maggie gave me a pointed look. “Right, Dillon?” Her voice was soothing, like a mom’s.

  That all depended on what we were up against. My goal in taking in women was not to interrogate them, but to give them refuge. However, I had a couple of questions, or one important one. First, Nadine needed some medical attention, as in Band-Aids and antiseptic. I didn’t see any cuts that required stitches.

  “Rafe, can you get the first-aid kit?” I asked.

  Nadine hugged herself. “That dude reminds me of a gang member.” She tipped her head at Rafe’s retreating form.

  I could understand her trepidation. Rafe was a big dude and wore a don’t fuck with me expression most of the time.

  “Nadine, I can assure you no one will hurt you here. Both Rafe and me, no matter how scary we might seem, we’ll protect you with our lives.” That was no lie. Rafe would cut off any man’s head who preyed on women, as would I.

  Nadine reminded me of Allie and Bee and how uneasy they’d been when I offered them a place to stay. They hadn’t budged at first. Bee had come before Allie, but Bee had been homeless and desperately needed food, a shower, and a warm bed. I’d given Bee full reign of my house all by herself for a few nights to prove to her I wasn’t a rapist or anything of the sort and that she could trust me. Even the two women who were asleep in their beds at the moment had been apprehensive when they’d first arrived, but Norma had helped to ease their tension, the conviction in her voice much like that in Maggie’s.

  “See,” Maggie added. “You’re safe.”

  Nadine’s tense shoulders loosened as she stepped into the common room. Maggie sashayed her very curvy hips in behind Nadine, while I locked us in. Then I joined the women, who sat down on the U-shaped couch.

  After a beat of silence, Maggie jumped to her feet and threw her arms around my neck. “It’s so good to see you and to know you didn’t die in a gang fight.”

  I wracked my brain at where her sudden affection was coming from. She was acting as if we had been good friends at one time, when all we had been were enemies. Despite that, my body suddenly reacted in ways that weren’t appropriate at the moment. For sure, Rafe was right. I needed a woman to relieve some of my stress.

  I backed away. If I didn’t, I would be escorting her down the hall and into my office so I could throw her on the couch. “You look great.” Boy, did she ever. Maggie was sexier than Eddie had mentioned. The curly hair she’d had as a teenager had turned into soft, wavy locks as a woman, and her large hips were making me all warm inside. Not only was I into blondes, but I liked my women with meat on them. “And you too are not dead.”

  Most of the members from my gang were either in jail, dead, or into some bad shit, like my brother Duke. I knew that the men who had been in Maggie’s gang had followed the same path.

  She tucked hair behind her ear then adjusted the scarf around her neck. “I could’ve been if it weren’t for a cop who helped me turn my life around.”

  “Cop,” Nadine muttered. “You know a cop?”

  Maggie returned to her spot next to Nadine. “Please relax. I brought you here and not the police station.”

  As though that was all she needed to hear, Nadine slumped against the couch.

  Maggie unleashed her bag from across her body. “I can’t believe you own a shelter. Why?” She took inventory of the first floor. When she glanced up, awe was written all over her face. The high ceilings with wood beams gave the room a spacious feeling.

  That answer would have to wait. I was more concerned with Nadine.

  I parked myself on the arm of the couch. “Nadine, what happened to you?” Debbie and Angel, the two women asleep on the third floor, had come to the shelter looking much like Nadine. Seeing a woman fucked up by a man made me want to use the guy as a punching bag.

  “She was a victim in a standoff between a gang and the cops earlier tonight,” Maggie said. “She was lucky to get away. Can she stay here?”

  The red flag waved in my head. My one question before anyone could stay here was, “Are you running from the cops?” I didn’t expect anyone to say yes even if they were. But I had to ask because I didn’t want to get entangled with the law. I could be charged with harboring or aiding and abetting.

  Rafe waltzed over, carrying the metal container with all the necessities to bandage up someone. “Standoff with the cops?” He set the first-aid kit on the large square coffee table then took a seat on the edge of the couch opposite me.

  “Won’t the cops be looking for her?” I asked.

  Maggie began cleaning the blood off Nadine’s face with astringent wipes. “I’m sure they will or are. But Nadine feels like she would be in danger if she goes to the cops.”

  Nadine winced but let Maggie tend to her wounds anyway.

  Rafe and I exchanged a silent look that asked what do we do?

  “Can I stay here?” Nadine’s distressed tone pierced my heart.

  I rubbed my beard. In my time searching for Grace, I’d come into contact with girls who didn’t want to involve the law. Hell, Allie and Bee were two of the girls. But at that time, I hadn’t been running a shelter that was also a business. Now I had to toe the line.

  On the flip side, I couldn’t throw Nadine to the wolves. I wasn’t saying the cops were corrupt, but I’d known a few to side with the bad guys. Jeremy Pitt came to mind. Not only that, but if something did happen to Nadine after I said no, then I would feel like a piece of shit for shoving her out the door.

  “As long as you need to.” The words fell easily from my lips despite the consequences.

  Rafe gave me a cursory glance before he said, “Maggie, you realize you can get into trouble for interfering with an investigation.”

  She set down the first-aid kit. “Nadine’s a victim. So I don’t see how. But I’ll handle th
e cops.” Her tone was confident as sure as it was dark outside.

  Man, her voice was like warm butter, jolting me in all the right places.

  Nadine yawned.

  “Rafe, can you show Nadine to a room on the second floor?” I didn’t want her waking up Angel and Debbie.

  Rafe unfolded his large body. “Come on, Nadine. The rooms are upstairs through that hallway.” He pointed to an archway on the side wall midway, down from where we were sitting.

  Maggie caught Nadine’s arm. “Please don’t go back to Miguel.”

  She gave Maggie a sad look. “Thanks for helping me.”

  Then she and Rafe vanished upstairs.

  Maggie leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “She’s going to go back to her pimp. I know it.”

  “They usually do,” I mumbled.

  Runaways were scared and easily swayed, especially by pimps who had money and offered them a bed, clothes, and food. I wasn’t sure if Nadine was a runaway, though, and as much as I could talk to her about not returning to her pimp, I got the feeling she wouldn’t listen.

  Maggie fiddled with her scarf. “I was hoping that the standoff tonight was with a gang called the Black Knights for a story I’m doing for the Boston Eagle.”

  I’d heard of them. They were into drugs and guns.

  “Reporter, huh?” She didn’t need to answer that. I said it more out of envy that she had gotten off the streets and out of a gang. “Are they part of the sex-trafficking story you’re working on?” Maybe the gang had graduated to bigger and more disgusting opportunities.

  She pursed her full pink lips. “How do you know that?”

  “We have a mutual acquaintance. Eddie at the city morgue.”

  “That’s why you called me?” Her tone led me to believe she was more intrigued than anything.

  “Eddie had a young dead girl come in tonight. A drug mule, it seems. And he thought she might have been my missing sister, Grace.”

  She flinched. “Your baby sister? Whoa!”

  Then out of nowhere, it dawned on me. Maybe Nadine knew Grace or had seen her. Nadine definitely wasn’t going anywhere until I showed her Grace’s picture.

  6

  Maggie

  I should have been leaving since Nadine was safe for now, but the couch was too comfy, and I wanted to learn more about Dillon.

  He stared at me with so many different emotions dancing in his golden-brown eyes. I was sure I had several going on in mine too. I couldn’t believe, after all these years, that I was in the same room as Dillon Hart. The Hart brothers had been my enemies, but Dillon had been my favorite. He had a brooding outer appearance, but underneath all that toughness was a teddy bear. I’d picked up on that when he’d defended his sister, much like Lou had protected and defended me. Back then, though, boys and dating weren’t on my list of things to do, not after what Cory had done to me. Moreover, if I’d had any notions about approaching Dillon, Lou would’ve cut off his manly parts, or those of any boy, for that matter, including the ones in my own gang if they’d breathed on me the wrong way.

  My gang days were long gone. I didn’t have Lou to fight off the men, and I’d gotten past my fear of a boy touching me. It had been hard when I’d first had sex at the age of twenty. The man I’d been with had been gentle and kind. I’d soon realized that the more sex I had, the more fun it could be, especially when two people wanted the same thing.

  My phone rang, breaking the silence between Dillon and me. I shifted in my seat, wanting to ignore Ted’s call. The quietness in the room was soothing, and Dillon’s gaze bouncing over me had my lady parts singing. Maybe it was the lip ring and the diamond stud in his nose that got me all heated. Or maybe it was how his beard hugged his strong jaw or how his tousled brown hair fell to his shoulders. I came to the conclusion that it was all of the above, the whole darn package, at least above his neck. I didn’t venture lower or examine his tatted arms. Otherwise, I would have been beet red.

  I heaved a sigh as my phone continued to blare. I had to pick up, or else Ted would keep calling.

  “Are you going to answer that?” Dillon asked in a husky tone.

  I puffed out my cheeks as I set my sights on the ping-pong table behind Dillon for no other reason than to not look at the boy who made the butterflies take flight in my stomach.

  The ringing stopped… then started again.

  I lifted the phone to my ear, my thoughts taking a downturn to Nadine. I felt as if she’d punched me in the gut harder than anyone had in the past, and I’d taken some fists in my stomach. A small amount of guilt plagued me. I’d been praying she would tell me her pimp was Cory, not Miguel. That name didn’t ring a bell to me.

  “I wanted to make sure you got home safe,” Ted said.

  “Did you consider that I could be sleeping?”

  “I know you, Mags.” Ted’s voice was like sandpaper. “When you’re trying to find dirt for a story, you’ll go to great lengths to get the facts.”

  He spoke the truth. I considered myself relentless when I wanted something.

  “Can you confirm that the gang you were up against tonight is in fact the Black Knights? What about the guy you arrested? Can you tell me his name?” Nadine had said the guy the cops caught wasn’t Miguel, but she didn’t know his name.

  Dillon watched me intently.

  Ted let out a low laugh. “My case is not for the media. When I have something that I can share, you’ll be one of the first ones to know.”

  I believed that last statement was a lie. If his investigation uncovered the Black Knights, Ted wouldn’t want me anywhere near that case, especially if Cory Calderon was involved. Like Rick, Ted had also told me Cory was clean. When Ted learned what the boy had done to me, he did some digging. At first, I didn’t believe him, which was why I’d asked Rick to confirm things. But Cory didn’t even have a parking ticket. I would guess his rich daddy was paying someone off within law enforcement to conceal Cory’s records.

  “You know I’ll do my own digging.”

  Ted harrumphed. “I’m well aware of that. Remember, Mags, if you intrude on a police investigation, there will be consequences. Family or not.”

  I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see me. “I want to see Cory pay for what he did to me.” Ted wouldn’t throw me in jail.

  Yeah, but you could lose your job. Better yet, you could lose the opportunity to exact your revenge on Cory Calderon. Then again, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get anything on a guy who frequented charity events and was considered a good boy.

  Dillon grinned, and when he did, tingles peppered my body.

  Since when did I get tingles from a guy who smiled at me?

  Since the hottest guy you’ve seen in quite some time is sitting across from you.

  Suddenly, I realized the last time I had sex with a guy was more than a year ago, maybe two. At least I had my trusty vibrator. Still, a woman had needs, and the image of two bodies sliding together, making glorious music jolted me right between the legs.

  Dillon had a blank expression as his gaze roamed all over me, making those butterflies flutter endlessly. He was certainly better to look at than the ping-pong table. His chiseled biceps were yummy. The tats on his arms told a story, at least I assumed they did since he had the name Grace inked on his arm.

  “You’ve got to let Cory go. Now get some rest.” Ted disconnected, killing the butterflies in my stomach.

  I would get Cory if it took me forever.

  I barely lowered the phone, when Dillon started in. “That was your cop friend?”

  I yawned. The long day was hitting me all of a sudden, or more like my adrenaline was nonexistent now. “Ted Hughes.”

  “As in Detective?” Dillon asked.

  “You know him?” That would be weird… or cool… Actually, I didn’t know what I thought about that, although Ted was well-known in the city as the commander of the gang force.

  “Eddie mentioned him. So are you saying that the guy who gave you your s
car is the leader of the Black Knights?”

  “I can’t prove it yet. I have a source who heard a rumor about Cory Calderon being connected to the Black Knights.”

  Dillon threaded long fingers through his hair. In the soft light coming from the lamp next to him, I could see the exhaustion evident in his face. “As in Calderon Investments?”

  I wanted to be those fingers. “You know Cory?” My heart sped from zero to a hundred in a flash. If he said he was good friends with the man, I might punch him.

  “My financial advisor works for the company.”

  Suddenly, I wasn’t tired anymore. “Who? Harold, the owner?” My mind was spinning like an out-of-control tornado. Maybe Dillon could introduce me to his contact, then I could pose as a client and do some investigative work. On second thought, that wouldn’t work. I didn’t have money to invest.

  “Your mind is going crazy.” Dillon’s voice lowered my pulse a little.

  Dillon was my age at twenty-six. I only knew that because I’d asked Lou about the Hart brothers. He’d given me the basics—ages, where they lived, and to stay away from them since they were rivals. We weren’t enemies anymore, and I wondered where Dillon had gotten enough money that he needed a financial advisor. Only old people had those, unless he was into drugs or another illegal business. My mind was diving into the deep, dark abyss with thoughts of sex trafficking and the idea of him opening a shelter. He’d asked me about my story earlier.

  I shuddered a breath, playing with my scarf, a habit I had when I was nervous or thinking.

  He gave me the same wolfish grin he had earlier. “I know what you’re thinking. The shelter is legit. I’m not into anything illegal like sex trafficking. I truly have made wise investments. And no, I don’t know Cory. I’ve never met his old man either.”

  He spoke with sincerity and passion, erasing my morbid thoughts. I did believe him.

  He wormed his way closer to me until we were almost thigh to thigh. “No need to be nervous.” He proceeded to remove my scarf, exposing my cleavage. I would’ve slapped his hand away, but his ocean-scented cologne was gluing me to him, and the gentle way he was untying my scarf gave me reason to pause. Probably because I was excited he was so close, whether I wanted to admit it or not.