Soul Deep (Triton Security Book 1)

by Ashley Lyn

  “Brock,” I whisper and touch my face.

  “You know him?”

  “He broke into my home when Tristan and Carter started to try and find Ray. He broke my nose.”

  “I’m sorry, so sorry,” he said, and I wanted to believe him, but there’s so much bad blood.

  “What happened at the meeting?”

  “I was pulled into a car.” He touches his neck. “They gave me something, I don’t know what, and when I came to, I was in a bed with a naked girl. Obviously under eighteen, scared to death. Charles was standing there with a camera, taking pictures. Said if I thought about going to the authorities again, he would turn the pictures in.”

  “What happened to the girl?” A grin stretches his face, and it’s the craziest thing.

  “I told him I would if he left her with me.” He chuckles, like something’s funny. “He clapped me on the back, thinking I was like him.” He shakes his head. “Sarah was an orphan. Drug addict parents, no other family. Ran away from foster care. I kept her, but not for what he thinks. I brought in tutors to get her back up to speed school wise. I took care of her, got her a therapist. She’s in college now, and she wants to be a social worker. I’ve managed to save ten other girls that Charles had at his home. I had a woman in the house to keep an eye on things. When a new girl was dropped off, I don’t know how, but she managed to get them out as soon as she could. Charles found out what she was doing and killed her about a year ago. It’s why the FBI started looking into him, because he got sloppy. I thought maybe I could go then, but I started getting pictures of Sarah at school, and that was when I started trying to get a hold of Carter. It was also when I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer. I wasn’t going to get the treatment because I didn’t deserve it, but Sarah convinced me otherwise.”

  “Do you know if Rayleen is with him?”

  “I don’t have a clue. I haven’t seen her in almost nine years. Every time I asked about her, he would evade and get mad. My gut tells me no, she isn’t with him.”

  “Then why would Brock warn Carter to stop looking for her? It makes no sense.”

  “It’s possible they want to find her first. As long as she was in the house, she has to have a lot of information. I don’t know if he ever touched her. I don’t even know why he brought the marriage thing into it, makes no sense. Maybe he wanted a “wife” for public events and such, but he never took her out anywhere. He rarely makes sense. I think it was more that he had her under his thumb, and Carter hating me was just another way to control me through Carter.”

  “Does anyone know you’re here?”

  “No. I took Sarah’s car. She’s out of the country right now on summer vacation. she doesn’t let me buy her stuff. She has a job, and her car is, for lack of a better word, a piece of shit.”

  My throat closes up and tears slide down my cheeks. “You threw me away and abandoned Mom! Why?” I barely get the question out, as it feels like a baseball is lodged in my throat.

  “I can never apologize enough—”

  Holding up my hand, I stop him. “I want the truth; unvarnished, no-holds-barred. “I’m sorry” doesn’t fix what you broke. What fixed it was Mom and Roger, Tristan and my friends, showing me every day by being here, by showing up. I want to know why, period—the end.”

  “I had no use for you. Back then, I was determined to grow my business and I didn’t have room or want to deal with the problems that might come with having a family. Parties at Charles’s were wild and out of control. I met your mother young, but I wanted to party like I wanted to without guilt. I didn’t want her influencing Carter, so I tried to get her to sign over all her rights to him. She fought, and she fought dirty. She brought Charles into things and I didn’t want anyone looking too closely, so I gave up and let her have her weekend a month. Leaving her and you has been my biggest regret. I know that nothing I ever say can erase that hurt. I just want a chance to get to know you now. I don’t deserve it, I know that, and if that’s your choice, then I’ll respect that.”

  “That kind of hurt,” I whisper.

  “I don’t want to cause you any more hurt. You asked for unvarnished, and that’s the truth of what happened. Nothing, no amount of good deeds, prayers, or redemption will ever wipe that from my slate.”

  I need time to processes all that he’s said, and I need to call Tristan.

  “Let’s get you to the couch and I’ll call Tristan.” Putting his arm around my shoulders, we manage to get him over to the couch. Once he’s settled, I grab my phone and call Tristan.

  “Babe, I love talking to you, but I can’t right now.”

  “I know where Charles is.” There’s dead silence before he tells everyone to shut up.

  “Explain.”

  “My dad was in your apartment when I got here.”

  “How did that asshole get in?”

  “That’s not important right now. Charles came to him wanting keys to a property that Dad has that’s off the books. He was going to refuse, but then thought that he could tell Carter where he was and then the FBI, or you could bring him in. But then Carter wouldn’t take his calls no matter what he tried.”

  “He could have just called the FBI, Becca.”

  “There’s a lot more to the story. I got all the details, and I’m going to text you the address.”

  “Is he still there?” he questions.

  “Yes, but he’s…not a problem.”

  “Becca! Get real.”

  “Don’t snap at me, Tristan, he’s sick. Cancer. He couldn’t even stand up without falling over.”

  “Why didn’t he come to the office then?”

  “He was worried he would be seen.”

  “I’ll call Richardson with this, but I’m sending someone over.”

  “Fine.” Hanging up, I look at Dad, who’s sound asleep. Going into the bedroom, I grab my gun and pull a kitchen chair in and sit in front of the door. A phone on the floor by the door lights up. Glancing at Dad, I grab the phone.

  Raven: You were supposed to check in.

  Raven: Please tell me you’re ok.

  Raven: I’m coming down.

  There’s a scratching sound at the door, and watch in awe as the deadbolt turns, and then the lock on the handle.

  Holding up the gun, my palms start to sweat.

  “Mac?” someone whispers.

  “Shit, Mac. Please answer.” More swearing, and then the door swings open and a girl stands there, so tiny, I think for a moment she’s a child. She sees me and holds her hands up.

  “Please, don’t hurt me. I’m sorry I broke in…I…I’m looking for someone.”

  “Well, I guess that answers how he got in here in the first place.” She blushes, and then gasps when she sees my dad on the couch. Before she can run to him, a large arm wraps around her and picks her up, turning her to the wall.

  “Oh my God, Griff, put her down.”

  “Becca, get back.” I look at the girl and she’s stiff as a board. Dad speaks up.

  “Okay, everyone, calm down. Becca, go over to her slowly, okay? You, I don’t know you, but you need to step back and take your hands off her.” It’s then Griffin notices how stiff she is.

  “Her name’s Raven. She was a girl Charles found. She was raised and groomed by a pervert. She has severe PTSD, and the way you just grabbed her is one of her biggest triggers.”

  Griff looks distraught. Walking over to her, I touch her shoulder. “Touch her chin, tell her, “the sun always shines again.” She’s going to drop when she snaps out of it, so make sure you can grab her,” he snaps at Griff, who looks at him again. “Grab a blanket and be ready to give it to her.”

  Touching her chin, I turn her head a bit. Her eyes are focused on something far away.

  “The sun always shines again,” I say. She whimpers as she tries to hug herself and burrow into the wall. She lets out a blood-curdling scream, startling me and Griff. Dad swears, and I watch him weave his way to us, barely holding himself up.

&nb
sp; “Raven!” he snaps. “You remember the first time you got in the pool? Remember the sun, the way felt? How about the first time we baked cookies? We burned them all.”

  Tears are falling down her cheeks, but a small smile appears as she looks at him, shaking so bad, Dad reaches out and grabs the blanket and gives it to her.

  Griff pulls out his phone and steps out to call Tristan. Sitting down on the floor, I’m emotionally drained. Dad falls back asleep, and Raven sits there wrapped in the blanket.

  Everything I ever thought I knew about my dad was just flipped on its head. There are still loads of questions, but for now, I just have to content myself with the fact that Dad may have made some mistakes, but he’s trying to make things right. At the end of the day, that’s all anyone can ever do—learn from your mistakes and try and make things right.

  TRISTAN

  I just got off the phone with Griff and my mind is chaotic. Richardson was beyond ecstatic when I gave him an address of Charles’s potential hidey hole.

  We are staged just down the road, Richardson is going over the plans, we are there only to ensure that if Ray is there we get her out safe.

  Richardson’s goal is just Charles.

  “Listen up. Team A will take the front, and Team B will take the back. Peters and Baker will be on either side. Small cabin, two doors—one in front and one in back. Six windows, two on each side of the cabin. I want eyes and ears sharp. We get in get our man and get out.

  “Triton security is here on a missing person case. Tristan, you’re to stay back until the property is breached.” Grinding my teeth, I nod my head.

  “Let’s move out.”

  I hate standing here waiting with my thumb up my ass, but I’m relieved that Carter isn’t here. He would be storming the house and causing serious problems for everyone here, so I chose not to tell him what was going on.

  He’ll probably be pissed, but he needs to concentrate on what’s going on in Kearney. Watching the agents make their way to the house, they’re maybe ten feet from the door. Watching the hand signals, I take a deep breath and prepare.

  The door is breached, and within seconds, shots are fired, the whole house lighting up like a Christmas tree.

  Swearing, I run up to the house and put my back to the side, peeking around the door. The main room is filled with agents, and two bodies are on the ground.

  “Clear!” I hear from inside the house.

  “Clear!” someone else yells.

  Walking in, they all flip around to me and I hold my hands up. Seeing one of the men on the ground is Brock, I resist the urge to kick him in the side. He smiles up at me with blood coating his teeth.

  “How’s your girl?” he wheezes out.

  “Alive and well, but I can’t say the same for you.” Richardson is dragging Charles, kicking and screaming out of the back room. He shakes his head and my stomach drops.

  “She’s not here.”

  “Fuck.”

  Charles starts laughing. “What? You actually thought I would bring her with me? If I can’t have her, no one will.”

  “Where is she?” I grind out.

  “Dead.” His eyes dart to the side and I smile.

  “Lie.”

  He sputters when Richardson pushes him forward. “Answer him, King.”

  “Sold her like the cow she is. Bitch hid my ace in the hole.”

  “You mean Ky? Carter’s son?”

  “Just pieces of my game board.”

  I smile because he’s pissed, but something tells me he isn’t being truthful.

  “He might have been a game piece to you, so was Ray, if Mac can be believed.”

  “That piece of shit! I will end him! I know he had something to do with her disappearing! He kept squirreling away my girls, plugged that leak by plugging that bitch of his!”

  “She ran away, didn’t she? How long ago?”

  Richardson pushes him down on his knees. “Answer him, and maybe I won’t drop your ass in gen pop.”

  “Four months ago, give or take.” Turning around and walking out, I pull out my phone and turn it on, finding multiple text messages from Miranda to call her immediately.

  “Finally!” she huffs. “Did you get him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Money was pulled out of the account in Denver a half hour ago.”

  “What!”

  “Someone pulled money out, maxed out their withdrawal limit at a drive-up ATM.”

  “Any word from Cash and Carter?”

  “Yup.” She pops the P at the end.

  “You going to elaborate?”

  “Ray came and got Kyrian from Anika in Kearney.”

  “Let me guess, about four months ago?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Charles.”

  “So, where the fuck is she?” Miranda snaps. “And why hasn’t she tried to get a hold of Carter?”

  I hang up. I think that’s the question of the day.

  BECCA

  Everyone had their hopes up.

  Leads were crawling out of the woodwork left and right, and then nothing.

  No Ray.

  No Kyrian.

  The only positive note is that both Ray and Ky are not with Charles or his associates. For three weeks, whoever it was maxed out the ATM withdrawals on the card and then dropped off the map again.

  Carter is so upset, but he’s holding it together surprisingly well. Whether Ray is still in Denver or not is anyone’s guess.

  The meeting between Dad and Carter was painful. There were moments in the retelling to Tristan, Carter, and Richardson that I thought Carter was going to murder him. Both Carter and Dad’s pain was palpable. The chances of Carter forgiving Dad are nil.

  I respect his decision, but I’ve chosen to visit occasionally and try and get to know him. I met all the girls that he’s saved over the years. As soon as they heard what happened, they came in from all over the country to check up on him, talk to the FBI, and overall stick up for Dad.

  Richardson was pissed that Dad never came forward before now, and there were some tense moments when we thought he might be brought up on charges.

  That was until the youngest and most recent of Dad’s saves came barreling into the room and laid herself on his chest.

  Belle is just nine years old and looks like a pixie. She was determined that no one would touch her Papa. Once she opened her mouth, she melted everyone’s hearts. “P-P-Please, don’t take my Papa.” She blinked and tears dropped, I burst into tears and wanted to hug her forever. Richardson cursed and walked out of the room. After all the men left, she smiled and winked at me, and my jaw dropped, but Dad just chuckled.

  Tristan’s been busy trying to track down Ray and helping Richardson with the case, getting as much information from Dad as possible. His treatments are going well, but he can only talk and try to remember details for so long before he wears out.

  I’m feeling like a selfish spoiled brat, mostly because I’m missing Tristan, missing snuggles and cuddle-fucks. I’m going to do something that’ll most likely get me in trouble, but I need him home tonight. It’s been two weeks, and I need a night with just us.

  Snapping the sides of my sexy panties, I grab my selfie stick and strike a seductive pose on my back, hand in my panties. Hitting send, I then straddle the selfie stick and push it as far up as I can so he gets a good view of my backside. I hit send again and try to think of other creative ways I can take pictures when I hear the sound of Tristan’s text ringtone. Looking over my shoulder, I see him standing there, pants open, cock in hand, and smile at him.

  Getting up off the bed, I walk to him. Snagging a pillow, I throw it on the floor at his feet. Running my hands up his powerful thighs, his hands cup my face as I take him in my mouth.

  Hearing his deep groan has me smiling as best I can with a mouthful of Tristan, taking him as deep as I can. Breathing through my nose, he hits the back of my throat and I moan like a whore.

  “Fuck, baby, that feels so goo
d.” Looking up, I let go of his cock and put my hands behind my back. Grabbing my face, he starts thrusting. Knowing how much he loves my eyes, I pour every ounce of emotion and love into my gaze as I can. He starts cursing and grabs the base of his dick and pulls out of my mouth before grabbing me by the armpits and hauling me up.

  Wrapping my legs around his hips, he turns me and puts my back to the wall and lines up the shot, thrusting home in one powerful stroke.

  I’m trying to move and get the spot I need, but the angle sucks. “Bed.” Grabbing my ass, he turns around and carries me to the bed. Letting go of his shoulders, he keeps a hold of my ass so my back end is tilted up, and holy stars. “Fuck, that feels good.”

  He lets my ass go and leans down, taking my mouth in a blistering kiss. He grinds aginst me, hitting my clit fucking perfectly. “Don’t stop,” I gasp out.

  “Never, baby. Come for me, Becca.” Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the feel of him. Feeling myself close to tipping over the edge, I open my eyes. Seeing the love he has for me, I come so hard I almost pass out.

  Three quick, hard thrusts and he’s right there with me. Feeling his panting breath and the sweat dripping from him, I run my hands up his sides and across his back.

  “I love you, Tristan.”

  “I love you too.” He leans up on one arm and looks at me. “What was up with the pictures.”

  “I was trying to entice you to come home early.”

  “I’m sorry that I’ve been gone so much.”

  “I truly don’t mind. I don’t want you to think I can’t be home and you not be here to kiss my feet, waiting on my every need. What you do, and what you have been doing is important. I know it won’t always be like this, and I know that there are times it might be worse. If I need you I’ll tell you, like I was doing tonight.”

  “How is the wedding planning coming along? I haven’t been as involved as I’d planned to be. I want to help you with that as much as possible.”

  “It’s good. I have all the main stuff done. Guest list and stuff, cupcakes, catering, and decorations. I met with the florist today so the flowers are done. The only thing left really is the dress. Everything’s super simple. Jace is coming down in a couple weeks to help put the favor bags and table centerpieces together. Since your mom and dad are coming down in two weeks, my mom wants to come down too. Figured I would go dress shopping with the both of them while they’re here, and we can have an engagement party. I talked to Carter. He has that huge house, and since I’m keeping it super small, immediate family and stuff, he said I could have it there. The same caterer that’s doing the wedding is doing that as well.”