Silk

by Heidi McLaughlin

  I’d recognized the man that pulled me into the white van at the prison as one of Vito’s guys. After he wrapped himself around me and carried me away from my car, he gagged me, tied my hands together, and then put a thick tan bag over my head, leaving me no way to fight back, or scream for help. But he hadn’t hurt me; he even placed his hand on the top of my head, helping me duck into cargo hold of the van. That gave me a small amount of comfort, and, oddly, made me feel safe.

  It took about thirty minutes to get to our destination, so I knew they hadn’t taken me far. The blare of rock classics on the radio blocked any sounds from the road, or outside. When we arrived, and they pulled me from the van, the only sound I heard was the rush of tires pounding down a nearby freeway.

  Once inside, they threw me on the ground and left; my dad’s most popular album had been playing on repeat the entire time I’d been here, muffling every sound. After several hours, I finally heard male voices arguing somewhere nearby, but not close enough for me to make out their words. Eventually they drew close enough, I recognized one of them as Vito. His accent rang true, grating into my ear drums.

  “Turn that shit off already, you think that music doesn’t haunt her as it is.” I heard someone yell from further away.

  “Calm your ass down, woman! You’re about two seconds from trading places with our dear little one here.” I heard Vito yell back.

  Shuffling footsteps grew near, and my breath slowed as my body tensed. Even with the bag still over my head, I could smell bitter whiskey mixed with the stench of death.

  “Hey baby girl, I told you yours was coming, didn’t I?” A female voice slurred near my head. “Well, it’s your time to pay up.”

  It was my fucking mom.

  ***

  Deacon

  “Where the fuck are the demands!” Shaw screamed from Eli’s kitchen.

  I didn’t respond, I continued staring at the picture of her hanging near a bookshelf full of old music references. It had been hours since we’d left Tony at the prison, and even longer since Eli had gone missing, and we hadn’t heard a single word from Vito.

  Shaw’s men were out walking the streets we knew to be Vito’s territory, but nothing—not a damn thing—had turned up. It was like she vanished into thin air. Willow wanted to call the cops, but Shaw and Duke had convinced her not to, but I was starting to think it might be our only option, unless we heard something soon.

  “I think it’s time.” I said to Shaw who had wandered into the living room with me.

  He glared at me, not even bothering to acknowledge I’d spoken.

  “Hey, fucker! This isn’t the time to play chicken with the deranged drug lord. It’s been hours, it’s time to come up with another plan.”

  “No,” was his only response.

  I stood from the couch in search of my phone. It was sitting on a long skinny table, directly in front of him. His eyes moved from me, to the phone, and back, daring me. Hoping I’d give him an excuse to release the bundle of nerves wound so tight inside him, I could see it contorting him completely—I knew because that’s exactly what was happening to me. I took a step, then he took a step, another, then another as he cracked his neck from side to side, a visible tell of his I was starting to see more, and more often. A smile slowly spread across his face while his hands clenched and unclenched, as the veins in his neck grew bigger and pulsed. My heart pounded in my chest as my body tensed preparing to attack. The doorbell rang, shocking us both from our murderous glares.

  On the other side of the door was a small, withered woman with long stringy hair and circles around her eyes so dark I wasn’t sure if they were drawn on with a marker, or a cruel joke formed by Mother Nature.

  “Who the hell are you?” She slurred at me.

  “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” Shaw yelled from across the room before ripping the door from my hand and grabbing the woman by the arm, pulling her into the house. He grasped her neck and lifted her from the floor, pushing her back flush to the wall. “Did you have something to do with this shit, Christie? Because I will fucking kill you, and enjoy every single second of it.”

  She didn’t speak, I’m not sure she could with his hand cutting off her air supply.

  “Put her down, she can’t talk with you choking the life out of her.” I told him, probably a little more calmly than I should have been at the moment.

  “Deacon, meet Christie. Elizabeth’s piece-of-shit mother that would sell her daughter for the smallest ounce of anything she could snort up her nose, or shoot into her veins.”

  Her feet touched the ground just as her eyes shot to me, and I sprung on her, wrapping my hand around her arm pulling her against me.

  “You don’t fucking deserve, Eli. You are the poorest excuse for a mom I’ve ever seen, and I hope I’m there when all you’ve done comes back to kick you in the ass.”

  Shaw grunted, “So, I see you’ve heard about mommy dearest here?”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard.” I growled as I released her arm and pushed her against the wall.

  “So you’re the replacement, huh? The rocker with the blue guitar and magic fingers, just like daddy?” She said with disgust in her voice.

  “Where’s Eli?” I snapped.

  “She’s fine, but my business is actually with Mr. Sutton here, not you.” She replied.

  “No, if it has to do with Eli, then your business is with me.”

  “Well, seeing as you’re a broke musician, and this one here has more money than he could ever dream of spending, then I think you’re mistaken.”

  “You did!” Shaw yelled, his body was almost vibrating with anger. “You had Vito kidnap your own daughter! Damn, Christie, I thought you hit rock bottom a long time ago, but this is a new low, even for you.”

  “Times are tough for some of us, love, Vito approached me with a business venture I just couldn’t pass up. Apparently, his little friends screwed everything up,” she said, pointing toward me. “That’s when he decided to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

  “What does he want?” I demanded.

  “Thirteen mil, and not a single hair on her head will be touched.” She said.

  “Done.” Shaw said immediately, without so much as a flinch at the amount. “Tell us when and where.”

  She nodded, and a grim smile spread across her face. “Tonight during the opening act at lover boy’s show, outside next to the fountain. Don’t be late, or play any games, okay? Don’t fuck this up for me.”

  She turned and walked out the front door, like she didn’t have a care in the world and had just been told she held the winning lottery ticket.

  Shaw immediately put the phone to his ear making call after call while I found my place on the bottom step, the place I had been sitting this morning when Eli walked out the front door. Her dad’s guitar was still leaned against the wall, exactly where I’d left it. My mind started to wander to the possibility this morning could be the last time I would ever see her, but I pushed those thoughts as far into the recesses as they would go. She would be fine, we would be fine. She’d be back in her house tonight, exactly where she belonged.

  I turned the tuning keys and lightly strummed the guitar. Luci meowed at me before stretching out on the step next to me.

  “Chastain,” Shaw said after he’d finally called every person he could possibly think of to get enough money together to pay off Vito. “When Elizabeth comes back tonight, you’re going to stay as far away from her as you possibly can. I don’t care what I have to do to you, she will never speak to you again.”

  I stood, slowly, ready for this fight; always ready to fight for what was mine. “Bullshit, Sutton. Eli made her decision already, it’s done. Now I’m glad she has you, and will always be thankful you are able to wave your magic money wand to pay off Vito, but don’t get that confused with thinking I’ll just step aside and give up ‘cause I’ll never do that.”

  His eyes grew dark, and once again I could see the veins in his neck expanding
as his heart rate increased, a sign of pure fucking aggression.

  “I told you once you were trouble for her, and you still stuck around. Are you going to let this happen, again? She’s in danger, and it’s all your fault, you caused this, no one else.”

  “Fuck you, Shaw. I didn’t cause any of this, at one point I thought I did, too. I let you convince me I did. Vito knows about her because of me, but that’s as far as my blame goes. I won’t continue to take the blame for shit I didn’t do, or cause. If you’re looking for a scapegoat, then you need to wait ‘til you get your hands on her mom and channel all that hate to her. I’ve had enough of it, don’t blame me because you stuck your dick where it didn’t belong and Eli dumped your ass.”

  ***

  Eli Blue

  “Hey sweetpea, how ya doin’? You think you can make it another hour?” Vito asked.

  Since I was still gagged and my head was covered, I couldn’t exactly answer him, so I made a disgusted groaning sound, hoping to get my point across. I even flipped him off, but considering my hands were twisted under my legs, I didn’t figure he’d see that either.

  He laughed, “Yeah, I got ya. I’d loosen everything, but then I just imagine you’d go and try to escape and, well, we can’t have you going and forcing us to hurt ya now, can we? Especially since we’re so close to being out of each other’s lives forever, and I do promise ya that. After one of your boyfriends saves ya tonight, you won’t be ever seein’ my face again. Scouts honor.”

  I groaned even louder picturing Vito as a boy scout; I doubted he even had a clue about any sort of code.

  “What? You think I wasn’t a boy scout? I coulda been, ya know, but you’re right, I wasn’t. I was born into this shit, instead of being born into a life like yours. But you’ve done good, considering the piece a work that mom of yours is, cause that lady is shit, ya know that, right?”

  I didn’t even bother trying to respond to that statement with a sound, anyone that knew my mom didn’t need to ask me that. Considering she’d just been tormenting me about all the money she was going to get from Shaw because of me; well, I didn’t think I needed to. I knew my mother had gone off the deep end a long time ago, but this was a million times farther than I ever dreamed she’d go. Trying to swindle me out of money with lies was one thing, but helping kidnap me, then extorting money from my ex-boyfriend was something entirely different.

  I was here because of her. Tied up and gagged on a nasty-ass floor, with only Vito to keep me company, because of her. I was going to kill her, I was going to fucking kill her with my own two hands, and enjoy seeing the life slowly seep from her eyes while I did. Okay, maybe that wasn’t true. But I would make sure the cops found her, and locked her away for a very, very long time.

  Each second that passed, my anxiety level increased. I didn’t have a clue how long I’d been lying here, but I didn’t think I could handle another second. I tried to move my arms, but could only wiggle them a half inch up and down. With my hands looped under my legs, they weren’t going anywhere, either. I tried to swing my legs back and forth at the knee to see if my arms would loosen any.

  “Hey, hey, cut that shit out. It’s almost over, don’t start going all crazy on us now.” Vito screamed from far away.

  I’d had enough of being a human pretzel. I tried to push myself up, but immediately fell back over, my head crashing to the hard floor, and I heard a laugh bounce through the empty room. Pushing my elbow out, I tried again, and had just as much success as the first time.

  “Fuck.” Vito mumbled. “Okay I’ll unhook your arms from your legs, but I’m not untying you.”

  His hands fumbled along my arms until they reached the hard plastic connecting my wrists. I felt the cold blade of a knife as the backside of it ran across my skin and pulled tight, releasing the only thing holding my hands in place. I pulled them swiftly to my chest, rubbing roughly on my wrists trying to ease some of the pain the tie had caused as it bit into my flesh. Vito was still hovering over me, I could feel his presence, and even though I couldn’t see him, I could smell his cheap cologne and hear his labored breathing. Placing my hands on the cold floor, I pushed myself into a sitting position, and heard the rustling of clothes as he leaned further over me then sniffed at the base of my neck.

  I took this as my only opportunity, and pushed my hands straight out and felt them connect with his body. Shoving with all my strength, I heard him fall back and land with a loud thud. Luckily, the thick material covering my head wasn’t secured so I was able to rip it off with little effort. My eyes had trouble focusing in the dark room; I blinked rapidly, trying to clear them.

  “Knew I shouldn’t trust ya, fuck me for feeling sorry for ya. Won’t happen again.” Vito said.

  My eyes finally began to clear, and I watched as Vito slowly stood, pulled a gun from his back, and pointed it at me.

  “Be a good little girl, and don’t make me fucking shoot you because that would completely fuck things up for us all.”

  I scooted further away from him, and shook my head.

  “Just let me tie your hands back without fucking with me, and I won’t put the bag back over your head…but the gag stays in place, the last thing I need is to listen to an unhappy chick harpin’ on me.”

  As rapidly as I could, my eyes searched the room for something, anything, that might help me get away from him. The room was made entirely out of concrete that was chipped and crumbling. One wood chair was in the middle of the room, with one light bulb hanging above it from a string, nothing else. Nothing I could use. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then stuck my hands out as he put a clear zip tie over them and secured it even tighter than before.

  “Good girl, good girl.” He whispered then patted me on top of the head.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Deacon

  Outside, the front steps of the arena were overflowing with people and the narrow sidewalk surrounding the fountain couldn’t hold one more person. I sulked back into a tiny opening next to an outdoor café and watched as kids threw their wishes, on the backs of pennies, through the air, mesmerized as they splashed into the water. No doubt believing that putting your most secret of hopes and dreams out into the universe meant you’d get whatever you desired; unfortunately, I knew better.

  Nothing had ever been handed to me by anyone, not even the universe. I’d fought for every small thing I’d ever been given, and that luck wasn’t going to change now. Shaw believed this exchange was only going to include money and Eli, like simply handing over an enormous duffle bag of money for the woman I loved was going to end so easily. It wasn’t. No matter how much I wished it would, I could feel all the way into my bones it wasn’t.

  The clock tower down the road chimed, letting me know it was time. On the second chime I saw her. She didn’t look hurt, she looked pissed. Her hair was a mess atop her head, and she was still wearing the same clothes I’d seen her in this morning, which felt like a lifetime ago. A jacket was draped over her shoulders, more than likely concealing that her hands were tied behind her back. Vito was directly behind her, flanked by two oversized men that were scanning the area. Her mom was further back, keeping her distance. Had I not known she was the cause of this mess, I wouldn’t have realized she was even with them.

  Eli’s eyes were frantically roaming around the busy street. On the fourth chime they found Shaw, and relief seeped through her every pore. My stomach clenched at the same time it rumbled loudly. Even though I knew now wasn’t the time for jealousy, I wanted to see that look on her face because of me, not him. She was mine now, and I couldn’t even keep her safe, or rescue her.

  Shaw was standing front and center at the fountain. He was also flanked by his burly guards, whose mere presence had decreased the number of onlookers. The bag, full of more money than I’d ever seen in my lifetime, was resting on the ground directly in front of Shaw. His eyes moved to the bag, and I saw Vito’s eyes move in response.

  On the sixth chime I stepped from my
hiding spot, moving forward until I was directly across from Eli. On the seventh chime her eyes connected with mine, and all the remaining tension visibly spilled from her body as each of her muscles relaxed and a small, yet tight, smile formed on her lips.

  Vito’s eyes moved from me, to Shaw, and back again, taking in the twenty feet that separated all of us. The tension that had left Eli settled into him. The two men flanking Eli placed their hands on her arms halting her movement forward. We were all in a standoff, each waiting for the other to place their bet, but I wasn’t folding, I was all in with this particular hand.

  I’d learned the sheer physical ability of a man is not what sets him apart, it’s the lengths to which he’s willing to go, for what he loves and believes, that should scare anyone opposing him.

  My eyes were locked with Eli’s when I saw a glint of light reflecting from the guard next to her and immediately knew what it was, and what it meant. I turned my gaze to Shaw, whose eyes were already on me; he saw it, too. He nodded his head as I shook mine, his eyes grew wide and I knew I was fucked. In perfect unison with the tenth chime, two things happened—Vito’s guards drew their guns, and I drew mine. Everyone froze. Vito’s head moved from me, back to the bag in front of Shaw, and I knew the money was the only thing that mattered to him.

  I held my hands up, no longer pointing the gun toward them.

  “Nobody wants to get hurt, take your fucking money, and let her go.” I shouted.

  “Deacon!” He shouted, and shook his head. “Yous really shouldn’t ‘ve come, if I remember correctly, you wasn’t even invited. Only rich boy here was supposed to be present with his bag-o-cash.”

  “You really thought I wouldn’t come? You can’t take what’s mine and expect me to sit on my ass doing nothing. Plus, you wouldn’t have held this little get together here, where you knew I’d be, if you didn’t want me to show up.”

  “Yeah, you caught me. After that little rearranging of my face you did, I might have wanted you to see the change in power.” He wrapped his arm around Eli’s waist and pulled her against his body. “What can I say? Payback bites a little.”