by Dark Angel
“Hello, this is Evelynn Travers’ personal line. Please leave me a messa…” I hear her muffled voice again before he hangs up. I don’t like this.
“Let’s go back up to the room. I’m not hungry.” I say. We ride the elevator in silence. The “Do Not Disturb” tag still hangs from the door handle. It’s swinging, and maybe we just missed her coming back?
The room is empty. My turn to call. We hear a ringing in the corner.
Eve’s evening bag is sitting on top of a garment bag and an overnight bag. Her cell phone and her signature lipstick are inside.
Three missed calls. Wherever Eve is, she doesn’t have her phone. I look at the other two, and they look as worried as I feel.
“She wouldn’t have gone far without her phone. She’ll be back soon,” Robin says. I nod.
“I’m going to order some food. She’ll probably be back before it gets here.” Max chimes in. He calls for room service. He orders brunch for four, and another bottle of champagne.
To be honest, it feels fake to order champagne right now.
We find seats around the room. I turn on the TV to the local news. Normally I would change the station, but this morning, I don’t.
I half-listen while looking out the balcony. No one talks. Robin fiddles with his phone. He wants to call her again, but we have her phone. It won’t help.
There is a knock on the door, and we all jump. Max rushes over.
It’s room service. The tray is rolled in. The guy asks if we want him to open the champagne. I tell him no. He leaves it in the bucket with ice. Max tips him and he leaves. I head out to the balcony.
I watch the street, looking for Eve. The city seems larger than I have ever thought before. I feel helpless. I don’t know where to start looking for her.
It’s been an hour and a half since we went downstairs to look for her. Robin is pacing, Max is staring into a cooling cup of coffee. I step back in from the balcony. The warmth of the room reminds me that it was a little chilly out there.
“I’m calling the cops.” I announce. Max looks up.
“She’s a grown woman. What can they do?” Robin asks. I can hear in his voice that he has been thinking about calling them, too.
“She’s a grown woman with registered complaints saying three assholes are after her, which means they can start a fucking man-hunt and find our girl.” I say whipping out my phone. I don’t want to hear his logic.
The cops don’t seem like they’re going to be much help. Even with the complaints against the former employees on record, they say they can’t start a search until she has been gone for three days. I bite my tongue, trying not to swear at the cop. I’m showing incredible restraint.
I glare at Robin instead, daring him to say ‘I told you so.’ He doesn’t. I throw my phone on the bed.
I stride across the room to her things and start tearing into the small overnight bag. Looking for…I don’t really know what.
Everything seems normal. Robin comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder. I sit there, her bag turned inside out on my lap.
“I’m calling Gustav.” He says. “Call your brother and the other guys. I…” He trails off. The thing hangs in the air. We don’t dare say what we are thinking.
What if the assholes found her alone? What if they took her somewhere? What if—I won’t even think the next thing.
“No.” Max says. “I don’t think we should call them yet. We don’t know anything is actually wrong.” I nod, but Robin is already on his phone.
“Gus, you got the note last night, yeah?” Robin pauses while his brother answers. “Come to the hotel. Eve is missing.” Another pause, and Gustav’s voice is louder this time. “I don’t know, and it could be nothing. And if it is, you can help us celebrate my stupidity with a bottle of champagne when she gets back. But if it is something, then I think you should be here.”
Robin looks at Max. “I know, but I also know more about Gus than you do. If…if this is what we are all thinking but are too afraid to say, Gustav can handle it. He has some experience.”
Time slinks on. The eggs get cold, the coffee stale. Gustav comes in.
He doesn’t talk, but he takes Eve’s phone from his brother and sits down at the desk chair. I go back to the balcony. The only sound in the room is the bottle of Dom shifting in the bucket while the ice melts.
It gets dark.
“Call the others.” Max says. “They deserve to be here, too.”
Robin, Max, and I dial the other guys. Gustav just stares at Eve’s phone.
Chapter 32
Gustav
I really never thought my old days would come back to haunt me, but here we are—hunting down wanted men, chaos, and the threat of death in the back of everyone’s mind.
Who’s death? Well, not ours…I hope.
I used to be an enforcer for a small-time thug a few cities away. Mostly shakedowns for protection money, the occasional drug payment collection, nothing major. But then the boss started to get a little too greedy. He wanted to move into robbery, and wanted to use us to do it.
I refused to go out on a job with them, and they all got killed in a shootout with the cops. I’m still thankful I refused when I did, and so is Robin. If only for the fact that if they came looking, they’d see my face on his, either.
Of course, this is way different. We’re hunting truly bad people, and we’re taking back what belongs to us. God help me if they hurt a hair on her head…
I don’t want to think about that right now. I need to focus. We don’t have many clues to go on, but at the very least, there has to be someone to talk to.
I think back to our first big ‘date’ with Evelynn. Teasing her at the gala, that fantastic dress…fuck.
Now is not the time to get a fucking hard-on, you dick, I scold myself.
Who did they say they met after Robin and I left? It gave me bad memories, but I try to remember. They said she was a crime boss, and…
“Caroline!” I suddenly exclaim. Everyone around me jumps.
“What the fuck, dude?” Robin yells at me.
“Shut up. We can talk to Caroline. Didn’t she hire them before? She’s gotta have some dirt on the guys,” I say enthusiastically.
Nobody seems very excited about the idea of calling on the city’s most influential underground personality.
“Fuck you guys. I’ll do it then. I’ve talked to these types before, anyway,” I say after scanning their faces.
I pick up Evelynn’s phone and find the number quickly. Caroline won’t be happy to hear she’s missing. From what I understand, she took quite a liking to her very quickly.
“Now or never,” I sigh, and hit the call button.
After a few rings, I’m ready to give up—then suddenly the ringing stops.
“Evie, darling! It’s so good to hear from you. Have you made a decision yet?” Caroline’s voice echoes happily over the line.
I clear my throat, and she goes silent. “Sorry, Caroline. This is Gustav, one of Miss Evelynn’s employees.”
She cuts me off. “Well, I’m sure you boys are much more than employees by now—but I digress. To what do I owe the call?”
“Evelynn is missing, Ma’am,” I manage to breathe out.
“Oh, I see,” she says. I can hear her gears turning in the background, anticipating the conversation many steps ahead. She’s a powerful woman, one who likes control. “Well, these things happen in the city. What does it have to do with me?”
She’s looking for it to be a favor. I have to play carefully.
“We have no real clues to go on so far, but she’s been receiving some harassment from her previous employees. We understand you had brief dealings with the three of them in the past, and were looking for any sort of starting point.”
A few of my colleagues nod in agreement with my careful phrasing.
“Well, I may. That depends. You don’t think this has anything to do with me, do
you?”
“Not at all, Miss Caroline. They’re scum, through and through. That has no reflection on anyone who has had dealings with them.”
“Good to hear. You’re smart, Gustav. I knew I was right to ask Evie about you boys. We’ll surely be speaking at a later time.” I can hear her breathing, taking her time. “More to the topic though…I don’t know where they are. I only reached out through Evie’s parents, and they recommended those three men. Greasy little things, but half the people in my type of business fit that type, so I don’t really judge.”
“I see. Okay, well—”
“I’m not finished. I don’t know where they are, but I do know a lot of things.” I put the phone on speaker and motion for one of the guys to write down what she’s saying. “And I know someone who can tell you—Lars’ uncle, Greg.”
“Thank you so much, Caroline. She’s going to be safe, I swear it,” I say, trying to keep the anger from my voice.
“I believe you. Do have her give me a call when she’s safe.”
Click.
Chapter 33
Eve
It’s dark. Really dark. My head hurts.
I try to remember where I am.
I was kidnapped. By those three fuckers.
I went to the store to get the guys some gifts after a fantastic evening with them. Then, I was grabbed, dragged…and now I’m here. Well okay.
My hands and feet are bound tightly to a chair. These fuckers really are scared of a little girl like me, huh? Pathetic. No wonder they resort to shitty tactics like control a whole business that belongs to someone else and hide behind it while someone else does all the hard work.
They don’t deserve the kindness my parents gave them. I hope they didn’t try to blackmail them or anything. I’ll have to remember to contact them about that when this is all over. If I make it out, I guess.
I was way too careless. I can’t believe I let those three little fuckers get the jump on me so easily. I was just feeling so good from that whole evening, I didn’t have a care in the world.
Big mistake. Obviously.
They filter into the room. They reek. They obviously haven’t showered in ages and have barely had a good meal. Their hands are bloody.
“You know, thanks to your little stunt, we’ve had to break into places just to get by,” Lars says, staring at me with a look of pure hatred. “We’ve been living on the run in these shitty warehouses. It’s cold and wet and fucking disgusting.”
“And the smell of fish. Goddamn. Do you see what you’ve done to us?!” Draven yells at me, grabbing my face.
I can smell the fish, for sure. They’re disgusting.
Lars swings his hand across my face. The sharp stinging mirrors the echoing slap across the room, but I don’t give them the satisfaction of crying out. They punch me in the stomach, slap me, hit me, beat me. I blank my mind and let myself remember the time I saw all 10 of my men doing something similar to a consenting woman. They did a number to her, and she loved it. If she can handle all that, surely, I can put up with this from these three weak little shitheads.
They get mad that I’m not reacting, so they pull out a belt and start whipping me all over with it. The pain finally pulls a growl of pain and anger from my throat.
“You won’t, get away with this, you cowardly sons of bitches!” I scream.
I will make sure they die. And I’ll watch it happen, too. They’ve gone far beyond needing to be reported to the cops. They’ve caused me so much grief and now they go and do this?
They’re going to suffer, and I’ll make sure they know who they fucked with.
They laugh and beat me more. It hurts. I can barely handle it.
I can feel my body bruising, and the belt is starting to open cuts across my skin. Blood starts to run down my arms and sides. They kick over the chair and whip my legs, too.
I squirm against the bindings but it’s far too tight for me to escape from. They just start to cut into my wrists, and I wince from that, as well.
I refuse to give them the reaction they want from me, and it’s only pissing them off more.
It almost seems like their arms are getting tired. Gross fuckers can’t even handle one little girl, I guess. I was right to fire them just for that.
Lars spits on me, then walks into the other room. I hear them murmuring. I struggle to bate my breathing so I can listen.
I hear them talking about the police and how to make sure I won’t get found to report them, and that there’s no way they can convince me to not talk, especially now.
One of them finally suggests they really make sure I won’t be willing to talk, and they each laugh a disgusting, lecherous laugh.
I hear them moving and shifting around, searching for something. They start talking about their dicks as well, and holes, and I realize they’re talking about my body.
They want to rape me.
I start to cry softly to myself, and summon the image of my 10 men in my mind, hoping they’ll save me. I swear these 3 are going to pay for what they’ve done to me—and, once my men come here for them, they won’t be able to do any more to me, or anyone else.
Chapter 34
Gunther
Knock knock. I ram the dark gray door with a heavy hand.
“This is the address Caroline gave, right?” I ask to nobody in particular behind me.
“Yeah, this is it. He’s definitely here,” Finn says as he stares up at the house.
I knock harder, as if I were about to break the door down with one hand.
“Fuck, fuck, okay stop! I’ve got the fucking money, you assholes!” a voice from the other side calls. “Just…don’t hurt me or anything.”
The door swings open, and we’re met with a fat, greasy little rat of a man before us.
“Hey, you guys aren’t—never mind. No money for you. Leave!” he says.
“We’re not leaving.” I catch the door as he tries to close it. “Where’s your nephew Lars?”
“Huh? Who the fuck are you talking about?” he says as he tries to overpower me and close the door. I don’t budge.
“Spill it, or people wanting money are going to be the least of your worries,” I say calmly. There’s a violent promise behind my words as I ball my fist against the door.
“Okay, okay, whatever it takes to get you off my porch, fuck,” he says, and finally steps out of his stinking home. “Listen, all I know is the little shit got himself caught up in something bad, alright? Any more info than that is gonna cost you!”
Max pushes past me and grabs Greg by his collar and shoves him into the door of his house. “Listen, you little shitstain. Someone’s life is at risk, and if we find out she’s hurt because you took too long to tell us something useful, I’m coming back here to shove every single beaker in this little meth hole you call home up your ass.”
“Holy shit, dude, okay, calm the fuck down. Can’t blame a guy for trying,” Greg says, fear plastered on his face. “All I know is they’re jumping warehouses out by the shore. Keeps them warm and dry enough, and they can dodge the cops there. That’s seriously all I’ve got, okay? Now leave me the fuck alone.”
Max tosses Greg aside and storms off.
“Alright…we’ll need to canvas the whole area,” I say as we all walk away.
“Don’t tell him I told you, yeah? He’ll be pretty upset with me!” Greg yells after us.
“Whatever’s left of him won’t be sentient enough to even think about you,” I mutter to myself.
We arrive at the warehouse district, scrambling to figure out where to even start. We exchange wordless nods and each run off, listening around and peeking into every building we come across.
We all cross paths towards the opposite end, each of us panting for breath. No sign yet. Panic starts to overcome us all as we scan every building frantically for any sign of…anything really. Just something.
Suddenly a light cry cuts through the mist of the
night. We all hear it, and immediately rush towards the source. Finn kicks through the door with no hesitation, adrenaline fueling him to the point that the steel door might has well have been paper.
On the floor in front of us is our Evelynn, bloody, bruised, and crying. She’s tied to a chair that’s been knocked on its side. Her clothes are in tatters, and are more rags than anything at this point. Anger wells up in my throat, and we all rush to her side.
Jake immediately tears off his shirt and wraps it around Evelynn. Her slender frame is dwarfed by his sweaty button-up, but it’s better than nothing for the moment.
Footsteps echo down an adjacent hallway, and we all instinctively move into the shadows of the room.
The light in the doorway is blocked by three figures. One is holding a few cylindrical instruments—and it dawns on us what their plans for Eve were going to be if we had arrived a few moments later.
Drex, Robin, and Theo dart out from the shadows and grab Draven, Ash, and Lars and slam their fists into each of their faces. All three drop to the floor with a meaty THUD, yelling and screaming with confused babbling.
I rush to Eve’s side as the other nine encircle the three men.
“Evelynn, Eve, are you okay? Did they…really harm you?”
“N-no…I’m…alright. Just a few bruises and scratches, nothing major. You guys got here just in time…they were talking about…” her words trail off in choked sobs.
“It’s okay. We’re here now,” I say, pulling her close to me.
Three each circle the assholes and tie their limbs roughly. Lars groans and squirms, and Max swiftly kicks him in the stomach.
“We can get them to the police now, and this will all be settled,” Brandon says. “I can stay here with them while you guys get Eve to the hospital.”
“No,” Eve says.
We all turn to look at her. Her face is cold. Her body is dripping and broken, but she stands up with barely a wince. The fire in her eyes is a stark contrast from the look on her face—the combination sends a cold chill up my spine. Is this really our Eve?