Stoking the Embers (New Adult Romantic Suspense): The Complete Series

by Johnson, Leslie

  In a space of an hour, I’ve thrown that all away.

  And I’d do it again. I might even have to do it many more times. I don’t care anymore. Morals. Dignity. None of that means shit. Survival is the name of this game. Survival for Beth. Maybe even survival for myself. If I need to fuck him, suck him, play with his mind for the next hundred years… nothing is beneath me right now.

  “Babe, I’ve missed you so much,” he says when he’s finished.

  I stand up and smile at him. “I’ve missed you too.”

  He leans in to kiss me and I open my mouth. I imagine its Ken’s mouth instead. I sob as I think of him, despair a heavy weight. Jerome pulls back and looks down at me, a quizzical expression on his face.

  I sniff and pretend that I’m going to cry. “You’ve made me so happy,” I say and pull his head down to me again.

  He grabs me around the waist and pulls me close. “Mmm… I wish I could fuck you right now.”

  I shudder and make myself stop. I’ll do what I have to do. “Me too,” I say, my voice sweet, my eyes soft. “Do we have the time?”

  His eyes grow wide, then warm. He grins and glances down at his watch. “No. They could come back early. We better head out.”

  I move closer to him, as far as the chain around my ankle will allow. “Beth first? You promised.”

  He grimaces. “You owe me a hundred grand if I do.”

  I gape at him and swallow my revulsion. “You were going to sell her for a hundred thousand dollars?” I try not to act as disgusted as I feel.

  “That’s chump change. You were three hundred.”

  “Three hundred dollars?” I try to act dumb, curious.

  “No babe, three hundred big ones. So I guess you really owe me four hundred grand. Guess we’ll have to find a way for you to work it off.”

  I slide my hands up his arms. “Four hundred thousand blowjobs then. Only three hundred and ninety-nine thousand to go.” I laugh. Tease. Flirt. I can’t believe he actually may be buying this.

  But I don’t get my hopes up too far.

  I watch him carefully. His mood shifts so quickly. One minute he’s calm and the next he’s drenched with sweat. He talks to himself. His body twitches. I don’t know what’s wrong with him and I don’t dare ask.

  I don’t know whether to say something else about Beth or stay quiet. I don’t know how far I can press my luck. I have to stop thinking because I feel the familiar panic creeping in too close.

  “Do you love me?” he asks after staring down at me a full minute.

  “Yes,” I lie and look at him seriously.

  “Do you love the fireman?”

  I didn’t expect the question and wait a beat too long before saying no. He slaps me, knocking me to the floor. Then he screams, “Why do you make me do this?” He begins to pace the floor.

  Think, Stephanie. Think!

  “I’m sorry. I was thinking about the blonde woman and wondering if you loved her.”

  Jerome stops and turns to me. “Don’t ever talk about her.”

  “Why? What did she do to you? I’ll kill her if she’s hurt you.” I almost cry in relief when I see him respond to me, his eyes grow warm again.

  “Would you do that for me?” he asks, his eyes wide.

  “Yes.” I don’t hesitate this time. “I’d do anything.”

  His eyes are warm again.

  “I need to trash the computer system and server. Burn all your videos, I want them to be history.”

  “I’d like that. It was so embarrassing to…” I trail off.

  “Anna’s idea. Do you know how much money things like that bring in?”

  I shake my head. I hope I’ll never know.

  “Don’t worry,” he says, smirking. “I’ll make my money with software in the future.”

  I smile. “I love that idea.”

  “If you come with me, you can never leave me again,” he warns me. You’ll never get a third chance. I’ll track you down and I’ll kill you myself.” His hand circles my throat and squeezes.

  I don’t struggle. I wait for him to let go. When he does, I say, “I’ll never leave you again.”

  Chapter 20 - Ken

  Just outside of Northtown, our entire caravan pulls over and Grimes and Ramsen call us together for a game plan. In addition to the captain, Gage and me, there are four fed cars and the Northtown locals just pulled up.

  Sheriff Bailey leads the discussion, passing out maps to show us the lay of the land. He gives suggestions on how we should split up in order to cover more territory. He was also able to get his hands on the necessary search warrants. Someone thrusts three FBI vests at us. Shit just got real.

  Ramsen steps in and begins sending groups in different directions. “Ken, Frank and Gage, you’re with us. Follow our lead.”

  I grind my teeth, but don’t push my luck. They’re not exactly following policy by allowing us to tag along. I figure they’d prefer to let us stay and keep an eye on us because they know there’s no way in hell they’re keeping me away. Besides, we still don’t know where to go or if we’re even in the correct city.

  “Lock and load,” Ramsen calls out, and everyone gets back into their cars. We caravan the couple miles into town, then one by one, go in different directions. We follow the black Suburban like little puppy dogs.

  Driving up to the first warehouse, I lose hope. The place is huge. Thousands of hidey holes to disappear a person. And this warehouse is one of many.

  “God, if you’re up there, please give us a sign,” I pray. “Big one. Little one. It’s all good. And please… if you have some spare time, I’d really appreciate if you keep Stephanie and Beth alive.” I even add an ‘amen’ just like I did when I was a boy. Then I keep adding, “A burning bush right about now would be nice too.” Then, “And feel free to smite Jerome immediately afterwards.”

  Over the years, I’d had a falling out with God. I’m still not sure the big guy exists. The more children I pulled out of fires, the more families I scraped out of cars, it just seemed all too random, too cruel. Surely a kind God, a merciful God wouldn’t allow so much bad stuff to happen. For example: allowing humans to be sold to the highest bidder.

  An hour later, we’re still searching the first warehouse, looking for hidden basements and other compartments.

  “This is crazy,” Gage mutters after he comes out of a crawlspace covered with dust. “Isn’t there anything else we can go on?”

  “Ken!” Grimes is running toward me. “We need to go.” Ramsen is coming from a different direction, sprinting across the warehouse floor.

  “Talk to me!” I’m running too, but I don’t yet know why.

  “The secure phone–it pinged. Just once, but the tech guys were able to pin it down to somewhere in the northeast side of town.”

  We’re in Cap’s truck and racing behind the Suburban. I’m wondering if Cap has some Dale Sr. in his blood. He slides around a curve and corrects the turn perfectly. He’s absolutely on my team if we ever drag race.

  “Shit!”

  Cap slams on his brakes even as he curses and turns the wheel hard to the left. Someone had dashed out into the road, waving their arms like a maniac.

  “Beth!” Gage is out of the truck before we roll to a complete stop. I’m right behind him. Grimes and Ramsen are still heading up the road.

  She’s bloody and bruised, but she’s alive. When she sees us, she starts crying, but it doesn’t stop her from screaming. “They’ve still got her. We’ve got to go back!”

  “Where?”

  She turns and starts running down an alley as fast as she can in her bare feet. She steps on a rock and cries out, but doesn’t stop. We burst out into the open and a huge warehouse looms in front of us. She stops, looking left and right. She runs right and then left down another alley. At the end of it, she practically skids to a stop.

  “What’s wrong? Did we go…”

  “Sshhhh.” She has her fingers to her lips, her eyes wide and desperate.
<
br />   I lower my voice. “What’s wrong?”

  “That car,” she says between heaving breaths. She points at a black Escalade. “It wasn’t there when I escaped.”

  I watch Gage automatically reach for his weapon, but it isn’t there. They kept it after the shooting. Procedure. “Call Grimes,” Gage, whispers.

  Damn. “I left the radio in Cap’s truck.”

  I felt the three of us deflate.

  My phone! It’s still in my pocket. I pull it out and call Captain Frank.

  “Where the fuck did you go?” Cap says as a hello.

  “Beth led us to the warehouse. Call Grimes and tell her we’re at the…” I look for something to identify the building. Fuck. There’s nothing. Not even a number. I can’t say ‘big beige warehouse’. That would mean all of them. “I don’t know where we are. There’s a black Escalade sitting in front of it.

  “Stay put, son. That’s an order. I’m calling them now. Do not go inside that building.”

  The line goes dead and I start heading toward the door.

  “Ken…” Gage draws out my name like it has six syllables.

  I turn to him. “You and Beth stay here and flag down the good guys when they get here.”

  “No way.”

  “Fuck that.”

  It’s unanimous. We’re going in.

  “Besides,” Beth whispers. “I need to show you where to go.” She turns to me, her eyes big. “If they’re still in there,” she says.

  “What do you mean, still in there?”

  Her face crumbles and she takes a huge breath. “She convinced Jerome she’d run away with him and they’d be happy ever after if he’d let me go.”

  Gage puts an arm around her, pulling her close to his chest. “Ken, they might be gone already. I just don’t know.”

  I put a hand on her shoulder and give her a little squeeze. I watch her tears cut through the blood on her face. I see the swollen lip, the bruised eye, the battered cheek. This girl has gone through hell.

  “Let’s go find out.”

  Chapter 21 – Stephanie

  I lie on my cot and sob, my fist pressed against my mouth so Jerome can’t hear. Beth is free. If I’ve done nothing else in my life, I’ve done that. I saved her. I still can’t believe it. I’d held my breath, sure he was playing a joke. Sure he would snatch her back at the last minute. Sure he would do something much worse.

  I didn’t even get to see her; he had ushered her out so quickly. I had heard her scream at first, not knowing what was happening. He slapped her, I heard the sound of his hand on her skin. Then, the grinding of the stone wall sliding open. A minute later, it was grinding shut.

  When he’d re-appeared in my cell, I’d thrown my arms around him. Part because of the act. Part from true joy.

  “I need to torch the servers and computers and then we’ll go.”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “I’m doing this part for me,” he’d grinned, running his fingers down my cheek. “Don’t want any more of my girl’s videos on the internet.” He grabbed my breast. “These are for my eyes only from now on.”

  I forced a giggle, then he kissed me and turned away. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth and have been lying here since, sobbing. I came so close to happiness, inches away from it. And it’s been stripped away from me as easily as a bulldozer scrapes the bark from a tree.

  Ten minutes later, there is a string of crashes. Glass breaking. Metal on metal. Some crashes are loud, some barely audible. Jerome is in a rage again, cursing and screaming. I hear him too…

  “You don’t own me.”

  “I’ll make you pay.”

  “You stupid bitch.”

  “She’s lying.”

  “You’re a fool.”

  The word he says most… “Why?”

  I begin to be afraid again. This psychotic break, or whatever it is, is lasting longer than the others. He’s crying now, great heaving sobs so full of despair I cover my ears. I can’t have sympathy for him. Even the broken have choices.

  Maybe I can help him. I sit up on my cot. Yes. I’ll help him. While we’re gone, my focus will be to ensure he gets help and is able to fight the demons that seem so intent on ravishing his soul.

  Soon, acrid smoke seeps its way down the hallway. When he said ‘torch it’, he wasn’t kidding. I suppose that means we’ll be going soon.

  I sit up and dry my tears, knowing there can’t be any more. They’re for the old Stephanie, the one with hopes and dreams. I have to be strong now. Fierce. Resolved. Tears are an indulgence I can no longer afford.

  I’ve made my choice. I’m going with Jerome. It won’t be so bad; he does love me, after all and it’s light years better than becoming a sex toy to whoever wishes to use me.

  Yay me… looking at the bright side of life.

  The little bit of humor helps, but it doesn’t last. As I listen to Jerome raging down the hallway, I wonder how many times I’ll be the focus of that rage. It doesn’t matter. I’ll play the game for as long as necessary, or until I find the opportunity to escape or end the pain.

  Did I just think that? Yes, I did. I’d never been able to understand how my father had so callously taken his own life, leaving me alone. And I’d never forgiven him, I realize.

  “Daddy,” I whisper to the heavens or the universe or whatever is out there. “I forgive you and I understand now why you made the choice you did. It was selfish of me to want to hang on to you and I’m sorry you hurt longer than you had to because of me. I wish you could have held on, but I know why you didn’t. I hope you can forgive me too.”

  Another loud crash pulls me away from my father. The smoke is getting a bit thicker now, becoming a light haze that floats near the ceiling.

  I stand up and walk to the corner of the room to pick up the t-shirt I was wearing. I press it to my nose and his scent is still there. Ken. My resolve to not cry is again threatened and I press the shirt into my face. I breathe in one more time, long and deep, then toss the shirt back into the corner. Another chapter of my life forever closed.

  Graduation. That will never happen now and I was so close, just months away.

  Being a mother. The idea of having a baby with Jerome causes me to shudder. While a part of me clings to the thought of having a little one to love, I can’t bring a child into that kind of existence. Being a kid, or a grown-up, is hard enough without adding a mentally disturbed parent to the mix. I might be mentally disturbed too. After all, I bought Beth’s freedom with a blowjob and don’t regret it. How screwed up is that?

  Footsteps approach and I turn toward the door. Jerome appears, even more disheveled than before, this face streaked with tears, his hair standing on end.

  He walks up to me and puts his hand at my throat, shoving me backwards against the wall.

  “Promise me,” he sneers, pressing harder on my throat.

  “Anything,” I manage to say.

  He loosens his grip. “You’ll never leave me.”

  “Never.” My answer is quick. Certain.

  “You’ll obey me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’ll love me?”

  “Always.”

  “Until death do us part?”

  “Until forever.”

  I grind my teeth together to keep them from chattering while he stares down at me for the longest time. His pupils are huge, his breathing erratic. The pulse in his throat is visible under his skin.

  He takes a step back and pulls a set of keys from his pocket. He bends down and unlocks the shackle around my ankle. Once I’m free, he grabs my hand. “It’s time to go.”

  I stumble after him, trying to keep up. Halfway up the concrete steps, the door ahead of us begins to open. Jerome stops, frozen, then slowly begins backing down the steps.

  “What the…?” It’s a woman’s voice. It must be Anna.

  “Smoke.” A deep voice. The huge man I ran into?

  “What’s going on here?” A third voice. The buyer?<
br />
  The door continues to grind its way open and Jerome and I are at the bottom of the steps before I’m able to see the faces that go with the voices. Jerome looks down at me, then wildly around. I know before he says it, there’s no place to run.

  “Stay back.” It’s the deep voiced man talking at the top of the steps. I hear the sound of his feet coming down the steps, then he’s there, rounding the corner. He lifts a pistol and points it at Jerome.

  “Clear!” the man shouts and heels click their way down the steps. It is the blonde woman, and her eyes never leave Jerome. A man in an expensive looking suit appears behind her.

  “All this time, I thought you were the fool, but it is I who is foolish,” Anna says. “Foolish to see potential in you. You hide your stupidity well.”

  Jerome shoves me behind him, but I peek around, watching, waiting. With everyone’s focus on Jerome, there might be the slightest chance I can escape.

  “We’re leaving,” Jerome says. “You’ll never see us again.”

  Anna’s beautiful face turns ugly as rage contorts it into a cruel mask. “You will be leaving, but not how you planned, you bastard. How dare you go against my wishes.”

  “I need an explanation here,” the man in the suit says, and Anna’s face grows smooth. She plasters on a smile and turns to the man.

  “A small hiccup,” she says coolly. “Seems this one is love sick and is allowing his dick to rule over his good senses.”

  The man holds a handkerchief over his nose to ward off the smoke that still circles the hallways. Everything down here is concrete, so there is no risk of the fire spreading, but the smoke itself is cloying. My eyes water from its presence.

  “Fix it,” the man says and coughs, waving his handkerchief in front of his face.

  “Oh, don’t worry. I will.” She steps forward and takes the gun from the hulking man. “With pleasure.”

  “No. You won’t.”

  All eyes turn to me. Did I just say that? I did. Anger so deep I didn’t know this level of hate was possible overtakes me. I take a step around Jerome to stand in front of him.

  Anna’s lip lifts in a sneer. “And how to you propose to stop me?” She levels the gun at me.

  “Bitch, do you know how many guns have been pointed at me lately?” I say. “You might want to come up with another strategy.”