Gainer: Jagged Edge Series #6 (Jagged Edge, Alpha-Male, Romance)

by A. L Long

  While I was finishing up cleaning my last room, I was thinking about all the things that Lou said to me. I knew that I should have been honest with him, but just as I thought, he left me. The only difference would have been that he would have left me two weeks earlier when I barely knew him and he hadn’t captured my heart. The more I thought about it, if the words I found in the Bible were some sort of clue as to where the plates were, maybe if I could find some way get them and give them to Lou, maybe everything I kept from him would be forgiven.

  Pulling out the piece of paper that I had written the words on, I knew that it had to do with St. Peter’s church. As soon as I got off, that was going to be my first stop. Tucking the small piece of paper back inside my uniform pocket, I pushed my cart to the elevator and pressed the down button. As I waited for the elevator to arrive, I felt the vibration of my cell in my pocket. Looking at the screen, it was TJ. I didn’t have the time nor the desire to speak with him. Declining the call, I heard the little beep letting me know that he had left a message.

  There was no way that whatever he had to say was going to ruin my day any more than it already had. My focus was on getting to that church and finding those plates. According to what I had written, the only place they could be was where confessions were made, and having heard enough about it, that would have to be the confessional.

  Placing my cart in the large supply closet, I clocked out and headed out of the hotel, only to head back inside because I forgot to grab my bag. Before I could open the glass door, I was greeted by the one man I had no intention of talking to. “I have nothing to say to you, TJ.”

  “I just wanted you to know that I didn’t say anything to your boyfriend about your past. We were actually talking about mine,” he divulged.

  “What could you possibly share with him that he would remotely want to know? He beat the shit out of you, or have you forgotten?” I reminded him.

  “Well, maybe your boyfriend hasn’t been as forthcoming as you have. He and I knew each other in the orphanage I told you about. Matter of fact, he pretty much threw me under the bus when he left.”

  I had no idea what he was talking about. “You aren’t making any sense, TJ,” I said as I turned to head back inside the hotel.

  “Lou Gainer and I were Father O’Malley’s prize possessions, and when he left, there was no one else to protect me from the new boys that came shortly after.”

  “So, are you trying to tell me that Lou knows you from the orphanage, and he didn’t say anything about it?”

  “Yep. That pretty much sums it up.”

  “I really don’t care if he knew you or not, because the way I look at it, I will never be able to confront him with it and you know why… because he is never going to talk to me AGAIN,” I shouted as I pushed him out of my way.

  “So, stay with me, Emma. You don’t have to go back to the streets. I have always cared about you. Even when I got off the streets there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about you. I even followed you until I finally had the courage to confront you,” TJ confessed.

  “Wait. You’ve been following me?” I hissed, turning to face him.

  “Not in the way you think. I did it just to make sure you were safe.”

  “Leave me alone, TJ. Go to O’Malley.” I had to get as far away as possible from this man. I no longer trusted him. I didn’t get the chance, because the minute I tried to cross the street and head into Central Park, since he was blocking the door to the hotel, a black sedan pulled up to the curb and the door flew open. I tried to back away from the car, but TJ was right behind me shoving me inside. Sitting in the backseat was none other than the man they called O’Malley. Fighting to get away, I was stopped when I felt a prick in my arm. O’Malley was holding a syringe and before I could say anything, everything went dark.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Gainer

  As I began driving to who knew where, I began taking a hard look at my life and what it really meant. I had no right to treat Emma the way I did. My life was no better than hers and there were still some secrets that she didn’t know about me. Like the fact that I knew who TJ was. Even though it was just confirmed, I should have told her that there was something about him that looked familiar. With everything that happened to him, I should have done everything I could to get him out of that godforsaken place. I really thought he left.

  I had only one thing in mind that I needed to do. I just prayed that I wasn’t too late. Turning around on a dirt road, I headed back to my apartment. I only hoped that Emma was still there and I could beg for her forgiveness before she left, despite me being gone most of the day. I pulled into my spot in the parking garage at my apartment building. When I finally opened the door to my apartment after an excruciating long elevator ride, I knew she was no longer there. Trying to stay hopeful, I went to look in the bedroom. No Emma. It was if she had never been here. The only evidence of her presences was the note that I saw leaning against the dark gray pillow on my bed. Unfolding the sheet of paper, I began reading her words.

  Lou,

  I know that I should have told you everything about myself, especially since you shared so much of yourself with me. I am so sorry that I hurt you. That was something that I had no intention of doing. I promise that I will do everything I can to make it up to you. I will never give up on finding the man who has taken so much away from you and me. I can promise you that. I hope that one day you will be able to understand why I kept my past from you and forgive me.

  xoxox

  Emma

  Reading over the words, I tried to figure out what Emma was going to do. She didn’t have much information to go on and I was afraid that she was going to end up getting herself killed. Pulling my cell from my pocket, I needed to get in touch with Peter and the guys. We needed to find Emma before she did something stupid.

  By the time I got off the phone with Peter, everyone was on the lookout for Emma. I had a pretty good idea where she would be. My little drive cost me a lot of time and I needed to hurry if I was going to catch her at the hotel.

  When I reached the Park Lane, the first place I went was to the employee lounge. Opening the door, I headed to where the lockers were, hoping to find Emma still here. When I came up empty, I went to Delores’ office to see if she could tell me where Emma would be. When I got there, she wasn’t inside. Running my hand through my hair, I realized I was batting a thousand as far as coming up short. Looking down at my watch, I knew that I was too late. It was already after five and I knew that Emma was long gone.

  As I was leaving the employee area, Courtney was pushing her maid’s cart through the door. If anyone knew Emma’s schedule better than Delores, Courtney would. Moving out of the way to let her pass, I walked up behind her and asked, “Courtney, do you know where Emma is?”

  “She was assigned to the 46nd floor today, maybe she is up there,” Courtney shared as another maid came through the wooden door.

  “Are you trying to find Emma?” the young maid asked as she walked towards us.

  “Yeah.” I replied. “Do you know where she might be?”

  “It’s the strangest thing. One minute she was arguing with some guy out front and the next she was getting inside a black car. It almost looked like she didn’t want to go,” she said.

  “Did you see what the guy looked like that she was arguing with?” I asked.

  “Yeah. He was kind of cute, tall, blonde, good build.”

  When she described the man that Emma was with, I knew right away that it was Tommy. What I couldn’t understand was what Emma was doing with him, unless he planned on going through with his proposition without her consent. Heading over to the security office, I needed to find out if they had any footage of the conversation that took place in front of the hotel. Maybe the cameras even captured a plate number for me.

  Walking past the check-in counter and past the employee lounge, I moved towards the end of the long hallway where the security room was. Knocking lightly
on the door, I waited for someone to open it. A man dressed in a guard’s uniform appeared who could have laid off the chocolate donuts, especially the one he had in his chubby hand. Wiping the chocolate from his mouth with the back of his hand, he asked gruffly, “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Yeah. My name is Lou Gainer. I work with Jagged Edge Security. I need to see your security footage from the front of the hotel,” I commanded as I pulled my ID from my back pocket.

  “Sure thing,” he replied as he stepped to the side to let me enter.

  Taking in my surroundings, there were four guys in the room, each looking at a monitor in front of them. Looking over to chubby, I asked with authority, “Can you please bring up the footage from today of the front of the hotel?”

  “No problem,” he said as he took a seat in front of a keyboard and began typing. “How far back do you want to go?”

  “A couple of hours should do it.” I was pretty certain that it couldn’t have been that long ago that Emma was forced into that car. Keeping my eyes peeled to the screen, Emma leaving the hotel came up plain as day. The clarity of the footage was amazing. Normally, it was black and white and hard to really see the detail. When Tommy came into view, I knew that he wasn’t far away. He had been waiting for her. It also looked like she wasn’t the least bit happy that he was in her space, going by the way she pushed him away. How I wished they had audio on this footage so I could hear what was being said. When the black car pulled up, which looked to be a Cadillac, and the door swung open, I knew then that Emma was in trouble. My hunch was confirmed when Tommy guided her inside against her will. As the Cadillac pulled away from the curb, I could barely see the plate.

  “Back it up to when the girl gets in the car and stop it when I tell you,” I ordered.

  I watched the footage again, this time more closely, I yelled “Stop,” causing the guard to jump from his seat. Even though I wasn’t able to get a clear view of the plate, I was able to get something much better. There in the review side mirror was the reflection of the man. I knew who was behind this: O’Malley. I had seen enough. Thanking the guys for their assistance, I headed out of the room and back to my apartment to get my truck.

  Running through the park was like trying to go through an obstacle course. I had never weaved between so many people in my life. I had no idea why of all days, today people decided to visit Central Park. Pulling my keys from my pocket, I headed into the parking garage to get my truck. I knew that at least a couple of hours had passed since O’Malley had taken Emma. I had no idea what it was that he wanted from her, unless it had something to do with Tommy wanting her to help him find the plates.

  Edging on to the street, I could feel the vibration of my cell in my pocket. Looking at the screen while merging into traffic, I could see that it was Peter.

  “Peter, I am my way to the shop. O’Malley took Emma,” I seethed before he could get a word in as to why he was calling.

  “I know, he left a present at the shop. How far out are you?” Peter inquired.

  “Ten, fifteen minutes tops,” I replied, stepping harder on the gas pedal. “What did he leave, Peter?”

  “You’ll see for yourself when you get here.”

  I knew that it had to be bad if Peter was holding out on telling me until I got to the shop. All I knew was that if that son-of-a-bitch did anything to Emma, he was going to be a dead motherfucker, but even that would be too good for him, because he wouldn’t be close to suffering the way I did all those years. No, he was going to pay. Killing him would be too good for him.

  Taking a right down the road that led to the shop, I could see that most of the guys were already here by their cars being lined up in front. Parking my truck beside Sly’s Jeep, I quickly turned off the engine and rushed to get inside. There was no one in the front room, but I could hear voices coming from the conference room. With the amount of cussing going on, I knew that something was definitely up. Entering the room, I felt like I was the subject of their conversation as silence filled the room. When Peter walked up to me and handed me a box, I knew it was bad.

  Before I lifted the lid, I heard him say, “I’m so sorry, bro.”

  Slowly removing the lid from the box, I pulled back the tissue paper, only to find a finger sitting in a pool of blood. “Jesus fucking Christ,” I yelled as I closed the box, disgusted by the contents.

  Looking to Peter he handed me a note. As I unfolded the piece of paper, my world just crumbled in front of my eyes. ‘Next time it will be her head, if I don’t get those plates,’ it read as I stared down at the words. The way Peter looked at me, he knew how seeing this affected me. Placing his hand on my shoulder, he said with assurance, “We are going to get him, bro. No way is he going to get away with this.”

  “So where do we begin? How do we get this motherfucker?”

  ~****~

  It was late by the time we left the shop. We finally had a plan in place on how to catch O’Malley at his own game. Chavez, being the boy wonder that he was, came up with an idea that couldn’t have been more brilliant. He said that he could find a way to fake the plates, at least good enough to trick O’Malley into thinking they were the real thing. With his mechanical skills, it would take no effort on his part to do it, especially with 3D printers to help.

  I offered to help Chavez, but he insisted that he had it and that I should go home. Little did he know that I didn’t know if I wanted to. Right now, more than anything, I wanted to find Emma, hold her, and never let her go. I think my feelings for her went way beyond the caring factor. I was falling for her, and harder than I cared to admit.

  Sitting in my truck, staring out the front window, I played back in my mind the security footage at the hotel. Even though it was evident that O’Malley had taken her, something was off. The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got, and then it occurred to me. The one thing that Emma always had wasn’t in her possession. It was her damn bag. She carried that thing everywhere, and I was pretty sure her turning to go back inside the hotel wasn’t to get away from Tommy.

  Turning on the engine, I put the truck into reverse and backed out of my parking spot. I knew it was late, but I needed to get to the hotel and check Emma’s locker. I was running out of ideas of where she could have been taken. Maybe there was something inside that bag of hers to help me find her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Emma

  I had no idea where I was when I came to, nor did I know what time it was. Wherever I was, it was dark and there was barely enough light to see my hand in front of my face. It almost felt like I might have been in a basement, by the cool dampness of the air. Pushing to my feet, I walked over to where the light was coming from underneath the door to see if by some miracle, the door would be unlocked. Reaching out in front of me, I wanted to be prepared in case there was something in my way.

  When I got to the door, I pulled on the handle and hoped that it would open. Just my luck, it was locked. Turning my back against the door, I slid down it until my butt came to rest on the cold floor. I was so confused by everything that was happening. I had no idea why I was here or what TJ and O’Malley could possibly want with me. As I sat in the darkness, lost in my own thoughts, I could hear a man’s voice coming closer. Pushing to my feet, I walked away from the door and waited for it to open.

  Hearing the door being unlocked. I held my breath in anticipation of who might be on the other side. When O’Malley appeared on the other side, I backed away from him. He was with a much younger man who couldn’t have been much older than eighteen. I did notice that he was rather large for his age. I tried to fight him off when he grabbed my arm, but it was no use; he was much stronger than me and was able to lead me out of the room. Still trying to get free, I cursed with a vengeance. “Where are you taking me? I demand you let me go!”

  There was an annoying chuckle from O’Malley as he spoke. “You aren’t going anywhere, at least not for now. Tell me what I want and that could change.”
>
  “I have nothing to say to you,” I hissed, pulling against the tight grip the young man had on me.

  “You will, my child. You will.”

  This asshole was so sure of himself. Whatever he thought I knew, he was sadly mistaken. There was no way I would ever tell him anything. The only person I would ever share what I knew with was Lou.

  As we continued walking, I could tell that we must have been in the basement of some old church. The walls were made of stone, with inlaid shelving which held crosses and other statues that depicted religion. The further we went down the hall the lighter it got, which told me that the part of the basement we just left was rarely used.

  O’Malley came to a stop and pushed open a door. He went in first and I was close behind as the young guy pushed me inside. The lights were already on and I could see the room they had taken me to was a library or study. As I looked around the room, there were shelves after shelves as high as the ceiling filled with books that appeared to be very old. In the center of the room were two couches covered in red velvet with a dark wood table separating them. On the other side of the room was a large desk with scrolls and maps lying on top. The whole room seemed a little medieval with all of the dark wood and candelabras that were standing on each side of the enormous desk.