Town of Chance: Fight for Freedom [The Dare Series 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Well, he’s in courtroom four,” the judge said and looked at his watch. “Should be wrapping things up right now.”

  “Wonderful. Well, I’m glad we’ve accomplished what needed to be done. I’ll be in touch in regards to the other case and feel free to call my brothers or I if further information is needed,” Tazer said and shook the men’s hands good-bye before he left the office.

  His curiosity was getting the better of him as he headed toward courtroom four but saw that people were already dispersing. He caught sight of Hayworth first, the guy he was with who was obviously the one he got off for rape and abduction, and then he saw Shelby Ann. Hayworth immediately stopped talking and said her name. When Tazer saw her expression go from shock to fear and then panic as she looked around them, something told him he should go over and see if he could help. But how the hell did Shelby Ann know a guy like Mickie Hayworth? His gut clenched. Something wasn’t right, and that bad feeling got worse as he watched Hayworth pull her in closer for a hug and she pressed against his chest and stiffened.

  * * * *

  Shelby Ann was heading out of the main offices and past the courtrooms when she heard someone call out her name. She was shocked, and as she turned to see who it was, she froze in place. Oh my God, no.

  What in God’s name was Mickie Hayworth doing in South Carolina? She tried to pretend like she wasn’t who he thought she was but as she headed toward the other direction he stopped her.

  “Shelby? Holy shit. My God, woman, look at you. You look incredible.” He pulled her into a hug and she stiffened and pressed her hands against his chest. He was one of Skip’s friends. A man who stood by and let Skip and Blade assault her. He even saw her naked—tied to the bed and cut from Blade’s knife—and did nothing. He simply explained to her the power he had and his influence over people she could never fight. When he threatened killing her sister if she tried to press charges, Shelby knew she had no chance.

  “You look damn good,” he said, eyeing her over like some piece of meat or a worthless whore. But she hadn’t been a whore. She was Skip’s girlfriend and he used her, abused her, and that night tried to share her with his buddy Blade. She shivered. They stared at one another and she didn’t know what to say.

  “This is my lucky day. I was looking for you. Got some insight from a friend that they caught a glimpse of you on some local abduction case. Your sister right?” he asked and reached over and caressed her arm. She pulled back.

  “Don’t touch me,” she squeaked out.

  He looked around them. “We should go somewhere and talk. Catch up and make plans. Goddamn you’re fucking gorgeous.” As he went to say something else, she felt an arm go around her waist. She gasped and looked up, way up to see Tazer. She couldn’t believe the relief she felt but then the concern. Would Hayworth question who Tazer was and what she was doing here? Would Tazer give information away?

  “There you are. I was looking all over for you. Are you all set so we can do dinner?” Tazer asked, pulling her into his other side and clearly out of reach of Hayworth.

  “Yes, definitely. We can go now,” she said and began to move but no such luck. Tazer wanted answers, too.

  “Who are you?” he asked Hayworth. Hayworth looked the guy over and then he looked at Shelby.

  “I’m an old friend of Shelby’s. We were making plans to meet, isn’t that right?” he said toward her.

  “No, we weren’t. I’m very busy. I’m only in town for tonight and then I’m heading back to Oreg… Back home to work. Take care of yourself.”

  “Oregon, huh? No wonder he couldn’t find you. I’ll see you around, Shelby, I’m sure.” Shelby pulled Tazer along with her and she hoped that Hayworth believed she lived in Oregon. She purposely made it sound like she slipped up. As she looked back toward him, she saw him on his cell phone. His eyes bore into hers and she knew she was screwed.

  “Would you like to explain to me what exactly that was all about?” Tazer asked as they exited to the side of the building.

  “No,” she replied and looked behind her and around them.

  “Shelby Ann, how the fuck do you know a scumbag like Mickie Hayworth?” Her eyes widened and she was surprised that he knew Mickie.

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Well, I’ve got time and so do you.”

  “I need to head back to Chance. I need to go now,” she told him, looking around and knowing that the longer she stuck around the greater the chance it would be for Mickie to follow her or have someone else do it.

  “You were scared. I saw your face, read your body language. It’s obvious you know what kind of man he is. Now, I know that you haven’t shared your past with the Pace men or with Max for that matter, but may I suggest that you do? I know what that prick is capable of. The way he looked at you, swept his eyes over you was not like an acquaintance does.”

  “Tazer, please listen to me. I can’t tell you how I know him. I can tell you that I was never involved with him but involved with someone who was close to him. If I don’t get the hell out of here right now, he’s going to have someone follow me, or he’ll follow me on his own. Please, just drop this for now and understand that I can’t tell you everything. I just can’t. Please,” she said and looked around them. He did, too, and then exhaled.

  “Where are you parked?”

  “Over there.” She pointed.

  “So am I. I want you to pull out and head down the road and make your second right. Meet me there and then I’ll follow you back to Chance and make sure we don’t have a tail.” He held her shoulders and looked down at her and she knew he could tell she was scared and about to cry.

  “I’ll help you. Now move,” he said and she did immediately.

  * * * *

  “You are not going to believe this, buddy. But guess who I just saw as I finished up in court in Charlesburgh?”

  “Who?” Skip asked.

  “That sweet little blonde you searched for months for and then gave up on.”

  “Shelby Ann?” Skip asked, and Mickie smiled as he held the phone against his ear and then got into his car.

  “Yes indeed. Met her in the local courthouse. Was trying to get some info on her and what she was up to, where she lives, but some big-ass dude with a crew cut and muscles showed up and pulled her along. I think a boyfriend or something.”

  “Really?” Skip asked and Mickie could hear the upset in his friend’s voice. Skip had really taken a liking to Shelby Ann, and rightfully so. The woman was built to please a man in bed. But he went over the line when he allowed Blade to touch her, too, and then cut her to intimidate her. It was a wild scene.

  “How did she look? Happy? Like this guy is her boyfriend or something?”

  “She looked incredible, professional, and was maybe there for work. I don’t know. Do you want me to find out?”

  Skip was quiet.

  “She’s more mature, her hair is longer, nearly to her ass in an abundance of curls, and her body even more perfect than even I remember.”

  “Find out what you can.”

  Mickie smiled. “You got it. Are you going to tell Blade about her?”

  “Blade was even more obsessed with her than me, especially after he marked her as his woman forever. Find her, and then I’ll tell him and maybe send him to retrieve her for the both of us.”

  “I don’t want to know any details. After all, I’m your lawyer,” he said, but he couldn’t help but be aroused by the actions his friends would take with Shelby. He disconnected the call and looked around for Shelby but couldn’t find her. It may be a little more difficult to track her down now, but she must live nearby. He would make some calls and begin to search.

  He scrolled through his contacts, looking for the right people as he thought about that night at Skip’s and how Blade had gone overboard. Blade liked to torture women, not kill them. He screwed up a few times in the past two years and it nearly cost Blade his freedom, but Mickie got him off. Women were weak, and he had a way of
manipulating their minds and making them see that they weren’t victims but instead instigators to the abuse they sustained from men like Blade and even Skip. Even though he would get nothing out of finding Shelby for Skip and Blade, he felt excited and happy for them. It seemed to him that neither man had been the same since she disappeared that night. Blade even searched for replacements and Skip obsessed with work and making money. This was going to make them very, very happy.

  He hit the call button the phone and heard a female voice on the second ring.

  “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Shyanne asked him.

  “Well, sweetheart, I’ve got a tricky job for you to do. It isn’t going to be easy, but if you’re successful, then your debt to me is owed.”

  “Seriously? Wow, this person must be really important for you to find. Give me the details and I’ll come through. Don’t you worry.”

  He smiled.

  “I’ll send over what I have in just a little while. Oh, and if you find her quickly, I’ll even pay you a little something in cash, besides clearing your debt to me.”

  “Nice. I’m on it, Mickie. Anything for you.”

  He disconnected the call and smiled. It sure did pay to own so many people. He thought about Shelby Ann. She sure did look different. Sexier, classier, like a woman in a new life. He felt a little guilty, but that passed quickly. Skip and Blade hadn’t been the same men after she left them. Perhaps having her back would settle Blade down so he would stop hurting women and have his number one girl back. Mickie always thought that if Blade had the chance to fuck her then she wouldn’t be such an obsession. But then again, Skip got to and was just as obsessed with having her back, so who knew what would happen. He didn’t even care. He would do his job and find her. They would have to take care of the dirty work.

  However, if they screwed up badly and she tried to press charges, or worse, they killed her, then he would be the one to get them off because that was how good of a lawyer he really was.

  Chapter 2

  It was dark when Shelby Ann arrived home with Tazer following close behind her. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see Max’s sheriff SUV sitting outside of her place. She knew the rules of this town and instead of being angry she should feel grateful. Especially since all the way home the only thing that kept her from crying hysterically and freaking out about seeing Mickie was that Tazer was protecting her.

  She had been smart enough to text Kenneth and say she left Charlesburgh and was on her way home so he wouldn’t worry and maybe show up at her place, too. That would have been a nightmare. But she didn’t feel relieved. She felt guilty.

  She took a deep breath and she gripped the steering wheel after placing the car in park in her driveway. Looking up, she saw Max and he opened her car door for her.

  “Are you okay?” were his first words to her. Not What’s going on? Who was that man? Explain the trouble you’re in. It was how are you and she swallowed hard but couldn’t get out the words.

  She waited there a moment and now Tazer stood beside Max, squinting his eyes and seemingly concerned.

  “I didn’t call your guardians, and I could have. I suggest you’re a hundred percent honest with Max and me,” he said, and she nodded and then got out of her car. They followed her into her house and she offered them something to drink before they stood by the counter and waited for her to speak.

  “I don’t know where to start,” she whispered, her hands shaking as she kept busy arranging and rearranging the fruit in the fruit bowl. Max covered her hand and she locked gazes with him.

  “Just explain who the man in Charlesburgh was and what and whom you’re obviously running from. I know you use your mother’s maiden name, but even with that, someone could probably track you down. What is going on?” Max asked.

  “Back in New York almost two years ago, I was in a relationship with a man and things…got bad,” she said to them.

  “He was abusive?” Max asked. She nodded.

  “He was controlling, manipulative, and powerful when it came to weakening my defensives. Plus, he was good friends with my boss, a person who got me freelance paralegal jobs. In Manhattan, with some of these high-profile cases or just regular cases where more paralegals are hired on to do research and such, he got me jobs. I got more jobs than anyone else, not only because I’m good at doing research but because my boss, Jerry, had a bad habit and Skip, my boyfriend, had connections.”

  “He was addicted to drugs?” Tazer asked, taking a seat at the island.

  “He was addicted to a lot of things, sex included.”

  “Sex? You mean prostitution?” Max asked.

  She knew what was probably going through their minds.

  “I wasn’t a prostitute so don’t think that for a second. Skip had connections in lots of areas but he was low end, not high end. I didn’t even know he had those connections until I started putting things together at work and I analyzed comments Jerry would make to me. I had a feeling something illegal might have been going on, but when I asked Skip, he told me nothing was illegal. That he knew a lot of people. So for the right amount of money he could get great tickets to sold-out shows, concerts, and dining venues. You name it, he could get it. But then I realized one night as he talked about these women and describing them to the color of their eyes and the size of their breasts like they were being ordered, that something was wrong. I confronted Skip. I accused him of cheating on me.”

  “What did he do?” Max asked.

  “He denied it. Then I saw more things, and Skip was getting more protective of me, especially around Mickie and even Jerry. Then he was hitting me more. You know, just knocking me around because, or being rough. I was so angry with him I told him I didn’t want to be with him anymore and that I was leaving. He smacked me around good. Things happened, and I was done with him.”

  “What do you mean things happened?” Max asked.

  She looked at him and felt the tears in her eyes. “He did things to me. Threatened me in a way that I won’t talk about.” They both squinted their eyes at her, and Max took a deep breath and released it.

  “Does this have something to do with why you won’t accept the Pace men as your guardians?”

  “Yes.”

  “And?” Tazer pushed. Of course she would have to pour her soul to them.

  “And because I saw what happened to C.J. when Cameron came hunting Caroline down, I won’t let Skip, Mickie, and their crew of shit come after Kenneth, Sam, and Bender. I won’t. The best place they can be is far from me.”

  “Because these men will come looking for you now that they know you’re still around?” Max asked.

  “Because they think I belong to them.”

  “What?” Tazer asked, looking shocked and angry.

  “You need to explain more to us, so we know the level of danger you’re in,” Max said.

  “Let me explain it to you like this, Max. Skip didn’t like to share me with anyone, not even my friends that I lost by the way because he devoured all my time when I wasn’t working. One night, when something went down, and it had to have been pretty bad, everything changed. Skip was kissing me and telling me how sorry he was. That he was going to make it up to me. That I just needed to do him one favor. He just kept repeating it and then next thing I know he has me tied down.” She started to cry.

  “What happened? Did he rape you?” Max asked her.

  She sniffled and looked to Tazer and then to Max. “Please, I can’t talk about it. I just can’t get past it. I’ve been going into Cambridge to see someone. I go every Sunday.”

  “Who?” Tazer asked.

  She swallowed hard and wiped her eyes. “A therapist. After seeing everything that Caroline went through, I know I have to start living my own life and not live in fear. At least that was the plan until today. I won’t be able to stay here much longer.”

  “No, you’re not leaving. You’re safest here, in Chance,” Tazer said to her.

  “I won’t be safe anywhere
once they find out where I am. They’ll want to finish what they started, and in Skip’s screwed-up head, he’ll think I’ll forgive him and he’ll want me to come through on his promise he gave that night.”

  “Which was what?” Tazer asked.

  She was quiet a moment. “Let’s just say that I was a bargaining tool to help make something disappear.”

  “A bargaining tool?” Max asked.

  “Apparently I was the reward, the payoff, for whatever favor Skip asked for.”

  “Damn, Shelby,” Tazer whispered.

  Max exhaled. “This guy Mickie that you saw in Charlesburgh, was he part of this situation?” Max asked.

  She didn’t say a word. “He was there, when Blade showed up.” She closed her eyes and willed away the images in her head. She remembered the feel of Blade’s hands against her skin and the feel of the cold blade of the knife as he threatened to cut her into pieces like he did to the others if she didn’t shut the hell up.

  She felt the hand on her shoulder, and she gasped and stepped back.

  “I’m done. I’m finished. You get the gist of it.”

  “I know you’re scared, Shelby. We don’t need to know the specifics right now. We get what you’re not saying. We’re going to protect you from this man and the others. It was a good thing that Tazer was there and ensured that you weren’t followed here. Now it’s our responsibility to take the next steps together. No more secrets. You see anyone from New York around here, or elsewhere, you contact me right away.”

  “And me, too.”

  “Tazer, you’re not her guardian. Kenneth, Sam, and Bender are.”

  “No. Didn’t you hear what I said? They could get killed or hurt because of me. Look how close Cameron got to killing C.J. Caroline is still trying to recover from that. I won’t put those men in harm’s way. I won’t put my sister or anyone else,” she said to them.

  “It’s not your decision. I’m in charge and I have the final say.”

  “I can do it for now. Maybe it will pass and Mickie won’t find her.”