“Is someone out there?”
“Not yet!” She yells and starts grabbing all the papers scattered across the coffee table. I slip the laptop into my bag and hope there really is something worth a shit on there.
“Anything else worth a shit over there?” I ask while filling my bag with anything worth a shit I can find. Star just shakes her head. The doorknob starts to jiggle and we both stop dead in our tracks. Our eyes both go wide as saucers and we look at each other for some kind of plan.
OUT THE WINDOW, I mouth at Star. We both sprint across the room as quietly as we can, just as the door pushes open. From behind the bathroom door we can hear a sea of curses coming from the chain in the way.
“I didn’t fuckin’ hook no chain. What is this shit?” Vince mumbles with an irate tone. I want to giggle, but I won’t be doing any of that until we are both home free. I toss my backpack into Star’s arms and climb up onto the toilet to make my way out of the open window. My feet come in contact with the cement and I thankful I didn’t get hurt. God knows jumping out of windows isn’t really something I want to be doing as a fucking hobby. Before Star can toss the bag out to me, or make her exit I hear a voice behind me.
“I should have known you were behind this, Seven. You can’t just give up any money, can you?” I slowly turn, eying the empty window in the process. Star is gone. Nowhere to be found and I am alone to deal with Vince on my own in this shitty alleyway. I know it won’t be long until Star is here as my backup, so if I can just toy with him for a couple minutes, we will both be home free with the laptop in the bag that she has.
“Of course not, Vince. I don’t work with criminals, which is why I turned your shitty deal down all those years ago. You ran that club into the ground. Without controlling interest you would have thrown my money in the trash too.” I try to not let on that I am scared. I’m alone in this darkening alley with a man I don’t know worth a shit. I have no idea what Vince is capable of doing.
“It would have been so much easier for you to just give me that money, Seven. Now the world is going to know all about you and the life you live. The way you whore around, how your husband is really a closet fag, the way your best friend is really your own personal pussy pal when you decide you are up for a little girl-on-girl action. It’s all coming out Seven. And there isn’t any way you can stop it now. I’d never give you the club. Not for all the money in the world.” Vince looks like he has aged decades over a year. His normally clean shaved face and head is covered in grey stubble. His face wears wrinkles showing his actual age. His gut is barely covered by a tight black t-shirt that is filthy. The least that this guy could do is take a fuckin’ shower.
“It’s never been about money, Seven. It’s always been about power. Making you submit to me. But you’re a dumb bitch who doesn’t know how to be a decent sub.” Sub? Me? Ha! No fucking way. No way in hell!
“Because I’m not a sub, Vince. You’ve known that from the day I walked into that club with Star by my side. Her maybe. Me, never.” I give back to him with my classic cocky bravado.
“And that is your problem, Seven. A woman’s place isn’t on top. Women that top don’t belong in the world of BDSM. They never have and never will.” He yells. Spit flies from his mouth, and splatters against my face. I want to wipe it, but I fear any sudden movement could set him off even further. It makes me feel dirty and disgusting. I completely regret anything I did with him, even if Levi was involved.
“All along this has been about your fucked up perspective of what the BDSM world should be?” I laugh. I know I shouldn’t taunt him, but the simple thought is downright ridiculous. “The BDSM and Fetish community is about what each person likes as an individual. Not what you think they should fuckin’ like. And that is why you never had any business owning that club! For you, it was all about the money, until that dried up.” I take a step back from him, putting an arm’s length between us.
“Women don’t belong in power anywhere. Not in the bedroom and certainly not in the boardroom. James was a fool to train a female as his successor. I used to respect him all those years ago. I looked up to him, but once you came into the picture, that all stopped.” He continues.
“So this is between you and James.” I say, as if that is going to change anything. James has been gone far too long. There is nothing I can say that is going to change this, but the fact that he just brought James up downright pissed me off. “James was an amazing man. He was and always will be a better Dom than you ever will be!” The rage boils my blood. I want to attack him, and gouge his eyes out. I can’t believe how he could throw insults like that at a man who has been dead for so long.
“James was nothing. I’m glad he’s dead!” Vince says.
I turn and begin to walk away from him. My hands weave through my hair and I pull it, trying to take out my rage on myself before I do something stupid. I start to count each step I take to get away from him. He isn’t following me. Instead, he just stands there with a creepy look on his face. Like a serial killer in one of those fucked up horror movies. I’m the bitch that should be running and tripping over my own two feet. He is going to catch me, it’s only a matter of time. But does he even want to?
“James was a fool!” He taunts me from behind my back. “You were the biggest mistake of his life!” Something clicks inside me. My boiling point has exploded and I just can’t hold it back anymore. I can’t take his words because they eat away at my soul. All my regrets, all the mistakes I made with James come flashing back to me. His proposal, the cancer, him lying on his death bed, the fact that he hid how sick he was for so long… everything. The emotion I never showed begins to pour out of me as I hear car tires screech in the distance.
I expect to see Star coming around the front of the building to pick me up and leave this all behind us, but as I come to the end of the building she isn’t anywhere in sight. I finally turn, expecting Vince to be right behind me, hot on my trail, but he is gone. Vanished like a fuckin’ ghost.
Was I really out of it that long? Did he really have time to get away? Whatever. I just don’t give a shit right now. I wish he was dead and when I finally get Chrome’s ear, I am going to make sure that happens. That man is a danger to himself, the world, and anyone who crosses his path in the BDSM community. He is poison. An STD to the entire culture.
I stop and take a deep breath. The crisp evening air is refreshing and I take the quiet moment to talk to James. Something I don’t do as often as I used to.
“I know I am a disappointment. I don’t deny that, because I see my shortcomings in life. I promise you, I will be the woman you left behind when you passed. I won’t be a letdown to you. I won’t make you regret the choice you made to leave me in charge. FUCK! I miss you. I love you James and I always will.”
Something slams into me from behind and the fuckin’ world goes dark. And all I can see as I slip into the abyss is James holding his hands out for me, welcoming me to the other side.
Levi
Present
Everything is set. Ryker and Judge are hidden somewhere within the caves, and Chrome is by my side. He continues to thumb through his phone when something sets him off.
“Mother fucker,” he snarls. “You have got to be fuckin’ kidding me.” I leave him be until he comes out with whatever he wants to say. I’ve learned that he is a pretty open person when it comes to most things, but only in his own time. Whatever though, it isn’t my business half the time anyway.
“Change of plans.” he says, “Judge is a plant. He’s working for Vince.”
“How do you know?” I ask, confused as hell.
“Star texted me. Her and Seven figured it out somehow.” I can see the anger on his face as he tries to calm down to deal with the bullshit of getting back Lyric before anything else.
“What? How the fuck? Shit!” I say, wondering what the fuck Seven and Star have gotten themselves into this time. Every time they are left alone, its like they are children. “You know Seven kne
w Judge somehow. She didn’t say much about it, but she told me.” I say trying to offer Chrome just the least bit of information. It’s all I got, but I hope its something.
“I should have looked into his past more. I just hope he doesn’t fuck this shit up.” Chrome lets out a sigh before slamming his fist into the steering wheel. I’ve never seen him wound as tightly as he is right now. “We’re gonna go in there and fuckin’ get Lyric and I’ll deal with that little shit when we get back to Woodstock. Don’t let on that you know shit.” I only nod in understanding. I’d never do anything to cross him or any of his guys. They aren’t the kind of people I thought I would end up dealing with on a daily basis, but I’m glad we are family, because sometimes, you just need someone on the other side of the law to have you back.
Times like this, when I don’t have anyone else to go to. Shit. I remember years ago, paying some greasy mobster do some dirty work for me, but that was really the extent of any shady dealings I’ve had. I wish Chrome had been in the picture back then as an alternative.
“We should head into the caves. Stick close to me. Keep your eyes and ears open.” Chrome says and we jump out of the truck and head for the long stone stairs into the caves. Shit is slick as hell and we both almost fall a couple times on the way down. My nerves are getting the best of me and I can feel my heartbeat thumping in my ears. Paranoia is not something I’ve ever dealt with well. Just like Seven, I am used to being in control of shit. I don’t like something so big being in someone else's hands. Even if it is Chrome.
Turning around a corner, Chrome and I come to a stop and wait. Across the narrow cavern walkway I can see Ryker crouched down, gun drawn. I sling the backpack over my shoulder and walk into the middle of the open space and wait for the kidnappers to make their way here with Lyric in tow. Or at least I hope.
Minutes pass and no one comes or goes. I stand around trying to listen for footsteps in the distance, or anything that could distract me from the shitstorm that is brewing. What if this guy doesn’t show? What if this was all just a set up? What if they know that Chrome and the guys are here backing me up and they are walking into a trap?
The click of heels echo in the distance, and it takes a few moments for the sound to yield a shadow. A slender woman walks out of the darkness, the picture of business perfection. Just like she did when she walked into my house and offered to fuck me for my wife’s job. Veronica Reed being in Niagara Falls was no coincidence at all. It was a damn set up from the start. I squint when I notice a man following her, much farther behind.
That is when I notice Lyric. Her hands are tied together, and she has a makeshift gag in her mouth, and I am pretty sure it is a Burberry scarf. Apparently kidnapping is stylish these days too.
“We meet again, Mr. Parker.” Veronica says. “It is such a shame you didn’t take me up on my offer when you had the chance. It would have made this so much easier. Kidnapping is messy and I don’t like getting my pretty nails dirty. But, you’re a foolish man.” She continues while looking me up and down. “What we wanted was that company. What was rightfully owed to Kenneth long ago, but that bitch of a wife you have stole it all from him.”
“Just give me the girl. You aren’t going to hurt her. It won’t benefit you any.” I say, trying to stay stern. I think of my wife and bringing her sister back to her unharmed.
“See, that is where you are wrong. Since I already got into the kidnapping business, I wouldn’t mind getting in the killing business either. If I ever get caught, I might as well make it worth it, right?” She says with a smile on her face. Bitch is crazy.
“You wanted money. I got money.” I take the backpack from my shoulder and toss it onto the ground in front of dirty heels. The fake bills we packed the bag with make a thud when it hits the rocky gravel floor. “I held up Seven’s end of the deal. Now, give me Lyric.”
“Not so fast, Levi.” the man speaks as he comes out of the shadows, shielding himself with Lyric’s body. In the darkness it is hard to make out his face, but he is roughly around the same size and build as I. “We have business.” He says, holding on tighter to Lyric. The flash of a gun catches my attention as tears begin to fall from Lyric’s eyes. The poor girl is scared shitless and doesn’t belong in the middle of any of this shit.
“Let the girl go. You’ve done enough damage by scaring her. She doesn’t have anything to do with any of this.” I order him and he laughs at me. A familiar laugh that, yet again, I can’t place for the life of me.
He takes several steps in my direction, and pushes Lyric onto the ground. The gun remains pointed at her while he gives her instructions.
“You sit there and don’t move.”
I look to my left and eye Chrome with his gun drawn, waiting for a move. To my right, Ryker mirrors his position. Judge is nowhere in sight, but I know he isn’t far. I blink a few more times as the man comes into my line of vision again. The dim cave light bounces off his face and my memories begin. My childhood, holidays, family visitation at his school, the night he walked out because my parents left everything to me. Leaving him to fend for himself and make a life of his own.
“Arden?” I question the man who I once knew as my brother. The big brother I should be looking up to.
“Yes, brother. It’s been a long time, huh?” He says as if we are friends. As if he didn’t just try and extort money out of my wife and me. Like he didn’t kidnap her damn sister.
“Yeah, since you left me to fend for myself.” I throw back at him. When my parents died, I needed him. I needed someone. Instead, I was shipped off to a distant aunt and uncle who had no interest in me.
“Fend for yourself? You were given the world on a fuckin’ silver platter. I had to fend for MY self. They didn’t leave me shit!” The tone of his voice raises in anger. Misplaced anger at that.
“And that was my fault? I was a fuckin’ kid!” I’m sick of people pushing me around. I’m sick of bullshit being thrown on my plate to deal with when I had no hand in creating the problem. All the years of being pushed around by my ex-wife and peers. All the drama I’ve had to deal with from Seven and the fact that she doesn’t do anything she is told starts to come to a head. The anger, the worry, the fucking rage I’ve surpassed for everyone else's benefit. It is all starting to slowly seep out.
“You could have helped me.” He makes an excuse, a bullshit excuse to try and turn this shit around on me. But that is all it is, bullshit.
“I had nothing to do with it, you know it and so do I. I couldn’t change shit until years later when you were long gone and I had no fuckin’ clue how to find you. Don’t come at me all these years later with this bullshit.” I can’t help myself, I’m mad. Madder than I’ve ever felt in the past. “You’re making excuses for your own bullshit behavior and nonsense. You have no one to blame but yourself.” I take a few steps back and look at Lyric who is watching me. Silently pleading with me to get her the fuck out of here.
“That is where you are wrong. Seven James is who I blame for everything. And imagine what a kick in the ass it was when I found out the woman who stole my entire career married my darling baby brother who walked away with the fortune I was supposed to inherit?”
“It was a nice kick in the ass, huh? Karma for dumping on your own family. Walking away from your brother when he needed you the most. You fuckin’ deserve everything that happened to you.” I throw back at him. “Lyric, let’s go.” I tell her, and she begins to get up when Arden cocks the gun and Lyric freezes. Before Arden can say a word, Judge is behind him with a gun to his head.
“You aren’t going to want to do that.” Judge says in a deep menacing voice. Arden doesn’t move and neither does Veronica when Ryker presses a gun to her back.
Chrome comes out of the shadows and begins to give instructions to the two hostages.
“You, drop the gun.” He points at Arden and the weapon falls to the ground. “Lyric, you and Levi go up to the truck.” His eyes meet mine, and he throws out more demands. “Now, Levi
.”
“You take orders from criminals now? You get walked all over by everyone, huh?” Arden mouths off as I help an injured Lyric off of the ground and towards the entrance to the cave. I do my best to ignore his words because I can’t let him get to me. I can’t let his bullshit fuck with my mind since that is all he wants to do. I pause, and I take the high road.
“You call them criminals. I call them family. I don’t need blood family, I got all that I need,” and without turning back around, I walk Lyric out of the cave and leave Chrome, Ryker, and Judge to do whatever they please with the two timing Veronica Reed and the brother I wish I never knew, Arden Parker. Or Kenneth Jack. Whatever he wants to go by these days.
All I could do was hold this poor girl as she cried. A crying woman is not something I’ve ever had much experience with because my ex-wife never dared to show an emotion, and well, Seven… crying really isn’t in her vocabulary. I want to laugh at the little funny I made, but I can’t bring myself to even crack a smile.
She weeps and begins to whisper.
“I didn’t mean for your family to be dragged into something like this.” As if any of this is her fault. “I was on the steps, coming to help Seven with the baby and then something was over my face. It knocked me out.”
“Those people had a personal agenda against me and Seven. It has nothing to do with you. They saw an opportunity and cashed it in. Don’t beat yourself up over it. I am just glad we got to you in time before they did anything stupid. I hope you can forgive both Seven and I for dragging you into this.” I try and rationalize, but my mind is all over the place. Her breathing slows and soon she is sleeping in my lap. I am sure she is exhausted from the whole ordeal. How many people would use a kidnapping to catch up on their sleep? Fuck that.
While I sit and wait for Chrome, I think about Seven and the fact that I’ve let her rule the roost of our relationship. Arden’s words echo in my mind, calling me a bitch and saying people walk all over me. Being insecure, I wonder if he may be right. Is that really what I have become?
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