“We did. I don’t know how much she remembers from her childhood,” I answered, squeezing her hand in reassurance.
“I’m sure Joslyn has stories,” he winked at me. “And I bet you were a cute baby and handsome little man. Kaleb would never be unfaithful to Kelly, but he was just naturally a flirt. He gave me a wink and turned his attention to Dawn.
“Dawn, can I ask you a few questions?” he said quietly but with authority. He became the Dom and special agent in charge that I knew so well after over six years. He kept his voice calm, but the authority and respect that he demanded just by his presence were there.
Dawn only nodded, burying herself more into me, if it were possible. I hoped she might be beginning to see me as her safe place.
Chapter 9
Dawn
Truthfully, I never wanted to leave Elijah’s lap. I felt like I belonged there. My head fit perfectly against his neck, where I could breathe in his scent. I wasn’t sure about his friend, but he seemed as if he wouldn’t harm me. Obviously, he cared for Elijah, and he’d yet to touch me or make any comment towards wanting me in any way.
I listened intently as the two talked, while I tried to stay invisible. I knew Elijah was happy with where I chose to wait. I wasn’t sure what to feel about me knowing him from before, but that could easily explain why I felt so comfortable with him.
I tensed up when Kaleb asked if he could ask me a few questions. I nodded anyway, hoping Elijah would either stop any questions, or answer for me.
“Since Elijah isn’t going to ask, I feel like we can’t wait any longer to question you, Dawn. You hold some very important details that are vital for our investigation. Under normal conditions, I’d have you come into our office, but we can’t. So instead, I’m going to use this little recorder here,” Kaleb spoke, shaking a small silver device in front of him in my line of sight. “Elijah, you have to be quiet; no rude remarks.”
“Yes, Sir,” Elijah muttered, making Kaleb laugh and mutter something I was unable to catch.
“I’ll try to make this as painless as possible,” he began in a sympathetic tone. “I want the complete truth from you, Dawn. Let’s start with your full name.”
“Dawn Elizabeth Ellis,” I answered, just loud enough for the device to be able to pick up.
“Current age?”
“Nineteen, I think. My birthday was in August. It’s November now, from what I’m told.”
“Who are your parents?”
“Joan and Quentin Ellis.”
“When were you taken, and from where?” Kaleb shot off easily without pause.
“On my fourteenth birthday. He brought me dinner that night so I didn’t have to cook, saying it was a birthday gift. I was hungry.” I answered, trying to keep calm and collected so the memories wouldn’t take over.
“Who is he?” Kaleb asked, leaning forward. “Who is the man who took you from your home while your mom was at work?”
“Morgan,” I stated, trying my hardest to not let my hatred for the man come through. Elijah squeezed my hand as he remained quiet. “He tried to drag me out, but I fought until he drugged me.”
“Where did Morgan take you?” Kaleb asked, sensing I wasn’t going to continue on my own.
“I don’t know. I woke up with my hands tied behind my back in a jail cell. There were no windows…no sounds,” I answered, near tears. I leaned more into Elijah. I couldn’t stop the words. I explained how Morgan and Galvin began my training almost immediately, even before the drugs were out of my system. How I was trained to do whatever was commanded of me with hardly any words said. I hated that feeling—of being used and abused. I could still feel their hands on my body as I unwillingly let them mold me to what they wanted.
I detailed how I was forced to do things no fourteen-year-old should even know about. I went on with how I was punished by being kicked, hit, and abused in every way possible. I had refused to cooperate with my captors, not giving into them at first. But week by week, the weaker I got from the lack of food, I couldn’t hold on to the fighting.
“Why was I taken?” I asked. “Do you know? Why me?”
“I’m assuming you were seen as an easy target,” Elijah answered. “Many young girls are drawn away from their family by an unfilled promise of a man. What Morgan did was wrong. You know that, right?”
“I guess so,” I knew it wasn’t right, but no one had come and saved me. No one had been able to find me.
“People were looking for you,” Elijah said, as though he could read my mind. “I tried to help find you. I went on every fucking search group there was to track you down. You are the reason I joined the FBI. I wanted to bring justice to the people who deserved it. Morgan is one of those people I’m going to bring down.”
“So, you were forced to have sex?” Kaleb said, eyeing me sadly, and getting back on track.
“Yes.” I was surprised the tears hadn’t fallen from my eyes. I wanted to be done, to forget all about what I had been through.
“Good girl,” Elijah whispered in my ear. I could feel him stiffen under me as he fought and lost the battle against speaking.
“Thank you,” Kaleb said, shutting off the recorder. “You did a great job with answering me. I’ll give you two a few minutes to relax while I make sandwiches for us to eat.” He then got up and left us there in the comforting silence of Elijah’s office.
“You did wonderfully,” Elijah said, hugging me closely. “I’m so proud of you. I want to fuck up those men for hurting you,” he added hoarsely.
My tears finally fell. I tried to get as close to him as I possibly could. I felt better having my story out there; I knew Morgan was going to get what he deserved, and felt good that I would have a part in that.
“Do you think my mother knew?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“I saw her a few times, and just recently. I truly don’t think she had any idea what Morgan was capable of, but who knows. She has changed a lot from when I was younger,” Elijah replied.
“Why does that man care? Why do you care?” I asked shyly. Did I really want to know the answer?
“I care about people in general, but having known you before everything happened to you, it just makes me care more about you than the other people I help. Since I care so much, that means Kaleb cares, too. We are best friends—practically family. That’s what friends should do: care for one another.”
He paused, letting me think on that. It made sense; I just wasn’t used to being cared for.
“Now, how about we go see what Kaleb whipped up for us?” He patted my leg as an indication that I should stand.
“Okay, Sir,” I said, as I slowly made my way off his lap.
He took my hand with a smile and led me to the kitchen. I didn’t really want to leave this room; I wanted to stay on his lap in his arms forever. Instead, I shuffled behind him as he led me into the kitchen, where three places were set with a simple sandwich and a glass of water. Kaleb had just finished setting the water down before taking a seat on one side of the table.
“Perfect timing,” he grinned. Elijah let me sit first before taking a seat next to me, and across from Kaleb.
“Thank you, Kaleb,” Elijah said before digging into his food. I slowly began to eat, not entirely hungry.
“No problem,” he replied between bites. “Did you happen to look out the window? You have a guest waiting in your driveway.”
“Crap,” Elijah said roughly. “I ignored a phone call earlier today. Excuse me. I’ll be back shortly.”
Once Elijah left, Kaleb seemed to be in deep thought as he took a drink. I ate half of my sandwich before laying it down and putting my hands in my lap. I felt awkward. I had just gotten used to being here, with just Elijah and myself, even though it had been such a short time.
I wasn’t sure why, but something about Kaleb demanded my training to the front of my mind.
“You know, Dawn, not many would have had the strength to go through what you did. You have suffered so m
uch, yet you are still so strong,” Kaleb said. He moved to sit beside me, ignoring the fearful look sure to be on my face. “You did wonderfully. I know the girl Elijah adored as a child is still inside you. I know the real you is in there. Right now, I know you are scared and not sure who you are, but given time, you will figure it out.”
Sometime during his talk, he had taken my hand in his, and tears began to run down my cheeks. His simple, light touch made me try to jerk away from him. He lightly squeezed my hand, seeming to understand my problem.
“I really want you to get to a point where you can put some sort of trust in me, or at least my wife, so you can feel comfortable in my home as well as Elijah’s. My wife, Kelly, and you could get along very well if given the chance. I will bring her by in a week or two, but she’s not quite up to visiting yet.”
“How is she doing?” Elijah said, making me jump. I wasn’t expecting him to be back. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stop by; I wanted to.”
“This girl here is more important than we are, as far as you’re concerned. She might singlehandedly be able to bring down this sex ring,” Kaleb said as he placed his folded hands on the table. “Kelly’s doing better, but she’s still sore and tired. The birth was very hard on her, but considering how the entire pregnancy went, it’s not surprising.”
“Good to hear. Please tell her I asked about her,” Elijah said, as he ran his fingers down the length of my hair. I closed my eyes at his touch, feeling the gentleness I craved more than I wanted to admit.
“You two work out perfectly,” Kaleb smiled. “Even with such an age difference.”
“Whatever, Mr. Matchmaker,” Elijah laughed. “I’m taking it one day at a time. Anyway, Morgan left. I told him Dawn wasn’t here and I’d meet up with him later. Not sure what he wanted.”
“What did you do?” Kaleb asked, his voice filled with concern.
I glanced at Elijah, noticing his hand was red and already slightly swollen.
“Uh,” he began to answer. “Punched Morgan. All in a day’s work.”
“Why?” I asked, not sure why he’d go to such lengths.
“I couldn’t shoot him, although I wanted to do just that,” Elijah answered with a shrug.
“I wouldn’t have told anyone,” Kaleb joked.
“You know I can’t shoot him, even though I want that man dead.”
“I’m hoping we can get this case closed within the next three months. But I’d better head home to check on my girls. This is the first time in two weeks she’s been able to be by herself. My sister was staying with us, but she had to get back to her store in New York,” Kaleb said as he stood. “Oh, before I forget…here, sweet girl. You deserve this, and so much more. It’s just a little present.”
He handed me a small silver charm bracelet with an attached charm. Elijah said, “That’s a symbol of strength on there. You can add more as you decide what else symbolizes you.”
When I looked up from my bracelet, he was gone, and Elijah looked at me in a way I wasn’t used to. It was a mix of love and hope.
Chapter 10
Elijah
I was glad Kaleb took charge of the questioning. On cases where I was involved, I was usually the one who asked questions and gathered all the important information. People just knew I wasn’t someone to mess around with. But when it came to the ones I cared about and loved? Well, it could get complicated.
I wanted so badly to pound a skull or two. Dawn was able to answer and give us more than enough information to bring the trafficking ring down. I knew it wouldn’t be long now. We had evidence from two witnesses, plus Zack and my own recounts of the inner workings.
Galvin was a small-time mafia boss. He thought he was such a high guy, but really, he had more enemies than he knew what to do with. That’s how I gained most of his trust: making him think I could keep the feds, and the rats, off his back. Sure, he could easily end my life, but so could any stranger on the street, so I wasn’t worried about what he would do to me if I failed him. Plus, I’m good at what I do.
Dawn did much better than a lot of people would have if they were in her place. I wasn’t all too surprised by what she had gone through at the hands of so many men. I had been with this case long enough to know how things were handled. I just never expected to find the one person I thought I’d never see again.
I wasn’t happy that Morgan—the one who stole my girl—was watching my house when he thought I wasn’t at home. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. Working with the FBI, one could never be too careful when you had to go undercover so often. I had an alarm set up so a person would need a password to get in. I did have a number of safe houses I could go to when I was doing my part, but this was my home. I’d never had an issue before with being tracked back here.
I know he was worried about what I could do since I had a number of connections, and could easily make his life a living hell. He ended up getting roped into the mafia by mistake, and it was too late to get out by the time he noticed.
It was too late for anyone in the mafia world if they were in the family.
So, of course, I couldn’t help but ask about his involvement in a roundabout way when I went out and met him in my driveway.
“So, Dawn said that you helped in her training,” I hinted, keeping my voice calm and collected even though my blood was boiling with rage. I stuffed my hands into my pockets to keep myself from smashing his face in.
“Oh, ah . . . yeah, I guess I did,” Morgan had replied timidly. “Um, how did that come up?”
“I just asked who did the wonderful training. She really is an ideal sub for me.” I answered easily, the lie rolling smoothly off my tongue. “Just a few things here and there that need to be tweaked, but it won’t take too much time to get her where I want her.”
“Oh, well, yeah. I trained a handful of the girls, and Galvin loved to watch each and every one. He’s never touched any of them for some reason, but told the girls what he expected out of each of them.”
“Where did you find her, anyway? She said something about being there for quite some time,” I said.
“Her mother had a debt to repay. Did you know her? Joan Ellis?”
I knew Joan had worked as a waiter at a strip club Morgan had helped to look after, and owned by a Galvin Brown. It didn’t pay that great, but Joan refused the help my parents offered
“She hasn’t said anything about her parents, but yes, I do know her. I thought her daughter was a runaway,” I said, giving the false conclusion of the case.
“Yes. I made sure it would look as such. Joan, of course, had to make the call to make it seem like the child was gone, so the school wouldn’t ask questions. Now she’s moved in with me and quit her job at the club, she wants her daughter back. Of course, she had no idea I was involved in any way, so I had a guy say something about the girl being found, he’s so desperate to get into the ring, he would do anything,” he laughed. I could hear a lie underneath his voice.
He was too easy to get information out of. Plus, he thought I was his ‘friend’, since I’d covered him on a few things to gain his trust as well. I sometimes wondered how he made it into the mob with his dimwitted brain.
“She was asking for help to find her daughter, but I couldn’t help her out there, since you know, I really don’t know where her daughter could possibly be,” I said, trying to lay the sarcasm on thickly.
“So, have you tried her out yet? She’s an amazing lay, if I do say so myself,” Morgan said, a glint in his eyes at just the thought.
Without a thought, I punched Morgan. My fist connected against his jaw. His head turned with the force, his body falling into the side of his car, leaving a dent in his wake.
“Don’t talk about Dawn that way. Ever,” I said, my voice as deadly as it had ever been before. No one would ever dare talk about my girl like that again—not if they wanted to live.
My fist hurt, but I was sure Morgan would fare worse.
I helped her wit
h the small bracelet shortly after Kaleb left. She didn’t say a word, but I could see her mind going over what he’d told her. Knowing she was tired, both physically and mentally, I decided on watching a movie.
Pulling her into my side after grabbing the throw blanket and tossing it over her legs so she could get comfortable, I chose a movie that looked to be a good to me, and something Dawn might also enjoy. I didn’t really pay attention to it as it played, more concerned about her. I wanted so badly to help her in some way, but I knew she needed to come to terms with things first.
Dawn made her way to my lap, laying her head atop my thighs, and I couldn’t stop the urge to play with her hair. Most women loved it, and I always enjoyed doing it.
I knew, in time, the real Dawn would come out. With love and support, she would overcome the darkest part of her life.
Chapter 11
Dawn
As the weeks went on, Elijah went back to work. He made sure to wake me before he left, letting me know who was downstairs. Most of the time, it was Joslyn. I liked her. She never pushed me to talk, but talked to me as often as she could. She’d talk about volunteering at the women’s shelter and about her hobbies. I was finally starting to feel like I belonged here as a person, instead of a slave.
Emily had only been there a few times. She helped me get the laundry done, saying it kept her mind busy. She never talked about her past, but more of the future, and what she hoped to be able to do someday. She was currently taking online classes to get a website design program going. She’d ask me things here and there, but never really tried to keep a conversation up once I answered her questions. She was a private type of person, which I could understand. I didn’t want to talk about my past, either.
I’m sure I wasn’t much help. The list Elijah had given me to do was easy and didn’t take much energy to complete. I was lost in my thoughts, trying to make sure everything was as expected. I didn’t know how to make the two women who kept watch over me understand that I wasn’t the type to talk. I liked to stay unseen.
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