Never Die

by N. L. Hoffmann

  A woman came through the doorway of another room to greet me. She smiled, showing teeth that’d seen better days. It was obvious that drugs were her meals and not food. Her bones were protruding, and it had me wondering how she was even alive. “What can I help you with, honey?”

  “I’m looking for Annie.” I replied, checking my surroundings.

  The room was empty aside from us, but I could hear the creaking of the floorboards above me. I was confident that it wasn’t children jumping on the bed. How could Luke allow this to happen in his town? He was the Sheriff! Anger began to swell within me as I waited for her answer. She was being slow in her reply, and I wasn’t sure why.

  We were interrupted by a man that came out of the same room. He was dressed in a holey pair of khaki pants and a white undershirt that was stained with who the hell knew what. His hair was slicked back, in dire need of a wash. He placed an arm around the woman and she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “Well, look who it is. Riley decided to grace us with her presence,” he said, showing his toothless mouth.

  It dawned on me then who he was. He was the man that ran the whorehouse when I was younger; he’d just aged really badly. His features became more familiar as I looked at him. The man was still as disgusting as I remembered him.

  “I’m looking for Annie,” I replied, taking a step toward the stairs.

  He blocked me, putting an arm across the way. “You can’t go up there.”

  “I want to see Annie.” I growled, feeling my irritation rise faster than it had ever before.

  The man, also known as Jimmy, just grinned, amused by my anger. “I don’t know who Annie is.”

  Laughing, the woman in his other arm grinned. “You’re so silly, Jimmy. She’s upstairs—”

  “Shut the fuck up, woman!” he snarled, pushing her so hard she fell to the floor.

  My immediate reaction was to go after him, but someone grabbed my arm from behind. I went to swing a fist, but it was quickly blocked by a large hand that covered mine. Glaring, my eyes met Lance’s, who was smiling ear to ear. “We keep meeting like this, has to mean something, Riley.” He winked, letting go of my arm, but keeping hold of my hand.

  “Lance, why are you here?” I went to pull away, but he held fast, threading our fingers together.

  “Looking for someone, but I wasn’t expecting you here,” he replied, amusement dancing in his eyes.

  “You knew Annie was here?” I demanded.

  “A girl has to make a living somehow. I didn’t tell her to come here. She came of her own free will.” He shrugged.

  Jimmy burped loudly, wiping his mouth with a beefy hand. “She came charging in here like she owned the place.”

  Lance’s face became serious as he looked over my shoulder at Jimmy. “If she asks for Annie, you better fucking get Annie.”

  Face paling, Jimmy nodded, heading up the stairs to retrieve the girl. I yanked my hand from Lance’s and then pushed him, hard. He seemed a little surprised by my strength, but that quickly faded and was replaced with amusement once again. “What’s the problem, pretty girl?”

  “She’s only fifteen, Lance!”

  He frowned, grabbing the side of my arms with his hands. “I would never allow a minor to do what these ladies do here.”

  Confused, I looked up the steps, waiting for her to come down. “Then why is she here?”

  “She cleans the place, and cooks the meals.”

  “Do you seriously think it’s fucking okay that she’s in this environment?”

  Lance cupped my face, moving his closer. “When a girl comes begging me for a job because her mother is constantly gone because of drugs and whoring, I give her something. This was all there was.”

  “I can’t even believe you run an establishment like this.”

  Lance dropped his hands. “It’s in reconstruction. I only acquired everything a few months ago from my daddy. Your sister needed something fast, and I didn’t know what else to do with her. You were gone and your mother is MIA, despite this being her place of employment.”

  Guilt assaulted me as I thought about how I could have prevented this had I stayed just a little bit longer. I was somewhat grateful that Lance wasn’t as nasty as his father was. If Annie went to him for a job, she could definitely be doing a lot worse. I shuddered to think about how much worse the circumstances could have been.

  Forcing back the words I wanted to say to him, I smiled. “I guess you did the best you could, considering.”

  Pleased with my reaction, Lance put an arm around my shoulders as a girl started coming down the stairs. I immediately forgot that Lance was next to me. She was gorgeous. It was hard for me to believe she’d survived this long in a whorehouse, no matter how the short time. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, giving me a good view of her perfect bone structure. She had the same dark eyes as me and our mother. Though, hers seemed a lot older than they should have been. She’d been forced to grow up too soon, just like me.

  “Annie?” I asked, noticing Jimmy’s hand on the girl’s shoulder. Snarling, I slapped his hand off and dared him to come closer. He looked over at Lance and retreated back up the stairs.

  Lance leaned in closer to me, his lips nearly against my ear. “You smell wonderful today. What’s different about you, girly?”

  I stiffened, but quickly relaxed to play off that the compliment didn’t mean anything to me. I just smiled over my shoulder at him and said, “New body soap I picked up on my way down here.”

  He took a deeper breath and sighed. “It’s wonderful.”

  “Are you done flirting with my sister, Lance?” Annie laughed, her daunting expression from seconds ago gone.

  Grinning, Lance put his hands up. “Guilty. How about you girls get out of here and find somewhere else to catch up?”

  I wasn’t sure how to take this Lance. He was supposed to be a scumbag. Someone who was holding his daughter hostage from her mother. Instead, he acted like the town hero. Obviously, he was running an illegal operation and didn’t even try to hide it, but he seemed to have the best intentions when it came to Annie. Or maybe he wanted to let it seem that way. Annie didn’t appear to dislike him, which I found strange.

  Slowly nodding, I motioned for Annie to head out the door. As I stepped past Lance, he grabbed my arm in a hard grip and forced me to face him. His expression was somber. “You best be careful where you go, Riley. I can’t always be around to save your ass.”

  Stiffening, I met his gaze. “I didn’t ask you to.”

  He grinned, lips coming close to mine, barely brushing. “I’d really hate to see something bad happen to you.” Slowly and deliberately, his other hand went to my hip, and then down over my ass. He pulled my hips forward into his. “You’re so tempting, but I know I have to stay away. My life is bad news for you, Riley. You need to get out of here before we both do something we’ll regret.”

  When he released me, I hurried down the steps of the house, looking over my shoulder at him. He had one hand propped up on the doorway with one hip cocked. He was smiling, knowing exactly what he was doing to me. He was bad news all around, but damn, was he hot.

  Chapter Seven

  “I knew you would come for me, Riley. Everyone said that you got out of this hellhole as soon as you had a chance. I knew you were different from everyone else here, that you wouldn’t leave me behind.” Annie seemed really excited to see me. She was hopping around me like a kid high on sugar. She kept grabbing my hand, swinging it, and then trotting around in front of me. Hopefully, she wasn’t actually on drugs. I didn’t know if I could handle that.

  Smiling nervously, I nodded as we headed to the restaurant. She looked hungry, so I figured that we would have a meal together. She seemed to expect me to take her far away from Luna Hill, but I wasn’t sure if I could do that. Did I want to care for a teenager? We were sisters, but I knew nothing about her. It would be a giant leap to suddenly take her under my wing without knowing what I was get
ting into.

  Annie seemed to be well taken care of. She was the right weight for her height, her clothes looked clean, and so did her hair. I was about to ask her how she managed without Mom around, but my question was quickly answered when I recognized the older woman coming out from behind the restaurant’s counter. The same lady who took care of me was now taking care of my sister.

  “Betty! This is my sister, Riley.” Annie said, gesturing to me.

  The older woman smiled, taking a seat next to Annie at the booth. “I know who she is, girl. I helped her, just like I help you.”

  I patted Betty’s hand. “It’s been a long time.”

  “A good thing, too! I wish it were longer. You’re dumb to come back.” She shook her head in disappointment.

  Leave it to Betty to be honest. She always told it like it was. “I heard about Annie, and had to come back.”

  “Always had a big heart. I’m just glad you realized that some people couldn’t be saved. Your mama and daddy chose their path.” Betty nodded, and Annie was agreeing right with her.

  I didn’t want to talk about them. In fact, I didn’t want to revisit a single thing from my past. Part of me wanted to run from this town as quickly as possible, but then the more sensible part said I had to face everything, head-on. It was unfortunate that my case had to bring me back to my hometown. I never wanted to come back.

  The restaurant door opened and Luke stepped in, dressed in his uniform. He took off his aviator sunglasses and glanced in my direction. The man was still wearing his grouchy expression. He didn’t even bother acknowledging me. Boys were too sensitive. It was my fault for letting him believe that I had a thing for his brother. Anyone that watched us probably thought the same thing. Hell, even my body was willing to betray me on that. Stupid hormones.

  “You best stay away from those Thatcher boys, Riley.” Betty shook her finger at me, knowing exactly where my thoughts were.

  I sighed, nodding obediently. “I know, but it’s their asses! Have you seen them?”

  Betty started laughing, slamming a hand on the table. “Girl, I tapped their daddy’s ass long ago. The feelings fade, I promise you that.”

  “You just said ‘tap.’” I shook my head. It sounded so wrong coming out of her mouth.

  Getting to her feet, Betty grabbed the towel she had carried over. “You girls better get to know each other. Riley, I know you’ll do the right thing.” She winked, leaving us to our awkward silence.

  We ordered drinks and some food before talking. I didn’t know what to say to her, other than, “So, how’s it been going?”

  Annie laughed. “I’m not very good at conversation, either.”

  Feigning offense, I put a hand to my chest with my mouth hanging open. “I’m really good at conversation.”

  Afraid she hurt my feelings, she placed a hand on mine. “I didn’t mean—”

  I laughed. “I was just joking. Nothing to worry about.”

  Relieved, Annie removed her hand, playing with the wrapper from her straw. “You’re my only family, Riley. I hope you won’t forget about me when you leave.”

  Feeling my chest tighten, I looked away to find Luke. He was sitting at the counter, eating a rather large burger. My mouth started watering as my stomach began to growl. I just ate breakfast! What the hell?

  “You can come home with me, Annie,” I said suddenly. That was not the plan. My mouth moved of its own volition. I didn’t approve of those words. Not yet, anyway.

  Beaming, Annie clutched her fists in front of her with excitement. “You mean it? I can come to Chicago with you?”

  “You sure can.” My brain was screaming no as I said the words. We didn’t want a teenager to look after. “Anywhere is better than this place.”

  She nodded in agreement. “I can get a real job.”

  “What’s important is your schooling,” I told her. When she looked away, I started to get frightened. “You’re still in school, right?”

  “Yeah, but it’s been nearly a month.”

  Relieved, I sat back in the booth. “That should be no problem.”

  Annie started digging into her food as soon as the waitress set it on our table. She inhaled it so fast, I barely made it halfway through my sandwich when she was done. She sat back, placing a hand on her stomach. “Damn, I haven’t eaten since yesterday. Guess I was starving.”

  “Yesterday? That’s not healthy, Annie.” I shook my head in disapproval.

  She grinned. “I’m going to like having a big sister.”

  “Yeah, one that force feeds you. Three meals a day, none of this eating once a day bullshit.”

  When we finished at the restaurant, I wasn’t sure what to do with her. The most obvious thing would be to let her stay in my room. Unfortunately, that would take away all of my privacy. But what choice did I have? The girl obviously lived in poor conditions. There were no other options. I took her down the road to the motel and introduced her to my simple surroundings.

  “You can stay with me here. I have a laptop, and there’s obviously cable. I’m sure you can keep yourself busy surfing the web.” I told her as I pulled the laptop from its bag. It was a good thing I kept everything on individual thumb drives and not on the hard drive. If the girl was super smart, she might know how to find all my history. Good thing I got rid of that nightly, too. Just because we were sisters, didn’t mean I had to trust her. Not yet, anyway.

  Annie plopped down on the bed and sighed happily. “This is tons better than mine at home.”

  Pleased she was accepting the new digs, I put some money out on the dresser. It was just twenty bucks, but if she needed something to eat or drink, at least she could go get it. “Here’s some money if you need it. This is my cell phone number.” I wrote it down on a pad of paper. “Wait, do you have a cell phone?”

  Giggling, Annie waggled hers in front of me. “What teenager doesn’t?”

  “Good question. Why did I even bother to ask?”

  I was about to leave when Annie started talking to me. “I just want you to know that Lance has a daughter. I know you two seemed a little close at the house a few hours ago, but I think you should know. It sucks to have surprises like that.”

  “He does?”

  “Yeah, but I haven’t seen her in a week, though. He usually brings her around town, but not lately. He’s also married, but I heard she left him for another man.” Annie said while grabbing the TV remote. She flipped through a few channels, settling on some reality fashion show.

  “Yeah, he hasn’t mentioned her to me. Thanks for letting me know. Maybe I should swing by there and see how he’s doing.”

  Annie’s face became serious. “He’s bad news, Riley. You know Thatchers have a bad history.” Then she grinned. “But if he wasn’t so old, I would tap that.”

  “God, that’s disgusting. You shouldn’t even be talking about sex.” I scrunched up my face in disgust as I felt for my gun in its holster.

  Watching me, Annie tried to see what I was doing, but I stopped moving to make sure she didn’t catch a glimpse of it. The fewer questions she had, the better off I was. Maybe when we left Luna Hill I would tell her more, but not while we were still in town.

  “Okay, well, I have some errands to run. I need to make a few phone calls back to Chicago and maybe go into the city to buy some extra clothes.”

  “Oh, shopping! Can I come?”

  Why the hell did I mention shopping? That was like waving candy in front of a chocolate-addicted baby. So, I made up another lie. “Okay, the truth is I have to meet with a business associate. They don’t know I’m from around here and frankly, I’d rather they didn’t. It’s easier for me to meet them there.”

  Annie’s face fell in disappointment, but she nodded. “Sure, makes sense.”

  “But we can go shopping tomorrow. I’ll even buy you a couple of outfits.” I said, thinking about how much was actually in my bank account. I could probably use the money Mary gave me, but I wanted to wait and see if the case pa
nned out like it should.

  Happy again, Annie clapped her hands together. “Deal. Now, go take care of business.” She shooed me away and then focused on her TV show.

  That was easy. Pleased with myself, I left the hotel room after sliding a second key onto the dresser for in case she left. My next plan of attack was to find out where Lance lived. It wasn’t like it would be in the phone book anymore. I sat in my car, trying to think of what to do. Betty would probably know, but then she would be suspicious. There was no point in asking Luke, because that would piss him off even more.

  The gas station. I would go there. People always hung out there, at all hours. It was weird, but when I was younger, there would be a whole crowd eating the food and chatting it up with the cashier. I could probably collect bits of information that way.

  Hearing sirens after I made it out onto the main road, I looked around to see where they were coming from. Then out of nowhere, three police cars appeared, flying in the opposite direction from me. Wondering what the hell was happening, I turned the car around to follow them. I was speeding, but who was going to pull me over? All the cops in town seemed to be heading in the direction of the emergency.

  Cars pulled over to make room for the emergency vehicles. They were probably wondering why a little black car was following behind them. I ignored their glances as I drove, taking the same dirt road that I’d found Lance on last night. Slowing down, I pulled over when they came to a stop at the driveway where the orgy had occurred.

  Just as I was about to climb out of the car, someone stepped in front of my door, placing a hand on it. Looking up, I came eye to eye with Luke. He glared at me, causing me to shrink back into my seat.

  “Riley, what are you doing here? This isn’t a place for you to be,” his voice was rough and unwelcoming.

  “I saw the emergency, thought maybe I could help.”

  “Are you law?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “Then you can’t be of any use to me. Leave.” He started off in the direction of the other cops.