by Wren, Khloe
Tears filled my eyes as I looked up into Keys’ face. “Forgive me?”
“Ah fuck, darlin’. We’re a pair, aren’t we?” He leaned down to press a soft kiss to my lips. “There’s nothing to forgive, babe. How about we go away next weekend? Head up to Fort Worth for a night or two. Have some alone time.”
Happiness filled me at the idea. “That would be great. A whole weekend to ourselves. But are you sure? If something happens while we’re gone, you’d never forgive yourself.”
Neither would I, but the last thing Keys needed was more guilt.
“Scout suggested we get a team together to help me keep up with everything I do. We’re starting a new business, a security company. We're going to bring it to church tomorrow and see who's interested. Hopefully I’ll get enough volunteers within the club to get it off the ground and running. I don’t want strangers I don’t personally trust to have the access I do.”
I was tracing my fingers through his chest hair again as I thought over what he was saying.
“You should ask Flick. I know you men will huff and puff about it being men’s work to protect everyone, but she did work for the FBI. She could be really helpful in getting things set up, and I know she gets bored working at the gun range.”
Flick’s uncle owned the local range and she helped out over there, along with her husband, Taz, when she wasn’t chasing around their little girl.
Keys stiffened and I glanced up at his frowning face to see what had him freaking out.
“How did you know about Flick?”
Ah, that’s what he was worried about. Me knowing “club secrets”. Honestly, I think the men would be surprised at how much us old ladies really knew. We weren’t fools. We could read between the lines, and we also talked to each other. Apparently, a lot more than the men realized. I chuckled. “Oh, honey, women talk. We know all about how she came to town as an undercover agent to try to get Taz back into the fold.”
His frown stayed in place. “You shouldn’t know that. Who else knows?”
I shifted so I could press a kiss to the corner of his mouth before I pulled back and smoothed away his frown lines with my fingertips.
“Old ladies know how to keep secrets, babe. Stop worrying. No one knows that’ll tell someone they shouldn’t.”
He grunted but thankfully let the topic drop. I was pretty sure he’d be bringing it up with the other men, though, so I made a mental note to text the other ladies later to warn them. Then Keys’ hands began to roam once more, and I stopped thinking about anything other than how much I loved my man.
Mirabelle
Pulling the crisp, white sheet back, I slid in and pulled the covers up high around my throat. It was time for lights out, signaling that another day was over. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine sheep jumping over a fence. That was supposed to help you go to sleep, right? Although I honestly didn't know why I even tried anymore. It never worked. No matter what I did, I always struggled to get to sleep. And once I did finally manage to nod off, or if I took the sleeping pills they gave me, the terror of my past would haunt my dreams until I woke in a panic.
Pastor Godfrey had been the devil himself. He'd tricked me into thinking he'd been my savior, that he'd loved and cared for me, but the reality was I'd been a naive fool and he'd taken advantage of it. He’d taken possession of all my parents' assets after they died, including me. He'd had some new drug that he'd use on me daily. On that evil stuff I'd turn into a sex-crazed demon, but once it wore off, I'd go back to being my sweet, naive self with no memory of what I'd done.
From what the authorities could piece together, he'd used it nightly on me then had his men train me. When they’d started to trace back his movements prior to coming to Bridgewater, they’d discovered that was what he liked to do. He'd move to a new town and take in one or more teens or adults to “rescue.” He'd brainwash them into being his little puppets during the day. Just like he’d had me doing, they'd go out and tell the world how wonderful he was. Then, at night, they'd be his sex slaves. When he was ready to move on to the next town, he'd sell them into human trafficking.
Bile rose up my throat as I thought about what could have happened to me had that motorcycle club not intervened when they had. I tried to force it down but, like most nights, I couldn't hold it in. Kicking the covers off, I dashed to the bathroom and skidded to my knees next to the toilet, throwing up everything I'd managed to eat for dinner.
The nightmares that tormented me when I slept weren't actually nightmares at all. They were snippets of memories returning to me. Horrible, erotic acts Godfrey and his men had forced me to do or forced on me. I'd been twenty-eight years old when my parents had died in a car accident and Godfrey had stepped in to help me. I should have been too old for him to set his sights on, but thanks to how I was raised, I’d been his perfect victim.
There were days I got so angry with my parents. Not for dying, although I did wish that had never happened. No, I was furious with them for raising me the way they had. I didn’t even know why they’d done it. I’m sure I’d be able to handle it better if I’d known there had been a good reason behind them wanting me to stay their little girl forever. But they’d never told me why they did what they did. And now they were gone I couldn’t ask.
They'd kept me innocent and naive of the world, sheltering me from just about everything. I’d never even left Rocky Gully before I’d been rescued, blissfully ignorant of how evil the world could be. I'd been childlike. A little girl in a woman's body. Looking back at my former self now, I could barely believe that person even existed. Going to school had given me a little reality to ground myself with, but that hadn't been enough to dispel everything my parents had ingrained in me and reinforced whenever I questioned anything. I'd only managed one year at high school before they'd pulled me out to homeschool me. They hadn't liked the questions I'd come home with.
They'd only ever shown me the good and sweet things of the world, they hadn't appreciated that the other kids at the high school seemed to be taking great pleasure in trying to educate me on the evils of the world. But even the other kids had never spoken to me about human trafficking, about how some men would take a person, train them, then sell them as a sex slave. I doubted I would have believed them if they had.
I swiped the tears from my cheeks and shifted to sit on the floor, leaning back against the tile wall, allowing the coldness seeping into me to ground me to the present.
Godfrey had me under his full control for ten months. He'd taken my virginity that first night he'd moved in after my parents' deaths. The memories from that evening were regular ones my nightmares forced me to relive. Him offering me tea to help calm me so I could sleep, then him telling me to strip when I told him I was getting hot. With a gag, I shifted forward to throw up again. He'd been cruel, saying horrible, dirty things as he'd gleefully taken my innocence. The promises he'd made... All the therapy in the world would never completely wash away all the dirt I now had within me. I doubt I’d ever be able to clean out my mind enough that I could live in peace again.
After I was rescued, I'd spent ten days in the hospital detoxing from the drug and getting physically healthy, then I'd moved here to this psychiatric clinic in Houston. I had a love-hate relationship with this place. I was safe here. I knew no one would come into my room at night and I could move around at will during the day. But I had to stay here, not that I wanted to go out into the city. It was big, loud and scary out there. But I couldn’t go home, back to my job where I could earn the money I’d need to move forward. To be truly free.
My therapist assured me I'd get back to doing those things in time, but I wasn't ready. I had to focus on healing my mind, on processing and dealing with the memories as they returned. But I wasn't sure I believed her. I doubted I'd ever leave this place. Even though that poison might be out of my system, it had caused damage the doctors suspected could be permanent. There was no way to be positive because no one had ever documente
d side-effects or outcomes of prolonged use. I was the guinea pig in this case.
My main issue was that my short-term memory was a mess, and the doctors couldn’t tell me if it would improve. I'd do things like forget I ate dinner and go to get it only to be told I'd already eaten. I'd find myself dressed and out in the game room with no recollection of how I'd gotten there. At least here where I was safe, I knew nothing horrible had happened during my missing time.
It was extremely frustrating. There were times it would overwhelm me, and I'd get so angry that I’d lash out. Then I'd be sedated, but they didn’t like doing that. My therapist told me the sedatives were addictive and I was here to get better, not to find a new crutch to lean on. I had to agree with her. I’d just gotten free from one drug and had no desire to get hooked on any others.
A sharp pain to the back of my knee woke me. I tried to lift my head, frowning as I had no recollection of falling asleep, but realized I'd laid down on the tiled floor of the bathroom at some point. I swung my head to see what had stirred me. A bug of some kind, maybe? I gasped when I saw who stood there, with an empty needle in his hand.
"Hello, Mary. Remember me?"
The sound of the name Godfrey and his men always used when I’d been drugged had my heart racing. I parted my lips to scream but he clapped a palm over my mouth before I could make a sound.
"Uh, uh, uh. No screaming, baby girl. Maybe you don't remember me. Godfrey was going to wean you off the drug once he'd finished training you for me, so you'd remember who your master was. But those fuckers came and ruined everything before we got to that point."
My eyesight went wavy and my muscles turned to jelly as whatever he'd injected into me took hold. As I slumped back toward the floor, he shifted his grip, which thankfully prevented my head from cracking back against the tile.
"Time for you to come home, baby girl."
On second thought, I wish he’d let my head slam against the tile. With any luck, it would have killed me. As he lifted me and carried me from my room, I was mentally screaming but my body was useless, my vocal cords numb, so no sound left my mouth. A tear trailed from my eye around to my ear as I realized I was going straight back to hell and this time Elizabeth and her Charon MC weren't around to come to my rescue.
Keys
Monday morning church was normally brief and mainly covered who was going to work where in the coming week. Scout hadn't mentioned the security business idea yet and as things wound down, I worried he'd either forgotten or hadn't been serious about the idea. Surely, he wouldn't have said it just to placate me. At the moment where he'd normally end things, I glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. He gave me a nod and I relaxed, realizing he hadn't even reached for his gavel and intended on bringing up the idea as the final piece of club business.
"Shut the fuck up and sit down, we ain't done."
The men, who'd all been getting ready to leave, sat again and went silent.
"We're going to be establishing another business. This one is a big step for the club, and it's long overdue. We all know how Keys has been our eye in the sky for-fucking-ever. His vigilance has saved all of us at some point or another, along with many of those we hold dear. But it's too big a job for one man. Bridgewater is growing, as is our club. We need a team to step up and help Keys out. It'll be an official business and you'll get paid for the work, but don't offer your services lightly. You'll be required to work both night and day shifts, and you'll see things you need to keep to your fucking self. Most importantly, you'll not only have access to very private information on a lot of people, but the means to track and watch basically anyone in town. You need to make a vow to the club that you will not abuse that access. Keys will train the team and you'll be given all the support you need. You'll report directly to Keys, or if he's off grid for some reason, to me. I'll give you all a few minutes to think on it."
He stayed silent as he looked around the room and I did the same thing. As the club secretary, I was sitting at the table beside Scout and the other officers, so it was easy to take in the faces of the club brothers. They all looked serious and I could see a few sitting up straighter, like they wanted to step up.
Scout turned to me before he spoke again. "You thought of a name for this thing yet?"
I grinned as I sat back in my seat. Donna and I had tossed around several ideas but had both made the same choice of name in the end.
"Athena Security and Protection Services."
Scout nodded. "Sticking with the Greek thing. I like it."
Mac leaned forward to get my attention. "Why Athena? She's not some fucked-up river or something, right?"
I chuckled. I'd heard Mac had questioned why we'd named the club's bar Styx.
"Athena was the goddess of wisdom and warfare, and handicrafts. So, things like reason, skill, peace, intelligence and battle strategy all come under her guard. Donna helped me pick out the name and I think it's perfect."
Mac gave me a nod before he sat back. "Sounds good, brother."
Scout also nodded before he turned back to the rest of the club. "Right. You've all had your chance to think this shit over. Those who want to join the team stay behind, everyone else can get going."
He slammed the gavel. "Church is over."
When Taz unlocked the door, it was pulled from his grip and before he knew what was going on, he had Donna in his arms as she tried to rush into the room.
"Whoa, darlin', you know you're not allowed in here."
I stood fast enough my chair crashed behind me at the pained look on my woman’s face. Donna knew the rules. She wouldn't ever try to gain access without a damn good reason.
"Let her through, Taz. Donna, what happened?" Scout's voice once more silenced everyone.
"Mirabelle's been taken."
I rushed around the table to get to Donna. "What do you mean?"
"Somehow we switched phones this morning. I didn't realize I had yours until it rang and I answered it."
I shook my head. "That doesn't matter, who called? What did they say?"
"She wouldn't give me her name, but she works at the facility in Houston. She said that in the early hours of this morning a man broke in and took Mirabelle. We have to find her."
“What about Tabitha? And her brother, Todd? Are they all right?”
Donna looked to Arrow and I could see the sheen of tears in her eyes. “Mirabelle was the only one taken.”
I pulled her in against me to comfort her and looked over her head to Scout, then around the room.
"Baptism by fire, brothers. Those who want to be part of Athena Security and Protection Services, grab your laptops, tablets, phones... whatever tech you have here at the clubhouse and meet me in my office. We have a missing woman to track."
Chapter Twelve
Keys
Scout had rung the facility to get more information while I’d come into my office to set up my laptop to start tracing Mirabelle’s tracker. Without anyone's knowledge or approval, I'd injected Mirabelle, Todd and Tabitha with a small tracking chip. At some point during the night of their rescue all three had been in the tank getting medical treatment and I'd been able to make the insertions quickly. Todd had been unconscious at the time, Mirabelle high on the shit Godfrey had given her and Tabitha had been too focused on her brother to notice what was being done to her. So now they all had a tiny chip inside them that I could tap into at will. The chips were my own creation, and this was the first time I'd had the chance to test how well they functioned. I fucking prayed it worked as well as I hoped.
Logging into the system, I set it running to track Mirabelle's chip, then moved to set up the devices the others had so they could start reviewing the video feeds from the facility to see if we could work out who the fuck had taken her. When Scout tried to come in, he struggled to find room.
“We’re going to need to find somewhere with more space to run this thing.”
I nodded. “What did you find out?”
"First up, pleas
e tell me you found a way to tag her before she went into that place."
I gave him a shit-eating grin. "Sure as fuck did. Tagged all three of them, but none of them know about it. I’ve also hacked into the feeds at that psych facility they're all staying at too, and that’s what I have everyone going over. See if we can identify who took her. What info did you get?"
"Not much. They didn't notice she was gone until this morning because they don't do nighttime checks on her. After what Godfrey did to her, she can't handle having people in the room while she's sleeping. They tried early on to monitor her, but she always woke up and freaked out when her door was opened, let alone if someone entered. They shouldn't be telling us details, but since we pay the bill, they used that as an excuse to update us. The cops have been informed but they won't do shit. And the staff knows it. They know as well as we do that we’re that girl’s only chance. Especially since the cops have already indicated that since Maribelle's an adult, she has every right to check herself out. They seem to be happy to ignore the fact she didn’t fucking check herself out, but just up and vanished in the night."
I shook my head. No way was that girl ready to be out on her own. Not after all that was done to her. She was twenty-eight going on ten, mentally. Her folks had raised her to always be their little girl. She had no skills to combat a predator like Godfrey coming after her, or to deal with the aftermath of what he’d forced on her.
"What about the other two? Todd and Tabitha, the brother and sister. Donna said they weren’t taken, but were they harmed at all?"
Scout turned to Arrow and gave him a nod. "They were both safely in their rooms. Neither mentioned seeing or hearing anything unusual during the night."
I was glad at least those two were fine but I had serious concerns for Maribelle, and I knew Donna would be out of her mind with worry for the woman. She hadn’t been sure how Mirabelle would cope with the facility in the first place, but there hadn’t been any other option for her.