by Tracey Jukes
“What do you want, Jenkins?”
“You interfered in a police investigation and that footage needs to be handed back.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He scrunches his face and balls his fists, but he’s in the wrong place to pick a fight.
“Don’t push it, Taylor. I know you have it. Give me the evidence and I won’t arrest you.”
I laugh in his face because I know it’s pissing him off, and I have every desire right now to make him angry. There is also something about him that just doesn’t feel right. He always seems to show up in my business whenever there is trouble. Never any other officer, only him.
“Let’s see. You’re not in uniform, you’re alone, and this is private property, so leave now.”
Ash is now by my side, and Nyla is still in my office, but I know she’s watching. Jenkins goes to step around us, but Ash blocks his way.
“This is how you want to play it? You know I have a search warrant, right?”
“If that’s so, then you also know you need to have your badge, and I wanna see the warrant.”
Both Ash and I take our eye off the ball for a second, and he whips around us and heads toward the office. He slams the door to the office open, but its empty, and I wonder where the hell Nyla has gone. I look at Ash and he shrugs. Jenkins has gone straight to the laptop and he growls.
“Where is it, Taylor?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, and as I’ve already said, no warrant, no search. So, get off my premises.”
“This isn’t over, Taylor. If you want to see Esme again, you need to play ball with us.”
And with that, he’s gone. I look out of my office window, wondering where the hell she is and what they’re doing to her, when something below in the alley catches my eye. There’s a car with a couple of sly-looking guys getting out and making their way towards the end of the alley. Jenkins walks towards them. Something about all of this has alarm bells ringing, so I quickly make my way out of the gym the back way, and Ash is hot on my heels. I enter the alley and I can see the guys back at the car. Jenkins sees me and quickly disappears back out of the alley. The two guys jump into their vehicle, but I can’t see their faces clearly as they have their hoods up. They start driving toward me, and the passenger stares straight at me—it’s Declan. The car is gone, and I’m left more worried than ever. How is that fucker Jenkins involved in Esme’s disappearance?
“Nyla, where the hell are you?” Ash calls out.
She appears from the ladies’ restroom.
“Calm down, boys. The lady is all fine and in one piece. Oh, and so is the evidence, in case you were worried.” She waves the memory stick in front of us.
We re-watch the footage, and something about the two guys that took Esme doesn’t sit right, so I pause on them and just stare. It’s their clothing. Well, one of them…
I think hard and then it hits me. The color must drain from my face, and they know something is seriously wrong.
“Reid, buddy, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”
“Ash, how did we miss it? Look at his clothing.”
Ash looks and it must hit him too.
“For God’s sake, will you tell me? I can take it, you know!”
“Nyla, the guy in the footage is Jenkins.”
“It can’t be,” she says in disbelief. “He’s an officer of the law. Why would he want to take my best friend? He was just here wanting the footage to help get her back.”
“Come on, both of you. We’re going to get some answers,” I say.
We leave the gym, go to the police station, and I ask to speak to someone above Jenkins. I tell them what we’ve worked out, and ask where he is. All we find out is that he has taken a long leave of absence, and that they will look into it. They told me to leave it alone and will be in touch if they need more information. As I leave, I notice a car idling across the street and my gut feeling tells me it’s Jenkins. I get into Ash’s truck and tell them everything, then I tell Ash to follow the car I saw. This is my woman in danger, and I’ll do anything to save her.
“Reid, listen, I got your back whatever happens.”
He looks at Nyla and she knows he has something to say to her.
“Spit it out, Ace,” she snaps.
“Okay, I think you should get out. I don’t want you caught up in whatever happens from here.”
“Are you stupid? Don’t answer that, I already know.” She rolls her eyes. “No. Es is my best friend. No one knows more than me what she has been through these past few weeks. I’ll be damned if I’m not going to be there for her now. I’ve always been there for her.”
Her eyes start to well up. This is hitting her harder than I realized. She’s tried to be strong for Esme, but deep down, she’s hurting and scared.
Jenkins has left Brooklyn and we seem to be heading out to a remote area. It’s dark, so I cut the lights. I don’t want to make us known. We’re following at a safe distance and he turns off down a dirt track. All of a sudden, we’re hit with blinding headlights.
“What the fuck, man? I can’t see a damn thing.”
I realize, nearly too late, that we’re about to be hit. I swerve off the track and toward the trees, slamming the brakes on. As I turn to see who the hell was aiming at us, I see Jenkins’ car pass by.
“Fuck, he knew it was us, Ash!” I slam my fists into the steering wheel over and over.
“He led us on a wild goose chase. I should have known better, him being a cop.”
“Listen, we will find her, I know it. We just need to be cleverer than him.” I wish I had Ash’s confidence. Everything seems to be against us. I just want her back.
Chapter Sixteen
My body hasn’t even healed from the last beating, and now I’ve taken another. Luckily, Declan hasn’t tried to rape me. Well, not yet, anyway. That could be due to the young girl who keeps coming in to bring me food and water. Her name is Effie, and I get the impression she isn’t here by choice. Where the hell am I? I’ve no idea where we are as my head was covered all the way here. They threw me inside this cold concrete room that seems to echo whenever anyone talks, and left me with my hands bound behind my back.I hear the lock on the door and watch to see who enters. I pray to God it’s not him. My body can’t take much more.
“Hey, Esme. I’ve bought you some magazines to read.” She really is nice. Not what I was expecting, considering who has me held here.
“Thanks. I’ll be turning pages with my feet, but I’m grateful.”
She smiles at me and I decide to try and find out more about her. It may backfire on me, but what do I have to lose?
“Why are you here, Effie? You don’t seem the type to hang out with the likes of Declan Taylor and his crew.”
She turns away from me, and for a while, she’s quiet. She gets up from the chair, and as I think she’s leaving, she starts talking.
“It’s because of my brother that I’m here. I owe him my life.”
“Okay. Can I ask why?”
She looks toward the door like she’s afraid, but she keeps talking.
“I was attacked ten years ago and the police said that no one would be charged due to the lack of evidence. My brother didn’t take it very well.”
“What did he do?”
She looks close to tears, and I feel bad for opening up old wounds for her.
“My brother blamed the guy I was seeing at the time because I followed him somewhere I shouldn’t have gone. That’s where the attack took place.” She pauses to take a deep breath and then proceeds. “My brother paid him a visit, and the next thing I heard was that my boyfriend had committed suicide, but I had a feeling it wasn’t suicide. I couldn’t prove anything, but when I asked him, he denied it. He was so protective of me, and we were always so close, so I truly believe he thought he had done nothing wrong. But without any proof or evidence, there was nothing I could do.”
“Effie, what your brother did was
wrong. We have police to deal with people who have done wrong. You know that, right?”
“My brother is the law.”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that. She tells me how she adores her brother and how he has looked out for her and not let anyone hurt her since. But I get the impression she feels trapped here at the same time. Her brother is obviously linked to the gang somehow, and I’m becoming more and more scared as to how I’m linked in with all this.
“Effie, I get that you think your brother was probably doing the right thing back then, but it was wrong. Your boyfriend, he didn’t attack you, did he? You chose to follow him to wherever it was, so how was it his fault?”
“He blames him because he says he didn’t protect me, and he allowed that thug to do what he did to me… him and his friend.”
“Friend?”
“Yeah. He was with his friend the night I followed him, but my brother only went after Jack. He said his friend will get his justice very soon.”
Why does this story and the name Jack sound familiar to me? I’m about to ask her when the door opens and a guy calls her to leave.
“See you soon, Esme.”
“Yeah. Bye, Effie.”
Her story has some holes in it, and I feel like she was trying to tell me something without meaning to, but I don’t know what that something is. The name Jack is stuck in my head, but I don’t know anyone called Jack. The door slams back open, ricocheting off the wall, and in walks my worst nightmare, Declan Taylor.
“Well, hello, sweetness.”
The sound of his voice makes me cringe and I can’t even look at him.
“Look at me when I speak to you,” he booms.
I still can’t bring myself to lift my head, and I know I’m on borrowed time where he is concerned. He storms across the room, grabbing my chin and turning my face toward him.
“You will look at me when I speak to you, bitch, or you will suffer the consequences, do you understand? Oh, and I’ll have great pleasure in delivering those consequences, every single hour of every single day until you fucking crack.”
I slowly lift my head and I know he sees the fear in my eyes. I try to be strong and hide it, but I’m not feeling strong. This man took my family, and he will take my life too, eventually. I just can’t understand why he’s taking his time to do it. It’s like he’s tormenting me on purpose.
“Why, Declan? What did my family and I ever do to you?”
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself. It wasn’t a personal killing. Your family… it was part of the game. They were just unfortunate targets. It’s just a shame you chose to hide that night because you’d be with them now and not giving me shit.”
I never asked for any of this. He and his crew killed my family for pure fun, in their eyes. They don’t give a shit about the consequences. I’m a fucking victim, and it’s about time that bastard knew it.
“Me giving you shit? I think it’s the other way round, don’t you?
“And there she is. Sweetness does have fire in her, after all. I knew my brother saw something else in you other than a good girl.”
“You know nothing about me, but I sure know about you. Where should I start? Oh, let’s start with you losing your parents to a drunk driver when you were eight years old...”
He has his hands around my throat and slams me up against the wall so hard I see stars. He’s re-battered my already bruised and broken body and now my neck is burning from his death grip.
“You ever talk about shit like that again and you won’t see tomorrow, do you hear me?”
I’m not getting out of here alive anyway, so I say my piece.
“Asshole, I’m only just getting started. You left juvie and joined the Vipers, and your life has been, let’s just say, not what your brother wants for you.”
“My brother couldn’t give a shit about what I want, and your time is up. I’m done.” He shouts to someone outside the door and then slams me down on the cold concrete floor.
“Jasper, get in here now.” A greasy-haired kid walks in. He can’t be much older than eighteen.
Jasper unfastens my hands and then restrains them above my head, keeping me still. Shit, this is happening. Declan is really going to rape me like this. He yanks my jeans from me and then my panties, then forces my legs wide. I try kicking and screaming, but he is far stronger than I am. He grips the top of my thighs and pushes down on them so I can’t move. Fear swirls in my stomach as the realization of what’s happening hits me. My breathing accelerates, and all I can hear is the pounding of my heart. I close my eyes as I can’t bear to see what happens, and I don’t have the energy or the strength to fight him anymore.
“Ah, you have a perfect pussy, sweetness. But by the time I’m finished with it, it’ll be far from perfect. I will ruin you for that bastard brother of mine.”
Tears are streaming down my cheeks. I try to focus my mind on Reid and everything good we have, but the words Declan is spewing are crashing through me like a tornado, and I know that once he violates me, I will not be the same Esme again.
His rough finger is trailing down my pussy, and then he rams it inside of me with no warning. He is relentless, and I’m sure he’s causing damage inside me.
“You’re hurting me! Please, stop.”
“This is just the start. You have no idea the torture I wish to reign upon your body, now shut the fuck up.” He cracks a slap across my face so hard I see stars.
“Please stop,” I repeat, hoping he finds his humanity in there somewhere.
I try to release my arms, but the big hellhound behind me isn’t budging, and Declan is so strong. I spit in his face, and he becomes more outraged.
I really have pushed him too far now.
“You fucking bitch.”
He unbuckles his jeans and pushes them down. His boxers come next, and he then palms his penis, stroking up and down. I turn away and he bellows at me to look, but I won’t. I can’t.
“You don’t want to look? Well, then, you’ll choke on it.”
I open my eyes, and his penis is brushing my lips. I squeeze my lips tight and he pushes the head hard against them. I start to panic when the door flies open, and a voice booms across the room. Declan jumps off me real quick.
“What the fuck are you doing? I can’t leave you alone for a minute, and you’re fucking this whole thing up before we have what we want.”
I recognize that voice, but I don’t want to believe it. Surely he can’t be part of this mess. I open my eyes, but he has his back to me. The hellhound has let me go, and I realize the door is open and unoccupied. Declan and the other guy are still talking, so I decide to make a run for it.
Stupid, stupid mistake. I’m grabbed from behind before I’ve even taken half a dozen steps toward the door, and a hand has covered my mouth.
“Take it easy, Esme. I won’t hurt you.”
He releases his hand from my mouth and then turns me around. And there stands the man who is supposed to be protecting me and upholding the law; Officer Leo Jenkins.
“Why?”
He laughs. “All in good time. But what I can say is, you’re just an added bonus in all of this.”
“You’re supposed to protect people like me, not, not…”
I can’t form words. I feel betrayed by the people I trusted to protect my life. When, in fact, the one person who would have protected me, I walked away from. Now I will probably never see him again, and it’s all my fault. Instinct takes over and I crack a slap across his face, which surprises him. But he just wipes at it and then sneers in my face.
“I’ll give you that one, but next time, it’s like for like, understood? Oh, and it won’t be me giving it out.” He looks toward Declan.
My body is dying a slow and painful death. It can’t take much more. What the fuck has he done to me?
Chapter Seventeen
Reid
Ash is driving and we managed to catch Jenkins’ tail. We’ve followed him to an area that’s pretty much desolate. H
e drove up into what I can only describe as a compound of Vipers. It looks like some type of old disused factory. There is no way we can get in and out of here alive, but it doesn’t stop me trying to figure out how I can get in knowing my princess is in there somewhere with that psycho.
“Hey, bro. I know what you’re thinking… forget it. We aren’t getting killed tonight, understood?”
“Understood, but there’s no way we can sit on this, Ash. Jenkins is somehow part of all this, and it doesn’t sit right.”
“We need to get Nyla out of here, and then decide how to attack this. We will get her back, Reid. I promise.”
We’re about to leave when I see a woman leaving the compound alone. We follow her car so far before I’ve had enough. I overtake her to cut her car off. She has no choice, but to stop. I’m out of the truck and rounding her vehicle faster than a lion chasing its prey. I swing open her door only to be met by a swift boot to the stomach, and she winds me. I need some answers from her, and she’s going to help us. I lean in, and it’s then that everything I wanted to say comes to a halt.
“Effie?”
She looks up at me, anger slowly subsiding from her face when she realizes it’s me.
“Reid? What the… oh, God, you need to let me go, now!”
Ash and Nyla are both at the other side of the car, making sure she doesn’t try and run for it.
“What the hell is happening here? You both want to shed some fucking light on this shit storm?”
Effie looks scared.
“Nyla, calm down. I know her, and you’re scaring her. Ash, deal with her.”
“Deal with me? What am I, a pack of fucking cards?”
Effie reaches her hand out to me, and I help her out of the car.
“Reid, I meant what I said. You need to get away from here.”
“Why? Shit, Effie, how are you connected with the Vipers, and where’s Esme?”
Now she’s the one looking stunned.
“Esme? Oh, God. We need to get away from here, and I’ll tell you everything I know. But we need to move now before any of the Vipers see us.”