Chapter 12
Ella
Tilly isn’t talking to me when I get through the front door, and I’m not totally sure why, Bart can hardly be a great loss. Hell, she’ll be able to find a replacement before too long as she sets her bar so low. As long as it’s got a cock she doesn’t seem overly fussy. It’s probably more likely that I’ve become the cause of disruption in her disorderly life.
Having had such a surprisingly enjoyable evening, her silence doesn’t bother me at all. Ignoring her as I step over yet more trash, go into my room, sling my purse over the chair, and lie back on the bed, my arms folded behind my head.
It had been the first time I’d really sat down with Slick and simply talked. To my surprise, I’d ended up having an enjoyable time—one of, if not the best date I’ve ever been on. He’s been so easy to converse with, we’d laughed and had fun. If my mind wasn’t so fucked up I’d jump at the chance of going out with him again. But it was, still is. So what should I do? He hasn’t hidden his end game. And I’m certain he’s not got the patience to wait for the length of time it would probably take before I was ready for an intimate relationship—right now I can’t believe I ever will be.
But he’s making all the right moves. So far he hasn’t put a step wrong.
Placing my fingers to my lips I can still feel his featherlike kiss there. It was hardly a touch at all, yet it still seemed to brand me. A caress so gentle, completely at odds with the rough burly man. He’s trying so hard, but how difficult it must be to hold himself back. He’s a biker. He’s used to sex on tap, whenever and wherever he wants it. He’ll soon get bored.
But he’s trying. And that puts a smile on my face.
I’m woken, after a thankfully dreamless sleep, by my phone buzzing and threatening to vibrate itself off my bedside table. Reaching out I grab it before it falls and, after checking the number, accept the call.
“Slick?”
“Mornin’ darlin’. How are ya today?”
I snuggle down in my bed, holding the phone tight, strangely feeling dizzy, like a school girl speaking to her first boyfriend, “I’m good, Slick. And I enjoyed last night.”
There’s a brief pause and an audible intake of breath before, “Me too, darlin’. Me too. What you up to today?”
“At the moment I’m still in bed.” After a sharp breath warns me perhaps I shouldn’t have put that image in his head, I quickly continue, “Nothing out of the normal, I’ll just be out there looking for a different job.”
“Mouse wants to meet up with ya. Can you come to the club?”
My hand not holding the phone twists the sheet, holding it tight. “I’m not ready for that, Slick.” The thought of seeing all the bikers again fills me with dread. Leather and motorbikes, sex in the open.
“Okay.” He’s quiet for a moment. “How about I get Mouse and we’ll come to you?”
Remembering the state of the living room last night, I’d be embarrassed to have anyone else seeing the way that I, or rather Tilly, lives. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Slick.” I could pick up the rubbish but there’s no time to wash the stains off the floor.
“Okay. What about somewhere neutral? Have a coffee or a beer?”
I smile though he can’t see me. Only a biker would think of beer first thing in the morning. “A coffee sounds great.”
We agree that he’ll pick me up. As we end the call, I realise it was nice just hearing his voice.
He hasn’t given me long to get ready. Throwing back the sheet I get up and go into the bathroom, moving Tilly’s mess off to one side before cleansing my face. Drying off with a towel, I glance into the mirror, for the first time in months giving myself a critical examination. Like most Arizonian residents, I’ve the basis of a tan, hard to avoid unless you stay out of the sun. I don’t sunbathe, but my skin browns from the exposure from just walking around.
My cheeks are pinched in, I hadn’t realised I’d lost so much weight. My auburn hair is untidy at the ends and has lost its shine. In all I’ve a haunted look. What does he see in me? My fringe is too long and flops over my eyes. I reach for the scissors and give it a trim. That looks better. With a shaking hand I pick up a bag, the contents of which I hadn’t used last night, and stare at it. Then, finally making a decision, I take my eyeliner out, rimming my eyes with kohl and then lightly applying mascara.
Immediately my eyes look enlarged.
Is it too much? Will he notice the difference? Men don’t notice anything. I laugh to myself as I pick up a brush and work it through my hair. It used to be long, reaching down to my ass. But the memory of them pulling on it, using it to keep me in place meant I’d asked Tilly to chop it off. She’d done a fair enough job, but she’s no hairdresser. It might be worth spending some of my precious dollars to have it properly styled. Perhaps in a short bob?
Placing my hands on the counter, I lean forward and give myself another critical look. With my eyes highlighted, my fringe trimmed and my hair brushed out, I look more like my old self. My improved reflection gives me a little confidence, and I start to wonder if it’s possible to regain some resemblance to the woman I used to be.
Slick arrives on time. He walks in and hands me a helmet. “Got sunglasses, babe?”
I do, and get them out of my purse. He hasn’t noticed. I turn my laugh into a cough.
I hang onto him without him telling me, and enjoy the short ride to the coffee shop they’ve chosen, to find Mouse already waiting for us. We go inside and find a table in a corner. I notice both men take seats by the walls, I’m left with my back facing the counter.
Mouse opens his laptop, telling us he’s already tapped into the wi-fi in the shop. As he runs his fingers across the keyboard I study him. When I’d been at the club he’d just been one of the leather-clad bikers and I hadn’t spent much time watching them, instead keeping my head down so they wouldn’t notice me. He’s a handsome man, very tall, looks like he has Native American blood, long, straight, almost black hair which is tied back in a ponytail, and slightly flared nostrils in an aquiline face, his skin a shade darker than Slick’s.
He catches my inspection when he looks up and grins quickly before becoming serious again. “Ella, I’m afraid you’re not going to like this.”
I had a feeling I wouldn’t. Is he going to confirm my fears? “Just tell me, please, Mouse.”
“Your sister, Jayden, is seein’ someone.”
I expected that.
“I’ve been through her Facebook account and through her phone. You know Tongue was able to get it and clone it?”
I nod to show I’m aware and just wish he’d get to the point. But I’m tongue-tied and nervous, and wary of saying the wrong thing.
“Up to about three months ago, Jayden’s Facebook account was exactly what you’d expect from a young girl. Sharing amusing memes about animals, posting selfies with her friends. Then her posts start to slow down, and then stop.”
He turns the laptop around so I can see. He’s right, the posts tail off. There are posts on her newsfeed from friends, but it doesn’t seem like she’s interacted with them.
When I indicate I can see what he means, he turns it back around. “There is, however, quite a lot of activity on messenger. He taps a few keys, then once again the screen is facing toward me. “There are messages from a boy she’s obviously met. I’ve checked out his profile, and nothin’ seems wrong there. He’s sixteen years old, looks his age in his photos. Talks about football and baseball with his friends—fairly normal activity from what I can see. But you see here…” He reaches over and swipes down the page. “They’re makin’ arrangements to meet in a mall.”
I read the conversation.
Sy: Want to meet up this Saturday? At the mall?
Jayden: Mom’s working. She told me to stay home.
Sy: She won’t know if you don’t tell her.
“And so it continues. Now look at this.” He swipes down again.
Jayden: Mom told me I’m too young for a boyfriend. And my sister would go ape if she knew.
Sy: Don’t tell them. This is our secret.
Mouse taps the screen. “This is what sparked my concern. There’s pages of ‘don’t tell your mom or sister’ and ‘this is our secret’.”
I bite my lip. “You think she’s with this boy?” I’m not sure if it’s a normal teenage relationship—it doesn’t seem too bad. As for keeping it quiet, well, I doubt either Mom or I would be too pleased not having met him and, I for one, would make certain I had ‘the talk’ with her. But that doesn’t account for why she’s so unhappy.
“No, I don’t. Look here.” Again he selects a new part of the conversation.
Sy: “What did you think of my uncle, Diego?”
Jayden: He seemed nice.
Sy: He liked you a lot. He’s got a gift for you.
Jayden: For me? Why?
Sy: As I said, he likes you. Will you meet him? Let him give it to you?
Now my eyes shoot up and meet Mouse’s. “Oh fuck.”
“Yeah. And this is where this comes in.” He clicks a few more keys. “These are the text messages I got off her phone. Seems like she met the uncle. Her conversations with Sy stop, and she now starts talkin’ to this other man. There’s other things here too. Up to that point she’s textin’ her friends, and then those communications start to slow too. A couple are sayin’ Diego’s too old for her, but she shuts them up and then stops answerin’ completely.
“How old is this Diego?”
“I’ve no idea, Ella, with just the first name I can’t tell you more. But I think we need to find out.”
For the first time Slick enters the conversation. “Have you ever heard her mention either of these names?”
I shake my head. “Certainly not. Jayden’s always acted quite young for her age. She hasn’t had a boyfriend before, I’m sure of that.
Mouse sits back and folds his arms across his muscular chest. His eyes flick to Slick and then back to me. “What I’m findin’ worryin’ is that this all fits a pattern. You’ve heard of groomin’, haven’t you?”
Of course I have. My hands cover my mouth.
The computer guru nods. “Young boys sent in first to get a girl’s attention. Isolate her from her friends, get her used to keepin’ secrets, then introduce them to an older friend or relative. Use flattery, make her feel special.”
“A few weeks ago she was glowing, so happy. As she seemed in a good place, I didn’t think anything of it. Oh my God. You think this older man…” I can’t say it.
Slick can. “Has raped her? From what Mouse is saying, and what you’re describin’, yes, I’m sorry to say I think we can assume he has. And it’s still going on if she keeps disappearin’.”
“She won’t speak to me. She clams up. I’ve tried, Slick, I’ve pleaded with her, screamed at her to tell me what’s up.”
“She’s probably too frightened. People like this, motherfuckin’ scum that they are, they’re the type to use threats to keep girls in line.”
Slick sits forward. Reaching over the table he grabs hold of one of my shaking hands. “We’re going to find him, Ella. Mouse is trackin’ her phone. We can find out where she’s going and follow her. We’ll sort it, don’t worry.”
All I can think of is my fourteen-year-old sister being taken advantage of by an older man. Just the thought makes me feel ill. She’s so young and should still be innocent. It’s too much to take in.
Mouse gives me a moment and then starts talking again. “Last night she stayed home. From the pattern I’ve noticed, it’s normally toward the end of the week she goes to see him. And next time she does, we’ll be there and stop it.”
“Should I confront her? Now I have a name.” I need to do something. Anything. Forbid her to see this man again? But if they’re right about him holding threats over her, she’ll probably just deny it. I feel so damn helpless.
A shake of Mouse’s head. “No. She hasn’t confided in you before, I doubt she’ll tell you anythin’ now. It depends how far this has gone. Or she’ll warn him and he might disappear into the wind. Something like this, Ella, I want that fuckin’ bastard gone. I doubt she’s the first, and if we don’t catch him, she’s likely not to be the last.”
Suddenly my problems seem insignificant. Yes, I was raped. But I didn’t have my virginity stolen. At least that hadn’t been taken from me. She’s only fourteen!
“You onboard with our plan, El?” When I don’t immediately answer Slick prompts, “Ella?”
I look at Slick, his face set harder than I’ve ever seen it before. “I could go to the police.”
Mouse looks at me sharply. “All the info I have is illegal.”
I shrug. “I’ll tell them I looked at her Facebook and phone.”
“The police ain’t gonna do fuck. Or if they do, it will probably go to the bottom of the pile. You know your sister, El, you know there’s somethin’ wrong. They might look at her and see a moody fuckin’ teenager.”
Which is why I hadn’t involved them before. Biting my lip, I think fast. The quickest way to keep her safe is to let them do their stuff. “Okay, I’ll leave it with you.” I’ve got more faith in the Satan’s Devils than the authorities anyway. But I don’t want to be left out of what they find and what they’re doing. “Will you tell me? Keep me informed when you know she’s going to meet him?”
“We’ll tell you what you need to know.”
It’s not exactly a confirmation, but it’s probably all I’m going to get, now that they’ve taken this on, doubtless it will come under that dreaded phrase old ladies hate, club business. Mouse closes his laptop and leaves us. When he’s gone Slick shifts over so he’s sitting at my side. He takes hold of my hand again. “I’m so sorry, Ella.”
“I don’t know why you’re apologising, Slick. If anything, this is my fault.”
“How the fuck do you get to that?”
I pull back my hand. “Because I’ve been so wrapped up in what happened to me I’ve neglected her. While this,” for some reason I wave my hand at the table where the laptop had sat, “while this was going on I was wrapped up in myself. You saw those dates? It started just after I’d come back from the compound. I didn’t want her to see me hurting, and I was hiding myself away. I didn’t see her for a few weeks. It’s only recently I started going around again.” I cover my mouth with my hand as a horrible thought hits me. “What if this Sy was able to befriend her as she thought I’d abandoned her?”
As Slick shakes his head I continue, “When I felt strong enough to visit, when I was capable of hiding my pain, I thought she was just being off as I hadn’t been to see her. Her quietness my punishment for not being there. If I’d been thinking more clearly I might have realised sooner there was something very wrong.”
Slick’s staring at me. “You take the weight of the fuckin’ world on yer shoulders, doncha? Babe, it wasn’t your fault what happened to you. And it certainly wasn’t your fault what’s goin’ on with your sister. You got that? You did what you could as soon as you sussed somethin’ was off. More than your fuckin’ mom has done. You couldn’t have done anythin’ more.”
“I could,” I contradict him. “I shouldn’t have let what they did affect me so badly. I shouldn’t have started any of this. If I hadn’t thought the only way I could get a man was to whore myself out I’d have been there for her and maybe stopped this from happening.”
Again he makes a grab for my hands, pulling them tight and this time not allowing me to escape. “Ella. Listen to me. I don’t know why the fuck you ever thought you could be a sweet butt, or why that was the only way you’d get a man to fuck ya. You’re as pretty as hell, and I wanted ya the moment I saw ya. If I’d dealt with my crap then you’d never have gone into that fuckin’ Rock Demons club, I should have told my brothers to find someone else. I had my head so far down in the fuckin’ sand you’d be quite right to say it’s as much down to me.” He waits for that to sink in. “But Ella, even if you’d been around, you wouldn’t have stopped this happenin’. These types of people are clever, El. They know how to get what they want. She’d have kept it secret from you whether you’d been there or not.”
“But I would have seen the signs.”
He shakes his head. “The rot had begun the moment she met that boy, Sy. She kept it secret from yer mom, she would have hidden it from you too. Remember he kept tellin’ her to keep it quiet? Encouragin’ her to hide things? That’s the way this groomin’ thing works. And I think Mouse is right, there’s some threat hangin’ over her that is keepin’ her tied to them.”
I look down to where our hands are joined, grateful that he’s here with me, sharing my pain and my worry. I hope he’ll stay around at least until Jayden’s problem’s sorted. Until then I can’t think about what I want for myself.
Somehow he senses my feeling of inadequacy. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, okay? I’ll be with you every step of the way. And we’ll get your sister right.”
“Knowing what I do now, Slick, how am I going to face her? You said don’t alert her, but I don’t know how I’m going to be able to do that.” All I want at the moment is to hug her.
“All you can do is try, darlin’. Remember, if you let her suspect you know, she’ll warn the motherfuckers, and we’ll lose our chance of stoppin’ them.”
“What about Sy? This older one, Diego, I know you’ll,” I lower my voice, “I’m not stupid, you’ll kill him, won’t you?”
Slick’s face is impassive, he’s giving away nothing.
“But what about the teenage boy?”
“If he’s involved in this, he’ll be treated like a fuckin’ man.”
It’s not much of an answer, but it seems it’s the only one I’m going to get.
Slick takes his phone out of his cut and looks at the screen. He shakes his head as he notices the time. “I’ve got somewhere I need to be, darlin’. But I could come around later?”
I glance sharply his way, gathering my thoughts in a flash. “Slick, I’m so worried about Jayden, I wouldn’t be good company.”
“You can’t do anythin’. You’re leavin’ it to us. Won’t do you no good frettin’ on yer own.”
“I know, but until things are sorted with Jayden, until I know she’s safe, please understand I need time by myself. This,” I wave my hand in the air between us, “whatever this is, it’s too much for me to handle right now.”
He sighs. “You sayin’ you want to put us on hold?”
Yeah, I’m saying exactly that. “Just give me a few days, Slick.” I hope he understands. I don’t want to lose him, I’d like to have the opportunity to at least try. Go on a few more dates perhaps? But the revelations about Jayden have had me reeling. And until I get my head around her problems, I can’t sort my own out. I’m guilty enough I wasn’t there for her when I obviously needed to be. I can’t afford to get distracted again.
I raise my eyes. “Just a few days, Slick. I need to come to terms with what’s going on.”
He takes my hand and brings it to his lips, placing a kiss on the back. Then turning it over, his fingers trace my palm. His eyes meet mine. “Just a few days,” he repeats. “Then you’re all mine.”
This time I’m unable to interpret the shiver that runs down my spine.