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 with 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.