Chapter 33
Ace
I kicked the fucking door in so hard that once I stepped through the threshold, it slammed shut behind me. Emerson's screams were ringing in my ears, and my heart raced in fear of what I might find on the other side of the door. I'd known that something was up the minute I’d watched her light flicker on and then off almost immediately. My fucking mistake had been taking the time to analyze my suspicions. Her screams had reached me when I was halfway to the door.
She was still screaming. My eyes found her instantly, taking in the scene as I rushed to her side.
What.
The.
Fuck.
There was some kind of sick show on TV that she was obviously being forced to watch. I crouched down in front of her to block the view, and cupped her face to get her attention. The sound of a crash from somewhere at the back of her apartment made me hesitate for a brief second. I knew that I should go check it out. Instinct warned me that it was the fucking culprit making a noisy exit from her apartment, but in that moment Emerson was my priority.
"Emerson!" I could tell by the glassy look in her eyes that she'd gone to some place dark. They were glazed over and unseeing. "Emerson! Look at me, baby." I held her face so that she had nowhere else to look but at me. "Look at me, Emerson." The screaming stopped and she slowly met my eyes. "That's right, baby girl, focus on me." The wild gleam in her eyes gradually cleared as she quieted down, as did her rapid breathing. She was coming back to me, but she wasn't completely there yet.
I untied the rope, keeping my eyes locked onto hers as I worked. I was afraid that once we broke eye contact I'd lose her again. "You're doing so good, baby. Just keep your eyes on me." My gaze shifted briefly to the vomit on the floor, and I grimaced. Fuck, whoever had done this to her was a fucking dead man. I fought to contain the rage that was building inside me. She didn't need to see that on top of what she'd already gone through.
Once the rope was loose it fell to the floor. Emerson jumped at me with a broken sob, wrapping her arms around my neck and clinging to me like a frightened child. I clenched my jaw at the force of her trembling. "You're safe now, baby girl. I've got you," I said in a soothing tone that I hadn’t been aware that I was capable of. "No one is going to hurt you again."
She didn't respond to me, and I realized that she was in shock. I picked her up and headed toward her bedroom. The first thing my eyes lit on was the broken window, and I knew that I couldn't leave her there. I grabbed the blanket off the top of her bed and went back into the living room, heading toward the couch. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do for now.
I had a phone call to make, and I didn't want her to hear what was being said. I laid her down, but as I started to move back she clung to me.
"I won't leave you," I promised, meaning it. My words seemed to calm her, and she slowly released me and settled back into the cushions. I covered her and sat there for a minute staring down at her.
Christ, it looked as if she'd aged ten years. Her complexion was pale and blotchy, even her lips were colorless. Remnants of crusty, dried vomit stained the corners of her mouth. I reached up and gently wiped it away. For the first time in my fucking life I was afraid, and I needed answers. I clenched my jaw as rage towards the person who had done this to her took control. I waited until Emerson closed her eyes and didn't open them again before I rose to my feet and pulled out my phone.
I walked away from the sofa and hit Tanner's number, not giving a shit at how late it was. He picked up immediately.
"What the fuck—"
I ignored his grumpy tone. "Need you all at Emerson's, brother. Something happened."
"Fuck, she okay?" There was immediate concern in his tone.
I glanced over at her small form. "Fuck no, but she will be. Can you bring one of the old ladies with you?" Something told me that Emerson might feel better if there was another woman present.
"Yeah, be right there." He hung up.
I knew he'd call our brothers in, too. They needed to be involved in this, whatever the fuck it was. We had each other's backs and we handled shit together, even when it didn't involve another MC. That's just how we rolled.
I walked back to Emerson's bedroom to the broken window. Something caught my eye on the floor beneath the sill, and I bent to pick it up. It was a motel room key, an actual key on a piece of dirty plastic, and not the newer card key that was commonly used. That told me that the asshole was staying at one of the older, cheap motels. It wouldn't take long to find out which one. I hoped Sully brought his laptop. The brother was a whiz at finding out shit.
I stole a glance out the window, but it was too dark to see anything. Besides, if the person who’d done this to Emerson was smart, they were long gone. I sent Heath a text to get his cousin, who worked as a handyman, over there first thing to repair Emerson's window. I was going to make sure that she had a security alarm system put in, too. Mike could oversee that.
I went back to the living room. My gaze went to the TV to see that the screen was now blank, and a light was blinking. For the first time I realized that someone had put in a video. I went to the TV and removed it. It wasn't a movie; there were no markings on it to identify what was on it. Recalling the little bit that I'd seen when I'd come in, I knew that watching it might lead to some answers
I walked back to Emerson to check on her. Thank fuck her color was returning, and she looked alive again. I reached down and ran the back of my hand over her cheek, my gut clenching with some kind of strong emotion when she unconsciously leaned into my touch. Everything in me tightened, in a good way. It occurred to me then what this woman meant to me. I'd been denying it long enough.
I ran my hands through my hair, determined to find the bastard who had done this to her, determined to find out what secrets she’d felt compelled to keep from me. If she didn't trust me after this, I didn't know what I was going to do, but one thing I did know was that walking away wasn't an option.
I went to the cupboard where I knew she kept the liquor and searched through her meager offerings. At last, toward the back, I found a bottle of Jack. I uncapped it and took a long swig, hearing a knock at the door as I set the bottle down. The door opened before I had a chance to respond. Tanner and Ruby stepped into the room, with Sully and Mike right behind them.
I took in what Sully had in his hands. "Thank fuck you brought your computer."
He shrugged. "Had a feeling we might need it."
"What the fuck happened here?" Tanner gestured toward the broken door jamb.
"I had to get inside."
His gaze moved about the room, his eyes darkening when he noticed the chair and the rope, and he began to reach his own conclusions. "Shit," he mumbled.
"What happened?" Ruby questioned with concern, moving to where Emerson lay on the couch.
"I have no fucking clue." The emotion in my voice turned it deeper than usual. "I was halfway to her door when I heard her screaming her lungs out. Busted in to find her tied to a chair and some fucking video playing on the TV. Caught just enough of it to know it's sick." I handed the DVD to Tanner. "She's been like that since I calmed her down."
"Shock," Sully suggested. "Should we call the doc?"
I glanced over to where Ruby had sat down on the edge of the sofa. Our eyes met. "She seems to be resting okay. Was she physically hurt?"
"Shit," I growled. Had he touched her? I had the sudden urge to slam my fist into something. "No obvious signs," I mumbled after a while.
Ruby's small smile was meant to keep me calm. "Why don't we get her to the bedroom so you guys can talk?"
I thought about the broken window. "You'll have to stay with her, the window is broken."
"That's why I'm here," she smiled rising to her feet.
I gave Sully a look as I handed him the key that I'd found. "See if you can locate the motel this key belongs to. Whoever did this dropped it on his way out the window."
He nodded and set his computer down on the kitchen counter. "Shouldn't be too hard. Not too many motels use these keys anymore."
That's what I was counting on.
Pete, William, and Sid showed up at the doorway and came inside, their expressions somber. No one spoke. They knew without being told that if they’d been called in at this time of night that shit was serious.
"Are we sure this isn't retaliation from the fucking Hellraisers?" Tanner inquired. "We watched them leave with their tails between their asses, but some of them could have snuck back into town."
I shook my head. "I'm not sure of anything, brother, except that Emerson's keeping something from me."
"That your gut talking?" Sid asked. "Or you know it as fact?"
I gave him a glare. "My gut hasn't been wrong yet, brother. When she first showed up we all suspected that she was running from something," I reminded him. "Just never pursued anything because it was her business. But a pretty woman doesn't just show up out of nowhere looking for a job with no family around or history in the area. She's my woman now, and I want fucking answers." I slammed my fist into the wall, angry and frustrated because I should have forced Emerson to talk earlier that night.
"Easy, brother, we'll get answers."
I gave Heath a nod before glancing down at my busted knuckles.
"The answers might be on this video." Tanner walked over to the TV, slipped the DVD into the player, and turned it on. We all gathered around to watch.
"Fuck, brother," Mike murmured with incredulity two minutes into it. "Who is this sick fuck?"
That was the million dollar question. It didn't take long to understand why Emerson had lost her shit, or why she'd been screaming like a banshee. As we quietly took in the brutal slaughter of a pregnant woman and listened to the brief dialog between her and her killer, it became clear that the man knew Emerson, and that she'd done something against him.
But he'd done something to her, too. What I didn’t know was what.
My mind drifted back to a conversation that we'd had about cousins that Emerson had been close to growing up. Emerson hadn't mentioned their names, but I wondered if Sophie and Gracie were the cousins she'd been referring to.
"Jesus, brother, Emerson watched this?"
I gave Mike a nod, grinding my back teeth so fucking hard that it was a miracle they didn't crack. The sick fuck on the video had had his hands on Emerson, had forced her to watch something no one should have to see. What had he planned for her? What if I hadn't seen her light flicker on and off and decided to check on her? Christ, after watching this video I felt sick myself, and I'd seen a lot of shit. But this kind of violence toward a helpless woman boggled the mind.
"Sick fuck." Tanner finally turned away from the TV. "I've seen enough."
"We need to find out who he is," Sid mumbled beneath his breath, looking a little pale.
Sully walked back to where he'd left his computer. "I'll start with Emerson. See what we can find out about her past."
"You don't do background checks on the people you hire?" Mike's inquiry was directed at Tanner.
"Fuck, no," he responded. "I don't hire anyone I'm suspicious of. As long as they pass the trial period, I'm good. Don't give a fuck if they're not squeaky clean. None of us are," he pointed out.
That was true.
Sully was already typing, his fingers moving over the keys with an impressive speed and accuracy that were hypnotizing. I stood over him for a minute, watching as he clicked on links and page after page came up. Thank fuck he knew what he was looking for. Eventually he lost me, and I decided to go check on Emerson.
I entered her bedroom quietly, but halted abruptly just inside the doorway. It appeared that she and Ruby were in deep conversation. Emerson was still lying down and couldn't see me, but Ruby could, and did. When she noticed me at the door she gave me the slightest head shake that warned me not to come any further. I wanted to ignore her, but when I caught Emerson's softly spoken words, I froze.
"He raped me."