I spotted Kay’s car as soon as I pulled into the lot. Parking a couple of spaces down, I jumped out of my truck and jogged towards her car, looking all around it for any signs of anything to give me an idea of what happened.
“Boss? Anything?” Luke said from behind me.
I didn’t answer him, instead I lowered down on the ground and looked under the car. Stretching my hand out, I felt for anything I couldn’t see, I felt a bunch of keys and dragged them out. My heart pumped faster as I felt the teddy bear keyring that she kept on there, instinctively knowing that they were Kay’s before I even saw them.
“Boss?” Kitty asked. I could feel them all around me now, waiting for me to answer. I clutched the keys tighter and squeezed my eyes closed, not wanting to admit to myself what I already knew.
I counted to three before I lifted up off the ground and opened my eyes, looking down at my hand. “They’re Kay’s,” I said on an exhale. This wasn’t good, this was really, really bad.
“Shit,” Kitty said under her breath.
I stared at them in shock, this had really happened. She’d been taken away from me and there was only one person that would have done this. I felt sick, knowing that he must have been watching her and I had no idea that she was in so much danger. I hadn’t protected her.
“Kitty?” I looked up at her and threw her the keys. “Take Kay’s car home.”
She nodded and jumped straight into the car as I looked away, not being able to see her drive it without Kay being behind the wheel. I’d watched Kay drive off the compound in it this morning and now I hadn’t got a clue where she was.
My mind was swirling with thoughts, where did I go from here? How would I tell Eli?
Putting my hands on my head, I looked off into the distance, needing to get my head together before I went inside the preschool.
“Okay, this is what we’re gonna do,” I turned to Luke. “Call Charlie and then go somewhere so Eli can’t see you. I’ll get him and tell him…fuck! I don’t know.”
“Boss-”
Holding up my hand, not wanting to hear anything from him, I continued. “Come back and get the footage. I’ll meet you back at the warehouse when Eli is in bed.”
“Got it.” Luke nodded but stood there, his mouth opening and closing before thinking better of it and walking away. I didn’t need to know what he thought, all I wanted was for him to do as I’d told him to.
Scrubbing my hands down my face, I walked to the preschool door and took in a deep breath. I needed to make sure Eli didn’t know about any of this, how I was going to do that, I had no idea. I had to try and act normal while on the inside I was falling apart.
Eli was sat in the reception area with Miss Cooper when I opened the door. Putting a smile on my face, I rolled my shoulders back and walked over to him.
“Hey, bud,” I said, crouching down. “Sorry that I’m late.”
“I thought mama was picking me up,” he said, shuffling down off of his seat.
Looking up at Miss Cooper, I could tell that she knew something had happened. I nodded subtly and looked back at Eli, trying to think of something on the spot.
“She was gonna, bud, but she got caught up with Miss Maggie.”
“Oh.” He scanned my face, his green eyes looking for something. I tried my hardest to keep the worry that I was feeling off my face but I hadn’t got a clue if I managed it or not.
“Can we get a burger?”
“Sure.” I smiled and held my hand out to him as I picked up his bag off the chair, his small hand gripping mine while he waved bye to Miss Cooper.
She opened her mouth to say something but I cut her off. “Give it five minutes,” I said, trying to convey with my eyes what I couldn’t say aloud.
I wouldn’t talk about this in front of Eli, as far as he would be aware, Kay was fine. I was determined to make sure he didn’t know because he didn’t need to deal with any of this. He needed to keep being a kid and things like this wouldn’t allow him to do that.
“Okay,” she whispered back.
Nodding, we walked out and back to my truck as I asked Eli what he’d done today.
We made a pit stop for burgers and ate them inside, I didn’t want to take him back to the compound until I had to. It would just be a reminder that she wasn’t there. I was having a hard enough time just keeping it from Eli as it was.
I needed help so on the way home, I decided that I’d call ma and get her to come over. I couldn’t deal with all of this on my own. She’d know what to do, not that I didn’t want to spend time with Eli, I just needed to concentrate on finding Kay.
Once we were back at the compound, I let Monty out into the back yard and he ran around playing with Eli, keeping him occupied. Pulling my cell out, I dialed Ma’s number.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Ma?” I couldn’t stop my voice from cracking.
“Tyson? What’s happened?”
“Kay,” I whispered, watching Eli laugh as Monty tagged him with his paw. “She’s been taken.”
“We’re on our way, son.” I nodded, even though she couldn’t see, and I swallowed past the lump in my throat and pressed the end call button. I had to keep it together, for Eli.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled my shoulders back and walked out into the yard. If I didn’t attempt to keep things as normal as I could, Eli would know for sure that something was up. Although, just with Kay not being here, it made it different. She was always home, baking, cooking or playing with Eli and Monty.
I got so caught up in the memories, that I didn’t notice Eli running to me. “When is mama coming home?” he gasped, out of breath.
“Soon bud. Nana E will be here in a minute though.” He’d taken to calling her that, at ma’s insistence of course. They’d fallen in love with him, just like we all had.
“And Pop?” He grinned, jumping up and down.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “And pop.”
My heart thumped harder as the door squeaked open and I watched as a pair of boots stepped into the room. My eyes ran up his legs, his torso, and up to his face. Max stood there with an evil smirk on his face and I couldn’t stop the gasp that came out of my mouth as I looked into his eyes. I’d never seen them look so dead and so lifeless.
I desperately wanted to look away but I wouldn’t, I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction. That’s what he wanted and there was no way that I’d be giving him what he wanted anymore.
“Come here,” he said, his voice low and raw.
Not moving an inch, I kept my eyes firmly planted on him. I wouldn’t willingly go to him, he’d have to drag me kicking and screaming. I wasn’t the meek person that I used to be.
“Now!” he roared. His face turning red, that vein that always pulsed when he was angry started to throb. I smiled, seemed like he still had a short fuse, that hadn’t changed. His temper would always get the better of him.
He stomped forward, grabbing onto my hair and pulling me up. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out, I wouldn’t allow him to hear the pain that he was causing, that’s what he wanted, it’s what he had always wanted.
I scrambled to land on the bottom of my feet but the concrete scraped against the top of them as he dragged me up. Bringing me into the middle of the floor, he turned me so that we were facing the girls and I shivered as his chest touched my back.
“I’m gonna teach you a lesson. Every. Single. Fuckin’. Day,” he growled down my ear.
I stared at the girls, seeing the fear in their eyes as they watched us. They knew him, I could tell that much.
His fist to my ribs took me by surprise and I gasped, and then moaned in pain as I tried to get my breath back.
“Ahhh! That’s it! I’ve fuckin’ missed that sound.” I felt his nose touch my neck and I heard the inhale as he sniffed me. I was off balance, and when he let me go with a push, I went tumbling to the floor. Curling up into a ball, I looked him square in the eyes.
“I hate you,” I whispered.
He stepped closer, each footstep echoing throughout the small room. “What did you say?” His voice was low and calm.
Gulping, I lifted my head and squinted my eyes at him. I wanted him to see how much I meant this.
“I. Hate. You.”
His nostrils flared and his hand clenched into fists, this time I was prepared. His fist came down onto my ribs again and he pushed me over onto my back. Pressing his boot into my stomach so that I couldn’t curl up into a ball again.
“You may hate me,” he said, crouching down, his boot digging into me which made it hard to breathe. “But you’ll always be mine. I made sure to mark you so that no one will ever want you again,” he taunted, running his finger down the scar on my thigh.
Shivering, I pulled away, not caring that the floor scraped the skin off my back. I wanted to get away from him.
Smirking, I lifted my brows “You sure about that?” I couldn’t help but taunt him back.
He tilted his head to the side, his brows pulling down into a frown. He lifted up, his boot pushing into my stomach before he moved it off me completely. Sitting up while he was distracted, I took the time to catch my breath and shuffled back against the wall.
My eyes moved over to the girls, their faces pale from what they were seeing.
“You fuck him?” he ground out, moving closer so that his body was towering over me.
What was I doing? Why was I winding him up? I needed to stop, I could see how much it was affecting him. His face had started to go red and that vein was pulsing like crazy.
“Yeah.” I smirked and pulled my shoulders back. “And damn… it was good.” I could hear each breath that he was taking, his chest rising and falling faster with each one. I was getting to him. Good, I wasn’t going to lay down and take his shit anymore.
My stomach rolled at each second that ticked by, waiting and watching for his next move. I needed him to snap, if he did, then I could get away. Or at least try to get away. There was three of us and one of him, we had the advantage. If he was distracted enough maybe they could get away and get some help.
It never came though, instead, he threw his head back and laughed. “She said you’d do this.” He shook his finger at me and stepped back. “She said you’d lie to get a reaction out of me.”
I frowned at him. She?
He stepped back, nodding his head to himself. “I’m gonna pace myself this time.” Chuckling, he continued to back out of the room and pulled the door closed, shouting through it, “I’ll break you even if it’s the last thing that I do.”
Staring at the door long after he’d gone, I tried to wrap my head around what had happened. Why had he stopped? He never stopped.
“What are you doing? You don’t want to mess with him,” Lindsey said, helping me back over to them.
“Trust me,” I said, sitting down and holding my ribs. “I know him better than anyone.”
“You do?” The other girl gasped.
“Yeah, I’d like to think so, I was with him for five years and we have a son together.”
“You have a son with him?” Lindsey asked, her hand flying to her chest.
“Yeah.” I leaned the back of my head on the wall, and took a deep breath. It had been so long since I’d been hurt like this, that I’d almost forgotten what it felt like. “I’ll fill you in. All we’ve got is time in here, right?”
Turning my head to them, I tried to see what injuries they had. Apart from the black eye and split lip, Lindsey looked okay. But the other girl was untouched.
I wondered how long she’d been here and how long she’d stay that way.
Ma turned up in record time and said that she’d watch Eli while I went back over to the warehouse. I went and said goodnight to Eli, knowing that I wouldn’t be back before he went to bed.
When I walked out of the house, the compound was full of cars; which meant everyone was here. I stood next to the door when I was inside and watched as they all ran around, looking at different things and working through paper work. Charlie and his men were in there too, setting up an investigation point.
I still couldn’t believe this had happened and seeing the warehouse like this, made it all the more real. I suppose in my head, I believed what I had said to Eli. That she’d be back later.
“Ty!” Charlie called out to me. I looked over at him, not really seeing him. All conversations stopped as they turned to me. They were all waiting for me to say something, this was where I was meant to tell them what to do, what avenue to go down. It was what I normally did.
I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts together.
“Have you checked her tracker again?” I asked Evan.
“Yeah, it’s a no go. Still says she’s at the preschool.” I’d had that tracker put on her for a reason, that was my one fail safe and it hadn’t worked.
Nodding, I tried to take in what he said. “Footage?” I asked Kitty.
“Can’t see her being taken but there’s two men who walk past. One of them is Max.” She grimaced, her nose scrunching up with mentioning his name.
I walked over to where she was stood next to Evan, she hit the rewind button and played the footage again.
Two men walked past the camera, neither of their faces were in the frame, but just before they went out of the frame completely, one of them turned and looked straight at the camera and winked.
Max. I knew it was that fuck-face. When I got my hands on him, I wouldn’t be held responsible for what I did to him.
I knew it was him before I’d even watched the footage.
“Go back,” I barked, watching it a second and third time as I tried to place the other man. I’d seen him before but I couldn’t think where from.
“Isn’t that one of Daley’s men?” Luke asked from behind me.
“I think it is,” Kitty answered. Going back and watching it again.
“What the fuck does this mean?” I looked down at the floor, trying to figure it all out. Did this mean that Max was working with Daley?
Was Kay with the girls that had been taken? We all had our suspicions about what was happening to those girls and the thought of Kay going through all that, sent me into a tailspin.
My mind was spinning and I couldn’t get under control. All I wanted was to get hold of Max and show him what it was like to be met with his match.
I had to stop thinking like this, I needed to put all my efforts into finding Kay and not imagine what I would do to that bastard.
“So we have no location but we know who took her,” I said to no one in particular. “Evan, hack into all the cameras around that area, I want to know where they went.”
I walked away from them and over to Charlie, with Luke at my back.
“How’s Eli?” he asked as we walked across the warehouse.
“Good. Ma’s over there now. She’s gonna put him to bed.”
“Good.” He nodded. “We need to keep this from him.”
Spinning around, I clenched my fists. “I fucking know,” I ground out.
“Whoa, boss, I was just saying.”
“Yeah, well don’t.” My nostrils flared. “You don’t need to tell me how to deal with this, he’s my son.”
Luke raised a brow at me, opening his mouth to say something but I walked away before he could.
Shit. What had I just said? Eli, my son?
It may have been wrong to some people but he really was my son, and after this, I’d make sure that everybody knew it. He’d never have to deal with his pathetic excuse for a father again.
Stomping over to Charlie, I went to see what he had found. “Anything?” I barked.
“No.” He shook his head, looking down at a map.
“Fuck!” I shouted, just as the metal door opened.
I stared and waited to see who was coming in to disturb us. “Dad?” I frowned. What was he doing over here?
“Someone here to see you, son.” He pushed the door open, his face telling me that whoever it was, it wasn’t someone that I wanted to see.
“What’s up!” he shouted, swaggering through the door, his huge bag slung over his shoulder.
“Corey?”
“Hey!” he shouted, dumping his bag on the floor and coming over to me. He hugged me, slapping me on the back several times before letting go. “Where’s my lil’ sis?” He smiled, looking around.
“Erm…” I swallowed.
He frowned, looking around at all of us. Noticing how many people were here, he frowned. “Ty? What the hell is going on?”
“Kay was…” I took a deep breath, the words not willing to come out of my mouth. “She’s been taken.”
“Taken?” His hands clenched into fists as he stepped back. “You better fill me in Ty. Right fucking now.”