Ryder
The white-hot fury is coursing through my blood driving me insane. I couldn’t tell you what Cassie spoke about on the journey. I have one aim in sight. Principal fucking Armstrong. He’s about to learn a hard lesson himself.
We draw up outside the school and I park in a bay. I take a moment to look around me at the unusual sight of the privileged beginning their day. Smart mothers with textbook children walk around as if they’re in a scene from a movie. There are few fathers here and it strikes me how unreal this picture is.
This doesn’t replicate the rich canvas of the real world. This is a utopia for the elite. It strikes me that far from giving Cassie the best start in life, I’m probably giving her the worst. How can she learn reality locked in a gilded cage? I hear the bell and we join the line of other parents walking to class.
As we walk, Cassie holds my hand and I’m the proudest man on the planet. This gorgeous girl is part of me and can do no wrong in my eyes. I feel the stares as we move through the crowd. The women openly stare at me and I blank the lot of them. I don’t miss the desire in their eyes or the way they straighten up and stick out their tits. The sound of forced giggles drifts across the well-maintained playground as they try to draw my eye. I have only one person I want to see and he will definitely not want to see me.
Just before Cassie heads inside, I see a pretty woman walking towards us with a welcoming smile on her face. Her little girl races up to Cassie and they hug as only a five-year-old would do in company. Cassie turns to look at me, her eyes shining. “This is Imogen, my best friend. This is my daddy, Imogen. He’s bringing me to school today.”
I wink at Cassie’s friend, and she smiles shyly. Then I turn to her mother and she grins.
“Hey, you must be Ryder. I’m Jennifer, a friend of Ashton’s. Is she ok?”
I nod. “A little sick today so I said I’d stand in. It’s good to meet a friend of Ashton’s, she talks about you all the time.”
She smiles prettily and yet I notice the strain in her eyes. Briefly, I remember Ashton saying something about some trouble she was in and I look at her keenly. “You should come and visit one day after school. Cassie never has any friends home.”
Cassie squeals with delight and Jennifer smiles.
“I’d like that, thanks.”
As the children start to file in I watch my little girl join them. Something tugs on my heartstrings as I see the small figure, barely out of diapers, heading off alone. It doesn’t seem right. She’s far too small to deal with this. I almost want to run and grab her back and take her home. Jennifer says softly beside me, “It’s hard to see your little angel making their way without you. I must say, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”
She sounds so sad, I wonder what her story is.
Nodding, I tear my eyes away from my daughter and say in a low voice.
“Can you point me in the direction of the Principal’s office?”
I watch as something sparks in her eyes and she shakes her head slowly.
“I knew it.”
I look at her with interest. “Knew what?”
She says in a low voice. “I waited for Ashton yesterday when he asked to see her after the meeting. I could tell she was worried about something. I’m not stupid, I saw the way he looked at her in the meeting and I recognized that look of terror when she came out. He did something, didn’t he? It wouldn’t be the first time by all accounts.”
I shake my head slowly. “Let’s just say that he has me to deal with now. I’m not as easily upset as my wife. Whatever problem he has is now my problem. Ashton has passed it to me to deal with and he’s gonna find that I’m very good at sorting problems out.”
I wink at Jennifer and head towards the direction she pointed. This is gonna be a piece of cake.
I reach the door marked ‘Principal’ and don’t hesitate. With one resounding knock on the door, I fling the door open and march inside.
The man that looks up from his seat looks surprised, then I see the worry flare in his eyes. He knows and is probably shitting himself right about now.
Kicking the chair away from the desk, I sit astride it and look at him keenly.
“You expecting someone else?”
I watch his eyes flick nervously to the door as he stutters.
“You can’t just come in here without an appointment. Who are you?”
I smirk. “I have an appointment. You made it with my wife yesterday. She’s sent me instead. Now, as I understand it, you have a problem with my daughter hitting some bully in the playground.”
His face pales even further and I see the sweat break out and run down his face. Clearing his throat, he says stutteringly.
“Yes, well, that’s now water under the bridge. We’ve sorted everything out and no more will be said. Um… anyway, thank you for your time but I have a meeting to attend. I can’t be late otherwise they will be sending out a search party for me.”
He laughs nervously and I see his hand tremble as he reaches for his phone. It starts to ring and I settle back in my seat and cross my legs in front of me.
“You better get that.”
He looks down and shakes his head.
“It’s fine, just my wife calling. I’ll get it later. Now if you don’t mind, I must ask you to leave.”
I stare at him hard and growl. “I said, you’d better get that. I think it’s best you put it on speaker.”
He pales and his hand shakes as he answers the phone.
“What do you want, I’m in a meeting?”
I hear his wife’s voice coming out over the speaker sounding shocked and scared. She whispers,
“What have you done, Edward? There must be about twenty bikers here and they say you owe them something.”
I take a minute to revel in the fear in his eyes. He looks at me and I see the realization dawning in them. He says shakily, “I don’t owe them anything. It’s a misunderstanding.”
His wife starts to cry and we hear her say in a frightened voice. “What are you doing, you can’t go up there?”
Principal Armstrong looks at me with fear. “Tell them to stay away from them.”
I laugh softly. “You worried about your family, Principal? What’s the matter, you thinking your daughter upstairs in her bedroom is gonna have the experience of her life while you listen in?”
He starts to shake and the tears fill his eyes. He says in a broken voice.
“Please, I’m begging you, call them off.”
We hear a scream followed by his wife crying. “Nooo, leave her alone. Put her down.”
The sound of the women crying fills the office and the Principal starts to retch. I hear the cries of the women as the bikers’ tear through his house. I sent twenty of them with one aim in mind. To teach him the lesson of his life.
This man is pure evil. Hiding behind his responsible position to prey on young women. He’s known for it and it’s only now I have all the facts. Snake ran a check on him and emailed me the details. What I read sickened me. Women violated in this very office to satisfy the perverted mind of the man in front of me. Well let’s see how he likes it.
We hear the women screaming as my men do what I told them to do. They don’t know it but we aren’t interested in making them the price for his mistakes. Neither does he and I watch with amusement as he sinks to his knees in front of me. “Please, I’m begging you, let them go. My daughter’s only 16. She’s a child, and this isn’t her fault.” He sobs as we hear another heart wrenching scream fill the office. His wife shouts, “Edward do something, call the police, anything! Please, you’ve got to help us.”
He starts to cry and breaks down right in front of my eyes.
“Please, I’ll do anything. I promise you, just let my family go.”
Reaching down, I pull him up until I have him by the scruff of the neck.
I growl. “What’s the matter? It’s ok to hit on other people’s wives and daughters. It’s a different story when it’s your own, isn’t it? Why should we care about yours when you have no regard for anyone else’s? What do they say? An eye for an eye. Well, eyes come in pairs and you have a fine set by the sound of it. My men will thank me for the fun.”
The Principal starts to cry and pleads even harder.
“What do you want to make them stop? Name your price, I’ll do anything.”
I drop him to the floor and say in a hard voice.
“Fall out men, we’ve made our point.”
The Principal looks up from his position on the floor in disbelief. “What, that’s it?”
I stand over him as the sound of his family’s tears echo around the room. Leaning down, I pull his head towards me by his hair and level my gaze to his. Staring into his eyes, I say in a dangerous voice. “If I hear one more woman even hint that you looked at her inappropriately, we’ll be back to finish what we started. Then you will watch my men rip the heart from your family in front of your eyes. Do you understand?”
He nods and sobs loudly like a child.
I release him and he falls to the floor. I notice his soiled trousers and look at him with disgust.
“You’re a joke. Clean yourself up and take this as a lesson well learned. Don’t expect to see my daughter or my wife here again. This school just doesn’t live up to our high standards. I want a full refund of the fees I’ve paid as well as those of Cassie’s friend Imogen. Good day to you Principal. It’s been fun.”
Then I leave him sniveling on the floor and head out to get my child.
I see Jennifer anxiously waiting and I smile and wink. “How much do you want your kid to stay here, Jennifer?”
She shakes her head. “What do you mean?”
I shrug. “I’ve decided to take my daughter out of this plastic palace and send her to the state school with the kids of real families. If you want, I’ll take you with me.”
I laugh as I see the spark in her eye. She grins slowly.
“That sounds like a plan.”
Nodding towards the classroom, I grin.
“Then we’d better rescue our princesses from the tower and take them to safety. Show me the way.”
As we enroll the two girls in the local school, it feels like the best decision I’ve ever made. All the other Reaper’s kids go here and I’ve finally opened my eyes. This where we belong - where Cassie belongs. I made Jennifer’s decision for her because of the lost look in her eyes. As Ashton’s friend it’s my duty to look out for her. Whatever problem she has is now mine. The invitation to our house was made with one aim in mind. If Jennifer needs a place to go, I know the perfect one.
It must be three hours after I left that I return home. What I find when I get there is unexpected to say the least.