UNKNOWN: I know you wait for my messages. You wait to see what I’ll say. If I’ll talk about your sister. If I’ll tell you where she is. If she’s happy. Alive. Trust me. She is indeed all of those things. She loves being with me. You’ll never get her back.
Me: I just want to see her.
When there was no reply, I fought back the urge to throw my phone against the wall. But having broken my laptop already, I decided against it.
“We’ll find her.” Angel rubbed my back.
“We’ll do more than that,” Greyson boomed, his deep voice coming through loud and clear on speakerphone. “I told you we should have stayed.”
“And do what, Grey? Drive me fucking crazy with the back and forth pacing you like to do?” I huffed, leaning my head in my hands.
“We could protect you,” Grey argued.
“I like you, man,” Angel said. “But I got that covered.”
“Of course you do.” Grey huffed. “Listen, you call us if anything changes. No matter the fucking time. You got me?”
“Yes, boss.” I nodded toward Brogan.
She picked up the cell, turning off the speakerphone, and continued talking to her stepbrother. She headed out into the hall but not before I caught a look between her and Coby. His gaze followed her. Her cheeks reddened. Huh. Interesting.
“What are we doing?” Dale glanced around the table. “We need to stop this. We need to put an end to this shit that keeps piling up on our table. We need to find these girls.”
“How, Dale?” Angel sat forward. “We had clearance to go in once. We couldn’t find Vega’s niece. Someone knew we were there, remember?”
“But something needs to be done,” Dale shouted, slamming a fist on the table in front of him.
“Remember who you are talking to,” Angel bit out through clenched teeth. “You don’t think I want these girls found? You don’t think I want to get Violet home to Jay and her dad? To her fucking family? You don’t think I want to find out who attacked my woman and who keeps harassing her every damn day? You don’t think I want any of that?” Angel yelled, shoving abruptly to his feet.
“Then why are we just sitting here? We should be out there searching or, fuck, I don’t know, but I’m getting antsy.” Dale rose from his chair. “I need to hit something.”
“Oh!” Meeka exclaimed. “Follow me. I know exactly who can help with that.” She walked past Max, giving her shoulder a light squeeze.
Dale glanced down at her, a shadow passing over his face before he was led out of the room.
Max’s body stiffened, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Was she jealous? Did she wish she could help him relieve the tension he no doubt felt? I would put everything I owned on it.
“Go talk to him,” I suggested.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ve tried already. He wants nothing to do with me. No matter what, don’t lose what you have. You’re both strong apart, but together you can take on the world. Between the two of you, these girls will be saved. I have no doubt about that. I…I need some time.”
I nodded. “Take all the time you want.”
Her lips tightened into a thin line. “Thank you.”
“I worry about her,” I muttered when she left the room.
“I worry about Dale,” Angel confessed. “He’s going to rebel like he always does.”
“Everyone is stressed.” I stretched my arms over my head, the tendons in my back cracking and popping. A slight sting erupted through my bones.
“I’ll make you feel better,” Angel whispered in my ear, his hot breath scorching my skin.
A warm shiver slid up my spine. “We’ll help each other.”
***
“Girl, you got some kickass talent,” Creena Chan whistled, walking around the tattoo shop and glanced up at the drawings I had hung on the dark red walls. “I wish I was half as good as you.”
“Please.” I laughed. Creena had come into the shop a couple days before, looking for a job. I didn’t know much about her but I knew she was a nurse. There was a twinkle of mischief in her eyes when she had told me her dad would be so proud. Apparently she was rebelling. “All of my clients keep telling me they’ll trade me in for you.”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed, her light-blue eyes twinkling. Her olive skin tone glowed in the bright lighting of the shop. She was beautiful. Freckles adorned her nose and cheeks, kissing her face in a subtle way.
The doorbell chimed, interrupting my perusal of my new friend.
“Jay, darlin’,” Stone stepped into the shop, holding a package. “This was on the doorstep for you.”
“Thanks.” I ran to him. “It’s my new ink.”
“Let’s hope. Angel asked me to open it for you though…” His voice trailed off, his gaze landing on Creena, who was now standing beside me. “Hi.”
“Hello,” she said, her cheeks reddening.
“Uh…Creena, this is Vince Stone. Vince, Creena Chan,” I introduced them, fighting back a giggle over them staring at each other.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Stone held out his hand. “Very nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Creena answered, returning his handshake.
“Well, I’m just going to open my mail,” I told them, backing away slowly. “You guys have fun.”
“Wait,” Stone called out. “Angel said—”
“It’s fine. You guys have fun.” I laughed to myself, heading to the back of the shop before making my way into my apartment. Opening the package, I kicked the door closed, humming to myself. It had been a long time since I was in this good of a mood. Angel had helped with that over the past couple of nights. My skin hummed with memories of his touch.
I rummaged through the papers in the small box, placing it on the coffee table in the middle of my living room. I frowned when my fingers grazed a small velvet box. My heart jumped. Something told me to go back to Stone. To show him that this wasn’t what I had ordered. That something was wrong. I snapped open the box and stifled a cry. Throwing the box to the ground, I shoved to my feet, getting away from the package as if it were on fire. I was naïve to think this was over. To think that the unknown person had stopped contacting me. God, I was so fucking stupid. I got wrapped up in my happiness, not considering that this wasn’t over.
Images played over and over in my mind. An orange and white cat lay on the carpet, staring up at me with lifeless eyes. The collar around its neck read, ‘Piggy’. How…I couldn’t process what I was looking at. Violet and I kept the cat a secret. We had hidden it as little girls from our father for fear he would be mad and get rid of it. But he wouldn’t hurt it. No. He would send it somewhere safe as we couldn’t afford to feed another mouth. As I got older, I realized that if I had just told him about the cat, he probably would have been fine with it. Especially after Violet left. This cat, though, staring up at me, was dirty, its hair matted like it had been raised from the dead. A corpse. I prayed that it wasn’t harmed in the process of trying to scare me. Who the hell knew about Piggy? We had tried so hard to tell my father about the cat and then one day, we found our animal lying on the side of the road after getting hit by a vehicle.
How could someone do this? How could they even consider sending a dead animal to a person? Suddenly, my phone rang, making me jump. “H-Hello?”
“Hello, Genevieve.” A deep voice rumbled into my ear, vibrating down my spine.
“Who is this?” I asked, gripping the phone tight in my hand.
“Who the fuck do you think it is?”
My body wavered, spots dancing in my vision. “What do you want?”
“You, of course.”
I spun on my heel at the voice coming from behind me. Tripping over my feet, I landed hard on my ass.
A tall man loomed over me, his mouth twisting up into a snarl. “You are more beautiful than I imagined. I can’t wait to have both you and your sister at once.” The man straddled me, shoving my arms above my head. “You see, your sister wanted this, but you, you’re a fighter.” He brushed his nose up the side of my neck, inhaling deep. “And that turns me on.”
“You won’t get away with this.” I squirmed in his grip, attempting to push out of his hold.
“Oh, pet, I already have.” Holding my wrists with one hand, he pulled a syringe out of his jacket pocket with the other.
“Please, don’t!” I cried, my chest rising and falling. I whimpered when the prick of the needle poked me in the side of the neck. My vision faded in and out, whatever the drug was, hitting me fast.
“You’ll enjoy this. Just like your sister did.” His hand wrapped around my throat. “But unfortunately, she’s used up.” He kissed my cheek. “Now it’s your turn.”