Chapter Nineteen
O n that ominous day, Fisher had been driven awake by the same nightmare.
Only that time, it had been his reality.
A nasty-tasting film coated his tongue for one and for another, he was no longer laying snug in Justice’s bed.
A different ceiling lay above him and a cot beneath. Jerking upright, his eyes flew around the enclosure.
Bars were on three sides with a wall at his back.
He was caged.
This had to be a mistake.
Bile coated his tongue and he scrambled off the bed and threw up orange juice on the concrete floor.
“Take it easy, Fisher. You’re okay.”
At the quietly murmured words, he whirled around and spotted Justice on the other side of the bars sitting on a chair.
Staggering over to the caged door, he gripped the bars and violently shook them.
“This is not funny. Open the door.” He glared, the words coming through a throat that felt raw, and he slammed his palm against the metal.
“I can’t.” Justice slowly shook his head, his mouth pulled into a sad frown, and worry filled the man’s eyes.
Panting, Fisher squeezed the metal, and his whole body shook. Memories slammed into him, but he gulped them back.
“You fucking drugged me…” Shock cracked his voice.
“I’m sorry.” Regret filled the man’s eyes.
“I don’t care if you’re fucking sorry, Justice, open this fucking door.” His voice didn’t even sound like his own any longer.
“I can’t. I need you here for the next few hours until we take care of Blue.”
“I don’t care about that right now.” He grew lightheaded. His lungs weren’t working right. “Just, just let me out of here. I can’t be in here.”
“I’m sorry.” Justice stood and walked farther away from the cage and that was when Fisher realized he was in what was more than likely a basement.
“Axel, come. Guard.”
At Justice’s command, the big dog trotted over and lay near the vacant chair. Axel was one of those police-type dogs Fisher had seen climb walls in videos but the name of the breed escaped his panicked brain at the moment.
Fuck this! He flew into motion, grabbing a bucket he spotted, and threw it with all of his strength at the bars. It hit with a bang before rolling loudly on the floor. Next was the cot, blankets and all. It cracked against the bars.
Justice had reached the door by that time and had one hand on the knob.
“Let me out! Let me out!” Fisher screamed, hating the pleading sound, hating that his whole body shook.
Justice didn’t understand.
Fisher had to make the man understand.
“I can’t be in here!”
“I’m sorry. I’ll be back.” With one last long look, Justice left the room and closed the door.
The world closed in.
It grew darker by the minute and Fisher couldn’t see himself coming back from this. Stumbling over the bedding and cot, he slipped in his own puke.
Staggering, he made it to the bars in one corner and fell on his ass.
No. No. No. This couldn’t be happening again.
His vision narrowed as his mind tried to soothe him, but he knew the horror of his reality was going to send him straight to hell.
Pulling his knees to his chest, he rocked back and forth. Lifting one arm, he bit into the skin, drawing blood. The pain was distant but enough to keep the room in focus.
But for how long?
Thankfully, he didn’t have long to wait before the blackout hit.
The next thing he remembered was Rogue pulling him out of there.
When the bed dipped beside him, Kit’s bedroom came spinning back into focus when Fisher flicked his eyes open. He stared up at the dirty ceiling.
As wary as a wild cat, Boston crawled up onto the bed to ease down beside him.
Fisher was glad for the interruption because remaining calm took considerable effort.
His heart pounded from the recollection and alcohol and weed still thrummed through his veins.
And as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t stop his traitorous brain from thinking about the tall, muscular blond with the soul-searching blue eyes.
This was what he got for letting his dick do the talking.
Damn it.
“Are you okay? You were making choking sounds in your sleep,” Boston whispered.
“Sorry,” Fisher croaked and rolled to his side, offering his back to the boy.
His soul burned.
His thoughts were spiraling out of control and all he knew at this very moment were two things.
He would, eventually and without a doubt, go insane.
And he was never going to forgive Justice.
San Bernardino Warehouse
It was dark outside, but beneath the flickering lights inside the stuffy building everything was visible.
And Justice struggled to comprehend what he saw.
“What the fuck?”
His voice echoed, breaking the eerie silence that hovered over the putrid-smelling enclosure.
Three six-by-eight cages sat in a vacant area. A few feet separated the cages from each other. Inside were blankets, a bucket, and nothing else. Unable to stop himself, he walked to the first cage, stepped inside, and pulled the door almost all the way shut.
The impact of the moment hit him hard.
His breath caught and he grabbed the bar to keep himself upright. Gasping for air only caused him to grow more lightheaded and he hung on to keep himself upright.
Axel came trotting over and pawed at the cage door, sending the bars rattling. Pacing back and forth restlessly, the dog whined.
Several minutes passed.
These enclosures were sickening. To keep young boys locked up for fuck knew how long had been diabolical.
And he had done the same thing to Fisher.
He had taken the man’s freedom.
Granted, it had been brief because Rogue had rescued Fisher.
But that didn’t mean shit.
He had locked Fisher inside a fucking cage.
And he would answer for his crimes.
His recklessness had brought up Fisher’s past. His actions had taken Fisher to a place he should have never have had to be.
Solomon had been a demonic madman.
It didn’t take a degree in rocket science for Justice to understand that for years, that monster had tortured Fisher. Plus, other young boys by locking them up and turning them into killers.
If Justice could have resurrected that motherfucker and ripped out his throat, he would have.
The rational part of his brain reminded him of the fact that he hadn’t known about the cages.
But was that any excuse? He knew Solomon had been a sick fuck.
Fisher had begged him to release him that day and he hadn’t listened.
Instead, he’d walked away.
Didn’t that make him Fisher’s abuser? He wanted to rage at the injustice of it all and his own stupidity.
One thing he knew for certain was…
Fisher would never forgive him.
And he would never forgive himself.
“Justice, don’t shoot.” Steel’s voice came from the entrance, near the aisle of boxes.
“I won’t,” he croaked.
Axel went ballistic with his hair raised, barking and snarling.
“Down,” Justice said and the dog dropped to his haunches.
Steel’s boots crunched on the junk-riddled concrete floor and something crackled beneath his footsteps. The former soldier cursed, the sound muffled.
Glancing that way, Justice found Steel holding a hand over his mouth and nose.
Axel snarled and Steel gave the dog a wary look.
“He won’t kill me, will he?”
As much time as he had spent with Steel, the guy still had a healthy respect for his dog.
“I told him we’re friends.”
“Yeah… that’s why Cujo acted like he wanted to eat me just now.”
Justice would have smirked if he could have mustered the energy, but faced with this fucked up place and his own burgeoning guilt, he found only bleakness.
After a moment, Steel spoke nasally from behind his hand.
“Can we talk outside?”
Rather than answer, Justice walked out of the cage past Steel, and out the door of the warehouse with Axel at his side. He stood in the afternoon sun and gulped in huge breaths of air. Steel joined him and did the same.
“How’d you know I was here?”
“Wrath called Real.”
Justice gazed at his friend. All the horror and pain returned and crushed him as he imagined Fisher subjected to a place like that. What he was feeling must have shown on his face because Steel gripped his shoulder hard.
“What is it?”
“Solomon caged them like animals and I did the same thing.”
“Look, you didn’t know,” his friend said, giving him a firm shake.
“I should have!” Justice snapped. Shaking off Steel’s hand, he walked to the end of the narrow parking lot and gazed through the chain-link fence at the junkyard beyond.
Steel followed him. “How could you have known? Nobody knew shit. You kept Fisher from the hit going down on Blue. There was no time to explain fuck about anyone’s history.”
“History…” he frowned and glanced at Steel. “Do you know their history?”
“No, I don’t. I imagine the only person who does know is Ice, because Echo would have told him,” Steel said. “From what I gather, Rogue and Fisher are not talking.”
That made sense. Ice and Echo were in love, so it stood to reason that they’d know about each other’s pasts.
He, on the other hand, hadn’t been a big part of Fisher’s life so he didn’t know shit.
“Wait. There are others.” Justice hunched his shoulders and tucked his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans. “The recent boys that were rescued. They could shed some light on what Fisher went through.”
“I imagine Cash or Apollo might share with you if you sat down with them,” Steel agreed.
“What about Azrael?”
“I don’t think Real will let you get close enough to talk with Az.”
That made sense. Justice figured all the boys were having trouble adjusting and the last thing they needed was him digging for answers because he’d fucked up.
“I tried to talk with Fisher, but he’s too angry.”
“Give it time. It’s only been a little over a month.”
It had been five weeks, but to him, it felt like fucking years.
“Savage is backed up on jobs. You good to come along or are you sitting a few out?” Steel asked.
“What does that have to do with Genesis?” He frowned.
“I guess Real is having us help you guys out.”
Justice rubbed at his face.
A hit.
A job.
Suddenly, that was all he wanted, to lose himself in his profession. Perhaps killing a few sick individuals would keep him occupied.
“I’ll come,” he said roughly.
He would not handle the jobs to forget what he’d done.
But rather, each job would serve as a reminder—that he did have the power to end people just as sick as Solomon.
And perhaps only then could he gain a bit of gratification.