16. Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Abigail
I’d woken to the smell of damp. I knew what damp smelled like. Cloying, wrong. I’d had a brief spell in a home run by Terence and Marjorie Brown. All new kids spent the first night in the cellar so they’d know what would happen if they messed up. As it turned out, I was only there ten days because some boy that had seemed to spend most of his time in the cellar had escaped.
Family Services had shut them down. It was one of the only times I’d been happy to go back to a group home so quickly. Even if it had been a different one.
But I wasn’t that little girl anymore. This Little girl was different. Strong. And I had a Daddy that I was falling in love with. And I knew he was coming for me. He had to. We still had some of our two weeks left and Daddy wasn’t the sort of man to give that up. He did what he said, and he had said two weeks. I tried not to think about what came after the two weeks yet, because I had to get through this. And I had the list. The Daddy list I’d been careful to hide, which didn’t seem so important anymore. Maybe, when I got back it was time to share?
And then my stomach dipped because the room smelled of mold.
No, mold wasn’t the reason. Even my brain told me that wasn’t the reason for the fear, and I tried to go through the logic to figure out the real reason. It wasn’t just because I was trapped in a place that smelled of mold, it was being trapped in the first place that made my stomach clench. I had this irrational feeling of pride because I’d thought it through.
What worried me now was the trapped part, because what if I was trapped past the two-week deadline? I tried to think what day it was. How long had I been knocked out?
And, I puzzled, had the two weeks started when he said, or had it started when he brought me home? We’d reached a week when I played with Roxy but I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep since then. If it was still Friday then I had at least a week, and somehow in my stupid head that cheered me up. It was ridiculous that the thought of still being with Daddy another week took precedence over being trapped in a cellar.
But then Callie from Family Services once called me accepting, and sweet. I think she thought it was a compliment. She’d said that to the lady with the yellow scarf. I didn’t remember her name. It had been a prospective adoptive parent. Not that I got many. And I’d not impressed the lady. I knew I’d meant to say that with her coloring, green would look good on her, but it somehow came out as grass was better in the spring when it was green because my brain had jumped forward again. It was why I always got marked down in math even though I got the correct answer. My brain skipped over a couple of steps and none of my teachers understood.
Neither did the yellow scarf lady, and I never saw her again. I think she took home a little girl called Molly. I hoped she was color blind so she wouldn’t be sent back.
I wanted to pee, and while I could sit up, even if there was a bathroom I couldn’t see it thanks to the jet-black darkness of the place, and my legs wouldn’t move. So I was tied down, which seemed silly, really.
I knew I should have been scared but I was convinced that after the universe had decided I didn’t deserve a mommy or a daddy when I was a child, I was going to get a grown-up Daddy now.
Or not exactly a grown-up one. Well, I knew what I meant. Basically Daddy—Gideon—owed me at least a week and he needed to come and get me so that could happen.
But I still needed to pee, and as if that thought had been heard, a door opened and light flooded the room. I jerked my head away because it stung my eyes.
He laughed.
And every thought I’d had about not being scared disappeared like poof. Because I recognized that laugh. It was Dave Kirkman.
I wanted to beg him not to hurt me but even my brain knew that would be pointless. Think. “Why am I here?” I was quite proud of myself for not asking where I was, because I knew he wasn’t going to tell me .
He grinned and so I tried another statement. “I need a bathroom.” Grunting he came in and untied my legs. I stood shakily.
He licked his lips lasciviously and threw a bunch of material at me. I fumbled to catch it. “You want the bathroom, put it on, pretty girl,” he rasped.
I opened the bundle to see a short red dress, so short I would be lucky if it covered my bottom. If he was going for Little clothes, he’d failed miserably. This looked more like…well, not a Little. And for a moment, I was just so tired. Maybe I should have been scared, but all I had in my head were the Tinkerbell sneakers and the yellow shorts. And it wasn’t that I guessed they cost a lot of money, it was that they had been chosen with care to suit my personality. Sure, it was what Gideon liked as well, but I knew deep down he would never force me to wear something I hated. Or something that demeaned my choice. I knew lots of ladies that would rock the hell out of this dress, and I celebrated their right to choose with every fiber in me. It just wasn’t my choice.
“No,” I said and threw the dress back at him. It obviously wasn’t a good idea because the backhand I got sent me to the floor. It may or may not have been a good thing when my head connected with the wall.
I was going to be sick. And not just because my head was splitting, but because when I opened my eyes and glanced down, I was wearing the red dress and I didn’t need to pee anymore. The room was lit and hearing the chuckle, I realized why. He was still here. I tried to focus on thinking of a way to get out, rather than thinking about the red dress and what that might mean. I felt dirty and smelly, but I didn’t feel sore, and I knew Kirkman wouldn’t have been careful with me, so I thought for the moment I was safe.
“You should have come quietly,” Kirkman continued. “I’ve got a lot of cash. I could have set you up as a princess. Now my old man’s pissed at me. So that’s your fault as well.”
But that made no sense. “You’re going to get into a lot of trouble for kidnapping.”
He smirked and crossed the floor, reaching out and taking hold of my jaw in a punishing grip. “Who’s gonna tell them?” He let me go with a disgusted noise. “And don’t think your Daddy’s going to save you. They’ve got enough they need to hide. They won’t want the cops nosing around either.”
My pulse pounded. Too fast. Way too fast. It was a good thing I was on the small cot. What did he mean?
“I mean that they’re not some white knights. They do as much shady shit as anyone else.” I barely registered that I must have asked that out loud because my attention was on his hands, and what they were doing. He bit his nails and right there and then I knew I’d never bite mine again. Anything that reminded me of that weasel had to go. His chubby fingers were so ugly. So different from Daddy’s. His were big and strong and I remembered all the times he’d touched me. I watched as Kirkman slid his belt out of the loops on his jeans.
“What day is it?”
He hesitated, scowling. “Saturday. But why the fuck does that matter?”
I lay back. “Because I still have six days.” Daddy wouldn’t break a promise, which meant he was coming for me no matter what Kirkman said. We still had nearly a week of our two, and that was important. And suddenly I wasn’t as frightened anymore.
Gideon
I hadn’t slept for thirty-six hours. Thirty-six hours of imagining what that fucker was putting Abby through. Thirty-six hours of getting nowhere, even when we found out Jeremy Blakeny—the fucker we’d rescued that Little Clare from, was involved business wise with both of them.
The second message had stated that if they so much as smelled a cop, Abby would be disposed of. Chris and the Denver team had arrived for back up. I was pacing, waiting on a call from Eric, when Dion sighed. “I think we need to speak to Clare.”
Max shot up from his chair so fast it nearly tipped over. “The fuck?”
But I knew what Dion meant immediately. Price had skipped town and we’d followed him to a private airstrip where he boarded his plane, and we knew Abby wasn’t with him. Kirkman Junior hadn’t been seen at all, and our guts were telling us they wouldn’t make any attempt to move her while she was being looked for. Blakeny had also gone to ground, and we were all convinced she was still somewhere close. There was a chance Clare may have even been kept somewhere else besides Blakeny’s home. She’d dated the monster before he imprisoned her. It was worth a question.
The only contact we had was her brother, who wasn’t happy letting us anywhere near her, but he relented after asking Clare herself and explaining there was another Little missing .
Three hours later, we drove through huge electric gates and took in the men walking around with dogs and carrying Glocks. I knew Karl Newman was rich. He’d taken over a failing publishing empire from his father and turned it around. His little sister Clare had met Blakeny at a charity gala and fallen for his smooth benefactor act.
Max and I were searched then shown into a sunroom. Karl stood and shook our hands, but Clare stayed curled up in the chair in the corner. Max gazed at her, and I spoke, trying to cover his silence. “Thank you for seeing us. Did your brother explain what we wanted to ask?”
Clare didn’t even glance my way. “I remember you,” she said quietly, and Max nodded, sitting on a chair across from her.
“You look better,” he murmured.
She dragged her gaze away from his and met mine. “He has another girl?” I took in the bruised shadows under her eyes and the prominent cheek bones. She still didn’t look like she was eating or sleeping. Her brother was doing his best, but she needed a Daddy. A proper one this time. “It’s one of his business associates, but we think he might be helping to keep her hidden, and we’ve run out of ideas.”
“You said this man owns apartments?” she asked.
I nodded. “We’ve checked out what we can, but she’s just vanished.”
“Why are the cops out of the question?” Karl asked.
I hesitated. “Blakeny and the other man know we were involved with getting Clare out.”
“How?” Karl said, frowning.
“They have a picture of me,” Max admitted. “We’d disabled the cameras but there must have been one out of the main loop no one knew about. ”
“Because I was frightened, you took off your mask,” she whispered, understanding immediately.
“This isn’t your fault,” Max said. “We were just hoping you might know of somewhere out of the way he might take her.”
“Florida’s a huge place,” Karl said incredulously.
I nodded. “We know. But we fucked up Blakeny’s cash and businesses, as you know.” The money was currently being distributed to charities. “He can’t disappear while he’s trying to get it all back. We think he’s somewhere close, but isolated. We were wondering if he ever took you somewhere before the house where we found you?”
Clare glanced at her brother, and he frowned again. “Clare?” She sighed.
“Persuasion.”
“What?” Karl said and jumped to his feet. Clare flinched immediately and Max immediately inserted himself between Karl and his sister. Karl opened his mouth, probably to rail at Max, but then he saw Clare cower and all the fight left him.
“I’m sorry,” Clare whispered to her brother, and I got it. Persuasion was near the port and to say it had a bad rep was putting it mildly. On the surface it was a nightclub, but some of the members could apparently get other services so long as they paid for them.
“I know it was stupid, but they’re one of the easiest to get in with fake IDs.” Karl groaned and I didn’t blame him, but Clare had been punished enough for a mistake kids made the world over.
“You think she might be there?”
She glanced at her brother and he sat down, reaching slowly and gently to take her hand. “You’re not in any trouble. I understand why you didn’t mention it, and this is my fault.”
“No it isn’t,” Clare whispered and clasped her brother’s fingers, but Karl shook his head.
“I haven’t encouraged Clare to talk about this at all. I ignorantly assumed that if we took care of her physical hurts the rest would mend on their own, and I know she’s frightened of disappointing me.”
Max cleared his throat. “We have a doc that treats our Littles, and he’s actually recommended someone he knows to talk things over with them. Someone who understands their situation.”
“I’m not a child,” Clare snapped, and Max nodded, but I could see the curled fists he was hiding and knew it was killing him not to try and comfort her.
“I went with my friends the first time. Jeremy was charming, attentive. Gabby and Erika thought I was crazy because he was so much older than me, but I’ve never been interested in silly boys.” Karl stood, smiled gently, and walked to the window. I got that this would be so hard to hear, but I respected him for not making her feel any more uncomfortable.
“We started dating and went to the club a few times. I was just coming back from the bathroom as a server was bringing more champagne. Jeremy had his hand up her skirt and when she jerked away, he smacked her. I’d never seen him so angry, and it was like a mask had slipped. I froze because I panicked. He looked up and saw me and his charming smile was back, so I sat down, determined to call Karl on my second bathroom visit. He poured the champagne, but I refused and said it was a little strong, so he called over to one of the bouncers and asked if he would get a fruit juice for me. I didn’t think it odd because the server wasn’t likely to come back.” She took a breath.
“I started feeling strange nearly immediately and tried to excuse myself for the bathroom, but I was really dizzy. I remember Jeremy being concerned and saying he would take me home, but all he did was drag me into an elevator.”
“Still at the club?” I asked, leaning forward.
She nodded. “I heard the music from upstairs once when he unlocked the door. I tried screaming at one point, but he just laughed and told me to go ahead, and said all the rooms down here were soundproofed so we wouldn’t scare the customers.” I glanced at Max and saw his jaw harden.
“I was there about two days until the next time I woke up and I was in the cage.”
I smiled and stood up. “Thank you. We didn’t know there was a connection with Persuasion. I can’t tell you how helpful that is.”
“I hope you get her,” Clare whispered.
So the fuck did I.