Hulk #2
In case of a threat, the women and children would be placed in that room which was encased in steel.
Metal reinforced plates covered the windows and door when a button was pressed.
Someone would have to really work to bust in there, which was the point.
When it wasn’t used as a safe room, it was a massive playroom-slash-sleepover room for the kids.
It had toys, games, and a television—everything a kid might want or need.
Agony, Tana, and Eliana were seated at a table in the quietest part of the common area. They were in deep conversation. I debated whether to approach when I saw how much they frowned, but I figured if they didn’t want me there, they’d tell me to get lost. I came to a standstill next to them.
“Is it okay to join you, or is this a private family affair?” I asked.
“No, it’s not private. Have a seat. We’re talking about Capri Malcolm,” Agony stated.
As I dropped into a chair, I felt a niggling of guilt. I hadn’t been able to do any listening around town like we’d all agreed to do. I’d been working days and nights at SS. Everything imaginable had gone wrong, all at once.
“Sorry, Pres, I haven’t done my share of sleuthing. I’ll do it this week, I promise. Things are back to normal at Striptease.”
“You’re not the only one. We’ve all dropped the ball this week. Wire did find something that I want to discuss with you guys, but it can wait until tomorrow when we have church,” Agony said.
Hearing that he had an update, I was anxious to know what it was. “Can you tell me now? I can work on this tomorrow. Whatever Wire found might dictate where I start,” I explained.
“Sure. Let me get Wire over here, so he can answer any questions you might have.”
Agony turned and shouted across the room. “Yo, Wire, you got a minute?”
“Sure do,” Wire said. He rose from the couch and sauntered over to the table. He stood behind an empty chair next to me.
“You might want to sit. It could take more than a minute. I promise I’ll get you back to the game,” Pres swore.
As Wire sat, he shook his head. “It’s not that important. My team is ahead by a shit load of points. If they lose now, it’s their own damn stupid fault. What’s up?”
“Hulk wants to know what you found on Capri Malcolm. I told him I planned to update the club tomorrow, but he wants to do some work on it tomorrow and wondered if what you found should dictate what he does or where he goes.”
Wire sighed. “I wish I had good news. It seems that no one knows who hurt that woman. I went digging into her and her aunt. It was while I was following up on them and how they were doing that I discovered that the aunt isn’t sitting back and letting the police handle shit.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Celeste Malcolm is a court reporter for Judge Fontana here in Cherokee County. She’s been hounding the cops about what they’ve discovered, which is nothing.
That’s not good enough for her. She’s gone to speak to some of the ones who were there that night.
She grilled one of them, a young woman named Vanessa.
It seems Capri went to that party with Vanessa, and they got separated.
Then the woman left the party without knowing where Capri had gone.
“Celeste Malcolm is livid. She’s been told by the cops to back off, but she’s not.
They’ve threatened to arrest her. She told them to go for it.
If they couldn’t fucking do the job, she would.
Those are direct quotes from the report the cops filed.
Not only does she have a connection to Judge Fontana, but his lawyer daughter, Lucia, is representing the niece. ”
“Why does the niece need a lawyer?” I asked.
“Because the aunt doesn’t trust the cops not to treat her as if she’s a criminal and did something wrong.
Lucia Fontana has a reputation for being a barracuda.
Her dad, when guilty verdicts are upheld, seeks the maximum sentence he can impose.
He’s a hardass. The feeling I get is that if the cops don’t figure this out, Celeste won’t stop until she finds the rapist or rapists.
At this point, they have no idea if more than one person was involved.
The rape kit came back negative for semen, so whoever it was wore a condom.
But it was clear that she had been raped.
And to make it worse, she was a virgin. Gotta say, I admire the aunt.
I just worry that she might get herself hurt going after the guilty party,” Wire finished.
I heard the admiration in his tone. Eliana was nodding. “That sounds like Celeste. She’s had a hard life, and she doesn’t back down. She and Capri are survivors. It’s been the two of them against the world for years.”
Our conversation attracted the others. They had come over and stood surrounding us, listening to what Wire and now Eliana had to say. Elaina’s last statement caught my attention.
“What do you mean they’ve had hard lives and are survivors?”
Eliana scanned the group around us before answering me.
“When Celeste was nineteen, her older brother and his wife were killed in a freak flash flood.
Luckily, their daughter, Capri, who was ten at the time, had stayed with her aunt while they were gone.
It was a business trip for her dad. Her mom went along to spend time with him.
“That flood wiped out all of Celeste’s family except her niece.
At nineteen, despite being barely an adult, in college, and working, she chose to raise her niece as her brother had wanted.
They struggled, but still they made it. Celeste finished school and became a stenographer.
Capri is a junior in college. Her aunt pays for her schooling despite the strain it puts on their finances.
“Anyone threatening or harming Celeste’s only family better watch out. She gives me the impression that she has no problem pursuing justice, however she can. Working for the court system doesn’t change that. I admire them and feel terrible that they’re suffering like this.”
Every word Eliana said about the unknown Celeste made me more curious and driven to meet her and to find the ones responsible for harming her niece.
No matter how driven she was to do it herself, as a man and a Pagan, I couldn’t allow her to do it.
She could be harmed, and that would destroy her niece.
“I want to meet her. Do you think you could get her and possibly her niece to come to Promises so I can? I’d like to speak to them, find out what the aunt knows, and then I’ll let her know that the club will be working on this.
There’s no reason for her to do it. She might endanger herself and her niece,” I informed her and Agony.
“What did we miss? I didn’t hear the beginning. What’s up?” Twisted, our treasurer, asked.
“Well, shit, I guess I’ll tell you all now, since you’re all here and nosey.” Agony grinned, then he launched into a short retelling of what Wire shared with me and what Eliana had told us. When he was finished, the group was restless and muttering. None of them was happy.
“I’ll help Hulk with whatever he needs. It’s not right that they have to go through this alone or potentially put themselves in danger,” Mace stated.
There were more comments like his until Agony brought them to a close.
“Alright, I hear you. Eliana will see if she can get Celeste to meet with us. Since so many want to help and meet them, do you think you could get them to come here? If not, we’ll meet wherever they’re most comfortable,” Agony told his old lady.
“I’ll try. If they won’t meet everyone here, then I’ll see if they’ll accept meeting a few of us. You’re kinda overwhelming one-on-one, let alone as a pack.”
Her remarks, said with no sting, got us teasing her not to be afraid of us. It was laughter that ended the discussion, but the seriousness of it still lingered in our minds, especially mine.