Celeste Chapter 4 #3
For those big enough, we shook their hands.
All the children were cute, and you could see how they would look when they were all grown up.
Arif and Aliya, who were teenagers, were stunning.
Based on their names and appearance, I guessed they were of Arabic heritage.
Arif stood taller than his sister, so I wasn’t sure which one was the seventeen-year-old.
As soon as that was out of the way, we were told to relax and asked what we wanted from the bar.
One of the prospects, Leon, came to the table.
He ran through the list of sodas available.
We settled on Sprite for me, and Capri asked for lemonade.
From there, some of the others put in orders, but several already had drinks in their hands.
I watched as the other members brought chairs from different tables to encircle ours. It seemed they were all eager to get to know us, or maybe to hear what we had to say in response to the question we were here to answer.
I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent in the air. It was food, and from the smell of it, excellent food. My stomach growled softly. I hadn’t eaten anything for lunch.
Capri leaned over and whispered to me, “Something sure smells good. I hope we eat soon. I’m hungry.”
I sagged in relief. She hadn’t been hungry since the incident. It was hard to get her to eat much at all. To hear that she was hungry, I was relieved.
“We’ll serve dinner soon. However, first, we wanted to take the opportunity to get to know you. Eliana already does, but not the rest of us,” Agony clarified.
“That sounds wonderful. What about the question or whatever it was that you wanted to ask us that Eliana mentioned? Do you want to do that now?” I asked.
“No, we’d like to wait until after dinner if that’s alright with you. You don’t have anywhere to be tonight, do you?” Dare asked.
“No, we only planned to come here, and then it was back home for us,” I explained.
“Good, then we can chat and get to know each other. I warn you, these guys aren’t very couth, but none of them bite. We, ladies, are much more mannerly than they are,” Natalya said, grinning.
Her remark caused a slight uproar among the men.
As they argued and tried to defend themselves, they made me smile, but it was Capri’s reaction that stunned me.
She burst out laughing at their crazy antics, which seemed to make them act even more outrageous.
By the time our drinks came, she had tears in her eyes from laughing.
I had a few in mine from seeing her happy.
Over this past month, I began to worry that she might never be happy again.
Sure, she tried to fake it, but I knew it was fake—another reason to hate whoever did this to her.
They had dimmed her inner light. I wanted it back.
Light banter and general getting-to-know-you talk progressed the night for us. In no time, it was time to serve dinner. Although they protested and stated we were guests, Capri and I still insisted on helping to get things together.
It was a sight to behold when these hulking, tattooed badasses got in line for food.
But before that, Capri and I were pushed to the head of the line, followed by the old ladies and kids.
It was only after all the women and children had been served that the men got theirs.
I hadn’t expected them to have manners like that.
After eating our fill, we were seated at a table when the chairs were pulled out, and bodies began dropping into them.
Glancing up, I noted it was Wire, Pyro, Nitro, and oh my God, Hulk.
He’d sat right next to me. My heart galloped.
I had to sternly lecture myself not to act like a schoolgirl, staring openly at him.
I inhaled deeply, taking in the enticing scent of him.
I didn’t know if it was the cologne or the bodywash he used, but it made me want to bury my nose in his neck and breathe.
Wouldn’t that have him running if I did that? I giggled inside.
“Capri, you mentioned you’re in college. Mind if I ask what you’re studying?” Nitro asked.
“I don’t mind. I’m a junior. I’m pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Financial Planning.
My dream is to become a financial analyst when I’m done.
I know most people think that sounds boring, but I like numbers.
I want to help people achieve financial stability when the time comes to retire or when they want to reach a goal, such as attending college. ”
“I don’t find that boring at all. We need you to talk to Twisted.
He’s our treasurer, and he tries to talk to us about those kinds of things.
We’re not good ears for him. He handles the club’s investments.
I bet he could teach you a lot, and vice versa.
That old dog needs to learn some new tricks, isn’t that right, Twisted?
” Wire shouted the last part, grabbing Twisted’s attention at another table.
“Isn’t what right?” Twisted yelled back.
“We’ve got someone you can talk money with and not bore to tears. And she might teach you some new tricks, old dog,” Wire taunted.
“Hot damn, someone who speaks my language. I’m coming. Hey, Storm, you wanna come with me?” he asked his old lady, Zari. Why had he called her Storm?
“Each old lady earns a nickname, too. If you peek at the front left of their property cuts, you’ll see it. Zari’s is Storm,” Pyro explained. He must’ve seen the puzzlement on my face.
“Thank you. There’s so much to learn about being in a club. Did it take you long to learn?” I asked him.
“Not very long, but we have to prove ourselves for the club to patch us in. That’s called the prospect stage.”
“That makes sense,” I replied.
I waited for Twisted and Zari to pull up chairs. As they did, Twisted began asking Capri about finance, and the rest shifted the conversation to me.
“What kind of work do you do? Finance?” Hulk asked.
The timber of his deep voice made things inside of me vibrate. I had to lick my lips to pry them fully open so I could answer him.
“Nothing like that. I’m a court reporter, a stenographer. I sit all day in courtrooms, listening to testimony and taking down the transcripts of those.”
“No offense, but doesn’t that get boring?” Nitro asked.
“Not boring. But there are times that we shouldn’t have someone in there because they’re innocent.
Or the lawyers are going after someone who deserves to pay for their actions.
They’re guilty, and they won’t miraculously reform.
They somehow end up getting off on a dumb technicality, or the jury thinks there’s not enough proof.
Even when they are found guilty, some end up with a joke of a sentence,” I spouted off before I thought to temper it.
My tone conveyed how disgruntled I felt.
Maybe not a good thing to let outsiders know.
“I’m right there with you. We can’t stand when people like that don’t get what they deserve,” Hulk said gruffly.
Our eyes met. He was sincere. Someone who understood. All I could do was nod.
Footsteps behind me made me turn to see who was joining us. It was Agony, Dare, and their wives. Eliana and Agony took the two empty chairs already at the table while Dare pulled two more over for him and Joli.
“We’d like to talk to you about why we asked you here tonight. Would that be okay?” Agony asked quietly.
For some reason, my stomach tightened. Their expressions were solemn when all this time they’d been smiling and filled mainly with humor.
Uh oh, what was this about? Capri’s hand came over to squeeze mine under the table.
I gave her an encouraging squeeze back. She stopped speaking to Twisted.
I slid back my chair, so there was more room between me and the table.
My niece did the same. A hand on my other arm made me jump.
Jerking my head sideways, I met Hulk’s gaze.
“Celeste, there’s nothing for either of you to be concerned about. We’re not here to hurt you. We just want to talk about what happened and the rumors we’re hearing. We want to help.”
“What exactly are you referring to?” I asked.
“Celeste, honey, I told Agony and the guys about what happened to Capri. They hadn’t heard it. I hated so much that such a terrible thing occurred. Let them explain,” Eliana pleaded.
Capri’s fingers flexed in mine. I glanced over to find she was staring down at the table.
“Go ahead.”
“When Eliana came home and told me what happened, I brought it to my guys. We don’t like hearing such things have happened in our town.
When they do, we try to prevent them from happening again and ensure that whoever is at fault is held accountable.
Upon discovering this terrible misfortune, we decided to learn what we could about it and what others in town were saying.
“We ran into a delay in doing so, due to problems in our businesses, but we’re back on track. Wire said that, to the best of his knowledge, the police hadn’t made any progress with their investigation. Is that true?” Agony asked.
“Yes, it’s true. They claim they’re still working the case, but with no witnesses and no physical evidence of who did this, they’re getting nowhere. Capri doesn’t remember. Her bloodwork showed she was drugged with a date rape drug that made her forget everything,” I said.
“It’s all blank. I remember talking to a few girls and then nothing until I woke up later,” Capri told them quietly.
“And you have no clue who did it or how they got the drug into your system?” Dare asked.
“I assume it was in a bottle of water I was given. I know not to accept open containers from anyone. The water I was given was completely sealed. The cap’s seal hadn’t been broken. It’s the only reason I drank it when it was given to me,” she added.
“Okay, who gave you the water?” Agony inquired.
“One of the three girls I was talking to. It started with it being just one girl, and then the other two joined. Not long after they did, one went to get more to drink and asked if I wanted anything. I was thirsty, so I asked for water, knowing it would be bottled. When she brought it back, I carefully examined it before opening and drinking any. We continued to talk, and not long after that is when it all goes blank,” Capri finished explaining.
“We heard that you hadn’t gone there alone,” Hulk said.
“You heard right. The party was for a girl I go to college with. I don’t know her well, but a friend of mine from school, Vanessa, does. She kept begging me to go with her so she wouldn’t have to be there alone. Eventually, I gave in. She drove us.” Capri stopped there.
“Where was she when you were drugged and hurt?” Nitro asked gruffly.
I took over for her. I knew it was hard for her to retell it in front of so many.
“No one knows. After they arrived, at some point, Vanessa left Capri alone to find more to drink. She never came back. Capri kept searching for her and then eventually ended up talking to those three girls. According to Vanessa, she couldn’t find Capri after she got the drinks, but we don’t know why.
My niece stayed in the same spot for a good half hour before she went searching.
And then, according to Vanessa, she left the party.
Her exit supposedly happened before a couple found Capri. She’s holding something back.”
“Why do you say that?” Wire asked.
“What person who claims to be a friend leaves that friend at a party or doesn’t raise the alarm when she doesn’t find them?
Then, when she hears that her friend was assaulted, she doesn’t come to the hospital or even call to see how she is.
And when I called, texted, and left voice messages on both Capri’s and my phones, Vanessa didn’t return any of them.
“So after a few days of that and the police saying they spoke to her and she knew nothing, I went to her house. She tried to tell me she had looked and asked around, but when no one said they had seen Capri, she left. Oh, she did say that a guy at the party claimed to have seen Capri leave with another guy. I told her I knew she was lying or holding back, and that I’d find out why, even if it took me years.
She’s been warned not to attempt any contact with Capri,” I snarled.
Thinking of Vanessa made my blood boil every time.
“And that’s it? There was no trace evidence, DNA, nothing?” Wire asked.
“According to the police, no. We don’t know if there was more than one attacker. They left no evidence behind,” I admitted, trying to be as delicate as possible. Capri was still hanging her head. I wanted to scream and punch something, or more like someone.