Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
BAILEY
Leon’s phone buzzes against my thighs as we idle at a red light. He answers through the Bluetooth helmet. The one that actually fits him, not the spare he was trying to wear. I wouldn’t have any of that. He answers, and the voice comes through loud enough for me to hear.
“Sorry, mate. I checked around and no one’s seen your old man anywhere. Wish I had better news for you.”
Leon utters a quick thanks and ends the call by the time the light turns green.
That’s the third dead end in an hour. First his half brother, then some contact named Abel, and now whoever that was. I can feel the tension radiating through Leon’s shoulders as he speeds through the intersection.
His phone buzzes again almost immediately. This time it announces Falin’s name through the caller ID.
“Tell me you have something,” Leon says without a greeting.
“I do, actually.” Falin’s voice crackles loudly through the helmet speaker. “I was able to track them through a bunch of traffic cameras heading southeast from your mum’s place. I’ll text over the address where I lost them. Maybe the area will look familiar.”
“Good work,” Leon says, sounding relieved for the first time today. “Send it through.”
His phone vibrates again almost immediately, and he pulls over at the next safe spot. With his bike balanced, he checks the message.
“Ring any bells?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Not the address, but maybe once we get there something will stand out.”
“Worth a shot,” I say. We’re running out of options.
I hold on tight as he pulls back into traffic, navigating through the busy London streets with ease.
As we ride, I try to enjoy the scenery of this new city, but anxiety is a bitch.
I keep thinking about what we might find.
There’s no way to prepare myself mentally for the possibilities, so counting each road sign while enjoying the breeze on my exposed skin, helps to keep it at bay.
Leon needs me to be focused right now, and I’ll be strong for him.
And oddly, being focused on finding his mom is keeping me from thinking about my own situation. It’s exactly what I need right now.
Twenty or so minutes later, we reach the address Falin gave us. It’s a quiet residential area. The streets are lined with gorgeous newly renovated Georgian-style townhouses, their perfectly painted white facades gleam in the afternoon sun.
Leon slows, winding through street after street, all looking almost exactly the same.
Until I see the park. It’s small—just a few benches situated under lush green trees.
But directly across from it is a row of townhouses with identical black doors.
The golden knockers set off an alarm bell in my mind.
“Leon, stop,” I say, loud enough for him to hear me.
He immediately pulls over, flipping up the visor on his helmet to study my expression. “What is it?”
I stare at the familiar iron railings around the park’s perimeter, then the small stone fountain in the middle.
The memory comes back, clear as day. I’d watched the people in the park going about their afternoon through the car window, hoping someone would see me and offer help.
“I know this place. He brought me here once. With Polly. There were other men with him… and King.”
He cuts the engine and removes his helmet. “Do you remember anything else about the exterior?”
I try to remember. There was the park out my window… but how far away was the entrance? Where did we park the car?
“I wish I did, but they all look the same,” I tell him.
“That’s alright. Let’s take a look around, see if any of the cars parked match his license plate.” He helps me off the bike, then holds my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re up for this? You can stay right here. Or I can bring you to a cafe nearby? Whatever you’d like.”
“I’m fine, really.” I remove my own helmet, my hands steadier than I expected. “If anything changes, I’ll tell you.”
His eyes search my face, but I keep my expression steady and determined.
“Okay. I trust you.”
We walk along the sidewalk, well aware of the stakes if I’m wrong about this. But I know in my gut that I was here before. There’s this feeling running through my blood, like déjà vu but not the good kind.
We take one pass from the park to the end of the street and Leon doesn’t find the matching car that Alfred was driving this morning. So we walk slower and I take my time scanning each identical black door. He’s quiet beside me, giving me space to take in all the details.
And there, three houses down from the park, I notice a scratch in the paint near the brass mail slot. I remember staring at it while I waited for Sir to unlock the door.
“This one,” I say, feeling both proud and terrified.
Leon squeezes my hand gently. “That’s great, love. We should call the others, wait for them to come—”
“No. By the time they get here, it might be too late. Besides, if Alfred sees a group of people coming, he might...” I don’t want to finish that thought. With Sir, I wouldn’t be surprised if he threatened Leon’s mom with violence.
Leon checks his phone and types out a quick message. “I’m telling them where we are, at least. I know Falin’s probably tracking us but if something goes wrong—”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” I interrupt, surprised by the conviction in my own voice.“We’re going to find her, and we’re going to get her out.”
“Together?” he asks, his lips tipping in a proud smile.
“Together.”
“You know the drill,” he says as he fumbles with the lock. “Stay behind me, and if anything happens you run.”
“You can pick locks?” I ask, ignoring his repetitive warning.
“Yeah, although not as well as Falin, but she showed me a trick or two.” He wiggles something into the lock, like a pin or metal clip, and after a few minutes of him cursing under his breath, it clicks open.
“Maybe we should have rang the bell?” I ask, partly joking.
He huffs a laugh, shaking his head until we cross the threshold, then he’s all business.
My body recoils as soon as I recognize the interior.
The gleaming white walls covered in expensive artwork, the concrete floors.
The smell of leather and cigar smoke still lingering. I cover my mouth and quietly retch.
The air feels too thick and the walls too close. My chest starts to tighten, that familiar suffocating feeling creeping in. But I focus on Leon’s back, on the steady way he walks through the room, and it helps calm me.
Breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth.
“Hello?” Leon calls. “Mum? Are you here?”
There’s no response. I point, directing him toward the small bedroom that Sir locked me in that day.
The door’s wide open, the room empty. It looks exactly the same as I remember, even down to the fold on the comforter. I glance toward the en suite bathroom and remember Polly brushing my hair. How scared she was, but how strong.
I grab onto Leon’s hand for comfort and he doesn’t hesitate to wrap his fingers around mine. “You with me?”
I nod, gripping his hand tighter. The warmth of his palm grounds me, pulls me back to the present. “I’m okay. Just... memories.”
“We can leave,” he says immediately. “Right now.”
“No.” I force strength into my voice. “We need to be sure.”
We search the rest of the small space quickly. It’s completely empty. Not one sign of a recent visitor.
“We must have missed him,” Leon says. He drops his other hand from where it was lingering on his gun. “Fuck.”
“He’s playing with us,” I say. “I can just picture his face.”
Leon sighs deeply and brings my hand up to his lips, planting a quick kiss. “Let’s get out of this place.”
Thank God.
The longer I spend in here, the more I replay every feeling from that day. The fear but more than that, the humiliation and shame.
On our way back to the bike I ask, “Do you think he stopped here to pick something up?”
“Yeah, most likely. Although, I have no idea what.” We reach the bike and he holds out my helmet. “I know it’s difficult, but when you were there with him, did he say what the visit was for? Or anything that would show what he used that townhouse for?”
I hesitate, holding the helmet against my chest. “I was locked in that bedroom for most of the time.”
His face falls. “Fuck, I’m sorry for asking.”
“No, it’s okay. Let me think.” As much as I hate replaying the memories, I need something.
All I remember is Sir saying he wanted to show me off.
That I should consider it homework. But from what it seemed, the home didn’t just belong to him.
Something about the comfortability of the other men.
They didn’t seem like guests, more like they owned the place too.
“I’d bet he had something incriminating there.
Maybe paperwork, or files. It seemed to me like it was a neutral place where they talked business. ”
The final word comes out bitter. Business. God, I hate them.
“In this nice neighborhood?” Leon says. “So fucked up.”
“You don’t know the worst of it.”
I can tell he’s trying to work out exactly what to say to me to make me feel better, although words aren’t what I need. Not yet at least. I need to be doing something. To feel like I’m helping, even if it’s in the smallest way.
His phone buzzes with a text and he looks away to read it.
“It’s Falin. She said it took her a while but she tracked the plate number again. Heading northwest.” A cloud moves to cover the sun and his eyes seem to darken. “Toward the estate.”
I had a feeling it would come to this. The words that spill out of me probably sound desperate or hurt, but I guess that’s because I’m both of those things.
All this time, I’ve been trying to understand the motives of these terrible men.
It’s like some part of my brain won’t accept that they’re just doing this because they can. “What does he want?”
Leon takes the helmet and sets it on the bike seat to free my hands. Then he holds them, so gently, as he looks me in the eyes. The gesture is like a living, breathing anti-anxiety medicine.
“I can’t begin to understand the mind of monsters,” he says quietly, not breaking eye contact.
“But I know this is about punishing me. For taking you away from him. For destroying his home. For making him look weak. For screwing up his plans.” His jaw clenches.
“He’s using my mum to get to me, and he’s using that place to get to you. ”
“What will happen when we get there? What will he do?”
“Nothing good,” Leon answers. “I should bring you home. You shouldn’t go back there.”
I close my eyes for a second and remember Polly bleeding out in those woods. He’s right, I shouldn’t go back there. In fact, my skin crawls thinking about crossing those iron gates again. But when I open them again, I know I’d never leave Leon’s side.
“I know,” I say, reaching for my helmet. “But I’m going to anyway.”
Leon stares at me for a long moment, war brewing behind his eyes. “You’re sure?”
I climb onto the bike, waiting for him to join me. “I’m done letting people fuck with me and my family. She’s your family, which makes her mine.”
He nods, climbs on, and starts the engine. Before pulling away he types on his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Telling the others where we’re headed and to meet us there.” He puts the phone away and revs the engine. “I won’t be stupid this time. But I also won’t wait for them.”
As we merge into traffic, heading toward the countryside, I wrap my arms tighter around Leon’s waist. The sun is already low in the sky, peeking behind buildings. We should reach the estate by nightfall.
And when I cross those iron gates illuminated by the moonlight for the second time, I’ll be going by choice, ready to face that psycho asshole and anyone standing with him.
I may still be broken, but I’m not afraid anymore.