Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
TRIXIE
The pool table where they’d taken me is off to one side of the room.
When they first leave me, my mind blanks out.
Fast coming to my senses, I ignore the soreness in my pussy and ass.
Pulling up my panties, straightening my skirt, and ensuring my top contains the girls, I examine my surroundings, noticing there’s a corridor behind me.
Having seen no sign of Ace or Toni so far, I decide to explore.
Making sure no one is watching me, I sidle off into the hallway.
Now I’m here, I’m unsure of my next move.
I’m faced with two doors off to either side, and it’s not like I can just call out, “Ace, are you in there?” If the wrong person is inside, that would be the end of me.
Driven only by intuition, I walk on, pausing to see if I can hear voices.
As Toni wasn’t partying in the clubroom, I hope she could be somewhere here with her nephew, and hopefully watching out for him and sharing my view that Ace shouldn’t be subjected to the depravity at the party I’d just left.
My simple plan is, if I hear her and Ace, I’ll note the location and inform Freak via the communication device. I can’t afford to have her recognise me.
Maybe she’s not even on the premises. She might have dropped Ace off and disappeared.
But while I hate the woman for how she treated Freak, though she’d tricked Ace and brought him here, I’d seen with my own eyes how much she cared for her nephew.
I have no idea what she thought she was doing.
How the fuck could she think this place and this MC were a better environment for him than with the Kings?
Oh, how I wish I had my phone with me. The tracker app would have pinpointed Ace’s location, but all I’ve got is the vague positioning last time I’d looked at it, and to be honest, since I’ve come inside, I’ve become disoriented.
I come to a set of metal industrial stairs.
Slipping out of my shoes and carrying them, I ascend silently.
This was obviously the business part of the old warehouse, and it hasn’t been adapted for the club.
The old offices still have glass windows, though inside each of the first couple, I can see belongings and a cot.
Prospect accommodation? Probably. But that’s none of my concern.
I’ve got to locate Ace. I move onward, further into the building, all too well aware I’m leaving my escape route behind me.
I get a deep sense of unease, and thoughts go through my head of how this could all go wrong.
What if Toni had found the tracker I’d thought I’d hidden so carefully?
What if they’d taken the jacket to lure the Kings here?
It could mean Ace is hundreds of miles away from this location, and I’ve been tricked.
I shiver as my blood turns to ice. I could have failed Ace, failed Freak, and what’s worse, could have led all the Kings into a trap.
They could be rounding them up outside right now, though, at least, I haven’t heard any gunshots.
I seriously doubt this place has been soundproofed.
Reminding myself I entered of my own free will, knowing the risks fully, I can do nothing more than proceed with my mission as planned.
Moving carefully just in case someone other than the person I’m seeking is within one of the glass-fronted rooms, I carry on, only halting when voices come from the end of the corridor.
Quickly looking for a place to hide if I were to hear footsteps coming toward me, I try the door of one of the offices.
It’s locked. Anxious, I try another. Again, entry requires a key.
Starting to hyperventilate, I feel a panic attack coming on, sink to the floor, and start breathing slowly in, holding my breath, then letting the air out on a deep exhale.
I do this again and again until my heart rate starts to slow.
I’m not cut out to be a spy, I think ruefully as my senses return to me.
I’m not very intelligent either, as I should have realised I’d have heard footsteps by now if anyone was approaching.
The voices come again, a low male mumbling something I can’t quite interpret, then an impassioned louder voice shouting, “No, you can’t make me.”
It’s Ace. Quickly checking I’m still alone, I speak as loud as I dare, again hoping like fuck they can pick up what I’m saying.
“I’ve found him. He appears to be in the end office on the second floor.
” I think hard, trying to mentally retrace my footsteps, and remembering the layout of the clubroom.
At the top of the staircase, I’d turned right, hadn’t I?
Which must put me directly above the clubroom.
To make sure I’m right, I put my ear to the floor.
Yes! I can just hear music from the party below.
“It’s above the clubroom. I’m going to see if I can tell who’s in there with him. He’s not alone.”
And maybe to find something that will help the Kings.
I crouch low, staying close to the wooden partition, so I’m not visible to anyone looking out of the glass windows above it.
The voices get louder as I approach, but I pass them, hoping I’m right in thinking there has to be another way out of here. An exit can also be a way in.
The corridor doesn’t end. It just turns a corner, but there, I spy a different type of door. One that is clearly marked Fire Exit.
“There’s a fire door here.” I pull the scrunchy off, letting my hair cascade around my shoulders, extract the device, and now speak into it. “I can’t tell if it’s alarmed, but if you want to enter that way, I can stay and open it. I’m going to check on Ace now.”
Holding the tiny earpiece tight in my hand, I go back a few steps to where the voices were loudest.
Unsure whether the tiny mic will be able to pick up the voices inside, but hoping it will, I crouch low against the three-foot-high solid partition and take a deep breath.
Then, slowly, I edge my fingers higher and place the device on the edge of the window frame, snug to the glass.
Mission accomplished, I retrieve my hand fast, fold back down to my knees, and hold my breath. I listen hard.
“You should be fuckin’ grateful your aunt rescued you. That club your father’s in? Worst of the fuckin’ worst. They stole from us, kid. They murdered our brothers, mowed them down like animals.”
“You’re wrong.” Ace is obviously trying to sound firm, but his voice unintentionally rises on the last word. In other circumstances, I’d have found evidence of his voice reverting to how it sounded before it broke amusing, but now I just feel for him. He’s still a child, not a man.
“I want you to log into the Kings’ systems. I know you fuckin’ can.”
“Candy, he’s clever, but I think that might be beyond him.” It’s Toni.
“Shut your mouth, Sis. I know the brat’s got crazy skills. He can probably hack into the Pentagon and get the launch codes for nuclear missiles. Am I right, kid?”
I hold my breath. Ace, it’s no time to boast now. Luckily, Ace realises that as well. “No, I can’t,” Ace quavers. “And anyway, that wouldn’t be right.”
“Wouldn’t be fuckin’ right? You got smarts, boy, you fuckin’ use them. Use them for me right now.”
“I can’t, Pippa told me…”
“Who the fuck’s Pippa? Some goddamn uptight teacher who’s never been fucked? Whatever, I don’t care. You fuckin’ belong to me now, and you’re going to do whatever I tell you to do.” There’s a pause, then, “If not, you’re going to regret it.”
“You want to bet?” Ace bravely retorts.
There’s another moment of silence during which I bite my lip, drawing blood. Then I hear the sound of a fist hitting flesh, followed by a piercing scream. I start to rise, then think better of it. What the fuck can I do? I’m unarmed and just a woman. But Ace is getting hurt. I can’t bear it…
“Candy, stop!” a voice wails loudly. “Why did you hit me?”
Thank fuck it wasn’t Ace who’s hurt. It was Toni. Although her voice was higher-pitched than I’ve ever heard it, I’d recognise it anywhere.
Candy ignores her pleas. “See, Ace? I don’t need to touch you. I can torture your aunt until you obey.”
“Why are you doing this, Candy? I believed everything you said about Freak and the Kings, and believed you were going to keep me and Ace safe.”
A roar of male laughter reaches me. “You stupid slut. You believed me when I told you I was your half-brother.” At his words, I hear a loud female gasp.
“Persuading you to bring the boy here? Like taking fuckin’ candy from a baby.
Candy, huh? Good that, yeah?” He continues to laugh, presumably at his own joke.
“But… but you said my dad was your father, that he met your mom before he met mine. Candyman, I believed you.” Her voice sounds distraught. “No, you couldn’t, you didn’t lie to me.”
“Stupid bitch. Thank fuck we’re not related. I wouldn’t want to share blood with an imbecile like you.”
“You lied to me!” Toni screeches. “You persuaded me Ace wasn’t safe where he was. You said he’d be safer here.”
“I wasn’t fuckin’ lying, bitch,” Candyman yells, and I hear another slap against flesh.
“Freak’s a fuckin’ freak. How d’you think he got that road name?
He’s no fuckin’ good for the boy.” His voice lowers, his tone becomes cajoling.
“But you and I, Ace, we’re going to get along famously, aren’t we?
” Now his words sound hardened. “As long as you do what I tell you.”
“I’m not hacking into the Kings’ databases.” Ace now sounds forceful, determined, but then it’s a child’s plaintive cry of protest that reaches my ears, followed quickly by a woman’s screech of pain.
“You broke my arm!” Toni screams.
“Tell the boy to do what I want, or I’ll break the other one,” Candyman threatens.