CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
-:- Paisley -:-
Sweat running down my back, I think I’ve lost twenty pounds with the stupid Sunday training I’ve been commanded to do. Yeah, I know I’m whining but flipping heck! It”s killing me with all this jogging, jumping around and fighting.
Jo looks as tired out as I feel. She is wet through with sweat, her hair stuck to her head. If she gets any redder in the face, I’m going to watch in case she passes out.
“Okay, let’s do some jumping jacks before we finish the session with a jog around the trail. We’ll do the small trail this morning since you’ve all worked so hard,” Chaos states and I’m ready to punch him in the face because he’s not even got a damn sweat on, or even a warm glow.
“Come on, Pais. Let’s get moving or Chaos and Wings will be on us and make us do more than we need to.” Jo grabs my arm and we start after the other women, who I have to say look pretty good even after the workout that we’ve just been through.
Carrie, Raven and Heather are in the front laughing as they jog. Kya, Winter and Gemmy are following them. Jo is with me and there is no sign of Star, who was supposed to be here but is noticeably missing along with Meat.
Now, Meat is another instructor, and he was around at breakfast as he was arguing with Bitty about someone touching his smoker. Maybe he and Star are in that damn treehouse doing something better than jogging around this compound!
Puffing hard, I stop and place my hands on my knees. I’m going to have to speak to TwoCents about all this because it’s not my thing. I’m okay with weapons, but jeez, jogging is just going to kill me.
“Come on, Pais, we’re nearly done,” Jo smirks, but she’s as tired as I am. She’s hardly jogging anymore. It’s more like walking, but lifting her knees high at the same time.
I set to jogging again, but we only manage a few feet before I trip on a root sticking out of the ground, fall hard and too tired to lift my arms, I hit the ground hard, banging my head in the process.
Stars, that’s what I’m seeing, stars and black dots. I can hear Jo asking if I’m okay, but that’s right before everything goes black.
“How long before she wakes up?” I hear, but it’s too far away to tell who is speaking.
Black…
“Stitch, when is she going to wake?”
Black…
“Come on, Pais, wake up now. It’s time to open those eyes.” TwoCents is asking me to wake up? How long have I been sleeping?
Black…
It’s silent and I’m straining my ears, but as yet nothing. Not even a clock ticking. Slowly I open my eyes a slit, and I notice I’m in our room.
Looking down, TwoCents has his head on the bed next to where he’s holding my hand. Why isn’t he in bed? Why is he sitting on a darn chair next to the bed? My mind is rushing around trying to find answers.
The door opens, and Mia steps in carrying a mug of something. She walks over and places the mug on the bedside table before shaking TwoCents” shoulder to wake him. I close my eyes and listen because I’m not sure what’s going on. What is the last thing I remember?
“Has she woken at all?” I hear Mia ask.
“No, but I wish to God she would.”
“She will, but she banged her head again. I hope it won’t have another negative effect on her. I really like Paisley, and we get along great. I’m here for anything you need.”
“Thank you, Mia. Jo keeps coming to check and brings me a cold drink and a sandwich. I think she feels bad because she was with her when she fell. But, it’s not Jo’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault. We all know when you trip and fall, it happens fast, and it’s just a shit that Pais banged her head again.”
Oh, okay, so that’s what happened. I search my memory and remember training, sweating and not enjoying it at all. We were nearly done when I tripped and fell. Shit. I remember. I remember being married before, getting information and having it in a diary, getting proof of what has been going on.
I shoot up to a sitting position, but my head explodes and I groan, gripping my head because it feels like it’s going to fall off my neck.
“Pais, Pais, steady now. I’m here. Let’s put some pillows behind you and then I can prop you up a little. Mia, go send Stitch up, please.”
I’m squinting because my head is aching, and I half open my eyes and look directly into TwoCents” eyes because he’s hovering so closely over me.
“Hi, Pais.” TwoCents gives me a small smile, and I frown because he looks worn out, black smudges under his eyes and his hair is a mess where he normally has everything perfectly in place.
“Hi.” I reach out and run my fingers through his hair, tidying it as I do. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Two days. Two fuckin’ days you were unconscious. Honest to God you can’t do that to me Pais, I thought you would never wake.”
“I remember…I remember everything.” I’m nearly whispering as I speak to TwoCents, but before he can say anything, the door flies open and Stitch, Mia and Jo run in.
For the next half an hour, I’m asked questions by Stitch while he checks my eyes, pulse, blood pressure, and goodness knows what else. All the while I watch TwoCents who is holding my hand every second he can, much to Stitch’s annoyance.
Jo is standing by the side of my bed, looking like she wants to cry. Jo and I have a friendship now and it’s a good one. We laugh at everything together, and I read her newest book manuscript, pointing out anything I find that could be classed as a problem or a spelling error. She has informed me I don’t need to play out the sex scenes as they have been thoroughly tested prior to and during the writing.
I can’t keep my eyes open, and although Stitch keeps speaking with TwoCents, I drift back to sleep, but I know that I’ll need to tell them everything I remember when I wake.
Later that afternoon, I’m out of bed thanks to Stitch giving me the go-ahead. I’m having a meeting with Axel in his office now that I’ve my memory back. I feel that it is only right that I tell them everything that I remember, because something in the back of my mind says someone is watching me, and they have been for a while.
Walking into Axel’s office with TwoCents behind me, I give a smile at each of the burly men waiting, and by burly men I mean Buzz, Drag, BS and Wings.
Taking a seat, I look at Axel. “I will tell you all that I can remember, but if you have questions maybe wait until I get it all out first. If that is okay?”
“That’s fine, Paisley. Take your time, no rush. We are gonna sit here and wait for you to get it all out.” Axel gives me a warm smile, which I have to say shows how handsome he is when he doesn’t have a scowl on his face.
I notice BS takes a pencil that is so small it’s a wonder he can hold it out of his pocket, and a small notepad. He licks the end of the pencil, then holds it over the notepad, ready to write whatever it is he thinks is noteworthy, I suppose.
“One day he’ll buy a new pencil, Paisley,” Buzz chuckles, and I realize I must have had a look on my face that betrayed my thoughts.
“Aw, shut the fuck up. I’ll get a new pencil when I can’t hold this one anymore. The world wastes far too much and I’ve had this pencil a long fuckin’ time. Anyway, I’ll not buy a new pencil. I’ll just take one out of TwoCents” office.”
I side-eye TwoCents and he’s grinning and shaking his head so he obviously has no issue with BS taking a pencil from his office when he needs one.
Taking a deep breath, I start to talk. “I married Senator Brooks for my father, who wanted me safe because he was dying. It was a decent marriage to start with, but I noticed things were not what they seemed. Oh, let me say that Maurice’s mother didn’t like me very much. She is a… hmmm… Let’s see how I can best describe her…A power-hungry monster. She likes to lord it over everyone, looking down her medically sculptured nose at everyone, like she’s smelled shit.”
“You didn’t like her then, Pais?” Wings grins.
“No, I didn’t. She was a horrible influence on Maurice and if he could flick her off, it would be better for him. According to her, I was a breeding machine, and it was time I started popping out babies so she could be a cultured grandmother. Not likely. I was not falling into the trap of getting pregnant so I snuck out and visited the free clinic, got a shot so I wouldn’t fall pregnant.” The satisfied grin that crosses my face has Axel chuckle, but he gives me a nod showing he agrees with my decision.
“I had a huge argument with Davinia, that’s his mother, about not wanting to have children right now, but when she persisted and Maurice just stood looking like a limp rag, I told him I wanted a divorce, walked out of the house and never went back.
“Knowing this was coming, I already had a rental apartment set up, with the information I wanted to take with me. I had clothes and everything I could need waiting, so it was easy to step away. The first call was to my lawyer to set the divorce in motion.
“Okay, that’s how the divorce came about. Now to tell you what I saw and heard. Maurice used to hold a lot of parties. They started off with his campaign buddies. Every three weeks or so, he’d hold these lavish parties for those that were donating funds to his campaigns and charities that he supported. Gradually they began to include more and more ‘businessmen’. I”ve never seen ‘businessmen’ with so many ‘associates’ that looked like bodyguards. Some of Maurice’s ‘aides’ looked the same.
“I got the impression that some of his campaign buddies had similar thoughts because fewer and fewer attended the parties. We had a huge pool room, or summerhouse, at the end of the pool. This was originally where the caterers would be based, but over time, they were relocated to the kitchen in the main house. Businessmen would disappear into the summerhouse for a while, and Maurice ‘strongly suggested’ that I stay away from there.
“I assumed that there was some sex trade being plied in there. I wasn’t happy about that sort of thing going on in my home. I know I hadn’t bought the place, but I was still Mrs. Senator Brooks, and I didn’t want any association with that shit. There were always ‘associates’ around the doors, so it was a while before I got the chance to sneak in and see for myself. It wasn’t sex trade though, at least as I thought of it, it was sex trafficking. Women were being bought by these so-called businessmen.
“When I snuck out the door, I got caught by one of Maurice”s aides. He took me straight to the house, locked me in a bedroom, and went for Maurice. Maurice was extremely angry that I’d been in the summerhouse, but I got the impression it wasn’t what I’d seen but the fact that I’d put myself in a very dangerous position.
“From that day on, I insisted that I either left the house for a couple of days while he held his party or he had me locked in my room. Each time he locked me in the room, I took a lot of photos through the window of everyone that went in that summerhouse.”
Stopping for a moment I ask TwoCents for a glass of water. Wings leans forward and hands me an unopened bottle of water. Thanking him and then taking a few small swallows, I continue.
“On one occasion that I was away for the party, I got to wondering how they got the women in and out. I’d certainly never suspected anything. I parked my SUV a couple of blocks away and crept back to see if I could see how they were doing it. A catering van pulled up, and several ‘servers’ in uniform got out, but they were accompanied by ‘associates’. So simply, hide them in plain sight. I made sure I took photos of this happening at other parties, too. My folder and hard drive were getting too big to keep around the house, so I had to come up with a safe place, hence another reason for the rental apartment. I got a safety deposit box at the bank too, where I kept a second digital copy of everything.
“It was one of these vans that I got angry about and rushed in to get the women to safety. They weren’t women, though; they were just young girls. Too young to be dragged into that sort of world. No woman should be dragged into a life like that, but these were just early teenage girls.”
“When one of the aides grabbed me and marched me into the house, I thought I was as good as dead. He literally dragged me to Maurice”s study, opened the door, and threw me in. As I fell to the floor, I saw Maurice with an FBI agent at his desk. There was a bag full of money and as I watched, Maurice slid it across to the FBI agent. Then everything went black after I felt a pinch in my neck.
“I woke up in my bed God knows how much later, and a short time after waking Maurice came in. It was later that same day that I had the argument with Davinia. That evening Maurice came to me with an idea for a divorce settlement.”
Finishing the bottle of water, I look at Axel, waiting for his reaction. Looking round the room, I see the same look of anger and disgust on every face.
TwoCents puts his arm around me and lifts my chin with a finger and thumb. “It’s not you they are angry with, Pais. It’s a shame that Senator Maurice Brooks isn’t in the room right now. We could put an end to his parties right here and now, without a second thought or moment of regret.”
Once I’ve told everything I can remember TwoCents takes me to the bar where I have a shot of something that burns all the way down to my stomach, ahhh…this is not something I usually do but after recalling everything, maybe a second of these hot shots would be a good idea!