Chapter 11 Badger
ELEVEN
BADGER
I slammed the door to Chief’s office just as Buddha and Arrow sat down. Chief slowly took off his glasses and placed them down on his desk when he saw the fury in my eyes. Before he could speak, I began to yell at the boys for their stupidity.
“First of all, who the fuck do you think you are disclosing my personal information, like my past and my name, to someone?”
Both men avoided my gaze before Aaron opened his mouth to speak. I cut him off, shaking a finger in his face while I yelled.
“No, I’m not finished yet! Second, how about we don’t piss off the Mob while I’m undercover?
” I took a short breath and held my clenched fists at my sides.
“And three! I know you are just looking out for me, but if you ever do that shit again, I will rip your dicks off with my bare hands and shove them up your asses with no lube! Have I made myself clear?”
Both men looked at me sheepishly before saying, in unison, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Now, before I change my mind about ripping your dicks off, get the fuck out of here.”
I had never seen them move so fast as they ran out of the office and closed the door.
Behind me, I heard a whistle. “Well, that was, um, interesting.”
I rolled my eyes and sat in the chair across from Chief, running my hands through my hair. Today was not the day that I needed this to happen. Not when it was the anniversary of my sister’s kidnapping.
“Chief, I’m not in the mood.”
Chief regarded me with a somber expression. He knew what today was—three years, to the day, since Lily was kidnapped, and we were no closer to finding her than we’d been in the beginning.
“I was actually just about to come find you. Are you okay? I know today is not an easy day for you, being the anniversary—”
“Please, don’t go there.”
Tears filled my eyes. It was not often I cried, nor was it often I let anyone see me be vulnerable, but it was different with Chief. He was like a father to me, even though he was only ten years older.
My mind went back to a time before the kidnapping.
I walked into the filthy 500-square-foot apartment. Mold grew on the walls, and bed bugs infested the living space due to the neighbors. Dad was passed out on his chair.
I padded down the dimly lit hallway to mine and Lily’s room.
Upon opening the door, I was greeted with Lily’s watery eyes as she scratched at the bed bug bites on her arms and legs.
She ran to me and embraced me. She had lost weight, too much weight for a growing young girl.
But what could I do? I was already working myself to death, working fifteen-hour days.
I needed to do something. We couldn’t go on like this.
I ran my fingers through her hair, soothing her cries. She didn’t need to say anything. I knew what was wrong. I hated this life for her and for myself. I took in her familiar scent, which soothed me.
“Let’s get some food in that belly and run a bath.”
She looked up at me, her cheeks wet, and nodded. I made some mac and cheese from a box and made sure that Lily ate as much as she needed before I took some.
“Jessie, you need to eat too,” she complained as she brought another mouthful of noodles to her mouth.
“I’ll eat later, Peanut.”
Lily gave me a determined look and scooped a spoonful of noodles, holding it out to me. My traitorous stomach growled, making me cave and take the bite. It was the first thing I’d eaten in almost twenty-four hours. After several back-and-forth comments with Lily, I finally shared the bowl with her.
After we ate, I began to draw a bath. It was the one area I could keep clean and free of filth.
I always made sure to have Epsom salt, oatmeal soaks, and essential oils in the bathroom for when Lily was sick or hurting.
Her arms were covered in red, angry bite marks, signaling that this was a time that I needed to use those items.
The scent of oatmeal, chamomile, and lavender filled my nostrils, bringing my stress level down a smidge.
As Lily played in the bath, I sat on the toilet next to her and took my hair out of the tight bun it had been in all day.
My long blonde locks fell over my shoulders and down to my lower back.
It felt good to let down my hair and just be in the moment with my favorite person on the planet.
Once Lily was out of the tub and dried off, I began brushing her long brunette hair on our shared bed. Her hair was thick and smooth in my fingers.
“Do you think we will have a happily ever after, Jessie?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Her question stabbed me right in the gut. She was old enough to know we were not in a good position.
“Absolutely, Peanut,” I said with conviction.
One week later, my world shattered when she was kidnapped.
Chief’s office came back to the forefront of my vision as I found my way out of the flashback in my mind. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Chief stood up, rounded his desk, and wrapped his arms around me.
“We will find her, I promise. And you know I don’t promise anything.”
I knew he was just trying to comfort me; I was in no place to believe what he was saying. It had been three years. And now, with all everything I knew about Anthony Ricci and his involvement with the sex trade, there was no way that I could believe that Lily hadn’t been put up for sale.
I stood up and got out of Chief’s embrace. “Cancel my classes tonight, please?”
He gave me an understanding nod before I walked out of the office.
I needed to work out some of this anger, so I decided to go for a run.
Running was my go-to coping method when I got worked up.
Running, or dominating a man in bed. An image flashed across my mind—a tattooed, sculpted body and a pierced cock.
I pushed the thought away just as I bumped into a wall of muscle.
My breath whooshed out of my chest from the impact. I looked up, and surprised hazel eyes met mine. He steadied me with both hands on my shoulders.
“Shit, sorry,” I grumbled as I moved out of his reach. I didn’t want to meet his eyes again, knowing the evidence of my tears would be evident.
Machine clearly noticed; his eyes narrowed and his brows pinched.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his tone pained.
I took in his broad, inked shoulders, showcased in a cut-off T-shirt, and his toned, muscular legs in basketball shorts. He looked delicious. I cursed myself for thinking so. This man was a pain in my ass. There was no way I could find him attractive.
“I’m fine, just going for a run,” I said in a clipped tone.
He raised the eyebrow that had a scar running through it and smiled. “Oh, me too.”
God, please no, I wasn’t in the mood for this weird back-and-forth dance. “Machine, right now is not a good time.”
“What if I just wanted to run with you?” he said seriously.
I fought back the tears that threatened to spill again and looked up at the sky.
“I don’t have the energy to argue with you today.” I pointed at him. “We are only running, no talking.”
Machine mimed zipping his lips. “Lead the way, Badger.”
I furrowed my brow when he didn’t call me Bunny.
“What?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing, let’s go.”
I took off, not giving him time to respond. We ran several miles before stopping in Central Park to get a drink from a food truck and rest. Machine had kept up with me the whole time without breaking a sweat. He really was a machine—in more ways than one.
After getting our waters, which Machine had insisted on paying for, we sat down on the nearest bench. After a few moments, Machine spoke up again.
“We ran, now do you want to talk about it, Jessie?”
“Don’t call me that!” I snapped at him.
No one had called me Jessie since my sister had been taken, and hearing it on his lips brought fresh tears to my eyes. I tried to shut off my spiraling thoughts to no avail.
Machine put his hands up in mock surrender.
“Let’s try this again. Hi, my name is Evan.” He stuck out his hand. “What’s yours?”
I hit him with a ‘are you fucking kidding me’ look.
“Really?” he asked, raising the scarred eyebrow.
I growled before responding. “Jessica.”
He looked down at his outstretched hand and then back up at me expectantly. I took it. It was callused, warm, and engulfed mine. The air seemed to crackle around us. I quickly pulled my hand away.
“Pleased to meet you, Jessica.” He dropped his hand onto his thigh. No jokes, no jabs, just silence. I wasn’t sure how to take in this new Machine, or Evan.
We moved to the grass and began to stretch. After a few silent minutes, Machine spoke up.
“Kade and I used to come here a lot when we were younger.” When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Such a peaceful place when you need it to be. Although we did have our moments of getting in plenty of trouble, as you can imagine.”
I gave a nod before responding. “Same, I used to come here with my sister.”
It was the first time in a long time that I had admitted to having a sister to anyone who didn’t already know. Instead of questioning me, Machine simply nodded his head and continued to stretch his hamstrings.
“How’s your head feeling?” he asked with a hint of concern.
“Fine. Not like I’m not used to pains in my life.”
Without missing a beat, Machine responded. “Some pain reminds us that we are still alive.”
He wasn’t looking at me when he said this. Instead, a haunted expression crossed his face. I nodded, not sure what to say to that.
“Race you back to your place?” he asked with his signature smirk. It almost made me question the haunted look I had seen only moments before. I nodded before taking off.
We got to the women’s shelter in record time, me beating Machine by a hair. We both panted, doubled over, resting our hands on our thighs as we caught our breath. Taped to the door that led up to the apartment was a white envelope with my name on the front in messy handwriting.
I furrowed my brows as I grabbed it and pulled out the contents. I gasped. A picture was accompanied by messy handwriting that said:
SHE’S ALL MINE. STOP LOOKING OR ELSE.
I fell to my knees as I took in the image. My sister sat on a metal chair in a simple white nightgown. Her long brown hair now lay flat against her face and went down to her hips. She looked older, but there was no denying it was Lily. Tears filled my eyes. Evan came over to me.
“What’s going on?”
I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t think, all I could hear was ringing in my ears.
I needed to call my team. I needed Zombie to run forensics on the envelope.
Ignoring Machine’s question, I shook myself out of the daze and grabbed my phone to call Zombie, explaining that he was needed.
I didn’t go into detail, not wanting to give away too much to Machine.
“Don’t touch anything! I’ll be right there,” Zombie said sternly through the phone before cutting the call.