Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Eloise
It takes me several minutes to calm down enough before I start tasting the sandwich I’m eating. It’s delicious, but Cannon dropped several bombs before we started eating.
I’m in a silent panic as I try to absorb his words. It’s a lot. Between the unusual lifestyle he enjoys and the fact that he’s inevitably going to track down my truths, I’m crumbling.
What do I have to lose? I’ve never committed a crime in my life. I’ve never even stolen a piece of candy. For as often as I was tossed around from one family to another in my childhood, I never misbehaved or gave anyone trouble. Yet…
When we finish lunch, Cannon takes me by the hand and guides me into the living room. He sits in a giant recliner and lifts me onto his lap so I’m sideways. “Do you mind sitting with me, Little one?”
I shake my head.
“I know I’ve upset you. Do you want to talk about it?”
I swallow. “I didn’t kill anyone, and I’ve never done drugs. I’ve never even touched them. I’ve never stolen anything. I’ve never even broken a single law.”
He rubs my thigh. “I believe you, angel. Are you saying the police think you’ve done something?”
“Yes.” I sniffle and cover my face. This is so hard. Why should he believe me?
He doesn’t say anything else. He just rubs my leg and the small of my back.
Finally, I inhale deeply and lift my face. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“Wherever you want, Little one. How about you go back to the beginning? You said you lived with twelve foster families. Why did you get moved around so much? I know for a fact it wasn’t because you were rebellious or a problem.” He lifts a brow.
How can he read me so well?
“Sometimes it just happened. The family had too many kids, or they moved, or they adopted and stopped being foster parents. Twice, I was placed with a couple who ended up getting a divorce. When I got a bit older, there were problems with boys.”
He stiffens. “What problems?”
“They thought I was pretty, so they became a nuisance to whoever I lived with.”
“Boys who lived with the families or kids at school?”
“Both, but usually other boys placed with families or their biological sons.”
“Jesus. Did they touch you inappropriately?”
I roll my eyes. “They tried. Sometimes they succeeded. I fucking retaliated when they did.”
Cannon laughs, shaking my entire body on his thighs. “Good girl.”
“Usually, I locked the door to my room unless I was sharing it with another girl. I always locked the bathroom. And I never brought attention to myself. I learned from a very young age to keep my head down, let my hair cover my face, and wear baggy clothes. When I was in high school, I weighed more than I do now. I had boobs, but I hid them.”
“You’re a fighter. I’m proud of you for your creativity. And I’m sorry so many people are fucking assholes.”
I giggle. It doesn’t even fit the mood of this conversation, but when he gets so protective and goes all…Daddy on me…
Holy shit. Suddenly, I sort of get the Daddy thing. Huh…
His brows furrow. “What are you thinking now? Your expression just changed. What’s that grin for?”
“You’re such a Daddy,” I say, my face heating.
He chuckles. “Well, that’s accurate. Indeed I am. My Daddy comes out strong when people fuck with my friends and family. Tell me who I need to beat up, and consider it done.”
My breath hitches. “You’re not actually going to go beat anyone up, are you?”
His brows rise into his hairline. That’s what he does when he’s serious. “Eloise, I’m not going to bother beating anyone up. Whoever put the fear in you that has you running is dead.”
I gasp, my heart beating wildly. In a way, I knew this was the case, but it’s fucking scary.
I shouldn’t be surprised. His team ended Stark’s life yesterday.
I have no doubt they cleaned up well enough that they could have driven me to the police station themselves if I’d requested it.
No one would have been the wiser. They would have had a story.
I’m sure they did have a story before they even stormed the house.
It’s becoming clearer and clearer to me that Black Blade Protection is an enterprise with capabilities that probably exceed even the government.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be on their hit list. And honestly, at this point, I’m willing to put Gary Larkin on their hit list. I don’t give a fuck that he’s a cop. I doubt Cannon will either.
“His name is Gary Larkin, and he’s a police officer.”
Cannon barely flinches. His voice is calm when he says, “Tell me what he did, Little one.”
I stare at him, trembling as emotions overwhelm me. Cannon is going to believe me over Larkin. He already believes me, even though I told him the asshole is a cop.
I lick my lips. “You’re not surprised.”
“Not at all. At first, I thought you were avoiding the police because you thought they were looking for you. But after you told me you’ve never done anything wrong, I realized I’d had it wrong. You’re running from the police because they’re the ones who wronged you.”
I inhale slowly. Every inch of me tells me to trust this man with information that could get me in serious trouble, or worse. I know in my gut that Cannon is one of the good guys, and that’s saying something since, in my experience, there aren’t many good guys in the world.
“I have no doubt there’s a warrant out for my arrest,” I inform him.
“Okay. I’ll handle that, Little one. You know no one is going to get to you here, right? No one knows you’re here, and even if they did, they can’t get into the apartment. My security system is top-of-the-line.”
I fight back tears. My walls are crumbling around me. Everything feels so heavy. The weight has been tremendous for so long that I can’t remember what it was like to feel safe and free.
I’m not free by any stretch of the imagination, but I am safe. I can sleep tonight, knowing no one can get to me.
“It was a month before I was supposed to graduate. I had turned eighteen. I had only been at that high school for about six months. I was keeping my head down just trying to get to the end so I could go on with my life.”
“I bet your grades were exemplary,” Cannon says softly.
I startle. “How would you know that?”
“Because you’re one of the brightest people I’ve ever spoken to.”
I frown.
He smiles. “Eloise, you’d rather be reading Moby Dick than watching a movie. You have an incredible vocabulary for someone who didn’t finish high school. You know a lot about a lot of subjects, considering I assume you’ve been completely off the grid for the last four years.”
“Oh.” It should unnerve me how much he knows without me telling him. I should stop being shocked by now. He’s observant.
“Go on, Little one.”
“Larkin was the school officer. I assume he saw me as easy prey because he knew I was in foster care and that I had no friends. So, he framed me. He planted cocaine in my locker and then called me in and used it to blackmail me.”
“Jesus…”
“Yeah, he had a file on me that included a whole list of previous arrests, even though I’d never been arrested in my life.
I’d never done any of those things. He planted them in the police files so that if I declined to accept his blackmail, the cops would arrest me for the drugs.
It would be easier to convict me since I had such a long history of charges. ”
Cannon’s brows are furrowed, and his jaw is tight, but he doesn’t interrupt me.
“He told me to go home, pack a backpack, and meet him behind the school that night. Make it look like I’d run away. Since I was eighteen, no one would look for me. I was an adult. I didn’t have to stay with my foster family. It was brilliant. He was a mastermind of a conniving asshole.”
“So you did it. You met him.”
I nod. “It was either that or take off and live on the run, knowing the cops were looking for me for the fake drug charge. I would look guilty as hell if I ran.”
Cannon grips my leg. I doubt he realizes it. “I’m certain the rest will make it difficult for me to maintain my cool, but please, go on.”
“When I arrived, he opened the back door of his car and pointed for me to get in. It was the scariest thing I’d ever done.
” I let out a sardonic laugh. “Now it doesn’t even rank in the top ten.
I kept thinking of all the times I’d heard counselors at school assemblies telling us to never let a predator take us to a second location.
To fight like hell. Scream. Anything. Don’t get in the car.
And there I was, climbing in, ignoring all my instincts. ”
Cannon’s jaw is tight. So is his hand on my thigh, but I like it. It’s grounding me somehow.
I draw in a breath. “As soon as I sat down, he grabbed my arm and injected me with something. I panicked, but I faded so fast I didn’t have time to know anything except that he lowered me onto the seat as I blacked out.
And his laugh. I’ll never forget his fucking evil laugh.
And the way he muttered, ‘stupid bitch.’” I shudder.
Cannon is breathing heavily. I know he’d like to go after Larkin right now, but he hasn’t even heard the beginning of it. “What happened next, angel?” he whispers.
“I woke up in pitch darkness on a mattress. My head hurt so badly I thought I would die. I assume it was from the drugs. I started screaming, but no one came. I couldn’t hear anything.
I was alone and cold and scared out of my mind.
Far more scared than I’d been when I’d gotten into that fucking car. ”
“Sweet girl…” A blood vessel is going to pop on Cannon’s forehead at any moment.
I look down, thinking it would be best if I didn’t continue.
Cannon slides his arms around me and pulls me against his chest. He rubs my back and kisses the top of my head in that way that soothes me. After a few minutes, he says, “I’m sorry. I’ll control my reactions better. Please tell me the rest.”
I sniffle. “Are you sure? I don’t have to. It won’t change anything.”
He leans me back and cups the back of my head. “It changes everything, Little one.”
I give a sharp nod. He’s right. It does. It will change a lot of things, but one of those things will be how he looks at me. From now on, it’ll be with pity.
But I’ll tell him. He’s not going to let it go until I do.
“I felt my way around the darkness, learning that all I had was a mattress and a bucket. There was no window, and the door was locked. I didn’t need to pee, though, which worried me.
It made me wonder how long I’d been down there.
I hadn’t had anything to drink for a very long time.
That probably contributed to my headache. ”
Cannon nods. “The drugs, too. They leave you dehydrated.”
“Eventually, I fell back asleep. I don’t know how long I was out. I thought I would die in that concrete room. I assumed it was a basement. I couldn’t figure out why Larkin bothered to blackmail and kidnap me if his goal was to lock me in a basement and leave me to die.
“At some point, I bolted awake to find someone standing in the room. The light from the open doorway was enough for me to make him out. I didn’t know him.
He was about fifty, I think, but he looked older.
Worn. Later, I would discover why. He’d lived a hard life.
It aged him. Plus, he was an asshole. That ages people, too. ”
Cannon gives me a small smile. “It does.”
“When he finally spoke, his words were chilling. He said, ‘It’s your lucky day, bitch. Ordinarily I’m just a waystation for stupid cunts who find themselves on the way to hell. But that cop owes me. You’re my twentieth girl, and you’re a looker. So I’m keeping you.’”
Cannon flinches.
I ignore him and continue, “I could only stare at him, trying to figure out what he meant. My head was pounding even worse than before because I still hadn’t had anything to drink.
He held up a glass of water and said, ‘Bet you’d like some of this about now.
’ I didn’t dare respond or move, but apparently, he didn’t like that, so he poured the water onto the floor and growled at me.
‘Next time I offer you something, you’ll be grateful, you stupid bitch.
’ He turned and stomped out of the room, locking me in again. ”
Cannon lifts his hand off my thigh and rubs his beard.
“I can skip ahead.”
“No. No skipping, Eloise.”
I nod. “Eventually, he came back. He was holding another glass of water. ‘You got any manners, girl? You better find them and ask nicely if you want this water.’ Needless to say, I found my manners. ‘May I please have the water?’ I asked. I didn’t recognize myself.
But as soon as he handed me the glass, I downed it in seconds. ”
“Your head must have felt like it was about to explode.”
“Like never before. After that, he grabbed my arm and nearly dragged me out of that basement room and up the stairs. It was daylight outside. I don’t know if it was the next day or two days later.
Probably two days, considering how weak I was.
We were in a rundown cabin. The place was ancient.
The appliances were so old I felt like I’d stepped back in time.
And I had. I learned that quickly. He hauled me into a small room.
The only thing in it was another mattress.
It had one window that was bolted shut. There was a dress lying on the mattress that looked like something you would see in one of those old shows on television about life on the prairie.
‘Put that on,’ he ordered before slamming the door. ”
Cannon’s nostrils flare with every breath. Honestly, it’s his reaction that gives me the strength to continue.
“After I changed, he made me put my jeans, T-shirt, and even my shoes in the fire pit, and he burned them. It was bone-chilling. I would later realize I’d been left with no shoes.”
“Who was this man?” Cannon asks, his voice relatively calm.
“James Westin, but you don’t need to add him to your kill list. He’s already dead.”