Chapter Seven #3
“Did the other bodies have defensive wounds?” I ask. “They didn’t seem to care that I was fighting. It was like a game to them.”
“All of them,” Rogers says. “All of them have something bitten off, too. A few fingers, an ear, a nipple, and one was a chunk of flesh from the breast.”
“Ow! The nipple?” I ask. “Goddamn. I don’t feel so sad about losing a finger now. Jesus. That makes my nipples hurt to think about.”
“You’d still look sexy with one nipple,” Hunter says with a grin.
“Freak.” I laugh.
“What would make him not take those girls then?” Mom asks.
“They fought back,” I say. “What if he killed the ones who fought back? I still stand by thinking they never intended to kill me. He specifically told me during the attack that if I ran my mouth, I’d die.
Sutter thought I was dead, and they believed it, too.
They looked shocked when they realized I was alive. ”
“Okay. You all go to dinner. I am in town, but let me talk to my boss and go from there,” Rogers says. “Do not let her be alone with them. Don’t eat or drink anything they touch.”
“We will keep an eye out,” Ray says. “Can you do me a favor?”
“What’s up?” Rogers asks.
“She will never admit it, but finding out her biological dad might be alive, and Sutter mentioning me has made her afraid of me. Can you get her whatever information she needs to ease her mind a bit?”
“I sure will. You live a boring life, Ray. It won’t be hard to show,” Rogers says.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“No,” Ray says, lifting my chin. “Do not apologize for looking out for yourself. I never want to see that fear in your eyes when you look at me again, so I will do whatever I need to make you feel safe.”
“I don’t ever want to hurt like that again,” I say quietly. “It wasn’t even the physical pain… it was feeling so goddamn helpless and out of control.”
We get off the call with Detective Rogers before Ray drives us to the restaurant. We are in public now, so I have more confidence as we walk into the building. Conrad and Ethan sit back in their chairs, and anger sweeps over them when they see me holding hands with Jovian and Elijah.
Jovian pulls my chair out before he and Elijah sit on either side of me. “Dating?” Conrad asks me.
“Yeah,” I say with a forced smile.
“Hmm,” Conrad says. “I never took you for the type, Arianna. All six? Makes sense why they seem to be protective over you.”
“They’re good guys,” Tate says.
“Doesn’t hurt to have them around either,” I say vaguely.
“Oh? Why is that?” Ethan asks.
“Well, I mean, whoever nearly killed me is still out there. I don’t know who they are or if they want anything from me,” I say.
“Any reason to think they are close?” Conrad asks. “You must be worried.”
“Nah. Not worried,” I say. “I have plenty of people in my corner now. It’s not like before, where it was just me alone in a city.”
“Even so. You seemed to struggle out on the ice. We were watching from the stands,” Conrad says.
I can tell he is trying to trick me into admitting something. His cocky attitude is annoying, so I bend a bit and give him what he wants. “Yeah. Someone mailed me my finger, so I’ve been on edge.”
“Your finger?” Conrad asks. The look on his face is genuine shock. I think back to the video surveillance of the package being dropped off, and I can’t say with full confidence that it was them. They had hoods and the masks. It could’ve been anyone. What if someone is trying to get them in trouble?
“Mhmm,” I say, holding up my hand. “Apparently, the sick fucker who bit my finger off kept it. Why? Who the fuck knows? It’s with the state detectives now being DNA matched.”
“Are they sure it is yours?” Ethan asks.
“Well, it was removed in the same fashion that mine was; it’s the right length and size… the DNA match is just a formality,” I say.
“Has to be a real fucking psychopath to bite someone’s finger off,” Kip says.
“I mean, raping me with hockey sticks is pretty sadistic also, even for them,” I say. I immediately realize I just fucked up. I instinctively look at Conrad to see if he picked up on it, and he smiles.
He knows.
“What do you mean?” Ethan asks coolly. “You said even for them.”
“I mean, raping someone, bashing their head in… it’s sadistic. It’s not much of a stretch that they’d use objects too,” I try to explain.
“It’s too bad you don’t remember faces,” Conrad says.
My text notification pings from my phone, and when I look down at my phone, so do Conrad and Ethan.
Rogers
He’s alive
They pretend they didn’t see it, but I know they did.
I simply lock my screen and flip my phone over so no one can see anything further.
The server comes over, and we order our food before the guys start talking about hockey.
Conrad and Ethan have not taken their eyes off of me, and it’s making me even more uncomfortable.
I can feel it in the way they stare at me that they know I’m lying.
When our food arrives, I realize that Sutter and Landry aren’t here. I wonder why not, but I don’t ask. Instead, I join the others in eating. By the time I am nearly finished, I start feeling weird.
“I don’t feel well,” I say, looking to Jovian.
“Yeah,” Jovian says. He has a tight grip on my hand, and the way he looks at me says that we should’ve questioned the restaurant he picked.
I look over at the others, and they all look to be in similar states of unease, except Ray.
He’s been pushing his food around the whole time. I lock eyes with him, and he stands.
“Alright, kids. We need to get back,” Ray says. “Boys, it was good meeting y’all and coming to a truce. We should do this again after the game.”
“Aww. Leaving so soon?” Conrad asks.
“Yeah,” I say, almost slurring. “I have a call with the detective also. He’s in town.”
“Oh?” Ethan asks.
“Yep. So, we will see y’all at the game, I guess,” I say.
Jovian wraps his arm around my waist and holds me up until we are out of sight of the guys. Ray swiftly scoops me into his arms right as I start to collapse. Mom pauses and pays, as she is in a much better state than the rest of us. I am weak and unable to move now, completely reliant on Ray.
We all struggle to get to the bus, but Ray lays me in Jovian and Elijah’s lap before jumping in the driver’s seat and driving us away.
I gasp and sit up in a full panic, but hands catch me before I can get up. “Relax. It’s me,” Elijah says softly.
“They drugged us,” I whisper.
“They got the staff to do it, I think,” Rogers says. “How do you feel?”
“Tired,” I say. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah. You got most of it, I think. You’re safe, though,” Rogers says. “Sit up here. I want you to meet someone.”
I sit up and rub my hands down my face before blinking away the haze. I jump up from the hotel couch in our suite as I see a familiar man. “You,” I say.
“Hey, Ari,” the man says with a tearful smile. I back away from him, but he puts his hands up as if to communicate that he is not a threat as he walks closer. No one is stopping him, not even Mom.
“Momma,” I say, tearfully.
“It’s okay, baby. You’re safe,” she says.
“No,” I say, looking at the man.
“Ari, you’ve grown up so much,” he says.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, baby,” he says, cupping my cheek. Before I can process anything, I shove him away from me.
“No,” I yell at him. “You don’t get to come back in my life and pretend you gave a fuck about me. You don’t get to show up and play Dad whenever you weren’t there for me.”
“I didn’t have a choice, baby,” he says. “I never wanted to leave you and your mother. I never wanted to put her through that pain. I never wanted you to have to lose your father… I’m just glad Ray was there. He’s a good man.”
“He is my dad,” I say, crying.
“I know, Ari. He did a wonderful job, too.”
“Why did you leave us?” I ask. “Why are you back now?”
“Baby, I made a lot of enemies, and the only way to make sure that you and your mother stayed safe was if I was not around you. If I were dead, they would leave you alone. They did leave you alone, but you are a spitfire just like your mother.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I scream at him.
“You survived, baby. That’s what you did,” he says.
“No. He told me that if I spoke up, I would die. You don’t say that to someone you are planning to kill,” I argue.
“I think he was talking to Ethan,” Rogers says.
“What?” I ask.
“Ethan has a little sister. She’s sixteen. She’s nowhere to be found, so I think she was trafficked,” he explains. “I don’t think he is willingly with Conrad.”
“He never speaks first,” I say.
“He didn’t look shocked when you mentioned the finger,” Elijah says. “Conrad did.”
“What if it was Ethan and Sutter?” Ray asks. “They might not have known when someone would return, so Landry could’ve been in a vehicle close by.”
“That would make sense,” Rogers says.
“What do we do?” I ask. “What the fuck was I drugged with?”
“A sedative. You’ve been asleep for a while. They were only out for about an hour,” Ray says.
“I had an officer speak to the server," Rogers says. “She admitted that he threatened her parents, the owners, so she did it. She won’t be in any trouble, but she and her parents are in protective custody so that she can testify. We aren’t arresting him just yet because we want to get him connected to the trafficking. We have eyes on him, though.”
“So… what do we do?” I ask.
“Stay here, go to your game, and avoid them,” he says. “I’ll have agents at the game also.”
“Alright.” I sigh.
“Can I hug you?” Dad asks. I nod hesitantly, and he gently wraps his arms around me. “I know this is a lot to take in, and I know you are scared, but I won’t let them hurt you. I promise.”
“Are you in the mafia?” I ask, pulling back to look at him.
“I don’t know if I can say much with Rogers here.” He laughs.
“Just talk to your kid, Anthony,” Rogers says.