9. Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Gideon
I cursed every mile I drove farther away from Abby, even though I understood. I was overbearing, demanding, bossy, but I also knew how to look after a baby girl, especially one as perfect and as needy as Abby. Not that needy was a bad thing. I knew she had a heart of gold already and growing up in foster care, she probably had gotten used to people letting her down. And I got that she was nervous. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know that I’d waited for her for what seemed like all my life.
And she wanted to trust me. I knew she did. She’d risked letting me take her to my home, but that might have been because she’d seen her landlord, which reminded me I hadn’t got the report on him yet. I would call Eric as soon as we’d finished here and see what he had for me .
I pulled into the parking lot of Kingdom and gazed at the building. The framing was complete and inspected. Electric, AC, and plumbing were nearly done, and Walker—as this was his baby—wanted us to firm up the plans for the VIP space. The top floor was going to have private booths, dedicated butlers, and servers, and came complete with a sliding roof.
We had also installed special sound dampening so the music would be heard in the booths, but that people could also talk and be heard. Plus, the whole building had to be soundproofed as a requirement for the permits. The only parking we had was valet, and it was included in the membership.
The area was perfect. But it needed rezoning for us and I was still amazed we pulled it off. Another outfit, technically a competitor, had been trying to move in for ages and I’d heard their board wasn’t happy they’d missed out because of us again.
The architect, Max, and Walker were there, and Walker narrowed his eyes as he saw me. “I’m surprised you’re here.” I grunted moodily as a reply.
Max chuckled at my obvious bad mood. “What? She’s washing her hair?”
“Fucking laundry for work tomorrow.” Although where the hell she was gonna do it in that tiny box of an apartment, I had no— And everything in me went cold. I’d spent some time waiting for the lock to be changed and looked to see if there had been any other repairs needed in the kitchen. She didn’t have a washing machine. Which meant she was going elsewhere to get it done. When she was tired. When she promised me she wasn’t going out. Where? I froze then pulled up my phone and googled. There wasn’t any sort of laundry facility within three miles, which meant her apartments had to have some sort of communal one. “Gideon?” Max asked, seeing my change in demeanor. My phone started ringing and seeing it was Eric, I answered immediately.
“Please tell me this isn’t an employee check,” Eric said without preamble, “because if it is, you need to stay clear.”
I looked up. Max and Walker were both staring at me. The contractor hadn’t got there yet, so I put it on speaker and Eric continued. “David Kirkman, thirty-three. Rap-sheet lists all relatively minor things with two exceptions. Drug possession but no distribution. He was alsoarrested for rape, but the victim changed her mind on the identification and he had an alibi, supposedly. His father owns the apartment building and has a list of violations as long as his arm. I’m still looking into Kirkman Senior.”
There was no way she was staying there. I was going to go collect her now. I wasn’t leaving her one second more in that place. Max nodded at whatever Walker had asked him, so he must have understood this was about Abby.
“He’s a person-of -interest in another investigation,” Eric continued. “His then girlfriend had a fourteen-year-old daughter that suddenly started acting out. Grades bombed. Skipped classes. According to Kirkman and the mother, the daughter ran away with some new boyfriend, but her best friend said that wasn’t true. Her friends said she’d started acting differently shortly after Kirkman came on the scene, but they don’t have any other evidence, and the girl’s never been found.”
“Fuck,” I spat out.
“Go,” Max said and lifted his chin.
But I was already turning and running for my car .
I didn’t bother with inconveniences like stop lights or speed limits. I should never have taken her back. Never. And once I had her safe, she wouldn’t be going anywhere again without me. I should spank her ass for lying. I’d even had her lock the fucking door while I stood on the other side and checked.
I ignored the parking lot and just came to a stop next to the apartment building, then swore when I saw the outside security door had been propped open. I took the stairs three at a time and had the key in her apartment door in seconds. It was empty.
I ran back downstairs just in time to see an older woman walk in. “Ma’am?” I asked in a rush. “Do you have a laundry area here for the tenants?” She gave me an odd look and frowned, opened her mouth, and hesitated. “My friend said she was doing laundry today, and I just assumed she meant at home, but she’s not up there.” I showed her the key. “Abigail,” I added, and the lady smiled, relaxing.
“Such a lovely girl. Looked after my Maxwell while I had my hip done.” She pointed down the corridor, away from the door. “End door leads to the basement,” and she wrinkled her nose. “Horrid place. My niece does mine.”
I managed to get out a thank you and raced to the door, pushing, then yanking at it. Nothing. It didn’t budge. Then I heard Abby. A small cry, but I knew it was her, and I lifted my foot and kicked hard.
The door didn’t stand a chance, and with a huge crash it splintered and broke.
“Abby?” I yelled, charging down the stairs.
“Daddy!” If she hadn’t sounded terrified, it would have been music to my ears. I took in the tiny basement and the wide-eyed terrified stare of my baby girl. She’d been crying, her shirt was torn, and I snarled at the bottom-feeder that dared to put his filthy hands on her. I took one step toward them and he shoved Abby at me, hoping to escape. I caught Abby easily as she stumbled into my arms, but my fist moved fast and clipped the side of his head as he tried to run past. He flew sideways and hit the wall, falling into an unconscious heap.
I simply picked Abby up and held her, thanked fuck I hadn’t been too late, and carried her back up the stairs. I didn’t bother with her apartment and ignored the six or so onlookers that had come, I imagined, because of the noise as I destroyed the door. I pressed Abby close so she couldn’t see and swept out of the front door to my car. It took me a few seconds to buckle her in and I shot off a quick text to the doc as I drove away. The second text I was going to send was to a cop that was a member of Salvation so he could deal with the trash in the basement.
Abby didn’t say one word as I drove back, just closed her eyes, but her grip on my hand was tight. The doc confirmed Abby had been shaken up, she had a dozen bruises of all different sizes and colors from where the bastard had gripped her, but she shrugged and informed the doc she bruised easily. I had to leave the bedroom for a moment at that point to calm down. Abby talked about getting hurt like it was an everyday occurrence. I stalked into my study to find Max and Walkerdrinking my whisky. I reached out and took the glass from Walker and simply knocked it back. He refilled and offered it to me without a word, but I shook my head.
I needed all my wits about me.
“How is she?” Walker asked.
“Bruised, shaken, but apparently she bruises easily . ”
“It could have been much worse,” Max said after a second in which I knew they were both absorbing my words and trying to make me feel better. It didn’t work.
“What if Eric hadn’t called me then?” I asked. Guilt clawing at my hollow insides.
Max shared a look with Walker. “But he did, and you acted. She’s here and safe.”
And the next time?
“Does she know she screwed up?” Walker asked. I’d texted them both in our group chat and explained what had happened while the doc was examining her.
“I won’t know until I get her to talk to me.” She’d been hurt. I couldn’t spank her ass, much as I wanted to.
“She needs to know, though,” Walker argued. “She needs to be punished in some way. She stood there while you checked that the door was locked, yet she must have gone down to that cellar nearly right away.”
“And she lied,” Maddox said. “She told you she wasn’t going out.”
Had she? Or had she just not thought about it? I knew how her mind flitted through different ideas. “She said she was just doing laundry. It might not even have occurred to her to say where it was.”
“I think you’re going to have to ask her,” Max said. “Make it clear. I know you want to be gentle tonight, and I also know you’re blaming yourself, but she can’t get away with that sort of thing. Not when it comes to her own safety.”
I nodded miserably. They were right but we’d met forty-eight hours ago, and she’d already gotten hurt. I looked up as the doc appeared. “How is she?”
“Asleep,” he said.
“What did she say? ”
“Well, for once I don’t need to worry about patient-doctor confidentiality because she barely said a word.” He paused. “She’s very accepting , which I don’t like one little bit. I don’t think she blames herself, more that she doesn’t expect good things to happen to her. I suggest some therapy sooner rather than later. I’ll email you my suggestions.” And with that, he nodded at the other two and left.
Max got up. “Do you need me to stay?”
I shook my head. “I’d appreciate it if you guys can cover me for the next few days.”
“Dion’s back tomorrow,” Walker pointed out. “We can manage just fine. Take your time.”
I didn’t need to lock up after they left, because we all had the pass codes for each other’s homes.
I got some water and put it in a special Tinkerbell cup that would keep it cold, then climbed the stairs. Abby was curled up in a little ball in the middle of the bed, almost looking as if she were trying to make herself smaller, less of a target .
I quietly got in bed beside her and curled my body behind hers, prepared to be on watch all night, because if the only way of protecting her was to keep her by my side, then that’s exactly what I would do.