13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Dominique “Nikki” Honoré
If you had told me that breaking this story would have led to me to becoming part of the story, I’d have told you that you were full of shit.
In a complete daze, a crowd of over a hundred influential individuals bought woman after woman, treating us like nothing more than property—me included. And I guess that was exactly what we were to them. No name, no family, no aspirations, or no dreams. We were nothing more than sex toys they paid for.
While I was totally against being drugged, I absolutely wanted to be disconnected from this situation. I wanted to go home, see my friends, and forget this shit ever happened but I understood that would never be possible, so I welcomed the feeling of absolute nothingness encompassing me.
However, now I wasn’t quite sure if I should believe my eyes or what the man said who was rushing me out of this room right now as I stumbled over my feet dazed from whatever they pumped into my system. Maybe this was a drug induced hallucination only serving to distract me from the inevitable life I’d never escape or was I free, and Joshua had saved me.
I hope it’s the latter.
Joshua Ledet, also known as Loki, I hadn’t seen or heard anything from since he gave me his condolences at my grandmother’s funeral. When I was younger, he was my brother’s best friend, and I was close friends with his sister, Stella. I swore to anyone who would listen he would be my husband one day because I was absolutely in love with him. Had been ever since I could remember.
After my grandmother’s death, and I moved away, I lost touched with Stella and him. Now he was here.
“Joshua,” I muttered as the man pushed me inside an SUV.
“He’s coming, sweetheart,” the man said as he slid inside the SUV beside me, then closed the door. “He had some shit he needed to take care of first. You’re safe now. The Sinners won’t let anything happen to you.”
I didn’t know why I believed this stranger but if he was a friend of Joshua’s then I knew I was safe. Even though I hadn’t seen him in years, Joshua would never let anything happen to me. So, I closed my eyes and let the darkness that had been hounding me finally take over with the peace of mind that when I woke up all this shit would finally be over.
The raised voices increased the pounding in my head. I forced my eyes open hoping this time I wasn’t reliving the same fucking nightmare I’d been living since I’d been taken. Hopefully, Owen Decker and his wife were dead and all of us were free.
I looked towards where the voices were coming from and groaned. Immediately silence blanketed the room.
“Do you have to be so loud,” I muttered. “My head is killing me.”
“Thank fuck, you’re awake.”
At the relief in his voice a smile spread across my face, and joy coursed through my veins. “Joshua,” I mumbled, reaching out my bandaged hand towards him.
He was by my side in two long strides. When he reached the bed, his gentle touch brushed my forehead, sweeping my hair away from my face. As his fingertips grazed my cheek, tears trickled down my face, and he gently wiped them away.
“I’m so glad to see you,” I said, cupping his face. “It’s been too long. I’ve missed you so much.”
He not only helped me escape a fate worse than death, but he was also a constant presence in my life during my younger years. Not only was he my brother’s best friend, but he also protected me when we were kids. He was my first kiss, and he was my first love. But those feelings I could never act on because of his relationship with my brother. So not to lose either one of them, I pushed my feelings aside.
He kissed the palm of my hand despite the white gauze wrapped around it. “I’m so glad we could get you. You don’t know how much my heart hurt to find out you were caught up in this shit, Nikki.”
Panicked surged inside me. He got me out but was he able to save the other women?
“What about the other women? Lila?”
Sitting in the chair beside the bed, he cradled my bandaged hand in his, layering his other hand on top of mine.
“Calm down, Nikki. The other women are fine. Doc,” he motioned to the man checking my vitals, “checked them all out. Some are on their way home where they can get proper care. While others weren’t quite ready to leave yet, so we’ve set them up until they make the decision to stay or go.”
I let out a breath of relief. “And Lila? Please tell me you have her too?”
Another big smile crossed his face. “She’s here. We’ve had her since the day you helped her escape.”
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling from my eyes. I had been so worried something happened to her once we separated. It was such a relief to know she made it out. “Thank you, so much. I was so worried they got her again.”
“She told us how you helped her. Her sister was a friend of mine and when she went missing Monica came to me for help to find her.”
“So that’s how you found out about me?”
He shook his head. “You have some very good friends. Some very powerful friends who know Johnathan. They got in touch with me when they hadn’t heard from you.”
She laughed. “Let me guess. Cadence and Brian.”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Prez, but I need to ask Ms. Honoré some questions. Can you give us some privacy?”
When he went to stand, I squeezed his hand the best I could. “Please stay.”
Surprise filled his eyes. I didn’t want him to leave me just yet. His presence brought a sense of calm to this fucked up situation. I had just found him again after so long, I wanted him near me.
“Are you sure?” the doctor asked. “I would like to ask you some very personal questions about what happened to you.”
Despite having some kind of idea the questions he wanted to ask, I still rather have Joshua by my side than face this mess alone again. He was someone safe for me. Someone who protected me when were kids and protected me now even though we hadn’t seen each other in years. It was like we hadn’t missed any time together. I needed him to hear what happened because I didn’t want to have to repeat it when he asked. I might as well pull the band aid off and get it over with.
“I would like for him to stay,” I said to the doctor.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his eyes betraying his worry. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, Nikki. I’m sure Doc is going to ask you some hard shit.”
“I know you don’t want me to be uncomfortable. But I need a friend with me while I get through this,” I said without hesitation. “So, could you please stay? For me?”
He looked at the doctor, uncertainty clouding his eyes, but the doctor simply shrugged, like my decision for him to stay wasn’t really that big of a deal.
“It’s up to her, Prez. If she’s fine with it, who am I to argue?”
Joshua leaned back in the chair, cradled my hand again, creating a comforting and intimate connection between us. It felt absolutely amazing.
I took in a deep breath, preparing myself for the inevitable. This conversation was going to be brutal, but a very necessary one to have.
“I’m ready.”
The doctor nodded. “Where you raped?”
Shit, he definitely didn’t waste any time.
I took another breath and released it. “He only stuck his fingers inside me.” A tear slipped from my eye, and I quickly wiped it away. I was so tired of crying. “No other penetration happened.”
“Who?” Joshua asked, his voice devoid of any emotion.
I looked at him and while I heard no emotion in his voice, the pure rage reflected in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. He was out for blood.
“Owen Decker. Did you get him?”
He shook his head. “No but when I do, he’s fucking dead.”
Was it wrong for me to want that to happen? Was it wrong for me to want him to suffer just as much as he made us suffer?
I was so scared that Decker had too much power to leave it up to the police to handle. Some very high-ranking police officers had to be on in his payroll because there was no way something this sinister happened and no one in law enforcement knew about it.
Maybe Joshua taking care of it is the best way to handle him. But what will the fallout be for him?
“Are you sure that’s all that happened?” the doctor asked. I tore my gaze away from Joshua and focused back on the doctor. “I would like to get you the necessary prescriptions to stop pregnancy as well as treatment for possible STD’S. We can do a rape kit…”
“No, only his fingers,” I said, my voice trembling as I interrupted his statement.
Joshua’s thumb brushed back and forth across my knuckles providing me some comfort.
“And the bruises on your neck?”
With my other hand, I reached up and gently ran my fingers along the rough, bruised skin. Memories came rushing back to me, causing me to drop my hand.
“Umm…he strangled me.”
“And I assume the marks on your wrists and ankles are from being restrained at some point,” the doctor said. “Am I right?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “When I woke up after I tried to escape, I was tied to a bed, and he got pissed off at something I said.”
“What about the marks on your hands?” the doctor asked.
I looked at Joshua. I wasn’t sure how to respond to this question. Did I tell them I killed someone? It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it, but would that get me into any kind of trouble?
“You can tell Doc anything, Nikki, no matter how bad it is. It won’t leave the clubhouse.”
I looked to the doctor, and he nodded. “I promise it will stay between us, Ms. Honoré,” the doctor said.
I inhaled deeply, feeling the tension build as I prepared to confess the crime I had committed. Did I feel bad about it? No, I didn’t and if I had to do it again, I would.
“I killed someone when I tried to escape the second time. I’m not sorry I did it either. That’s how I got the gashes on my hand. I stab him with a shard of the lamp base I used to hit him with.”
“Do you know who he was?” Joshua asked.
I feel like such an idiot for falling for the shit Dylan or Milo pulled. I should have been smarter about keeping my mouth shut about the story I had been working on. It was too important.
“He was the man who took me from the parking lot of the motel. I knew him as Dylan. We kind of had a thing. Nothing serious. But Decker called him Milo.”
Joshua nodded then focused back on the doctor.
“Did Decker do the bite mark too?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, when he was going to rape me, but his wife interrupted…”
The doctor waved his hand. “No need for any of those details, Ms. Honoré. You can share that with, Prez.”
I nodded in understanding, my eyebrows furrowing slightly. “Okay.”
“We’re going to keep you hooked up to this iv to help flush whatever drug they gave you out of your system. I’ve also cleaned your scrapes and bruises. You’ll need some topical ointment on those along with the bite mark, and the wound to your neck. The gashes on your hands did need stitches but they won’t need to be remove because they will dissolve on their own. Do you have any more pain?”
“My body and my throat are sore but other than that, I feel fine.”
The doctor nodded. “For what you went through, that’s to be expected. I also gave you a tetanus shot for that bite mark, along with an antibiotic to prevent infection. I’ve also prescribed you some mild pain reliever. Prez has all the necessary dosage information and if you need anything stronger, let him know and he’ll get in touch with me as soon as possible. Do you have any questions?”
“When can I go home?” I asked.
“Let’s give it at least three days, and I’ll come around to assess you again, then make that decision. Sound good?”
“Yes and thank you.”
“No problem.” He smiled. “If you need anything, let me know.”
As he headed toward the door, Joshua stood. “Let me talk to Doc, then we need to talk.”
I nodded, my gaze fixed on him as he walked out of the room, the sound of his footsteps echoing in my ears. I expected the flood of questions from him when he returned. And I also dreaded them. I didn’t want to relive what happened even though I knew I needed to. Decker was on the run. It was very possible he could come after me which meant that it was important for me to get this story out to the public. He couldn’t get away with this.
I closed my eyes, thankful I was no longer in a cage or tied to a damn bed. I was thankful I wasn’t somewhere forced into something I didn’t want to be involved in. And I was thankful Joshua was able to get the other women out too, including Lila. But despite how everything turned out, I was also heartbroken because I knew it wasn’t over. Decker was still out there, probably searching for his next victims. He was probably planning on how to get me back, so I didn’t show the world how much of a monster he truly was.
At the sound of the door opening, my eyes popped open. And for a minute fear washed over me until I gazed at Joshua walking towards me, concern covering his face. He returned to the chair, then grasped my bandaged hand again.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “I know that had to be some difficult shit to talk about.”
I couldn’t stop the smile from crossing my face. “I am, now that you’re here.”
He chuckled. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“Me too. Thanks to you.”
“It’s not just thanks to me. There were a lot of other people involved with getting you out. I’m just glad I was there to help.”
Silence fell over the room, and I immediately understood what it meant. He was ready to hear the details of what happened, he just didn’t know how to approach the subject.
I sighed. “I’m ready whenever you are, Joshua.”
“Tell me everything,” he said not wasting any time. “From the beginning.”
“On one condition,” I said, and he lifted his brow but nodded. “I will tell you everything if when you find him, you let me kill him.”
I expected horror or disbelief to cross his face, but I was shocked when I didn’t. All I saw was pride shining brightly in his eyes and a huge smile crossed his face.
“Talk,” he said.