Chapter 11 #3
Toni took her time as she unnecessarily seated Tally in the chair. “I don’t want to talk to him alone,” she whispered to Tally.
“You’re not. Scar’s in there. You won’t see or hear him, but trust me. He’s there, and he won’t let that man touch you,” she vowed.
Toni’s jaw dropped, and it took her a moment to remember that Tally couldn’t see her reaction. “He’s…in my office.”
“Don’t keep Daddy waiting,” Tally coaxed as she nodded her confirmation.
Toni recalled the scarred man from her house two nights ago.
She wasn’t entirely sure she understood what Tally meant that she won’t be able to see or hear him, but she had to admit, she found comfort in the fact that Tally was not sending her into her office on her own.
She must have realized that the man wasn’t going to talk to Toni with Tally present, even if Tally had portrayed a friend instead of a client.
Feeling like she was part of a play that she didn’t know her lines to, Toni straightened and headed into her office.
Passing Gwen on her way in, her secretary asked, “Are you sure you don’t need anything, Ms. Anderson?”
“I’ll be fine, Gwen. Thank you. If you could keep an eye on, Mrs. Con…uh…rad,” she asked, praying that was the name she’d used before. “Please.”
Gwen nodded. “I’ll be right on the other side of this door if you need something.”
Wishing the door could remain open, but then this man wouldn’t likely talk, Toni closed it after Gwen.
Her eyes flicked about the room. She didn’t see anyone but the man posing as her father, didn’t even feel anyone else in the room.
Fuck. Was Tally wrong? What if Scar wasn’t in here with her?
What if she truly was alone with this man?
He wasn’t the largest man she’d ever seen.
Ranger was certainly bigger, but he was still bigger than she was.
Even in jeans and sneakers instead of her heels and a skirt, she did not feel safe being in this room with him.
And for a few terrible seconds, Toni could not remember for the life of her why she had argued against Ranger coming with her.
How stupid could she be? Even if Tally was here, Toni wasn’t sure she’d feel safe.
Her office wasn’t overly large, but she kept the shades down since it was on the first floor and looked out onto the town’s main street. The lobby windows were kept open to be inviting to potential clients. Would it be suspicious if she opened her windows now?
Toni skirted widely around the man to her desk, wanting to put something solid between them.
But the moment she was behind her desk, she realized that she just put him between herself and her escape.
Her office wasn’t soundproof. If she screamed, Gwen would hear her.
But then what danger would she be putting Gwen in? Tally?
“The famous Toni Anderson. Wayne spoke so highly of you, I feel like we’re already good friends,” the man said as he turned to face her desk.
His arrogant smirk filled Toni with such despair that she almost opened her mouth and begged Ranger through the mic to come running.
She didn’t want to be alone with this man a second longer than she had to.
She was not brave. She was not a warrior.
She was scared shitless, just like she’d been on the night she’d killed her father. Why did she think she could do this?
Then a man stepped up behind her fake father.
Toni’s eyes widened slightly, and she just barely kept the gasp from her lips.
She recognized him from her house, the one she’d accidentally pointed her empty shotgun at.
Scar. He was here, in her office, and somehow the man impersonating her father had no idea.
He didn’t turn, didn’t twitch like he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising.
Nothing. There was absolutely no evidence on his arrogant face that he had any idea they were not alone.
Scar met Toni’s eyes over the man’s shoulder and gave her a nod.
A wave of serenity fell over her. This man was dangerous.
Even without the long scar on the side of his face, it was in his eyes.
Toni had no doubt believing he’d killed people.
A lot of people. And yet, she wasn’t afraid of him.
The knowledge of his presence in a closed room she had no idea how he’d entered gave her the courage to sit down behind her desk and face the current threat to her life and livelihood.
“You have me at a disadvantage,” she said calmly. She did not invite him to take one of the chairs facing her desk.
“Well, for now, how about you call me ‘Daddy’.” Unlike when Tally had said it jokingly in the lobby, this man clearly said it suggestively.
“Or would that bring up too many painful memories for you? Honestly, I am very surprised by the lack of police. I expected to hear sirens before I got down the mountain.” He tsked his tongue like a parent scolding a child.
“But bad girl, you didn’t call the police, did you?
Tell me, where did you bury the body? It must have taken you all of yesterday to clean up your house.
I didn’t see a spec of blood anywhere in sight. ”
That sickening feeling returned at the suggestion that this man, whom she refused to call “Daddy”, had been inside her house.
Again. Though he didn’t take a seat, he didn’t just stand there either.
He shifted animatedly, clearly doing his best to exude dominance over her.
Yet somehow, Scar remained behind him, and like a lightbulb going off in her head, Toni realized Scar was staying outside the man’s periphery.
That was how he was staying invisible. Who the hell was Scar that he had that sort of cognizance, not only over his own body but of everyone else in the room?
Toni was very aware that she would not be seeing him if he did not want her to.
Not wanting to get distracted by Scar or draw attention to his presence, Toni stared at the nameless man. “How about I call you ‘Mr. Smith’?” she asked rhetorically instead of responding to his questions and implications.
The man’s eye twitched, and for just a second, annoyance replaced arrogance. She tried to file away everything about him, from his brown eyes to the slight Brooklyn lilt he had to his voice. Anything she could use to identify him later if needed.
“You still have not explained what it is you are doing here, Mr. Smith, and as you may have noticed, I have another client waiting for me in the lobby.” Toni gestured behind him before cursing herself, fearing he’d turn around and see Scar, but the man never removed his gaze from her.
“Tough shit,” he said cockily. “That blind bitch can wait.”
The second those words were out of his mouth, Scar had pulled a knife and advanced.
Toni jumped to her feet on reflex, not sure what it was she should or wanted to do.
But just before Scar struck, the man froze and cocked his head like he was listening to something.
As Mr. Smith stood there, completely unaware of the danger at his back, Scar curled his marred lip, and returned the dagger to wherever he kept it under his cut.
That murderous look did not leave his sapphire blue eyes.
At Toni’s leap to her feet, Mr. Smith laughed. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I offend your sensibilities? Forgive me if keeping things PC are low on my priorities. Now, sit your ass back down and listen to what I’m about to tell you.”
Toni’s jaw ticked, but she did not allow herself to give her annoyance away.
It was bad enough Scar had almost killed the man in front of her for calling Tally a blind bitch.
Stiffly, Toni sat back down. Thankfully, Mr. Smith seemed to be taking her shocked reaction at his near murder as her being insulted at his slight towards Tally.
“Good girl.” He leaned forward on the edge of her desk, likely trying to appear intimidating.
“Now. I know what you did and I have proof. So here’s what’s going to happen.
You’re going to pay me what your parents owe me.
They’ve been running a tab on product for months, and since Daddy Dearest is no longer around to pay it, that debt’s now yours.
After that, you’re mine. Any client I send your way goes free.
If a single one of them gets time, you will never see your mother alive again. ”
Toni’s shock that time was real. “My mom? You have my mom!?”
Mr. Smith nodded. “And she’s going to remain in my care to ensure your compliance.”
A voice suddenly appeared in Toni’s head, making her jump in her desk chair. “Ask for proof of life,” Ghost told her.
What the hell? Was he telepathic? In her shock, it took her a second to remember the tooth device. It must have some sort of receiver that allowed Ghost to talk to her. And probably Scar, now that she thought of it.
“How… How do I know you have her? That she’s alive?”
Mr. Smith reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a balled-up, white handkerchief with crimson blotches. “There’s your proof.”
On her desk, the cloth fell open to reveal a severed pointer finger with pink nail polish. Toni stared at it, horrified.
“Do as I say, or Mommy loses another finger.” Next to the handkerchief, he dropped a business card onto her desk. “Amount owed to me and my account number. I’ll be in touch, Ms. Anderson.”
Mr. Smith turned and left her office. The door wasn’t even closed before Toni heard Ghost’s voice in her head again. “Scar, follow him. Let’s see if he leads us to her mom. Toni, stay where you are. Ranger’s on his way in. Don’t touch anything.”
Like she was planning on picking up her mom’s finger and examining it?
Several minutes later, Ranger came bursting into her office. She looked up, feeling the cold stream of tears on her cheeks. She didn’t know how or when Scar had left the room, but he was no longer present. At least, that she could see.