Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
Nova
Well, today was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect to get to work and then be offered a promotion and a raise.
It’s cause for celebration. I buy a cheap bottle of bubbles to drink with Sawyer, and get all the ingredients for a quick and easy chicken casserole I’ve been wanting to make.
While I’m far from a Gumbo expert and wouldn’t dare try to make it myself, given that Manny’s is the best in Louisiana, I want to make this meal a special occasion for Sawyer’s coming over.
I buy some already made Tiramisu for dessert, and as soon as I put the groceries away, I begin, following the recipe for the casserole.
I check my watch, and by 7:30 when there’s no reply from Sawyer, I text him.
Me
Hey you. You know you don’t have to dress fancy for me, right?
I continue to stir the sauce, and when five minutes have gone by, I text again. He may be on his motorcycle because he hasn’t read the text.
Me
Don’t worry, I won’t eat all the food
I continue with my stirring, singing to the song I’ve been playing from my iPhone, and when that’s over, I glance at my phone again. Still nothing from Sawyer. Hmm. That’s kind of weird.
When it gets to 8 o’clock, I call him. His phone rings but he doesn’t pick up.
Now I’m worried. An hour later and no word from him? This isn’t like Sawyer.
I don’t want to panic here, he’s a big boy, and I’m sure he can take care of himself, but still.
I know he and Brew had a job tonight and… Oh. Maybe it wasn’t a security job for the company but the club.
Brew has been instrumental in his work against traffickers, and he does a lot of the dirty work himself.
I’ve got ears. I know for a fact that when Willow was snatched…
she was this close to being bought by a trafficking ring.
It was her punishment for breaking up the organizations within New Orleans and killing one of the main honchos, Aaron Bolt — something his crazy girlfriend wasn’t too happy about.
Come to think about it, a lot of shit has gone down in New Orleans.
Years ago, Ryder’s ol’ lady Crystal was taken, too, along with Audrina, Hustler’s ol’ lady, in a separate incident where Willow was involved in a sting operation with the Cut City Boys — an organization that turned out to be a front.
The real Cut City Boys left New Orleans for Chicago years ago, and they did not take too kindly to being linked with those assholes. It was messy, to say the least.
Multiple people have also tried to attack members of the MC over the years for their involvement in trying to stop such things.
I also know Brew didn’t rest until he found and dealt with all the perpetrators involved with the kidnapping and murder of his ex-girlfriend.
Some guy called Ridgley was the last man standing.
I don’t know exactly what went on, but I know my cousins all had blood on their hands, Sawyer, too.
Many people wouldn’t agree, though the way the world is going now, maybe they’d understand. Sometimes you gotta take out the trash long before it stinks.
Brew promised Erica he was finished once he found Ridgely, especially after getting shot.
That doesn’t mean Sawyer isn’t doing his own vigilante thing.
Hell knows there’s a lot of people involved that were never brought to justice, not that Sawyer talks one iota about that part of his life.
He never has, and I’d never want to push him.
I try his cell again and it rings out. By eight-thirty, I’m downing a bowl of delicious casserole, but I can barely taste it because not hearing from Sawyer has me worried.
I call Brew. He picks up on the third ring. “What?” He’s always so pleasant.
“Hey, Brewster, are you with Sawyer?”
“No, why?”
“Uh, I thought you had a job together.”
“Still didn’t explain why.”
I huff. “We’re having a movie night, and before you lecture me, it’s just a movie, but he’s over an hour late.”
“Maybe he changed his mind, the job finished ages ago.”
I think about how to word this next question, but in the end, I just blurt it out. “Was the job unaliving someone?”
He pauses. “Unaliving?”
“I don’t trust phone taps.”
“No, smarty pants, it wasn’t unalivin’, it was a job for security camera set up. He’s probably caught up at the clubhouse.”
I wrinkle my nose when I think about Tia coming onto him that time. I still want to scratch that bitch’s eyes out.
“Well, thanks, you’ve been a big help.” I hang up before he can, then try Sawyer again.
I’m in full panic mode an hour later, and since Sawyer has no other friends aside from the MC boys and his brother Pipes, I have nobody else to call.
Shit.
What if something happened to him? What if… knock, knock, knock.
I jump, my heart racing as blood pounds in my ears. It’s almost nine-thirty. I race to the door and use the peephole. Holy shit.
I pull the door open and my eyes widen. “Holy fuck,” I blurt. “Sawyer, what happened?”
He tilts his head sideways, his lip bloody and his eyes swollen. He’s even got blood dripping from his nose. “Got into a disagreement.” He tries to smile, then winces.
“Oh my god, you need a doctor!”
“No, I need to come inside.” He winces when I tug on his arm.
In full-blown panic mode, I move aside so he can come in, and I lock the door behind us.
“Didn’t wanna come here,” he says. “Didn’t want you to worry, but you’d only see me tomorrow and there would be no hidin’ it.”
“Hiding what?” I shake my head, heading to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. “What were you doing to end up like this?”
“You’ll get mad if I tell you.”
I let out a slow breath, closing my eyes briefly as I let the panic submerge. “I won’t, just tell me the truth.”
“Okay, but you have to pinkie promise.”
My eyes meet his and I’m not smiling. “I’m not pinkie promising anything, you’re scaring me.”
He pouts, his bottom lip pulling up. He looks like a truck has run him over. “Just try not to yell.”
“Oh, Jesus, what did you do?”
He clears his throat. “I went back to The Shady Skull.”
My eyes widen. “What the hell?”
He shrugs. “I had a lead across town, and I thought I’d stop by—”
“Wait, what lead?”
“Uh, just shit I’m lookin’ into.”
“With?”
“With the Directors.”
“Saw, you know how dangerous that is, can’t you just let Willow do her job?”
He snorts. “Right, since when did NOPD solve anythin’ quickly?”
“What lead was it?”
“The name of the guy involved in my kidnappin’.”
I stare at him for what feels like an eternity. He’s never said very much about any of that, so it completely knocks the wind out of my sails. “Really?”
He nods.
“I thought most of them—”
He shakes his head.
“Did you know them? Or were they strangers to you?”
“I knew some of them, the ones I used to do deliveries for.”
I motion for him to sit on the stool while I go to the kitchen to grab a bowl and some warm water. I’m no nurse, but I need to clean him and disinfect the cuts on his face.
“Drugs?”
“Yeah. I’m not proud of it, but I was thirteen years old and rebellious.”
“Okay, so you said you stopped at the Shady Skull, why?” I walk back around to face him, placing the bowl between us on the counter. I soak a cotton ball, then our eyes meet once more. “Saw?”
He blows out a breath. “I went lookin’ for those men that night.”
I almost choke on my own spit. “What the fuck? By yourself?”
“Didn’t say that.”
“So, who were you with?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it does,” I say.
“It matters if you know too much, yeah, I don’t wanna put you in danger.”
“How will I be in danger?” I shake my head, then he winces as I dab his first cut with the cotton wool. “And don’t be a baby.”
“I just don’t wanna take the risk, that’s all I’m sayin’.”
“So the people who, uh—”
“Trafficked me? You can say it.”
I blink, tears welling in my eyes at his candor. “The people who did that to you, were they not already taken down?”
He shakes his head. “They weren’t part of the Mancinis, or anyone else on the MC’s radar. I grew up in Michigan, remember?”
“So, is there a Detroit mafia?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t really expecting him to know the answer to that. “So—”
“So the reason I moved here was because the network is always shiftin’.
I don’t think the Detroit mafia were involved, as such, but we believe they were the ones responsible for what happened to Chris.
” Chris is his step-dad who lost his memory after being involved in a Ponzi scheme, unbeknown to him at the time, he was left for dead and found in a lake.
“The mafia?”
“Yes, and they could’ve been workin’ with the Chicago mob because that’s where Chris ended up when they pulled him out of the lake.”
“What has all of this got to do with tonight and you ending up like this? You’re not getting to the point.”
“Well, I found one of the ex-members of the Detroit mafia named in one of the documents that fell into my hands.” When I make a face, he elaborates.
“I’ve been hacking for a long time. I’ve spent years trying to infiltrate locked files and secret emails of some of these organizations that were around when I was snatched.
And one of the names on the list was this dude called Reginald Bluff. ”
“What a fucking name.”
He snickers. “Well, Regi got kicked out of the mafia, a few years went by, and there was a huge takedown. The police arrested and charged most of the members with various crimes expected of mobsters—”
“Wait, was Chris implicated?”
“No. Chris was technically dead in their eyes, so they never knew he turned up in the lake.”
“Phew,” I say. “Go on.”
“So anyway, this Regi guy is one of the few leads I have left that could be part of the network. The Detroit mafia weren’t good guys, don’t get me wrong, but they weren’t traffickers. Somebody set me up.”
“Do you have a theory?”
“What if the Directors are linked to all of this?”
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “Why do you think that?” I almost dread the question because I know he’s like a dog with a bone once he’s onto something.
“Willow seems to think they are based in Louisiana, which would make sense if Regi moved here, plus, he has connections. Maybe he got kicked out because of what he was doin’.”
“Wouldn’t the mafia put a bullet in his brain for something like that?”
“What if he got away before that could happen?”
I stroke the side of his cheek. “I hate that they hurt you.”
His face drops and I wish I had said nothing. “It feels less of a burden when I share it with you.”
“Sawyer,” I whisper.
“No, don’t do that.”
I halt my next movement across the gash near his eyebrow. “Don’t do what?”
“Feel sorry for me, not you, Princess.”
“I’m not, I didn’t—”
He brushes the bangs off my face. “You don’t have to look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re pitying me.”
I shake my head, hurt washing over me. “I’m allowed to if I want to. I do pity you, or any child who suffered abuse and was taken against their will. Sue me for caring, jeez.” I try to turn away but he grabs me by the elbow.
“I’m sorry.” He pulls me closer, his forehead pressing against mine. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Of course you care about me. That was rude.”
“I just— I can’t even imagine what you went through.”
The silence is deafening, and just like that, Sawyer shuts down again. “I can’t bear it if you’re upset.”
“I’m not.”
He kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“About that. What happened at the Shady Skull?”
He pulls back slightly, pointing to his face. “I broke a few arms and ribs and then got a beatin’.”
“From the guys the other night?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that they paid for what they did. I’m also happy to report our friend broke his nose again.”
My eyes bulge. “Sawyer, my god, you are literally insane. That bar is shady as fuck.”
He gives me a pointed look, “Says the woman who went there with two complete strangers.”
I sigh. “Are we really gonna do this again?”
“How about you keep cleanin’ me up, I like it when you touch me.”
I stare at him, non-blinking. What did he just say? “Y-you do?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
I glance down at his fat lip, what a shame they did this to his pretty face. “Even with a beating, you still look good.”
He grins, then winces. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“Then don’t be a baby, let me fix you.”
“I love it when you talk dirty.”