Chapter 32

ANONYMOUS

Ilook down at my burner phone, the text shining brightly in front of me.

"We need to end this now. Find out as much as you can about a guy called Deacon."

I'm trying, but these guys don't trust me yet. I don't think they suspect me, but they're not letting me get close to anything. Things have been wild since the hit on their boys at the poker game. It was cleaned up really well, but the fact these five guys disappeared overnight, plus the very obvious murders of the others, well, let's just say things are tense.

"C'mon, we're taking a ride." I look up to see Calvin walking toward me. I turn my phone dark, slipping it into my back pocket.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll find out when we get there."

"Okay, cool." I shrug, but I feel a pit in my stomach. Have they figured this out? Do they know who I really am?

He slaps me on the shoulder. "Don't look so worried, bro. You're doing excellent work here for us. People are impressed."

Mostly, they've had me on deliveries. We thought it was just girls, but this group deals in drugs, too. I wouldn't be surprised if they dealt in guns as well. This shit is big, and every so often, I get a glimpse into how deep this thing goes. They haven't let me near the girls yet—they know I know, but until they trust me fully, I can't get involved.

I slip into the passenger side of the car and buckle up.

"So, anyone else joining us? And is this gonna take long? I'm starving."

"We're going to a gathering of sorts," he replies to me. Cause that isn't vague at all.

"You need to wear this." He hands me a blindfold.

"You're kidding, right?"

He shakes his head. "Nope."

I sigh before tying it around my head.

We drive for about twenty minutes; I try to count the turns then I realize he's taken me around a roundabout three times. He tells me to take my blindfold off, so I do, just catching us pulling up to a house. Well, if you can call this place a house. My family is pretty well off, but this place is like a mansion or something.

Calvin buzzes the button at the gate, looking up at a camera at the edge of it. The gates open, and I look at him quizzingly. He just grins before driving us down the long drive before pulling up at the house. There are a few cars here, some that I know are seriously high-value collector's items. Others are an array of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Mercedes.

He jumps up out of the car. "C'mon."

I don't know if I'm in trouble here or what, but the likelihood of Calvin knowing anyone at a place like this is slim at best. The hairs on my arms raise, I wonder…

He knocks on the door and is immediately accosted by a man patting him down. He smirks as the guy pulls a gun that's tucked into the back of his jeans. I step in and get pulled by another guy as he starts searching me.

"I don't have anything," I say but he pulls my phone from my back pocket. "Hey, that's mine."

"You'll get it back at the end of the night don't worry," Calvin says as he hands his phone over. "It's standard." He shrugs.

I'm finally let go and follow Calvin up the stairs. The house is quiet, a little eerie if you ask me. A house shouldn't be this quiet.

"C'mon."

I jump the next couple of steps, realizing I'm lagging behind. "Sorry. This house is something else, man."

"That's okay, no parents to look after you right? I remember Jim telling me your folks died when you were little. In and out of foster care, yeah, I know." He smiles when I look surprised. "Don't worry, man, wealth is all around, but you very rarely get to touch it. But stick with us, and the boss is gonna reward you. Who knows, maybe one day you'll get a place like this. Just keep your nose down, kid."

It's almost funny how he calls me a kid. He's only in his mid-twenties, and they think I'm twenty-two, so that only puts him a couple of years older than me. It's good to see that Jax's identity kept hold. I was worried if they dug around, they would figure out who I really was, but so far, so good.

We stop outside a large door. "He's in there waiting for you."

"Who?"

Calvin just shrugs, walking off.

"Wait you're not coming with?"

"Nah man, I wasn't invited. I'll meet you after don't worry."

I take a deep breath, reaching out to the handle before pushing it down and opening the door to what seems like an exceptionally large study. A man looks up at me from behind the desk. "Ah, you must be Daniel."

I nod. "Yeah, who the fuck are you?"

He smiles, and goddamn it, if it's not the creepiest smile I've ever encountered.

"Watch the attitude, Daniel." He gets up, walking over to a large glass bottle filled with brown liquid, which I can only assume is brandy or whiskey or something like that. "Drink?" he asks as he pulls himself a glass.

"I don't drink with someone I don't know."

He chuckles. "Cautious, I like it." Yet he continues to pour out a second glass. "Shut the door."

I do as he asks, walking further into the room before he hands me a glass. "Sit," he tells me and walks back behind his desk. He watches me like a lion watches its prey, planning and plotting his move, yet he's also super relaxed, which is worrying. "Don't make me say it again."

I walk over and sit down, sniffing the drink. He takes a sip and swallows, so I do the same, knowing he poured it from the same bottle.

"So, Daniel, my boys have been telling me you've been doing a good job for me, keeping your head down and getting it done."

My boys…shit is this…

"I'm Deacon. You may have heard my name."

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't know."

He laughs. "It's fine, Daniel. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything about your little disrespect earlier, but you know who I am now, so don't do it again."

"Yes, sir."

"Good lad."

I try to take note of everything I can about him. He's got to be between forty-five and fifty-five. He's athletic but not built. His brown hair is greying at the top, with no distinguishing marks or tattoos. He looks like any other businessman on the street except the high quality suit he has on that's very clearly designer.

"So, I have an opening, my last man… Well…let's not worry about that, but he's gone. I'm doing a little restructuring. You're moving away from Calvin, I want you on something else."

"Happy to go wherever you need me, sir."

"You can call me Deacon or Deke, I don't mind, but sir is too formal, especially now we're moving you." The door opens, and I look behind me to see who it is.

An older man walks into the room.

Now, this guy looks dangerous.

"This is Pete. He's been with me for a long time and runs the girls. You know about this, yes?"

I nod, repeating the story in my head. "Yeah, David told me before he was killed, he was recruiting me in."

"Fine, we have a pickup this weekend. We're moving some of our new girls. They're heading out to a club I own in another city. But there's one girl I need you to deal with specifically. She was picked up earlier today. She's different from the rest. My boys are reining her in as we speak."

A chill runs through me at what reining her in means.

He smirks over at Pete… "In fact, Petey boy, why don't you go and have some fun. I'll bring Daniel down in a bit." He smirks and walks out of the room.

"So, what's so special about this girl?" I ask.

"We're going to give her back, eventually. My boys are gonna play for a little, but we're moving her tonight to another location. I don't wanna keep her here. You don't need to know more than that other than the fact she's going to be with Petey on Saturday. We're renting her out to a few of my clients for the rest of the week. It's a little bit of payback to a guy who's giving me trouble. A warning, you might say. You're going to help Pete Saturday night load the girls into a truck, and then you're gonna take this girl and drop her off at her lover boy's house."

Everything he's saying is making my blood run cold. Whatever this guy did, Deacon's gonna make his girl pay for it. And renting out to his clients sounds truly horrific.

"You think you can do that for me?"

I nod. "Sure."

"Good, you do this right, and I'll have better jobs for you."

"Now I've heard you're staying at some shitty motel right now. Is that true?"

"Yeah, I can't really afford a place right now, and to be honest, I like to be ready to move."

He slides an envelope over to me. "None of my boys live in hotels. There's fifty grand in there and a set of keys to an apartment on Second. Get yourself set up right, do this job, and the rewards will keep coming."

I pick up the envelope before he stands up and escorts me over to the door. "I think I like you, Daniel. I think you're going to go places with me." I step outside the door, and he follows me out.

"Would you like to have some fun, Daniel?" He smirks and I know he's talking about that girl.

"Truthfully, I'm wiped. I was on that job you sent me on till 4:00 a.m. I need to crash."

"Not a problem, my boy. If you go wait by the door, I'll get one of my guys to drop you off at the apartment."

"Yes, sir… I mean, Deacon."

He pats me on the shoulder before we walk down the stairs together. He nods to his guys at the door, who walk over to me and give me my phone back.

"It was nice to meet you, Daniel. Pete will be in contact on Friday to discuss times and where you're meeting on Saturday."

I nod before he turns his back on me. I watch him walk over to a door under his staircase, and as he opens the door, I hear a girl scream in agony. I want to help her, but I know I can't. The door closes behind him and all is silent. I don't stand a chance with these guys. I only hope the next week goes by quickly for her so I can get her back home.