Chapter 97

* Ryder *

“Ryder, what the hell is this?” I was rudely awakened from a sex coma to find her kneeling in the middle of the bed, white as a sheet and close to tears, with her phone held out to me. I was still half asleep when I took it, but what I read there had me fully awake in seconds.

I reached for my phone to call Lyon. “Yeah, I think I know where the last girl might be.”

“Really, where? And where did you get the information?”

“My ex just sent some kind of rambling text to my girl. She mentions a lot of the people and places on the list we found, but there’s a new one in her text and she specifically mentioned the girl.”

“Good job. Where is she?” I gave him the particulars, all the while watching the changes that crossed Elena’s face. “I gotta go. Of course, she framed it as if I was involved, and now my girl is freaking out.”

“Damn, I overlooked that part. Does that mean she knows everything?”

“Pretty much.”

Because I had Lyon on speaker, she’d heard everything, so now her look was one of confusion. “What is going on?” That was her first question after I hung up. This is exactly why I didn’t want her to know about this. She looked like she was about to pass the hell out.

She did all the things I imagined she’d do when I told her the whole story. She was worried for the kids who’d been taken, then she wondered if her shows were being used for the same thing, and then she got mad at me for not telling her sooner. It was a roller coaster ride.

I was pissed at myself as well because I’d forgotten to block Janie on her phone after I did it with mine. We spent the next few hours going over everything I knew about the trafficking situation. So much for keeping her out of it; I’d failed at that as well.

If I hated Janie before, I detested her even more now. There’s no doubt from the wording of her text that she meant to inflict harm. She’s made it seem like I was in on it, that I knew and was on board with my team kidnapping and trafficking my young fans.

Even if she hated me, that was a very low thing to do. I’ve had moments here and there in the last few weeks when I thought that maybe I was being too hard on her, that maybe she was too young when this all started, and her mind had been controlled by her dad, whose only concern was being in the spotlight. But then she goes and does something like this, and I’m reminded that she’s a snake in her own right.

I was doing my best not to show my anger in front of Elena; she’s never been good with shit like that, and I didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was, but I was pissed as hell. If I saw Janie right now, I think I’d maim her or some shit.

“So, the concert is about this.”

“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before; I wanted to protect you.”

“Ryder, our whole lives got derailed because you didn’t talk to me, remember? I can understand you wanting to protect me, but there are some things you just shouldn’t hide.”

I knew she was right to a point, but I also agree with Lyon. Not because I think men are better equipped to handle certain things, but it’s like he said: when you love the female in your life, you will do anything to protect her. Okay, what he said was, your woman is going to be a nosy fuck; that doesn’t mean you’re supposed to just open the door and let her walk through it. Some things just aren’t for females to be a part of.

I think he said something about their delicate nature, but since he said it with a sneer and cursed his wife’s name under his breath, I’m not too sure if he meant that part.

It’s a bit confusing when you think about it. He hides shit from his grown-ass wife, but his ten-year-old daughter, who, according to him, started her shit when she was about five, is knee-deep in everything he does. It’s very perplexing to an outsider like me.

So, Elena, after she knew as much as I did, went from worry and fear to anger and determination. She’d learned about this much later than I had but seemed to come up with many ideas as she paced the room. I watched her walk back and forth for a good half hour before she stopped suddenly and turned fierce eyes on me.

“Wait a minute. How does your ex know about this?” I think for a minute there; she thought that I had shared something with Janie that I hadn’t with her until I told her the truth and watched the color drain from her face.

“She knew? That horrible bitch, what is wrong with her?” That was so unlike her that it threw me for a second, then I broke out into laughter because she looked like she wanted to kill someone with her tiny ass.

***

* Janie *

If only I could be a fly on the wall. The euphoria I felt was almost enough to make up for not being there when that smarmy bitch got my message. Let’s see how happy you two will be now. I bet the concert will be called off because if I know one thing, that bitch loves to pretend she gives a damn about humanity. Nosy bitch.

I felt much better, somewhat, after setting off that bomb in their blooming relationship. Ryder will have a time explaining that shit, that’s for sure. Maybe she’ll turn on him, turn him in. That reminds me; I have so much more where that came from. If only I could get into the house in L.A. where I hid my stash.

No one has to know that I’ve known all along and did nothing. I can come up with a scenario that leaves me completely out of it. I can pretend I just found out. Yes, let it all blow up in their faces. And Mary’s kids, once it’s revealed that their mother was part of it, the backlash will be beautiful.

But wait, didn’t I say something about this before? I couldn’t quite remember where or when and to whom I had said it. That gave me a bit of pause, which didn’t last long because I wasn’t the one trafficking kids. I had no part in it.

Now, I was doubly appreciative of the fact that Ryder liked to keep me out of his business dealings. No one would ever blame me for any of it. I scratched my arms as they started to feel as if something was crawling under my skin.

One of my nails flew off and I watched it as it landed on the floor across the room in amazement. What the hell was that? I looked down at my fingers and saw blood and almost freaked. There was so much blood. My arms were almost shredded from where I’d dug into them. I don’t remember doing that.

But the feeling of bugs crawling around in there made me keep up the scratching, which was doing nothing to help. I didn’t feel the pain, so it couldn’t be that bad. And besides, I wasn’t about to let anything take away from the joy I felt at this moment.

I’d sent Elena just enough information about the trafficking that has been going on at Ryder’s concerts for years to make it seem like he was part of it. Now, I’ll just wait for the fallout. I was already scrolling through my phone, impatient to see what, if anything, had happened so far, when my door opened, and Jessica, or whatever the hell her name was, walked in.

“Hey, give me back my phone.”

“No, can do. I was ordered to take it away from you, and you know me, I love following orders. Didn’t you once order me to give you my notebook? Which you then tore the pages out of?”

“Ordered by who?”

“Who do you think? She says thanks, by the way.”

“Thanks for what?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“I have no idea; she just said to thank you for what you did.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Your arm is bleeding; you should go take care of that.”

***

* Lyon *

“Daddy!”

“What is it?” Oh, fuck she’s smiling. Her brothers, Kat’s latest spawn, were sitting on my lap, one on each leg, sucking away at their bottles like the pigs they were. Kat’s sneaky ass is making me pay for being gone too long by leaving me with them every chance she gets while she prances her ass down to the beach with the rest of her gaggle.

The men around here are fuckwits. They let their women guilt trip them into doing shit, but that’s not me. I’m gonna have to have another talking session with her ass tonight get her back on track. Her ass hasn’t been lit up in a while. Damn, Colton, what the fuck are you thinking about with your kids in the room?

“Something I can do for you, Mengele?” See, I’ve come to know when I’m dealing with the mad scientist as opposed to Catalina, my daughter. My daughter crawls into my lap and bats her lashes at me when she wants shit. Mengele gives me that smile when she’s plotting world dominance.

“So, we’ve got the new information.”

“What new information?” She couldn’t possibly know. I only just got off the phone with the kid.

“You know what information. The last piece of the puzzle. You’ve found the girl.”

“Mengele, what did you do?”

I know she doesn’t have this room bugged because I’d already found and discarded all of her little spying devices. Unless that asshole Russo had come up with something my equipment couldn’t detect, which didn’t seem possible. Her idiot dog hadn’t been in here either, so…

“What do you mean, Daddy?” I had to think back on my conversation with Ryder and came to one conclusion.

“Mengele, where is that girl? Janie.”

“The uncles didn’t tell you? Yippee.” She clapped her hands and then held them over her head like a champ.

She was excited that she’d gotten one over on me. She’s running shit now, and my men are at her beck and call. I know how her mind works. “There’s a nunnery in Switzerland with your name on it, kid.” She didn’t seem the least bit fazed. Not that I would let her out of my sight; who knows what dafuq she’d get up to without me there to rein her in.

“I’m so scared, Daddy. Anyway, gotta go.” What dafuq is wrong with my kid? It’s sunny outside; there’s a beach, a forest, anything and everything a kid her age could want in the amusement park-sized playground her Uncle Hank had insisted on, but she wants to meddle in this shit.

The doctor she had trapped here was halfway to dead, and I guess she was done with him because she hadn’t been back there torturing him since my return. I’m not even sure what she plans to do with him, and I want no part of it. Let Mancini deal with her shit. I know if she finds some way to kill him where she’s not technically responsible, I’m moving off this bitch.

The other two popped the empty bottles from their mouths at about the same time and grinned up at me. “You remember your old man, don’t you.” My biggest fear when I’m away from my babies when they’re this age is that they won’t remember me. Kat knows it, and that’s why she gives me extra quality time with them when I come back.

She knows that I know she knows, but I’ll be fucked if I’m going out like that. I like spending time with them as much as she does, but I’m not dealing with that damn Tyler and his bitch made comments.

I heard the men’s footsteps approaching and put my boys down on the floor to run around. These two are worse than Lorde’s girl’s goat when they get up to their shit. Other people’s kids teethe on rubber and shit; Kat’s early grave plans like to chew on wood. I looked up as Hank walked through the door ahead of the others.

“Mancini, what dafuq is my kid up to, and how much of a mind fuck is it gonna be for me?”