45. Alyssa

"Where is that Pete bastard?"

"He's being questioned somewhere."

"Where? Didn't you break his legs?"

"Yeah, a little pain might clear his head."

"How did you recognize those guys?"

"That's a story for another time; just know that they're into some very heavy stuff. Nothing to do with what you've got going on here, though. By the way, while all of this was going on, your team forgot to tell you that Helen was arrested for murder."

"Whose murder?" My first thought was of Mom or Dad, and my heart almost stopped.

"Her stepmom."

"What? Why did she do that?"

"She didn't, not really anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"She pushed the old lady, and she fell and hit her head. But she got up and moved around. Then after your… Helen left; she just died. She was on blood thinners, so that may have added to the brain bleed; who knows?"

"But why do they think that Helen did it?"

"Because she died not long after Helen was served at her house. She was the only other person there, and the neighbors saw her acting suspiciously. It didn't help that she stole the old lady's truck. Anyway, it doesn't look like she's going to get bail. Violence against the elderly is frowned upon, apparently, plus I'm pretty sure your husband had a hand in that."

This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger. "Where's Lacey?" Jackie inclined her head to a room down the hall from Mitzie's. Apparently, she'd had to rescue all the women that were at Pete's tonight because those men had other ideas.

I'm not sure about all the details, but I believe her when she says it's heavy. I have enough on my plate as it is and things seem to be moving really fast since we came home. I thought I had everything under control, but I kept running into hidden shit every other step.

Like the conversation I just had with Mitzie. I don't know why I never saw it before or how I had been so blind to the truth. For some reason, I always forgot that she was my age when everything first went down as well.

I always attributed Helen's bullshit to her, by extension, but the truth is, she didn't have any more control over the situation than I did. We were both victims and knowing that, I can't in good conscience take my anger out on her.

Now I find myself in the precarious position of having to help her because her mother had fucked up both our lives for her own gain. Now, I was about to go face Lacey for the first time. Not because of the thing with Denny; she'd done me a favor there, as far as I'm concerned. But I need to know just how fucking depraved she is before I move on to the next phase in this thing.

If that's enough, I can't stop thinking about Natalie's son and what he's going through behind closed doors. Thankfully, Sabrina had already set up a date at her house so we could get started on what I had planned. No matter what, I'm going to make sure she loses that kid because if he could do that shit once, I don't trust her not to do that shit again.

The fact that she did it out in the open haunts me, truth be told, and I don't think I'll rest easy until we get there this weekend. I had a whole thing planned out for her, but it appears that bitch is crazy already. One death on my conscience is enough.

I wasn't there when Helen pushed that lady, but I'm sure that my actions had led her to it. Not that I'm taking the blame for her actions, but I like to be honest with myself, and I know for a fact had she not been homeless, she never would've been at that woman's house.

Don't get me wrong, that bitch was bound to hurt someone sooner or later, but I'd have much rather it had been me. All the same, she's better off in jail than living on the streets. At least there, she'd get a bed and three square meals a day.

I followed Jacks to the room where they'd taken Lacey. Apparently, she'd had some bad stuff as well, and from what little I'd gathered from Jacks so far, it was a party that went very wrong when two characters she recognized from somewhere showed up.

She wouldn't tell me who they were or what they were into, and I got the feeling that my husband was somehow behind her silence, and from that, I knew that pushing would get me nowhere.

Lacey wasn't as bad as Mitzie, but she still looked rough. She was none too pleased to see me, and I was glad to see she still had some fight left in her. That way, I won't feel too bad no matter how things shake out here.

"You, what the hell do you want?"

"I have one question. Do you know what they were going to do?"

"What, who was going to do?"

"Those men that were there tonight. Did you know what they planned to do to Mitzie?"

She scoffed and slouched down in the hospital bed. "What do you care? Don't you hate her guts? She spent her whole life trying to get you to like her, and you never did, so don't come in here pretending that you give a damn about her. And to answer your question, she's an adult; she can take care of herself, but I'm not her babysitter."

"I see, so you did know what they were going to do to her against her will."

"What the fuck are you talking about against her will? Nobody put the drugs in her mouth. The bitch is broke anyway. She needs to make some money."

Until she said those words, I didn't want to believe that she knew. Though I never really paid much attention to my best friend's little sister, it was hard for me to believe that the two had been raised in the same home by the same loving parents. They were so different from each other that it was beyond words.

I threw the envelope I'd had Jackie bring me after bringing Mitzie here. "What's this?"

"Open it." She fumbled with the clasp and opened the envelope. Pictures came tumbling out, images of her night of debauchery.

"Those will be up all over town by morning. I suggest you get out of town. By the way, I sent Denny's Mom the proof that you're not pregnant, so I don't think that you're welcome there." I left the room with her screaming obscenities at me.

If she had any sense of shame, she'd get out of town because I have all intentions of posting those images on every windshield, on every light post, and wherever else I could put them. Honestly, I hadn't planned on doing shit to her because she wasn't worth it. But this was too damn much.

She'd proven herself not to be human with this stunt. She had set another woman up to be violated for money like what the actual fuck is going on in her head? I stopped next to Jacks in the corridor. "I want her out of this town, like far away. I don't care where she goes. Give her fifty dollars and nothing more."

Harsh, I know, but it's more than she was willing to do for Mitzie. Now, there's a trainwreck. I need to go home and unpack everything that I've learned. I think marriage has made me soft because I've never given really much of a damn about my enemies, and I don't plan to start now, but that girl is just pitiful.

Actually, it was Jackie's frantic call that switched something off in me. Apparently, I not only draw the line at abuse against kids, but any form of sexual inappropriateness against drugged or intoxicated women gets a hard no from me as well.

If all that she'd said, and I happen to believe her because of my own experiences in that house, she was a product of her mother's greed and envious illusions. Her mother had her in some kind of warped competition that she was never going to win because I'm that bitch.

Now I had no one left here to torment, and the shit feels anticlimactic. Denny had suffered that shot that was worse than just your average tetanus shot. From what I heard, it's painful as hell, and takes days before the pain goes away.

According to how bad it is, he might need to get another one in a few months and maybe more down the line. At least he was alive because I dead ass wanted him to catch rabies for which there is no cure.

Now I need to find out all about Helen and her crime and what was going to happen there. I'll talk to Garrett about my plan to help Mitzie if she wants it, and then I have to think about Corbin. I'm still pissed at him, but there seems to be a lot I don't know.

Helen was going to have a hard time getting herself out of this one because it was a deputy who served her the divorce papers, and he was the one who claimed she was the last one seen with the victim, so it was going to be her word against his.

No matter how much it costs, I'm going to pay her a visit. Denny will probably have to leave town since he can't get a job here, not in his field anyway, and besides corporate jobs in this town, it's either the sheriff's department or a fast-food place.

There are other places he can go, of course, but I don't think hard labor is his cup of tea. "Make sure a set of those pictures ends up in her parent's mailbox." Knowing them, that would be the final nail in her coffin. They won't be able to deal with the shame.

Denny, too, is on his last leg with his family. He's broke, has no job, no prospects, and every woman in town knows he has a minuscule dick. He's pretty much done. I'm of a mind to let this scandal follow him no matter where he goes. That, along with the fact that he has no dick to speak of, should keep him out of the dating pool.

Garrett came around the corner looking pissed until he saw me, then his features relaxed, and he almost smiled. He walked right to me and wrapped his arms around me before kissing my forehead. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, I wasn't in any danger." He turned his attention to Jacks.

"We'll talk later." Why did he seem upset with her?

"Yes, sir."

"Don't you bully her! She doesn't work for you anymore, remember?"

"I'm not bullying her; where'd you get that idea?"

"Oh, okay. Let's go then. See you later, Jacks."

I let him manhandle me out of the building, taking in a deep breath of evening air to cleanse my palate of the hell that was today.

GARRETT

Those fires just keep coming one after the other. It's a good thing I have as many people on her as I do, or I wouldn't be able to keep up. This last one, though, is about to open Pandora's box. The guys Jackie and the others had brought in are into some dark shit that has to do with the stuff she did with Marcus and his team years ago.

Granted, she had no idea she would run into them here, but it was lucky for us that she did or who knows what might've happened to those women. Now, I have to call in Marcus and his team to get that filth out of here and keep Jackie hidden at the same time. If she panics, she's going to run, and then who knows where she'd end up.

I'm pretty sure she doesn't think she's ready, and it's not for me to say that she is, but dammit, this is going to put me in a bad way. Because, at this point, I'll have to outright lie to the guy and that will not end well.

I think she knows, too, because her whole reason for being with me is the fact that she wanted to get away from that stuff. I am not equipped to handle that kind of thing, not on this level, and since he was the only one I knew who dealt with this mess, it was obvious that he would be the one I call.

I hope she doesn't panic until I have a chance to talk to her, but then that leaves Marcus and what the hell I'm going to say to him. If this one didn't go harassing people, I wouldn't be in this predicament, but I can't blame her for bringing about the rescue of those girls and the detainment of those monsters who were about to sell them into a life of hell.

Life is just too fucking complicated. I spoke to my sister about what she saw, and she's still shaken up, which tells me it was worse than I imagined. I know that the woman I once dated had an ugly side, but to harm her own kid just seems too far out there, even for her.

Now, I was all willing to let Alyssa play out whatever game she was set to play with her. She thinks I don't know what she's up to with Natalie. She's still pissed at what the other woman said about her, but I'm sure she'd be the first to say that shit pales in comparison to a child's wellbeing.

I know she asked my sister to do something, and knowing her penchant for hacking people's shit, I can only guess that the two of them are trying to get more evidence. I guess my sister forgot the home security that covers every inch of my parents' place.

I'd already seen it before we were called away to come here, but I'd seen enough to know that Kevin needed to be warned before things got out of hand. Since he was out of the country for another couple of weeks, it would have to wait, but in the meantime, Sabrina and Alyssa are working on getting into the house; at least, that's what my sister said they were doing.

Natalie wouldn't be suspicious of Sabrina since she's someone she knew from the past, and knowing the way women think, she might see it as my sister joining her camp. That's the best I can do for now until we get there, though I could go ahead and take care of things on my own.

But I won't leave my wife here alone, especially not to go where Natalie is because Alyssa, for all her strength has a jealous streak a mile wide. I have no idea why I find that shit so sexy because, usually, it would piss me the fuck off.

But I like knowing that she doesn't want anyone else getting close to me because I feel the same way about her. Her ex is skating pretty close to being lost in the woods with the stunt he pulled today, getting in her face.

That HRIG shot should be painful as hell for at least a few days but I'm not sure that's enough. I don't want my woman running into him around town for a repeat of this morning, so he has to go. Since she seems to have gotten it out of her system and has moved on to other things, I guess it's up to me to take out the trash.

"What have you decided to do about Lacey?"

"I told Jacks to get her out of town. She thinks I'm going to post those pictures of her around town, but I only plan to give them to her parents if she doesn't leave or ever decides to come back."

"Where is she going?"

"I don't know, and I don't care, as long as it's far away from here." Hmm, I know just where to send those two. Maybe it'll teach them to be better human beings. I wonder if either of them ever expected things to go this far when they screwed around behind her back?

"And Mitzie?"

"She wants to go to school for hair. I'm going to help her, maybe set her up with her own shop if she behaves herself. I think without Helen in her ear, there might be hope for her yet."

"And your father?"

"Why did you have to bring him into this? This has nothing to do with my grievance against him. Why doesn't anyone understand? It doesn't matter what reasons they had for what they did or what they thought it was doing; the reality is that I had to live with the repercussions."

"If someone ran you over in the street and paralyzed you, would you care if they said they didn't mean it? Or would you be pissed that they'd fucked up your life?"

"I see your point."

"Do you? So does that mean you're gonna leave me alone about that shit?"

"Yes, ma'am." She's so testy. She tried slamming out of the car once we got back to the house, and I had to catch up with her and throw her over my shoulder to try to get her out of her snit. Just as I had planned, she laughed and tried beating in my back with her fists. "Put me down, you big idiot."

"No, not until you forgive me."

"Forgive you for what?"

"For upsetting you. You have to know that that's never my intention." She pouted and looked at my chest when I let her down on her feet.

"Okay, but don't do it again."

"Fine, now what about Helen?"

"What about her?"

"A good lawyer might be able to get her off since she claims it was an accident."

"She can't afford a lawyer."

"So…? What are we thinking?"

"I say let her rot."

"Done!" She looked at me squinty-eyed.

"You're scary!"

"Aren't I just? Now let's go to bed; I have a sudden hunger for you."

"You're always hungry for sex."

‘" And who is to blame for that, I wonder?" She blushed and took off running with me behind her. There's never a dull moment with her, that's for sure.

DENNY

Today has been some level of hell, for sure. First, my run-in with Alyssa didn't go as planned, and then the damn raccoon in my car just had to bite me. You'd think that would be the worst of it, but nope. I guess I should be grateful to the two strangers who ran me down and pulled me over before I got back home.

They claimed they'd seen what happened and thought it was better that I went to the hospital. I was so confused by that point I didn't question anything, so I just left my car and followed them back to theirs.

It was only once we were all inside with the doors closed and locked that my fear kicked in, but lucky for me, they'd been true to their word and had taken me straight to the hospital and had even hung around to wait, which was another blessing I was soon to find out.

The shot, which I had erroneously thought would just be a regular shot in the arm, was anything but. The stupid doctor had injected directly into the bite, and that shit still hurt worse than the bite did hours later.

After we left the hospital, I was in no shape to do much of anything since my head was spinning, and I felt as though I was going to throw up with each step I took, so they drove me back to my car, but then one of them had to follow in my car while I laid in the backseat of their car too weak to even lift my head.

I don't know how they knew where I lived, but I figured I'd somehow relayed that information in my pain fog at some point. I shit myself as soon as I walked through the door because the diarrhea that I had held in all this time just couldn't hold on for the last few steps to the bathroom once I knew the door was just ahead.

I was a mess after changing out of the soiled clothes and sitting on the head for what felt like hours. At some point, I made it into the shower, where I had to lie while the water beat down on me from above.

When I finally had the strength, I crawled my way to my room and up onto the bed, where I was interrupted by my mother as soon as my head hit the pillow. She came in to show me her phone with pictures of Lacey throwing out bloody pads, of all things, which only made my nausea worse.

"Ma, why the hell are you showing me that?" She knocked me in the head, yes, my already throbbing head, "Because this means she's not pregnant, you ass. I want her out of here."

It would've been fine if she left it there since I agreed with her sentiment, but she had to continue with her latest mantra about what a disappointment I am and how Alyssa was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'll never find another like her. My own mother had already written me off and cursed me at twenty-four.

I was too sick to fight with her, so I just rolled over to get some sleep. I would like to celebrate the fact that Lacey was finally out of my life but I didn't have the will to even breathe. The injection site felt as if the needle was still going in and out of there, and my stomach refused to settle down.

I'm not sure how often I went in and out of the toilet, but it was a lot. I noticed how quiet the house was at some point and realized that everyone else must have gone to night service at the church. I was thirsty as hell, but if I took one more step, I think my head would explode. So, I crawled on my belly back to my room and made my way onto the bed.

Something jarred me awake sometime later, and in my confusion, it took me a minute to realize that there was someone else in the room with me. "Don't make so much noise, Mom, my head is splitting." I put my head back down and passed out.

Why the hell is my bed moving? I laid still for a minute and tried to make sense of the sounds and scents around me. I was smelling the ocean which made no sense because how the hell did I get there? I tried to sit up and realized immediately that that sickening feeling was no longer there.

My guts didn't feel like it was trying to crawl through my ass, and my head wasn't a pinata for the little drummer boy. But where the hell was I, and why was I smelling the ocean so strong? Did my family bring me out to the shore to make me feel better?

I started to get up and saw Lacey lying on a small cot next to the one I was on. "What the fuck?" I looked around the room and immediately realized why my bed was moving; we were on a ship.