Tainted

  As they waited for the elevator, Sawyer looked outside the windows.

  “It won’t do you any good. They’re bullet proof and the door is controlled by security. No one gets in or out without being buzzed in.” They had their illegal system down so there wasn’t a chance of escape.

  Sawyer stepped into the elevator when it opened, both men by her side. Briggs pushed the button and the elevator moved upwards. When they reached the top floor, they guided her to a private office where Briggs rapped on the door before opening it.

  She recognized the man looking out the window as he turned toward the door when it opened. He had become known throughout her neighborhood and the seedier side of Queen City. His name was Digger, and most people in Queen City were afraid of him. The only one in town who had been able to keep Digger under some control was King, although he had been trying to steal King’s power the last couple of years.

  “I see that you finally were able to accomplish what you set out to do.” His face was unexpectedly handsome, but there was a cruel twist to his mouth. Sawyer shivered when he looked her over as if she was less than human to him.

  “Sawyer, have a seat.” Briggs pushed her toward the chair in front of Digger’s desk. Shakily, she took a seat.

  “Now, you’re going to be a smart woman and listen to me before you open your mouth. You have some information I want. You can tell me what I need to know and I’ll see to it that you can walk out that front door. Don’t tell me what I want to know and they’ll carry you out the back.”

  Sawyer twisted her hands together in her lap.

  “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

  Sawyer knew she couldn’t answer him without stuttering so she nodded her head.

  “Good.” Digger took a seat behind the large desk. “How well do you know King?”

  “I—I don’t,” Sawyer spoke truthfully. She could tell by the look on his face he didn’t believe her. “I s—s—s—saw him when I w—w—was a kid at my apartment building.” Sawyer sucked in deep breaths, determined to get herself back under control. Relaxing her shoulders, she waited for his next question.

  “Then why, when you were kids, did he extend his protection to cover you and Vida?”

  “He extended it to Callie, Vida and me.” Sawyer was proud of herself for managing to get out a sentence without stammering.

  “Callie?”

  “She was another girl from our complex.” Sawyer saw no reason not to tell him. Callie was the only one beyond his reach.

  “Why am I just now hearing about her?”

  “Probably because she’s dead,” Sawyer said sarcastically. “She died when she was eight.”

  “Her mother and father?”

  “Her mother died the same day and no one knew who her father was.”

  “Could it have been King?”

  Sawyer could see that he thought he was getting somewhere. She took perverse pleasure in bursting his bubble. “No.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Brenda was not only a whore, but a slut. You know King; what do you think?”

  Everyone in town knew that King didn’t touch whores. He liked to sell their services, but he kept his pleasure away from business. When King played, he liked to pick women who were from upper society that felt they were getting a thrill by fucking someone of King’s caliber. He got exhilarated by dragging them down to his level.

  “Why did King extend his protection to you and your friends then?” Digger asked, leaning back in his expensive chair.

  “I honestly don’t know. I’ve thought about if off and on for years and couldn’t figure it out.” The ring of truth and confusion sounded in her voice.

  “I see.” Digger motioned to Briggs who was standing behind her. His hands circled her throat, squeezing tightly. Her hands went to his, trying to break his hold as she fought, trying to get away.

  When she thought she was going to pass out, she heard Digger’s voice through the buzzing in her ears. “That’s enough.”

  Sawyer gasped for breath when Briggs released her, and Digger waited until she quit before he began questioning her again. “I suggest you think harder.”

  “Once, several boys ganged up on us, causing Callie and Vida to almost be hit by a car. I pulled them away from the road before they were hurt. That was the only contact we had with King.”

  Her hand went to her sore throat. “H—he wasn’t my f—father, and he wasn’t Vida’s, s—so maybe he was protecting the driver of the vehicle? I—I don’t know.”

  “How do you know he wasn’t Vida’s father?”

  “B—because Goldie kept a picture of Vida’s father on a s—shelf in her apartment. Vida showed it to me one time. He wasn’t my father because my mother didn’t even know King until I was two-years-old.”

  “That’s all you know?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s useless information.”

  “I don’t know what else I can tell you. There isn’t a connection between King and us.”

  “I am beginning to see that the problem for you is that the only reason you were useful to me was for information. Since you’re useless, I have no further benefit by keeping you.

  “Take her to the basement.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sawyer lay on the bed, listening to the soft cries from the other rooms. She had lost track of the number of days she had been held in the tiny room. She was beginning to lose touch with reality. The only contact she had with the other women was being forced to listen to their misery.

  So far they hadn’t drugged her; that would defeat their purpose. Digger still believed that she knew something.

  She was hungry. I will never complain about eating at another buffet, she thought wryly. She wiped a tear away. At least Vida was safe for now. Whoever was protecting her, frightened Digger. She had seen the wariness in his eyes when she’d heard him telling his men to back off when they grew tired of her lack of information and wanted to go after Vida.

  A loud explosion had her sitting up on her cot, with terror swamping her. Running to the door, she put her ear to it, listening to every sound she could hear. She stepped away when she heard the sound of gunfire. She instinctively hid in the darkest corner of her room, crouched down and hiding in case any of Digger’s men came for her.

  She wanted to scream along with the other women, though she managed somehow to control herself, wanting more to be able to listen to what was happening in the building.

  Another smaller explosion sounded closer.

  Relief flooded her when she heard the FBI yell out. She started crying in relief at the sound of doors opening and women being set free. It had her running to the door, banging on it, afraid they would miss her. The sound of a key in the lock had her stepping back.

  She started crying harder as the door swung open and an officer stood there with an FBI vest, who quickly ushered her up the steps with the other women. They kept reassuring them they were safe and free. As Sawyer brought up the rear with one of the officers behind her, she felt him lurch forward, causing her to fall to the ground as he landed heavily on her. She knew he had been shot when she felt his dead weight.

  His body was thrown off her and she was jerked to her feet.

  Digger’s man, Morgan, had her by her arm, dragging her back the way she had just ran from. Smoke filled the air as she started screaming for help.

  “Make another noise, and I’ll kill you,” Morgan grunted as he ran down a hallway, dragging her with him. He went around the corner, coming to a stop at the large man blocking their path with a gun in his hand. The man didn’t hesitate. Before Morgan could even point his gun, he shot him. Morgan’s hand fell away from her as he dropped to the ground where Sawyer looked down at him. A bullet hole was right between his eyes.

  “Let’s go, Sawyer.” King held his hand out to her, his eyes unremorseful.

  Sawyer gave him her hand, running with him toward another doorway. He paused before the door,
and then pushed it open, keeping to the side of the building.

  She glanced across the few feet where the whole parking lot was filled with police and fire trucks as a car pulled up in front of them with its lights off. King opened the backdoor and pushed her in before getting in himself. The car pulled slowly out of the lot, heading away from the burning building and police.

  “That’s the most excitement I’ve had in a while.” King’s merciless appearance had not changed over the years. His large body with dark hair and eyes would make anyone hesitate to approach him. The cold-blooded way he handled his enemies sent them running. He was wearing dark jeans and a jacket, which was the most casual she had ever seen him; usually, he was wearing expensive suits.

  His head turned toward her, studying her. “You’ve looked better, Sawyer.”

  Sawyer gave a wry laugh. “I’ve felt better. What’s going on, King?”

  “Digger was under the misguided impression that you have information about me that no one else knows.” Sawyer broke eye contact with him, going to the extremely broad shoulders of the man driving the car.

  “Is Vida okay?”

  “Vida is doing extremely well. Your little friend is being watched by an acquaintance of mine.”

  Sawyer couldn’t decide if that was good news or bad news, considering the caliber of friends King had.

  As if reading her mind, King set her mind at rest. “Colton is a good guy. He’ll take excellent care of her.” He lifted her hand, turning it until her tattoo showed in the faint light. “I believe he was the one who gave you this tat.” Sawyer remembered the man who had given her the tattoo years before. He wasn’t someone that you forgot.

  The car took a turn and Sawyer realized where they were going. “Why are we going to the airport?” Sawyer questioned.

  “Because you need to stay out of town a little longer. The FBI managed to let Digger and Briggs slip from their grasp, and you’re not safe in town until he’s caught.”

  “But I want to see Vida!” Sawyer protested.

  “Bad enough to get her killed?” He callously disregarded her protests. “Digger’s operation might be hurt, but he’s a long way from being out of business. Colton is more than capable of seeing to it that Vida is taken care of; however, Digger won’t use his full strength against her unless he has to. You go running to her and you’ll give him that reason. I can’t just kill the bastard the way I want to. Because he’s such a fuck up, the FBI are watching both of us.”

  The car passed through a private gate, pulling into a long, paved drive. Lights up ahead made a small plane sitting on the runway visible.

  “I can’t leave without seeing her.”

  “I’m not giving you a choice, Sawyer. Listen to me; I’ll make sure that Vida knows how to find you. You know Vida; what do you think she will do?”

  Vida wouldn’t stop until she found her, if she knew where she was.

  “Colton and she have become close. Do you want to ruin that for her?”

  “Where will I go?” Sawyer begrudgingly accepted that King wasn’t going to let her get near Vida.

  “From what I hear, Vida wasn’t the only one to find someone.” Sawyer blushed when she realized he was talking about Kaden.

  “I don’t know if he even wants me back.” The last she had seen him, he had been talking with Tatiana. Maybe they had worked things out and she would be in the way. She didn’t want to see him with another woman.

  “I think that’s a question you have to ask him,” King stated. “But either way, he’ll see you’re safe until this mess is finished. Digger has to be more cautious away from Queen City. He has half the police force in his pocket here.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I have the other half,” he admitted.

  The man in the front seat got out of the car after talking briefly on the phone, coming to stand outside her door. “The plane’s ready to take off.”

  Sawyer reached for the door handle, but King reached out to stop her.

  Sawyer turned back to him.

  “Did you tell him what he wanted to know?” His pitiless eyes stared into hers.

  “No.”

  He tilted his head in curiosity. “Why? From my sources, I heard they were hard on you. Why didn’t you tell Digger what he wanted?”

  Sawyer broached the subject cautiously. Digger was crazy and mean as hell, but King was the more most dangerous of the two. If King had wanted her, he would have succeeded where Digger had failed. “Because that child deserved to rest in peace.”

  King paled at her harsh words, his hand dropping away; however, years of holding in her pain had her unable to hold back now.

  “No one, not one adult in that building or neighborhood stepped up and stopped Brenda. My mom and Vida’s both tried, but she threatened them. Brenda told them that she would disappear with Callie.” Tears long held back escaped. “She was so beautiful, King. How could you leave her to that evil woman?”

  King paled even further. Pain that she didn’t know the man could feel was hard to miss.

  “I saw you every day, watching for her to come outside. She didn’t even have a fucking doll.” A sob broke free. “She didn’t even know what a father was, King, until Vida and I told her. How could you turn your back on your daughter?”

  The day that Vida and Callie had almost gotten run over by the speeding car would live with her forever. Marshall, Brenda’s new live-in boyfriend had purchased a doll for her. Callie had run into the road after it when the neighborhood punks had thrown it toward the road to torment the girls. Vida and she had both chased after her. Sawyer, to this day, didn’t know how she’d had the strength to overcome the girls, pulling them to safety in time.

  King had not been far behind them. His terror had let his secret slip. It was the one and only time Sawyer was sure that King had lost control. Vida had sat down on the ground, comforting a crying Callie over the loss of her doll. She had not realized how close to death she’d come. King had stood by Sawyer.

  “I owe you and Vida, Sawyer. None of the punks in the neighborhood will bother you again.” Tears were in his eyes, and his hands were clenched by his side. Even as a young girl, Sawyer could feel the restraint he’d used to hold himself back. Sawyer had seen that look enough in her mother’s eyes to know what it meant. The resemblance easily seen between the two as Sawyer’s eyes had gone back and forth between them.

  “You’re her daddy.” Sawyer breathed, scared at the look that came in his eyes at her astonishment.

  “If anyone finds out who she is, Sawyer, they’ll hurt her. Do you want her hurt because you couldn’t keep a secret?”

  “N—no.”

  “Then keep your mouth shut. If anyone finds out, I won’t be happy. Vida’s mom works for me; do you want her to lose her job?” He had shown no compunction in threatening a child.

  N—n—no.”

  “No one will let your mom babysit for them if I tell them not to. Do you want your mom to lose what money she has?”

  “N—n—n—no.”

  “Then keep your mouth shut. You’re the only one who knows, so if it gets out, I will know you talked.”

  Sawyer nodded her head. “I won’t say anything, King. I swear.”

  “I expect you to keep that promise, Sawyer.” He left her and her friends without another word, walking away from his beautiful daughter, not looking back.

  “I did what I had to do.” Kings words drew her back to the present.

  “Yes, you did, and you’ve had to live with losing her everyday just like Vida and I do.”

  Sawyer opened the car door, stepping out and hanging onto the door for a few seconds. She was blinded by the tears in her eyes. Blinking, she managed to glance back at the grim-faced man.

  “I told Digger everything I knew. I didn’t tell him you were her father because you weren’t a father to her when she was living, and you sure as hell don’t deserve to be called her father when she’s in a casket paid for by the stat
e.” She slammed the car door in finality.

  King’s bodyguard escorted her toward the plane with a gun in his hand, while four armed security guards were waiting outside the plane. Damn, King was making sure she got on the plane.

  As she drew closer, two of the men came forward to escort her up the steps, the other two following behind.

  The plane was opulently decorated. Sawyer was staring around, awestruck. She had never been in an airplane before and this one rivaled the tour bus.

  As she walked forward, Alec and Kaden rose from their seats. Sawyer started crying again at his haggard look. He looked pale and as if he had lost weight.

  When he reached her, he pulled her into his arms, holding her close.

  “Woman, you’re never leaving me again.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The plane landed safely two hours later in Chicago with a car waiting for them at the airport. Kaden hadn’t left her side. When they’d arrived back at the bus, he had barely given the others time to greet her before he was maneuvering her towards the bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, he was pulling and tugging her clothes off.

  Each bruise and mark he exposed felt the brush of his lips. When he had completely undressed her, he carried her to the shower.

  “I wish it was a bath,” he apologized unnecessarily.

  “It’s okay.”

  He removed his own clothes before stepping into the shower where she leaned her head on his chest as he soaped her body.

  “I’ve never felt so frightened, Kaden,” she confessed.

  “Me, either. I thought they would make you disappear before we could find you.” He turned her body so that the water washed the soap away.

  From the first time she laid eyes on him, she could tell he had suffered at her disappearance. She enjoyed letting him care for her. The exquisite feeling of being safe in his arms was what she had clung to when Digger had been beating her.

  “Sawyer, did he…?”

  Sawyer shook her head at his delicate question. “He was too scared to go too far with me. He knew King was barely holding back and there was something else preventing him from going overboard with me as well. I don’t know if I could have taken that.” Everyone had a breaking point and Sawyer knew herself well enough to be certain that Digger and his men sexually abusing her would have been hers.