Page 52 of Ronny

“Oh my God! No, he didn’t.”

He nods. “Well, the gang members were the middlemen between him and the hippie communes. He gave the kids to them and then they brought them to the hippie commune.”

I cover my mouth, trying not to cry out in disbelief that this has been happening.

“Elliot couldn’t keep up with the demand. I really don’t want to tell you the rest because it’s going to hurt you, angel.”

I close my eyes, resting my head on his chest before nodding. “Go ahead and tell me. I need to know.”

He growls, holding me tight to him like he can stop the hurt from getting to me. “He told them that his wife would help him keep up with the demand. Then he started stealing some of your cases.”

My heart shatters, I feel like I can’t breathe. He told them I was his wife, so they were really there for me. “He made a deal where if he couldn’t get them the girls then you would pay, he told them you had the money.”

I close my eyes, hating that Elliot has betrayed me in this way. I knew I got bad vibes from him but I never dreamed that he would do something like this. I thought he was just a nerdy guy that didn’t know how to speak to girls.

“What if I hadn’t been able to pay that debt, Ronny?” I know I’m not going to like the answer.

“They were there to get you to pay up, or you would be working off his debt.”

Tears are falling at this point, I’m so hurt. This is pain because someone thinks they’re so above women, that we are disposable and can be used and hurt. Those little kids are going through God knows what, and this happened right under our noses the whole time.

I sniff, clenching my eyes shut tighter to stop the tears. Ronny pulls back to look at my face. “Why do people do this, Ronny? I have tried so hard to better my life and deal with the pain that has been afflicted to me. I’m trying to be happy with you, starting our life together, and someone always wants to take things from me.”

I shouldn’t be telling him my thoughts right now, but this has truly hurt me, because if Ronny wasn’t there, I would be in a horrible situation—again.

But the most hurtful thing is those kids. We are meant to protect them, and they trusted us to take care of them while in their most vulnerable moments of their lives.

They have either lost their parents or have been hurt by them. Their whole lives were uprooted, and now, they may be lost forever.

“Were the kids girls?” I choke out.

He growls loudly. “Yes. Twelve to sixteen years old.”

I break out of Ronny’s arms, trying not to have a panic attack, though the feeling is bubbling up in my stomach to suffocate me.

My heart is beating so hard.

“I’m so fucking sorry, angel, I hate that this is hurting you so much. I would take the pain over and over again if I could.” Ronny holds me from behind, while I’m facing the spray in an attempt to calm myself.

I haven’t had a panic attack in a long time, but I’m not sure I can fight this one. I swallow hard, trying to speak.

All I can picture is these girls being hurt or raped—or even worse, tortured.

“We have to find those girls,” I manage to say minutes later as the panic attack starts to slip away and I can face Ronny.

His name is the only one I can say, filled with pain and rage. “Elliot is dead?” I ask him, my voice rough from all the crying.

He smirks. “Oh, trust me, he is dead.”

I feel like I can breathe a little easier. He deserved to die, because what he has done is unforgivable.

“Tell me what you have done to him,” I urge, wanting to know he suffered, but I know no matter what it won’t ever be enough.

Ronny’s eyes widen. “Darlin’, I don’t want this shit to touch you. You’re an angel, you don’t need this.”

“Tell me something.”

He sighs and grabs the bodywash, pouring it on my bath pouf and rubbing it down my body. “He touched your ankle, so I made sure he could never use that hand again—I cut it off.”

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