Page 66 of Pit

I do as she instructed, and she picks up the call. “Atlas,” she greets. After a short pause, she says, “Your mood hasn’t improved, I see.” Then she gets up to close her office door.

By lunchtime, I’m starting to relax. Anita explains everything so well and I feel like I’m picking everything up relatively easy. I even managed to have a quick glance over the contract and it seems good. The monthly wage is way more than I’ve ever earned and Anita’s arranging for me to get paid weekly so I don’t have to wait so long.

She points me in the direction of the nearest deli for lunch and gives me her bank card to pay on the provisor I grab her something too.

I pull out my mobile the second I’m out and call Pit, my smile soon fading when he still doesn’t accept my call. Then I grab some lunch and sit on a metal bench across the road. I open the texts I’ve already sent him.

Me: Guess what, I got a job! The woman is amazing. She’s crazy and doesn’t take any shit. I think she’ll be good for me, Pit. She’s already working on toughening me up. I just wanted you to know I’m doing good. I miss you x

I head back to the office feeling slightly less happy. Sharing my exciting news with Pit in a one-way text message doesn’t feel as good.

Pit

“Anita,” I greet. “How’s she doing?”

“Great. Honestly, Pit, I feel like you did me the favour, not the other way around. Where did you find such a gem?”

I prop my feet up on the desk, ignoring the man I have tied to a wooden stool opposite me who’s struggling to break free with a wild panic in his eyes.

“She’s one in a million.”

“She sure is. I even had her hang up on Atlas today for being rude.”

I pull my feet back to the floor and sit straighter. “Rude how?” I demand.

She laughs. “Relax, he was just blunt, but I could tell she needed to feel more in control. I can’t have the boys walking all over her now, can I?”

The thought pisses me off, but I take a calming breath. “Just watch her for me, Nita. I don’t want her upset. She’s been through a lot.”

“And I assume that’s to do with you?”

“Just make sure everyone is respectful.” I disconnect and tuck my phone away. “Women,” I utter, shaking my head. “Why do we worry so much?”

The man groans into his gag, and I step around the desk, resting my backside against the edge and taking a screwdriver from my inside pocket. “I just happened to be in the area and Steven dropped your name, so I thought I should pay you a visit.”

He moans into the gag some more, and I roll my eyes before leaning closer and ripping the sticky tape away. He winces. “Man, I haven’t seen Stevo for years.”

“You were good friends though back in the day, right?” I’d searched Steven Kendal’s social media messages to get me to this point. The ones to this fucker stood out the most, where they were catching up just a year ago and laughing about the time they locked Tessa in the music cupboard and she’d pissed herself with fright. Maybe his story rang too close to the way she’d reacted when I’d done similar. Maybe the guilt was too much. But here we are, and as I look into the cruel eyes of Lee Hive, I absolutely have no intention of walking away.

“Yeah, but we were kids back then.”

I hold my hand up, cutting him off. “See, you already know this isn’t going to be good because you’re trying to make up excuses. I’m gonna say a name, and you’re going to tell me your part in her life.” He eyes me warily. “Tessa.”

He shakes his head frantically, “I don’t know no Tessa.”

“Tessa Dean.”

I see the realisation hit him, followed quickly by confusion. “I haven’t seen her in years.”

“Tell me about the last time you saw her,” I suggest, folding my arms over my chest and fixing him with an expectant glare.

He shrugs. “Fuck, I don’t remember. We were kids.”

“Think,” I push.

“Maybe year eleven.”

“That was around the time Steven began dating her, right?”

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