Page 71 of Provoke You

20

Junkies Like Her

Matt

The asshole in our kitchen kicked me right in the ribs for the third time in the last five minutes. I managed not to react the first two times, but this time I fell to my knees. The bruised ribs from the night at the lake still hurt like all hell. His fucking roundhouse kick wasn’t helping. He smirked at me as if he knew that was my weakest point.

I glanced over to the living area, where Chase entertained our other guest. Neither of these assholes was strong enough to overtake us, but they were sure as hell keeping us busy. On purpose, it seemed.

“Chase, get the old man.” I raised my voice as I blocked a fourth blow to my side.

“You?”

“Leave it. They came to keep us here.”

He nodded, squatting down low and jabbing his opponent on his outer thigh and then the inside of the other one.

“Fuck.” The guy fell to the ground and scooted up to the wall.

Chase used the few seconds to run out and get to Ben. This entire operation had been nothing more than a distraction to get us away from Ela. Just in case, I wanted Ben protected as well. Kitt had been ambushed right at the front door and left unconscious. Luckily, he’d been able to dictate a message to Chase and me to ask for backup. When we got there, the situation turned into some fucked-up cat-and-mouse game.

After Chase left the house, I faced the two guys alone. I didn’t give them a chance to ask me out. I grabbed a griddle off the stove and smashed the guy closest to me. The second guy came at me again. Same spot. This asshole recognized me. Knowing Ela was alone at the restaurant waiting, made me slow and stupid, but it finally dawned on me. One of these guys survived the night at the lake.

Anger swirled in my stomach and inched out into my arms as I ran at him with everything I had. I pounded into him, not seeing his face, only Ela sinking to the bottom of a bottomless abyss. My fists slipped off his skin the more I hit him. It was either his blood or mine. I didn’t give a shit.

Suddenly, a beep made both of them stop. Before I realized what they were doing, they’d gone out the door, leaving me in a heap in the middle of the kitchen. I slammed my fist on the linoleum floor. I had him, and now he was gone.

“Fuck. Fuck.” Kitt crawled out of the corner where Chase had left him when the other two guys descended upon us.

“Are you okay?” I winced but managed to get to my feet. I glanced at my watch. Shit. I was late getting to Ela. “Chase is on his way to Ben’s house. Stay here in case Ela comes back.”

“Yeah, Boss.”

Driving at this time in the French Quarter was impossible. I ran the quarter of a mile to the restaurant where Ela and I were supposed to have a normal day, a date, even though she never called it that. When I got there, I darted upstairs to our dining room. Everything was exactly the way I’d left it when we said goodbye. Adrenaline hit me hard, and I doubled over in pain. Ela, please be okay.

Downstairs, I stopped at the bar where Ela said her friend worked. The guy behind the counter grinned at me when I approached. “Was Ela here earlier tonight?”

“Oh, you must be him. Damn.”

“Was she here?” The tone in my voice startled him.

“Yeah. Yeah. She was here. We were catching up, and then she said she had to use the restroom. She never came back.” His eyes went big, as if I were holding a fucking gun to his head.

“Thanks.” I bolted down the hallway and back outside.

She was gone.

I fished out my phone and texted the guys. She’s gone. Kitt, hit the hospitals. Chase, police reports. When I got the thumbs-up, I put my phone away and darted down Iberville toward Royal St., where I found her the first day we met. She’d been wasted that night. I hoped that wasn’t the case tonight.

I scoured the French Quarter from end to end for hours looking for Ela. Leaving her alone had been a mistake. With all that had happened at the safe house, taking her there would have been a mistake too. Now I knew for certain the crew had been sent to the safe house as a distraction to keep us from going back to Ela. Their fucking plan worked. They took her right from under our noses. What other explanation was there?

Events tended to be so obvious in hindsight. Where did they take her? Was she still alive? Last time, the assholes who took her wanted her dead immediately. I glanced down at my watch. It was four in the morning. She’d been gone for over five hours. Plenty of time to get rid of a body. I wiped my palms on my pants and exhaled. The thought of not seeing Ela again was physically painful.

“Boss?” Kitt called from the driver seat of a black car. “Let’s go home. She’s not out here.”

“Did you find anything?” I wiped my eyes.

He gestured for me to get in the vehicle. As if that would be safer. What did it matter? The worst had already happened. They had Ela.

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