Page 58 of Beautifully Wounded

“Damn.” Amanda draws out the word. “You’d better start talking really fast, Ringo, because I’m about to send a whole lot of trouble your way.”

“Calm the fuck down. I took her as a favour to Lexi West. Abbey’s situation exploded, and I went in and did a snatch and grab.”

I’m glad for Amanda’s reaction, although it shouldn’t surprise me.

The Angel sisters run an organisation called Angel Org. They help vulnerable people escape their situations. Mainly women and children, but that’s the main part of what the world thinks they do.

Underneath their well-run organisation are two very powerful women, who help dole out justice. They have contacts all over the world. Control most of the east coast of Australia. And have a list of secret assassins who make people disappear, along with some super creative suffering beforehand.

They are vigilantes, and the Southern Sadists, along with the Marx crew, often work alongside them when needed.

We all commit crimes, but there’s a moral code we stand by.

“Huh. Hush didn’t have that intel,” Bec says, and I nod, even though they can’t see me.

“Doesn’tsurprise me. Lexi has been tight-lipped regarding her involvement.”

“Well, I think that’s something to celebrate. What an awful situation that poor girl has been in,” Amanda says, and I hear rustling down the line like they are moving or walking. “So, how can we help?”

“I need intel. What do you know about her situation and family?”

“She grew up in Fox Pines. Her family has always lived there. Her parents were part of the main Catholic Church until a couple of years ago. It took us a while to find out where they moved their worshipping to.”

Sitting taller on my bed, I frown. “And?”

“They moved to the Valley of the Trinity and Merciful Fellowship.”

I stiffen. “Hold the fuck up. Didn’t Hush and the Marx crew eradicate that group after finding they were linked to Carnal Unicorn?”

Carnal Unicorn was a dark web syndicate of predators and paedophiles. A sick group of men and women I thought were dealt with.

Amanda sighs. “Yes… well, that’s what we thought, but it turns out new ministers stepped in to take over the church aspect of it. Those cultish churches are popping up faster than this annoying virus is spreading. Our teams have been watching on, but as far as we can tell, Carnal Unicorn hasn’t resurfaced, and the church sessions seem just as normal as regular church.”

Bec scoffs. “How would you know what regular church is like? We’ve never been.”

“That’s what our intel says,” Amanda snaps as Bec laughs.

I can imagine they are pulling faces at each other on the other end of the line.

“So, they are a religious family, which I already picked up on, but how does Daniel fit into all of this?”

“He started off as a nice guy, luring Abbey in, but once they got sprung playing hide the sausage, Abbey’s mum went bananas.” Bec rushes out, the anger in her tone evident. “The next thing you know, Priscilla, that’s her mum, has arranged for the two kids to be married, had Daniel’s parents sign a contract, which is when Priscilla started controlling just about every aspect of Abbey’s life.”

“Daniel the pin dick fucker turned into a real piece of work after that,” Amanda snaps. “Didn’t like being forced into an arranged marriage, and instead of blaming his parents or even himself, he made Abbey the focus of his rage.”

“Yeah, like her parents, mainly her bitch mum, used the pending nuptials as a way to make Abbey obey, threatening that if she misbehaves, the wedding will happen immediately.” Bec growls and does an angry screech afterwards.

“But why would Daniel’s parents agree to this?” I ask, fucking confused. It all seems very far-fetched, yet I know it’s real.

“That’s what we don’t know. We think Priscilla has something over them. They also go to the same church, so maybe it has something to do with that,” Bec states.

Fucking hell. There’s so much we don’t know.

“Do you have any idea why the wedding was moved up?” I ask, and Amanda hums.

“So that’s why things exploded? Something must have happened. Abbey must have done something wrong in her mother’s eyes, if that’s the case.”

Glancing down, Abbey shifts, curling in closer to my legs, but she remains asleep.

---