Page 51 of Embracing My Nightmare
“Did you touch her?”
“Go fuck yourself. I saved her because she deserved to be saved. The first time I touched her in any wayother than a protector was a month ago. I love Elise. I always have. But not like that. Now, put that damn thing away until we need it. I don’t want to accidentally get shot because you get a twitch.”
“I promise, if I shoot you, it won’t be because of a twitch. When we find her, you’re going to tell her the whole truth. If she chooses to stay, I’ll support her. If she wants nothing to do with you, you walk away. Understood?”
“Hell no, but I will tell her everything.” We were silent driving around the Flats. The DeathHounds were crisscrossing the area and I nodded to each one as they passed us. “Skid thinks it’s because of a woman,” I spoke into the quiet car.
“There was a girl who ran off with him when he was fourteen. She would crash with us from time to time, but we told him she wasn’t welcome. I suspected she was a pro, but I knew she was a junkie. And she was a year or two older than me. I couldn’t have her around us, so they disappeared, along with a few more kids. That was the last time I saw him until a few days ago.”
“What was her name?”
Any information may help find Elise, and as I drove closer to the old house, the memories of my lamb as a tiny, helpless child filled my soul with anger. I stopped at the sign two blocks from the house and looked at Chuck.
He thought for a moment. “Candy? No, that’s not it. Calley? Carol? Cassie?”
“Cherry?” I asked, realizing Cameron was settling an old debt with me.
“Shit, that’s her.”
“Fuck!” I yelled into the car.
“Do you know her?” he asked, and I drove past the old house, seeing a tree had fallen across one half, the roof and walls destroyed.
Turning on the street just past the house, I parked and looked at Chuck.
“Cherry is Elise’s mother. She was a drug-addicted whore, and two years after I saved Elise from that rat’s nest back there, I killed that cunt for neglecting her daughter in such a horrible way. I guess your little brother is pissed about it.”
“Damn it. I knew that bitch was trouble the first time I saw her. What do we do? The house looked empty.”
“We take the back way in. If this is about Cherry, this is the only place I can think he would take her.” I was being honest with him and he licked his lips before acknowledging the possibility we may not find her inside.
Dialing James, I had him coordinate with Skid and the DeathHounds as Chuck and I set off through the thick woods behind the house. Walking the overgrown path, we came to the tall fence surrounding the property. He found an opening along the side at the corner and we crawled through the fence into the garbage-filled backyard.
We kept low as we made our way to the side of the house still standing. Looking through the window, I saw a man in what was left of the living room, sitting on a crate against the wall. His eyes were closed, and I nudged Chuck. He looked inside, then cut his eyes to me with a single nod. Moving around the house, each step we took was carefully placed around the piles of trash and needles as we made our way to the window of my lamb’s prison all those years ago.
The window was covered with boards from the inside and I couldn’t see anything. I whispered to Chuck, “I want you to keep an eye out here and see if you can get that window open. I’m going to find a way inside. If he’s here, she can’t be far away.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Chuck, if he sees you, he may flip out. I’m his target and he needs to focus on me. You need to find her and get her out of here. This was her bedroom, and the only room with boards over the windows. I’d bet she’s in there, so if I keep him distracted, you can rescue her.”
“And what if she isn’t in there?”
“I’m going to beat her location out of him before I send him to hell so he can be with her cunt of a mother.” The darkness had pushed into my soul and I smiled menacingly at Chuck.
“Be careful, Devlin. She loves you.”
I acknowledged his words and crept along the front of the house, until I found a hole in the wall large enough to climb in. Silently, I crawled through the opening and just as I was about to stand, I felt a gun press into the top of my head.
Looking up, I saw Cameron there with a satisfied smile on his face. He pressed the barrel into my forehead and laughed. “Well, if it isn’t the little devil, come home to play.”
His laughter grew louder just before he brought the gun down on my temple and I dropped to the floor. I felt the warm blood trickle down my face as he kicked me in the stomach. Fighting to catch my breath, Cameron pulled out a stun gun, pressed it against my chest, and shocked me.
The pain hit my muscles and I bellowed into the room, the agony intense and sudden. I was locked up on the floor, shaking and twitching as he pressed the button again, renewing the pain. Using my immobility, he quickly tied my hands behind my back and dragged me a few steps into the crumbling house.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to find me,” he taunted before he punched me in the side of the face.
I spat blood onto the nasty floor and turned my gaze to him. I needed him to confirm that he had Elise. It was only a matter of minutes before the DeathHounds descended onto the house and I didn’t want my lamb to be hurt in the crossfire.
