Page 24 of Encircled in Darkness
Chapter 8
James
We had been diggingthrough files and tapping every camera we could find, looking for Cole. His distinctive scar would make him easily recognizable, but so far, my facial recognition software hadn’t been able to locate him. Widening the search to the entire state, I paced the floor, my eyes monitoring Amaya’s house as I tried to figure out Cole’s game.
Marco ran the Flats of Portstill, watching everything that happened and made Devlin and I record it on his stupid spreadsheets. From drug transactions, to who visited the whorehouse, to who beat their wife and kids, Marco monitored it all with his network of cameras and informants. Marco thought that having kids do the grunt work, he could stay under the radar - and he did; until he crossed Devlin wherehis lambwas concerned and then he was dead within a minute.
Cole had been cut off for using too much of Marco’s product, and he tried to make a move for Marco’s stash house. His stupidity ended up getting two men killed. That’s when I was sent to root Cole out from the hole he was hiding in. Spending hours digging through logs and recordings, I found him at the warehouse on the top of the hill overlooking the Flats. I meant for the explosion to be the end of him.
“How did he find her? You I understand, but her? It doesn’t make sense.” Skid asked and my feet stopped moving.
Devlin leaned back in his chair and rubbed his bearded chin, contemplating the question. How would Cole find her when I hadn’t made myself really known to her until last night? From all the evidence, he had been watching her for over two months. Why watch and not make a move? What was his endgame?
“James, I know there’s something about her you’re keeping hidden, but now’s the time to be truthful. We need to know what you know to figure out his motive. If it’s both of us he’s after, my lamb is in danger and that shit will not stand.” His tone was deadly and left no room for mistakes. “If he’s fixated on Amaya, then we need to figure out why and stop him from getting to her. You know we won’t judge her, or you.”
Looking at the monitor, I saw she was still asleep with her slender leg kicked out of the covers, showing her soft, creamy skin. Wanting nothing more than to have my arms wrapped around her, shielding her from the evil that existed in the world, I turned back to them. Sitting down, I leaned my forearms on my knees. Exhaling, I began.
“I had just left a meeting with Preston Pierce when I saw her in the park. She was so sad, so broken, that I had to know her.” Devlin smiled and nodded his head; his understanding of my pain was deeper than anyone could imagine. “After you pulled her information,” I acknowledged Skid. “I started digging. What I found infuriated me. She and her sister Natalia lived in that shitty trailer park on the east side of the Flats until the state stepped in after their mother abandoned them. Her sister adopted her from their group home when she was sixteen. They were trying to make a better life for themselves when last year, her sister was beaten into a coma and she was left alone. There was also a huge red flag with her financials that made me look deeper.” I admitted and looked at Devlin.
Skid’s fingers flew over the keyboard and a moment later, her bank statement was on the screen. I watched Devlin inspecting the document, his head turned slightly to the side, confusion clear on his face.
“That’s a lot of money in and out for someone like her, no offense.” I nodded, understanding he wasn’t being rude, just truthful. Someone like her, like us when we were growing up, didn’t have access to the kind of money Victor was paying her.
“That’s when I started monitoring her closely. Something about the entire thing was wrong and a few days later, she received an email from a lawyer in Lincolnville, Greg Dargin. I followed her and,” I stood and flexed my hands. The memories of what must have happened to her in the party, the bruises, the marks, the tears, had the monster howling to spill someone’s blood.
“Somehow, she got hooked up with Victor Yanos. I met with a lawyer who was brokering her meetings with him and got invited to his cousin’s party. What I saw,fuck man,it was unbelievable.”
My pacing continued and I saw she was stirring in her bed. I had left so quickly this morning; I forgot to leave a note and I regretted that decision as I watched her stretch under the covers, my shirt still covering her perfect body.
“It was one of his sex parties, wasn’t it?” Skid asked, and I whipped my head in his direction.
Stalking to him, I wrenched him up by his collar and drew his body closer to mine. Devlin observed but never made a move to stop me. “Explain how you know about that.” I demanded through gritted teeth.
My vision was hazy as the thought of what she endured, just to take care of her sister. Skid placed his hands on mine and I released him with a small shove. He held his ground and I waited for his explanation. Skid wasn’t someone you wanted to piss off, but he must have sensed the level of rage building inside of me, so he stood with his eyes locked on mine and his eyebrows raised.
“My brother’s friend used to be an EMT. His father was known for his elite ‘stag parties’ and I assumed Victor followed in his old man’s footsteps. It was all the gossip five or six years ago when his father died during one party. Heart attack during sex and someone freaked out and called an ambulance before they could clear the scene. It was a real shitshow that they tried to sweep under the rug.”
Walking to the closest wall, I leaned my arms out, tucked my head down, and focused on my breathing. They didn’t deserve my wrath and I reminded myself these were my friends, my brothers, and they just wanted to help. They gave me the time to compose myself and I turned to see Amaya getting out of bed.
She walked through her house, and when I saw her wipe the tears from her eyes at my missing truck, I turned to Devlin. The anger wasn’t subsiding and the urge to kill someone grew with each passing second.
“She went to his parties a few times a month. He treated her like an animal. Crawling on the floor, making her do whatever he wanted for the money. The only reason she did it is to take care of her sister, and I couldn’t let her continue to sacrifice herself to him.”
Devlin finally spoke. “How did you get involved? No offense, but it’s her decision if she wants to do that or not.”
“Her ‘contract’ was up for renewal and he was going to pass her off to one of his sick friends. I wouldn’t let that happen, so I took it over and gave her the money she would have had to...” I shook my head, unable to get the words out. “I promised myself I was just going to monitor her, to make sure she didn’t have to go back to him when those two from last night decided to lay their hands on her. At that moment, I knew she was mine and I had to protect her.”
“Understandable. We need to dig deeper into her. Do you have the reports on her sister’s attack?”
I grabbed my laptop and brought up the file my police contact had sent, and I saw the rage building in Devlin. Looking to Skid, he shook his head in disgust at the pictures from that night. No one should ever have to experience the kind of attack Natalia had suffered, and for Amaya to do what she did to take care of her showed the true depth of her love and devotion.
Love that I wanted to experience. Devotion that I needed to live.
I looked at the monitor of her house and saw she was sitting on the back porch with a cup of coffee and the vape pen I had left her. She was scrolling through her phone and Nova was asleep on her lap.Lucky cat.
“What does she know about you?” Devlin asked, and I turned my attention to him.
