Page 154 of One More Heartbeat
“I fell in love with Kenda. And she…” Athena turns to me. “I don’t know if she ever told you, but she was bisexual. In college, she had been crushing on Zara big-time, but she knew Zara was straight, so she went out with you instead.”
Shit, I had no idea. It wouldn’t have made a difference to me that she was bi, but I hadn’t realized Zara was her first choice.
Like Zara had been mine.Only I stupidly hadn’t voiced it at the time and had gone out with Kenda. “Was she ever in love with me?”
Not that it matters anymore. Kenda is my past. Zara is my future. But I am curious, given I had been in love with Kenda. Just not as much as I had thought I was at the time. Not as much as I am now with Zara.
Athena’s smile is apologetic. “She cared for you. A lot. But I don’t think she loved you. Not in the same way you loved her. Not in the same way she and I fell in love.”
Athena goes on to describe the sequence of events that resulted in Kenda going to New York right after she and Athena had fought. That was when Kenda and I bumped into each other and ended up having sex. Of how Kenda returned to the house where the girls were kept, needing more evidence for her story, needing to protect the girls. How she eventually realized she was pregnant. How The Bear found out about it and used the pregnancy to keep Kenda and Athena in line.
And later, he used Peony to keep them from escaping their hell.
Horror-induced rage surges through my body. The hot spike of adrenaline fists my hands. All this time…I didn’t have a single fucking clue any of them had gone through that. I had no idea what Athena and Peony had survived. But so much now makes sense. “Is Peony terrified of men because of everything you’ve just told us?”
Athena nods, unable to look at me, her head down. “None of them ever touched her. Not in the way you might be thinking. But she saw enough not to trust men.” Her hand goes to her pendant. “After much planning, we finally escaped. The three of us. Kenda and I had planned to begin a new chapter in our life together. Get married. Finally have our happily ever after.” She swipes at her cheeks.
“She wanted to send her story to a major newspaper, like she had originally planned. But I begged her not to. I was afraid the cops would figure out I was one of the girls she mentioned, and I would be arrested for prostitution. And that was only the start of my petty crimes.” Athena shoots another nervous glance at Noah and Officer Hunt.
“You finally had a chance to be happy, only for your stuff to be lost in the apartment fire and then Kenda was shot because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I shake my head at the senselessness of it all. If it hadn’t been for the shooting though, I might never have known about my daughter.
“There was no apartment fire. I just told you that ’cause I didn’t want to tell you what really happened to my ID. The Bear had it. He figured I couldn’t go far without it. And we weren’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. The men were The Bear’s hired hands. They tracked us to the mall and didn’t realize an on-duty cop was there. The cop shot them. Kenda had told me if anything ever happened to her, I was to come here.” She looks directly at me. “You would protect Peony and me.”
“Do you think whatever happened to Zara and Peony has anything to do with your past?” Or have we just been wasting time listening to a story—as heartbreaking as it is—that has sidetracked us from more pressing issues for the moment?
“I don’t know. The mask…the one you said the man was wearing.” She looks at Noah. “One of The Bear’s men would wear a wolf mask. Like the kind you can easily find online or at Halloween. But no one knew I was here. I’ve made sure of that. Except…” Her gaze shifts briefly to the window. “One of the johns was in Maple Ridge a few weeks ago, but he wouldn’t know me. I only recognized him because he beat up one of the girls and his face stuck in my mind after that.” She shudders, her reaction to his memory saying it all.
“Do you know his name?” Noah asks.
“No.” She turns her eyes to me. “But you do. He was one of the guests for Wilderness Warriors. He came into Picnic & Treats a few weeks ago, and Peony got upset.”
“I think I know who you’re talking about.” I then explain to Noah and Officer Hunt, “We take photos while we’re on the trips, to post on social media. Not all the participants agree to being photographed, but I can show what we do have to Athena. Just to make sure I have the right man.”
“This lead might have nothing to do with Emily’s death and Peony’s and Zara’s disappearance,” Noah warns. “But we’ll let the Feds know. Their Homeland Security special agents who deal with sex trafficking and exploitation will want to pursue that lead. And they’ll want to interview you.”
Athena nods, her hands clutching both Poppy and her pendant, her skin paler than normal again.
“You thought you were safe in Maple Ridge,” Office Hunt says. “If Bernard was no longer your pimp, why are you worried he might have tracked you down here? Why would he bother?”
Good point. Why spend time looking for her and why kidnap my daughter and Zara when Athena wasn’t in the house? If that’s what really happened.
“If The Bear thinks I have info on him that I could turn over to the Feds, he would put a bounty on my head and send his men looking for me.”
“Do you have information on him? Evidence Homeland Security might be interested in?”
Athena shakes her head, her shoulders slumped, expression worn. “I wish I did.”
“What about an address? Do you know where we can find Bernard?” Noah asks.
She shakes her head once more. “Somewhere in New Orleans. He had a big white house. That’s all I know. I’m originally from Texas. That’s where Josiah found me.”
I frown. “New Orleans? I thought you and Kenda were living in North Carolina. And the only reason Peony had been born in New Orleans was because Kenda went into labor while you and her were visiting the city.” That’s the lie she had told me because Louisiana is listed on Peony’s birth certificate.
“I wanted to distance myself from that city as much as possible after what happened. We had escaped to North Carolina, but we were just temporarily hiding out there. We were living in New Orleans when Peony was born.”
Noah looks thoughtful. “Did you go anywhere in New Orleans—like a hair salon—where people would remember you? Maybe somewhere close to where you were staying?”
“I don’t remember the name of the place. But it wasn’t close to the house. One of The Bear’s men always drove us there and stayed with us. And I doubt the women working there would tell you anything. They were as scared of The Bear as I am. Plus, I wouldn’t be surprised if the owner was paid well to keep silent about what she suspected.”
