Page 13 of North (The Moral Compass 2)

“No, I’ve just moved down here from the East Coast,” she replies.

“Oh, okay. Sorry, I got distracted. What’s this got to do with us?” I ask. I never wanted to hear her name again. Visions of her standing in the dining room ordering me to take off all my clothes flood back as if it were happening now. I grip on to North’s T-Shirt as I can feel nausea stirring in the pit of my stomach. I’m trying to breathe through it as the therapist taught me, but it’s not fucking working.

“As you were both involved in the incident that resulted in her being placed on remand, we have a duty of care to keep you informed of any major changes to the case. If Ms. Darwen dies, so does that part of the case. She won’t be able to testify against any of the others involved. I’m not suggesting that it will change the outcome, but we need to keep you updated.”

“Does... does Sutton know?” I stutter. I can hardly breathe.

“Our colleagues are hopefully at Sutton’s home now doing the same as us. We felt it was important that you received the news at roughly the same time, but we didn’t have an address for you. So, it was good you were here, Kara,” Hannah says. The male detective looks on sheepishly. It was all over the news, the papers, and plastered all over the internet. Nearly every disgusting detail. Sutton and I were hounded for quite a while until Sutton made friends with the press. Then, they became a little more considerate. We gave them as much as we could without jeopardising the legal case, but it was still extremely traumatising on top of everything else.

In short, Sutton’s mum and boyfriend are big-time human traffickers and drug dealers. Stella decided she was going to make Sutton’s life hell by planting her a boyfriend who then tried to kill her. When that didn’t work, she kidnapped both me and Sutton and put us up for auction. That’s how North got shot. He was trying to protect us when one of Stella’s goons tried to kill him.

Lucky for him, he faints at the sight of blood, so they thought he was dead. West arranged a crew and bought us at the auction. Then, Stella and Ralph were arrested and are now awaiting trial.

“Do you mind if I step out and check on our colleagues?” the male detective asks. Hannah nods as she picks up her coffee.

“I’m so sorry, Kara. This must be awful for you. We came so early so that we could give you and North the facts before you read it online or some shitty reporter came calling. I also need to remind you not to talk to the press or anyone else except your legal representation about this, okay?”

I just nod in return. I can’t speak. I’m getting flashbacks of North lying on the floor in a pool of blood, Sutton and I hiding in the basement in a box, being driven in a van in just our underwear, and then auctioned off like a fucking Ming vase.

North has hold of me. I look up at him. “I need to sit down,” I whisper. North supports my back and keeps me from sliding to the floor as he pulls out a stool and positions me carefully.

“Ma’am, I’ve just spoken with DS Stockton. They are at Mr. McGarry’s residence. They have talked to Sutton and filled her in on the situation.” He looks over to me. “She’s all right, she’s upset, as are you, but she said they’ll be over soon.”

I still can’t fucking speak, so I just nod. The detectives finish their coffee and go, leaving us a number to call if we need them. North leads them out as I wait in the kitchen, still sitting at the island. I try to pick up the phone, but I drop it, so I go for my coffee. I’m shaking so much, it spills everywhere. It’s only when I stand to grab a cloth that my entire world crashes around me.

Crumpled up on the floor with my knees to my chest, I start to sob. I have pushed this so far back into my brain that I can almost pretend it never happened. I sat for hours and talked it through with the therapist, and never once did it feel like this. It was like it was never going to end. Even if Stella dies, this isn’t going to go away. There is always going to be something cropping up until each and every one of those evil bastards are dead. And even then, there are more of them out there.

“It’s never going to end. It’s never going to fucking end.” I sob.

Chapter 11

North

Iwokeupthismorning being rocked awake by a beautiful angel, and I have never been happier in my life. Unfortunately, it was the shortest happiness on record. Within a few minutes, we had detectives in the kitchen telling us that the whole trafficking case could blow up.

“Hey, Princess,” I say as I kneel on the floor beside a terror-struck Kara. “It will all be fine. We have each other now, and you and Sutton are not alone in all this. The police, those detectives, and our team are all working to make sure everything that should happen, will happen.”

Kara looks up, searching my eyes. I couldn’t tell her everything. I will, but not right now. Her fragile state just won’t take it. Maybe if I had confided in her before, this news wouldn’t be such a shock.

“What do you mean by that, North?” she asks.

“Just what I said, Princess. They will get everything they deserve. You don’t need to be worried. When West gets here, we will sit and work out extra security for you and Sutton.” I have one hand around her shoulder, and I stroke her golden hair with the other.

West and I have been facing one hell of a moral dilemma. A few members of the Star Gazer group—a people against trafficking group—have been sending information about what’s happening within the relevant prisons. My family and I can make this whole situation go away.You catch my drift?It would mean that Sutton and Kara would not have to attend the trial. The question is, do we end this for good or do we let justice prevail? The big pendulum swings between yes and no, and neither I nor West have made any decisions. So, last night’s incident has come as a bit of a surprise. We need to know who ordered said surprise.

“I don’t need any more security, North; I just want to go on and live my life. I don’t want to have detectives turning up here reminding me of the god-awful things that happened. I want to forget; I had started to forget, at least for a few hours a day. For the first time in a long time, I woke up this morning and felt at peace.” Her voice is stronger.

“Me too, Kara. I want to feel as happy as I felt this morning every morning, but life isn’t like that. There are going to be days when life gets to be a little too much and days when you just want to scream from the rooftops. But it’s okay, Kara. It’s okay not to be okay. It’s okay to not be the badass, Princess, and it’s okay to show some weakness once in a while. It actually makes you human.”

I offer her a smile, her eyes still searching mine. I stand and offer her my hand to help her up from the floor, and it surprises me when she takes it.

That’s my girl.

Sutton and West arrive at the house just after 11:00 a.m. West looks absolutely frazzled whereas Sutton is glowing. She’s so calm, it’s actually worrying.

“You okay, Sutton?” I ask.

“Yeah, great, actually. Can’t wait to get moved in here today and get some one-on-one girl time with my bestie,” she says and catches my raised eyebrow.

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