Page 1 of Brutal Don

Chapter One

A chilly wind made Cara Strong shiver. She finished locking up the diner for the night, before fumbling with the buttons of her oversized coat.

The grey winter coat used to belong to her father and wearing it reminded her of him. Buttoning it helped, if only a little. Cara stuffed her cold hands into the pockets.

Her apartment building was only two blocks away and yet on nights like these, the walk felt like forever. She started for home when a car honked at her.

Cara turned, sighing when she spotted her sleazy manager Ted, sitting in his warm and heated yellow Mustang. Ted rolled the window down and grinned at her. The grin did nothing for her. Ted gave all the waitresses in the diner lewd looks when he didn’t think anyone was watching him. The other waitresses secretly called him “Handsy Ted,” because he always seemed to find excuses to touch women without their permission.

“Hey, Doll. Need a ride back home?” Ted asked. “It’s warm inside.”

“No, thank you. I like to walk.” Cara lied through her teeth because the truth was, after working double shifts, her feet were killing her.

Her father’s thin coat also provided little protection against the cold night. According to the weather app on her phone, the temperature would be freezing tonight and her shitty little heater was still acting wonky.

Accepting Ted’s offer sounded tempting right now, but Amanda, another coworker at the diner and her senior, warned her to never take rides from Ted. Ted once promised to bring another waitress, Cindy, back home, only to take her for a long drive around the city. Rumor had it Cindy handed in her resignation the next day. The other waitresses suspected Ted had done something unsavory to her and threatened her if she didn’t keep her mouth shut.

Cara only moved to Ringsor City six months ago from her tiny hometown in Nebraska, but she learned her most valuable lesson early—never trust anyone but yourself and your family.

Too bad her foster father, Peter, the only family she’d ever known, had passed away a month ago from cancer. The only legacy Peter left Cara was his old coat and several medical bills Cara would only be able to pay off in five years or so. That was assuming she stayed employed.

“Come on, Cara. It won’t be a problem at all. Your place is nearby, am I right?” Ted asked.

The fact Ted seemed to know where she lived creeped her out a little. What did she need to do to shake him off? Ted had been relentless in pursuing her lately. Men like Ted got off on women saying no to them.

A sudden idea came to her, one that involved lying. Peter raised her to be a decent person, but surely, one white lie wouldn’t hurt.

“Thanks for the offer, but my boyfriend’s waiting for me. He’s the jealous sort, so if he sees me getting out of another man’s car, he’ll get angry.” Cara wasn’t sure Ted believed a word she said. He frowned, considering her for a few moments, then he shrugged.

“Your loss, bitch.” Ted said the last word quietly but she heard it nonetheless.

Cara had plenty of verbal ammunition she could unload on him but eventually decided pissing off her boss was a very bad idea. Jobs were hard to come by in the city, heck, anywhere.

Cara bit her tongue and kept walking. Eventually, she heard Ted’s car engine rumble away. Relief filled her. Cara shoved her hands into the pocket of her dad’s old coat and trudged back home.

Home. Cara let out a bitter laugh. Her ratty apartment had never been that. Things were supposed to be better, not worse, when Peter found a new job here in Ringsor City. Cara had been attending a college specializing in graphic art design when Peter had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

Everything spiraled from there. Peter fell into a deep depression, then lost his job. She had to quit school to pay for his medical bills. Losing him felt like falling into a bottomless hole. Grief still swallowed her during unexpected moments, especially during lonely nights like these.

A honk sounded behind Cara. Cara gritted her teeth in annoyance. Surely, Ted couldn’t have followed her all the way, could he? She really hoped he had given up. Didn’t Ted have anything better to do on a Friday night? Most people in the city probably did.

Ted had to annoy her not just during working hours, but also during the evening. All Cara wanted to do was head back to her apartment, take a hot shower, and order some pizza. Then she’d fall asleep watching reruns of her favorite medical TV show.

Cara whirled when she heard the car skidding to a stop right behind her. She had plenty to say to Ted. This time, she wouldn’t hold back. She was so tired working nonstop, so sick of not having even a social life, of drowning in sorrow over Peter’s unfair death.

She opened her mouth but no words came out. It wasn’t Ted in his ugly piss-colored car. Cara stared at a windowless and dirty black van. It suddenly struck her that the streets seemed eerily empty.

She had unthinkingly turned into a dark alleyway. A light from a broken streetlamp flickered on and off. Cara returned her attention to the van. She couldn’t move and didn’t know what to think.

The side door opened and a huge balding man with a tribal neck tattoo and mean black eyes got out. He was built like a wrestler and wore all black from head to toe. He licked his lips when he saw her. She shuddered at the look in his eyes. He didn’t seem human to her, simply a monster that came to life from the serial crime dramas she sometimes liked to watch.

Every instinct in her body screamed at her to run. Cara bolted, not caring that she headed right back in the diner’s direction and not toward her apartment. The terrifying man caught up to her with several quick strides.

The next thing Cara knew, arms of steel wrapped around her body. She tried to kick at him. When that didn’t work, she elbowed him but her aim was off. Instead of hitting his groin, she slammed into his stomach. He grunted, then shoved a dirty piece of cloth into her mouth. The smell of chloroform filled her nose. Cara only recognized the smell because the toilet cleaner used at the diner carried the same smell.

This couldn’t be happening, not to her and not in real life. Maybe this was all just a terrible dream and maybe when Cara woke up, Peter would still be alive. She would just be a regular 21-year-old college student, without a single care in the world.

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