Eluded (21 page)

"What is it?"

The expression on his face changed
as he stood and stared at me. It was like he fought an internal war
within himself. I watched quietly allowing him to take his
time.

"He's so fucking sick, he wants me
to relive the one memory that has haunted me for the past fifteen
years. He wants to meet me at the exact time my sister was
kidnapped," Abbot said.

It was true that a person could
never judge a book by its cover. He had a sister, a sister who he
witnessed being ripped from his life. The next time I looked at
him, I understood why he did what he did. It explained why he led
these men into the darkness, why he killed with no remorse. It all
pointed to one reason: revenge. Singlehandedly, he'd bring
vengeance for what was tore from him years ago, and there wasn't a
doubt inside of me that this was his motivation.

"I need to take care of this issue
today
. There is food in the refrigerator. Feel free to take
a shower and make yourself at home. I'll be back later."

"He said I needed to be there,
too."

"Not fucking
happening."

"Abbot. This isn't just about you.
He has my cousin. Do you understand? This isn’t about me either,
but I have a choice. Please, Abbot."

"Do you know his plans? If you do,
tell me. Tell me everything that happened. There may be a clue." He
put on a hooded sweater, pulled it over his head, and zipped up the
front. I closed my eyes and tried to compose myself. I didn't know
what Derrick was up to, and I didn't want to give him details of my
experiences. There was too much that I would have had to relive,
and I couldn't face it now, not now when I knew time was ticking
on.

"He will kill her, Abbot. He will
fucking kill my cousin. Please let me go with you."

ABBOT

Twenty-nine

I
fucking hated listening
to her beg me, but something in her voice affected me. There was
passion and raw fear in her words. I wanted to hold her in my arms
for the rest of time and help her heart heal, but she wasn't ready
for that yet. I could tell she was fighting the memories of him,
and each time I saw her go to that place in her head, I felt so
much pain for her.

I grabbed a jacket and threw it to
her, then walked to the door. As I placed my hand on the deadbolts,
I turned to see her not moving. It was like she was bolted to the
floor, contemplating what the hell she was doing. I had been in
that place in my head before. I exhaled and turned back to the
door. "Come on, or stay here."

When I heard no movement, I
turned. Lauren looked down at the red high heels, then back at me.
"I've got a few extra pair of running shoes in the closet. Might be
a little big but better than whore heels."

She smiled, then hurried and found
a pair of shoes. I opened the door and grabbed my extra set of
keys, locking the door behind me. Dim lights reflected from the
slick black paint of the Range Rover. There was always someone
awake at the warehouse, no matter what time of day, and I could
hear voices of my men in the other room. If anyone got in now,
they'd be dead in seconds.

Lauren stayed close to my body as
we walked down the stairs. When our feet hit the floor of the
warehouse, she moved beside me. The heat from her body radiated
from her. Her closeness drove me crazy.

I looked into her eyes.

"Why does he hate you so much,
Abbot?"

I shook my head. "It's a long
story."

"I've got nothing but time, you
said that yourself."

"The less you know, the better," I
told her.

"But . . . "

"You want to know that he killed
my girlfriend after raping her, then chopped her into little pieces
and shipped them to me one by one? That he was one of my men who I
trusted with my life, but he planned to have me killed? That he
went behind my back and was doing things that I didn't agree with
in the name of the Gang of London? Peddling drugs, stealing women,
breaking into people's homes, killing children? No, you don't want
to hear that. He hates me because I don't allow him to do what he
wants. He is a monster. He is pure evil. And he has to be
stopped."

Liam rounded the corner and walked
straight to me. "How could you fucking do that to me,
Abbot?"

I knew exactly what he was talking
about, but . . .

"You bought Claire a plane ticket
back to America? I can't believe you would do this to me." Rage
fueled him as he pushed me up against the Range Rover. We stood eye
to eye as he sucked in deep breaths. Fighting him wasn't on my
things-to-do today list, and I wouldn't hurt him. Lauren took a
step back when Liam grabbed the front of my shirt with a tight
fist. "I love it when you're pissed."

Then he reared his fist back, but
before he could punch me in the face, I moved from his grasp. A
hard fist crashed into the window of the Rover. "I quit, Abbot. I
fucking quit. I'm sick of this. You're jealous. You can't stand for
anyone to be happy. Just because you're fucking miserable
twenty-four seven, doesn't mean I have to be."

Liam threw a set of keys as hard
as he could across the warehouse and took off on foot.

As I stared at Lauren, looking her
up and down, she walked past me and went to Liam.

I rolled my eyes at their combined
stubbornness and slipped in the Range Rover. The engine purred with
delight and I let her warm up before I backed her out of the
hangar. I'd give the two of them a few minutes before I picked them
up on the side of the road. Hopefully they wouldn't be too
unwilling to get in the Rover.

LAUREN

Thirty

S
prinkles tingled against
my skin as I ran to catch up with Liam. "Hey. Kid."

"I'm not a fucking kid," he
said.

"How old are you? Like
eighteen?"

He looked at me like I had lost my
mind, and maybe a little piece of me had.

"I'm almost twenty-two, and I can
promise that I've lived through shit that most eighty-year-olds
haven't."

On both sides of the road were
dense woods with tall trees. The ground was covered with
crispy-brown leaves. The warehouse would never be discovered out
here. It was on a dead-end street in the middle of nowhere. The
city must have been a good distance away. I knew we were on the
outskirts, but where? Behind us, I heard the rumble of an
approaching engine.

Abbot pulled up beside us, rolled
down the window, and hung his arm over the side. "Get in. Both of
you."

Liam gave him the most annoyed
look, then walked faster, ignoring Abbot with every step he took.
The sounds of rolling thunder, rocks crunching below our feet, and
the roaring engine mixed together to create a concoction of
crazy.

"Listen, kid. I had to do what was
best. She wasn't fucking safe here. And I know how much you cared
about her . . . "

"No you fucking don't. You don't
know anything. And for the last time, I'm not a fucking
kid."

"I bought you a ticket to visit
her. I know where she is staying, and she's expecting you. So quit
being such a baby. Plane leaves out next week."

Liam stopped walking and stared up
at the sky for a brief moment before he looked at Abbot. By the
look on his face, I knew Abbot had shocked him. Completely. A smile
crept across my face as I watched Liam's anger dissolve into
excitement.

"Now, will you get in,
please
?" Abbot asked with a smile.

Liam rolled his eyes, then climbed
into the backseat. I hurried around the back of the Range Rover,
climbed in the front seat, and buckled.

"That's better," he said, then
slammed his foot on the gas. We left clouds of dust in our wake as
we cruised down the rock road. Sprinkles hit the windshield, and
then as if the sky opened up, rain fell at a more rapid
rate.

We came to a large wrought-iron
gate that protected the road we traveled down. I didn't remember
seeing it before, but then again, the drugs were still swimming
inside of me, and everything had happened way too
quickly.

Through the rain, I saw lights
from the city buildings in the far distance. The headquarters were
far enough away to be out of sight, but close enough to wreak
havoc, if needed. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back as we
cruised along a twisting, paved road in silence. When I opened my
eyes, we were driving through confusing traffic with exits
everywhere. We were in the city, cruising beside double-decker
buses on a two-lane street.

Abbot pulled over at a hotel then
got out and ran inside. When he came back, he was holding the cell
phone in his hand that Derrick had given to me. Abbot powered it on
and waited a few moments before scrolling through it. There was
only one number programmed, and that was the only one Abbot wanted.
After adding the number into his phone, Abbot threw the disposable
one out the window. It was like Liam and I were invisible, not in
the car at all, as Abbot dialed the number and waited. For a
moment, I thought I could hear my own heart beating before I heard
Derrick answer on the other line. Abbot placed him on speaker and
waited.

"I knew you'd call me back,"
Derrick said. "You just can't resist, can you?"

Blood curdling screams echoed in
the background. "Do you hear that? Lindsey, tell Lauren
hello."

She cried and screamed my name.
Abbot put his hand over my mouth before I could scream out for
her.

"Lauren isn't here." He lied so
calm and cool. If I weren't sitting right beside him, I would have
believed him.

"You're a liar, Abbot. A fucking
liar. Always have been, always will be," Derrick said. He talked
close to the phone so the screams in the background wouldn't
overpower what he was saying.

"I'll promise you this, Derrick,
you're a dead man walking."

Derrick laughed. Not a small
chuckle, but a loud one that came straight from the pit of his
stomach. The fact that he was laughing sickened me. There was
nothing funny about the conversation that was happening. Nothing at
all.

"It's been so long. Almost a year,
actually, but I've got to go. There are some pressing business
matters that have to be handled. Oh, and before I forget, bring
Lauren back to me. I've missed fucking her. She's a great lay,
especially when she really lets herself go and enjoys
it."

Heat rushed to my cheeks and over
my body as embarrassment coated me. Demeaning me was Derrick's
specialty, no matter if I was there to listen or not. I was nothing
more than a trophy fuck, something that he bragged about with no
other goal than to humiliate me. I hated having sex with him. When
I was with him, I begged for death so then it would all be
over.

Abbot hung up the phone and stared
forward for a few moments before he spoke.

I had no words. What was a person
supposed to say?

"You didn't enjoy it, did
you?"

I looked at Abbot, and he looked
at me. Something jolted inside of me and I opened my mouth then
closed it. The way he was looking at me, like I had killed his
puppy, caused humiliation and embarrassment to rush over me as he
stared into my eyes. How could I like that? How could he even think
that?

"Bloody hell." He shook his head
and turned away from me, disgusted. Then anger rushed over
me.

"Why do you even care?" I said,
more defensive than anything. "How could you believe I enjoyed
being forced into having sex with him? And why does it
matter?"

He slammed his palm into the
steering wheel then ran his fingers through his hair. "Because it
does, okay. It fucking matters to me."

I stared out the window, hoping
the guilt, hate, and embarrassment would pass, but it didn't. There
was rage in his driving, but I didn't say a word, and neither did
Liam. Actually, I almost forgot Liam was back there because he was
so quiet. Abbot was in an angry place, and neither one of us wanted
to cross him. Honestly, though, why did he care? Why did it matter?
He constantly looked at me like a big fucking inconvenience, but
maybe I wasn't? Maybe he really did care.

We drove down several backstreets,
which seemed random, but I believed there were methods to his
driving madness.

"Holy shit," I said. "Stop. Stop
the fucking car."

Abbot slammed on the brakes, and I
got out of the Rover and looked up at the big thirteen on the side
of the building.

"Where are we right
now?"

"Few blocks from Oxford on
Portland Street. What the bloody hell is going on?"

I turned and looked at the
mid-level building across the street from the giant thirteen. No
window could be seen into, due to the blacked-out curtains. A black
limo sat on the corner in front of the building, and an instant
chill climbed up my spine. Abbot came to me and grabbed my hand.
"Lauren. I care and I'm sorry for reacting that way. It's just.
You're driving me fucking crazy." He bit his bottom lip and then
looked away.