Sinfully Devoted by Amber Torney
Chapter Ten - Jonah
The last few days had been filled with one bombshell after another. Ever since Logan had come running out of that fucking bunker with Phee in his arms, everything I’d ever known about this seaside town we lived in had been blown to kingdom come. I didn’t think anything could shock me after hearing Logan’s cousin was the one behind my Angel’s kidnapping.
Looking around her room, it was like a florist had decided to open up shop. Every time Stryker or Logan came back, they brought flowers. A lot of flowers. I, on the other hand, had been playing music for her, hoping it would draw her out of her slumber. We were all still hanging on a knife’s edge. Every so often, her face would twitch, her fingers move, or she would moan, and each time we would jump up, surrounding her, thinking she was going to wake.
“Angel, I hope you wake up soon,” I whispered against her tiny hand, placing a soft kiss across her knuckles. I hated seeing her so banged up.
It worried me, too. After seeing what was in those files we’d taken from that bunker, I’d had a hard time coming to terms. It took me ages to talk Stryker down off the ledge. He’d wanted to put a bullet between Kyle’s eyes after watching the video footage. I couldn’t let that happen. As much as I wanted nothing more than to end his sorry existence, I doubt Phee would forgive us if we took away the opportunity to face her monster.
“I miss you, Phee. I need my dance partner back.” Reaching up, I swept a strand of hair away from her eyes. Every day, one of us would make sure her hair was brushed and tied back. Small things, to make her comfortable. Something deep inside told me that when she came to, nothing would be the same.
She was going to need us all to help her with what lay ahead. Most of the bruises had faded, and the swelling had started to go down. She had stitches above her right eye; I was thankful that they sat in the brow line. The doctors said the mark on her left shoulder would scar, leaving her with a constant reminder that evil had once more paid her a visit. After all that , though, none of us could leave her alone for very long.
Stryker had told me back at the warehouse that he wanted to bring in his cousin to help Phee recover. According to him, she had been through something similar, and at the hands of the same organization. He thought she could help Phee through all of it. It gave me hope that maybe he was right, had me thinking about who I might be able to bring on board to help.
The dance crew had been messaging nonstop since word got out. Cali and Luca the most. Cali’s past wasn’t as colorful as Luca’s. Her trauma was having watched her father continuously beat on her mom. It was why she always jumped in to diffuse anything before it led to violence. But it was Luca that I was leaning more towards. Her past was tragic, darker than Cali’s. Drug addict parents that had used her to get their hits. As quiet as she was, Luca would probably understand how Phee felt.
As the nurses came in to check my Angel over, I took the opportunity to get up and stretch. Being there most of the day had given me time to scour the dark web for information. As I picked up and opened my laptop again, I stared at the screen. I knew everyone wrote me off when it came to the physical side of things, mostly because they believed I always toed the line, but I had my own secrets, skills that could help us.
This so-called secret society shielded a number of shady characters, and sitting at the helm were the Ducanes. I couldn’t get over the fact that they were still keeping Logan in the dark. Something told me there was more to that. I needed to know more, but was sworn to silence until Logan found out the whole truth. It was something I didn’t wish upon him.
I had used my computer skills to dig up as much as I could on the Ducanes, and what I found wasn’t pretty. Of course, the stuff I found wasn’t anything you’d find in the normal searches; no, it was deeper in the underbelly of the net. The seedy, unsavory pits of hell lay in wait. The stuff I found out was either going to crush Logan, or fuel the need for vengeance he was already harboring.
As much as I wanted to hate the guy, Logan had spent more time at her bedside than any of us. If he wasn’t forced to leave, I think he‘d just have moved right on in. It took us two days to pry him from her side, and it was only because we told him he needed to shower and get a proper night’s sleep that he left at all. I doubt he got much sleep. Every time he was at the hospital , he had his nose in that damn journal. The more he read the fucking thing, the more he distanced himself from his family.
I felt sorry for him. He had gone to the cabin that day to apologize and start the process of rebuilding their relationship; then, she was taken. God knew he blamed himself more than anyone for what had happened to her. For what his cousin had done to her. They were going to need each other when everything was said and done.
The poor guy didn’t know his father played a bigger part in it. The full extent of that old fucker’s involvement was still in question. From watching the files, we knew he had offered to buy Phee three times that week. He had also been in that viewing room on a daily fucking basis. Sometimes, he was there by himself. Sometimes with other men, and there was one day he’d brought a young girl with him. The things he did to her while he watched my Angel fucking creeped us all out. The guy was just as fucked up as his nephew.
The haunted, vacant look in the girl’s eyes had been heartbreaking. It drew my mind to what my Angel had endured. That shit was a special kind of torture, and the poor girl looked fucking terrified when he had finished. There was a special place in hell for men like that, and knowing what I now knew, I wanted to hand-deliver that man to the devil myself.
If Logan’s family was involved in the sex trafficking trade, then god only knew what Stryker’s family did. Getting answers from Stryker was going to take too long, and asking Logan would raise suspicions. There wasn’t much talk about his family, either. It was widely believed they came from old money, but something he’d said yesterday at the warehouse had me thinking twice about that .
Google searches only threw one or two odd bones at me. Articles that mentioned the Lennox name were few and far between. There were the ones with his cousin, and her rape. Then there was one where someone I assumed was a relative was arrested on suspicion of murder, but reading the article, I couldn’t find the relation between the family and the case.
There were mentions of murder for hire, but nothing was ever proven. I’d have to get more creative if I wanted anything real. I had been living in La La Land, taking in those around me at face value. I had now come to the realization that nothing was what it seemed.
The Ducanes were the head of a secret society that had become a criminal organization. Damon was part of a biker gang, albeit an Australian one, but with recent events, I hadn’t failed to notice that he was amassing his own team here in the States. His plans weren’t widely known, but I had this feeling he had something else up his sleeve.
The last on my list was the Lennox family. Everything so far had turned up nothing; I’d have to dig deeper into the dark web for the answers I sought. Stryker told me he was waiting for Phee to wake up before letting us in on anything else. It wasn’t hard to figure out that there was something darker hidden in his past. He knew more about the others than any of us. It was just frustrating to know that there were more secrets out there. I didn’t know how I felt, exactly, but I knew that until everything was out in the open, I would feel really uneasy around everyone.
Focusing back on my laptop, I made sure my line was secure before I logged back on to the dark web. I had been waiting on a contact to send me some more information about the Lennox family. If Stryker wouldn’t tell me, then I’d find out another way.
Ghosted: I got that information you wanted. You got the payment?
Me: Yeah, I got the money. Where do you want it?
Switching screens, I logged into Alexander Ducane’s bank account. As I’d said, my skills were good. Why should we pay for the information?
Ghosted: Send it to the following account ….
While I waited for the account number to come through, I decided to make a few more deposits. The account I was using was one that the Ducanes used for their clubs. The money was dirty, but it didn’t mean it couldn’t be used for something good. The blinking light at the bottom of the screen told me the number was there. Sending the money through, I returned to the chat.
Me: Money sent—Ready for the file transfer.
Ghosted: Thank you for your business. Transfer incoming. I don’t know what you’ve gotten involved in, Fingers, but if shit blows up, leave me the hell out of it. These are people you don’t want to get mixed up with.
Me: Thanks for the warning. If I need anything else, I will let you know.
Ghosted: No problem. Pleasure doing business.
As I sorted through the first lot of files, I started to get a clearer picture of the Lennox Family. No wonder Ghosted didn’t want any involvement. They had links to a shitload of underworld murders. The body count for Stryker’s family was high. With each file I opened, I saw their hands get dirtier. Weapons trafficking was the other thing that stood out.
The only comfort I took was that they didn’t deal with sex trafficking but judging by the reaction that Stryker had when we watched Kyle’s videos, I’d hazard a guess that’s the only line they drew. I needed answers, and I needed them sooner rather than later, so if Stryker wasn’t going to tell me, then I’d get them myself.