Dangerous Conceit by Ali Lee
Chapter 12
A man who Lexi never had seen before held a gun to her head, keeping her from making an escape out of the door. She was afraid this time. She feared what they would do to her whenever they stopped where they were going. She knew it would be bad.
A long twenty-five minutes of anticipation weighed on Lexi's thoughts when the vehicle came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. She recognized none of it and saw a large metal shop on a vast expanse of land. They were isolated. The few trees that scattered around camouflaged the building. Lexi did not have the chance to observe the area for long when the man who abducted her pulled her from the car and pushed her through a door.
On the inside, four men waited—Jason being one of them. She wondered how he arrived so fast when he was still at the restaurant; that would explain the winding paths the driver took.
Jason stood in the center of the room with three other men around, pawns in the grander scheme of Moretti's bid. Lexi guessed they never saw a woman dealt with. The extras seemed uneasy and would not look at her.
“Cinderella,” Jason said. “You must know why you’re here.” He stared at her with his smug expression, trying to make Lexi buckle underneath his dominance. Lexi knew that to show fear would make the situation no better or worse, so Lexi gave him an unaffected, almost mocking reply despite her shaking hands.
“I have no idea, but I'm sure you’ll fill me in.” They could not have already found Moretti's car that the women torched outside of town. Maybe they knew the bank account was dry and were here to deal with that.
Jason grunted and reclined backwards against a table, resting his hands against the edges. “Tell me…did you kill Royce Payton?”
“What?” she answered with genuine confusion since Royce had seen her a few days ago. Lexi being there had nothing to do with the bank account or the car. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Royce never checked in Monday morning. No. His dead, bloody body was sent to Moretti instead. It’s not like you haven’t killed one of our guys before.”
Lexi swallowed at the thought and realized they were pinning Royce's death on her. “I had nothing to do with it,” she stated the truth. “He came to see me at work, so I couldn't have killed him.”
“Then tell us who did kill Royce if you didn't.”
“I have no idea what happened to him after he left that night.” She wondered who had killed him too. Royce was a pig, but she did not know anyone else who wanted him dead more than she did.
“Don't pull this shit, Cinderella. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. It’ll make things worse for you.” Jason unbuckled the belt on his pants and pulled it loose with one sharp snap. Lexi silently groaned at the sound.
“I have no idea. Why don't you tell me what the hell's going on?” She knew she was not getting out of this and braced herself for what was coming.
Jason sneered, “Let’s put it this way. We sent you here for a reason. And while you’re out fucking off, three of our men were shot and—”
“Didn’t you see me talking to Tomassi earlier? It’s called trying to do my job.” Lexi cut him off but instantly regretted speaking out. It was too late to take it back now. “And how do their deaths have anything to do with me. Moretti hired those idiots. I had nothing to do with them getting shot.”
“You’re an obstinate bitch.” Jason glanced at the men and nodded. The men walked over to Lexi and forced her to the dirty stained floor of the shop. “And don't ever interrupt me again.”
Lexi struggled not to breathe the cloud of dust as the men held her arms and legs firm to the floor. Then she felt the first harsh sting of the belt. It made her flinch but not silent. “I have been doing my—” A gasp finished her failed attempt to protest with another strike to her back. Two more followed in the same exact way, leaving large red whelps against her skin.
“See, Alexis,” he raised his belt again and let it swing, “if you were busy doing your job, you wouldn't be here right now.”
Several more lashes ripped into her back, the cracking sounds echoing against walls. Traces of blood began to speckle through the thin white tank underneath her blouse. A clicking of a baton was the last thing Lexi heard before she passed out from a knock to her head.
***
Screeching to a halt at Lexi’s house, Rafa and Angelo jumped out the car with their guns pointed. They looked all around, Rafa on one side of the car with Angelo covering the other. They met in the middle. Angelo watched the car while Rafa carefully walked up the wooden stairs to the door. He turned the knob easily, letting the door open wide.
“Hey,” Rafa whispered. “Lexi didn’t come out of this house without dead-bolting every one of these locks.”
“Be ready,” Angelo breathed, still watching the front yard as they went in.
Darkness surrounded them as they shut the door again. They moved forward, stepping lightly across the floor through the living room and to the hallway in back. There were three bedrooms. Two rooms had a couple of mattresses on the floor, and a child's bed was set up in the third. Rafa pointed it out to Angelo as they searched all three rooms for any sign that anyone was there.
“Nobody’s home.” Angelo lowered his gun as Rafa looked through one of the dresser drawers.
“Their belongings are here,” Rafa said.
“Including the tracking device,” Angelo held out her uniform shirt and tank. “I don’t know where she was that we couldn’t get a signal.”
“Wherever she was, they tried to teach her a lesson.” Rafa took the shirt and traced the bloody streaks. “They’re not going to get away with this.” He wadded up the shirt and launched it across the room.
“Belt marks,” said Angelo. “I wonder where she went.” He knelt down and opened a plastic bin on the floor.
“Do you remember when you hired me?” Rafa glanced at Angelo who raised a brow in response.
“How could I forget? You were drunk and threatened to kill me in my own club.”
Rafa blew off the remark. “I think you made up for it by dragging me out back and shooting me…asshole.”
“You deserved to get shot. Lucky for you, I saw you in there a few times and already planned to hire you.”
“Right.” Rafa rubbed the scar on the side of his neck, a reminder of his first encounter with the Tomassi boss. “I have more than made up for that. Are you going to listen to me or throw that shit at me again?”
“Then talk.” Angelo held out his hand, indicating for Rafa to continue.
Rafa opened his wallet and pulled out an old picture; he handed it to Angelo. “Her name is Em. At least, that’s what I called her. I saved the girl's life one night and killed some jerk that attacked her. It was late, so I let her come back home with me. She was too afraid to go to her own.”
“So you killed someone in front of her and she went with you? Her home life must have been pretty fucked up if that’s true.”
“Yeah, it must have been. After that, she crashed at my place almost every night. We ended up getting together. Sometimes she would show up with these bruises. At first, I thought it was fights at school or something. She always tried to blow them off, but one night, she couldn’t move so well. I wanted to kill the bastard who was responsible, but Em wouldn’t tell me where she lived no matter how much I tried to make her talk. She was scared. I knew she was, but she wouldn’t talk and I lost it. I started throwing stuff and punching the walls. When she begged me to stop, I left. I walked around for a couple of hours, searching for who knows what. Then I calmed down and went back. Em wasn't there. That was the last night I ever saw her. I stuck around for two months when I finally decided she wasn't coming back. A month after that, I left Homestead, came here…then I met you.”
Angelo stared at the picture for a few more seconds and returned it to Rafa. “So you actually cared about a girl. I wouldn’t have guessed.”
Rafa took a breath and replaced the picture in his wallet. “Em—Emmalyn—it’s Lexi, Angelo. Make sense now?”
“What?” Angelo said with disbelief. “Same girl? That picture doesn’t look like Lexi.”
Rafa nodded. “I know but I knew it was her when I first saw her. She’s changed from the worn out sweatshirt and dyed hair, but look at the eyes—same eyes. Anyone could pick out those eyes.”
“She doesn’t know who you are, does she?”
“Do you remember how I looked when you found me?”
Angelo seemed to reflect on the time when they had first met. “Beat all to shit with that stupid cap…hell, I transformed you. I'm not even sure I would recognize you from what you were”—then Angelo stopped—”but your fucking ego hasn't changed a bit.”
“Fuck off,” Rafa said, slamming in the drawer.
“Why haven’t you told her?” Angelo’s voice became serious.
“I couldn’t. Not until I found out why she never came back.”
“I see. So you were hooked on this woman.” Angelo waited for an answer as Rafa fumbled through another drawer. “You still are, aren’t you?” When Rafa stayed silent, Angelo left it alone. “I'm going to the kitchen to check out anything else that might help since you’re done talking.”
After Angelo left, Rafa found a small picture underneath a few pairs of silk panties and black nylons. In the picture was an infant with green eyes and reddish-brown hair. A small bow in the child's hair indicated a baby girl. Rafa eyed the photo and remembered the childbed. If the baby was still alive, then she probably was not a baby anymore. Who was her mother? Rafa felt an uncomfortable nagging at his chest and wondered if the baby was the reason for so many locks on the door.