Twisted Complications by Nikita Parmenter

Chapter Sixteen

Ever

Iam beyond relived that Jensen and Atlas are home safe. It’s obvious just from the look in their eyes that something didn’t quite go to plan tonight. As much I wanted to hug them both, I know from experience the importance of showering and changing after going through something like that. It not only cleans you, which is the obvious reason for it, but it gives you a chance to reset, cleansing your mind at the same time.

It’s important.

Trick almost started to argue with me, but I guess he understood how important it was because he decided to let it drop.

Everyone gathers in the kitchen around the table and Riot comes to help me make coffee for everyone. As I bend over to get some more cups out of the dishwasher since we didn’t get around to putting anything out of it away, Atlas’s ring slips out from inside my top.

“What’s that?” Rage asks, a sharpness to his tone as his eyes zero in on the necklace.

I briefly hesitate, Atlas told me to keep it hidden at all times, but this is Rage so I assume I can be honest with him.

“Atlas gave it to me at the cabin.” I reply, holding it up.

He moves closer to me his eyes still on the ring.

“Well, fuck me.” He breathes out.

“We all feel like it’s a bigger deal than he made it, he never took it off in all the time that we knew him before he disappeared.” Luc says, watching Rage closely.

“Oh, it’s a big fucking deal alright.” Rage exclaims, “But it’s not my place to tell you, he’ll tell you when he’s ready.”

“Okay,” I reply, the curiosity killing me.

“Ever, I’m sure he told you, but you need to make sure that you keep it hidden when you’re not here. It’s incredibly important.” His eyes dart away, his voice serious as he warns me.

“I know.” I assure him.

“Yes, I get Ever snuggles first!” Jensen suddenly yells, racing into the room and picking me up. My legs go around his waist and my arms around his neck as I hold him closely.

“Are you okay?” I ask softly, running my fingers through his hair.

“Yeah, they had girls there, Angel. Kids.” He shudders in my arms.

“I hope you made the disgusting fucker bleed.” I growl, anger and horror warring for dominance inside me.

“We did.” Atlas replies.

He comes to stand next to me and Jensen, without prompting, shifts me from his arms and hands me to Atlas, who holds me just as tightly. Unfortunately, I can imagine what they’ve seen tonight, and I doubt that it will leave them for a while. Looking over Atlas’s shoulder, my eyes land on Rage, he’s watching us with something akin to longing on his features. Atlas walks us over to the table and carefully places me down in a seat as he goes back and starts handing out the coffees. Finally, we’re all seated.

“Alright, give us the basic run down.” Trick says.

“Donald was hiding out in the same building he was keeping the girls in, because he’s a fucking dumbass.” Jensen starts. “There were nine guards, seven guarding the women. All of them were dispatched and secured, no fatalities.”

“There were girls as young as thirteen if that, in the back room. Although the women were drugged to make them more compliant, they were all gathered around the younger ones, protecting them. All of them were covered in injuries.” Atlas continues, his jaw clenching as he swallows thickly.

My eyes dart to Luc, his trigger is women being hurt. I’m not sure whether talking about it will trigger him or if it’s when he sees it that he gets triggered. His eyes are dark, his jaw grinding, but his breathing seems normal even as his knuckles turn white, he’s gripping his coffee mug so tightly. His eyes raise to meet mine and I mimic taking a deep breath, he follows along with me and slowly starts to relax a bit more. No longer on the verge of being triggered.

“We didn’t want to scare them any further, so after assuring them that they were safe, and we’d get them out of there. We did a sweep of the warehouse and then Atlas got hold of his guy at the feds. It gave us roughly ten minutes to get out of there before they all arrived.” Jensen adds in a vicious glint appears in his eye.

“We paid a final visit to Donald who we’d left secured to his chair in his office. That took about ten minutes.” Atlas says, grinning.

“Did you leave him alive?” I ask.

“Barely, Atlas took his hand. Along with some other wounds he sustained.” Jensen answers, his smile cold.

Atlas’s head snaps towards Jensen, frowning before he looks at me worriedly.

“Good.” I grin.

His whole body relaxes. Silly man, I’d expect nothing less from them and in all honesty, I think he got off easy.

“We used the second exit you found us to get back to the main road, by that point we’d pushed it too close and couldn’t go out of the main exit.” Atlas smiles, appreciatively. “I’ll write all the details down in a report and you can read over that.”

“You write reports?” Cash asks.

“Yeah, we may not be fully sanctioned, but the guy at the feds made sure that we knew how important it is to put everything down in a report. So that’s what we do.” Rage explains.

“That’s really quite smart.” Luc says, sounding impressed.

“I’m going to set up some accounts for the women and girls. I’ve got plenty of money and I can set some investments up for each of them so that their money grows. I know it’s not much, but it should help.” Jensen says, his eyes troubled.

“I think that’s a great idea. It will give them a head start and access to proper therapy to help them heal.” I reply, “Use some of mine too. I’ve been meaning to ask you to invest it and stuff.”

I’ve got no idea what the proper terms are, but he smiles.

“Use mine too.” Luc says.

The others soon all offering to give a portion of their money to Jensen to invest for the victims.

“I’ll get the names of them all from my guy, as soon as I tell him what it’s for, he’ll be more than willing to help.” Atlas yawns.

“Come on, let’s go to bed.” I say, feeling tired myself.

“Before I forget, we’ve got a party to go to tomorrow evening.” Rage announces.

“Awesome.” Luc grins.

We all make our way to our rooms, Atlas and Jensen sleep in my room, and I hold them closely.

******

When I awake the next morning, Atlas and Jensen are still sleeping soundly either side of me. I decide to let them sleep; they had a long night last night. I get dressed in black skinny jeans, and an oversized grey hoodie and quietly make my way out of the room and downstairs. All of the others are awake, watching TV or eating breakfast.

“Morning guys,” I call out on my way to the coffee maker.

“Morning Dragonfly.”

I reach around Rage, pulling a cup out of the cupboard, it looks like someone finally put the stuff in the dishwasher away. After doctoring my coffee to how I like it, I lean back against the counter and look at Rage, who actually smiles at me, I feel like we’ve made progress.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” I ask whoever’s listening.

“Nothing as far as I’m aware. Not until the party later.” Trick answers.

“Where is the party, same place?” I ask, turning to Rage.

“No, it’s down at the lake house. Several schools will be in attendance like the race, but it will only be schools. No one older.” He explains.

“Sweet.” Luc grins.

“Guys, the fed got back to me.” Atlas announces, coming into the room and making his way straight to the coffee, a bleary-eyed Jensen hot on his heels.

“And?” Cash asks, impatiently.

Atlas holds his finger up, telling him to wait a second before he takes several large gulps of coffee and then sighs appreciatively. He walks through the open plan kitchen and takes a seat on the couch.

“All of the people on the list are dead.”

“Dead?” Rafe asks, sounding rightfully confused.

“They can’t have been much older than forty.” Riot adds, frowning.

“According to what my guy said, they all died under suspicious circumstances, but there was never enough evidence to lead to the culprit. The cases went cold and have been forgotten about. There is one guy still alive, he’s in an asylum not too far from here. He didn’t tell us we couldn’t investigate, but warned us to be very careful.” Atlas finishes.

“We were going to be cautious anyway. So that’s easily doable.” Trick agrees.

“I can’t believe they’re all dead.” Luc frowns.

“They aren’t just dead, from the sounds of it, they’ve been murdered.” Rage crosses his arms over his chest. “Someone out there doesn’t want anyone to know what happened down in the bunker and where those missing kids are.”

“So, let’s go and talk to the guy that’s still alive.” I suggest.

“He’s in an asylum, Firecracker. He probably won’t be able to tell us anything.”

“He might though. He’s the last one, he’s not even very far away. I think he’s worth a visit.” I reply.

“I mean any information at this point would be helpful we’re at a dead end otherwise.” Jensen shrugs.

“We aren’t doing anything else until later it can’t hurt.” Cash adds.

“Fine, I’ll get the address.” Atlas says, tapping away on his phone. “You know there’s a big possibility they won’t let us in.”

“I know, I still think it’s worth taking the chance.”

“That was quick,” Atlas mutters. “He’s given me the address, he also says that he’ll have the names of the victims for you by the end of the day, Jensen.”

“Good, I should have it all set up by the end of tomorrow then. It would be sooner, but we’ve got that party.”

“What about the journalist, Rebecca?” Cash asks.

“He can’t find her anywhere; he’s going to keep looking, but it’s like she’s completely disappeared, no trace of her anywhere.” Atlas replies.

“Well, we can assume that she definitely doctored the article then.” Cash replies.

“Alright, everyone get ready. We can get lunch while we’re out.” Trick orders.

Despite the original hesitation at my suggestion, everyone is ready in no time and looking excited to see where this lead takes us.

“We can’t all go in the same car.” Rage points out as we walk out the front door.

“Shit, how did I forget that?” Trick chuckles. “Alright, Rage; you, Cash, Rafe, and Luc take your car and everyone else in the SUV.”

“Got it boss.” Rage smirks, winding Trick up and high-fiving Jensen. “Atlas, send me the address in case we get separated.”

“Done. Don’t get separated from us. It’s not safe at the moment.” He orders.

Rage nods his agreement and we all get into the cars. I’m so damn excited that I can barely sit still. The guys keep giving me amused looks and I choose to ignore them rather than encourage them further.

We’ve been driving for about fifteen minutes when Trick gets a call through the Bluetooth in the car.

“Yeah?” Atlas answers.

“We’re being followed. Two cars back, red sedan.” Rage’s voice comes over the Bluetooth.

“Alright, we’ll take a couple of turns to make sure. If he’s still behind us, circle back and we’ll block him in and force him over. You guys ready to get someone to talk?” Atlas grins, his eyes meeting mine the mirror.

“Hell fucking yeah.” I reply for all of us. “I’m starting to get twitchy.”

“Twitchy?” Atlas asks, “Take a left up here. Rage, I need you to stay on the line.”

“Got it.” Rage replies.

“Yeah twitchy. You know, it’s been far too long since I had a fight.” I answer him.

“Oh, yeah I get like that.” Jensen says from the seat behind me.

“We know.” Trick chuckles drily.

We take a few more turns, the sedan clearly following us, so Atlas gives the order and Rage drops right back. The car falls for the bait and slips in between us both. Rage immediately moves up close behind him forcing him closer to our car.

“Can you see who’s driving?” Trick asks.

Cash turns around in the back seat. “No, he’s got something over his face.”

Once the guy realises what’s happening, he suddenly takes the next exit, barely making it in time and driving off in a completely different direction.

“Damn it,” I groan. “I was looking forward to that.”

The guys chuckle. The rest of the journey is uneventful, and I spend most of it hoping that they’ll let us in to see this guy or it will have been a wasted journey. Of course, it’s likely to be a wasted journey if the guy is unable to communicate with us. We didn’t even think to ask what he was in there for. When we arrive, I’m surprised by the lack of any kind of security. The place looks pretty run down, and not at all what I was expecting. He went to the academy after all, so I just assumed that he would have money. This place is large, but the paintwork is peeling, weeds are growing up through gravel drive, and there are crudely placed bars on most of the windows.

I’m pretty glad that we’ve come during the day if I’m honest. Not much freaks me out, but an asylum that looks like this one, in the dark definitely doesn’t give me warm and fuzzy feelings. We all gather outside the cars and look up at the building that looks abandoned at best. There are two other cars in the lot though, so someone’s got to be in.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Cash asks warily.

Atlas pulls out his phone and double checks. “Yeah this is it, come on, let’s go in and see if they’ll let us see him.”

“What’s his name?” I ask, feeling guilty that I haven’t bothered to ask before now.

“Clint Michaels.” Atlas replies.

“It might be best if only one of us talks to the person on reception.” Rage suggests, “And don’t take this the wrong way Puddin’, we all know it’s not the case when it comes to you, but women tend to be seen as less of a threat, so maybe you should do it.”

“Makes sense.” I agree and he looks at me surprised. “What? I can be reasonable sometimes.” I smirk.

“I didn’t think, we’re a group of large guys and there’s a lot of us. They might not let us in for that reason alone.” Trick adds.

“Well, we’re here now, we may as well try. If they don’t, I can always come back with just one of you and we can try it that way.” I suggest.

“Alright, let’s go.” Cash says, sounding inpatient.

I walk through the heavy doors first and see a woman sitting behind a wide semi-circle counter reading book. She glances up when we enter, raises her eyebrow and slowly puts her book down, standing up to greet us.

I plaster on my friendliest smile and she seems to ease a little, “Hi there, we go to the same academy that one of your patient’s went to, Clint Michaels, and we were wondering If we could talk to him about his time there for a class project?” I ask sweetly.

As soon as I mention Clint’s name, her whole demeanour changes as she becomes friendlier and smiles.

“Normally, I wouldn’t let anyone that’s not a blood relative in to see one of my patients, but that man’s been here for as long as I can remember with no visitors and it’s for a good cause. It might help him to reminisce about his school days. Follow me.” She says kindly.

I feel a little bad for lying to her, but she’s probably safer not knowing the whole truth. She lifts a section of the counter and steps out, dressed in typical scrubs and bright purple nurse shoes.

“Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.”

“No problem dear. I must warn you, he’s barely coherent on a good day, so you might not get anything worth hearing out of him.”

“That’s okay, we understand that it’s a long shot.” Cash replies, giving her a charming grin and making her blush.

I grin. Cash certainly knows how to use that grin of his to his advantage.

She leads us through surprisingly quiet hallways, and we don’t see another worker.

“Where is everyone?” I ask cautiously.

“Oh, it’s only Clint and one other patient here. When they moved everyone to a newer building closer to the city, Clint’s family refused to agree to moving him and offered to pay to keep this place open. The other patient was too fragile to move anyway, so we agreed. That was the last I heard from his family, but the checks keep coming to keep us open, so I leave it be.” She explains.

I share a look with guys, something to look into later.

“Of course, between you and me, I think he became the family’s dirty little secret. They are very well off, clearly since they pay for this place and my wages. I got the impression they didn’t want to deal with him anymore, so stuck him here to be forgotten about.” She says, getting fired up. “He’s perfectly harmless and deserved better from his so-called family.” She finishes on a huff.

“Ahh, here we are.”  She leads us into a large room set up like a sitting room. It’s only occupied by one person. “There’s a button by the door if you need me, I need to go and get lunch started.”

“Thank you.” I reply and she smiles, bustling back out of the room and closing the door behind her.