Ax pressed his hand on D-mon’s chest, holding him back from hitting R.J.
“Stop it; this isn’t helping to get Sawyer back.” Kaden wrapped his hand around R.J.’s throat. “You better pray we get her back, because right now, I’m about to kill you. Alec, call Rick and try to negotiate a new deal. If he doesn’t take it, try something else. I don’t give a fuck what you have to say; get her back.”
Kaden loosened his hold enough for R.J. to breathe and then turned to the only person he felt stood a chance of finding Sawyer with his connections. “I want this sack of shit off this bus and out of our lives, but first, I want the tapes he’s held over my head for five years. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Kaden.” Alec motioned two of his men who were waiting by the bus door to take R.J. away. “That I can do.”
Sawyer saw the familiar scenery passing by, and her heart leapt for a second in joy until she realized there would be no happy reunion between her and Vida. She hadn’t expected them to bring her back to Queen City. Somehow, she had thought that they would have killed her off or passed her along to another client by now.
Driving through town brought tears to her eyes. She would never have believed it possible, but she had been homesick for this city that she had tried for years to escape.
The car pulled into a garage that she was familiar with, yet had never been inside. It was a local recording studio. The car stopped and Morgan got out taking her arm. No one was around as Briggs came to her other side and then both men ushered her inside to an elevator.
As they waited for the elevator, Sawyer looked outside the windows.
“It won’t do you any good. They’re bullet proof and the door is controlled by security. No one gets in or out without being buzzed in.” They had their illegal system down so there wasn’t a chance of escape.
Sawyer stepped into the elevator when it opened, both men by her side. Briggs pushed the button and the elevator moved upwards. When they reached the top floor, they guided her to a private office where Briggs rapped on the door before opening it.
She recognized the man looking out the window as he turned toward the door when it opened. He had become known throughout her neighborhood and the seedier side of Queen City. His name was Digger, and most people in Queen City were afraid of him. The only one in town who had been able to keep Digger under some control was King, although he had been trying to steal King’s power the last couple of years.
“I see that you finally were able to accomplish what you set out to do.” His face was unexpectedly handsome, but there was a cruel twist to his mouth. Sawyer shivered when he looked her over as if she was less than human to him.
“Sawyer, have a seat.” Briggs pushed her toward the chair in front of Digger’s desk. Shakily, she took a seat.
“Now, you’re going to be a smart woman and listen to me before you open your mouth. You have some information I want. You can tell me what I need to know and I’ll see to it that you can walk out that front door. Don’t tell me what I want to know and they’ll carry you out the back.”
Sawyer twisted her hands together in her lap.
“Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Sawyer knew she couldn’t answer him without stuttering so she nodded her head.
“Good.” Digger took a seat behind the large desk. “How well do you know King?”
“I—I don’t,” Sawyer spoke truthfully. She could tell by the look on his face he didn’t believe her. “I s—s—s—saw him when I w—w—was a kid at my apartment building.” Sawyer sucked in deep breaths, determined to get herself back under control. Relaxing her shoulders, she waited for his next question.
“Then why, when you were kids, did he extend his protection to cover you and Vida?”
“He extended it to Callie, Vida and me.” Sawyer was proud of herself for managing to get out a sentence without stammering.
“Callie?”
“She was another girl from our complex.” Sawyer saw no reason not to tell him. Callie was the only one beyond his reach.
“Why am I just now hearing about her?”
“Probably because she’s dead,” Sawyer said sarcastically. “She died when she was eight.”
“Her mother and father?”
“Her mother died the same day and no one knew who her father was.”
“Could it have been King?”
Sawyer could see that he thought he was getting somewhere. She took perverse pleasure in bursting his bubble. “No.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Brenda was not only a whore, but a slut. You know King; what do you think?”
Everyone in town knew that King didn’t touch whores. He liked to sell their services, but he kept his pleasure away from business. When King played, he liked to pick women who were from upper society that felt they were getting a thrill by fucking someone of King’s caliber. He got exhilarated by dragging them down to his level.
“Why did King extend his protection to you and your friends then?” Digger asked, leaning back in his expensive chair.
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve thought about if off and on for years and couldn’t figure it out.” The ring of truth and confusion sounded in her voice.
“I see.” Digger motioned to Briggs who was standing behind her. His hands circled her throat, squeezing tightly. Her hands went to his, trying to break his hold as she fought, trying to get away.
When she thought she was going to pass out, she heard Digger’s voice through the buzzing in her ears. “That’s enough.”
Sawyer gasped for breath when Briggs released her, and Digger waited until she quit before he began questioning her again. “I suggest you think harder.”
“Once, several boys ganged up on us, causing Callie and Vida to almost be hit by a car. I pulled them away from the road before they were hurt. That was the only contact we had with King.”
Her hand went to her sore throat. “H—he wasn’t my f—father, and he wasn’t Vida’s, s—so maybe he was protecting the driver of the vehicle? I—I don’t know.”
“How do you know he wasn’t Vida’s father?”
“B—because Goldie kept a picture of Vida’s father on a s—shelf in her apartment. Vida showed it to me one time. He wasn’t my father because my mother didn’t even know King until I was two-years-old.”
“That’s all you know?”
“Yes.”
“It’s useless information.”
“I don’t know what else I can tell you. There isn’t a connection between King and us.”
“I am beginning to see that the problem for you is that the only reason you were useful to me was for information. Since you’re useless, I have no further benefit by keeping you.
“Take her to the basement.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sawyer lay on the bed, listening to the soft cries from the other rooms. She had lost track of the number of days she had been held in the tiny room. She was beginning to lose touch with reality. The only contact she had with the other women was being forced to listen to their misery.
So far they hadn’t drugged her; that would defeat their purpose. Digger still believed that she knew something.
She was hungry. I will never complain about eating at another buffet, she thought wryly. She wiped a tear away. At least Vida was safe for now. Whoever was protecting her, frightened Digger. She had seen the wariness in his eyes when she’d heard him telling his men to back off when they grew tired of her lack of information and wanted to go after Vida.