Holding the tiny earpiece tight in my hand, I go back a few steps to where the voices were loudest.
Unsure whether the tiny mic will be able to pick up the voices inside, but hoping it will, I crouch low against the three-foot-high solid partition and take a deep breath. Then, slowly, I edge my fingers higher and place the device on the edge of the window frame, snug to the glass. Mission accomplished, I retrieve my hand fast, fold back down to my knees, and hold my breath. I listen hard.
“You should be fuckin’ grateful your aunt rescued you. That club your father’s in? Worst of the fuckin’ worst. They stole from us, kid. They murdered our brothers, mowed them down like animals.”
“You’re wrong.” Ace is obviously trying to sound firm, but his voice unintentionally rises on the last word. In other circumstances, I’d have found evidence of his voice reverting to how it sounded before it broke amusing, but now I just feel for him. He’s still a child, not a man.
“I want you to log into the Kings’ systems. I know you fuckin’ can.”
“Candy, he’s clever, but I think that might be beyond him.”It’s Toni.
“Shut your mouth,Sis. I know the brat’s got crazy skills. He can probably hack into the Pentagon and get the launch codes for nuclear missiles. Am I right, kid?”
I hold my breath.Ace, it’s no time to boast now.Luckily, Ace realises that as well. “No, I can’t,” Ace quavers. “And anyway, that wouldn’t be right.”
“Wouldn’t be fuckin’ right? You got smarts, boy, you fuckin’ use them. Use them for me right now.”
“I can’t, Pippa told me…”
“Who the fuck’s Pippa? Some goddamn uptight teacher who’s never been fucked? Whatever, I don’t care. You fuckin’ belong to me now, and you’re going to do whatever I tell you to do.” There’s a pause, then, “If not, you’re going to regret it.”
“You want to bet?” Ace bravely retorts.
There’s another moment of silence during which I bite my lip, drawing blood. Then I hear the sound of a fist hitting flesh, followed by a piercing scream. I start to rise, then think better of it. What the fuck can I do? I’m unarmed and just a woman. But Ace is getting hurt. I can’t bear it…
“Candy, stop!” a voice wails loudly. “Why did you hit me?”
Thank fuck it wasn’t Ace who’s hurt.It was Toni. Although her voice was higher-pitched than I’ve ever heard it, I’d recognise it anywhere.
Candy ignores her pleas. “See, Ace? I don’t need to touch you. I can torture your aunt until you obey.”
“Why are you doing this, Candy? I believed everything you said about Freak and the Kings, and believed you were going to keep me and Ace safe.”
A roar of male laughter reaches me. “You stupid slut. You believed me when I told you I was your half-brother.” At his words, I hear a loud female gasp. “Persuading you to bring the boy here? Like taking fuckin’ candy from a baby. Candy, huh? Good that, yeah?” He continues to laugh, presumably at his own joke.
“But… but you said my dad was your father, that he met your mom before he met mine. Candyman, I believed you.” Her voice sounds distraught. “No, you couldn’t, you didn’t lie to me.”
“Stupid bitch. Thank fuck we’re not related. I wouldn’t want to share blood with an imbecile like you.”
“You lied to me!” Toni screeches. “You persuaded me Ace wasn’t safe where he was. You said he’d be safer here.”
“I wasn’t fuckin’ lying, bitch,” Candyman yells, and I hear another slap against flesh. “Freak’s a fuckin’ freak. How d’you think he got that road name? He’s no fuckin’ good for the boy.” His voice lowers, his tone becomes cajoling. “But you and I, Ace, we’re going to get along famously, aren’t we?” Now his words sound hardened. “As long as you do what I tell you.”
“I’m not hacking into the Kings’ databases.” Ace now sounds forceful, determined, but then it’s a child’s plaintive cry of protest that reaches my ears, followed quickly by a woman’s screech of pain.
“You broke my arm!” Toni screams.
“Tell the boy to do what I want, or I’ll break the other one,” Candyman threatens.
In between sobs, Toni tries to bargain. “If he does what you say, will you let us leave? I don’t think this MC is the right place for us.” Right now, I find myself agreeing with Candyman. She is a stupid bitch.
“You going to agree to that, VP?” another male voice asks.I hadn’t realised there was anyone else there.“I mean, if he gets us access and gives us the passwords, we’ll be good.”
There are two men in the room.That’s got to be vital information, right? I just hope that tiny microphone is picking this up and transmitting.
“Okay,” Candyman says, but I’d place everything I own on that being a lie. I’d bet my life on Toni ending up as part of the MC, and not as an honoured guest. She’d be their property.Justlike I am to the Kings.Though I wouldn’t swap my club for his any day. I’ve already had a taste of how abusive they can be.
But his lie seems to convince Toni. “Stupid,”I murmur under my breath, stunned that she seems to believe him. And I can’t comprehend it when she coaxes, “Ace, sweetheart, just do what Candyman says. Then we’ll get out of here and start a new life. Anywhere you want to go.”
