Picking up the heavy bolt cutters, I struggled to keep them in the air as James held the padlock out for me. I had to do this, and I would take whatever consequences came with my decision. The thick lock was harder to cut through than they showed on the movies and I was sweating, my arms shaking from exertion. James reached up and with both of our full strength the lock finally broke free with a loud clatter.
Link by link, we unwrapped the chain from the fence and opened it, slipping inside the small gap before pulling it closed again. It would be our way out, but we didn’t need to be seen. The shadows of night allowed us to move along the side of the house without the people in the backyard seeing us. They were dancing to loud music, alcohol and drugs being passed around as they partied by the fire. We had seen this before and knew everyone would be too wasted to notice we had come and gone right under their noses.
I cautiously peeked in the darkened window and saw what I was looking for in the small, cramped space. Nodding to James, I pushed the window up enough for me to get inside. He stood watch as I hoisted myself over the ledge, landing hard on the concrete floor. My knees throbbed from the fall and I turned my head to the door, making sure no one had heard me.
Knowing the layout of the room, I grabbed a few items from the floor and tossed them into a grocery bag tucked into my pocket, keeping my movements slow and as quiet as possible. I could hear someone having sex in the next room, their loud grunts and moans making my stomach hurt. I couldn’t afford for them to find me in here. James looked through the window opening clicking his tongue one time, alerting me I had been inside for one minute.
Using a blanket, I wrapped up what I came for, being as gentle as possible. I looked down, knowing this could be the beginning of something wonderful and moved quickly to the window. James was waiting and carefully took it from me as I slid back outside. He was fumbling to get a good hold and I reached over, cradling it tightly in my arms as he grabbed the bag and we silently slipped out the yard. I was bigger than James even though he was two years older but his strength was his intelligence.
James taught me how to use computers and I protected him from bullies and assholes. His friendship kept me from the worst of Marco’s business, and I vowed to keep him by my side. He was loyal to me and would help tonight, even if he took a beating for it. I promised myself I would take any wrath that came from my actions.
Every sound had us looking over our shoulders as we made our way back through the woods to the warehouses on the edge of town. Marco had given us the night off to go the movies and wasn’t expecting us until tomorrow morning. It was rare we had a night to roam free. Most nights, we entered information into his stupid spreadsheets or made monitoring his network of cameras.
That’s how I found what I took tonight. Watching a camera he had positioned on a rental house of his, I caught one glimpse three years ago. One glimpse for me to know I would do anything, betray anyone to protect it. Having spent a small amount of time at the property over the last three years, I grew attached, almost fixated with it. I laid it down on a couch in the abandoned break room and James turned on the lights, a few bulbs flickering to life with a loud buzz.
All I could do was stare, my heart beating faster, realizing I had done it. James smiled at me and nodded, reaching his clenched fist out to pound against mine. All night, we stood guard, making sure we weren’t followed. Soon, the morning came, and we had to get back to Marco.
Carefully, I carried the drugged little girl out and left her somewhere I knew she would be protected. She was safe, away from the wretched people who were supposed to protect her. I returned to Marco and monitored the situation from the safety of my computer. The night her picture showed up on the news was the night I chained myself to a monster, knowing my little lamb was safe.
I snapped out of the daydream and felt the familiar pain in my chest. Marco had found out and I took the blame, explaining that James wasn’t a part of it. He beat me until I lost consciousness and for my crime, I owed him five years of service. My work with him changed after that and shaped me into the dark man I am today.
He never turned me in and kept the secret from everyone. He took the secret to the grave when I sank my knife into his neck and watched the life drain from him. I took control of his empire and made my first million dollars before my eighteenth birthday.
To this day, the only people who know what happened are me and James. What we took needed to be taken, but the years that followed were a harsh punishment for everyone involved. My need for Elise changed through the years, growing from a protector to more than a lover. She was the only bright spot in my harsh life and Cameron was putting a shadow on my lamb.
“What if we’re looking at this all wrong?” James asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee before settling in at his computer.
“What are you thinking?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and giving him my full attention.
“We keep looking for a connection to Marco. What if it’s not Marco but someone else?”
“How are we supposed to figure out who? There’s almost a hundred thousand people in Portstill. It’d be like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Freddie returned, standing from his seat.
Freddie was a loyal employee who came on with the security company three years ago, quickly rising to a trusted member of my inner circle. Skid was a wild card who pledged himself to me a few years ago. He had been silent the whole time, flipping through file folders, looking for that something that kept eluding us all.
“Change of tactics. I want you scouring the files for any mention of Cameron coming and going from properties. Once you have that, see who else was recorded there at or around the same time. Cross reference those people and tell me who’s alive or dead, if they're in prison, or unknown whereabouts.”
“That could work,” James responded and pecked away at the keyboard.
“It’s a girl,” Skid said and the room went silent.
“Reasons behind your thought?” I asked, turning toward him.
“No offense, Devlin, but think about how far you’ve gone for Elise. The only thing that gets that deep under a man’s skin is a woman. He disappeared when he was fourteen, and now suddenly he just reappears? After what, twenty years? He’s carrying a deep wound and his anger is pointed at you, man. Why? Who? No clue. Just call it a feeling.” He shrugged.
I chewed on his words, finding validity in his statement. I had done horrible things to protect my lamb, and if Cameron was carrying a broken heart into this, he would be unpredictable. All three men were watching, waiting for my instructions.
Blowing out a breath, I addressed them. “Elise is covered around the clock. She works from an office, so set up surveillance on her from a safe distance and under no circumstances does she see you. I want her to go about her life without a worry. James, you’re on computer detail until we have a working theory on Cameron. Go home and pack a bag, you can crash in my guest room. You two, go get some sleep and be here before seven. I’ll be with her at night, so she’s safe and there’s no way for him to get into the building.”
“Should we put eyes on her parents?” James asked, knowing that if something happened to them, it would devastate Elise.
“Not right now. It’s been so many years, I’m not sure that Chuck would have open arms if his wayward brother just showed up. See if there are any neighbors who have a weak firewall on their home security systems and tap into their feed. Set the facial recognition software to scan their systems. Maybe we’ll catch a break.”
The four of us left the apartment and I went across the hall, grabbing a suit for the morning. I didn’t want to leave Elise, even to come upstairs and change clothes. If I had my way, we’d share a home, but I was going to spend every night with her, so it was semantics anyway.
Entering the elevator, I turned the cameras on in her apartment and found her dancing around the living room while she vacuumed. I quietly let myself in and watched her as she listened to whatever song was playing in her earphones. She turned around and saw me, letting out a startled screech and grabbing at her chest.
***
