Page 40 of Need

“Possibly,” I said in a dismissive voice.

I could see he was gearing up for a rant, so I stopped him yet again. “You don’t have to agree with my lifestyle or my methods. I’ll tell you that when she first came to my home, she was scared to do anything beyond breathing without being told. Her only words were ‘Yes, Master’ and ‘No, Master’ and even the ‘No, Master’ was a challenge to get out of her. She can now carry on a pretty decent conversation once you get her going. She is getting better.”

“I just...” For the first time, my uncle looked defeated. He really didn’t know what to do.

“You’re worried.”

He nodded.

“When you talked to her, the worst thing you could have done was tell her that you didn’t think she belonged with me. You proposed to take her from the only person she feels safe with right now. Me.” I paused. “You can’t do that to her. I won’t let you. I...” Once again, I was going to be putting something out there for the first time. “I love her, and I won’t let you hurt her unnecessarily like that.”

My uncle’s jaw dropped open. It was the only indication that he had in fact heard me. After a few minutes, he recovered himself. “You... love... her?”

“Yes,” I said with much more conviction this time. “I love her. I won’t have her taken away from me. Not by you. Not by her father.”

“Her father?”

“Yes. Her father seems to be looking for her, but from what she’s told me, he may have been involved in how she ended up where she was.”

Richard cocked his head to one side and gave me the first sign of a smile, albeit small, since he’d spotted me. “You really do love her?”

“I do.”

My uncle tried to press more information out of me, but I refused. He attempted once again to plead with me to let her talk to a therapist, saying that he feared she was developing Stockholm Syndrome. In the end, he still wasn’t happy I had no intention to seek out professional help for Brianna. However, he also didn’t think I was going to do irreparable harm to her in the near future either. We parted ways in the parking lot and I drove home, anxious to see Brianna.

Just as I was pulling into my parking space, I received a call from Oscar. “I can’t find any direct connection between Jonathan Reeves and this Ian Pierce.”

“So we have nothing?” I asked.

“I didn’t say we had nothing. What I did find was a mutual... friend.”

“Who?”

“His name is Jean Dumas. He’s well known in less than legal circles and has his hands in quite a few ventures.”

“How exactly does he know Brianna’s father?”

“Keep in mind that this is purely circumstantial. I can’t prove the conclusions I’m drawing here.”

“I trust your judgment.”

“Jonathan Reeves appears to have gotten into some money trouble a few years back. From what I hear, he was in pretty deep from gambling debts to a not very nice character. Then suddenly, around the time his daughter came to live with him, all his debts, his money troubles, disappeared like magic. Word has it that the money came from Dumas.”

Therefore, John borrowed money from one twisted man to pay another. Not a very smart thing to do. “And Ian Pierce?”

“Again this is just hearsay, but... apparently, Dumas has a taste for fine art work. Art work that isn’t always available to the general public. Pierce has some connections that might make acquiring such art work possible for the right price.”

“Brianna was payment for a painting?” I yelled, unable to contain my anger.

“It’s just a guess, but yes, that’s what I’m thinking.” My fist hit the dashboard, leaving a small mark. “What was that?” Oscar asked.

“Nothing,” I dismissed. “And Jonathan Reeves gave his daughter to Dumas to pay off his debt?” I seethed.

“That’s the only thing that makes sense. Again, this is just conjecture. We have no proof.”

“Keep looking. I want to know more about Reeves’s debts and more about this art ring that Pierce is apparently involved in.”

“I’ll have my guy stay on it.” He paused, and I could tell he wanted to say something else. I waited. “I noticed your picture in the paper. I’m not sure, given the circumstances, that it was a good idea for you and her to be seen out publicly together.”

---