Page 61 of Freeing Souls

She sighs. “You need to get yourself together. You sound pathetic. I told you, I have things under control. The situation isnow dealt with. Move on and know they will get what’s coming to them.”

“But that’s not the point! You were supposed to save her! I thought they were so much worse–”

Tammy cuts me off. “Hush, child. You’ve let them get to you. Be careful,” she says as she hangs up.

Letting out another sob, I stare down at the phone as the realization hits that I fucked up. This wasn’t how things should have gone.

“Lexi, girl, are you alright?” my dad asks as he pops his head in the door.

Swiping under my eyes, I say, “I think I messed up, more than I know how to fix.”

He walks into my room and wraps his arms around me. “We have all made mistakes, baby. It’s how we come back from them that matters. You can talk to me."

“I know, Dad. But–not yet. I have to try to fix this on my own, and I know what I need to do,” I tell him, determination taking over as a simple hug from my dad heals everything within me.

As the guy at the entrance to the club opens the gate for me, fear settles deep in my bones. I know I have to do this, but the idea I may not walk back out of here after what I have done is terrifying. But knowing my best friend is out there right now, probably terrified, helps me move my ass and tell the truth. The drive down their driveway feels like it takes hours before I finally park in the front lot. Getting out, I take a deep breath and glance up at the big warehouse of the SOS club. It really is a beautiful place, surrounded by woods and very quiet.

Once inside, Grayson is the first to come up to me. “Everything alright?” he asks, a sadness in his eyes and voice that he can’t mask even as he tries to put a smile on for me.

“No. I need to, um… I need to talk to whoever is in charge. It’s urgent,” I say quickly.

“Okay…” His brows lower. “Come take a seat on the couch. I’ll be right back.”

What feels like hours but I know is only minutes, the room fills with five guys I don’t know, along with Ryker, Cayden, and Grayson. The largest of the group with salt and pepper hair and beard sits on the coffee table in front of me. “I’m Sugar. What’s goin’ on, darlin’?"

“I have something to say, and I just need to know you’ll let me explain everything before killing me,” I word vomit.

Someone covers a laugh with a cough, but I keep my eyes on Sugar. The giant terrifying man in front of me. “Alright, go ahead.” He nods at me.

Taking a big breath, I spill everything. “Many years ago, my dad owed a debt to the club. When he couldn’t pay, he did something stupid and tried to run with my mom and me. He got caught, and the club took my mom and him one night. I don’t have all the details, but from my dad’s drunken nights, I know they tied him up and made him watch as they raped and brutally murdered her. I lost my mom because of this club, and I am barely keeping my dad alive. My life was ruined, and it was all because of you.”

I exhale as tears begin to fall. “But now… I don’t know what’s true and what's not. I feel like this version of the club is not the same one I have heard horror stories about. My dad has told me other things he knew about the club and things you all did. But this seems so different. When I became friends with Harley, I really was worried about her. Tammy said you guys had her those months she was gone, and when she randomlyreappeared, you guys kept a close eye on her. Tammy promised me she was trying to get her niece out of here, but if I could help, she would help me deal with you guys and hopefully get justice for my mom.”

The tears are nonstop flowing now as I let everything out. No one knows how much I know and what I have been doing, not even my own father. He has been on the brink of killing himself for a year now, and I have had to stop him more than once. I thought finally getting some kind of revenge would help him heal and be my dad again.

“My dad really did need me to stay elsewhere when I stayed here last week. He was going into a 72-hour hold at the hospital. I told him I was staying with a friend from school and didn’t tell him it was here because he would have freaked out. I thought this was my chance to see things for myself and help Harley. Only now, I don’t know if anything I have done is helping her. Tammy doesn’t even care she’s gone.”

My body violently shakes as I sob and curl in on myself, afraid of what will happen now. Someone’s hand touches my shoulder, and I jerk back away from them. “Maybe we should get one of the girls?” Grayson asks someone softly, his voice right next to me.

A few minutes go by, quiet conversations happening around me, but I can’t make out any of the words over my state of panic. It feels like my breathing is the loudest thing in the room.

“Hey, sweetheart, can you look at me?” a gentle voice asks, and I slowly raise my head to find Presley, who I believe is married to one of the guys I don’t know. “Hey, let’s breathe together, alright? You are safe here. I promise.”

“As long as we find Harley, you are safe. As long as you tell us fucking every single thing you know, you are safe. You do anything behind our backs again, and I will do a hell of a lot worse than anything your stupid little head has everconsidered,” Ryker growls right as Grayson grips his arm and pulls him out of the room.

Harley

As Lex finishes her story, Grayson picks it up. “We had her stay here because we wanted to make sure she was safe in case Tammy figured anything out or someone took her to be sold because of her involvement. Her dad had a conversation with Sugar and worked out more details even we don’t know all about. He’s getting help now, though.”

I glance over at Ryker, and he shrugs. “I kept a very close eye on her, but she was being honest, and she has done everything she can to help us and she gets along with the girls, helping where she can. But remember what I just told you: we are here for you. Whatever you want, little flame.”

I shut my eyes for a second and go over everything in my head. I want to be understanding, I really do. But after everything that has happened, right now, I can’t be. So I do the only logical thing to do that isn’t blowing her brains out.

Locking eyes with Lex’s sad, watery ones, I tell her, “Get out.”

“What?” she mumbles, her face dropping even farther into a frown as her shoulders slump.

“Get. Out,” I say, slower this time, not giving her any other words.

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