Page 21 of Chains
She nodded, her movements mechanical.“I don’t want to be a burden.”
“You’re not,” I said firmly, tightening my hold on her.“You’re family now, remember?It’s our privilege to help you.And we do it together, Ellie.Just like you’d help Carrie if she needed it.Right?”
“Of course, I’d help Carrie.I’d help any of you.”
“Exactly, baby.You’d help any of us.So accept that we’re all in your corner.We’ll deal with your father.”
She looked up at me, her dark eyes swimming with unshed tears.“I’m sorry I brought this to your doorstep.My father, he --”
“Isn’t your responsibility,” I cut in, cupping her face in my hands.“Listen to me, Ellie.You’ve done nothing wrong.Nothing.I’m going to handle this.”
“He’ll manipulate his way in,” she whispered.“He always does.He’s so good at making people feel sorry for him, making them think he’s changed.”She gave a small, self-deprecating laugh.“I know what he’s doing, and I still let him reel me in.”
I brushed my thumb across her cheekbone, wiping away a tear that had escaped.“Trust me,” I said, my voice rough with emotion I usually kept buried.“Trust me to take care of this.Can you do that?”
More tears.Each one felt like a dagger in my kidney.She nodded, her gaze not straying from mine.“He’s my father, Chains.”
“I know, baby.I’ll do what I can.I need to talk to Knuckles.We’ll figure it out.”
She nodded again.“Okay.”
I pulled her to me and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, breathing in the scent of her hair.“Good.Now go be with Carrie and the others.I’ll come find you as soon as I’ve talked to Knuckles.”
Again she nodded.She turned to go, then turned again and lunged for me, throwing herself into my arms.Ellie clung to me for several seconds before kissing me once and letting me go.I watched her walk into the Oasis, where Hannah immediately wrapped her in a hug.Only when I was sure she was settled did I turn and stride toward the main warehouse where Knuckles kept his office.With each step, my anger built.
Yeah.I knew her father.We all did.When he was arrested, they called him the Butcher of Bellevue.A fucking organ trafficker who’d sold out his associates for a lighter sentence.The kind of calculating, remorseless predator who could destroy lives without blinking, then reach out years later, when the pain for everyone but those directly affected had dimmed, expecting forgiveness.My hands curled into fists at my sides as I took the steps two at a time to the second floor of the main warehouse.
Knuckles’ office door stood open, voices drifting out into the hallway.I recognized Gunnar talking with Knuckles.I knocked once on the doorframe before stepping inside.
Both men looked up, conversation halting as they took in my expression.
“What’s got you looking like you’re either about to have a stroke or murder someone?”Knuckles asked, leaning back in his chair.
“TatefuckingBlackheart,” I said, the name acid on my tongue.“He managed to get paroled.”I looked from one man to the other.“Guys, he’s Ellie’s father.”
Gunnar straightened from where he leaned against the wall.“Let me guess.He called Ellie.”
“Yep.Askin’ for a place to stay.Ellie freely admits he knows how to manipulate her to get her to agree to help him.She doesn’t want him here but doesn’t want to tell him no.”
“You think he knows where she is?That he’s coming straight into a nest of vipers?”I shook my head, not actually believing this was happening.
“The Butcher of fucking Bellevue.In our compound.”Knuckles’ expression hardened into the mask I’d seen him wear before violence erupted.“Blackheart,” he repeated.“The organ trafficker.”
“You know about him?”I asked, surprised.
“I make it my business to know about scum like that,” Knuckles said, his voice deceptively calm.“Fucking butcher cut up people who couldn’t fight back, then sold their organs to rich fucks who didn’t want to wait in line.Then rolled over on everyone involved to save his own skin.”He looked at Gunnar.“You remember that shit?”
Gunnar nodded, his dark eyes cold.“Made national news.Wasn’t he some hotshot surgeon before they caught him?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed, dropping into an empty chair.“Ellie was just a kid when they arrested him at their Halloween party.She told me everything.How the whole town turned against her, how she lived with his parents until they died, then ended up in foster care.”
“Jesus,” Gunnar muttered.“Poor kid.”
“And now this piece of shit wants to come here?”Knuckles stood, pacing the small confines of his office.“Absolutelyfuckingnot.We’ve got standards, and I don’t care if every last one of us has done time.There’s a fuckin’ line.”
I nodded, relieved at Knuckles’ immediate rejection.“That’s what I thought you’d say.”
“How’s Ellie taking it?”Gunnar asked, his voice softening with concern.
