Page 18 of Faith
“No. The police never did anything for anyone. Why am I going to trust her now? She’s not safe. I’m not safe here. I have to go. I can’t.” Nina turned and buried her face in Zeke.
His arms came around her and held her tight. She trembled against him, fighting the urge to run away from the intense and dominating woman and knowing Nina wasn’t safe on her own.
“Lorelei isn’t going to hurt you,” Zeke assured her. “She’s the one who figured out Gwendolyn Lennox is behind everything. She’s leading the charge toward stopping her.”
Nina looked up at him. “The last time I trusted a woman, I spent twelve years in captivity.”
The collective gasps around the room had Nina closing her eyes in shame. She chose to leave. She chose to go to Gwendolyn. She chose to put her faith in a woman who ended up being a worse monster than the person Nina was really running from.
Nina couldn’t do it again. She couldn’t sit there and let a stranger tell her she could trust her. Not when Nina knew how it worked out last time.
“Gwendolyn Lennox tried to have me killed,” Lorelei said, her voice firm but soft. “She kidnapped me and tortured me to figure out what I knew about her. She didn’t do it, of course, but one of her people did. He left me for dead, but I was lucky. I was found, and I was rescued, and I regained all my memories, including the ones from when I was tortured. The ones that gave me her name.”
Nina shook her head as Lorelei spoke, her fear ramping up. “That was you.”
Lorelei inhaled sharply. “You heard about me?”
Nina nodded, facing the woman. “Agent Sloane. Gwendolyn was furious when you survived. If she wants you dead, you’redead. She doesn’t screw up, and she doesn’t tolerate people who do.”
“Which is likely why the man who kidnapped me had three bullets in his chest last night.”
Nina sucked in a breath. She was there when Gwendolyn shot Benjamin. Three times in the chest. He fell to the ground, face down, and Gwendolyn stepped over his body. She was sending a message to anyone who dared challenge her.
Nina left hours later.
“When I was much younger,” Frannie said, drawing Nina’s attention, “I was friends with Gwennie. We worked at a club together. I was a dancer, and she was a server. At Club Curves.”
Nina gasped. “You worked there?”
Frannie nodded. She gestured toward the couch and sat, looking up at Nina to do the same.
Nina looked at the men, then sat next to Frannie.
“Club Curves saved me. So did Gwennie. She got me the job, then she found me an apartment. She made sure I was safe. She was my best friend. We spent a lot of time together.”
“Are you still in touch?” Nina asked, her throat tight with fear. Frannie seemed sweet and thoughtful. Nothing like Gwendolyn.
Frannie shook her head. “Not in years. We were walking home one night after a shift and witnessed a murder. I wanted to call the police, but Gwen said they would never believe us. We’d been drinking, and we worked at a place that wasn’t known for being on the right side of legal all the time. She told me we were bad witnesses and couldn’t even be sure of what we saw. I listened to her, but my conscience got the better of me and I ended up talking to the police.”
“What happened?”
“The cop I spoke to trusted me. He listened to me. He set up a lineup, but Gwennie was there when he called. She went withme, and she confused me. We couldn’t agree on a person, and the case stopped.”
“She did it on purpose.”
Frannie nodded. “She did. But I didn’t realize that until recently. I had no idea who she was. What she was capable of. It was many years after Casey Slater died before I found the man who killed her. She wasn’t his last. Lots of others died because of him.”
“You found him?”
“I did. His name was Damon Street.”
Nina gasped.
Frannie smiled sadly. “Damon was not a good man. Another friend of mine was involved with him. Didn’t know who he was or what he was capable of. He almost killed her, and she came here.”
Nina looked around. “Here? What is this place?”
“It’s a shelter. Shelter in the Storm. Casey Slater was one of the reasons I opened this place. After her death, I knew women needed a safe place to be when home wasn’t safe. Children, too. Many people have come through those doors. Have found solace here.”
