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Powerful Page 2


  “I’ll go” Becca stands and heads for the door, her long messy ponytail swaying across her back. We all look like death warmed up seen as none of us have slept but I’m not stopping yet. I know Becca’s fiancé, Jason is trying to get hold of some of his contacts who can help us out, but it’s taking too damn long. All of this is taking too long. I want to know the answers to everything yesterday. Why is this happening again? Why the fuck is Cassidy involved?

  The base of my neck is throbbing with unanswered questions. I’m used to getting headaches from working long hours on cases but nothing like this. I need a long ass shower, a stiff drink and a long hard fuck. Do you think I can have any of those things right now?

  Of course not.

  “Can I ask you something?” Jess plonks herself down in the chair opposite my desk, her opal blue eyes starting back at me.

  No. You can’t.

  I roll my tongue around my teeth, stopping myself from saying anything I shouldn’t. I can’t tell her about the note just yet. I need to play my cards right. I know Amelia has been kidnapped now and that these assholes are hanging around for me. I’ll keep them waiting because I know they won’t kill her. How do I know? Call it a gut feeling. I’ve got ruthless bastard running through my veins all thanks to daddy dearest.

  “What?”

  “Why are you so hung up on this girl?” her voice is gentle and quiet in the otherwise chaos and noise in my mind. Her question is valid, but I don’t know the fucking answer to it. I don’t know is the best one I can come up with.

  When Becca first contacted us, I was in the middle of planning my father’s retirement. What a load of bullshit that was. I had a plan all along to get Amelia into my good books, one where I could tell her what to do and what not to do. After all that seemed like what majority of the women in my life would do. I hated it. I hated how they would throw themselves at me, I hated how they would cling to my arm at any fucking social gathering they could. And for what? I could never figure that answer out either. What did I have that they needed so badly?

  “She reminds me so much of you” my voice barley a whisper as I chance a glance at my now healed sister. Well, she isn’t healed, but rather put back together again. Her clear, crystal blues flicker with an emotion I know too well, and I know she’s thinking what I’m thinking.

  “You can’t think like that. This isn’t the same”

  “How isn’t it the same?” I snap. Jessica swallows past the lump in her throat, her thin neck giving away every ounce of emotion she’s feeling.

  “Liam, I know this is scaring you. But we don’t even know if she has been kidnapped. She could just be hiding out, it’s been twenty-four hours…”

  “AND HOW LONG WHERE YOU GONE FOR?” I yell, jumping to my feet and leaning across my glass desk. My fingers splayed across the surface, anger burns through me and I can’t control the words tumbling out of my mouth.

  “I couldn’t save you. I failed you. And look at the state you came back in! We’re getting closer to it being more than fucking twenty-four hours and I need to fucking do something!” I hiss. Jess visibly flinches but decides against arguing with me. Thank Fuck. I sit my ass back down, moving the papers from my desk when a tag line catches my eye.

  The contracts we signed for the new company under my management not my fucking fathers. Under Amelia’s next of kin is the name of her grandmother and her last known address. The nursing home.

  “It’s been right under my nose this whole time”

  “What?” Jess leans over and rips the paper out of my hand, at the same time Jason walks into my office.

  “I’ve got the footage of her at Paddington. She definitely got on that train”

  “I’ve got the address” I shrug into my suit jacket, ignoring the fact that my shirt sleeves are still rolled to my elbows. Without a word, everyone seems to fall into step behind me. I don’t know how this ended up being my problem, but I do know that this weird feeling in my gut isn’t going anywhere until I find her.

  And I will. I’ll kill any bastard that tries to stop me.

  Chapter Two

  Amelia

  I

  have no idea what time it is. I have no idea what day it is. I’d give anything to get a glimpse at the outside world. The silly things we take for granted and you don’t realize how much you miss them until you don’t have them anymore. That’s life, we spend our entire time here trying not to make the same mistakes twice, but in the end, who really cares? We’re all just along for the ride. I gave into the pain a while ago, it was always easier that way. In my head I knew that if I let go it would mean giving up. But I’m not giving up. I’m surviving this. Whatever the hell this is.

  After he beat the crap out of me, and my mother waltzing in like the fucking Queen, I knew I was involved with something much bigger than myself. I’d curled up into a ball on the cold floor and hidden in my head. I didn’t care what day it was then, I didn’t care what they were going to do with me. I gave myself time to wallow in self-pity before I shut myself up and sat up against the wall.

  “We thought you would cave at the first sign of danger. But it seems you’ll take a little more to break” she hissed. Her clawed hands gripping tightly to Mr. Slicks bicep.

  “Come on, let’s get you out of here. You don’t belong in a dump like this” he replied, his mouth gently brushing the skin behind her ear. A cold shiver runs through me as he turns and pulls her out of the room, bile slowly rising in my stomach at the mere thought of someone being nice to her. The goon by the door slams it shut and I hear a lock being slid into place. The deadbolt sound ringing around the room with more volume than it should. In the distance I hear an engine starting and I instantly feel alone. I wanted to scream that she definitely does belong in a place like this after everything she put me through. Instead I glued my mouth shut to keep the pain inside. They didn’t deserve the pleasure of hearing me scream.

  The room is dark and cold, my eyes finally adjust enough that I can see my breath forming clouds in front of me. My bladder is bursting, but I will myself not to do the one thing that can keep my dignity. I have so many unanswered questions, but no one to ask. I don’t even know if I could speak if I wanted to anyway. My mouth is dry, and my lips are cracked, aching for the feel of Liam’s soft ones again. The split down the side pulses as I run my tongue across it.

  Why do I miss him so much? It was what, six weeks? How can you be around someone for such a short amount of time and then have them effect you like this? Out of all the people that have come and gone in my life it’s him I need most right now. I don’t get it but in that small-time frame he made me feel more alive than I ever have. He forced me to feel, to live. My blood pumped faster whenever I was near him, the butterflies in my stomach fluttered as if it was the last chance they would get. Maybe it was. I knew I’d put up a wall around people, but that was okay until he tore it down brick by brick. I need his strong arms to hold my shaking body, his heat to warm me from the inside out. I need Liam. But what if he doesn’t want me? I need so many things right now that I can’t tell the difference between wanting and relying on something to survive. I need a drink, and a shower. And him. So many things, but I don’t know when I’ll get them. Resting my head back on the wall, I inhale and exhale against the pain in my chest. Wrapping an arm around my mid-section, I know I’ve got a few cracked ribs, and a broken finger. My little finger is bent in an awkward angle, but I think they can fix it. What am I thinking? I have no idea if I’ll ever get out of here. I have no fucking idea where I am.

  Positive thoughts.

  Inhaling, I try my best to think. Visions of cases that have passed under my nose flitter like a movie through my mind. Some of these girls never make it out. Some of them do and they never recover the trauma. I recall Liam telling me about his sister, and I wonder how she done it.

  How do these women make it out of these places? I try my best to go through the catalogue of evidence I’ve gone through over the years to come
up with something that another girl has tried. Nothing. My brain refuses to function at the one time I need it most. Little evidence photos flash behind my eyes like old, worn polaroid pictures.

  Broken bones, black eyes, missing teeth, multiple stab wounds.

  Nothing that’s going to help me escape my fate. My bottom lip starts to quiver in the cold, but the distant roar of a car engine and screeching tires snaps me out of my stupor.

  My body tenses but groans under the weight of new wounds. The slam of a door makes me jump and I wince around the pain. My one good eye is trained on the door as footsteps sound behind it. The clanging of the lock being undone roars around my head, causing fear and panic to slither through my blood. I tried to open the door a few times when everything was quiet, with no luck. My fingers clawed at the wood, hoping it was rotten enough to break through. My shattered bones and weak arms hadn’t gotten me very far. The door swings open and crashes against the wall, sending dust and flaky wallpaper around. I curl further into myself, pushing back into the wall as far as it will allow.

  “Get up” I can tell this is the slick one, his voice is loud and authoritative as he walks towards my spot in the corner. Shiny black shoes come into my vision and I tilt my head slightly to look up at him. Fear quickly turns to disappointment and it settles on my chest that no one has found me yet, but I swallow it away quickly. How can I expect someone to come and save me when I don’t know what day it is? When I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been here? Night and day have blended into one, but I know it’s got to be more than two days. The pain in my chest that Liam might not want to be with me anymore hurts far worse than the physical pains dancing their way across my bones.

  “UP!” He yells, making me flinch. I struggle against the pain lancing through my skin and try to get to my feet. I obviously don’t move fast enough as the big bald goon storms closer to me and rips me from the floor. I mash my lips together to stop myself from crying out and manage to balance myself on my own two feet.

  “Move” I’m shoved towards the door by a hand between my shoulder blades, my ribs screaming in agony, but I manage to right myself. My breathing is erratic, fighting against the panic and pain coursing through my body. I’m painfully aware of the two men walking behind me, but I swallow it down and head down the narrow hallway. One foot in front of the other and I end up at the front door.

  With the door wide open the bitter, winter chill twirls around us and I chance a glance back at them over my shoulder. With wide eyes I wonder silently what their plan is.

  “We’ve made a decision” the slick one tells me, my lips curling in disgust. A smirk crosses his features and I can’t help but wonder what the hell he’s doing with my mother.

  “We’re going to let you go” he watches my face for a reaction, but I don’t give him one. Schooling my features, I merely blink at him with my one eye that isn’t swollen shut. A flash of anger crosses through his green eyes before he inhales and nods towards the bald one.

  “We’ll be in touch. Don’t do anything stupid Amelia. Your mother sends her love” he smiles before the bald one grabs my upper arm and shoves me towards the waiting car. I refuse to get my hopes up yet. They could be lying and trying to get me to react a certain way. If they are telling the truth how am I ever going to get back to what it was like before? Things could be so much worse, but I have people relying on me back in London. Grace depends on me to foot her nursing home bill. Who will pay for that if I’m not around? Who will protect her if I don’t make it home. I try and think of happy things.

  Freshly cut grass, the beach, Becca’s wedding, Liam.

  What will I do about work? How will the merger work if I’m not there to merge it in the first place? I haven’t written a will, I never got around it. Most of my things would be sold or given to charity. Shit this is depressing.

  My chest contracts as I hit the backseat of the car. I have no clue how I’ve kept my head screwed on and any panic attacks at bay this far, but if they keep me much longer I just know one is inevitable. If they do kill me I hope it’s quick and nothing like those poor girls I’ve read so much about in work. I couldn’t bare it if someone ever found me in that state.

  I try to think of all the things I would be leaving behind, the things I would miss. The smell of fresh coffee in the morning, Becca’s annoying little traits and her ability to make me laugh at the drop of a hat. Things we take for granted that seem so momentous when the time comes to take them away. The way Liam felt against my skin, his baby blues. The way his lips felt whenever he kissed me and the way he would smile against my mouth.

  A soft smile plays against my own lips as I think of him. Strewn across his sheets as the sun rose and contoured every angle of his body. The way he turned my life upside down in the best possible way.

  My intrusive thoughts don’t let me have my moment of happiness for long as I’m back to seeing lifeless bodies on morgue slabs. Beaten, raped, murdered.

  Not once have I ever heard of someone being kidnapped and then released to go about their day with only their injuries to show for it. I have no way of contacting them and them me. How do they know that I won’t high tail it out of the country?

  Maybe I’m wrong. I haven’t worked a gang related case in years, things could have changed. This is one big shit show I never would have bought a front row ticket for. I doubt Liam would either. I would never expect him to stick around through all of this. What’s that saying?

  If you love someone let them go.

  It may break me in two, but I love him enough to know he needs better than me.

  My plan backfired big time, and I can only hope and pray to God if there is one that Liam doesn’t feel any form of guilt If I never make it back to him.

  Chapter Three

  Liam

  E

  verything is taking too long. It’s as if time has stood still, all the clocks in the world have stopped ticking, I’m running out of seconds and I’m the only one who’s noticed. I’d scrambled into my car and sped my way to Wales. Fuck knows how I didn’t get pulled over. Jason had driven Jess and Becca in his car, I was grateful because I was in no mood for chit chat. I didn’t even bother ringing the nursing home and demanding access to their surveillance cameras, I knew they would never have agreed to give it to me. That leads us to now. Jason is the best one out of all of us to get into their system, I have zero knowledge when it comes to this shit.

  I’d waited patiently while we booked a hotel suite and clambered up in the lift to it. I’d waited, and fucking waited. I was done. My irritation must be bouncing off my pores because Jason glances over his shoulder.

  “I can get into their system it’s just going to take a minute” he tells me from the laptop he’s got set up in the corner. Jess took Becca to get some coffee after she started pacing and fiddling with the necklace around her neck. I was grateful. I’m on edge enough as it is, I can’t deal with anymore pacing. I can’t deal with anymore fucking anything.

  “Can’t you do it any faster?” I demand, my hands gripping the back of the chair on the opposite end of the room. If anyone expects me to wait any longer I might just blow a fuse. The room is nothing fancy, but it was the closest one to the Nursing Home and the one Amelia should be at. Jason flicks me an annoyed glance but keeps quiet. I shouldn’t be so damned snappy with him, after all we wouldn’t be here and have the ability to hack into the Nursing Home’s security system if it wasn’t for him. Some client he had owed him a favor, so he cashed it in for the system to get into the cameras.

  “I’m nearly in, I just have to bypass the firewall” his phone is on the table beside him, lit up with the instructions on how to get into the feed. I have little knowledge on computer systems, I’ve never been interested in hacking but now that this shit has happened to me, not once but twice, I need to learn. Leaning over the back of his chair I glance at the computer screen filled with code and making absolutely no sense of it whatsoever and that only pisses me off ev
en more. When I find her and handcuff her to my bed, I’m going to learn everything there is to know about this shit. My physical abilities are fine, I’ll be a master tracker by the time this is over.

  With each passing minute the gnawing in my gut intensifies. Flashbacks of Jessica dance behind my eyes but only this time it’s Amelia in her place. The scars on her body tell her life story, granted the wounds are only skin deep but these bastards never realize how deep they cut into someone’s memory. I also know that she was raped. I know that those people took more from her than what she wanted to give, and I know that she never told me. That night in her flat when she was telling me of her childhood, I knew that she didn’t want me to know. The way her big brown eyes had glassed over when she was telling me the story of her attack, I knew. I knew because she looked at me the same way Jessica had, and it nearly fucking killed me.

  The day Jess came home will stay with me forever. I didn’t know how long she would be gone. I didn’t know if she would ever come back. The biggest irritation for me was the Police wouldn’t do anything. Jess was an adult and therefore able to make her own decisions. It’s only after twenty-four hours do the police start searching for someone. Total bollocks if you ask me. I was never prepared for the state that Jess was in, and I had no fucking idea how to help. But I figured it out. Just like I am now. My mother was too grief stricken to be of any help and my father couldn’t give a shit. I was in my early twenties and had just started at the law film, I started from the bottom, but not many people know that. I worked my way to the top over years of hard work and groveling. Granted that my father’s influence helped but that doesn’t mean I didn’t roll my sleeves up and get stuck in. People eventually respected me, and I realized that through power and influence you can get people to whatever the hell you want them to. I, however never used it against them. I would use people to get what I wanted but make sure they always had something to fall back on. My father didn’t. He would push you under the bus and never look back. Just like he had with Jess.