Ellena (11 page)

“Leon and his brothers?” Angelina asked.

“No.” Ellena sniffled, and now Angelina was worried. Cherise indicated for her to hand her the phone.

“Cherise is here, too. She wants to talk to you.”

“Oh God, Cherise.”

“I’m here child and you need to get to your men. They’ll protect you from that devil.”

“Cherise, you don’t understand. They’ll kill them. If I don’t stay away from the Rue brothers, they’re as good as dead. Plus I can’t come home. I’m afraid they’ll go after my sisters.” Angelina thought she sounded very scared and certain that staying away was best.

“Who are these men?” Johnny asked, and Cherise shushed him up.

“Don’t matter. The men, they know who he is. You need let Leon, Mack, Troy, and Roy find you, Ellena. This isn’t a battle to handle on your own. You stay away then trouble get the best of you.”

Ellena was silent. “I’ll think about it. Tell them I’m safe. Tell my sisters I’m safe.”

“Ellena!” Johnny said her name loudly but the call disconnected.

“Shit. That sister of yours needs to get to her men for protection. Whatever is going on it’s serious. Ellena worried enough about bringing trouble around here. I’m going to call Leon and Eloi and let them know Ellena says she’s safe. If she calls back, ladies, you get me right away and find out where she’s staying.”

“Okay,” Illeanna said as Johnny got out his cell phone to call the guys.

“I’m worried, Illeanna,” Angelina said as her sister pulled her into a hug. Cherise then lay her hand over Angelina’s shoulder.

“Don’t you fret now, Angelina. Your sister is strong, and she’s smart. If she thinks that hiding out alone is the best thing to do right now, then maybe the bad men are close by. If the bad guys coming around Orchidea, then Ellena wants to protect all of you. Now, why don’t you two close up the restaurant and let Johnny take you both home?”

“Angelina, you’re staying with us tonight,” Johnny said as he re-entered back through the back door. Angelina thought he looked really angry.

“What’s going on, Johnny?” Illeanna asked as she walked next to him and placed her hand on his arm.

“There’s a real sticky situation. Got the feds and Internal Affairs involved. Seems Ellena got caught up smack in the middle.”

“Oh God. What can you tell us?” Angelina asked.

“If Ellena calls back, you’ve got to convince her to get to her men or to one of us, so we can protect her. From what Eloi just explained to me on the phone, she’s a sitting duck, with no defenses against these ruthless men. Her only option is to call us.”

* * * *

Ellena hid the car on the side of the building near the Dumpster as a precaution. She figured she had lost Parker’s men. Not that she was positive that they were following her, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She couldn’t get cell service from where she parked, so she carefully walked through the back parking lot until she got a signal on her phone. She was frightened. She couldn’t believe when she got into her car and exited the hotel parking lot Parker’s men were following her. She quickly lost the black sports car and hadn’t seen it since. She thought she had been smart in losing Troy and Roy. They were going to be so angry with her, but she took Parker’s threats seriously, especially after seeing how his men were on her like white on rice.

Ellena had searched through her car trying to find the spray that Cherise had given her. It was some sort of special formula of spices and peppers to ward off, as Cherise told her, “unwanted advances.” That crazy voodoo priestess knew that this trip was going to have some sort of danger yet hadn’t warned her. She gave her oils to ward off the so-called ghosts that haunted the hotels and places of interest in the French Quarter and then this pepper spice stuff. She gripped it in her hand and took off the top as she slowly walked back to the car. She was a nervous wreck and afraid of every noise she thought she heard. She should head away from here and toward Baton Rouge. There were plenty of hotels and back roads she could take. She just needed to be sure that Parker’s men weren’t hiding around.

It was pretty damn dark now in the parking lot, and she could hardly see her small car by the Dumpster. Her hands were shaking, and she was so tired. The car was nearly on empty from all her driving around in circles trying to lose the men.

“I see you, woman.”

Ellena gasped as the deep voice echoed in the back of the building. She looked around, moving in a circle, trying to see through the darkness. She held the spray in her hand, and then she felt the grip on her shoulder and a man turning her around.

“You think you can lose a professional?” the security guy of Parker’s asked. She looked around. He seemed to be alone.

“I don’t know what you mean. Why are you following me?”

He gave her a shove against her chest as he walked closer. She took two steps back as he continued to advance on her.

“Parker ain’t happy. He thinks you’re trying to give him the slip. He wants me to take you back to the Quarter and to him.”

He grabbed her dress and pulled her toward him. She slapped his hands away and tried to run, but he was on her fast. When he grabbed her arm to turn her around, she took a swing, hitting him straight in the mouth. The backhand came out of nowhere, sending her to the ground with instant pain to her cheekbone.

“Don’t make me knock you out. Just cooperate ’cause you know Parker always gets what he wants.”

“I’m not going with you. Get away from me.” She scrambled to get up, remembering the spray in her hand as he reached down to pull her up. She slapped at his hands and he gave her another hit to her cheek almost directly where he struck her first.

“Stop it!” she screamed, the pain terrible, and her temper flared.

He pulled her up off the ground, ripping the back of her dress in the process.

“Wait, just wait and I’ll come with you,” she told him.

As soon as she felt his hands loosen on her she turned and sprayed him directly in the eyes with Cherise’s special spray.

His cries of pain could be heard for miles she was certain, but she wasn’t sticking around to see if help arrived. She ran to her car, got in, started the engine, and hit reverse. It was too late when she saw the guy in her side mirror holding his eyes and screaming as she bumped him with the back corner of the car. It wasn’t a hard hit because he was still standing and she hit the break. Skidding out on the gravel, she took off for the main road and hopefully the highway.

She wasn’t cut out for this. She couldn’t handle this on her own. She needed help.

She let out a small scream as the sound of her cell phone ringing scared her. She had full signal as she reached for the phone to answer it.

“Hello.”

“Ellena. Oh thank God, baby. Where are you? What’s going on?” Leon asked her, and she could hardly see the road as the tears blurred her vision. She couldn’t even breathe. She was hysterical.

“Sugar, where are you. Are you hurt?” he asked, and then she heard him talking to others around him. He wasn’t alone.

“There was this guy. He hit me and wanted me to go with him. Oh God, I hit him, I sprayed him with stuff from Cherise then hit him with my car. I’m so scared, Leon,” she cried, holding the steering wheel and forcing herself to continue to drive as far from the location as possible. She didn’t know how long the spray would last or if that guy had help. Looking into her rearview mirror, she saw nothing but black.

“Sugar, where did this happen? Are you injured?”

“He’s behind the old post office and the building-supply place off Kensington. I got outta there real fast.”

“Honey, you need to come to us.”

“No. No, I won’t let him kill you. He wants you and your brothers dead.”

“Calm down, Ellena. He’s not going to kill us. I know about Parker. We have the feds, and now Internal Affairs is investigating. I need to know that you’re safe and the best place to be is with me and my brothers, sugar. I know that you’re scared, baby. Please listen to me.”

“I want to make sure that they’re not following me.”

“Don’t worry. You’re forty minutes from us. Head to me. Head to our place, Ellena. This is not a situation for you to handle.”

She heard the intensity yet calmness in Leon’s voice, and she believed him. She didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to trust what he was saying despite how determined Parker sounded with his threats.

“Ellena?” he whispered.

“He threatened me, Leon.” She heard his long release of breath.

“Come to me, baby. In my arms you’ll be safest.”

* * * *

“Where the hell is she? It’s nearly three in the morning?” Mack asked as he paced the living room.

“She’s not coming. She’s too scared. That fucker scared the shit out of her, Leon.” Roy raised his voice. They were all exhausted and worried.

The sound of a car pulling up the driveway slowly had them all running for the door.

Leon led the way and immediately saw Ellena’s car. The lights were off as she pulled it behind the detached garage.

Leon pulled open her door as she slowly got out. He pulled her up into his arms and hugged her tight.

“Oh God, Ellena. We were so worried.” He caressed her head.

“I’m sorry, Leon. I’m so sorry,” she whispered in a very raspy voice, and she felt so delicate and almost limp in his arms. She must have been exhausted.

“Get her into the house,” Roy told Leon.

“The car. They’ll see the car.”

“It’s okay, sugar, they’ll cover up the car and no one will know you’re here.” Leon looked at his brothers over her shoulder, and he could see the fear, anger, and concern in their eyes.

Troy and Roy covered the car as Leon and Mack walked Ellena into their house.

“Call Eloi and let him know that she’s here and she’s safe.”

Mack pulled out his cell phone as they walked into the living room.

The moment he began to lay Ellena onto the couch, he saw the dirt on her dress, the tears in the material and her very swollen, bruised cheek.

“They fucking hit you?” he whispered as she closed her eyes.

He gently caressed her lower lip as he heard Mack inform Eloi that Ellena was safe and with them. He explained about her injuries and how exhausted she looked.

Leon began to look over her injuries and as he gently laid a hand over her waist to check her, she gasped and curled up in a ball.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked her. He was getting angrier and angrier. What did that piece of shit Parker do to her?

* * * *

Ellena didn’t want to tell Leon about the spa and how Parker cut her. He looked so angry and upset with her. She just wanted to keep him safe, and she knew that Leon had a short fuse. Especially when it came to men hurting women.

“I think she needs some ice for that,” Mack said and Troy and Roy entered the house, locking the door behind them.

“Ice? Is she injured?” Troy asked. As he approached, his eyes appeared darker.

“Someone hit you?” he asked her.

“I’m okay now. I’m just so tired and scared.”

“We need to know what happened.”

“So much happened. I was stupid.” She felt like crying, but what good would shedding tears do now? She was safe with Leon, Mack, Troy, and Roy. She had to be. That was what Leon told her.

“Are you sure it’s safe here, Leon? He said he’d kill you all.”

All four men gathered around her. “It’s safe, baby. We’ll protect you. I promise,” Leon whispered then caressed her lower lip with his thumb.

“Why didn’t you tell us at the hotel? Why did you take off like that?” Roy asked as he took a seat on the couch, and she slowly sat up. Her head was spinning, she was so tired, and her cheek ached. By the expressions on their faces, they were angry and the bruise probably looked bad. It sure felt painful. She reached up to touch her cheek and cringed as her fingers made contact.

Troy came into the room with a bag of frozen peas. He covered it with a paper towel and walked in front of her.

She locked gazes with him, and she knew he was angry. She had to tell them everything. She had to explain.

Ellena placed the bag on her cheekbone and leaned back against the couch.

“Hey, you have blood on your side. Are you hurt there?” Leon asked as he touched the material of her dress. She figured the cut from the knife had reopened even though it wasn’t deep. She had been running on adrenaline.

“It’s a cut. It’s not bad.”

“From what?” Troy asked.

“A knife,” she said then closed her eyes as she heard their concerned words.

“Talk to us please,” Roy whispered as he caressed her knee.

Ellena explained about the earrings, the lunch encounter, and then meeting Mack that night at the restaurant.

“What happened after we left you, Ellena?” Leon asked.

She took a deep breath. How was she going to tell them about Parker and how he touched her?

“I was enjoying my message. The masseuse left me alone so I could slowly sit up and get dressed. I guess after such a relaxing treatment you’re tired and foggy and you need to drink plenty of fluids. I was just lying there thinking how wonderful the night before was with you and Mack, and I was looking forward to seeing Troy and Roy when the door opened. I thought it was Luke, the masseuse. But then I felt the hard hands on my shoulders.”