Estelle In Denver (In Denver Series Book 2) (9 page)

Estelle has been gone fifteen days. Her house looks like a war zone between FBI agents, Reed and his team, the Kerrigans, the Brennans, Estelle’s father, Uncle Sal, and brother. On the security footage you see Estelle looking down at her keys and then a figure come up behind her and injects something into her neck. She is struggling. She drops her purse, which is the only sign of a struggle or the security guard wouldn’t have known to alert us and pull the footage. We would have never known anything was wrong.

Kennedy calls in her friend Renegade, the president of the Chosen Ones MC, he sent his top two guys, a Viking named Crash and a baby faced country boy named Bison. Within an hour, our place was crawling with police and FBI agents. It’s been fifteen days and there hasn't been a ransom call—a bad sign. It either means she is already dead or that she wasn’t taken for financial gain. She was taken because she is someone possession. If that's the case, and she is being hidden away, the chances of finding her are not very high. We wait, and I’m not ashamed to admit it; I have fucking cried every night. After everything she has been through, after all the abuse she has endured, she gets taken right in front of the elevator to her door. I feel responsible. I should have gone up with her, but because I didn’t, some asshole walked right in a snatched her.

Rhydian has been on a rampage; he is snapping at anyone within reaching distance.

It is Crash the Viking biker that said something that makes sense. He makes an Edwin must have had some kind of surveillance on Estelle to be able to track her movements.

“Rhydian,” I say, “the house on Anderson Street is in her name. Let’s go there and look through his office to see if we find anything in the files.”

“How the hell are we going to get in?” Rhydian asks and I point to the two bikers.

The country boy says with a cocky grin, “Unless the doors are made of steel, leave it to us.”

Arriving at the house on Anderson Street, the bikers tell us to stand back and then just kick the door in. I look at Rhydian and just shrug my shoulders. We tell everyone to meet us at this new location. The FBI and Reed’s Homeland Security team arrive in minutes and everyone else soon follows. We each grabs a stack of files out of the cabinets. I come across a series of bills. They are for some kind of GPS tracking system.

“We need to find the username and password,” I say. “They won't give us any information unless we have that, they are in some backwater country because then a court order won’t do any good.” Rhydian turns to Reed and the FBI.

“I know someone. She is probably one of the best hackers in the world. She can get in, but she needs you to look the other way.”

“Get her here,” the agents say. I see Rhydian pull out his phone.

“Hey kid, I need you and I need your skills I’m at Estelle’s place thirty-three twelve Anderson Street.” Rhydian says into his phone

Twenty minutes later, in walks the cutest kid I have ever seen. She is probably about fourteen and is wearing an Asking Alexandria T-shirt and cut off shorts with skull leggings underneath. She has on black Doc Martens with green laces and is carrying three computer cases with her. She is five foot tall and that’s being generous. She has on dark square glasses and a beanie on her head. Her long hair is a ratty mess and she is carrying a cup that says ‘Talk Nerdy To Me’. Rhydian grabs her bags and starts setting up the sprite’s equipment in the office. She pulls out headphones from a huge ass bag I didn't see previously. How the hell did this girl carry all this shit? It weighs more than she does.

“Rhydian, this your expert hacker?” Reed says with a smirk. “She’s a preteen.” The sprite comes back and says, “Wow, the FBI has really let down their standards. They are letting any fat ass be an agent now.” This has everyone laughing hysterically with tears in their eyes. Reed is the type of guy that looks super buff with not an ounce of body fat on him.

She then proceeds to take a sip of out of her cup and gives Reed the finger as she walks into the office.

She puts her headphones on and sits at the desk, connecting everything to the Wi-Fi. She whips around and declares, “Okay, everyone get the fuck out, especially the fucking feds. I don't want y'all bastards watching me.” She turns back to the screen with a ‘My Little Pony’ screensaver, but turns back around, pointing at Crash.

“You…… Sons of Anarchy. You can stay. As a matter of fact, I think I’m taking you home with me.” Crash almost swallows his tongue.

“Sorry kid, but you're jailbait,” he says, backing out the room.

Rhydian speaks up then, “She’s nineteen. She’s been working for me for almost five years now.”

The entire room turned towards the sprite.

“That’s right, Ragnar Lodbrok. I'm nineteen, and I’m gonna ride you like you ride your bike.” With that Crash makes a quick escape. “Well, that was not fair,” she pouts. Rhydian rubs her beanie like she is just a silly kid, and we walk to the living room. I wait about fifteen minutes before I walk into the office to check on her progress.

"What’s your name, sprite?" She removes her headphones.

"Ashleigh Hawke and you're Tristan Cooper" she says.

"I am, do you need any help?" I ask

"Nope,” she replies. “I’m just playing World of Warcraft and waiting.”

"You’re supposed to be hacking into the GPS tracking site!" I yell out in frustration.

"Seriously, didn't Rhydian tell you I got skills? I cracked that shit like ten minutes ago. I sent the coordinates and satellite mapping to Governor DeWitt four minutes later. The feds should be getting a call shortly that an extraction team has rescued our girl."

I can’t help but shake my head. This little sprite of a girl is seriously fucking badass. I call everyone in and inform them that she sent the information, when the phone rings and Reed answers.

“Oh, she did.” we hear him respond. “Yes, I will make the offer."

Then the feds get a call and they all come in

"Miss Hawke, you have a lot of people that want to meet with you." The young agent says with a grin on his face.

“No thanks, I’m happy at Rhydian's. Plus, he is about to make me an equal partner, isn't that right, Rhydian?”

"Miss Hawke, you hacked into an impenetrable site and dispatched location and a SEAL team in under ten minutes. You could work for anyone in the world. I know about a hundred governments that would make you royalty, and you want to stay in Denver, Colorado?" The agents look baffled by her refusal.

"I like it here. Rhydian is my dude. He gets me and I get him. And I did this, so he can get Estelle back and hopefully keep her this time. I don't want to live a life seeing the ugly shit humans do to each other. I want to sit in my loft and work from home in my pajamas, drinking the hundred dollars a pound coffee that Rhydian doesn’t even realize he buys me. But, I tell you what, when it's something like this, hit me up. I will do what I can. Deal?"

She closes up all but one computer, puts her headphones back on, and continued playing her game. Rhydian and I start wrapping her cords up and packing her stuff. The next call that we get was that the SEAL team has Estelle, she is being taken to a private hospital in California. She is in fair health, but the extraction team killed her abductor when he attempted to kill her and himself.

Her abductor was Texan oil billionaire, Frederick Greenly. When the Feds pull up the picture, we recognize him. He is the man from the video we saw of Estelle. It was the man who raped her while Edwin watched. And with this, we know the Estelle we are getting back, isn’t going to be the same. She has been gone for over two weeks and there is no telling what that psycho did to her. Both Dr. Franklins are flying from New York to California within the next thirty minutes. Governor DeWitt has armed guards keeping her safe. She turned over her flash drive to him because she realized the men on those videos were being protected by her silence and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, waiting for the next one to come out of the woodwork.

The Governor was calling for a task force to track these men down, after what happened to his daughter, his platform has been built on women's rights and harsher punishments for the men who carry out this type of crime. Once the sprite knows everything is good, she closes up her stuff and asks Crash to grab a bag, which he did reluctantly.

I’ve lost track of how many days I’ve been here. I think it's only be eight or nine. Yet, with not knowing if it's day or night, it's thrown me off, and I can’t really be sure. He hasn't touched me, just a chaste kiss every night we eat dinner together. He’s been giving me less and less food; tonight was just raw vegetables and water. He seems unhappy that my body is not slimming out, but he isn't being unkind. After I run, I shower, and I dress in the nightgown he selected for me. He asks me to get in bed, where he commands me to undo the ribbons, so the nightgown hangs open. He wants it to appear like I'm waiting for him—like we’re lovers.

I wake up today to a half of a grapefruit and a bottle of Phentermine. I know from years of taking it that it will suppress my hunger. I eat my grapefruit and take the pill. I’m tired, I’m not sure if it's from lack of food, or the fact that I’m now hiking the equivalent of twenty miles a day. I only see him once a day—I think he is trying to break me, but little does he know I will never be broken. I’m just completing mile nine of my morning hike, when I hear a huge explosion, the walls shake around me, and I realize I must be underground somewhere. I hear him calling for me, this might be my only chance to escape. I run to him.

“Are we okay? What happened?” I’m panicked and can’t hide the fear.

“They are coming to take you away from me, my love. I can't lose you again, I wouldn’t have had to take the others if Edwin would have just let me have you. This is all his fault,” he’s ranting and pacing. He seems unsure what his next course of action should be.

I see he pulled out a gun. I tell myself to remain calm. I don’t have the energy to fight, but I will be damned if I die in some crazy ass underground bunker of love.

“Can you please calm down, I will tell them I want to stay here you don’t have to do this," he is pointing the gun at my head. He walks up to me I feel the coldness of the gun at my temple.

“I don’t want to kill you, how did they find me?” he is digging the barrel of the gun into my temple. “You’re so beautiful, my Estelle. You’re my favorite. I don’t want to hurt you but I can’t let them have you because you belong to me.”

“You're right, I do belong to you. Please don’t kill me, please!” I say, my entire body is shaking from fatigue and fear. The banging on the door sounds likes bombs going off.  I can hear yelling from the other side of the metal door but it’s muffled. While he is distracted I’m start trying to back away but he grabs the front of my shirt and he leans his forehead against mine.

“I’m sorry Estelle, we could have been so happy together,” I see him squeezing the trigger.  I close my eyes and wait for the pain. I hear the gunshot but I don't feel anything but hot sticky liquid on my face. I open my eyes and I am surrounded by men. I look around then look down at my captor who is a bloody mess at my feet.

“Estelle Roux?” I nod my head confirming that’s who I am. “We are here to take you home. Can you walk?”

“Yes, but I’m weak. I haven't had much food since I’ve gotten here.”

“I’m going to carry you then. Are you ready?” The sunlight blinds me when we make our way out the storm cellar of a giant mansion.

The staff is running around like crazy as the authorities start rounding people up for statements. As I am being carried to the waiting ambulance, I see three teenage girls all looking towards the cellar and they are all crying. I have a feeling I’m not the first person this man has kept in this cellar.

The ambulance takes me to a private hospital that Governor DeWitt had chosen. He seems to have everything arranged for me. They told me to just close my eyes and relax.

When I wake up a few hours later, Mel is sitting on the chair by my bed. “Let me tell you, sweetie, you have the worst luck ever,” she said. I start to laugh but then get serious. "Estelle, they need to do a rape kit," she says squeezing my hand to show support. “No, they don't need to do that. He never touched me, he told me that I was too fat for him.” I start to laugh again.

“Are you hungry” Patrick asked from the doorway.

“Yes, I’m starving.”

“I got clearance from the doctors. I got you a grilled chicken salad, if you want something more, I can run down, but you need to reintroduce food slowly, Estelle. Rhydian and Kennedy are here to see you.”

“Hey,” Kennedy is wiping tears out of her eyes and hugging me. Rhydian looks angry as he kisses my forehead.

“How are you holding up, Princess?” Rhydian asks, grabbing my hand and kissing my palm.

“Well, pretty good considering I’ve been held in a storm cellar for two weeks with limited food and walking on a treadmill twenty miles a day. How the hell did you guys find me?”

Kennedy explains about the GPS chip that I have in me and that Rhydian has some crazy hacker teenager working for him. She goes on to describe how she basically tried to molest the Viking biker that had come to help.

“Princess, they said you can come home tomorrow, and I was thinking when we get back, we can start looking for a house.”

“Rhydian I do love you, but when I get back I'm gutting and renovating thirty–three twelve Anderson Street. It’s my house and it’s the last place I got to see my mom alive.” He looks angry

“Really? You would prefer to live there instead of living with me? Kennedy, please talk some sense into your friend. Why would you go back there, Estelle?” he says gripping the side rails of the bed and shaking them, his nostrils are flares and his jaw is clenched.

“I don’t expect you guys to understand, but this isn’t about the house, it’s about not being controlled by fear. It’s just a house.”

“Estelle, please don’t make any decisions until you are back in Denver” I nod and give Rhydian a kiss and hug Kennedy. The minute the door closes, I let the tears come, I curled on my side, I’m almost asleep when I hear someone come into the room and I'm on alert until I smell his cologne and I feel the bed move and his strong arms wrap around me. “Princess, I’m really unhappy with what your plans are. I don't want you going back to that house, I want you to stay with me." He nuzzles my neck and kisses it before I fall asleep I must have been really tired because I sleep for a full twenty-four hours. I woke up Rhydian was gone but Mel and Patrick making out in the corner. “Are you guys kidding me right now, get a room, and not my room, you old dirty bird. Eww!”

“We didn't want to wait to tell you, but we have decided to relocate to Denver. Open a practice there, you and your group of friends will keep us in patients until we retire, so we figured what the hell.” Mel says while checking her lips stick in her compact and reapplying it with a loud pop of her lips as she winks at Patrick

“Oh, thanks Mel. Where is Rhydian?" I ask as I yawn. I’m still tired.

“Since we have no house, and Kennedy and Rhydian are throwing a fit about you moving into a giant one, we are staying with you. I mean we have fifteen bedrooms to choose from. You can spare the space, and to answer your question, Rhydian went to change he will be back. He hasn’t left your side Estelle.”

“Actually, you guys can have the guest house out back. I’m not willing to listen your crazy monkey sex all hours of the night”

Arriving in Denver, things between Rhydian and I are a little strained. I am constantly asking if he is ok, he says he fine and then changes the subject.

“Rhydian, please talk to me. You seem distant lately. Is it me? Did I do something? I am begging you, let’s talk about whatever the issues are. I don’t want them to fester
!”
I’m pleading for him to talk to me. I grab the cuff of his shirt and try to get him to look at me, I reach up to touch his face but, he stays focused on what he is working on.

“Estelle,” he says and I notice the harshness in his voice. “You are the one who is putting distance between us, you are choosing to go back to that house instead of staying here with me. What do you want me to say? That it’s okay? It’s not. I have been waiting, Estelle. Waiting for you to pick me, to love me, but you don’t or you wouldn’t have made this decision without even asking my opinion. You are ripping my fucking heart out.” He pounds his chest over and over shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Rhydian, this isn’t about you. This about me; it’s about me facing my fears." I’m trying to make him understand this isn’t about me seeing if I can stand on my own my own two feet I don’t want to fight

“See that’s the problem, Estelle. It’s never about me. I understand that you’ve been through a lot, and I’m committed to you. I’m committed to us, but guess what? I’m pushing the boulder that is our relationship uphill alone. You are focused on only you and I’m focused on you, but who is focused on me, Estelle? Who is putting my needs and wants first?”

“That’s not true, Rhydian. You’re making me sound selfish.” I'm hurt by his accusation,

“There it goes again. ME, ME, ME, that’s all I’ve been hearing out of your mouth. Not once have you said us or ours. It’s my apartment, your house, your car, your therapy. I have asked you for weeks about us doing couple's therapy so we can work on us while you still work on you, but you have made no effort whatsoever.” he says dejectedly.

What the hell is going on? I know we’ve been having some problems, but I didn’t realize things were this bad.

“What do you want me to do? Stay? If you ask me to stay, I will!" I feel the anger rolling off his body and it’s making me concerned.

“I shouldn’t have to ask you stay. That’s the problem. You should have never wanted to leave in the first place. You divided us" he shouts while pointing at me.

“Give me a chance to fix this, please. You’re making it sound like we are already done, is that what you’re telling me? That we are done?”

He doesn’t say anything. He just leans his head against the wall and starts punching it.

“I don’t know, Estelle. I don’t know what the hell you want from me anymore. I’m trying my best, but you seem to be stuck in reverse while I’m in drive. We seem to be going in two different directions. I can’t be the only one all in with this relationship. You need to want it too
.
He pulls his hair in frustration and blows out a heavy breath.

I try to hug him, but he won’t... Instead he sits on the floor with his back against the wall and his arm resting on his knees. His eyes are closed and he looks like he is trying to weigh all his options.

I kneel between his legs, I’m crying because I know we are over. He is right, our relationship has been one-sided; he has been the one pushing for us, while I’ve been focused on doing my own thing.

My phone rings. It’s the Salvation Army, they must be at the house.

I hit silent and Rhydian looks at me.

“It’s the truck driver from the Salvation Army. They are at the house on Anderson Street. I’m supposed to meet them and a few other organizations.” I say with hesitation I know I’m making the situation worse.

My phones rings again. I look down, and so does Rhydian. When he sees its Tristan, he get pissed off.

“Go ahead... I’m sure it’s important.”

“Why are you mad that Tristan is calling? What is this really about?”

“You're always with Tristan, talking to Tristan, text messaging Tristan. He was the reason you went missing, if he would have walked you up to the apartment, you would have never been taken.”

“That’s super unfair. It wasn’t Tristan’s fault that guy had been stalking me since I was fourteen years old. And you are way the fuck out of line" I say in defense of my friend. I’m already upset but now I’m confused as to why he is angry at Tristan, "Where is this all coming from?" I could feel the ache in my heart.

“You should have been here with me. That’s where this is coming from!” he screams.

“Don’t you yell at me, Rhydian. You’re not being rational right now. You need to calm down. I’m going to go before we both say something we will regret.

“No, you’re not!” As I made it to the door, he slammed the door back shut and cages me in with his arms.

“You’re not leaving. You want to talk about what wrong with us? You're always with your friends instead of your man is a huge fucking part of our issues. Whenever you need something, your first call is always to Tristan or Kennedy, but never me.”

“You're making me feel threatened right now and I want to leave, I say pushing his arm off the door so I can turn around and open the door.

“Fine, you want to go, then get the fuck out! You're never here anyway, I don’t need you here now.”

“Are you sure about what you’re saying, Rhydian? Because I’m telling you, once I’m out that door, I’m gone, I’m trying to work things out but if you're ending us make sure that’s really want you want, I’m not going to be anyone's doormat or let anyone abuse me ever again!”

“Well, what the fuck you waiting for then, get gone. I’m sure Tristan has room for you at his place.”

“I will be back for my stuff.” I'm trying to hide the quiver in my voice. I’m a mix of hurt, sad and scared but I have to stand by what I said, if he wants me gone, I won’t be coming back.

“Don’t bother, I will have it sent to you” he says with his voice full of venom.

I walk to the side table by the door and pull my key ring out, take the apartment key off, and lay it on the side table by the door.

I turn and head toward the door, not bothering to look back. I know I have fault in the breakdown of our relationship, but he took it to a whole other level. I understand he is upset and hurt but he wasn’t even trying to listen he was just telling me how selfish I am... I’m not sure how it escalated so fast from our arguing to him kicking me out. Whatever it is, I don’t have the time or energy. My focus is on my recovery and getting myself together. Oh shit, he’s right. I’ve only ever thought about me. I am a selfish bitch. I love Rhydian. I run back towards the door and raise my hand to knock when I hear things crashing inside. I lean against the door and cry as I hear him destroy his apartment. It takes me a few minutes to get myself together. He’s ended us, yes I’ve messed things up, but I was willing to try. He told me to get out. After watching all the bullshit that Kennedy went through at the hands of a Kerrigan, no thanks, I think I’ll pass on that. Rhydian is right about a lot of things though, I always do depend on Kennedy or Tristan. I can’t believe I’m about to do this. I stop at a mattress store and ask them to deliver a bed and frame to my address. I head to the only home I’ve ever known. The house looks like a regular, beautiful house, there isn't any evil here—this isn't Amityville. I give the Salvation Army everything but the contents of the office. I call a locksmith to get the gate coded and all the locks changed. I call the alarm company and tell them I need someone to come out to upgrade and reset all the alarm codes. My mattress comes and I have it set up in the now empty living room. I contact my school and switch all my classes to online. Then I head to Edwin’s office, the desk is so huge it's almost comical. I start looking through the papers on his desk and the files on his computer. I see checks with my name on them as well as credit card statements with my name. I keep looking and everything has my name on it.