Page 34
And then, even though the boy would close his eyes and cry on the inside, tears would not emerge.
He was too dehydrated to make tears.
He unclasped his hands around his knees and lay down, shivering. As the walls came ever closer…closer…closer.
Until the walls swung back to their normal positions when the door at the top of the stairs opened. The boy squinted at the sliver of light. Footsteps echoed, and one of the three descended, wearing only shorts and a T-shirt…and the black ski mask, of course.
The boy huddled in the corner. Please, please not again. Normally they all came together when they decided to abuse him. But the boy was never sure what would happen when one of them came alone. The demon didn’t wear shoes. Normally they did. When the lone beast turned toward the boy, he carried food. The boy had stopped getting hungry a while ago, but still he knew he needed to eat. His stomach was raw and empty.
He needed to eat to survive. Always to survive.
“Here you go, bitch.”
The one who brought the food. Not Tattoo or Low Voice. This one was almost invisible most of the time, rarely talked, but he took his turns like the others. He set the tray down.
The boy looked up. The man’s eyes glared, but the boy couldn’t tell the color in the darkness. He looked down the devil’s body, all the way to his ugly bare feet. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…
Nine toes. No pinky toe on his left foot.
No pinky toe…
I shot upright.
One of those bastards was missing the pinky toe on his left foot. Was that unusual? He could have been born that way, or he could have lost his toe in an accident.
I didn’t care. I threw on my robe, ran down the hall to my office, and fired up the computer. I was about to put out a search for men missing a small toe on the left foot.
And one of them was going to answer to me.
Chapter Twenty
Jade
“Excuse me?” I looked to Toby and then to Haley.
The Goth girl was biting her lip ring again.
“Are you in the business of turning away customers?”
“Any business has the right to refuse service to anyone,” Toby said.
“But why me? I’m nobody.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you.” Toby stood awkwardly, adjusting his weight between his two legs.
“You’re the only tattoo shop here.”
“There are plenty in Grand Junction. I’m sure you can find what you want there.”
“But I’ve seen Haley’s work. I love it.”
“Haley is a fine artist, but there are many others who will serve you just as well.”
I shook my head. “What the hell—”
And it hit me. Talon had been here. He had waived his money around and convinced these people not to tattoo me. He hated the tattoo. He’d made that abundantly clear. But to go so far as to pay off the only tattoo shop in town not to do business with me?
Only one way to find out. I turned in a huff and walked out the door, slamming it.
I drove back to the ranch, anger coursing through me. How dare he?
It was nearly dinnertime by the time I got back, and Marj was pulling up just as I was.
“Jade, great to see you. What are you doing driving the Mustang?”
“Talon loaned it to me.”
“Oh, good. Although I’m sure George will miss all the fares.”
I wasn’t in the mood to make nice, even with Marj. “I’ve got to see Talon.”
“Sure. He’s probably inside. Why don’t you stay for dinner?”
Dinner? I was hardly hungry. I stalked inside behind Marj. “Talon!”
“Calm down, Jade. We’ll find him.”
I went running to his bedroom and opened the door, not bothering to knock. Roger looked up from where he was sleeping at the foot of Talon’s bed. Talon was nowhere in sight.
Roger panted and ran to me.
I gave him a quick pet. “Come on, boy. Let’s put you outside.” I let the dog out and then turned to Marj. “Where the fuck is he?”
“Settle down. I have no idea.”
“He was here a few hours ago.”
“Oh, you were here?”
I nodded. “Is his car here?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t look,” Marj said.
I ran outside. His Mercedes was there, but his pickup was not. He had driven off somewhere. “Damn it,” I said under my breath.
Marj came outside and grabbed my arm. “Jade, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“Your brother is what’s wrong with me, Marj.” I let out a huff. “He has really overstepped his boundaries this time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“For some reason, he doesn’t want me to get a tattoo. He won’t tell me why, except that he doesn’t want me to mar my body. I had the greatest image all picked out—a phoenix similar to what I saw on my mom’s boyfriend. It truly spoke to me, and after so many years of searching for the right image, I thought I’d found it. But Talon went crazy, forbidding me to get a tattoo, and especially that tattoo. I don’t take kindly to orders, as you know, so I went in today to make an appointment at Toby’s, and I was told that they won’t tattoo me. Can you fucking believe that?”
“I’m sure there’s a very good explanation.”
“Really? You think so? He’s a businessman, for God’s sake. I’m a client willing to pay good money to get a tattoo. And he turns me away. That has Talon Steel written all over it.”
Marj bit at her lip. “Why would Talon care if you get a tattoo?”
I rolled my eyes and threaded my fingers through my hair. “Tell me, and we’ll both know. Your brother’s just crazy. Simply crazy. There’s no other explanation.”
Marj sighed. “I don’t know that he’s crazy, but he does have issues.”
“Issues? This goes way beyond issues. Your brother’s just going to have to understand that he doesn’t own me. I’m going to go into Grand Junction and get my whole fucking body tattooed to spite him.”
Marj let out a giggle. “No, you’re not.”
“Fine. Okay, I’m not.” I drew in a deep breath and let it out, trying desperately to calm down. “But I am going to go to Grand Junction and get a tattoo. No matter what he says.”