Not at all.
"Her parents found out she's been hanging around the clubhouse. They-"
"They what?"
"They locked her in her room with no food or water. It's been three days at least- maybe four and- ”
"WHAT?"
"She hasn't had any food or water in days. I don't even know if they care if she lives or dies at this point. I was going to call the police but Dev said-"
He closed his eyes and felt the deepest rage he'd ever felt in his life. His sweet girl, punished for hanging around him.
He roared. There was no other word for the sound that came out of his mouth.
Then he climbed onto his bike, and rode.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Janet
“I’m here about the opening?”
The woman looked Janet over, an odd gleam in her eye. The place was clean enough looking, if not the swanky spa she’d been expecting. And it was the last place on her list.
She needed a job, and this was her last hope.
Even if giving massages was not physical therapy, it was related, right?
Janet looked around while the woman fished out some paperwork. She had thought this was a beauty spa, but the only people who had walked out so far were men.
Weird.
“Address?”
“Uh… I’m sort of between permanent addresses.”
The woman smiled wider.
“Emergency contact?”
Janet’s stomach twisted. If you asked her a few days ago she would have said Kaylie. Or even Jack. But it was time for Janet to stand on her own two feet.
And Jack wasn’t even a friend anymore. That ship had sailed.
She was alone and she was just going to have to get used to it.
“I don’t have one.”
“I see. Let me get you a glass of water while you finish filling this out.”
Janet sat in the uncomfortable looking plastic chairs. She shifted in her seat. It was ironic to have uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room for a massage place.
Anyone would need a rub down after waiting in this place.
She took the glass of water from the woman, taking a dainty sip. She picked up the pen and filled in her name and phone number, even though she didn’t have a phone anymore.
Her parents had made sure of that.
She rubbed her eyes, noticing the strong disinfectant smell all of a sudden. She stared at the paper but all the words were blurry. She took another sip of water and tried to stand.
“Are you alright miss?”
“I’m-”
She stumbled and sat back down again.
“I don’t feel right.”
The woman smiled at her coldly.
“I know, dear.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jack
Jack broke about fifty laws in the fifteen block ride to Janet's house. He was angrier than he'd ever been in his life. And that was saying something.
They’d trapped her. They’d locked up his Jan.
He was going to murder someone if they’d hurt one hair on her head.
He was off his bike and at the front door less than five minutes after Kaylie had told him what was happening. He banged his fist on the front door until a man in his early 50's opened it. He looked terrified when he saw Jack looming in the doorway.
"Where's Janet?"
"She's gone."
A pinched face woman appeared behind him.
"You're one of the biker scum that she's been hanging around with. Get out of here before I call the police!"
A voice inside Jack screamed 'I'M NOT SCUM!' with tremendous force. He’d never heard that voice before. He’d never thought for a minute that he was worth anything.
Until her.
“You can have her. Tell that little hussy that she’s no longer welcome here!”
God, he wanted to wring their necks. How could they be so stupid? She was better than all of them.
A thousand times better.
How could they not take care of something so beautiful and precious? How could they do anything but protect her? Cherish her?
She was so special. So daring. So brave.
And fragile.
Janet had convinced him she was tough, along with the rest of the world. But it wasn't true. She was strong in her way, that was true. She'd had to be.
But there was a vulnerability about her he'd sensed and chosen to ignore. He’d known she needed a friend. He’d known it deep down. Now that he'd met her parents he had no doubt where that vulnerability came from.
They'd mistreated her. Endangered her. Ignored her cries for help. He felt sick to his stomach imagining her in her room, hungry and thirsty and alone.
No. That was wrong.
He was the one who left her alone when every fiber of his being had been telling him to take care of her, nurture her, protect her.
Love her.
He did something he rarely did. Something he rarely had to do. He made himself look deliberately intimidating, leaning forward to sneer at Mr. Mahoney.
"Where is she?"
Janet's mother stepped forward. She looked like his beautiful Janet, but distorted in a fun house mirror. She must have been gorgeous once. Before bitterness twisted her features. No wonder Janet's dad was so whipped.