Up In Flames (Club Chrome 3)

The best thing for her would be to find someone who can take her in because he wasn’t fit to care for a plant much less another human being.

And if he needed confirmation of that fact, all he had to do was remember Ashley and how well things had turned out for her by being associated with him.

Yeah, pretty damn effective.

-3-

Angel climbed out of her jeans, grimacing at the grime she felt beneath her fingertips and climbed into the shower. In another lifetime, she would’ve been horrified by Pyro’s shower. It was nearly as disgusting as a few truck stop bathrooms she’d seen but the Angel who cared about such superficial things was long dead. She stood under the spray and let the hot water sluice away the pain and metallic smell of the chemicals oozing from her pores and when she was able, she lathered up with the small sliver of soap on the ledge. Her legs and ribs still bore bruises from where she’d been “encouraged” to try the newest batch of Frazil that the cook had mixed up and even though she’d begged to be left alone, they’d made her try it anyway. At least this batch hadn’t killed her.

Roxanne hadn’t been as lucky.

But then nobody cared about a two-dollar street walker, right? She didn’t even know if Roxy’s body had been found yet. Angel closed her eyes and tears leaked from her eyes. This was her penance for being a shitty person…and an even worse mother.

She bit back the sob that threatened to pop from her mouth when she thought of her situation and she knew she was royally fucked. Pyro wanted to know what kind of trouble she was in? The worst kind. The kind where there was no easy out and the chances of survival were slim. She had no one in this world who cared about her and no one who could help. She had to do as she was told or else…Angel couldn’t even handle the thought.

How could she have been so blind? So stupid?

“When she grows up, she’s going to be pretty,” Benton had observed, almost clinically one day as they’d been sitting around the house after getting high together. She and Benton had been together for four months and he hadn’t seemed to mind that she had a kid. They’d had some good times together and he’d always seemed to have cash, which for someone like Angel, who was always strapped, he seemed a good catch…particularly when he kicked in for rent and paid for groceries. But she hadn’t liked the speculative look in his eyes and had actually scooped Mila up from the floor where she’d been playing quietly with her toys. “Bring her to me,” he suggested but Angel just stared, frowning at his odd request. He laughed at her reluctance and popped to his feet to gently run his hand over Mila’s little head. “Aren’t we a cute little family?” At first her heart had leapt at the possibility until he’d followed with, “You know kids can be good little earners under the right circumstances,” and Mila, only two years old, had whimpered and tried to move away from his touch. That should’ve been a sign but Angel had been too stupid to see anything aside from what she perceived as a good guy in her life.

“I’m going to put her down for a nap,” Angel had said uneasily, quickly moving away from Benton and the weird vibe she was getting from him. She should’ve packed her shit that day but by the time she’d returned Benton seemed normal again and she’d forgotten about the odd incident, chalking it up to the drugs.

But she’d only caught a glimpse of the evil beneath the surface.

She learned soon enough how Benton made his cash.

And before she knew it…he’d roped her into it, too. She’d been responsible for bringing in new testers for the Frazil, a hybrid crank that was laced with God-knows-what and cut with the cheapest ingredients possible, which produced a longer, more addictive high. She’d tried to stop but Benton had doped her up whenever she protested too loudly. It was a sick merry-go-round that she couldn’t seem to jump free. Secretly, she’d been trying to figure out a way to run but Benton had always seemed one step ahead of her.

Which brought her to today.

And the fact that Benton was holding her baby girl hostage until she delivered Pyro.

Benton didn’t care that she didn’t have a clue as to how she was going to manage that — just that it was done. Mila’s life was on the line. He’d made that very clear.

“Here’s the situation,” Benton instructed, ignoring her tears and her pleas. “A valued associate of mine has some unfinished business with a man who goes by the name of Pyro…nasty little dust-up that happened a few years ago that ended up with a dead bitch and my associate’s brother. And as it happens…you know him.”

She didn’t know how Benton had found out about Pyro and her sister Ashley but he knew details that no one else had known.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—“

He shocked her with a brutally quick movement, wrapping a fistful of her hair in his hand and jerking her to him. “Let’s stop with the false protests. I don’t have time for your bullshit. I’ve spent the last four months shacking up with you and it’s been excruciating so spare me the little denials. I know you’re Ashley’s little sister and you were there that night. You, sweet cheeks, are a loose end that someone has been looking to snip for a very long time. But as it so happens…you are more useful alive — for the moment.”

“I don’t know where to find Pyro. I haven’t seen him in years,” she cried, blinking against the pain. “I swear it!”

“Lucky for you, we know exactly where he is. Now listen up,” he pulled her close and shook her a little. “Are you paying attention? Good. You’re going to find Pyro and you’re going to gain his trust and then you’re going to convince him to go somewhere of our choosing — we’ll let you know — and if you do this for me I’ll do you a solid and cut you loose.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. How had she ever thought this evil bastard was a good guy? “I don’t understand.”

Benton affected an apologetic look as he answered with a shrug, “Just business, babe. Just business.” He released her and she fell to the floor. “Get up,” he told her, walking away as if he hadn’t just thrown a bomb into her world. When she didn’t budge, he stopped and his gaze narrowed. “Problem?”

“Fuck you,” she said, climbing to her feet, spitting venom even as her entire body shook. “You no-good liar! What makes you think I’ll do this for you? I’d rather die than help you do shit! You’ve kept me doped up on that fucking shit you’re cooking up and now you want me to lure some guy to his death? I haven’t seen Pyro in years and I doubt he’d do anything for me if I asked so you’re just going to have to find someone else to do your dirty work.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Benton said. “Then you have absolutely no value to me. Your daughter on the other hand…”

Her blood chilled and she clenched her fists, wanting to bury them in his smug face. “Don’t you dare talk about my daughter or I’ll—“

“You’ll what? You’re a shitty mother, why start trying now?” The smirk on his face made her want to howl but she stood rigid and silent, wishing he would drop dead right there. He advanced toward her, an air of menace swirling around him like a noxious cloud, as he gripped her by the throat, his voice dangerously soft. “Let me tell you why you’re going to do as you’re told…because if you don’t, I’ll sell that sweet little girl of yours to the highest bidder. You’d be surprised how much people will pay to take the virginity of a child. Of course, there’s the real perverts who want them real young and end up splitting the kid in two when they try to fuck them but the connoisseurs, they know that the real prize is worth waiting for and they are willing to pay out the nose for the treat of taking that sweet cherry.”

Angel tasted bile as horror climbed her throat. “Please…please don’t hurt my baby…she’s all I have…”

His gaze hardened as he shoved her against the wall, banging her head hard. “Then you should’ve taken better care of her and stayed away from a man like me, sweetheart.” He shocked her when he ground his mouth against hers in a disgusting kiss that made

her want to retch and then released her. He tossed a piece of paper at her, which was scribbled with an address. “You have a week to convince Pyro. After that…the bidding begins. For Mila’s sake…don’t fail.”

***

The sound of the shower did nothing to distract Pyro from the inappropriate wandering of his thoughts. He had so much guilt and rage caged in his heart over what’d happened to Ashley that he didn’t know if he had room to stuff Angel in there, too, but it seemed his debt had no ceiling.

Seeing Angel again brought up memories no amount of booze and sleep deprivation could bury.

“The sonogram is tomorrow, do you think you can make it?”

The hopefulness in Ashley’s voice poked at him and he knew it was shitty but he wasn’t cut out to be anyone’s father, so the sooner she learned and moved on, she could find someone who would be a good father to their kid. “I got plans,” he said curtly, ignoring the wince of disappointment in her pretty face. She was too sweet for her own good. But because he was too much of a coward to just break up with her and be done with it, he tacked on grudgingly, “Well, maybe I can find time to stop by. What time?”

She brightened like sunshine peeking out from behind a cloud as she told him, “Ten o’clock, at Mercy General” and he wanted to lose himself in a bottle for the number he was doing on this poor girl’s life. Hard to believe but he cared for Ashley, even if his actions told a different story. He’d never planned to knock her up. He’d never planned to drag her into a lifestyle that didn’t suit her. But then, who planned to fuck up? No one. It just happened. Sort of like, it just happened that the condom broke during one of his drunken moments when he was so horny he would’ve fucked a knothole. Yeah, like that.

“No promises, but, yeah, I’ll try.” Maybe he was telling the truth at that moment or maybe he’d just told her something to lessen the burden of guilt for being such a shit, but either way, he hadn’t made it to that sonogram.