Levels Of Exposure (Distortion Series Book 2) Read online

  Black nodded as he interlaced his fingers and leaned his elbows on his desk. “I’m listening.”

  “We need guns. We can’t exactly parade in and take down John with police issued weapons. I need access to supplies and I will guarantee that I take down Stodden.”

  Black leaned back in his chair silently. “Stodden is the reason you are fucking caged in this small, filthy section of the city begging for scraps. With him out of the picture you know what that means. What do you have to lose? If I fail, then I’m fucking dead anyway.”

  “I like these odds.” Black scratched his chin. “I can get you some assault rifles and semi-automatic pistols at street tag price.”

  “What about a sniper, grenades, and vests?” Jackson asked. “I also need lots of ammunition.”

  “It would take me a day or so but I can get my hands on them. Though, I will need some assurance from you,” Black said.

  Jackson raised his hands. “What do you have in mind?”

  “One of your men.”

  Jackson shook his head. “I need my men to pull this off.”

  “I need a reason not to pull this trigger,” Black responded as he picked up the gun.

  Jackson took a deep breath. “Where do we make the exchange?”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow when I have the product,” Black said, opening his drawer and returning the piece inside. “Don’t fucking try to pull any shit, Jackson, or I will reunite you with my knife collection the next time we meet, and I promise you I will do more than just cut off your fucking fingers.”

  “Fair enough.” Jackson pushed off the arms of the chair and stood up. “Who was the winning family of that piece of shit, anyway?” Jackson asked about Seth.

  “Turns out Mayor Masten’s daddy had a sweet tooth for high school girls. He got one of them pregnant and it became the family’s dirty little secret. They paid a shit load of money over the years to keep him alive and off the family tree.”

  “A family like the Mastens has more than one secret, if you ask me,” Jackson replied. The Masten family had been in power a long time and there were always rumblings of something amiss, but their fortune kept their faces clean in the eyes of the public.

  “Don’t we all.”

  “What are you gonna tell Masten about his brother?” Jackson asked curiously.

  “That I wasn’t the one that pulled the fucking trigger. Watch your back,” Black warned.

  “Always do.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Stephanie

  Stephanie knew there was something she was supposed to remember. She knew it was important because she could still hear the echo of her racing heart beating loudly in warning, but she couldn’t remember why. Her mind was cloudy as she tried to piece her thoughts together. It felt like something was torn away and she was scrambling to fill in the hole left in its place.

  A buzzing sound twisted its way into her mind, a sound she couldn’t place. Then feeling started to return to her body and a stinging pain appeared against her neck. Stephanie tried to move her head but it felt too heavy. She tried to open her eyes but it was a battle she didn’t know if she could win. Her body wanted to submit to unconsciousness but her mind began to reel with potential dangers.

  A scratching sensation made a whisper of a moan escape her uncooperative lips. Her body started to thaw and she forced her eyes open.

  “Don’t move,” he ordered.

  Stephanie let a strangled cry bubble up her throat when she looked into his face. She felt her foggy senses rush to clarity and she was hit with reality like jumping into cold water. She remembered he had drugged her again. Stephanie tried to move but her arms and legs were bound. When she tried to lift her head, she realized her head was strapped down as well.

  “What?” Stephanie managed to say through her quivering lips. “What are you doing?”

  “Everything is almost perfect.” He smiled down at her as light glared around his shaded face. Stephanie could barely keep her eyes open because the light was too bright from the lamp positioned overhead.

  She noticed a tool in his hand and the buzzing sound began to make sense. “Please stop.”

  “It’s almost done. It took me a long time to get the petals just right. Most of the others refused to cooperate and it just didn’t look right. It has to be exactly the same or it just doesn’t work.”

  “The others?” Stephanie let the question leave her lips with a sob.

  “Don’t worry. They’re gone. I made sure of it. It’s just you and me.” He ran his fingers along her cheek, making her stomach twist painfully. “Now don’t move or I’ll have to drug you again.” Stephanie closed her eyes and tried to ignore the pain on her neck. She feared the truth of knowing how many others had endured this before her. How many poor women he abducted from their families and locked away. She tried not to think about where they were now and the fact that she would most likely end up in the same place when he finally realized she was not this Rose girl he imagined her to be.

  Stephanie noticed a flash of white in the corner of her eye. She strained to see but the restraints keep her head immobile. Stephanie knew it was the drugs toying with her, she could feel the familiar chill flash across her skin. The drugs always made her hallucinate. Soon she could hear distant cries and they began to drown out the sound of the tattoo machine. They surrounded her like a warning. Something cold brushed against her arm and slowly moved up until it felt like someone had placed their hand on her shoulder. All the hairs on her skin stood on end.

  Stephanie tried to shake off the sensation and closed her eyes tight, but the images of countless female faces assaulted her. She hadn’t even realized the sound of the tattoo machine had stopped. The only thing she could think about was their faces, all those women whose cries continued to echo in her ear. She pulled against the restraints but they only dug into her flesh, reminding her there was no escape.

  She could hear him stop moving. The room became painfully quiet. His face finally came into view and blocked out some of the light.

  “I won’t let it happen again. I know it made you sad and that’s why you had to leave for a while. This time is different. Nothing will come between us.”

  Tears flooded her vision and she felt them trail down the sides of her face. He brushed them away with a stroke of his fingers. She had no idea what he was talking about but it didn’t make the fear any less potent.

  “Don’t cry. It makes me hard,” he whispered close to her face.

  Stephanie gasped and tried to stop her tears but they burned too hot with her fear as they continued to flow. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve been inside you, Rose, but we need to wait until your injection can take effect. We can’t have you pregnant again. Not after what happened last time. I thought I lost you for good.”

  Stephanie felt his fingers brush along her neck and then he closed his hand around her throat, just firm enough to cause her alarm. Her eyes flashed open and she saw him staring at the raw portion of her neck that she could only assume was now covered with a tattoo of some kind. A dark hunger flared in his eyes that made Stephanie hold her breath in terror. He grabbed for his belt buckle with his free hand and unfastened his pants. Stephanie cried out when he pushed his pants down and released his erection. She couldn’t stop the tears. They fell freely as she pleaded for him to stop.

  He stroked himself as she cried, slowly at first until he became frantic as he stared at her tattoo. Stephanie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to distract her mind from what he was doing but his grunts were harsh reminders of how sick this man really was. His hand against her throat jerked with his movements and made it hard to breathe. Finally he growled out in release and lessened his hold.

  Stephanie refused to open her eyes until she heard him refasten his pants. When she did he was looking down at her. His breath was still labored and his eyes were deep, black pools that did not look human.

  “Soon, my R
ose, soon,” he said as he leant down to brush his lips against her forehead. Stephanie’s stomach filled with anguish.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Lexie

  The door to Lexie’s room swung open and smashed against the side wall. Lexie knew exactly who it was as she jumped up from the chair. Grabbing her robe ties, she pulled as tight as she could manage. She was wearing a night dress underneath but she wanted as many barriers as she could against Flint. She never wanted him to touch her again. She had turned the shower as hot as she could manage to numb her skin. She wanted to forget the feel of him on her but she couldn’t. Now that Jackson knew where she was, she hoped she wouldn’t need to try and manipulate Flint anymore. It was too taxing to put herself in that position.

  She knew he would be angry, but she didn’t expect to see such raging fire behind his dark eyes.

  “Where is it?” he demanded. His tie was pulled loose and hung haphazardly around his neck. The top three buttons on his shirt were undone and there was lipstick marks on his neck. The sight brought relief to Lexie because he sought out release with someone else. She would only have to deal with his anger, something she could handle.

  “Where’s what?” Lexie feigned innocence.

  “Don’t lie to me.” Flint narrowed his eyes. “Tell me where it is now.”

  Lexie shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.

  “I know you took my phone. That little scene,” Flint said, pointing to the bed. “You managed to get your hands on my phone when I was distracted, didn’t you?”

  Lexie stepped back as far as she could, rounding to the back of the chair. “I didn’t take your phone, Flint. Please stop. You’re scaring me.”

  Flint grabbed hold of the blankets and stripped them from the bed violently and tossed the pillows across the room. Once the bed was bare, he overturned the mattress. When his frantic search ended with nothing, he angrily kicked the bed with a growl. “Tell me where it is or I will tear this whole place apart.”

  “Go for it.” Lexie waved her hands outward. He moved to her dresser and began to pull open all the drawers and grab the clothes and tossed them on the floor. When he didn’t find what he was looking for, he headed into the bathroom. Lexie listened as he ransacked her bathroom. She watched a tube of lipstick roll out the doorway. He stepped back out of the bathroom, his eyes skimming the entire room to make sure he didn’t miss any place she could have hidden it.

  He looked at Lexie for a moment with a clenched jaw. His anger was still potent in his expression as he stalked toward her. She backed against the wall as he grabbed her and searched her. He ran his hands over her robe before he grabbed at the ties. “Stop! I told you I don’t have it,” Lexie cried out as she shoved him away.

  “What’s going on in here?” Lexie was relieved to see Miller standing in the open doorway to her room. “Flint?” he questioned.

  “Leave us alone, Miller,” Flint said sloppily, showcasing the fact that he was drunk.

  “He thinks I stole his phone,” Lexie explained. “I don’t have it.”

  Miller sighed and came into the room. “Flint, come on. She says she didn’t take your phone. Maybe you just dropped it somewhere.”

  Flint swung around and narrowed his eyes. “Of course you would take her side. You were probably in on this with her,” Flint accused. “What did she promise you? Did she tell you that you could fuck her?” Flint turned back to Lexie and grabbed her by the throat. “Did you let him touch you?” Flint’s sour breath filled the air.

  Lexie tried to say no but he was squeezing her neck too tight. She clawed at his hands and tried to drive her knee into him but he pressed his body against hers. She had no way of gaining leverage.

  “Let her go, Flint.” Miller approached. Lexie tried to warn Miller when she saw Flint reach for his gun but she could barely make a sound. Miller caught her panicked expression and tried to reach for his weapon but it was too late. Flint already had his hand on the trigger as he turned his body and pulled the trigger.

  Flint released her and she fell to the ground. A scream tore through her throat as she looked at Miller. Flint’s bullet had hit him next to his eye and the torn remains of his face stared back at her before his body collapsed to the floor and blood began to pool around his head.

  Lexie scrambled toward him, knowing full well that the shot was fatal but all she could think about was the fact that he was the only sane person in this entire building. The only one who had shown an ounce of humanity, and now he was gone. She didn’t know him well, but she felt the loss of a soul taken too soon.

  “What did you do?” Lexie gasped. She looked up at Flint to see him staring at her. It didn’t even faze him that he’d just killed a man. He grabbed her by the shoulder and hauled her to her feet. He shoved the barrel of his gun under Lexie’s chin and looked down at her with wild bloodshot eyes. A strangled sound escaped her as he pressed the cold metal into the sensitive skin of her throat.

  “I want my phone, Lexie.”

  Lexie flinched from the pain. “I told you I don’t have it,” she gasped.

  Lexie knew there was no way that she would admit that she took it. She would not be the one to sabotage any chance that she and her mother would get out of here. Jackson was her only hope and she couldn’t let Flint know that she was in touch with anyone.

  Lexie could feel hurried steps coming down the hallway. Flint looked toward the door before he released her, shoving her toward the bed. Lexie landed on the bed and scrambled to the other side and backed up against the wall. She wanted to be as far away as she could from Flint.

  A couple of John’s men came into the room with their guns raised as they took in the scene.

  “What’s going on, Flint?” Rayner asked. Surveying the room, he looked down at Miller’s body. “Shit, is that Miller?” he asked. He glanced over at Lexie, and then back to Flint, looking for answers.

  “Yeah.” Flint tucked his gun back into his holster and ran his hands through his hair. “He attacked Lexie. I had to take him out.”

  “What the fuck is going on in here?” John’s voice boomed from the entrance of the room. He walked past Rayner and the other man. He looked around the room and noticed Lexie against the wall and Flint standing near Miller’s dead body. “Flint?”

  Flint nodded toward Miller’s body. “I had no choice.”

  “Jesus Christ.” John rubbed his hand down his face. “Send someone in to clean this mess up and make sure Lexie stays put.” John ordered Rayner. “Flint, you come with me.” John turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

  Flint threw Lexie an accusatory look before he followed John from the room, leaving her feeling terrified of what would happen the next time he came looking for her. He seemed not to want John to know that he believed she had taken his phone, so it bought her some time. But she had nowhere to hide. Lexie prayed that Jackson would come before Flint took too much from her or John finally revealed his plans for her, though John currently seemed to be the lesser of two evils.

  Lexie didn’t move as Rayner stood staring at her, still pressed against the wall. She watched two men carry Miller’s body out of the room after they had wrapped him in what looked to be a tarp. They acted as if they were dealing with furniture as they covered and taped him. They had no remorse for the man that had just lost his life. She didn’t understand how they could be so careless with a man that had worked alongside them. She had only known Miller very briefly but she knew he deserved better than this. She prayed his uncle would show him respect.

  “Where are they taking him?” Lexie asked they carried him from the room. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from the bloodstain on the floor.

  “Away,” he grunted. She guessed babysitting her was the last thing he wanted to do.

  Rayner pulled out his phone and dialed. He seemed a little unsure of what to do with her, like she would suddenly spontaneously combust. “Send up some cleaners to room 324 and tell them to bring their scrub brus
hes.” He didn’t wait for anyone to respond as he disconnected the call and slid his phone back into his pocket.

  “Can I get some water, please?” Lexie requested when she noticed how dry her mouth felt. Shock had made her numb but her body was feeling the effects.

  Rayner sighed before slipping around the corner and into the bathroom. The thought of making a run for it crossed Lexie’s mind but she had nowhere to go. John’s men were everywhere and she didn’t even know which way to run. John had succeeded in making her feel trapped. Even the open door to her room did not give her hope like it once would have. There was too much promise of death hanging heavy in the air and she didn’t want her mother or her to be next.

  Lexie tried to avoid looking at the bright red stain on the carpet but her attention kept coming back to it. Tears stung her eyes as she thought of Alex. She quickly reeled in her emotions. She couldn’t afford to become fragile right now.

  Rayner returned with a full glass of water and thrust it into her hands. The water sloshed over the side and the cool water felt refreshing on her overheated skin. “Thank you,” Lexie said out of habit. It’s not like she expected him to appreciate manners nor did she think he actually deserved them. She brought it up to her lips, desperate to quench her thirst.

  It wasn’t long before two women entered pushing a cleaning cart. Lexie was relieved for the distraction because she couldn’t stand being alone with Rayner. The women set to work tidying the room without questioning the bloodstain or the state of the room. This must not be the first time they’d cleaned up a crime scene. The only thing Lexie could think of was the fact that Miller’s murder was being erased before her eyes.

  The maid was on her knees scrubbing the carpet with a bucket and sponge. The bubbles frothed pink as she rubbed furiously at the blood. The woman emptied the bucket a few times and added new soap until the bubbles eventually stayed white and the carpet held little evidence of death. Lexie felt like she was in a trance as she watched her room return to its original state before her eyes. There was no way to know anything violent or horrible had happened in these walls.