I don’t know how long I was at it for. I forgot about the club, about the case I was working on, my nightcap, hell, I even forgot about the girl. The smell of fresh blood was in my nose and the sharp taste of adrenaline on my tongue.
"Please stop," a gentle voice begged. Fuck. Witnessing violence is another way to inflict trauma on the young. I should know. I managed to snap myself out of it and turned to look at the girl. She’d huddled herself to the brick wall of a nearby building, rocking back and forth. It was some sort of a factory. It dawned on me that I might have to send one of the boys to doctor their security footage if I’d gone too far with the scum. Her head was bent down, and her hands covered her ears.
"Please, no more. I don’t even care what he did, just let him go."
“Sorry, I got carried away. The kid is fine, he’s fine. I’ll call someone to pick him up.” I had no idea if the kid was breathing or as dead as a doornail. “Look,” I pulled out my phone and called the club.
"Hey, hey, What’s up? I need you to come by Frazer and Bancroft. There’s a trash pile of bones here on the side of the road and someone’s got to clean it up. I won’t be in tonight, something just came up."
I gave the order to Patriot and hung up the phone. The best part about having prospect grunts was the favors. They did what I said and didn't ask any questions. I liked my contracts neat and I was lazy when it came to cleaning up my own messes. I put the phone back in my pocket and slowly walked over to the girl, holding my hands up in the air. I didn't want to spook her. She already looked freaked the fuck out. I didn’t even want to know what the stooge did to her.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said before crouching down to her level. "What's your name?"
"Skylar," she said. She kept her head bent like she needed to study the ground, her small body still shook with fear. I shrugged out of my cut and took off my black raglan sweater.
"Here," I said, passing it to her. "It's freezing out, and you ain't wearing enough."
She didn’t look up right away, so I crouched and waited. It felt like we would sitting there forever in a standoff, then her head finally shot up and she looked at me long and hard. I was a big guy, intimidating. Grown men were sometimes scared of me. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she was a scrappy little thing. I had no doubt she was tough despite her kittenish appearance.
“I promise, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“How about you put that on.” I pointed to my sweater she was holding like a blanket. “And I take you home,” I added.
She took the sweater from me and yanked it over her head somewhat reluctantly. Funny thing about saving kids, most of them rejected the help. I would have, too. Most of them were already jaded by twelve. Distrust of adults ran deep. Trauma made them wary of any gesture.
“I don’t have a home.” She said it matter-of-factly, but at the same time she huffed, like I was the one ruining her night. She blew her pale bangs off of her forehead by pouting out her lower lip. I didn’t like how her whole frame shook, wondered if I should bring her to the hospital.
She looked so small in my sweater; the damn thing was swallowing her whole. It made her look younger than she probably was. I was hoping she wasn’t in withdrawal, addicted to some shit that her body was begging her for. I’d scanned her arms for needle tracks before the sweater went on. Backs of hands, neck, nothing as far as I could tell, but it might take some indoor lighting to tell for sure. I needed to get her someplace safe; the street was never going to be safe for her. If she stayed out here, she’d end up dead, eventually.
“You’ve ever been on a bike?” I asked, getting up and offering her my hand. She glanced at the bike and then up at me, shook her head vigorously. She didn’t take my hand right away, so I left it there, extended, giving her time. “When was the last time you’ ate, kiddo?”
“Like a meal-meal? Probably two days ago.”
“Yeah, a meal. I’m not talking about a handful of Skittles. Okay, well, let's go get you a bite to eat then and afterwards figure out what the hell to do with you.” She hesitated. I needed to choose my words more carefully. “Eat and then your call, but I’m not taking a ‘no’ to putting more food in you. Final offer.” I kept my hand outstretched and she took it hesitantly. “I promise you’re safe with me,” I said. “All this talking is making me hungry. Do you like pancakes?”