Thanks for the fuck.
Find me when you get some information & Eleanor, if you get caught don’t expect me to come looking. You’re on your own.
K
“Asshole,” I mutter even if the words sting. Sleeping with him again was a mistake and it was a mistake I’d keep making, because clearly, I’m a sucker for punishment.
You can’t help the draw of good dick, Tate would say, usually as an excuse she told herself when she kept going back to her toxic exes. Why is it the ones that are best in bed are always the crazy ones? She joked one night over a tub of icecream and red rimmed eyes from an hour session of crying. She always did have bad taste in men. I guess that’s rubbed off on me some now too.
Thinking of her sends a twinge of pain into my chest, my heart squeezing. God, I missed her.
She was strong, a fighter, she was – no – is going to be okay. I just needed to get this done for Kingston, and he’ll help me bring her back. Even if I had no idea what the hell I was looking for.
I get dressed for the day, ignoring all the delicious aches and pains this morning’s round of activity has left me with. I swear I still feel his mouth and his hands and his body, still smell him on my skin even after showering.
I tug a pair of suit trousers on my legs and pair it with a tight light blue sweater and my beige flats, leaving my hair down. I don’t attempt to make the bed, I’ll change it later anyway and this way the smell of him won’t get stronger. I throw the note in the bin and leave, trying to think up plans on how I was going to get what Kingston wanted.
I arrive at the office before most, there are a few staff loitering in the kitchen gossiping, and a couple already stuck into their work, but they ignore me as my shoes clip through the halls, heading towards my desk. The surrounding offices are empty, the noise from the other people muffled this far into the building and after dumping my bags in my drawer, I head towards Tobias’ office. A quick glance over my shoulder tells me the coast is clear and using my keys, I unlock the office and step inside, shutting it quickly.
The wall of windows behind the giant oak desk shows me the city, Tower Bridge far off in the distance bathed in the golden ambience of the morning light. I need to make it quick, Tobias was due into the office in about twenty minutes, but I wouldn’t put it passed him to arrive earlier. I start at his desk, filtering through the stack of paperwork he keeps on the right side, contracts that need to be signed mainly, but a few other bits are here, all company related with the logo at the top of the page and the standard jargon underneath.
Tobias’ office didn’t look like it belonged to a criminal gang leader, it was normal with bookshelves and old bottles of whiskey, certificates and awards framed and hanging on the walls. He even has a picture of him and Garrett from a few years back framed on his desk. Nothing in here tells me he’s the leader of a ring of sex traffickers but then, what did I know about any of this? I’m sheltered, I have no shame in admitting that. I am good, and kind and this life, this darkness, it’s a far cry from where I usually stand.
I move to the drawers but of course they’re locked, so I change direction and head to the filing cabinet. King had said men like him will hide things in plain sight, but there is nothing here. All of the clients and the names I recognize, there are no shady business transactions, no names or addresses I haven’t seen before.
“Where are you hiding it?” I murmur, stepping towards the bookshelf. I’m halted mid-stride by the door opening and Tobias filling the door frame, his son a step behind him.
“Eleanor?” Tobias frowns, looking at me and then the room, scanning it, no doubt, for anything out of line.
“Tobias!” I jump, “I–” I needed an excuse. But what? Internally, I kick myself, I should have thought this up before I decided to come in here, in the event of something like this happening. Shit.
Garrett stares at me with narrowed eyes while Tobias cocks a brow.
“I’m sorry, I left my diary,” they both know how much that diary is a bible to me, “somewhere yesterday, and I remembered coming in here with it, I thought I might have left it in here!” The lie is good, even to my ears.
“Your diary is on your desk, where it always is.” Tobias says.
Shit, and that’s why I didn’t lie.
“No, it isn’t!” I blurt.
It was, right next to the filing draws I keep on my desk, and on top of it sat my pen, my favorite pen, with the little birds on it.
Not helpful, I scold myself.
“It is, Eleanor,” Tobias steps towards me, “are you feeling okay?”
That’s genuine concern on his face, a warmth in his eyes that I have seen before, and always directed at me.
Garrett however continues to scrutinize me, though he’ll never say anything in front of his dad.
I press my fingers to my forehead, “I didn’t sleep well.” Not a lie.
Tobias touches my arm, and I can’t stop the flinch it elicits. Knowing what I know and what they do, I can’t help it.
Where’s this reaction when Kingston is around!? That internal voice screams. He was dangerous too, if not more for what he could do to my heart!
Tobias frowns and withdraws his hand, “Go get yourself a coffee and take ten in the breakroom, you’re clearly not feeling like yourself.”
“You’re right,” I sigh. He gives me a gentle smile, and ushers me from the office. Garrett takes a step to the side, watching me as I go. I keep my hands fisted to stop them from seeing them tremble.
“Does she know something!?” I hear Garrett whisper before the door is fully closed.
Only when I know they can’t see me do I let the panic out a little. First time trying and I almost got caught. I’m not built for this, I can’t do this.
I rush back to my desk, my heart thundering in my chest, and a lump the size of a golf ball wedged in my throat.
I grab my phone and fire off a text, my thumbs whizzing over the screen.
Me: I can’t do this!
My heart skips a beat when only a minute later his name pops up on my screen with a new text message. I’d changed his name in my phone to stop the ominous unknown from popping up, but seeing his actual name seems almost worse.
Kingston: What happened?
I shouldn’t have texted him. I slump down in my chair, and cup my face in my hands. So many shouldn’ts that I keep doing. Am I just trying to self-sabotage at this point!?
The office is filling out now, empty desks becoming occupied, the loud chatter drowning out the silence deafening me.
How could I let this happen? How could I let my life become this!?
For Tate, I tell myself, this is all for her.
A part of me hates her, and even the thought of that makes me sick. None of this is her fault, she didn’t ask for this but still, a part of me hates her. I’m in this now, I have no choice. No one will help me, no one will look for her. Only me. Her family believe she’s safe and are convinced with whatever Garrett is sending to them. They’re her family, surely they would recognize when the messages aren’t the same usual ones, surely they’ll notice that she hasn’t called, or face timed, when she used to do that at least once a week.
Garrett made a mistake, a big one, one he probably doesn’t even realize he’s done. Tate has people who know her and he, he doesn’t know her like I do.
He’d never be able to match her energy or light.
I couldn’t let them win. I couldn’t let her be lost forever. My friend, my only friend, and she deserved better than this.
With a deep breath I open my laptop. My hands still shake, and my stomach still knots, but I have to do this.
I answer a few emails before diving into the files. Being Tobias’ PA had its advantages. I have unlimited access to his calendar, his emails and phone, not to mention a lot of the files saved to the main server that most didn’t see. I needed it in order to do the menial tasks he was too busy for.
I check through the calendar first, noting all the meetings both past and present. Those names pop up again, Clayton and Derek plus one. No name on that plus one. That’s weird.
I open the server and type Clayton into the search bar.
A huge list of documents pop up. Clayton owns a chain of bars and restaurants across the globe, and is on the books as a client, Derek is his business partner. Scratching that, I close the files and check the calendar again, but nothing jumps out, no weird meetings or names I don’t recognize. Nothing in the files is odd either.
Everything is up to standard.
Kingston might be wrong, Tobias wasn’t going to leave anything out in the open like he assumed.
I believed he was who Kingston said he was, but getting that information wasn’t going to be easy.