Cruelty Read online

  We had decided it was safer to give her a fake name for me. Elizabeth was close to Ella, so it’d be easy for me to respond without thinking should it be used. However, I couldn’t stop the muffled laugh I had to turn into a cough when she called Theo by his full name. He hated his name.

  “Yes ma’am, that’s us. Elizabeth has a lot of experience with animals and was just beyond excited to be able to have a day of volunteering in your fine establishment,” Theo said to her, laying on the charm extra thick.

  The bitch ate it up. A little too much by the look of pure interest she shot at Theo when he gave her his golden boy smile that melted the panties off the female population. Married or not, I had a feeling this witch would jump his bones if he simply asked her to.

  She pushed her manicured hand through her auburn hair and smiled sensually back at him. “Well we would love all the help we can get. We take great pride in our shelter and only allow the best of staff to work for us. I trust you’ve handled cleaning kennels before, Elizabeth?” she asked me.

  I nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely. Just show me where to go and I can get to work while you two do your thing.”

  “Wonderful! Just go down that hall right there to the right and you’ll find all the kennels empty that need to be tended to,” Nita said to me dismissively before sliding one of those clawed hands into the crook of Theo’s arm. “And you, Theodore, can follow me. We’ve brought all the dogs to our lovely garden area on the side of the building so you can get the best lighting on this beautiful day.”

  She’d barely finished saying all of that before whisking him off in the blink of an eye. I shook my head and rolled my eyes so hard as they walked away, I was sure they almost popped out of my head. That woman was absolutely atrocious. Taking her down would be the most beautiful experience of my life.

  I followed her directions, taking a mental note of everything as I walked. I passed another volunteer working in the room in which the cats I’d stolen had been. I averted my eyes the second the girl’s gaze found mine, not wanting to appear nosy, and continued on.

  The room with the kennels she was having me clean was a million times nicer than the outside area that they really housed the dogs in. My guess was the dogs were only put in these cages during work hours, then brought back outside when they closed up. It seemed like a lot of effort to be so cruel. The cages were already obviously clean and barely used, but of course, appearances had to be kept up.

  I spent only about an hour going from cage to cage, cleaning them as best as I could while Theo kept Nita busy. I needed him to get as much time as he could distracting her so I could sneak away and see if there were still any animals in the back that maybe the Darlings had no plans to show to the public. I wouldn’t get long, especially with another staff member working. I had to be careful.

  When I finished cleaning the cages, I snuck a peek around the place, finding the girl that worked here relaxing at the front of the shelter playing on her phone. Now would be the only time I could sneak out. I grabbed the trash from the room with the kennels and tied the bag into a knot before slinging it over my shoulder. If I got caught, I could simply say I got lost looking for the dumpster to put this in. I quickly made my way back toward the cat room and the door I knew led out to the area we had taken Pretty and all the other animals from. Knowing there was a camera, I kept my pace normal and dared not look up at it.

  When I exited out the back, I made my way through the rows of cages, noticing most were empty. At least, they were until I got to the very back row that was out of view from the building.

  Sure enough, there were several dogs caged back here. Surprisingly, not a single one barked seeing me approach. Then again, all of them were worn the hell out and definitely covered from head to toe in old and some very new wounds.

  A vast majority were pitbulls, dobermans, and even a few different breeds of bulldogs. Dogs that could easily be swayed to violence and win a fight with most other breeds of dogs. It broke my heart seeing them all like this, and pissed me off to no end. I swiftly took my phone out and began clicking photos of the dogs, then sent them off to the guys. Our suspicions were now confirmed. But bringing the police pictures would do nothing. The Darlings would simply be tipped off and remove the dogs from sight before anything could be done.

  We needed to do something much more drastic. We needed to figure out exactly where they were taking these dogs to fight, and soon.

  I quickly made my way back toward the building, and thankfully found a large dumpster just as the girl on their staff walked out the door I’d come out of.

  “What are you doing out here? You can’t be back here,” she said to me in a snotty tone.

  “I was just throwing this away. Those cages took a lot of paper towels,” I lied to her smoothly, showing her the bag and lugging it into the dumpster.

  “Whatever. Mrs. Darling is looking for you. She needs you to feed the cats.”

  “No problem. Let’s go,” I said cheerfully, practically racing her back into the building. That had been too way too close.

  For another half hour, I went about feeding all the cats, waiting impatiently for Theo to finish up with his task. At one point, Nita came inside without Theo and checked up on my progress. I assured her everything was finished and asked if she needed anything else.

  “If you don’t mind cleaning the bathrooms for me, we should be done with the photos in just a bit. I assume you’ll be leaving with Theodore when he’s done?”

  “Yes. I was only here to experience what it’s like to work for such a highly rated shelter. It really is a beautiful building.” Theo wasn’t the only one who could turn some serious charm on. My charm wasn’t met with nearly as much kindness as Theo’s had been.

  “Well, as nice as it was to have you, we only fully hire on highly experienced workers. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to take you on full time.” She stared down her nose at me like I was gum on her shoe. I doubted very much any of what she said was true considering the girl she had working here barely lifted a finger to do anything.

  I waved her off. “Oh that’s fine. This was amazing while it lasted and I appreciate you letting me come in even for a short time.”

  “Mhmm. Not a problem.” Then she walked away without another word. I really hated this woman.

  I yet again rolled my eyes when she turned her back, hating having to suck up to this bitch. But just as I was walking to the bathroom to do the witch’s bidding, I heard her say something to the girl that had my interest piqued.

  “We’ll be leaving early tomorrow. Mr. Darling and I have some business to attend to in Santa Monica, so if anyone calls just take a message. We also need you to get those mongrels out back muzzled and ready to go tonight. Got it?” Her tone was demanding and not nearly as pleasant as she pretended to—kind of—be with me.

  But it wasn’t her tone that had me stopping. It was the business she had mentioned. From all the research we’d done on the Darlings, they had no dealings in Santa Monica. They owned real estate all over San Francisco, but nothing in public records said anything about there. Not to mention, she wanted those poor animals muzzled and ready. It had to be the fighting ring.

  I quickly went to the bathroom and shot a text off to all the guys and Zoe, letting them know we had to follow them tomorrow when this business would take place. Their responses were all in agreeance.

  I just hoped it all panned out and we’d finally catch a break. These people needed to be taken down now before they got any of those dogs out back killed.

  No other dog would die at the hands of these monsters.

  Not on my watch.

  After our recon trip to the shelter, I stopped by the boutique to get some work done on my new spotted dress. I had been putting my work on the back burner lately and knew I had time to spare until we enacted our plan to follow the Darlings tomorrow night.

  Theo offered to drop by my apartment and feed the pups before heading to work since Zoe would be stuck
at her job until late tonight.

  Tibby was pretty much used to me just popping in and out of the shop at this point, but had cornered me when I came in asking me to hire more help. I had forgotten completely I was supposed to put a poster in the window for that and told her she was welcome to draw one up.

  She left me to my devices after that, and I spent hours measuring and stitching the delicate fabrics together. It put my mind at ease when I worked. It gave me something else to think about and put all my focus on. I really had the best job in the world.

  By the time it was time to close the shop, Tibby had already had two walk-ins asking for an application, and I’d finished all but the bottom hem of the dress. My red headed helper jumped up and down with glee when she saw it, telling me it would definitely be a great addition to the shop. I had to agree with her. Once I got the design down, making more was no problem. Tibby offered to give me a ride to my apartment, but I was hell bent on finishing the dress tonight. She bid me goodnight and closed up shop, leaving me alone to finish.

  It was around ten at night when I finished. I was an hour late meeting everyone at the apartment to talk strategy, so I shot off a text letting them know I was leaving. I smiled with pride at my new dress hanging on the rack. It came out even better than I had imagined and already had my mind fueled with ideas for other spotted clothes for the line. Spots like these weren’t a usual trend you see every day, but I had a feeling these ones would bring me good luck. After all, the luck I’d come across these last few weeks had been because of one special spotted pup.

  I was going to need to get Pretty something to show just how amazing she was. She was still stuck chewing on all Gus’ second hand toys, so maybe it was time to get her some of her own.

  I grabbed my stuff and flicked all the lights off, closing up the back room and deciding to just go out the back door since Tibby had already locked up the front. The alley was a bit of a shortcut anyway.

  I’d barely managed to lock up the back door and turn to walk home, when suddenly a hand slapped across my face, positioning a cloth with a strong chemical smell over my mouth and nose. I struggled against my attacker, but the fumes of the chemical made the world around me go fuzzy. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I passed out.

  My final thought was calling myself a fucking idiot for going into an alley at night.

  Idiot.

  I came back to consciousness feeling extremely nauseous and beyond confused about everything.

  I could hear barking and smelled dirt, shit, and something else I couldn’t quite place. My mouth was dry as hell and my eyelids still felt too heavy to open completely. I shifted, uncomfortable on whatever it was I was lying on. It was scratchy and cold, and possibly metal as well. I wasn’t sure.

  I began moving my extremities bits at a time and allowed my mind to try and clear. I took slow, even breaths, doing my best not to freak the fuck out. I willed with all my might for my eyes to open, but just as I was about to get them to, there was a loud bang like a door opening. Raised voices flowed into the area around me.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing? We don’t kidnap people, Nita!” a man’s voice shouted angrily.

  Nita? I knew that name. I poured through my memories, pushing everything I could remember forward. It all hit me like an avalanche, causing my head to ache a bit at the influx of information.

  The Darlings. The dogs I’d saved. The guys. Zoe. My shop. I had been at my shop. I finished my dress with dots. No. Spots. Then I went to leave to meet my guys and Zoe, then… nothing. Wait. Someone had come up behind me. A cloth was put over my mouth. HOLY FUCKING SHIT! These crazy ass people kidnapped me!

  The feeling came back into my tired limbs with a vengeance, but I dared not move as the conversation continued close by.

  “Just because you were too fucking pathetic to handle the situation yourself, doesn’t mean you get to yell at me like that, Robert! The police are fucking morons and would just give this little bitch a slap on the wrist. If she goes to them with what she thinks she knows, we’re ruined! Do you not get that?” Nita argued, clearly out of her fucking mind.

  “And you think this won’t ruin us if someone finds out you had them take the girl? She has no proof of anything! She took some fucking dogs from us, but she’d have to implicate herself in that just to give the police anything on us. This was stupid and I won’t be a part of it.”

  Clearly, Robert and Nita were not the strong couple they showed to the public.

  “Fine. Didn’t really need your help anyway. No one will find out anything. This time tonight, the girl will be dog chow after the show. Simple as that. Gregory was careful when he grabbed her. Stupid little thing was in the alley and made his job easier. Did you know she was in the shelter today? What do you think she was doing? Huh?”

  I heard Robert groan in aggravation. “Did she get anything?”

  “No. Though I find it humorous she thought we didn’t know it was her who took the animals and has been digging into our past. She came close though. The girl had no idea our evidence against her was in the next room. She either came for it and didn’t find it, or had no idea. Either way, we have her now.”

  It amazed me how easily people could hide their inner psycho. Nita Darling was a devious and cruel woman. Robert at least had some sense to understand this was extreme. What did Nita mean I would become dog chow though? What were their plans with me? One thing was for sure, if you’re kidnapped, your odds of making it out alive are slim. And after hearing these two, I wouldn’t put it past them to make me disappear forever.

  “I won’t stand in the way. But I won’t help either, Nita. This is too much.” I heard the door slam open and closed once again.

  The sound of heels clicking against a hard floor came towards me, stopping maybe a foot away. I knew it was Nita, watching me. I made myself as still as I possibly could, even going as far as to hold my breath.

  “I’m going to show you what happens when you cross a Darling, you little bitch. Sleep tight. It won’t be much longer,” Nita said to me coldly and without an ounce of remorse for what she was planning to do to me. Whatever that was.

  It wasn’t until her heels clicked away and the door opened and closed once again, that I finally opened my eyes completely and took in my surroundings.

  I was in a very large warehouse type room and thrown into a metal cage that was probably meant for a dog the size of a great dane. There were hundreds of cages filled with all different breeds of dogs, who all barked louder the moment I began to sit up and glance around. Only a few had barked when the Darlings were here, but now with them gone, it seemed they weren’t nearly as afraid to let out their howls of fear and contempt.

  I couldn’t believe the Darlings had actually kidnapped me and put me in a cage. And with this many dogs, it was clear exactly what Nita had meant by making me dog chow. If I was correct, I would be the dogs’ dinner tonight. Usually, dogs wouldn’t just eat a person. But when they’d been trained in fighting all their lives, starved, and then told to do as they pleased with whatever living creature was placed before them, you could very well be a tasty hunk of meat to them.

  I wrapped my arms around my knees and tried to calm my racing heart. I had to figure out a way out of this. There was light streaming through the windows high up in the metal roofing of the warehouse, telling me it was at least daytime. That meant everyone would know something happened. I felt around in my pockets and wasn’t surprised to find my phone gone. I crawled forward and saw they’d put a padlock on the cage, making it impossible for me to even try picking it.

  I was stuck here. The only thing I could do was wait and hope that the guys would come to my rescue. I just wasn’t sure how they’d find me. We knew the Darlings would be going to Santa Monica today for the dog fights, but the city was huge. Nita could’ve also been lying to her staff member. She knew who I was the moment I’d walked into the shelter with Theo, though I couldn’t figure out how. My guess was they’
d caught me on video the night we broke in, but kept that quiet so they could take care of me themselves. It was like these people thought they were the mob and lived above the law. Which was nuts. I was convinced getting out of here wouldn’t be easy, but I had to do it. I couldn’t give up.

  And neither would my guys. They’d come for me. I knew it. I just had to hold on for a little while. I had to stay strong. Fuck! Why didn’t I just tell them I loved them? What the hell was my problem? Theo outright told me, and Luca and Rollins were consistently doing everything they could to prove that their love for me never died. And what was I doing? Ignoring how I felt because I was too scared. Now, I might become dog food and I hadn’t fucking said it yet.

  I swore to myself as exhaustion began to take back over me, that I would stop at nothing to get out of here, if only just to tell them. I had to tell them.

  Find me guys. Please…

  “Wake the fuck up!”

  The cage I sat in began to shake violently, jolting me out of sleep. A large man dressed head to toe in black with a black mask covering his face stood over the cage, holding out what looked like a stun baton. A very charged one rippling with electricity. I immediately knew why he was there and that the dog fights were now over. I had run out of time.

  The man unlocked the padlock and reached into the cage, grabbing me by my neck and pulling me out. I clawed at his hands and struggled in his grasp, but he was strong as hell and only squeezed my neck tighter. I kicked at his knees, but was met with a jab to my side. I screamed and convulsed at the shock wave that shot through my body. My side burned where the stick had struck me and the smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils.

  “If you would just come quietly, you wouldn’t get hurt,” I heard Nita’s snide voice slide over me.

  The man turned and jerked me to stand in front of him, wrapping his arm firmly around my neck with the baton hovering just inches from my stomach. Nita strutted toward me dressed in a black formal cocktail dress that came way too high up her thighs.