Page 35 of Pushing Styxx
CHAPTER 17
STYXX
“What have you found?” Harvester grumbles his question before Reaper has a chance to ask once the door closes behind Cerberus. He looks in our Prez’s direction and grunts. “Sorry, Prez.”
Reaper grunts and gives our brother a chin lift.
“You know why I’m pissed,” Harvester states, turning his attention back to me.
“I know.” I nod and glance at Scythe next to me, then back to Harvester. “I’ve got the intel on the man who had been with him last night at Keeper’s Temptation,” I inform my brothers. “Man’s name is Sonny Atkins, works for Rodney Pratt.”
“Pratt? As in the scum of the earth human trafficker from Galveston?” Cerberus demands, lip curling, hands balling into fists, ready to hit something. He’d have a right to, just as everyone around this table, especially Reaper, Tombstone, and Angel.
There’s been intel filtering in for a while about this Pratt guy, but he’s stayed low enough on the radar to not fully catch our attention.
“The one and the same,” I confirm and look down the table to Reaper. “Pratt is building his business up from the ground floor. He’s been busy over the past year and a half, though he’s been in business for a while. Keeps his head down as much as possible to keep from hitting people’s radars at the same time handling business.”
“What’s Atkins got to do with Ronald Hall?” Angel asks, tapping his fingers on the table in rhythm.
“Hall owes a lot of people money. I mean, a lot. Dude’s in debt to his eyeballs. More so than I thought with my original search of him. More than that, he’s into getting his rocks off with little boys. Pratt’s been filling his needs with what I can assume is that he’s been promised something in exchange.”
“Promise?” Harvester grunts, slamming his fist down.
I nod. “That’s what I’m guessing at. Could be he promised both girls, but he couldn’t just take Promise without raising questions, and he sure couldn’t touch Hope. Not when she worked at Hellfire Dancers, surely not with her at Keeper’s Temptation. Her disappearance would have raised flags considering her being consistent with being on time. He needs to get Promise away from Hope, and figured with custody switched to him, he wouldn’t have to worry about Hope getting in his face.”
“So, Hall was going to use either Promise or both of them to pay off his debts to Pratt? Reaper snarls.
“With the digging I did last night, Hall does more than just plan to use Promise as his scapegoat, he’s gotten Pratt several girls in the past year to be sold off. What I can tell is that Atkins is Ronald Hall’s handler. I’m also guessing with them both showing up at Keeper’s Temptation last night that Pratt is getting tired of waiting for what’s promised to him. He wants Promise and will do anything to get it.”
“We need to lock Hope and Promise down,” Scythe states far too calmly for my liking. I know exactly what’s going through his head, and it has nothing to do with the fact we’re twin brothers. I get he already sees Promise as family. She might be Hope’s sister, but she’s like a niece to him.
Hell, she’s like that for every man here.
“Azrael’s on her at the school. He’s keeping an eye out for if they try and show up there again,” I tell my brother. “We want to keep it as normal as possible for her and not freak her out.”
“With this new intel, you share it with Hope?” Reaper asks.
“Not all of it, she freaked out with what I did share, but she trusts that I’m not going to let anything happen to her sister.” It’s something that I won’t ever take advantage of.Sighing, I flex my fingers and lean back in my chair.”I didn’t tell her exactly what Ron has done or my theory,” I continue, meeting Reaper’s intense gaze. “I simply gave enough for her to understand the severity without giving her nightmares about what could happen to Promise.”
Tombstone leans forward, his face grim, and he’d understand with what his daughter Bethany had been through years ago. “You think they’ll make another move soon?”
“There’s no doubt about it,” I reply, running a hand through my hair. “They’re getting desperate. We all know what desperate men do, stupid shit. With Pratt breathing down his neck, he’s going to try something. He and Atkins will surely come after Promise if not Hope to get Promise.”
“Hope’s on shift the rest of the week. If she works, they’ll show again, and we’ll need to keep a lock on her at all times. What if we give her the time off she needs to stay safe?” Harvester asks, his voice gruff but laced with concern.
I nod. I couldn’t agree more, though I know Hope isn’t gonna like it. “Hope needs to be safe here at the clubhouse. With her safe and out of reach, we can keep focus on Promise so we don’tfuck with her routine more than we already are. She’s a smart kid and knows what’s going on without it being talked about in front of her. Giving her this normalcy is something I’ve got to be able to give.”
“And Hope?” Scythe questions, studying me closely.
“Hope gets it. All she cares about is making sure her sister has the life she deserves. She puts her above what she wants and her dreams.” I look to Harvester and ask, “You know she teaches dance to kids up in Tyler a few days a week?”
“What?” He blinks and shakes his head.
“Yeah, I took her up yesterday and found out. She’s damn good at it. Kids love her. She wants to be able to open a studio one day, but she’s waiting for Promise to finish school. That’s why she’s a dancer. Every damn thing is so she can give to Promise and eventually have what she wants.”
“Didn’t their parents have a life insurance policy or some shit?” Scythe grunts.
I nod and sigh. “They did. Hope took it all and put it in a trust for Promise for when she finishes school. It’s hers for when she goes to college or do whatever she wants after graduation.”
