Vicious Carousel (Suncoast Society #25)(4)

“Sorry we won’t get to play,” Nolan softly said to Kenny.

“This is more important, dude,” he said. “Fucker. I hope we get a chance to take a swing at him ourselves.”

“There’s going to be a really long line for that,” Tony said, a hint of murder darkening his tone.

“And I suspect Tilly will occupy the first quarter of that line all on her own,” Ross added.

“That sounds about right,” Kenny agreed.

Tilly had been enraged that Landry and Cris forced her to stay behind at the house with everyone else, but the last thing they needed was Tilly getting arrested for assaulting Jack.

Besides, someone had to stay behind to bail them all out of jail.

Just in case.





When Nolan pulled into the parking lot at the convenience store and they all piled out of their cars, Gabe had made it inside first, the young store clerk pointing toward the office when Gabe flashed her badge.

By the time Nolan and Kenny made it inside, there was already a wall of their friends between them and the office door, making it impossible for them to see.

But they could hear Betsy’s tortured sobs.

Once the group parted a few minutes later, and Nolan got his first good look at Betsy, he thought he was going to be sick. The icepack she held over her right eye didn’t completely hide the fact that it looked like it’d be swollen closed in a few hours. Over her left eye she bore an ugly laceration the clerk had apparently tried his best to treat with a first-aid kit, several bandages holding it closed. Ugly bruises covered her face and arms.

They all made way as Gabe, now shadowed by Bill, protectively kept her arm around Betsy’s shoulders and slowly escorted her outside. Bill carried a purse and carry-on bag Nolan suspected were Betsy’s.

Kenny stopped Bill outside. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re all going to go to her place. It’s just five minutes away. Jack’s not home, he went to work. We’ll get all her shit out of there and move it to Kel’s apartment by Venture. She doesn’t have a car anymore because the f*cker made her sell it and give him the money.”

“She’ll be alone there at the apartment,” Kenny pointed out.

“We’ll take shifts—”

“She can stay with us,” Nolan interrupted. Kenny looked pleasantly surprised by that declaration, but nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we’ve got a spare bedroom,” Kenny said. “Half the people at Venture know about Kel’s place, now that he’s partners with Derrick. That’s probably the first place Jack will look for her when he finds out she’s gone and once the cops contact him. She can’t stay there alone. Jack doesn’t know us except from the club. He won’t find her with us.”

“She’s not working right now,” Bill said. “The * made her quit her job. She can’t pay you anything. She doesn’t have anything except what Jack didn’t make her get rid of.”

“We don’t care,” Kenny and Nolan said together. Kenny continued. “Look, we live within easy walking distance to that new mall. If she can’t get a job there, there’s a bus stop a block away. She doesn’t need to pay us rent until she’s able to. We’re doing okay.”

Bill stared at the two men for a moment before walking around to where Sully and Gabe were getting Betsy settled in the backseat of Bill’s car. He leaned in and spoke to them for a moment.

Nolan had always thought Betsy was cute, but before he could have a discussion with Kenny about maybe seeing if she wanted to play with them, Jack, a newcomer from Michigan nearly twice her age, had scooped her up.

And Tony had revealed on the drive over that he’d found out a few tidbits about the guy.

Like that Jack was no longer welcomed in the Detroit area by any of the lifestyle groups there. He hadn’t been arrested, as far as Tony knew, but he had a history of doing this kind of thing to young, vulnerable submissives.

Bill returned. “Okay, Gabe signed off on it, and so did Betsy. Although Betsy’s really in no condition to be making decisions right now. I suspect if I’d told her we were taking her to Disney she would have agreed. Gabe says we need to take her to the ER, even though Betsy doesn’t want to go. She thinks Betsy might have a concussion. And at that point we will have local law enforcement involved whether Betsy wants them involved or not.”

Bill let out a resigned sigh. “Let’s get her stuff first, and we’ll talk her into it. The ER trip.”

“Thanks,” Nolan said. “I promise, we’ll take care of her.”

Bill arched an eyebrow at him. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I know Tilly likes you two a lot, you realize I’d be suspicious right now, right?”

Ross called for everyone’s attention. “Let’s move. This won’t take long, but we need to get it done quick.”





Kenny was shocked by the duplex apartment. When Bill had told them she didn’t have a lot of belongings, he wasn’t kidding. It took them less than fifteen minutes to gather all her stuff—and a few things that likely were Jack’s, but they were taking for Betsy anyway—and load it into Kel’s truck with plenty of room to spare.

When Betsy nearly collapsed in Gabe’s arms, Kenny rushed in to scoop her up.