Sebastian (Bowen Boys, #5)(10)
They left a little while later, and he sat at his desk trying to figure out what to do now. He’d told them that he’d find the girl for them. He wasn’t sure why he just didn’t let them go to Marc with this. He was better equipped to find people, and he was just a computer person. Picking up the phone, he decided to ask him how to start.
“You have her name?” He told him. “I can start a search for her and see…. Well what do you know? I found her. She’s working for a friend of yours, Peter Gunn. He already filed her work papers and such. She’s working for him at his place over on Main.”
She had a job. He had no idea why that surprised him, but it did. He supposed it had to do with his parents wanting to find her, and him thinking that she owed them money or something. He supposed that she could still owe them, but she had a job, so that helped. He thanked his brother and decided to have pizza for lunch.
~~~
“You’re doing a great job, mistress.” She looked at Peter and didn’t even bother trying to ask him again just to call her Ama. He seemed to be sort of old fashioned, and she was kind of sweet on him anyway. He was like the dad she’d never had. She smiled at him.
“It’s not hard. Scrape, rinse, and load. Then when they come out the other side, stack and put away.” He laughed with her. “I like it and it’s paying the bills.”
She had started looking at apartments yesterday. She needed to get something that was more in line with her hours. She wasn’t getting back until well after lock-up, and that was going to be a problem soon. The lady who ran the night desk was retiring soon, and Ama needed something more anyway. She also wanted something of her own.
“I’ve heard of a place you can stay, too. I wish you’d let me put you up. It would be an honor.” She shook her head, and he nodded as he continued. “It’s not much, just a room with a bath. But it’s a month-to-month place, and you won’t need to put down a deposit. I know the owner.”
“Do you think they’ll care?” She flushed, hating that she had to ask if someone was going to freak out when they first saw her. He shook his head and laughed.
“Nah, he won’t care. Nice guy, and isn’t human either. And since I know you, there’s no reason for you to have any contact with him. I told him you were a nice kid, just needed a little help. You’ll just have to pay him once a month and that’ll be the end of your relationship with him.”
She nodded and he was called away. She was just pulling on her coat when she heard him laugh. He had a laugh that made a person smile. She was out the door and into the street a few minutes later.
He’d given her the address, so she headed over there. She didn’t have a lot of stuff, just clothes and a few things like that, but as far as furniture went, nothing at all. She was standing in front of the building when something felt as if it touched her. She looked around and didn’t see anything, but looked back at the building. There was something off about it.
Ama walked closer to the large brick building, trying to decide if whatever she’d felt had been good or bad, when she heard a muffled scream. Not thinking about anything but getting to where it had come from, she came upon a man holding a woman against the wall, tearing at her clothes.
“You should really let her go.” The man turned to her and stilled. “I mean, she doesn’t look to me like she’s happy with whatever it is you think you’re going to do to her. So let her go. Please.”
“Get the f*ck out of here before you’re next.” She nodded, thinking that he’d have to be really stupid if he thought she was going to wait until he finished with the woman just so she could have a turn. She took several steps to him before he pulled the woman to his chest and put a knife to her throat. Ama stopped just a few feet from him.
“You really shouldn’t do this. I mean, she doesn’t want this, and neither do I.” He pressed the knife harder into the woman’s throat, and Ama shrugged. “You should have listened.”
The woman went limp just as Ama had told her to, and she closed her eyes. Reaching for the man, Ama grabbed his arm that held the knife and jerked him hard. She knew that she’d hurt him because he started screaming the moment she pulled him forward and away from the woman. A sharp pain in her arm made her wince, but she tossed the man away from her at the same moment his knife fell to the ground. As soon as he hit the wall, she knew that she’d thrown him just a little too hard. She heard the crush of his bones, and then he fell to the earth. Before she looked at him, she turned to the woman who now held the knife in her hands. This was not going to go well.
“Are you hurt?” Ama had to ask her three times before she said she was. “I’d very much like for you to put the knife down before someone gets hurt.”
“He was going to rape me.” Ama nodded at her softly spoken statement. “He was going to kill me, wasn’t he?”
“More than likely. Can you put the knife down please?” The woman looked at it as if she hadn’t realized she had it. When it dropped to the ground, Ama took a deep breath and kicked it away. “Do you have a cell phone that you can use to call the police? I think he’s hurt badly.”
He was but that didn’t matter right now. The girl nodded, walked to where she’d been held, and picked up her purse. While she dialed the number, Ama went to the man. She had to help him if she could.