Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
“The Lords are part of the problem.” Bill finally speaks and I was wondering why he’s even here. We all look at him. “They want Adam dead because he knows too much. To them, he’s turned on the society and betrayed his oath.”
“And you?” Saint arches a brow. “I’m confused…are you part of the Lords right now or have you too betrayed them?”
“I’m whoever I need to be,” Bill answers vaguely.
Saint snorts, not liking his answer.
“So what does that mean exactly?” Kash asks, looking back at Adam.
Adam drops his head once again, and Saint gets to his feet. “Goddammit, Adam,” he growls. “Your sister thinks you’re dead.”
“I’m protecting her.” Adam’s green eyes snap up to glare at him.
“Bullshit!” Saint argues. “She’s a fucking wreck…”
“They will come after her!” He jumps to his feet. “I’m trying to do something here! I’m trying to fix a problem that we’ve helped create!” He shouts and adds, “Your wife was raped. Again.” His words make Saint flinch. “My sister…” He pokes his own chest. “Raped…again. And she’s carrying that fucking bastard’s child! AGAIN! I’m trying to prevent another mother, sister, or someone’s daughter from having to go through that.”
I get to my feet and touch his arm. “Adam,” I say softly, trying to defuse the situation. He doesn’t need to bring up what we all know. It’s not going to change the past. Plus, I haven’t asked or heard if it’s been confirmed whether Benny is the father to one of Ashtyn’s babies. I’m just guessing Adam assumes the worst.
Adam steps back and falls into the seat between his boss and Bill. He opens up a briefcase and pulls out another manila envelope and slaps it down on Saint’s lap that reads TOP SECRET across the front.
“What is this?” he asks, opening it.
“It’s not just here,” Adam states.
“What’s not?” Kash questions.
Adam’s boss goes to speak, but Adam beats him to it. “The girls…the disappearances.”
“Tyler Cason Crawford.” Saint reads the name out loud.
I look at Adam. “Any relation to Tyson?”
“Not that we’ve found,” his boss answers.
“Is this Tyler guy a Lord?” Saint goes on, and his brows crease as his eyes skim the report.
“Not that we can tell.” Adam shakes his head.
“Eight cases-car abandoned on the side of the road…wallet and purse left behind.” Saint closes the folder and hands it over to me. “Why are you showing us this?”
I open it up and read over it myself as Adam speaks. “These are strikingly similar to the case that I was accused of being a part of. But those eight in Indiana were not made as public as those that took place here in Pennsylvania. Certain things were kept hush-hush.”
“They have to be connected.” Kashton nods in understanding.
“But those took place first,” Bill adds, gesturing to the folder in my hands.
“Indiana is about seven and half hours from here,” I state.
“It’s only three and a half hours from Chicago,” Bill announces.
I look up at him and frown. “LeAnne’s been in Chicago.” Lived there with her husband until Ryat killed him and she moved to Texas. Now she’s supposedly moving here, according to my wife.
“It would make sense that she’s involved in these young women disappearing. She’s Isabella’s twin,” Saint agrees.
“So you think they’ve been involved since the beginning?” Kash asks.
“I found it odd how Isabella had Sierra tied to the fence that night,” I admit.
“I thought it was some twisted joke referencing Adam.” Kash refers to his chosen and leans back in his seat. “The use of barbed wire…knowing Adam was on the run for the girls that were found brutally murdered. I thought she was just being a sick bitch.”
I toss the folder onto the table and run a hand down my face. It all makes more sense the more I think about it. And how Charlotte’s SUV was left on the side of the road for me to see. Isabella knew it’d catch my attention, and I’d be unable to ignore it. And she also knew that I’d call Adam, wanting him to freshen my memory on the cases from four years ago because it involved him.
“Adam-“
“I’ve got to do this, Saint.” He interrupts whatever he was about to say. “It doesn’t end because Ashtyn is back at Carnage with you.” Saint’s jaw sharpens, and he looks away. “I know you can take care of her, but who is going to take care of the others?” Adam points at the open folder on the table. Hanging his head, he runs his hands through his hair aggressively. “It won’t always be this way,” he says softly. “One day I won’t have to play dead.”
“And if it is?”
He looks up to meet Kashton’s stare, answering his question. “I’ll keep in touch. I’ll message you but only those present here. Ashtyn will remain thinking I’m dead until I say so.” He looks at Saint, who gives him a nod, dropping his eyes to the black-and-white carpet.
“And if something happens to you, then what?” I ask.
“Then I’ll be calling you,” his boss answers, and I get a chill down my spine. Our brother will be dead.
“So this is what…?” Saint asks, hands out wide and sitting back in his chair. “A final goodbye?”
“This is me not wanting any more lies,” Adam responds softly.
His boss leans forward, placing his elbows on his slacks. His eyes land on mine. “You and your wife opened up a new door when you discovered Dollhouse.”
I snort.
“We’ve been looking for their operation for years.”
“Whoa?” Saint points at the open folder on the table. “Are you saying that Dollhouse was a stash house or some shit for sex trafficking?”
I look at Bill, and his eyes are already on mine. I look away, getting a sickening feeling in my gut.
“Benny was holding Ash there at the house.” Adam growls and Saint gets to his feet and starts to pace as Adam adds. “It makes sense they’re all linked.”
Adam’s boss nods and answers Saint’s previous question. “They run women and men through Dollhouse like it’s a revolving door. They have auctions and parties all the time.”
Saint comes to a stop and sits back down in his seat.
The plane falls silent, and Adam looks at me. Then I notice his boss is also glaring at me. Another look at Bill and I huff. “What?” I ask feeling awkward at their stares.
Adam sighs, glancing at his boss and then back to me. “We think Isabella was going to use you.”
I give a rough laugh. “Use me how?” Of course she was going to make me her toy. An experiment for her to play with. That’s what she did when she was running Carnage.
“As a sex slave.” Bill is the one who answers.
My laughter grows. “You’re joking, right?”
“Think about it, Haidyn.” Adam starts. “She gave you a vasectomy. That way you couldn’t knock anyone up. She was going to sell you out to the highest bidder as long as you were alive.”
My laughter dies, and that silence returns.
“But he’s a Spade brother,” Saint argues. “Why give him a vasectomy when he could give her children that will be just as powerful as she wanted Charlotte to be.”
“You just answered your own question,” Bill states.
Saint runs a hand down his face. “Explain it because it’s been a long week, and I’m really fucking tired.”
“Because of Charlotte.” It’s Adam who speaks. “She was willing to give Haidyn a vasectomy to make sure Charlotte couldn’t have his children. And that makes him perfect for Dollhouse.”
“Goddammit.” Kash sighs, and I look over at him. “It does make sense.”
“I’ve seen some shit over the last four years and believe me when I say you guys have no idea what kind of evil is out there. The Lords are involved, but it also goes way beyond that. And the women can be just as sick as the men. And Charlotte???”
“What about my wife?” I interrupt him.
At the mention of Charlotte, Bill throws back what’s left of his drink, and I wonder just how much he knows that he’s never going to tell us.
Adam is the one who answers. “I think she had more plans for her daughter than she wanted you to know about.”
“Meaning what?” Kash questions.
“For one…a breeder…”
“No.” I slam my fist down on the small table and stand.
“What do you mean by breeder?” Saint asks, reminding me that I haven’t filled them in on that yet. Bill frowns at me as if I’ve had plenty of time to tell them everything. I ignore him.
“Anything is possible. They bring in big money.” Adam goes on and my teeth clench, knowing he’s not wrong. “Children are not only being given to the Lords, but they’re being sold.”
Saint puts up his hand. “Are you saying children within the society are being sold outside of the society?”
“It’s been happening since the beginning,” Bill states. “But they were able to keep it under wraps for a while.”
Adam nods to Saint’s question and adds to Bill’s statement. “You have to be born into the Lords, but people are getting desperate. Word has gotten out, and they want an opportunity to join. When they realize they have no chance at being a member themselves, they try to buy their way in. Thinking their ‘adopted’ children will then reproduce in the future.”
“Wait…” Saint gives a humorless laugh. “So they what…’adopt’ children from the Lords and then force them to breed with their biological children later on down the road so their bloodline is crossed with a Lord?”
“Pretty much,” Adam agrees.
I sit back in my seat and let out a deep breath.
Adam’s boss hands him the manila folder that he and Bill had when he came on board, and he holds it out to me. I look at him skeptically before I take it and open it up. There’s a picture of a woman. She’s tied to a chair, hood-covered head down, blood covering her naked body and floor. “Who is this?” I ask.
“Next page,” he says.
I turn to the next one, and Kashton speaks before I can. “What the fuck, man. That’s your chosen.”
“Yeah.” Adam sighs, and I look up at him.
“I don’t understand.” I hand the folder to Saint, so he can look at it.
“When I was searching through Charlotte’s laptop, I came across some information that I looked into a little more.”
“Meaning?” I growl because, as far as I’m concerned, he never found anything.