Chapter 52 The abuse did not start until recently
Catalina
“Are you ready to head out?” I asked Jenna.
“I am. Did you get the information from Butcher? A name and a photo, so we know we have the right person?”
“I have it all. He gave me directions, too. We are taking her to Providence, Rhode Island.”
“Did he tell you anything else? Like how she even knew how to reach him?”
“No. He just said she is an old friend who needs to get away from a man who hurts her,” I told her.
“All right. Let me go say goodbye to Torque. I will meet you in the SUV.”
I nodded at her. I picked up my purse and a small bag where I keep important things, like several of my knives and extra magazines for the nine millimeter pistol Jenna keeps tucked in the back of her jeans under her long shirt. I waved to Carrie, Lori, and Luna, three of the club’s wives who were helping out around the clubhouse today. Then I walked outside and got into the white SUV that Torque gave to Jenna.
I took out my phone. It was a little after eight in the morning. I sent a text to Viper to tell him I was leaving and that I was doing a job for Butcher. I also sent him a picture of myself with my mouth open wide, so he could see straight down my throat, along with the words Wish You Were Here. I laughed to myself as I sent it.
Right away, I got a text back from him that just said BABE! with the emoji of a face sweating. I was smiling so big my cheeks hurt when Jenna climbed into the driver’s seat.
“What has you looking so pleased?”
“Just messing with Viper. I sent him a dirty video and some very revealing pictures last night. He told me he had to take care of himself more than once because of it.”
Jenna laughed. “I am really happy for you, Catalina. You have become a much better person since you met him.”
“Thank you. I do really love him. But the same is true for you. I have never seen you this happy. I love seeing it.”
“Me too. I never thought Torque would even notice me. I really need to bake Beast a cake for helping Torque see that he wants me.”
“Oh, I think he has always known he wants you, Jenna. It just took another man showing interest in you, and the chance of losing you to him, to make Torque finally do something about it.”
“Either way, I owe Beast a damn cake.”
I laughed. She was not wrong. We talked for about another hour, discussing when might be a good time for each of us to get married, before we pulled up in front of a furniture store.
“Is this the correct place?” I asked as we both got out of the SUV.
“This is the address Butcher gave us.”
I took out the photograph he had given me and we both looked at it.
“She is a beautiful woman,” Jenna said.
The picture showed a woman maybe in her forties with very light blonde hair and large blue eyes. Butcher had written the name Helena on the back.
“I guess that is her name. Let us go inside,” I said.
We walked into the furniture store and began to look around. I was a little surprised to see it was quite busy. A family with a mother, a father, and two teenage boys were testing out a sofa set, trying all its features. An older couple was walking slowly around a large dining table set with eight chairs. A man wearing a blue polo shirt and tan pants was taking photographs of different furniture pieces. Three women were talking and laughing near a display cabinet full of crystal glasses. There were other people, couples, looking at beds and big recliner chairs.
I watched as a man in a white short-sleeved button-down shirt and black pants walked over to one of the couples and started talking to them. And then I saw her.
“Look, there is Helena, behind the counter. It looks like she works here. Come on,” I said, taking Jenna by the hand.
We waited behind a couple that Helena was helping. Her cheerful customer-service voice did not match the tired, sad expression on her face, or the dark bruise around her eye that she had tried to cover with a lot of makeup. The couple walked away, and Jenna and I stepped up to the counter.
“Welcome to Wilson’s Furniture Mart. How can I help you today?” Helena said quietly, with a polite smile that did not reach her eyes.
“Hello, Helena. I am Catalina, and this is my sister Jenna,” I said, introducing us. She just kept looking at me with that same polite, fake smile. Okay, maybe Butcher did not tell her we were coming?
“We are friends of Butcher’s,” Jenna added, trying to help.
Her eyebrows pulled together. “Okay?”
“Um, one moment,” I said, pulling Jenna a few steps away from the counter. “I have a feeling she only knows Butcher by the name he used before. Do you know what it is?”
“No, do you?” Jenna asked, her eyes wide.
I looked back at Helena. She was watching us with a confused look on her face. I sighed and took out my phone. I found Butcher in my contacts and called him.
“Hey there, darling, what is the problem?”
“What makes you think there is a problem?”
“Because, Catalina, you only call me when something has gone wrong and you and Jenna are in a bad spot.”
I giggled. He was not wrong.
“We are at the place you sent us. We introduced ourselves to Helena. She seems very confused. I told her we are friends of yours, and it looks like she has no idea who you are.”
“Shit. I forgot she does not know my club name.”
“Butcher, how was she even able to contact you?”
“I have had the same phone number since high school. I was going to be a lawyer back then, so I wrote my number in all my friends’ yearbooks, you know, in case they ever needed one. But you know that did not work out, and I never changed the number.”
“What is your real name, Butcher?” I asked.
“When I tell you, you forget it the moment you tell Helena. I mean it, Catalina. You never call me by this name, you understand?”
“Yes, daddy,” I said, snickering.
“Oh, darling, do not ever let Viper hear you say that. You be careful calling me that, I might just put you over my knee.”
I knew my face was turning bright red. I cleared my throat. “The name, Butcher.”
He chuckled. “Jason.”
“Your real name is Jason?”
I heard him growl my name from the other end of the line, and I let him hear me laugh before I ended the call.
“Jason? That is his real name?” Jenna asked, shocked.
“Yes,” I snorted. “But do not ever call him that, or he says he will put us over his knee.”
Jenna giggled, then stopped. Her eyes got a distant look. “Yeah, that thought excited me, too. Do not tell Viper.”
“As long as you do not tell Torque. Shit, the idea of being over Butcher’s knee… that man is incredibly attractive.”
“I fucking know it. Come on, let us go back to her.”
We walked back up to the counter. She gave us the same fake smile as before.
“Jason sent us,” I whispered to her.
Her eyes opened wide, and she looked quickly over our shoulders. I followed her nervous look. She was staring at the man in the white shirt and black pants.
“Is that your asshole husband?” I murmured to her.
“Yes,” she whispered back.
“Do you have a break coming up soon?”
“No, it is only nine in the morning.”
“What about going to get coffee?” Jenna asked.
“Yes, I can do that. Our machine broke yesterday. I know he would want a cup. What is the plan?”
“You ask him if he wants coffee, tell him you will go get some. Then we can go to your house, get whatever you need, and we will take you to your parents’ place.”
“Okay. I drive the white Volvo. Just follow me.”
“All right.”
We left the store and got back into our vehicle. We waited for about ten minutes before she came out. I sucked in a breath when I saw the red marks on her lower arm that looked like someone had grabbed her very hard. We followed her car to her house.
When we arrived, we got out and walked with her to her front door. Jenna and I followed her inside.
“What happened to your arm?” I asked.
“I interrupted one of his sales at the store. He gave me fifteen minutes to come back, or else,” she said. “I already have two suitcases packed. They are hidden in our closet. He never goes in there. I always lay his clothes out for him in the morning. I will go get them.”
“You only need two bags?” I asked. “We have time, right? It is not like he can just leave the store.”
“No, he can. He will put one of the other workers in charge and leave. I have everything important in those two bags. All my papers and the jewelry that belonged to my mother are in there, too.”
“Okay, let us get moving then,” Jenna said.
Five minutes later, we were walking out the door. I told her to put her bags in our SUV. She had to leave her own car and her cell phone at the house. A few minutes after that, we were on the road. She cried with relief for a good thirty minutes.
“You have no idea how much I appreciate this,” she said, her voice rough.
“What made you contact But… I mean, Jason?”
“Well, I had a happy marriage for most of it. We have been together almost thirty years. The abuse did not start until recently. Two years ago, he began to gamble.”