Broken Free (The Broken Series) (2 page)

Sofia leaned and kissed him. “Shhh, yes, you’re right, it’s all his, you did good for your brother. The bastard should never have it. Now what happened when you guys…”

He sighed. “Fat fuck was beating her and Seth lost it. He ran in there and when I
followed, the man was on the floor next to the table unconscious with Seth kicking him and kicking him and screaming.”

Daniel covered his face and gasped.
“I dragged him out and promised him we’d call the police and send them there to check on her. Then you and I went to the cabin and we came back and…and then he was arrested.”

Tears filled Sofia’s eyes a
t hearing his voice break. He just as soon said
then my dreams for all of us fell apart.
And he totally blamed himself.

“So are we sure the police wen
t check on her?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m not sure of anything.
For all I know, he went over there while we were gone and finished the job.”

“Are you sure he wasn’t dead when you left him?”

Daniel gasped. “Fuck, I don’t know. Either way, Seth’s guilty.”

“
Think about this then,” Sofia began softly. “What about if she confesses, I mean if she did it, and we get a lawyer to defend her, prove it was self-defense? I mean if he’s sexually assaulting her every day Daniel, surely they’ll take that into consideration?”

“I don’t know.
” He stood and held his head. “He said she left town the last time I visited and asked questions. Then he shut me down.”

“
Yes and if he’s protecting her, of course he’s going to tell you that. And that would explain why he shut you down? He didn’t want you figuring it out?” Sofia pushed on at seeing Daniel’s hope return a little. “Sweetie, she stands a much better chance of getting off the hook than he does, he’s looking at life in prison.”

“Oh God,” he gasped, covering his face. “I should’ve never fucking brou
ght him there Sofia. Why did I do that?”

“You did it because you loved him, don’t even go there. It’s not your f
ault your uncle’s a monster and plus, he’s dead now and that girl is free of him. And also, if she gets off, Seth will actually be able to be with her if that’s what he really wants. But as it stands, he’ll never be with her.”

Daniel paced. “You’re right. You’re so right. We need to find out where she is. She will at least know what the hell happened.”

“Yes and if she
loves
him, she’ll likely cooperate. And if she doesn’t, well, we tried.”

He nodded, pacing.

“Let’s start by going to the uncle’s. I doubt she’s there, but we may find something.”

“Not we,
baby.”

“Oh yes,
we.
We’re doing this together.”

“I’m not fucking putting you in danger.”

“We’re just going
look
to see if she’s there, geeze, this isn’t a guerilla grounds operation warfare or some crap.”

Daniel hurried to the bed and pulled her in his arms. “God, you’re adorable
when you get possessive.”

She stroked his hair, sliding her fingers through the silky thickness. “No more secrets, okay? Safe or not. Well…I mean within reason, I trust you to do the right thing.”

He pushed her down with a hungry kiss. “I love that you trust me, such a fucking turn on.” She moaned and he pulled her up. “But breakfast time for you and baby Rachel.”

“Or baby
Seth.”

“I love you so much, I’d name my son Daniel for you.”

She sucked in her breath. “For reals, like serious?”

“Yes, but no. It’s
more like a metaphorical gift.”

She slapped his shoulder. “Doc!
I would be the happiest woman alive if you let me name our son after the man I love with all my heart!”

“Fine, we’ll name him Doc.”

“Nooooo. Daniel. And we can call him Danny Boy, how frickn adorable!”

He pecked her forehead. “When do you think we should begin investigating?”

“Oooohhh, I like the sound of that. We’ll be like a team. Bonnie and Clyde or Starsky and Hutch.”

“More like Lucy and Ricky.”

“Oh my God,
yes!
”

“I’ll heat your breakfast.”

“Our breakfast.” She kissed his forehead and scooted out of the bed. “You’re going to be a daddy, you need to be healthy. And I’m going shower.” She glanced over her shoulder, catching him staring at her butt. “And no, you can’t come.”

“No, I can’t. Because I’m heating your breakfast.” All that with his eyes still on her butt.

She cocked her hip and smacked her rump. “You can ride this later, cowboy.” He groaned and put his hand over his cock and Sofia’s eyes widened at seeing him hard again. “You, are a sex fiend.”

“You’re a temptress.”

He stood and his gorgeous physique felt like a direct retaliation. She flicked her finger up and down his body. “Says the drop dead gorgeous hypocrite.”

Chapter Two

“That’s it?
” Sofia whispered. “My God, it looks like a frickn horror house, something out of the Texas chain saw massacre.”

“It is a horror house,” Daniel muttered, shutting the car off.

“I wonder how your dad took his death. You ever wondered?” Sofia whispered.

“Baby. It’s just me and you, nobody can hear us.” He leaned and kissed her cheek, not wanting to think of his father. Not while there. “God, what am I doing bringing you here to this sacrilegious place,
even the air and ground is likely wicked.” He looked around.

“Well I’m not staying in this car. Do you have a weapon, a bat or something?”

God, he really should. “We’re not even going in. We’ll just peek around through the windows and if we see anything suspicious, I’ll come back while you stay in the car, do you understand?”

“You can’t go in there alone.”

“Yes I can, and I am.” But, fuck, he sure didn’t want to. He needed to try and find something left behind that would maybe point him in some direction. For Seth. Yes.

“Okay, deal.” She opened her door and slipped on her sunglasses like she were going for a stroll. “Maybe we should’ve done this at night.”

“Hell no. Fucking place gives me the creeps as it is. We’re just here looking for…stuff, there’s no law that says we can’t be here. I’m family anyway, shouldn’t be a problem, if we’re caught and questioned, we’re just...”

“Looking for
family heirlooms!” Like she was guessing trivia.

Family heirlooms. Now there was a sick thought. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Twenty feet from the ugly house and both of them were startled by the sudden outbreak of barking. “Shit!” He held Sofia who’d literally latched onto him. “It’s okay, it’s Seth’s retched best friend, here to alert anybody here that somebody is outside.”

“Awwww, really?” Sofia slapped her legs lightly
, ignoring all what he said. “Come ‘ere, come ‘ere to momma.”

“Sofia, look at him, he’s filthy,
” Daniel whispered. “Probably has the mange or God knows what else. Don’t touch it.”

She stood abruptly. “Oh dang. Good boy, get. Go on, shoo.”

“Get the fuck out of here!” Daniel hissed at the mutt, stomping his foot. The dog tucked his tail and bolted off and under the house.

“Daniel, that was
mean!
”

“Can we try and be a little quiet, I mean if somebody
is here
, I’d like to maybe catch her before she tries to run.”

Sofia scrunched her face in
sorry, you’re right
then slid her fingers along her tight lips, turned something invisible and tossed her hand behind her.

He shook his head,
confused.

“I zipped my lips and locked it and threw away the key,” she whispered
like he should know. “Haven’t you ever heard of that?”

He approached the nearest window. “I
was apparently absent the day they taught that gem in school.” He waved her over. “I’m going to lift you up and you tell me what you see.”

She hurried over
and he hoisted her up and put her butt on his chest. “I see, furniture,” she whispered. “Sofa, chair, coffee table. A book shelf. A TV.”

The living room, he guessed.

“Seems untouched, like somebody just ran out and never came back.”

Or they never left. Surely he wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Let’s check the next window.”

“Maybe the door is unlocked,” she whispered.

The key.

Daniel hurried to the spot where Seth had retrieved the hidden key. Would he have put it back? When? And why?

“What are you looking for?”

Daniel turned over the stones next to the steps. “A spare key, Seth had gotten it from here somewhere.”

“Maybe the door is unlocked.”

Daniel straightened and looked at the
sickly white door on the porch. Didn’t hurt to try.

At the door, he listened for a minute. When
he found all quiet, he tried the knob. It opened. Well fuck him.

He turned to
take Sofia back to the car and she grabbed hold of his arm and shook her head. “Let me go, please,” she mouthed, “I’ll stay right by you.” A plea etched her entire face.

His only real concern was maybe a bum hiding out there. But l
eaving her in the car didn’t feel safe either. He signaled for her to be quiet and she nodded.

The
y made their way through the house carefully. By the time they were done, Daniel was nauseated. The place smelled of the worst kinds of sins and his body and mind seemed to be able to pinpoint all of them. He needed air.

“What’s this door?” Sofia pointed at the basement door, her face
a reflection of his own feelings. She was ready to get the fuck out too and only persisted out of sheer desperation to find a lead.

“That’s the basement, where we got the money,” he nearly mouthed without sound.

Her mouth went into an O with her nod. “Should we…?” She pointed at the door and drew a check mark in the air.

Yes, he really should. He’d hide there if he really felt the need to. And his guess, if she was there, she’d feel the need to. Problem was, who else could be hiding down there?

His chest feeling tight, he fought for the control he’d mastered over the years. No fear. He’d long ago overcome that. Drawing on that will, he crossed the floor and took hold of the knob and turned. The light from the main house reached halfway down the old wooden steps like a warning before entering hell. Creepiest fucking sight ever.

He turned and took Sofia’s hand and led her to the kitchen.
“I need some kind of light to go down those stairs.” He pointed to the drawers. “Check those, I’ll check these.” He rummaged through a few, finding them near bare.

Fucking stank bad in there. Old trash
? Worse.

“Daniel!”

He jerked to find Sofia holding up a piece of paper. “What is it?” He walked over.

“Looks like a grocery list on the back.”
She turned it over and read the name. “Maybe the girl shopped there, somebody might know her. It’s something.”

“Yes, you’
re right. Wait a minute, look at the date.”

She skimmed it.
“Hard to read, I think it’s probably old. Yep. April of last year. She may have been here longer though.”

“According to Seth,
she was.”

Sofia put it in her back pocket and continued looking.
“We could go there, they may know something, be able to tell us the last time they saw her, what she bought, anything.”

“Yes, yes. Good idea.
” He went back to rummaging through every crack and cranny of the filthy graveyard. Any bones might shed light on what went down there. Finding a literal light would be fucking awesome too.

“Matches!” Sofia rattled a box of kitchen matches with a
wide eyed grin.

“
Wow.” Daniel opened the oven door of the stove. “Oh fuck!” He slammed the door back at encountering maggot infested old food.

“God,
that’s what stinks in here.”

“
Let’s get the fuck out of here, we’ll come back tomorrow.”

“
No, no, we need to look in that basement, something tells me we’ll find the evidence we need,” she insisted.

“Or find a corpse, God, I don’t want to go down there.” Daniel paced a few steps. “Let’s not stand in here.”
He pulled her back to the hall. “Fuck it, give me the matches. Ought to burn the place down before I leave.”

He opened the
horror movie looking door that led to the basement. Uncountable scratches scarred the dingy dirty paint along the edge. Daniel imagined countless children screaming and clawing to keep from being taken down there. Fuck he hated this place.

He
struck a match. “Stay close to me, I don’t want you more than four inches away.”

“I’m here, I’m here.”

Daniel snorted to himself. “The only thing I’m scared of Sofia, is you getting hurt somehow in this fucked up shit.”

“Okay, I get it
, right next to you.”

The
y began the decent into that dank hell, wooden steps creaking loudly as they went. He’d never forget the smell of that place. Years of horrific abuse filled the air like a suffocating blanket.

“This is preeetty creepy babe,” Sofia sang, holding his shirt
tight.

“
I know.” More than she’d ever know. He stopped and struck three matches for more light.

The cellar was full of cobwebs and antique equipment, like once upon a long time ago, the place
had been used properly. Daniel blew out the matches and lit more.

“God, don’t use them all while we’re down here.”

“Trust me, I’m not.” He held his hand toward the ceiling, looking for a light. He saw one dangling and worked his way to it. He tugged the string but of course it didn’t work. “Shit.” He blew the matches out and lit a few more, lowering the light to the floor. He searched for more loose boards, looking through each crack for anything.

“What was that!”

Daniel saw it the same second she did. He blew the matches out and struck several more and got on his knees, pulling at the planks. One yanked free with a clatter and they both jumped. “Shit, sorry.”

He stared at the black metal box, feelings of nausea rolling through him.

“Just get it and we’ll take it with us, let’s get out of here,” Sofia whispered. “I’m soooo creeped out right now. But watch for spiders, this place is in
fested.
”

He
lit more fresh matches and made sure there were no large critters waiting to bite before getting the box out.

“Let’s go, let’s go.” She yanked on his shirt, her voice muffled like she spoke with her head turned. No doubt looking over her shoulder.

He stood finally with the cool metal shoe sized box. “Hold the matches, I can’t strike them with one hand, you’ll have to. Lead the way, I’m right behind you.”

“Lead?”

“I don’t want you holding this box and I won’t be able to see if the light is behind me.”

She struck a match and
plastered herself to his back, holding her arm out front. “How about like this?”

Clearly she did not want to go first.
“That works, baby. Hold on to me.”

They finally made it out of the house and both of them gasped as though invisible fingers were strangling them the entire time in there. The mangy mutt from earlier came up to Sofia, wagging his scrawny backside and practically dragging himself on the ground in an attempt to come in peace.

Geeze what a sad excuse for a dog. To think at one time it had been Seth’s only friend.

G
uilt slammed Daniel. How could he leave the damn thing knowing it meant so much to his brother?

“We should bring him home baby, clean him up. For when Seth gets out?”

“You read my mind.”

She sucked in her breath, ecstatic. “Yayyy, you’re the sweetest man ever.”

“Please,” he muttered. “Call the thing and see if it follows.”

The dog did indeed follow and low and behold hopped right in the car when Daniel leaned the front seat forward.

“Awww, he’s ready to go home!” Sofia cooed.

“Get ready to gag, he smells horrific.” Daniel put the black box behind his seat and got in the car, rolling all the windows down the second he started it
, relieved to be away from that house.

“Oh God, baby, you’re right.” Sofia covered her mouth and nose. “Hurry and drive, ewww.”

Daniel got them home as fast as he could without violating safety precautions. He was eager to find out what the hell was in that box, eager to run down that girl, find out the truth about what happened and get his brother home.