Chapter 6:-
"Well, well, well! What do we have here?" Benny asked. "My son visits me, after all these months. I wonder if he wants something cos he sure as hell wouldn't come back here with his tail between his legs if he didn't. Do you know the shit Teddy left me in?!"
"Hi Pop's," Matty walked over to his father who was stood behind his desk. "I need a favor ok, and I need you to shut up and listen." Benny looked at his son. Matty carried on, "I don't know what you heard and I don't care. We've come to you because Rachel is missing and we think she's back here in Brooklyn and you are the only one who can help."
Benny looked over at Taylor. 'Still the same silent, brooding hulk as ever.' Benny thought. He wondered what Taylor had done to make her get up and leave. "So, what do you want me to do about it?"
"Pop, I need to know if anyone has been looking for us, any of Teddy's thugs, anyone at all. Cos all I know is Rachel wouldn't just get up and leave and the only person who would go to this much trouble is dead," Matty paused. "Rachel shot six bullets into him. I shot six bullets into him and you don't get up and walk away from that."
"Rachel shot Teddy?" Benny couldn't believe this, 'Rachel shooting her father? No, she wouldn't do that, would she?'
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN!" Taylor shouted, slamming both hands down on the desk. Innez put her hand on Taylor's arm and he shook it off.
"We both did, Pop's," Matty looked at his father's face. "Look, we came home from work last night to find the door open and Rachel gone. She wouldn't go anywhere at that time of fucking night, she's six months pregnant, for Christ's sake."
Benny looked over at Taylor and thought, 'no wonder he's on edge, he must be out his fuckin' mind.' Benny had loved Rachel like a daughter, and this place wasn't the same without her, he missed her. He just couldn't believe she shot Teddy, not Rachel, not the little girl who was so sweet and innocent and adored her papa.
"She's pregnant, huh?" Benny asked. Taylor, Matty and Innez all nodded together.
"She wouldn't go out at that time of night, not without one of us with her. No note, no nothing. She didn't take her bag or phone either." Taylor lit another cigarette, his second since walking in the room.
"Yeah. But a couple of days ago two guys moved into the apartment upstairs. Rachel spoke to them a couple of times. They were maybe er… late 40's and names were Ben Frazetti and Tony Carmine, something like that." Benny nodded at Matty, he recognized those names. Matty carried on, "I never saw them before yesterday but Taylor passed them on the stairs last night and thought he recognized their voices." Matty looked at Taylor who nodded. "We went up to the apartment but they'd already left, but we did find this…"
Innez handed Matty the file she'd pulled out of her bag and Matty passed it to his father. Taylor lit another cigarette, breathing in the smoke deeply as if it would calm him.
Benny sat down at his desk and opened the file, while Matty continued, "we looked through it but it means nothing, didn't recognize any names or nothin'. But they've been following her, looks like for a number of weeks judging from those photos." Benny held up his hand to shush Matty.
Matty and Innez sat down, Matty watching his father's face for any sign of him recognizing anything. Matty took Innez's hand between his; her knee was jiggling up and down with nerves.
Taylor stubbed his cigarette out and reached for another, he cursed himself and put them back in his pocket, his thoughts were all over the place, 'when I find the dumb fuck who's got her, I'll rip his fuckin' head off. He hurts her, just once, just once,' shaking his head, he was so close to losing it. He tried really hard to keep his temper under control, but Taylor wasn't known for keeping his temper under control. Taylor was the guy who set out to be a tough guy, a tough guy with a reputation; no one fucked Taylor over and got away with it. 'She'd better be ok when I find her.'
Matty was watching his best friend pace the room like a caged wild animal. Matty knew better than anyone did what Taylor was capable of. Taylor had near killed men with his bare hands, hospitalized them after beating them after beating them to a bloody pulp. Matty knew if Taylor got his hands on whoever had Rachel, they were going to die.
Matty looked over at Benny, who had been reading the file, holding the picture of Rachel in one hand. "This guy!" he exclaimed. "This fucker, this P.I., he's worked for Teddy on many occasions. I remember his name, fuckin' Jose Mendez. He used to be a policeman but he got thrown off the force for usin' excessive force!"
Taylor and Matty looked at each other; neither of them recognized the name.
Benny grabbed his phone, dialed a number and asked for Ransom, a name both boys knew well. "Ransom, Benny Chains. Got a job for you and Nicky Fingers. My office. NOW!" Benny put the phone down and looked at Taylor, then Matty and Innez. "The boys are on the way over, I have an idea who's behind this, but they can help more than I can."
The four of them waited for Ransom and Nicky Fingers to arrive. Benny at his desk. Matty and Innez sat on the couch. Taylor pacing the floor, chain-smoking, anger building up to a level he'd never known before.
Rachel was pushed into a car, too stunned to ask questions, to even talk. 'What the fuck is going on?' she thought.
Ben Frazetti got in the drivers seat and Tony Carmine sat beside her, gun pointed at her belly. "Gonna take a little trip on a plane, now. Got someone who wants to see you." Ben laughed, it was the cruelest laugh she'd ever heard, next to her father's.
"Who are you?" she asked. "What do you want with me? Where are you taking me?"
"Shut up. The journey will go quicker if I don't have to keep stopping to shut you the fuck up, ok?" Tony shoved the gun against her belly.
Rachel wrapped her hands protectively around her stomach. The baby was kicking like hell; she wondered if the baby knew how scared she was. Tony laughed at her.
They drove to a private airstrip, where a small plane waited for them, the pilot sat waiting in the cockpit. They boarded the plane, Rachel was scared, and she was shaking as they roughly manhandled her into a seat, Ben sat opposite her and Tony next to her. She looked at their faces, they seemed familiar, but she didn't know, she could just be imagining but, hell, she was scared.
The plane took off, and without being told she knew they were flying back to Brooklyn. She thought about Taylor and Matty coming home to find her gone. Taylor will be out of his mind. Matty will be bad enough, but Taylor. Her eyes filled with tears and she let them fall down her cheeks and fall from her chin. No way was she moving her hands away from her stomach. The baby was doing somersaults inside her.
For the entire flight the two men gave her looks that chilled her, eying up her breast and her body as if she was a piece of 'meat' for the taking. She didn't know what to do, if they wanted to hurt, no way could she fight them off. She tried not to look at them.
"I always like a big girl," Tony said. "Ripe and juicy, ready to be fucked."
"Don't even think about it, Boss will string you up with your balls if you lay one finger on her," Ben kicked his partner.
Dread filled Rachel's body, she realized who Tony was. He was Tony the Rape. Her body went cold. 'Taylor, please find me. Please Baby, find me.' Her heart begged and begged and she hoped Taylor would know where to go. The one man who could help them, Benny Chains.
The plane landed at another private airfield in Brooklyn, Tony and Ben dragged her off the plane and into a waiting car. They set off, wheels screeching and she looked for familiar signs out of the window.
When she realized where they were heading, her stomach fell and she felt sick. She knew who wanted her, who had always wanted her.
They pulled up behind the club that she was so familiar with, the club where she had grown up, the club that had been her home.
Ben pulled her out of the car; both had guns on her, as if she'd run. 'Where would I go?' she thought. They walked into the building and down the corridor to the office. Ben knocked on the door, and opened it. Fuck, she knew who was behind it and she did not want to go in. Her legs went to jelly and she thought she was going to pass out. Her chest fought for air as everything around her began to spin and she crumpled to the floor.
She was vaguely aware of voices in the room as she opened her eyes. She hoped it was a dream but no, it was her worst nightmare coming true.
Before her, stood Teddy Deserve.