Firethorne

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Damien

“ W here the hell have you been?” my father bellowed as I walked back into Firethorne an hour later. He was standing on the staircase, his phone clutched in his hand.

“Out,” I replied. “I was looking at cars. I’ve been thinking about getting a new one.”

“That can wait,” he sneered. “I need you here. I’ve been ringing your mobile all morning.”

“I noticed.” I lifted my phone from my pocket.

“And you didn’t think to call me back?” His jaw clenched. He was seriously pissed off. “When I call you, you fucking answer your phone. Do you hear me?” he hissed; every word spoken with venom.

“I was on my way back when I saw the missed calls. I figured it was quicker to just come back here and talk face-to-face.” He was ready to argue, but I cut him off. “Anyway, what’s up? What did you need me for?”

He took the last few steps down the staircase and came to stand in front of me in the foyer.

“Edward found something. It’s grainy CCTV but he’s working on cleaning it up. We think it’s the van that took Maya that night. She must’ve managed to scale the walls and then they picked her up on the road outside. All we can make out so far is two men in the front seat. But if that camera caught them, there might be others. We might be able to get a registration number from one of them.”

I wanted to swallow, but I didn’t want him to notice that what he’d said had affected me, so I cleared my throat and asked, “And why do you need me? I can’t do anything with CCTV.”

“Because I’ve also heard things, on the dark web, more intel on that group that’s targeting businesses like ours. There’s a lot of money being offered to shut them down, and I want you to look into it. I want to know everything that’s being said. I want to know what’s happening before anyone else. Find them, Damien. This is why I paid your ridiculous school fees, so you could be educated enough to assist in times like these.”

There was always someone offering money to take us out. What we did didn’t come without its pitfalls. The worst being someone would put a bullet in our head if we made ourselves known and popped our head above the parapet.

Actually, that wasn’t the worst thing. The worst would be shutting us down altogether, because for these women and children, women like Maya, we were a beacon. Hope in a world that was only filled with darkness. And yes, my father had paid an astronomical amount in private school fees to educate me. A private school that allowed me to escape the confines of this hellhole every term. That gave me the opportunity to think for myself.

What a shame Lysander and Miriam were home-schooled. They hadn’t been afforded the same luxury, despite thinking that me being sent away was a punishment of sorts. It was a punishment, and that suited me just fine. While they wallowed in the spider’s web that was Firethorne, I made plans and made a life for myself.

I made connections that I still benefitted from today.

“I’m on it,” I told him. Because who better to go in search of me, than me. I’d make sure he never found us. I’d do whatever I could to shut down anyone who tried to track us down.

“Good. Because I plan to have her back here within the week, and when I do, we’ll make sure she goes to Edward knowing exactly the kind of treatment she’s going to get from her next owner. Maybe I’ll let you or Lysander break her in, or better yet, I’ll do it myself. But either way, we will get her back.”

His words made me feel sick and stabby all at once.

“Why do you care about getting her back?” Lysander’s voice chimed as he appeared from the hallway to the left of us. “She fucked us over and stole from us. Why go to all the bother of getting her back. Just let her go. Or report her to the police. I don’t know why you’re taking this all on yourself.”

My father had spun a tale for Lysander, and he was so fucking gullible, he’d believed it. He said Maya had stolen from the family, that she was running away because she’d been caught out that night. But being the stand-up guy that my father claimed he was, he didn’t want to involve the police. He wanted to deal with it himself.

“It’s a matter of principle. She needs to know she can’t get away with it. Not when it comes to our family.”

Ah. Those twisted Firethorne morals. The ones that my father and his father before him had written on the back of every captive’s broken back.

“I did what I could,” Lysander went on, harping on about the heroic part he played in trying to avenge Maya’s crimes. “But she was vicious.”

“And you weren’t made to outwit or outsmart anyone,” our father stated plainly. “Damien is the cunning one. Best to leave the heavy work to him.” Lysander gave me an evil glare. “That’s why he’s going to spend however long it takes locked in his study to help me find her. And you...” He turned to stare at Lysander. “Can use your painting skills to help Beresford with the fences tomorrow. Show us you can be of use in some capacity.”

Lysander replied, “Yes, Father.” Ever the dutiful son. But his eyes showed he wanted to say more, probably gouge our father’s eyes out for being so fucking cruel, closely followed by mine for grinning back at him.

You’d think he’d be used to it by now, but Lysander lived for praise and adulation. He existed to try and reap the rewards from a father who would never give him any.

And me?

There was no love lost between Lysander and me. From day one, he’d hated me. I was the bastard who didn’t belong. He thought I didn’t know that he painted shadowed figures of me into every painting he’d ever made. But Lysander couldn’t keep his mouth shut. And he’d told everyone else. Miriam, Beresford, Cora, they all knew. He was a damn fool for thinking it would never get back to me. Or maybe he simply didn’t care. I know I didn’t.

Lysander stomped away, and with a sly grin, my father followed him. But as he walked away, he called over his shoulder to me, “I want you on that dark web night and day. I want to find these people. Cut the head off the snake. They might think they can outsmart us, Damien, but we’re always one step ahead. Remember that. Always one step ahead.”

“I won’t forget,” I hissed under my breath. “I won’t ever forget.”