Free Where She Belongs (The Forever Collection Book 1) by Dani Wyatt Page A

leader or whatever, I know him. He’s been a swinging needle dick in my clubs for years. But since we’d moved into his neighborhood, suddenly he thinks he’s king shit around here. But I’ve had enough. Of him, and all the others like him.
    Allister grabs my arm before I can walk away.
    “Tonya needs a word.”
    Tonya was their waitress tonight.
    “She heard something. You asked for the girls to report anything else they’d heard, you know, about that other thing.” His voice is low, and he keeps it lower while speaking to me. I try to steady my breath. All I want to do is start scouring the world for May, but I need to handle this shit right now.
    “Okay. I’ll find her.”
    I’m not four steps away when Tonya comes up from the side.
    “I heard more.” Tonya’s about thirty. She’s been part of my clubs for five years or so now, and I trust her as much as I trust anyone. Former prostitute. Now she’s getting her Master’s in elementary education and still keeping five shifts a week here. “That one, you know, his name is Victor.” She tips her head as Allister is busy escorting them to the door. “Him and one of those others . . . I’ve never seen him before . . . they were talking about Victor getting married. Then they stopped when I put their drinks down. But I was behind the curtain and I heard Victor telling him as soon as he gets her knocked up and she’s had a baby, to ‘take care of it.’ He said to make it look like an accident. Said to slam her head on the concrete then throw her into the pool. She’d get trapped in the pool cover and never be able to get out, and no one would question it.” She takes a deep breath and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.
    “Thanks.” I’m not sure if I’ll take this to the cops or not. Anything I tell them is just hearsay, so there’s no telling if they’ll do anything about it. And then I’ve played my cards. So maybe I’ll just keep it to myself for now.
    “Oh and one more thing.” Tonya touches my arm to get my attention, then quickly removes it when I dart my eyes to hers.
    Anyone that works here knows not to touch me. It’s just a thing with me. I don’t like to be touched. I let Allister touch me occasionally, I’m used to him. But he’s the only one, everyone else knows my quirk. But Tonya’s excited and I let it go. It’s nothing more than that, not with Tonya.
    “Sorry. What else?” I see the last of the group move out the front door with a line of my heavyweights behind them. “They said her name.” Tonya licks her lips and pulls at her hands. “The girl or whoever he’s supposed to marry.”
    “Yeah?” I’m distracted, because I need to figure out how to find May.
    “They said her name was Maribelle.”
    I just lost my mind.

May
    L eah was waiting up for me when I climbed back in through the balcony doors.
    I gave her a rundown of the evening, leaving out huge chunks of information because I’m pretending some if it didn’t happen.
    Now it’s nearly 5 a.m. and sleep will not come. I took a bath, counted sheep, but it’s useless. Laying here in my ivory tower, I’m thinking that maybe my plan is stupid and ridiculous. Maybe I’m stupid and ridiculous. I mean, what does it matter even if I do save enough to get an apartment and go to culinary school?
    Either way I’m just going to end up right back here in a few months with Victor. I guess in my little fantasy world, if I got out, maybe they would delay the wedding, give me a year to live on my own. A year to be free and have fun, and not screw up all the weird demands and requirements of my parents’ will.
    I loved my dad, and he loved me and Leah. But he had some backward ideas about women, that’s for sure. And in his world I guess he figured he was doing what was best for us.
    Get married, make a baby, and then everyone is bound together for life. Safe and sound, all squared away. So when those things fall into place, that’s when my inheritance