Steel Hearts: Amazing Grace

"Take her in," Ian said, looking furious. "I will talk to our brother about how he knew what Joey told Beau and me when the only other person we told was her. Not even Mitch knew the details." He stood over Eli. "If you could ask Mitch to come to give me a hand, I'd appreciate that. We don't want any misunderstandings in our family squabble."

"Bring him in with us. Let him ask his questions. I'd be interested in the answers as well," Saxon said. He nodded at Eli as Ian roughly picked him up and pushed him into the room ahead of the others, surprising Mitch, who had been sitting in a relaxed pose watching Joey suffer under the weight of dread. "Go ahead, Eli," Saxon invited once the door was closed and two other Steel Hearts had taken positions next to the door outside, ensuring their privacy.

Joey looked up at the men who now crowded the room. His eyes settled on Eli as if a silent conversation was conducted between them before skirting over the men and finally landing on Grace.

"So, what? You're going to hand her over now?" Joey bluffed, trying to harness what little bravado he still had while tied to a chair.

"That depends on who you intend to deliver her to, Joey," Saxon said in a calm, reasonable voice. "Are you planning on meeting with Teddy? You hadn't mentioned anyone else in the statements you gave us about why you put in a missing person report when Teddy knew where she was, we all knew except you and whoever you are truly working for," he questioned. "Misdirection, perhaps?"

Joey stared at Saxon in stony silence as everyone just watched him, his eyes flickering from Saxon to Grace to Eli and back again.

"So, I have a couple of easier questions if you would like to start with those, seeing as Eli is in no hurry to make you tell him where Teddy went to hide from us." Grace stepped away from the protection of Saxon and Beau, slightly moving toward Joey. "I know my brother is bi, right? Or what's it called when you don't care about gender, just the person. If my gaydar is correct, you're into boys in a big way. You must be in heaven with all these hot guys in here with you. Between us girls, it can be a little overwhelming, right?" Grace lowered her voice as if sharing a secret with him. "What makes me curious, though, is why did you or Teddy or whoever broke into my place steal my panties if you were just trying to scare me? There are better ways to scare me into leaving than stealing my panties and making me go commando for a day. I mean, the message on the mirror scared me stupid! What did you use to create that?"

Joey scowled at her but remained silent.

"You see, here's the thing, I, and I'm pretty sure Mitch can attest to the fact that Teddy was horrified when he saw that message. So unless you can tell me exactly what it said, I am going to doubt you even knew I was being stalked like that until after it all blew up and Teddy got me out of there," she said. "He could have sent me away then and there. I had some savings, and I would have gone if he asked me to, regardless of his brother's suggestion. I wouldn't have fought him over it. If he wanted me gone, I would have gone. He didn't need to play the elaborate games you are making up. You just don't get how close we are and why your story makes no sense," she sighed.

Joey's eyes briefly flicked over to Eli again, but he remained resolutely silent.

"Someone who would go to the trouble of breaking in and stealing something I wouldn't even notice at first, or move things around to make me think I was forgetful, is not trying to chase me away. So the threat on the mirror wasn't a threat in the traditional sense, even though it freaked me out. I'd like to know how and why it was left on my mirror when no other messages had been left before then?" Grace asked.

Joey gave her a look of confusion before masking his face again and looking at her with no expression and complete silence.

"You know the one thing that confirms to me that you are lying about Teddy?" she asked. "Come on, guess," she taunted. "You can't, can you, because you weren't there and didn't know what was on the mirror. The whole story you fed these men was given to you by someone else with enough detail to make it credible but not enough to back it up if you were questioned by someone who lived through all that shit." She challenged. "It must just be killing you that a dumb girl like me unravelled your whole story, but I'm not your typical Fox Trap girl am I, Eli?" She turned her attention on the only other person Joey was looking at with any interest.

"Only because you're his sister," Eli shrugged. "Otherwise, you're just like any other girl who showed up there with nothing and no place to go."

"You know Teddy told me all about how the turnover in girls at the Fox Trap was out of control, and every time he went in there, you had new faces that would disappear just as quickly. He made friends with one girl who reminded him of me. Did he tell you that?" She asked, working through the problem in her mind. "She disappeared without a trace. He had someone look for her, did you know that?"

"Why are you telling me? I don't care about the sluts at the Fox Trap," Eli asked in a flat voice but glared at her.

"Because you were one of his best friends, and I assumed you of all people would know," she said, taking his glare and throwing it back. "You knew more about Teddy and me than anyone, but you aren't here to defend him. Instead, you're here to condemn me with lies. Why is that?" she asked.

"I haven't condemned you with anything," Eli ground out.

"Out in the hall just then, you told me I should have just left like Teddy wanted me to, except he never told me to go. I doubt he ever would have," she said. "Why would you say that if you weren't trying to condemn me in the eyes of your brothers. I haven't done anything wrong to be sent away, but I am getting the feeling you have some explaining to do," she blinked at him.

"And you," she turned back to Joey." Just tell them the truth, and they will let you go. You're a shit kicker doing the jobs no one else wants, not the brains behind the operation," she shook her head. "Guys like you always survive..." she squealed as Eli grabbed her and pulled her back, placing a hand around her throat and squeezing.

"You will let me walk out of here, or I will snap her neck," Eli said and backed up against the door.

Grace heard the boom and felt herself drop as hands fell away from her, and she tried to crawl away from the man who had dropped her as he howled in pain and frustration.

"Fuck! You shot me! You actually shot me!" Eli seemed not to believe his own words.

"It's barely a scratch," Saxon rumbled in a deep voice. "Shut him up," he ordered Ian. Who went over where Eli was still muttering darkly and hit him, so he passed out.

"Hey," she croaked as Beau reached her first, picking her up from the floor and shielding her against the wall with his body.

"Speak," Saxon growled at Joey. "I just shot one of my own. What do you think that says about your chances of survival today?"

Joey looked at him with wild eyes, his mouth gaping like a fish as his gaze went back to the now unconscious form of Eli, who was being treated for the wound Saxon had inflicted on his upper arm.

"We don't mind doing this the hard way. However, Mitch is a bit out of practice, so he'd probably like the opportunity to refresh his skills," Saxon said.

"He needs stitches, but he'll survive," Ian reported as he stood up from where he had been assessing the wound on Eli's arm. "What do you want to do with him?"

"Tie him up and leave them both here. Let them contemplate their limited future together, and once I have ensured that our girl is safe and content, then I will come and get the answers I need," Saxon responded. He signalled to Beau, and the two men left the room and headed back upstairs to discuss what they thought was happening now and how Grace seemed to know more about the Fox Trap than they did.

Grace said she was fine and seemed her usual self, but the tightness around her eyes told Saxon she was struggling, so he hadn't pressed her too hard initially when they had first returned to the apartment. Beau was not quite as careful as his fury rode him hard.

"What the fuck did you mean about the Fox Trap and girls who disappear?" Beau demanded from her once they had closed the door to their apartment. Now that they were away from the view of the common rooms and anyone who might interrupt them, he needed answers.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? You own the place, or Saxon does," she argued back. She dug out her phone and opened Teddy's most recent text messages. She lifted her phone to show one text in particular:

T: 6:40pm. "Don't believe what you hear about me. I have always loved you and tried to look out for you. Trust me, please. It's not me doing this, but I can't accuse the fucker behind all of this and what I told you about A at the FT without proof. I will fix this, Gracie. I'm sorry."

"The A stands for Ava, and FT is Fox Trap," she pointed out. "It didn't make sense at the time, but Teddy told me that Ava had disappeared when they had arranged to meet one weekend. He searched for her even got a private eye to look. There was no trace of her anywhere, no bank accounts were touched, and her phone was turned off and never turned back on while he searched. He talked to the guys who frequented the Fox Trap about other girls who had left abruptly, but he didn't tell me details. I think I only knew about Ava because he was so bummed when she left without a word. I told him she wouldn't have done that without good reason, and she might be in trouble," she sighed. Maybe he found something but can't prove it, and they are trying to make him look bad before he finds the proof he needs," she clutched at straws in her brother's defence.

"When was the last time you were there?" Saxon asked.

"It been more than a year," Beau shrugged. "You know how I feel about that place and where I preferred to find a playmate, not that I have been there either recently."

"We'll try to put pressure on those two fuckers again. If not, we go to Steve and try not to break his cover," Saxon said. "If anyone has heard rumours about trafficking girls, he would have even if they are only rumours."

"True, but that doesn't explain the interest in Grace. Why stalk her? Why wreck her stuff when she got scared and called Teddy?" Beau challenged. "Even if there is some sort of trafficking happening or exchange if the girls are going willingly. What does that have to do with Grace?"

*****

Beau sat on the bed beside his girlfriend, who slept soundly nestled against his legs. Even to his ears, the word girlfriend felt like a foreign word that couldn't apply to him. Reaching over, he stroked the hair back from her forehead and smiled. She was perfect, or at least perfect for him. She was brave enough to face the frightening things in her life but strong enough to admit when she needed help to do that.

The three of them had eaten together and discussed what to do with Joey and Eli once they had told Saxon and his men what they needed to know, and she had accompanied them when they went back downstairs to see the two men. It had only been when Saxon had requested his toolkit that Grace admitted that although she knew it needed to be done, she didn't want to witness the interrogation. Beau had listened to what happened in the closed room through his phone as he escorted Grace back upstairs, where she got ready for bed and listened to a book on Audible as she drifted to sleep.

He had been far too distracted by what was happening downstairs to have any meaningful discussion with her. He regretted that now, and he wished he had spent the time talking with her about everything going through her mind. Instead of letting her distance herself from what was happening and what the man she had started caring for was doing to her brother's best friend, Eli.

Now that they knew what he had done, he would be a former best friend. He had done the wrong thing not just by Teddy and Grace but by more girls than Beau wished to think about. The six were about to become a five or maybe even a four, depending on what Steve knew about what Eli was doing. He looked up as Saxon came in looking tired. They nodded in understanding to each other as Saxon made his way to the bathroom to clean up.

"Mitch and Ian are cleaning up as well. Joey and Eli are in no shape to go anywhere right now. We'll get them a doctor in the morning," Saxon said in a flat voice. "We'll talk while she sleeps," his eyes drifted to where Grace curled into a ball, and he drew in a deep breath. She'd changed him, and he wasn't sure if it was for the better. It had hurt deeply to interrogate one of his own. The betrayal fuelled not only him but a deep hurt within him that wanted to crush his soul.

Beau knew that this was not Saxon's usual way of operating. He'd been surprised when he had let Eli live after his absolute betrayal, not just of the club and the girls who worked there but of his brothers. He was black and white when it came to love and betrayal. He loved hard, but he did revenge even harder. They needed to know if Steve was part of the cartel that trafficked in young runaways or girls who had aged out of a system that didn't set them up for success after their time in the state's care.

He and his crew would be shutting down the Treasure Hunters business that had been so lucrative for Eli and Joey, but first, they needed to discover who the mysterious man who had requested Grace was behind his mask and pseudonym. Steve should be able to help with that unless he too was in on the scheme, and Beau hoped like hell he wasn't because he wasn't sure Saxon could take the blow to the bonds of trust he had given his six. It was bad enough they were about to be five. Becoming a four was out of the realms of possibility for Beau. He didn't even want to contemplate the implosion within their ranks.

Saxon emerged from the bathroom and jerked his head toward the common rooms. Moving carefully so as not to disturb Grace, Beau slid from the bed and bent to kiss her forehead. She murmured and rolled, but the mild sedative he had convinced her to take was doing its job. The two men walked out to join their friends and, surprisingly, Steve, who had come sooner than any of them had expected.

"I knew it had to be something big because you never ask me to break cover, so I called a covid shutdown and clean, and here I am as ordered," Steve said. He looked relaxed sitting on a couch with a beer in hand, unlike a man who could be busted for a trafficking ring. "By the looks on your faces, I was right to come now. So what's going on?"

"Tell me everything you know about the Treasure Hunters," Saxon said without preamble or greeting.

"Secretive group of rich guys. They put out a list online leading up to specific holidays. The list has difficult things to find and offers big rewards if any of them are delivered, or the whereabouts is given to the member seeking it. They are harmless mostly unless you have a good wine or art collection, then they can be ruthless," Steve explained. 'Several of them hold court at Vixen's on the first of every month to discuss their current list if there is one. I'm not interested, so I don't get involved as long as they pay their dues and don't break the rules. Some bend the rules pretty far, but none of the girls deny consent."

"Can you bring up the hunters list? Do you have access to the website?" Saxon asked.

"Sure, but it's generally full of stupid shit or cryptic clues that no one understands," Steve shrugged, not understanding what was going on. He picked up his phone and navigated to the website.

"Here, do it on the laptop so we can see," Ian suggested passing him the laptop he had been using to try and find the hidden site.

"What the fuck is going on?" Steve finally let his frustration show as the other four men gathered around him.

"All in good time, brother," Mitch said, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder, keeping him in the seat.

"Did you know some of these Cryptic clues were descriptions of women? That the club you run was being used to traffic women?" Saxon asked, still not bothering to sit as he made it clear this was no joke. "At this point, it will be a miracle if the doors of the club stay open, so you better be straight with me."

"No fucking way that was happening on my watch!" Steve exclaimed.

"Found it!" Beau growled and read aloud. "Ladybird, Ladybird a long way from home. Songbird, songbird, why ever do you roam? Bluebird, bluebird, when the bear starts to growl. Boobird, boobird when hunters on the prowl. Valentine's Day delivery and a phone number."

"That's a woman?" Steve asked in what appeared to be genuine astonishment.

"Not just any woman," Ian said. "What's ladybird?" he asked.

"Her car that she got from her brother, the growly bear who didn't like her racing it," Mitch offered.

"Thanks, makes sense now," Ian nodded. "This was posted before she came to stay here?"

"They'd have to be suicidal if it was after Sax claimed her as his," Mitch said as Beau continued to scroll through the site, and Saxon watched Steve silently.

"Someone better tell me what the fuck is going on here," Steve let out an explosive breath.

"As I said, the club you manage is being used to traffic women by this group of Elite's who organise the treasure hunts. Only they fucked up in a big way by targeting a woman we know and care about as well as her brother, our brother, who has gone into hiding because they were framing him for the scare tactics and plans to make her disappear. They even won over one of our brothers, so I will ask you again. Did. You. Know?" Saxon was blunt, now his anger and betrayal riding him hard.

"Fuck no! If anything were happening in the club, I would have eight balled those fuckers. You know that. We are cautious about vetting the female clientele who enter with Dominants and Masters.

"When was the last time you saw Eli or Teddy?" Saxon asked, his voice still flat and accusing.

"Eli, a couple of days maybe, Teddy was in this morning, but he didn't stay long. He never does. It's not his scene. But, he did seem agitated, and he was looking for Eli too," Steve said without having to think about it.

"Has Joey been hanging out at the club?" Saxon asked next as if interrogating his brother.

"Whoa there! Joey? Is he a brother now? I have been out of the loop for a few years now. You are going to have to give me more to go on here," Saxon finally lost a little of his laid-back persona.

"Just answer my questions, and then I'll answer yours," Saxon said, not altering his flat voice.

"He's a first of the month fish always looking for a bite to make a quick buck. He has made himself known to the Elites as the go-to guy for anything their heart desires. He never had a moral compass but human trafficking? I thought that would have been too far, even for Joey." Steve explained, not leaving out any important detail. "He dragged one of their drug addict sons who had been missing through the club when the hunts first started. That's how I found out about the list, but they weren't hurting the crowd at the club, and they were bringing in people on slow days at the beginning of the week, so I let the incident go with a warning to keep that shit out of the club. Deliveries had to be handled elsewhere." He raised his eyebrows at Saxon as if to ask if that was enough information on the worm known as Joey.

"Show him," Saxon said to Beau and walked away, not wanting to relive the absolute betrayal of Eli's words as he showed him the interrogation video. It was true the guy had come from nothing, but he had a pretty easy life with the Steelheart's and the Sovereign Six. His claims of needing to build his nest egg were not even relevant enough to warrant doing a few odd jobs behind his brother's backs. The fact that he had planned to sell Teddy's sister into slavery and think that was okay boggled his mind.