Ellena [Orchidea: Love on the Bayou 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “Casinos and prostitution?” Eloi asked.

  “Well, the investigation is only in the beginning stages but it seems that way. We’re hoping within the next week or so he meets with these guys and we can get pictures, audio, and surveillance. He obviously sees you as a threat, Leon. Otherwise he wouldn’t be going to such measures to ruin your rep and get you thrown off the force or even locked up.”

  “Fucking great. So what is it you want me to do?”

  Just then the agent received a message on his cell he needed to take.

  “Excuse me one moment please. I need to make a call.” The agent stepped out of the room, and Leon looked at Eloi and rolled his eyes. “We’ve been at this all afternoon.”

  “Well, at least we have more info.” Leon saw his phone light up, and taking a quick glance, he saw that he missed numerous calls from Roy.

  “Let me take this. It seems that Roy is trying to get in touch with me.”

  He answered the phone.

  “Hey, Roy, I’m in the middle of something. Is everything all right?” Leon asked.

  “No. Ellena didn’t follow us back to our house. She took off after we got her stuff in the car and before we could get to where we parked the truck.”

  “What the hell do you mean ‘took off’? Why? What the hell happened?” Leon asked and now Eloi looked concerned.

  “She was acting funny. Really distant and nothing like what you and Mack said she acted like with you two. Troy and I were concerned and could sense that something was wrong, but she didn’t budge. We think she gave us the slip on purpose.”

  “I don’t like this. Did you call her sisters?”

  “I’m on it,” Eloi said as he held the cell phone to his ear. Leon figured that he was calling Angelique.

  “We’re worried man. She seemed scared, and in the lobby as she checked out, she kept looking around and then turned a shade of white. She was shaking but said she was tired.”

  Just then the agent walked back into the room.

  “I need to go. Call her sisters, drive into Orchidea if you need to and see where she is. I’ll call you in a little bit.” Leon hung up the phone, and then Eloi shook his head then disconnected the call.

  “Angelique is looking into it. I didn’t want to get her alarmed.”

  “Is something going on?” Agent Jones asked.

  “Not sure. Can we finish this up? I have something personal to look into,” Leon said.

  “Well, you may want to hear what the surveillance guys found out about yesterday. They just sent me a picture of Parker talking to a woman in town and having lunch with her.”

  “And?” Leon asked.

  Agent Jones handed his cell phone over to Leon.

  “Do you know this woman?”

  As Leon took the phone into his hands, he knew already that something was wrong. His mind was on Ellena and where she could be. As he looked at the picture of Parker with the woman, he zeroed in on her face and did a double take.

  He stood up from his chair.

  “Ellena? Where the hell did you get this?” Leon asked.

  “So you know her?”

  “Yes, I know her. She’s…with me,” he stated defensively. He knew that ménage relationships weren’t common around other parts of the country and this guy was government.

  “She’s also involved with your brother Mack, correct?” he asked.

  “What?” Eloi asked, and the agent looked at Eloi then back at Leon before taking a seat in his chair.

  “I know about ménage relationships. I have a good buddy of mine from the army that shares a woman with his two brothers. I’m not judging you. My guy took these pictures yesterday and then another guy was on you and your brother last night. He saw you go back to the hotel with Ellena Aubert. He knows that you didn’t leave.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Eloi asked.

  “Now I don’t know about this Aubert woman, but I can tell you that my guy said she abruptly left the lunch date with Parker and he had her followed. Parker was at the hotel this morning. He entered through a back door.”

  “Lunch date?” Leon asked and felt his blood boiling. He was pissed off and confused.

  “You need to find Ellena,” Eloi said then began to dial his cell phone.

  “She checked out of the hotel a few hours ago. My guy lost her coming out of the crowded side streets,” Agent Jones said.

  “My brothers lost her, too. She’s running and I don’t know why.”

  Leon pulled out his cell phone and called Mack. They had to find Ellena before Parker or his men did, and then he would get down to what she was up to. Could she be involved with Parker? He hated to think that. Just saying the words in his head made Leon sick. Maybe Parker approached her and threatened her? He knew the asshole was capable of it, but Mack hadn’t even bumped into her yet. Parker wouldn’t know she was theirs unless he figured it out after.

  “Fuck!” he exclaimed as the phone rang and rang and crazy thoughts filled his head. What if Ellena was in danger?

  * * * *

  “Oh thank God you’re okay. Where the hell are you?” Angelina asked as she held the phone to her ear and waved to Illeanna who stood by the door to the kitchen. They were getting ready to close and everyone was calling, searching for their sister.

  “I can’t tell you where I am. I’m trying to hide out.”

  “Why?” Angelina asked as she placed the call on speaker.

  “I don’t want to tell you, but I’m really scared. If I come home or I go near Leon, Mack, Troy, and Roy, then their lives could be in danger.”

  “In danger? From who?” Illeanna asked as the back door opened and Mamma Cherise entered along with Johnny. Angelina placed her finger over her mouth indicating for them to remain silent.

  “I don’t want to say. I’m so confused and scared. I’m so tired but I’m afraid if I check into a hotel, they’ll find me.”

  “Leon and his brothers?” Angelina asked.

  “No.” Ellena sniffled, and now Angelina was worried. Cherise indicated for her to hand her the phone.

  “Cherise is here, too. She wants to talk to you.”

  “Oh God, Cherise.”

  “I’m here child and you need to get to your men. They’ll protect you from that devil.”

  “Cherise, you don’t understand. They’ll kill them. If I don’t stay away from the Rue brothers, they’re as good as dead. Plus I can’t come home. I’m afraid they’ll go after my sisters.” Angelina thought she sounded very scared and certain that staying away was best.

  “Who are these men?” Johnny asked, and Cherise shushed him up.

  “Don’t matter. The men, they know who he is. You need let Leon, Mack, Troy, and Roy find you, Ellena. This isn’t a battle to handle on your own. You stay away then trouble get the best of you.”

  Ellena was silent. “I’ll think about it. Tell them I’m safe. Tell my sisters I’m safe.”

  “Ellena!” Johnny said her name loudly but the call disconnected.

  “Shit. That sister of yours needs to get to her men for protection. Whatever is going on it’s serious. Ellena worried enough about bringing trouble around here. I’m going to call Leon and Eloi and let them know Ellena says she’s safe. If she calls back, ladies, you get me right away and find out where she’s staying.”

  “Okay,” Illeanna said as Johnny got out his cell phone to call the guys.

  “I’m worried, Illeanna,” Angelina said as her sister pulled her into a hug. Cherise then lay her hand over Angelina’s shoulder.

  “Don’t you fret now, Angelina. Your sister is strong, and she’s smart. If she thinks that hiding out alone is the best thing to do right now, then maybe the bad men are close by. If the bad guys coming around Orchidea, then Ellena wants to protect all of you. Now, why don’t you two close up the restaurant and let Johnny take you both home?”

  “Angelina, you’re staying with us tonight,” Johnny said as he re-entered back through the back door. Angelina thoug
ht he looked really angry.

  “What’s going on, Johnny?” Illeanna asked as she walked next to him and placed her hand on his arm.

  “There’s a real sticky situation. Got the feds and Internal Affairs involved. Seems Ellena got caught up smack in the middle.”

  “Oh God. What can you tell us?” Angelina asked.

  “If Ellena calls back, you’ve got to convince her to get to her men or to one of us, so we can protect her. From what Eloi just explained to me on the phone, she’s a sitting duck, with no defenses against these ruthless men. Her only option is to call us.”

  * * * *

  Ellena hid the car on the side of the building near the Dumpster as a precaution. She figured she had lost Parker’s men. Not that she was positive that they were following her, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She couldn’t get cell service from where she parked, so she carefully walked through the back parking lot until she got a signal on her phone. She was frightened. She couldn’t believe when she got into her car and exited the hotel parking lot Parker’s men were following her. She quickly lost the black sports car and hadn’t seen it since. She thought she had been smart in losing Troy and Roy. They were going to be so angry with her, but she took Parker’s threats seriously, especially after seeing how his men were on her like white on rice.

  Ellena had searched through her car trying to find the spray that Cherise had given her. It was some sort of special formula of spices and peppers to ward off, as Cherise told her, “unwanted advances.” That crazy voodoo priestess knew that this trip was going to have some sort of danger yet hadn’t warned her. She gave her oils to ward off the so-called ghosts that haunted the hotels and places of interest in the French Quarter and then this pepper spice stuff. She gripped it in her hand and took off the top as she slowly walked back to the car. She was a nervous wreck and afraid of every noise she thought she heard. She should head away from here and toward Baton Rouge. There were plenty of hotels and back roads she could take. She just needed to be sure that Parker’s men weren’t hiding around.

  It was pretty damn dark now in the parking lot, and she could hardly see her small car by the Dumpster. Her hands were shaking, and she was so tired. The car was nearly on empty from all her driving around in circles trying to lose the men.

  “I see you, woman.”

  Ellena gasped as the deep voice echoed in the back of the building. She looked around, moving in a circle, trying to see through the darkness. She held the spray in her hand, and then she felt the grip on her shoulder and a man turning her around.

  “You think you can lose a professional?” the security guy of Parker’s asked. She looked around. He seemed to be alone.

  “I don’t know what you mean. Why are you following me?”

  He gave her a shove against her chest as he walked closer. She took two steps back as he continued to advance on her.

  “Parker ain’t happy. He thinks you’re trying to give him the slip. He wants me to take you back to the Quarter and to him.”

  He grabbed her dress and pulled her toward him. She slapped his hands away and tried to run, but he was on her fast. When he grabbed her arm to turn her around, she took a swing, hitting him straight in the mouth. The backhand came out of nowhere, sending her to the ground with instant pain to her cheekbone.

  “Don’t make me knock you out. Just cooperate ’cause you know Parker always gets what he wants.”

  “I’m not going with you. Get away from me.” She scrambled to get up, remembering the spray in her hand as he reached down to pull her up. She slapped at his hands and he gave her another hit to her cheek almost directly where he struck her first.

  “Stop it!” she screamed, the pain terrible, and her temper flared.

  He pulled her up off the ground, ripping the back of her dress in the process.

  “Wait, just wait and I’ll come with you,” she told him.

  As soon as she felt his hands loosen on her she turned and sprayed him directly in the eyes with Cherise’s special spray.

  His cries of pain could be heard for miles she was certain, but she wasn’t sticking around to see if help arrived. She ran to her car, got in, started the engine, and hit reverse. It was too late when she saw the guy in her side mirror holding his eyes and screaming as she bumped him with the back corner of the car. It wasn’t a hard hit because he was still standing and she hit the break. Skidding out on the gravel, she took off for the main road and hopefully the highway.

  She wasn’t cut out for this. She couldn’t handle this on her own. She needed help.

  She let out a small scream as the sound of her cell phone ringing scared her. She had full signal as she reached for the phone to answer it.

  “Hello.”

  “Ellena. Oh thank God, baby. Where are you? What’s going on?” Leon asked her, and she could hardly see the road as the tears blurred her vision. She couldn’t even breathe. She was hysterical.

  “Sugar, where are you. Are you hurt?” he asked, and then she heard him talking to others around him. He wasn’t alone.

  “There was this guy. He hit me and wanted me to go with him. Oh God, I hit him, I sprayed him with stuff from Cherise then hit him with my car. I’m so scared, Leon,” she cried, holding the steering wheel and forcing herself to continue to drive as far from the location as possible. She didn’t know how long the spray would last or if that guy had help. Looking into her rearview mirror, she saw nothing but black.

  “Sugar, where did this happen? Are you injured?”

  “He’s behind the old post office and the building-supply place off Kensington. I got outta there real fast.”

  “Honey, you need to come to us.”

  “No. No, I won’t let him kill you. He wants you and your brothers dead.”

  “Calm down, Ellena. He’s not going to kill us. I know about Parker. We have the feds, and now Internal Affairs is investigating. I need to know that you’re safe and the best place to be is with me and my brothers, sugar. I know that you’re scared, baby. Please listen to me.”

  “I want to make sure that they’re not following me.”

  “Don’t worry. You’re forty minutes from us. Head to me. Head to our place, Ellena. This is not a situation for you to handle.”

  She heard the intensity yet calmness in Leon’s voice, and she believed him. She didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to trust what he was saying despite how determined Parker sounded with his threats.

  “Ellena?” he whispered.

  “He threatened me, Leon.” She heard his long release of breath.

  “Come to me, baby. In my arms you’ll be safest.”

  * * * *

  “Where the hell is she? It’s nearly three in the morning?” Mack asked as he paced the living room.

  “She’s not coming. She’s too scared. That fucker scared the shit out of her, Leon.” Roy raised his voice. They were all exhausted and worried.

  The sound of a car pulling up the driveway slowly had them all running for the door.

  Leon led the way and immediately saw Ellena’s car. The lights were off as she pulled it behind the detached garage.

  Leon pulled open her door as she slowly got out. He pulled her up into his arms and hugged her tight.

  “Oh God, Ellena. We were so worried.” He caressed her head.

  “I’m sorry, Leon. I’m so sorry,” she whispered in a very raspy voice, and she felt so delicate and almost limp in his arms. She must have been exhausted.

  “Get her into the house,” Roy told Leon.

  “The car. They’ll see the car.”

  “It’s okay, sugar, they’ll cover up the car and no one will know you’re here.” Leon looked at his brothers over her shoulder, and he could see the fear, anger, and concern in their eyes.

  Troy and Roy covered the car as Leon and Mack walked Ellena into their house.

  “Call Eloi and let him know that she’s here and she’s safe.”

  Mack pulled out his cell phone as they walked into
the living room.

  The moment he began to lay Ellena onto the couch, he saw the dirt on her dress, the tears in the material and her very swollen, bruised cheek.

  “They fucking hit you?” he whispered as she closed her eyes.

  He gently caressed her lower lip as he heard Mack inform Eloi that Ellena was safe and with them. He explained about her injuries and how exhausted she looked.

  Leon began to look over her injuries and as he gently laid a hand over her waist to check her, she gasped and curled up in a ball.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked her. He was getting angrier and angrier. What did that piece of shit Parker do to her?

  * * * *

  Ellena didn’t want to tell Leon about the spa and how Parker cut her. He looked so angry and upset with her. She just wanted to keep him safe, and she knew that Leon had a short fuse. Especially when it came to men hurting women.

  “I think she needs some ice for that,” Mack said and Troy and Roy entered the house, locking the door behind them.

  “Ice? Is she injured?” Troy asked. As he approached, his eyes appeared darker.

  “Someone hit you?” he asked her.

  “I’m okay now. I’m just so tired and scared.”

  “We need to know what happened.”

  “So much happened. I was stupid.” She felt like crying, but what good would shedding tears do now? She was safe with Leon, Mack, Troy, and Roy. She had to be. That was what Leon told her.

  “Are you sure it’s safe here, Leon? He said he’d kill you all.”

  All four men gathered around her. “It’s safe, baby. We’ll protect you. I promise,” Leon whispered then caressed her lower lip with his thumb.

  “Why didn’t you tell us at the hotel? Why did you take off like that?” Roy asked as he took a seat on the couch, and she slowly sat up. Her head was spinning, she was so tired, and her cheek ached. By the expressions on their faces, they were angry and the bruise probably looked bad. It sure felt painful. She reached up to touch her cheek and cringed as her fingers made contact.