"They were with this other guy I never caught a name for. He had a buzzcut and some scruff."
"Dominic Stevens," Dad cut out. He had been staring at the coffee table without blinking, a heavy set in his jaw.
He had been quiet. Dad gets quiet when he's angry. He doesn't yell and he doesn't lose his temper because he's always busy thinking.
So it was quiet for a while as Declan kept pressure on my cut. The plate that shattered by my hand didn't slice too deep. I wouldn't need stitches. We were just stopping the bleeding so we could wrap it.
"Are you sure you told me everything?" Dad asked me.
"Mhm," I replied.
He dropped his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples. He was thinking but whatever he was thinking didn't seem to be going his way.
He took a deep breath after even more silence. Then he finally says, "You're quitting your job at the diner."
"No, I'm not," I said without missing a beat.
"That wasn't an option, Rowena. He knows where you work, it's a very public place, and I have no idea what the fuck he's planning to do. You're not going back there until he's behind bars."
"Dad, Risa just had a baby and we're short-staffed enough already as it is. I can't just stop showing up, they need me." He gave me a heavy glare and I kept talking before he could talk. "You were the one who taught me to how to be a go-getter dad, to not back down under pressure. I'm not leaving my job because stupid dude waved his fingers at me."
"Rowena, this isn't the same scenario as some dumbass kids from school. This is an actual criminal we are talking about here. He takes young girls, girls like you. Do you want to be next on his list?"
Declan went rigid beside me, putting a little extra pressure on my gauze. "Ow," I whispered and tugged my hand a little.
"Shit, I'm sorry," He whispered, blinking out of his thoughts. He readjusted his hold on my hand.
"Rowena," Dad continued. "He has outright admitted that he wants to use you to threaten me. There is absolutely no way in hell you are going back to work until I sort this out."
He was right. I knew he was right, and I hated that he was right. I went quiet for a moment as I accepted this fact.
"So what's your plan then?" I asked. "How quick can we get this guy in jail?"
He breathed out slowly, his shoulders lowering, and rested his elbows on his knees once again. "Well for one, this is an illegal recording. You weren't a party to this conversation so according to law, you had no business to record it."
"Soo, what? It's completely useless? Dad, that's bullshit."
"It's not completely useless, not with the right judge. And what I mean by that is someone I can trust. Someone who isn't possibly being bitched around by this guy's money. But the only one I can trust..." He let his words hang.
"The only one you can trust...?" I pressed.
"Is on sabbatical for another week," He let out through his teeth.
"Another week? Literally anything can happen in an entire week. He could up and move in less than three days."
"Anything can happen in another week Rowena, that is a whole week you're not allowed to show up at work, another week you stay very close to your friends when you're outside of this house, and another week you don't go anywhere other than school. You hear me?"
I let my head hang back in frustration. I wasn't frustrated with him necessarily, I knew he was being like this to keep me safe, but more at this entire mess of a situation. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to have your Uncle Lio tail you from now on while I find some probable cause."
"Probable cause... like you're going to find a legal reason for you to kick their doors down without a warrant?" I clarified, to which he silently nodded in agreement. "Okay so how do we figure out where they're staying?"
"We don't do anything. Based on what you've told me tonight, I already know exactly where they are."
How in the fuck.
But before I could say anything else, he turned to Declan, pointing a finger in his direction. "If you care about my daughter at all, you're going to keep an eye on her when I can't, you hear me? Rowena will give you Aurelio's number so you two can keep in touch. You're taking my number too. You run into any trouble, you see anything suspicious you call me first. That goes for the both of you."
"Yes sir," Declan said, his tone serious and sturdy. Dad gave him a single nod in acknowledgment and turned to leave the room.
I exhaled a long breath when it was just the two of us in the room. A humorless laugh escaped me. "That's not exactly how I envisioned you two getting along for the first time."
He looked up from wrapping my hand to give me a look I couldn't read. Then, he twitched his mouth to flash me half a smile before he went back to finish wrapping my hand.
"Declan," I said. "It was a lot for one night and it wasn't fair of my dad to give you that reasonability. He was just talking through his stress, I'm not expecting you to be my personal bodyguard. You have a lot on your plate yourself."
His brows rose with the look he was giving me and then he laughed like I said something funny. "Row... and I mean this in the nicest way possible... but you are bat shit crazy if you think I'm going to leave you alone after what I saw tonight."
I played with the edge of my bandage to distract myself from the chill slithering its way down my spine. I was worried about Giovanni showing up again, I was worried that he had seen Declan's face too.
Declan flipped my hand over, taking my fingers away from my bandage before I messed it up. He was frowning as he focused his gaze on my hand. "I've never seen you like that before," He said quietly, almost as soft as a whisper. "You scared the shit out of me, you know that?"
I had never even thought of what it was like from his side. What he must have thought when I freaked the fuck out on him with my hand bleeding and then the way I had been silent on the ride here. But he had been unbelievably patient with me and didn't push me to talk at all. He just knew I needed to get to my dad and drove me here fast.
"I'm okay," I said, matching his light tone. "I'm fine now." I give him a smile of reassurance as he watches me. He reaches a hand up to move a strand of hair behind my ear.
When he leans in to kiss my forehead, I let him, and then I drop my head into his chest, scooting closer until I feel his arms wrap around me and he adjusts himself on the couch to lay down with me.
"I'm staying right here Row," He says softly, and my heart beats a little fuller when he holds me snug.
-----------------
It was Wednesday now and Adam's shift to babysit me.
It's been four days now with a whole lot of nothing. Three days of school where Uncle Lio sits in his cop car outside the school. Also, three days of the other kids wondering what he was doing here.
Oh, that's just Uncle Lio watching over me so some human trafficking criminal doesn't kidnap me. I'm sure it was a great conversation starter, but I never said it out loud. It wasn't there business, they were just looking for something to gossip about.
He tailed me and Cyrus driving to school, watched my car during the school day, and made sure I made it home right after.
This didn't mean he had to sit in his car and not blink for the entire day. No, Uncle Lio thought this time was a great opportunity to meet someone new.
Yeah Uncle Lio, don't think I don't miss the way you shamelessly flirt with my history teacher Ms. Larson.
We were in the library during our free period. Cyrus and Natalie had a class together and Declan, who spent half the day refusing, had a test to take.
I couldn't focus on my work. Partly because Adam kept tossing crumpled paper at me and partly because I had my mind elsewhere.
Dad knew where they stayed based on what I told him, so I went over the details again in my head. Not that I haven't been doing as much these past four days, but I thought another go-over might magically make something appear.
The one thing that caught my attention the most was their shoes. The dirt on them that was a weird shade of brown that practically looked orange. Orange dirt...
They used orange dirt in construction zones. But that hardly narrows it down. There's like a bazillion construction zones in this town alone. But then one sentence comes back to me right then.
The air always smells like sewer.
There was only one construction zone near the town's sewage line, which might have busted a pipe causing that stench in the air. I hated driving past that area.
But now I was sure I knew exactly where they were staying too.
A/N: Oh yes, stupid thoughts are brewing as we speak. And by brewing, I mean writing, because I am writing Rowena having stupid thoughts.
They won't be painfully stupid, trust the process you guys.
Thank for reading <3