Sitting across from her were Jackson and Faith.
“All right,” she said, trying to get rid of the sense of apprehension she felt in her stomach. “What is it? Just tell me everything.”
Jackson smiled at her. He looked at Forrester before speaking.
“So, Elle,” he started. “Forrester told me that you had some trouble in the past with Los Lobos.”
“Trouble is an understatement,” Elle said. “My mother sold me to the gang when I was still a baby. My existence, up until the time I was rescued, was a living nightmare.”
“I can imagine,” Faith said.
Jackson spoke again. His voice was measured and calm. He was trying to soothe her, but the truth was, Elle felt safe in this place, with these people, and didn’t mind discussing the past with them if they felt it was important for her. She already suspected she knew what Jackson was going to tell her.
“Faith was Wolf Staten’s girl when I met her.”
Elle’s eyes grew. She had expected something like this, but it still took her by surprise. Even the mention of Wolf Staten’s name brought back terrible memories. He’d done things to her she’d never forget, and yet had somehow managed to block out of her conscious mind. He was a cruel and brutal man, deeply disturbed. He appeared to Elle in her nightmares.
“Oh no,” she said, looking at Faith.
“It was a long time ago, sweetie,” Faith said.
“Faith was vulnerable, much like your mother must have been,” Jackson continued, “and Los Lobos were always expert at preying on vulnerable women. They had an instinct for it. They got their claws into her and wouldn’t let her go.”
“That’s awful,” Elle said.
“It was,” Faith said, “but not as awful as what they did to you.”
“Did you know?” Elle said, hesitantly. “Did you know they were buying babies?”
Faith looked into Elle’s eyes. “I knew they were buying women. I knew some of them were children. But I never would have imagined they were buying babies. It’s like something out of a horror story.”
“You have no idea,” Elle said.
“Well,” Faith said, continuing the story where Jackson had left off. “Over time, I learned more and more about Los Lobos. I learned how evil they were. I learned that Wolf wanted to lock me up in a private cell, so that he would be the only man who ever saw me.”
Elle shuddered. She knew what that was like.
“So when I saw my chance, I escaped. I didn’t know where I was going, or what I was going to do. I was desperate.”
“And then she ran into me,” Jackson said.
“Right,” Faith continued. “I needed Jackson. I desperately needed him.”
“And I needed her,” Jackson said.
“We ran away together,” Faith went on. “And Jackson made me pregnant.”
Jackson smiled at that part. “I did, and I knew Los Lobos would never leave Faith in peace. I knew Wolf would stop at nothing to get her back. It would be a matter of pride for him.”
“It would,” Elle said. “I know how they think. There’s no limit to what they would do, or who they would kill, to get back a woman they thought of as their property.”
“So I came here,” Faith said.
“And I knew they’d hunt her down, so I went into hiding, and picked off the members of the gang, one by one.”
Elle was nodding her head. “It took you years, didn’t it?”
“It did,” Jackson said.
“All through my childhood I remember how afraid they were,” Elle said. “They were being picked off, one by one, and they didn’t know who was doing it or why.”
Jackson shrugged. “Anyway,” he said. “We just thought you should know that. Know about that history.”
“In a way,” Faith said, “it makes us even closer. Because we were both captives of the same evil men.”
Elle felt silly. Tears were falling down her cheeks. “If you hadn’t done what you’d done,” she said to Faith, “they’d still have me.”
“Oh,” Faith said, surprised. “It was Jackson. He’s the one that killed them.”
“But he did it because you had the courage to leave them,” Elle said. “If you hadn’t had that courage, we’d both still be there, and Jackson would never have been involved.”
Faith started crying then. “I never thought of it like that. If anything, I felt guilty for all the women I left behind.”
“What Jackson did, it ended Los Lobos,” Elle said. “He killed them all. Long before the last of them was dead, the police had rescued us. Everything started to fall apart, and they could come and get us.”
“It’s the best thing I ever did,” Jackson said. “Apart from marrying Faith and starting a family, wiping that scourge from the face of the earth is the most important thing I’ve ever done.”
Elle got up from her seat and walked over to Jackson. She kissed him on each cheek.
“Thank you for killing those sons of bitches,” she said.
Then she hugged Faith, and the two women held each other as only the survivors of the same crime could do.
Chapter 53
Elle