Page 17 of Ruined Wolf
I stepped inside the bar and instantly regretted it. The place stank of beer, piss, and stale sweat. Faulty neon lights flickered on the walls, casting a weird, fucked up rainbow over the patrons’ faces. Most sat in small groups, but others sat at the bar, and the noise of chatter and some kind of heavy metal music was deafening to my wolf senses. I gritted my teeth and stepped up to the bar, shoving my way between the two groups of men to try to attract the bartender’s attention.
He finally looked up from a beer he was pouring and raised his eyebrows at me questioningly. “What can I get you?”
“A beer and information,” I replied curtly. Conversations stopped abruptly around me as every head nearby turned to look at me in surprise.
“What kind of information?” the bartender asked slowly with an air of suspicion as he wiped down a glass with a rag that had seen better days. I leaned forward and lowered my voice so only he could hear me.
“I’m trying to find someone.”
The bartender set a bottle down in front of me. “And who, exactly, are you trying to find?”
“This girl. She dropped out of college and ran off with her boyfriend who’s a real jerk. We think she came through these parts a few weeks ago, and her family is desperate to find her.”
The bartender leaned forward and studied the picture of Nova, then shook his head.
“She doesn’t look like the type to come in here. Sorry, mate.”
“Even if she was the drinking type, she still wouldn’t be able to come within fifty feet of this place,” a guy sitting two stools down slurred.
I turned to look at him, taking a casual drink from my beer. “And what makes you say that?”
The guy gave a sharp laugh. “Because that’s no college dropout. That’s Nova Dawes, Caleb’s daughter, and we all know the leash he keeps on his women.”
My eyes narrowed, and I fought to keep my composure. Nova was Caleb’s daughter? What the actual fuck? “Do you know her?” I asked, gesturing for the bartender to pass me another beer. He did, and I slid it down the bar to my new friend. He looked down at it and grinned.
“Nah, I don’t know her. Just saw her is all. I do deliveries down at the village sometimes, and I caught sight of her once or twice. Pretty thing, just a bit too timid for me.”
“Timid?” I raised my eyebrows. That didn’t sound like Nova.
“Yeah, well, if the stories are anything to go by, it ain’t surprising,” the drunk’s friend chimed in. Another beer slid across the bar.
“Keep talking,” I said. The two men grinned at each other and each took a drink.
The second guy shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not fact, I mean, no one knows for sure, and no one’s ever complained, but I’ve been there a few times too, with Fred in the van, and the women, they ain’t normal... you know? They don’t speak back to the men, no matter what they say. One of the fellas there told this woman to do something, and she just did it, no hesitation or anything.”
“That’s not exactly...” I frowned.
“Mate, this guy told her to get on her knees in the mud and show him her place. She did it, covered in mud too, and soaking wet. My wife would have laughed in my face. No, it’s not right out there. The women, they are too scared.”
“And they never come into town. Most of the guys do, but not the women, and certainly not Caleb’s daughters. They are kept in their place, mark my words.”
And yet Nova had escaped somehow. I made a mental note to ask Maverick if he knew any more details. Though how I could do that without letting on that I knew where Nova was from might prove difficult. It was becoming clear I’d need to keep this to myself for a while, at least until tensions had calmed a little or until Nova felt safe enough to speak out herself.
“Have you seen her recently?” I asked.
The first guy shook his head. “Come to think of it, no, I haven’t seen her in a long time.” He frowned. “Wait, are you looking for her for Caleb? Because I thought she maybe went off to college or something, but yeah, if she went off with a mate, he’d be fucking livid. I’m not saying anything else if you’re working for him. If that girl got out, all the luck to her.”
I gave him my friendliest smile, but it didn’t seem to reassure him. “I’m not working for Caleb. Far from it. I’m just trying to make sure she’s safe. You think she left?”
“I guess. It would explain where she went.”
The second man shook his head. “Caleb never would have let her out of the compound. No, if that girl disappeared, I’d be looking around the cliffs for a body.”
“Reckon she jumped like those other guys? That’d be sad.” The first guy shook his head and stared at the beer in his hand.
“Other guy?”
The second guy nodded. “A few weeks ago, two of the villagers took swan dives off one of the cliffs there. Found their bodies the next day. Weird. Some fucked up shit going on down there. I’d suggest you keep out of it, mate. Caleb isn’t one to fuck with.”