Elijah: The Boss's Gift Read Online Free Page B

shaking each
man’s hand. “I’ll see you in a week when the shipment is due.”
    “Your excuse for not coming on Sunday was lame,” Caleb
said, sitting back. “Donna has extended her invitation to this Sunday.”
    Mindy and Cherry had gone out shopping on Saturday and
both made arrangements to cook the day after. He couldn’t say no to his little
girl and had called Caleb to let him know he wouldn’t make it.
    “Fine.”
    “You can bring Mindy and your gift,” Caleb said.
    Shaking his head, he made his way out of the office.
John was with him today, driving him around. Elijah hired the best men in the
business, and John was loyal.
    “Mindy got to school, sir. I’ve just had Tom update
me.”
    “Excellent. Cherry?”
    “She’s on her way back to your house. There was no
argument or even any look that she was going to disappear,” John said.
    Flicking through the file he looked at her address. He
gave John the address and ordered to be taken there.
    John turned the car around, heading in the direction
that he’d given.
    Glancing through the file he saw she’d had a medical checkup
at eighteen before she left her foster home. She’d been clear of anything.
Caleb and Henry were thorough. Her mother had died of a drug overdose. He felt
sorry for the young girl that Cherry once was. No one even noticed a young girl
walking around the hospital with no one to take care of her. She moved from
foster homes each with a new excuse. He saw that Cherry didn’t stay in all that
long in the homes with boys who were older. There were pictures included from
high school. He looked through them all, realizing Cherry was indeed a
survivor. She’d been through hell and was still determined to live her life.
    “We’re here, sir,” John said. He looked up to see they
were in a rundown part of the city. Climbing out of the car, he buttoned up his
jacket as some of the men waiting around on the apartment steps looked him
over. John climbed out of the car putting on some shades.
    “I wouldn’t think about it,” Elijah said, showing them
his piece. They were all carrying weapons, but for some reason a man in a suit
always made them keep their distance.
    They held their hands up, backing away. Clearly neither
of them wanted to get into shit with him.
    Stepping up the apartment doors, he opened the door
without needing permission to do so. There was no security. Anyone could come
and go as they pleased. He saw Cherry’s name was on the fourth floor.
    Climbing up the steps, the scent of decay and damp hit
him.
    “Damn, boss, there’s fucking shit in the corner,” John
said.
    He ignored John as he walked up the steps. There was
arguing on every floor, yells, screams, babies crying. All of it depressed him
as he stood outside of Cherry’s door.
    Kicking out, the door opened with ease, and he didn’t
like it. When he entered, he closed the door once John was inside and saw that
she had ten different locks on the inside. She would only be able to lock it
once from the outside. Cherry was more interested in her safety than her stuff.
Turning around, he smelled the damp, but she’d tried to cover it up with
cleaning. Every side was spotless. There was no a hint of damp, but the
building was in need of care. The space was small, and once he stood in the
sitting room he saw the tiny kitchen. Turning in full circle he saw the
bathroom and her bedroom. It was so small. The bedroom Mindy had showed Cherry
was bigger than the whole apartment.
    On the floor beside him was a pile of books. Opening
them up, he saw the library sticker inside.
    “Pack this up. I’m taking it with me.”
    He left the sitting room, going through to her
bedroom. She had a suitcase open on the floor. There was another maid’s
uniform, neatly folded. Beside it were three shirts of the same color along
with two pairs of jeans. There was no sign of other clothing. On the bed lay
two bras and some panties. She didn’t have anything to her name. The bed was