by Skye Warren
Todd’s arms had been spread out along the back of the bench. With slow intensity, he leaned forward. The chain bracelets clunked against the table. “And just how do you do that? You got a clone machine stashed away? ’Cause I’d sure as hell take one of those to order.”
He nodded toward me on the last, and a shudder ran through me. I could have sworn he saw it, and a ghost of a smile graced his face.
“I used to run a program,” Luke said. “We’d target a certain kind of girl. There are certain criteria you can use to figure out the good ones. Then you train them.”
An uneasy look crossed Todd’s face before he bolstered himself. “If you were so successful, then why’d you move here?”
“Things got too hot,” Luke said easily. “Only so many girls can go missing before people start poking around. That’s bad for everyone. Cops are not discriminating, if you know what I mean. It can be a mess. But this place would be fresh.”
The other woman at the table seemed to snap out of her coked stupor. “There was that girl who went missing. She was on the news.”
Luke snorted. “In a city this size? That probably happens every hour.”
“No, it was right here in this club,” she insisted. “We saw them—”
“Shut up, Lee,” Todd snapped. “Go clean yourself up.”
She sulked off to the corner, toward the same single-stall bathroom Luke and I had used earlier.
Luke pushed me off him and smacked my bottom. “Good idea. You need to use the little girl’s room too.”
Wow, he had this whole degrading-women routine down pat. Inside the bathroom, I found the woman with her face pushed under the faucet. She blew her nose repeatedly, splattering water onto the peeling mirror and cracked tiles. I tried to ignore the fact that my ass had been where her hands now rested. This place seemed a whole lot seedier without Luke.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Can’t get it out,” she muttered, wiping her face on the sleeve of her shirt. Her brown-black hair was pulled back into cornrows, her lips a deep-stained red. She wore a black sleeveless T-shirt, revealing arms that were thin but well-defined with muscle.
“Yeah.” I tried to sound sympathetic. “I know how that goes. Listen, about that girl who was taken—”
“Fuck, what are you doing here?” she cried.
I gestured lamely at the door. “My boyfriend told me to come here.”
She rolled her eyes, her most lucid expression yet. “Not here, in the bathroom. Here with a guy like that. In Chicago. You don’t belong in this life.”
Oh, the irony—she didn’t believe I was a prostitute. “Listen, I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
“Then you need to get out,” she demanded. “Some crazy shit is going on. It’s not just the girl that was here. There was some kind of fucking massacre, and two of the rich-bitch escorts were killed.”
Rich bitch? Ouch. “Yeah,” I agreed. “Crazy shit. But I’m really curious about that girl.”
She continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “It’s like a fucking sinking ship around here. You need to get out while you can. I mean, I can understand why you stay. I’ve seen your boyfriend. It’s the eyes, right? Fucking green eyes.”
Yeah. Fucking green eyes. “Pretty much, but here’s the thing. He’s bent on running this little scheme here in the club, so unless I can convince him otherwise…”
“Nah, that’ll bring trouble to all of us. He said it himself.”
“I just want to show that it really happened. I mean, were you there?”
“I was there that night. I thought I saw her earlier, because some of the boys were roughing her up, and I thought it was sad. I mean, kind of funny but also sad. And then I found out later she was dead. You can check the news. They said she was at large, but that really means they didn’t know shit. If they haven’t found her after all this time, and if Henri didn’t find her either, then she’s got to be dead, right?”
My heart started to pound at the mention. “Henri? Who’s that?”
Her eyes glazed over. She stared at the brown leak stains on the wall as if hypnotized.
“Hey,” I said. “Don’t do this. Henri, remember? The girl.”
She snapped out of it again. I wasn’t sure if she was high like I thought or whether she had some sort of condition. I wondered idly if she needed medical attention. It wouldn’t matter either way.
“Henri’s a scary guy,” she said. “Some advice, woman to woman? Stay away from him.”
It was good advice. Unfortunately I couldn’t take it. “My boyfriend really wants to talk to him. From there…” She shrugged. “He’s cool once he gets an audience.”
She frowned. “You should ditch him.”
Even when we were in disguise, no one wanted us to be together. “I’m just trying to help him out.” I took a deep breath. “The truth is, he’s been really focused on breaking into Chicago’s business. It’s like his life goal, and if I could help him do that, I’d be in, you know?”
She nodded, her expression sad. “Yeah, I know.”
“So you’ll help me?”
She shook her head but not in refusal. “I think you’re going to regret this.”
I thought so too. “Tell me anyway.”
She told me what she remembered about that night, naming the guys who had cornered Claire and likely brought her outside to Henri. I recognized the names but hadn’t met them before. She said she hadn’t heard any commotion the rest of the night, only that she saw Claire’s picture on the news the next day. They had considered shutting down the club but decided that would look more suspicious. Plus, it would be a major interruption to their service business.
“Did anyone talk to Henri about what happened?”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Why should we? It doesn’t have nothing to do with him.”
“But you said the hit was put out by him.”
“Correction. It doesn’t have nothing to do with us. Look, sister, no one gets in Henri’s business. Not my boss, and sure as hell not your boyfriend.” She looked me up and down. “You don’t want to get on his radar, if you get my drift. You’re pretty, and you want to stay that way.”
Actually, Henri was very careful to preserve prettiness. There were many ways to hurt someone without leaving permanent damage. The worst hurt came on the inside anyway.
“Tell me where to find him. I’ll just tell my boyfriend, and he’ll be so happy with me. Please.”
She deliberated for a few quiet moments. “He’s been taking plenty of heat lately, so he’s gone to ground. No one knows where he is. But I happened to overhear someone saying he had a new location. The Barracks.”
“The what?”
“That’s what they call it, the Barracks. It’s some sort of big silo west of here. I think it used to be an airport. Anyway, I’ve never been there. That’s all I know.”
“That helps. Really. Thank you.”
“It’s supposed to be haunted.” She considered. “You don’t think that stuff is real, ghosts and shit?”
“Probably not. But I figure, even if it were real, there’s a lot scarier things in this world than white floaty beings.”
“Amen to that.”
Chapter Eleven
We returned to the men, who seemed to have moved on from talk of criminal activity to sports. Some languages were universal as a way of bonding, which meant Luke had said the right things when I’d been gone. Our eyes met as I returned to his side, but I couldn’t get a read on him. His sleazy persona felt like a physical barrier between us. He blended in so well here, almost seamlessly, and an uneasy curiosity rose within me. He seemed more comfortable here than me. I had given him a hard time for knocking my knowledge of this underworld, and yet he’d been casual and cool while I’d had a nervous breakdown in the bathroom. What if he had real experience with this, beyond the occasional undercover sting with the CPD? What if he had been a part of this world once?
As soon as I thought
it, I knew it was true. It made too much sense. It explained why I had never been able to see though his stalwart cop facade. It exposed the root cause of his noble quest. He was trying to atone for whatever he had done in his past. Had he slept with prostitutes like me? Apparently, if he had a girl he was looking for. Had he even pimped them out, for real instead of pretend? Guilt was a powerful motivator. Maybe our little game of the boyfriend as pimp was more fatalistic than I’d thought. Except that picture didn’t work for Luke, despite the lock-and-click way he fit in here. His sort of unerring integrity wasn’t born of a single mistake. I couldn’t imagine him being so far gone as to really cause harm to someone he loved.
Far more likely he had been unable to save the girl he loved, instilling in himself a deep and abiding need to save every other one—including me. In the span of seconds, I sketched the fairy tale in my head. He had been lonely and, in a moment of whiskey-induced weakness, called an escort service. The girl had been so beautiful she took his breath away with a knowing touch but an innocent look of hope in her eyes. He was smitten at first sight and swore to rescue her from the life. Except something had gone wrong. Her pimp wouldn’t let her go. These things happened—I should know. And then he lost her…though he never gave up wanting her. He would never give up. I could see it all so clearly, as if it had happened, as if I had been there. I wondered if she thought of Luke still. If she appreciated him and longed for him in return. She must, I thought.
Luke’s body tensed beside me in the booth, snapping my attention back to the present.
“Maybe some other time,” he said.
Todd frowned. “I’ll pay you, of course. I’m not looking for a handout.”
I realized they were talking about me. Specifically, Todd wanted something from me. Sex, of course. Revulsion rolled through me. He looked decent enough if a little scary. But I thought I was done with that. I wanted to be done with it so badly that I wasn’t sure I could do it. Would Luke ask me to?
“I don’t share her,” he said flatly. “Or sell her.”
This seemed to intrigue Todd. “That seems like a hard line to take, especially in this business.”
“I don’t shit where I eat. She’s mine.” He nodded toward the mass of dancers beyond the moldy velvet curtain. “I’ll have plenty of girls available to you once I establish myself here.”
Todd seemed provoked by Luke’s refusal. “Maybe that makes it the perfect test. After all, you’re the new guy here. You got something to prove. How do I know I can trust you? So maybe I’ll have a taste of what you like so much. She must be good if you’re keeping her to yourself.”
Luke snorted. “Bullshit. This is a test, all right, but if I broke line now, you wouldn’t respect me or trust me, and I wouldn’t blame you.”
“I like that you’re a straight talker,” Todd mused. “I don’t like that you’re telling me no. Over some chick, of all things. What, afraid to make her do something she doesn’t want to? If you hurt her feelings, will she run home to Daddy?”
“She’s not going anywhere,” he said. “Not home to Daddy, not with you.”
Todd leaned forward. Clink—his chain bracelets on the rough tabletop.
“What if I give you the information you wanted?”
The information about Ella? Luke’s hands tightened on my hips. “No.”
“I don’t just mean hooking you up with Henri,” Todd said. “As I said, I’ll do that anyway. It’s good business sense. I like the bigger-pie analogy. That’s sweet. But I meant information about the other thing.” He smiled at me. “The other girl.”
My heart did a little flip. The other girl. Was that what Luke had been asking about? Was that why he’d sent me to the bathroom, so I wouldn’t know?
Luke’s hand felt like warm iron around my thigh, his grip tightening with every word from Todd’s lips. He crowded me, his body blatantly interested in the offer, despite his denials. The smug look on Todd’s face said he knew exactly what effect his words were having.
“You said you didn’t know anything,” Luke said with a hint of question.
“I lied. There wasn’t any incentive for me to tell you. Now there is.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“What was her name? Ah, that’s right. Daisy. Very pretty, like the flower.” Todd lifted one bare tattooed shoulder. “I may have fucked her.”
A shudder ran through Luke’s body, visible to anyone at the table. But even if they hadn’t seen it, they could feel it. His rage rolled off him in almost-palpable waves. I had felt his intensity before, his lust, but never this. Never unadulterated hatred, and sure as hell never a love so strong as to generate such a thing. How he must have loved her. How he loved her still. But he wouldn’t do it, would he? He wouldn’t give me to them, even if it meant finding his long-lost love.
His voice was hoarse. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
Todd considered that, looking off to the right. Everything, from the stillness of his hands to the steady, unflared slope of his nostrils, indicated he was remembering something, not making it up.
The din of the club seemed to quiet, as if someone had turned the volume down. I heard my blood pumping in my ears, fast against the backdrop of Luke’s harsh breathing. I realized that his rigid discipline hadn’t been him all along but a container for years upon years of unfulfilled fury. Through force of will, he had carefully tunneled his energy into the places he could effect change. His almost inhuman efforts to help me and the other girls were merely steam from the release valve. All the while pressure had built, waiting for someone to set it free.
“She was a natural blonde,” Todd finally said. Then he glanced at me. “Not as hot as this one, though.”
It happened so quickly. Luke pushed me out of the booth and lunged across the table. Half of the people spilled out from the seats while the others stared, slack-jawed. That was when I knew we weren’t getting out of this alive. This was an insult of the highest order to the woman who meant the most to him. Luke couldn’t find her, but he wouldn’t let her go unavenged.
He had his hands around Todd’s neck, while the larger man grappled futilely, unable to shake him. He landed blows on Luke’s side, on his head, but nothing would shake him. Would Luke kill in his rage? I saw no other way out. Unless Todd killed him first. I fumbled for my gun before remembering I had given it to Luke for safekeeping. Where had he put it? He had reached back and tucked it behind him.
I yelled out a warning, but it was lost to the melee, evaporated like sound underwater. Helpless, I watched in horror as Todd’s wild blows found the gun, as he whipped it out and pointed it at Luke’s cheek. The two men froze, one on top of the other, panting. Slowly, Luke levered himself up and stepped back. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been half expecting him to continue fighting, blind to his rage. At least he had this much self-preservation. Though it was unclear whether it would be enough, whether we would get out of this after all, considering the look of vengeance on Todd’s face.
He let out a stream of incoherent curses, promising all manner of retribution upon Luke, his mother, any pets he might or might not have. But when Todd turned to me and our eyes met, I knew exactly how he meant to exact revenge.
Still holding the gun, he spread his arms wide. “I know what will make me feel better after this. We’ll have a party. And your girl will be our main attraction.”
“Try it,” Luke snarled. “And count how many breaths you have left.”
Despite his clear disadvantage, his words seemed to give Todd pause and me too. There was something unbreakable about him then, as if a bullet couldn’t stop him. It was only his will, his decision to stand there instead of beating Todd to a bloody pulp, that kept him safe. Todd seemed to think this over while wiping a dribbling line of blood from his brow. He looked around, as if aware that everyone in the room was watching us—far too many witnesses to keep quiet, far too much bother to rape and murder us for what amounted to a barroom brawl.
“Get your bitch and get out,” he said. “I never want to see you back here.”
I seemed to have been rooted to the spot, but Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me from the club. Cold night air slashed at my sweated skin and seeped into my bones. The streetlamps blurred before my eyes, as if I watched them through a car window on the freeway instead of stumbling down the street away from the club. My limbs felt like lead. I remembered this feeling from once before. My brain was filled with white dewy mist. Ah, shock. That was it. Knowing its name didn’t lift the fog.
If anything, I sank deeper. Nothing could touch me here. No one could.
Chapter Twelve
At least Luke seemed to have all his faculties, buckling me into the car. His hands were smooth as they tucked my hair behind my ear. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Close your eyes. We’ll be home soon.”
Only when I felt the car move did I realize I had followed his instructions. I kept them closed, luxuriating in the cottony comfort. We were safe; that much I knew. And really, wasn’t that all I’d ever wanted for us? Safe and together.
Whether minutes or hours passed, I didn’t know, but I felt the car slow to a halt. I opened my eyes, and first things I saw were trees. I squinted. Where were we, a park? Luke circled the car and let me out. Then I saw the cottage. In the twilight, dark crisscross beams could be seen shadow-framing the cottage, and a dark leafy carpet blanketed the side. I hadn’t been sure what he’d meant by home, but it sure as hell wasn’t this. “What is this place?”
“A safe house.”
I grew alarmed. “The CPD?”
“No,” he said shortly. “It’s mine.”
“She’s mine,” he had said to Todd. All part of the game that had almost blown up in our faces.
It was too dark to see inside properly, even with the small table-side lamp Luke switched on. I registered vague, ranch-style furniture crowding the small living space. It all looked very ordinary, as if a sleepy-headed child might wander out for a glass of water. But maybe that was what made it a safe house. Not just its location as a hideout, but its ability to bring ease to the people who stayed here.