Enamel

by Tim Sabados

  Sammy ran his hand over his head. “Did I not tell you how important tonight is?” He paused as if to wait for an answer, but instead continued. “Didn’t I? Let me reiterate once again the large sum of money that they paid for us to be there.” A huff. “Now I’m down two women. Any idea how I’m going to fix this?”

  The large man in the black shirt cleared his throat and said nothing. The bouncer was quiet, too. The third kept his head down.

  Sammy glanced at his watch. “We leave in less than an hour. Do you understand that?”

  “Yeah, I get it,” the bouncer responded. “Just like we’re supposed to.”

  “That gives you plenty of time to go out there and look for her.”

  The bouncer pointed toward the door. “You mean out there?”

  “I mean exactly that,” Sammy answered matter-of-factly. “You screwed this up, now go and fix it.”

  “Out there?” the bouncer questioned with a tinge of fear. “You want me to go out there?”

  “I want all three of you to go,” Sammy commanded. “Do you have any idea what could happen if she manages to get away?” He let the question hang in the air. “Any idea what the Network will do to us if we get busted?”

  “But, out there?” The bouncer tipped his chin toward the door. “That place gives me the creeps.”

  “You’ve got flashlights, phones and your guns,” Sammy said. “What would you rather be, a little scared or a little dead?” Looked at his watch again. “Time’s ticking.” A huff of displeasure. “This needs to happen now!”

  The bouncer sighed. The other two dawdled. Any sense of urgency seemed to have passed over the men.

  Sammy pulled out his cell and found the contact he wanted. Tapped the call icon. “What the hell is wrong with you?” His voice exploded with rage. “Now! Do it now! We leave in about fifty minutes and she’s got a head start.”

  The men finally sensed Sammy’s resolve. They gathered their things and rushed out the door.

  Ariek’s voice was on the other end of the line. “Did you get it straightened out?”

  “We’ve got a bigger problem than I thought,” Sammy said. “A much bigger problem.”

  28

  The mysterious figure was getting closer. Bare feet slapped against concrete. A feminine grunt rose above her chugging breath. Who was this person? Were those shoes dangling from her hand? The movement, the breathing, the thin silhouette—didn’t look like someone Charlie should fear. Still, this wasn’t the time to take any chances.

  Charlie scrunched tighter against the bench just off the sidewalk, hoping his bulky frame would manage to blend with its shape. He watched as the figure drew closer. And closer. Something was off. Was that a dress she was wearing? Hair flowed behind her as she ran. Was it—could it be? He stood up. “Aryssa?”

  The woman screamed. Jumped sideways and chucked her shoes at Charlie. They skidded across the ground a few feet to his left. “Aryssa, it’s me, Charlie.”

  The woman’s posture stiffened. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. “Charlie?” Leaned forward in the dark. “Is that really you?”

  Charlie took a couple of cautious steps. “Yes,” he said reassuringly.

  Disbelief stuttered off Aryssa’s tongue. “What…what are you doing here?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  “Thank…” Aryssa leapt into Charlie and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

  Charlie hugged her back. He relished the way Aryssa clung to him. Savored the warmth of her body and the smell of her hair. For a brief moment the world seemed to stand still. She was alive. He quietly exhaled with gratitude and lowered her to the ground.

  Aryssa brushed her hair off to the side. “I’m…I’m so glad to see you.” She glanced back at the factory. “But, of all places.”

  Charlie’s body tingled with sudden yearning. He couldn’t take his eyes off the way her mini-skirt hugged her curves. Exposed her toned legs. The way her makeup highlighted her eyes. The way her dark lipstick defined her lips. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly discovered that his tongue flopped like a fish out of water.

  Aryssa must’ve noticed the look on his face. She giggled. “You’ve never seen me like this, have you?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Aryssa said. “It makes you all—well, you know—all the more likeable.”

  Heat rose from under Charlie’s collar. He slowly exhaled to try to blow it from the furnace of his lungs. “Umm…”

  Aryssa grabbed Charlie’s hand. Her demeanor morphed into something more frantic. “I didn’t choose to wear this without a reason. I was forced into it.”

  “Forced?” Charlie questioned uncertainly.

  Aryssa nodded. “They wanted me to be a part of…” She lowered her head. Sniffled.

  “Part of what?” Charlie rubbed Aryssa’s arm.

  “A sex ring.” Aryssa looked up at Charlie. Fear poured from her eyes. “That’s why Sammy wanted those coins so badly. To pay for his latest shipment of women.”

  “You mean like prostitutes?”

  “More like slaves.” Aryssa paused. “They buy and sell these women as if they’re a commodity.” She swiped a finger below her eyelid. “They get them from all over the world and treat them like…” The rest if her words became lost in the night air. “They’re forced to put out every day.”

  “As in sex?”

  Aryssa nodded silently.

  Charlie tapped his chin. “They were going to make you do it, too?”

  Aryssa shivered. “Or else.” She swiped at her lid again. “Don’t even want to think about it.”

  “But, you got away.” Charlie instinctively pulled her close to protect her. “How did you manage it?”

  “You know, it’s a little complicated.” Aryssa leaned her head against Charlie’s chest. “I’m glad to be out of there.” Sniffed. “I just…I worry about the others.”

  The sensation that had brought him here in the first place still vibrated through his extremities. He opened and closed his hands several times. What was causing it? Was it Aryssa? It didn’t go away in her presence. In fact, it had grown stronger the closer he got to the factory. Was it something in there? “Should we go back for them?”

  “No,” Aryssa said. “I don’t want to go back in there.” Sliced her hand through the air. “No way.” A sharp exhale. “But the others…I…I don’t know what to do.”

  Charlie was being pulled toward the building as if he were a fish on a hook. “I think…” he hesitated. “I don’t know what it is, but I need to go in there. There’s something…”

  “No, please, Charlie,” Aryssa pleaded. “We’ve got to get out of here. Let’s regroup and figure out a better way.”

  There was something tugging at his very soul. Charlie stepped toward the factory, but forced himself to hold back. “I don’t know what it is, I need to…”

  Aryssa yanked on Charlie’s hand. “Come on, we can’t. There’s got to be a better way.”

  “But…” Charlie froze. The factory door swung open. The beam from a flashlight swept the area. Then another shined out from inside the building.

  Aryssa gasped.

  “Shhh,” Charlie hissed with his finger crossing his lips. He pulled Aryssa toward the bench.

  “It’s them.”

  A large man stepped outside. The other swept a beam along the side of the factory.

  “Who?”

  “The ones who were watching over us,” Aryssa whispered. “That’s…that’s…” her voice faltered. “The one who punched one of the girls.” Her hand covered her mouth. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Hold on,” Charlie commanded. “Maybe they’ll go back inside.”

  “I’m not going back,” Aryssa said. “You don’t understand; they’ll kill me, then you, if they find us.” She propped herself onto her haunches as if ready to spring across the ground like a scared rabbit.

  “My
boat,” Charlie stated. “I’ve got my boat.”

  “You do?” Aryssa sank back down. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Charlie kept a tight grip on Aryssa’s hand. He hesitated to make a move. The men didn’t. Their flashlights swept over the ground and inched closer to Charlie. A third man stepped out of the factory.

  “There’s another one,” Aryssa whispered.

  The beams were only a few yards away. Charlie couldn’t hold off any longer. It was now or never. He pulled Aryssa’s hand and started running.

  “Hey!” one of the men shouted.

  “It’s her!”

  Aryssa gasped with fright, but she kept up with Charlie. Charlie led her to the wall and forced her down the ladder.

  Bang! A gun went off. The bullet struck the wall near Charlie, sending shards of concrete bursting through the air.

  “Shit!” Charlie bellowed. He threw himself over the wall just as another shot rang out.

  He slid down the ladder and dropped into the boat. Pulled a knife from his pocket and slit one of the ropes. “Undo that one!” he yelled.

  Charlie started the motor. The engines roared to life and he immediately slammed the throttle. The boat’s bow rose and lurched forward like a frightened gazelle. “Get down!”

  They were nearly a hundred yards from the wall when several more gunshots blasted behind Charlie. A bullet whistled through the air somewhere over his head. Several pierced the water around him. He kept the engines screaming and angled the boat toward the far side of the river.

  More gunfire, but it was becoming more and more distant. No signs of a bullet striking his boat, the water, or for that matter, him. Charlie glanced over his shoulder to find Aryssa lying facedown on the deck.

  “Are you okay?”

  Aryssa didn’t move. Was something wrong? Had she been hit?

  “Aryssa!” Charlie screamed over the whine of the motor and the rush of air. “Aryssa!”

  She didn’t move. Charlie’s heart freefell into the pit of despair. He couldn’t let go of the steering wheel. Couldn’t stop until they were farther away. “Aryssa!”

  29

  The scream of fear bellowed from deep in the valley of Aryssa’s mind and churned like a violent storm across the landscape leading to her ears. The roar of the motor and the wind of a tornado rushed over her. A bullet had ripped through the side of the boat, leaving a gaping hole in the seat cushion. Bits of fiberglass, stuffing and vinyl had viciously tumbled in front of her as she fell to the floor. Her panic-stricken heart hadn’t stopped pounding against her ribs. Guns, bullets, money, kids, prostitution…how in the hell had she gotten into this mess?

  Aryssa kept herself glued to the boat’s deck.

  “Aryssa!” Was someone yelling for her? There was no way she was leaving the safety of the floor. No way she was getting up and risk being pierced by a bullet.

  “Aryssa!” Was that Charlie’s terrified voice echoing from behind all that noise? “Are you okay?”

  She took a moment to try to calm her mind. Run a full body-check. She was on Charlie’s boat. Away from those men. Felt no pain, so she hadn’t been shot. Were they finally safe?

  “Aryssa!” Charlie’s scream came more into focus. “Tell me you’re okay!”

  “I’m fine,” she answered. “Are we away from them?”

  “Yes,” Charlie said. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

  Aryssa slowly rose to her knees. Looked out to the darkened patch of shoreline. The space between it and the boat was rapidly growing. Couldn’t see anyone standing on the wall. A sigh filled with relief as she slid onto the bench seat. “I’m fine.”

  “Damn it!” Charlie shrieked. “You scared…I thought you were dead.”

  Aryssa gestured with her hand. “All this noise and my mind racing like…like it…” She paused. In no mood to try to explain it. Slid closer to Charlie. “What about you? Are you okay?”

  “I’m good,” Charlie answered. A sharp exhale. “That was damn close.”

  “Too close,” Aryssa agreed.

  Charlie tipped his chin and turned his focus onto the river. He didn’t say anything more. It looked as if he was trying to let the tense moment drain out of him.

  The space that fright had occupied in Aryssa began to disintegrate. Anger filled the vacancy it had left behind. Bits and pieces of the last couple of days filtered out of her memory. Mackenzie and Zoe getting kidnapped. The botched exchange. Nearly being sold into prostitution. She thought of the other women. Of Kami. The way that bouncer had punched the young woman. Aryssa was weary. Tired of being pushed around. Tired of the threats. Tired of all that Sammy had been trying to do to her.

  The furnace of rage kicked on. The memories of all that had happened became the fuel that stoked the flames. “Where are we going?” Aryssa asked with scalpel-like sharpness.

  “To the marina to dock this thing,” Charlie answered. “After that, we’re going to the cops.”

  “And tell them what?”

  Charlie rolled his hand. “All of this. Everything we, and especially you, have been through.”

  “Do you think they’ll believe us?”

  “Why wouldn’t they?”

  Aryssa rubbed her temples. “We’ve got nothing to show them. No evidence, no pictures. Nothing, except for my word.”

  “That’s something,” Charlie commented with a heaping spoon of optimism.

  “It’s not enough.” Aryssa steadied herself as the boat jumped a few waves. “By the time they start an investigation, Sammy and whoever else he’s working with will be long gone.”

  Charlie kept his focus on the river. “What about the factory?”

  “What about it?”

  “You were in there. In some kind of room.”

  Aryssa bowed her head. “By now they all know that I escaped.”

  Charlie slowly nodded. “No use in getting the cops to go there.” A sharp exhale. “If they’re smart, they’ll have it cleaned up in no time at all.”

  “Besides, that place is huge,” Aryssa said. “I have no idea where I was or how I managed to find my way out.”

  Charlie clicked his tongue. Said nothing for several long seconds. “What do we do now?” A pause. “I can’t let this go.”

  “Neither can I,” Aryssa said, bitterness stinging her lips. “We need to find them. You know, catch them in the act.”

  The boat struck a couple more waves. “How are we going to do that?”

  “The Cad,” Aryssa answered. “They’re taking the girls to the Cadillac Hotel.”

  “How do you know?”

  “The bouncer,” Aryssa said. “He was one of those men chasing us. I don’t think he meant to say it, but he did.”

  Charlie eased back on the throttle, allowing the boat to slow down. “What makes you think that they’re not going to abandon that, too?”

  “Money,” Aryssa said confidently. “It’s a gathering of important people. High rollers. They said it themselves when they told us to get ready.” She pointed toward the city skyline and the direction of the hotel. “There’s no way that Sammy will put a stop to it. His ego won’t let him. Besides, he probably overextended himself to get those girls and he’s going to squeeze them for every last drop so he can get all the money he can.”

  Charlie silently nodded as he seemingly let Aryssa’s comments sink in. “What are you suggesting?”

  “That we go to that party.”

  Charlie’s brows arched with surprise. “And what, rescue them?”

  Aryssa gripped the seat cushions to calm her frustration. “Kind of.” She paused to swallow her doubt. “It’ll be too hard to get them all out of there. But if we make sure they are there, then we can get the cops involved.”

  “And if they’re not, then what?”

  Aryssa shrugged. “We’re dead in the water and they get away.”

  Charlie seemed lost in thought. “Risky exposing ourselves like that.”

  “It is, but we’ve got to do somet
hing,” Aryssa said. There was no way she was letting this go. “I can’t think of any other way.”

  “Neither can I.” Charlie slowed the boat even more as the lights around the marina and those that lit up the several docked boats grew into focus.

  Aryssa sighed quietly. The lights that twinkled off the water lifted some of the doubt that clung to her. But underneath the facade, her anger continued to simmer. Was the fury influencing her judgment? Was it leading them both into something they wouldn’t return from? She looked past the shimmering surface and deeper into the dark water. A place where uncertainty lurked. What were they going to find at the hotel? What would they do if they found everything they were looking for?

  30

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Somewhere far behind Johnny, gunshots cracked the stillness of the night. He turned to look into the black veil that covered the factory, but was too far away to make out any movement. Couldn’t spot any commotion. A few more pops sounded off and then everything went silent. It didn’t take long before the screaming of an engine splashed into Johnny’s ears. Way out toward the middle of the river a boat-shaped shadow sliced across the glass-like surface.

  Johnny slugged some water from the liquor bottle, wiped his lips with the back of his hand then sighed. Should he have stayed back there with the boatman?

  He shook his head to the negative. It was better here, away from…from that place. That factory. A shiver rippled through his body. He was better off; still, he couldn’t stop himself from rubbing his chin with uncertainty. How much better off was he?

  Something kept pulling him toward it. Nudging him. Even at this distance it wasn’t letting up. Another gulp of water to try to drown the sensation. He took a desperate step backward, but before his foot could touch the ground, he pulled it back. “Damn,” he muttered.

  That sound of gunshots had been reverberating deep in his mind. It released some kind of infection that slowly began to spread. That tiny organism fed off the sound and doubled in size, then soon doubled again. It began to multiply more rapidly, spilling out of his subconscious and swirling down his throat and into his lungs. The very act of breathing allowed it to cross into his bloodstream and swarm into his gut.