Alisha folds her arms. “Don’t call me that. I know what you’re doing. Stop putting this on her.”
“She wants to do this. For you. So you can eat.”
“I didn’t ask her to. I can get a job, and so can she.” Alisha grabs my chair as if she’s looking for support, but I can’t give it to her. I know she believes we can live like normal people—she still has that dream—but I don’t. Not anymore.
“Alexis, c’mon, you can’t be serious.”
I turn my head and smash my lips together, opting not to say anything at all.
I know she doesn’t want me to do this, but at least, it makes us enough money to actually keep us off the streets.
“Goddammit, Alexis …” Alisha growls.
“I get that you’re angry, but this here is her decision,” Deangelo says.
“No, you’re pushing her,” Alisha says.
“Enough,” I say. “Please don’t fight. That’s not what we came here to do.”
“We came here to celebrate,” Deangelo adds.
“Celebrate what? That she’s earning you a lot of dough? That must be it.”
“Alisha!” I turn around. “Be grateful. We’re in a restaurant, for fuck’s sake.”
“Yeah … paid with money you earned because you had to sell your body.” She shakes her head, turns around, and walks away.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“Bathroom. Be right back.” She turns around and marches off to the girls’ bathroom. I check if she really does go in before I return my attention to Deangelo.
“Sorry. She’s a little grumpy from … uh … cramps.” What a shitty excuse, but it’ll have to do.
“Oh, I get it,” he says, raising his hands in surrender. “It’s fine. I’m already glad you don’t wanna go with her. Girls always wanna go together and shit …”
“And witness that bloodbath? No thanks.”
He muffles a laugh. “I like your style, Alexis.” He pulls a small piece of paper from his pocket. “Now, I don’t normally do this, but the client asked me to, and I can’t ignore a client’s request, so I’m going to make an exception here.” He hands the note to me. It has a telephone number written down on it.
“Call it. Make the appointment. You’ll get the cash. You split it with me.”
I look up at him. “And you trust me with this?” It’s not often Deangelo hands out his contact information.
“Yeah … shouldn’t I?” He leans back.
“No, yeah, of course, I don’t mean it like that.” I flush.
“Relax, just kidding,” he says, laughing again. “I mean it, I trust you. I know you won’t run off with the money.” He leans in close. “Besides, it’s not like you actually can run away. Not without me noticing anyway.” He shrugs as if he just said something completely normal, but I know it’s so much more than that. It’s a threat. A test. He wants to see if I’ll cheat.
And to be honest, I don’t blame him. I know myself … and when that money is waved at me, it’s hard for me to share it with someone else. Except Alisha, of course. I’d share my fucking life with her if I had to.
“All right. I’ll call.” I nod slowly, leaning back. “And you get half the money, right?”
“As usual. But don’t you share that phone number with nobody, you understand?”
“Yes, Sir,” I say, saluting him, and we both laugh a little.
“Well, I hope I can trust you with this. I don’t hand these out often, so you’d better keep it safe.”
“I will. Is it one of my old clients or a new one?”
“Old. And I’m sure you’ll like it once you find out who it is.” He winks, but then looks up and turns his head. “Hey, shouldn’t that sister of yours be back by now?”
“Alisha? Right …” I look at the clock on the wall. “She’s been gone for like fifteen minutes now, hasn’t she?”
“Maybe she’s sick,” he says.
“I asked her, but she said she was okay.”
“Cramps?” he muses.
I laugh. “Maybe I’d better go check on her.” I scoot my chair back, tucking the paper into my pocket. “Be right back, okay?”
“Sure, babe. I’ll go pay the bill.” He gets up too, but I’m already gone.
I walk to the bathroom and go inside, calling her name. “Alisha. Are you okay? Please just answer me.”
No response, so I look under all the stalls.
No feet.
Not in any of the stalls.
“Alisha, I swear to God, if you’re lifting your legs up to the seat just so you can avoid talking to me, I’m going to be pissed at you.”
When she doesn’t respond, I bang the doors.
“You hear me? Don’t play games now. If you wanna talk, talk. If you want me to leave you alone, tell me, but for fuck’s sake, at least let me know you’re here.”
Still no response.
So I do the only thing I can think of … I kick in all the doors.
Until all swing open.
And she’s still not there.
“Alisha …” I whisper.
She’s gone.
I run out of the bathroom and out the restaurant with Deangelo right behind me.
“Where ya going?” he asks.
“Alisha. She’s gone. I gotta find her.”
“Gone? What d’ya mean gone? She was in the bathroom just a minute ago.”
“Yeah, and now, she’s not,” I say, walking to his car. “I have to find her.”
He sighs and nods. “I’ll drive you home.”
“I just hope she’s there,” I say as we get in.
He drives as quickly as he can, passing red lights and pushing the limit. But I know my sister. It’s been longer than fifteen minutes since I last saw her, and she knows her way around this city, probably even better than I do. She could’ve gone home by now … and then somewhere else.
Deangelo drops me off at home, and I thank him before rushing up to our apartment.
When I slam open the door, she’s not there.
She’s really gone.
With my heart pounding, I step inside. I’m frustrated, angry … but above all, scared. Scared of what she’s going to do. Because the check was missing for a few hours this morning before I found it again … and it has his address on it.
And when I find a note on the table next to the door, I know exactly where she is.
Chapter 3
Alexis
I pay the cab driver and turn to face the mansion once again.
Last time I came here, I told myself I wouldn’t ever return … Well, that didn’t last long. I sure have a way with breaking promises, but it doesn’t matter as long as I get Alisha back home.
As the cab drives off, I walk over to the fence and stare up at it. It’s not that high. And when I look through the bars, I can clearly see footprints in the dirt, about the same size as Alisha’s foot. Gotcha.
I grab the bars, take a deep breath, and lift myself up. It takes all my strength to push myself over the edge, but I manage to make the leap. I jump onto the grass and look ahead to see if anyone’s watching me. It’s been a long time since I last did this, and I’ve gotten a little rusty. I can tell from my muscles, which hurt like hell after that jump, but I’m not about to give up. Ain’t no way in hell I’m going to let her get away with this.
She’s up there in that house stealing whatever shit she can get her hands on just so she can give my client the payback she thinks he deserves and because she wants to help. She’s probably so angry she doesn’t realize this could get her put in jail, and I’m not about to let that happen.
I run toward the house, keeping a low profile as I slip under the window. A light is shining in a room just up ahead, so I slowly raise my head and look over the rim of the frame to see if anyone’s there. Once the coast is clear, I fiddle with the window. Luckily, it isn’t locked, so I push it open and peek in. No one is in sight, so I climb inside, but the window falls shut behind me, locking
into place.
Nowhere to run now. After one big breath, I go farther in.
I follow the walls, making sure I don’t touch anything except the wooden floor, which creaks like hell as I try to tiptoe. My heart beats in my throat as I make my way to the door, every step reminding me of what I’m doing. The closer I get to the light, the more I realize that what I’m doing is insane. I just hope I can find Alisha quickly and drag her out of here before it’s too late.
I whisper-yell her name, looking for her in the hallway, but I don’t see her anywhere. After going back and forth about it in my head, I finally decide to just slip out and slide along the side of the wall to the next room. It’s not exactly a great idea to be looking around in someone else’s house, but I don’t really have any other choice when it comes to this. Besides, I can’t just run from room to room like a headless monkey, so I opt for slow and cautious instead.
As I enter the room, my eyes fall to a figure sitting on a chair in the darkness. A piece of tape wrapped over the mouth. Hands tied behind the back. My jaw drops.
She got caught.
“Alisha!” I whisper. As I move toward her, she shakes her head, tears falling down her cheeks. “Oh God, what happened to you?” I murmur as I peel the tape off her lips.
But the first thing she says is, “Run!”
Her eyes flash to something over my shoulder.
In shock, I turn around.
Someone closes the door. A figure stands behind it.
“Too late to run.”
It’s him.
I’d recognize his dark, raspy voice anywhere. It’s ingrained my fucking brain.
My hand immediately clenches into a fist. “You have no right to tie her up like that.” I grind my teeth.
“My house,” he growls.
I can’t see anything in the dark except him crossing his arms. He’s big, like … a giant.
But I don’t care if he wants to threaten me. I’m taking her.
So I turn around and start fiddling with her ropes.
“Don’t,” he says.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want. You can’t take someone as a prisoner. What the hell are you thinking?” I glance over my shoulder at him, but he remains standing there in the corner.
“Thief.”
“She made a mistake,” I say, turning my head as I can’t seem to untie the damn knot. “And she’s sorry about it.” I turn my head back to Alisha. “You’re sorry, right? Tell him you’re sorry.”
“I’m sorry, all right? I don’t steal because I want to.”
“See?” I snarl. “Now, let her go.”
No response.
“You think this is funny? This is all one big joke to you, isn’t it?”
“A kid sniffing through my stuff. Very funny.”
“Hey! I’m not a kid,” Alisha says, wobbling the chair.
“Thief.”
“This is bullshit,” I say. “This isn’t a fucking prison, and you’re not a cop.”
“Cops … good idea.” I can hear him smile, and it pisses me off so much I just want to pick up the nearest lamp and throw it at his face. Too bad I can’t find anything in this shitty darkness.
“No, don’t call them. She hasn’t stolen anything yet. Did you, Alisha?” I look at her again.
“No. I was just looking … Please, just let me go.” Tears well up in her eyes, and it hurts to see them.
It takes everything I have not to lunge at him right now. “You heard her. Let. Her. Go.”
A few seconds pass. “No. She tried to steal this.” He holds up a watch.
“She didn’t steal it. You’re holding it, for fuck’s sake,” I say.
“This watch is mine.”
I frown. “What is your deal? You can’t be serious about this. It’s just a watch, and you still have it!”
“Shouldn’t have tried to steal it. Stay here … or jail time.”
“No, I don’t wanna go to jail!” Alisha yells, tears running down her face. “I’m sorry; please don’t call the cops. Anything but prison.”
“Then you stay.”
“No!” I yell. “You’re not keeping my sister. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Sister?” He leans forward, so I lean back. “Hmm …” The dim light reflects a glint in his eyes, and I get the sense he’s seeing something he didn’t see before.
“What?” I say.
“It’s you …”
“Yes, it’s me, the girl who danced for you yesterday. Now, let us go.”
His eyes twitch. “To prison?”
“No,” I growl, stepping forward. The longer this conversation continues, the more dangerous it begins to feel. I’m getting the sense he won’t be letting us get away with this.
“Don’t.” His voice is so loud, it rumbles. It seriously rumbles, like a fucking lion roaring. “Don’t. Come. Closer.”
“Or what? You’re gonna tie me up too? You’re crazy,” I spit. For a second, I contemplate actually charging at him, but then I realize I’ll never be able to win. He’s twice as big as I am and much stronger, judging by his muscles. I wouldn’t stand a chance. So I go for diplomatic instead.
“Let. Us. Go.”
He doesn’t respond and tears well up in my eyes now too. “So you’re gonna keep her here, forever?” I shake my head.
“I’m sorry, okay?” Alisha says. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just wanted him to pay for what he did to you. And I wanted to help with the money …”
I cup her face and caress her cheeks. “It’s okay. I know why you did it. It’s stupid … but I probably would’ve done the same.”
I sniff and take a breath as I stand up again. “What do you want?”
“Leave.”
“Is that all you’re going to say?”
“She stays.”
“No. You’re not keeping her.” I place a hand on the chair.
“Jail or here …” he repeats. His sentences are so short; it’s as if we’re not even worthy of his words.
I swallow back the tears and grip her chair tight. “Fine. If you want to keep one of us as some sort of punishment, keep me.”
“What?” Alisha yells. “No!”
“Zip it,” I snap.
“Hmmm …” he murmurs.
“That’s what you want, right?” I say, cocking my head. “We both committed a crime. She’s a thief, and I’m a trespasser. So keep me.”
“No, Lex, are you insane?” my sister shouts, bobbing up and down in her chair.
But I ignore her.
This is the only choice I have.
I’m not going to leave her here. No way.
“Take me instead of her.”
“No! Don’t fucking listen to her! Just keep me. Lex, go, just leave me. I’ll be okay.”
“I’m not letting you go to prison. Not for this. And I’m sure as hell not leaving you here with this… monster.”
When I mention that word, he growls out loud.
“I don’t care. It’s my fault I ended up here, not yours.”
I grab her chin. “You were doing what you thought was right. Now, it’s my turn.” I kiss her on the forehead and turn around resolutely. “Keep me. Let her go.”
I don’t say these words lightly.
I love my freedom and to give it away so freely … I’d only do something like that for her.
But if it means she’ll be free and not in prison, it’s worth it.
It’s worth it, even if he’ll keep me a prisoner here forever.
It takes him a few seconds to respond. “You want to stay … with me?”
“If you let her go … and promise not to call the cops … I will stay.” The words pour out of me like blood from an oozing wound.
“Deal.”
I close my eyes and let out a breath, a tear running down my cheek.
Suddenly, the figure in the shadows steps out. He’s huge, and he keeps getting bigger with every step. I can’t help but feel overwhelmed as I s
tep back, away from the chair. Only when he’s right in front of us do I notice the mask on his face.
I don’t have time to look at it, though, because he immediately pulls out a knife.
I almost shriek, but before I get the chance, he’s already cut through the ropes. He picks her up as if she weighs nothing, and then turns around and barges out the door.
“No, wait!” I yell, running after him.
“Lex! No, don’t do this! Please!” Alisha yells, punching and kicking the guy, but he won’t budge.
It’s as if he’s made of rock.
I follow him to the front door, and he rips it open and storms outside. Then he slams the door shut behind him. Before I have the chance to say good-bye.
I throw my fists against the door, screaming for him to let me out. “Wait! I haven’t even said good-bye!”
After minutes of pounding and kicking the door, it finally opens again. His body blocks the view, but I peer past him only to see the fence closing. Alisha’s face is smashed against the taxi window, tears staining her cheeks. I can’t hear her screams, but I can tell she’s calling for me.
It’s the last thing I see before the door closes again.
It hits me like a brick in the face.
A cold draft of night air swooping past me.
This is it.
One simple choice. One easy decision. I decided my fate, just like that.
Just like that … I gave up my life for my sister.
And I never got to say good-bye.
Chapter 4
Alexis
“I didn’t get to say good-bye …” I murmur as I sink to my knees.
I bury my face in my hands, not wanting to accept my new truth.
I’m his prisoner now.
I willingly sacrificed myself to set my sister free.
And I don’t know when I’ll ever see her again … if I’ll ever see her again.
“How could you?” I mutter. “I couldn’t even say good-bye …”
Through my fingers, I see him stand tall above me. Fists clenched. His face still hidden behind a hoodie and that hideous mask.
He clears his throat. The sound is so guttural, I can’t even tell if he’s genuine or not.
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