Bare It All

by Lori Foster

  Alert.

  Her senses churned, her stomach burning, her mouth dry.

  Possibilities, spurred by a remembrance of things she’d seen, things she’d reluctantly taken part in, mixed with fresh resolve, pushing aside all other considerations. Cash was home safe. Pepper had already driven away. Logan and Reese were together, just leaving the station.

  She had no one else to worry about—except the young woman in the truck.

  Her hands squeezed the steering wheel, steadying her nerve and helping her to focus. The outside shaking abated, but inside, she remained a bundle of jitters.

  The truck drove in the opposite direction of where she lived. Farther and farther from her personal sanctuary, from her self-imposed exile, her lonely haven.

  In and out of side streets, nearer and nearer to the wrong side of town.

  Twice, Alice almost lost the truck. She closed the distance a little, scared spitless on many levels. While she rationalized her actions and tried to plan for outcomes, troublesome doubt returned her thoughts to Reese.

  She had absolutely no illusion about how he’d feel at the prospect of her trailing possible trouble. But their relationship was fresh, new, so testing the boundaries would be expected, right?

  Neither of them had spelled out any stipulations yet.

  Stay out of trouble. Did he really need to spell that out?

  Never did she want to outright lie to him, but for sure he would ask. She’d been gone all day. It was time for dinner. And Pepper had already assured Logan she was on her way home, so Reese would expect her to be at the apartment when he got there.

  That is, if he came straight home.

  Home. She couldn’t start thinking that way. Right now, their arrangement was far from concrete.

  And she’d just come full circle in her thoughts.

  Nervous sweat dampened her palms, the back of her neck. With each mile covered, the area got more disreputable. Not that location mattered all that much when the monsters crawled out. They lurked everywhere, in high society and poverty, in business and in everyday life.

  Her courage waned as they passed the bus terminal. Few people were out beneath the heat of the midday sun. They left behind businesses and went into a residential neighborhood, except that everything seemed abandoned.

  The driver steered around a corner, dark and ominous and empty except for the crumbling brick facade of an old motel with single-story units that formed an L. The truck drove around to the back.

  Alice paused before falling into that trap; her car idled on the street, her doors locked, her senses alive to warning signs. She quickly surveyed the area and decided to take an adjacent street separated from the motel only by an overgrown empty lot. She coasted along the curb until she finally spied the truck pulled up to a more open area at the rear entrance.

  Neglect fell like a dark stain over the abandoned motel. Jagged glass clung to the frame of a broken back window. Weeds grew up through crumbling blacktop in what used to be a parking lot. Graffiti covered some of the individual doors. An awning hung haphazardly, ready to drop.

  No one had inhabited that wretched place for a very long time.

  So, why would the man take the girl in there?

  Wishing she’d been wrong, Alice put her car in Park. Quickly locking up, she glanced around but saw no one. Farther down the street, a siren blared, and in the distance she could hear the traffic on the highway.

  With trembling hands she confirmed the contents of her purse. Satisfied, she drew a calming breath and went in pursuit of the woman, her steps hurried up the broken sidewalk to the front of the motel.

  Circling the building, she peeked around and saw the man holding on to the woman’s wrist while he worked keys in the dead bolt of a locked door. The unit he chose was at the end, with windows on two walls—but the windows were boarded up from the outside.

  What to do, what to do? Wait for him to get inside, so they were out of the way of prying eyes?

  Or act now, in case others were inside?

  It would be awful enough confronting one man. But if she had to face two, or even three...

  She lost the opportunity for choices when the door opened and the man urged the woman inside, then started to follow her.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  If he locked that door... “Hello!” Hearing her voice break the silence nearly made her hysterical.

  But it didn’t change her mind.

  Alice hastened her step, all but jogging down to the remote unit. “Excuse me, please,” she called even louder.

  Incredulous, the man stuck his head back out the door. He had reddish-brown hair, a tidy goatee and a pocked complexion. He glared at her, looked beyond her, around then back to her with fury. “What?”

  Moving her lips in the semblance of a smile, Alice waved to him. “Could you help me, please? I think I’m lost, and I don’t see anyone else—”

  “Get lost, lady.” He started to move away.

  Oh, God. Alice slipped her hand into her purse. Closer and closer she got to the door. “My phone died. I only need to make a call.” Her heart thumped so hard it hurt. “Please.”

  Anger darkened his eyes. His insulting gaze crawled all over her. A smile stretched his mouth. He muttered something to the woman inside the room before holding the door open for her. “Fine. Come on in, and we can get you sorted out.”

  Bile tried to crawl up her throat. She did not want to get close to him. Vision closing in, she nodded. “Thank you. That would be very helpful.”

  Her skin crawled as she walked past him, and when she saw the room, she thought she might faint. Dark, with peeling paint on the walls, exposed pipes from the defunct heater/air conditioner and stained carpet. It was bare except for an older wooden desk, no chair, and a mattress on the floor. The girl stood in a corner, her back to the wall, her expression watchful, horrified.

  Alice turned in time to see him locking the door.

  He leered at her, saying, “Stupid bitch.”

  In answer, Alice pulled out her Taser.

  * * *

  ROWDY DROVE AS fast as he dared. What the hell was she doing? He’d tailed Alice from the shopping mall, curious, a little concerned when she headed away from her apartment.

  Never in a million years had he thought she’d pull a prank like this.

  It took him a bit to realize she was tailing someone herself. Why, he didn’t yet know, but he’d find out when he caught up to her.

  Unfortunately, he got hung up at a light, stuck behind a couple of other cars. He saw Alice turn a corner.

  He knew the area, and he knew there wasn’t a damn thing there for her.

  Nothing...except trouble.

  * * *

  TREMBLING ALL OVER, Alice held the Taser steady.

  Nostrils flared, hands curling into fists, the man all but spit out, “What the fuck is this?”

  Finding her voice wasn’t easy. “I’ve already flipped the safety into the armed position. I know how to use it, and I know it will incapacitate you.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Sometimes I wonder.” Getting enough oxygen into her lungs proved impossible. She all but panted—and still felt light-headed. “Don’t move. I will seriously fry you if you do.” The Taser had a fifteen-foot range, but in the small confines of the motel room, she was far closer than that.

  Too close.

  Without looking away from the man, she asked, “What’s your
name?”

  “Hickson.”

  Alice shook her head. “No, not you. I don’t care about you.” She tipped her head toward the girl. “I meant her.”

  Hickson snarled. “She’s not your concern.”

  Alice wanted to shoot him. Bad. “I’m making her my concern.”

  The girl fought back tears. “Ch-Cheryl.”

  “What’s wrong with your arm, Cheryl?”

  “T-t-tattoo.”

  Disgusted, Hickson said, “Stop that goddamned stuttering!”

  Alice scowled, and when the girl stammered again, saying, “S-sorry,” she lost her fragile grasp on control.

  Heartbeat thundering in her ears, she whispered, “I don’t like you.” And with that, Alice pulled the trigger.

  Teeth clenched and muscles bunched, Hickson gave a guttural scream of agony. His body went rigid, bowing hard as an incapacitating pulse overrode his motor functions, robbing him of any threat. It went on and on—because Alice continued to squeeze the trigger. His knees gave out, and he collapsed to the floor. Alice glanced at Cheryl. The girl covered her ears and sank to her haunches, her eyes squeezed shut.

  Seeing that put her on autopilot.

  Using her left hand, Alice retrieved the restraints from her purse.

  The second she let up on the Taser, she was on Hickson, using the nylon straps to bind his arms behind his back. She leaped away just as quickly.

  Cheryl whimpered.

  Sympathy for the girl tore at Alice. She wanted to bludgeon Hickson over the head, but if she did, she might accidentally kill him, and what would Reese think about that?

  Having a man in her life was proving problematic already. But she couldn’t think about that now.

  Her Taser allowed her to shoot three times, thirty seconds each. She had to hurry or odds of them walking away would diminish.

  She didn’t know the circumstances here, but she recognized Cheryl as a victim, Hickson as a creep. He could have a cohort or a buyer due to show up any minute. She just didn’t know.

  On a slow breath, keeping that Taser steady on Hickson, she withdrew another nylon restraint from her purse. “Cheryl, calm down.”

  “Oh, God, oh, God!”

  “I can’t get you out of here if you don’t help.”

  That got her attention. She sniffled, wiped her nose with a shaking hand. With wretched uncertainty, she asked, “Get me out? To go wh-where?”

  “Away from here.” After that...well, she’d have to figure it out.

  Hickson groaned, so Alice zapped him again.

  His body flopped, jerked.

  She let up and watched him slump boneless to the floor. Cheryl wasn’t helping much, so she’d have to rely on herself. She went back to Hickson, this time tightening the nylon around his ankles, under his pant legs. Luckily he didn’t wear boots; she was able to get them really tight.

  When she finished, she tossed a nylon tie to the poor girl still slumped on the floor, now wide-eyed with confusion. “Cheryl, I need you to attach his ankles to that pipe.”

  Cheryl tripped toward a protruding pipe.

  “No, the other one.” Alice watched her. “The wet, moldy, dripping pipe.”

  “Are you a...a cop?” Cheryl asked while looping the nylon through the ankle restraints and around the pipe. There was barely enough room.

  “No, sorry.”

  Cheryl hesitated. “Are you working for someone else?”

  “I’m self-employed.” Her attention on Hickson, Alice watched, ready if he moved a single muscle...

  All he did was moan.

  Cheryl threw herself away from him, doing a crab crawl backward until she ended up in the middle of the disgusting mattress, her knees pulled up, her arms around her shins.

  Hickson was completely immobilized, far enough away from the door that he wouldn’t be able to reach it. And cuffed to the pipe that way, he’d have a hard time sitting up.

  Alice decided she would leave him there until she formulated a plan. On the desk was a phone, some change, a slip of paper with a number. Alice gathered it all up. “Does he have a wallet?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Alice had no intention of getting close to him again. “All right. Come with me, please. Quickly.”

  Hickson groaned again as they sidled out of the room, being sure to stay out of his reach. At the door, Alice peeked out, replaced the Taser in her purse and motioned for Cheryl to follow.

  As she hustled past the truck, she paused, then decided to take a risk. “Wait.” She dug the small folding knife out of her purse, went to one knee on the gritty, rough blacktop and cut the air valve off a tire.

  If Hickson did find a way to get loose, he wouldn’t be driving anywhere.

  Her knee hurt as she stood again, but she paid it no mind. “Come on.”

  Cheryl followed as she darted back to her car, this time crossing the field. Weeds caught on her clothes; disturbed insects swarmed upward.

  Alice tried to be vigilant, looking around for prying eyes. She saw no one. “Does anyone else know about that place?”

  Swiping at the mascara tracks staining her cheeks, Cheryl hurried behind her. “Yes.”

  She should have known. Creeps gravitated to each other, often running in packs like wild dogs. “Do you know when they’ll go back there?”

  Cheryl shook her head.

  Alice said, “I’ll figure it out.” How, she had no idea. Eventually she’d have to tell Reese. Or better yet, she could call... No. She wouldn’t do that.

  Maybe she could trust Rowdy. Reese was the law, and he saw things as black-and-white. But Rowdy understood the fine balance between right and wrong. He would balk at venturing into illegal territory—as Alice herself had just done. For right now, Rowdy’s propensity suited her just fine.

  As long as he didn’t tattle to Reese. Honorable men, she knew, had this weird loyalty to one another.

  Decisions, decisions.

  She unlocked her car with the clicker before they’d even reached it. “Get in.”

  Alice circled around to the driver’s side while Cheryl crawled in, her fearful gaze going everywhere, waiting for more hurt to come her way.

  Alice started the car and drove straight ahead, then took the first left, and another. No one followed.

  They were safe. For now.

  Beside her, Cheryl held herself so stiffly that Alice wondered if she planned to leap out at any moment.

  “What would you like to do? I can either take you to the police—”

  “No.” Cheryl gripped the door handle.

  “Or,” Alice said, understanding, “I can rent you a hotel room, or even put you on a bus.”

  Cheryl fretted, unsure of her offer. “A b-bus?”

  “No strings attached.”

  A sob tore from Cheryl’s throat. “Why would you do this?”

  “I want to help,” she said gently. “That’s all. I swear.”

  Close to hyperventilating, Cheryl watched her. “I believe you’re not a cop. But h-how can I be sure you’re not working for the competition?”

  “What competition?”

  “The other dealers? A supplier?” She pressed into the door, cowering. “How do I know you won’t take me somewhere and d-d-do awful things?”

  Drugs and dealers. What awful things? “So this... It’s about drugs?” She hadn’t figured it that way at all. Alice waved a hand. It didn’t matter, not right now. “Wh
atever’s going on, I just want to get you someplace safe. I swear.”

  For the longest time, the only sound was of Cheryl’s erratic breathing. Alice pulled into more traffic, willing to give her time to think, to compose herself.

  Suddenly Cheryl ripped at the bandage on her arm. Her sobs escalated as she exposed an odd tattoo, a design of overlapping numbers and lines. “He marked me so they’d know.” She used the wadded up bandage to scrub at her still raw skin. “That’s why I had to get the tattoo. Others will see it and kn-know I’m carrying the drugs. They’ll know who I’m with, that deals are made—”

  “Shhh.” Keeping her eyes on the road, Alice reached out to touch her arm lightly. “Please, don’t hurt yourself, Cheryl. Please.”

  Defeated, Cheryl curled in on herself. “I want to go home.”

  Relief took the strain out of Alice’s backbone. “You have family?”

  She nodded hard, eyes squeezed shut, lips trembling. “I ran off from college. Everyone told me he was no good, that he’d hurt me. But I didn’t believe them, and I ran off with him and n-now my parents are probably—”

  “Worried sick,” Alice finished for her. “That was him I met? Hickson?”

  “No.” She shuddered in revulsion. “He’s just the guy who gets us tattooed.”

  Us. More than one girl? “Do your parents live far away?”

  “A few hours.” Cheryl scrubbed at her eyes, wiped her nose.

  Driving one-handed while she reached into her purse, Alice produced a pack of tissues. “Use the visor and try to clean yourself up.”

  Cheryl sobbed a rough laugh. “Do you have everything in that purse?”

  Everything she might need. “I like to be prepared.”

  Alice knew what to do now, and that shored up her courage. She drove toward the bus terminal. “I’ll get you on a bus, with enough money for a cab from the station, and you’ll be home before nightfall. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

  Thank God, this time she could make a difference.

  Maybe a big difference. Alice glanced at her. “While I drive, tell me everything, please. Especially about that tattoo.”