by Joanna Blake
"There isn't."
Kaylie stared at him.
"There isn't anything going on."
"Okay. I just thought maybe you wanted to help her. After what happened at the mall. Even if there isn’t… I know she likes you Jack."
He blinked. They weren’t yelling at him.
And she said Janet liked him, She did, did she? He felt a tiny flicker of something foreign.
Hope. It was hope.
So she still liked him. She must be insane. But he didn’t care. He’d take her, if she was still willing.
No holding back this time.
“Where is she?”
He stared at Kaylie with one eyebrow raised. Even that movement was painful in his recently inebriated state. Didn’t matter.
He wanted to go get Janet. Now. But instead of telling him where to find her, Kaylie let out a deep breath.
"I'm scared for her."
"What?"
He was prepared for her to tell him that Janet had gotten herself into trouble. Fine. He'd help her.
He was prepared for her to tell him that Janet was angry at him and wouldn't come to the clubhouse. Even better. He’d beg her forgiveness.
He was not prepared for what Kaylie said next.
Not at all.
"Her parents found out she's been hanging around the clubhouse. They-"
"They what?"
"They locked her in her room with no food or water. It's been three days at least- maybe four and- ”
"WHAT?"
"She hasn't had any food or water in days. I don't even know if they care if she lives or dies at this point. I was going to call the police but Dev said-"
He closed his eyes and felt the deepest rage he'd ever felt in his life. His sweet girl, punished for hanging around him.
He roared. There was no other word for the sound that came out of his mouth.
Then he climbed onto his bike, and rode.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Janet
“I’m here about the opening?”
The woman looked Janet over, an odd gleam in her eye. The place was clean enough looking, if not the swanky spa she’d been expecting. And it was the last place on her list.
She needed a job, and this was her last hope.
Even if giving massages was not physical therapy, it was related, right?
Janet looked around while the woman fished out some paperwork. She had thought this was a beauty spa, but the only people who had walked out so far were men.
Weird.
“Address?”
“Uh… I’m sort of between permanent addresses.”
The woman smiled wider.
“Emergency contact?”
Janet’s stomach twisted. If you asked her a few days ago she would have said Kaylie. Or even Jack. But it was time for Janet to stand on her own two feet.
And Jack wasn’t even a friend anymore. That ship had sailed.
She was alone and she was just going to have to get used to it.
“I don’t have one.”
“I see. Let me get you a glass of water while you finish filling this out.”
Janet sat in the uncomfortable looking plastic chairs. She shifted in her seat. It was ironic to have uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room for a massage place.
Anyone would need a rub down after waiting in this place.
She took the glass of water from the woman, taking a dainty sip. She picked up the pen and filled in her name and phone number, even though she didn’t have a phone anymore.
Her parents had made sure of that.
She rubbed her eyes, noticing the strong disinfectant smell all of a sudden. She stared at the paper but all the words were blurry. She took another sip of water and tried to stand.
“Are you alright miss?”
“I’m-”
She stumbled and sat back down again.
“I don’t feel right.”
The woman smiled at her coldly.
“I know, dear.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jack
Jack broke about fifty laws in the fifteen block ride to Janet's house. He was angrier than he'd ever been in his life. And that was saying something.
They’d trapped her. They’d locked up his Jan.
He was going to murder someone if they’d hurt one hair on her head.
He was off his bike and at the front door less than five minutes after Kaylie had told him what was happening. He banged his fist on the front door until a man in his early 50's opened it. He looked terrified when he saw Jack looming in the doorway.
"Where's Janet?"
"She's gone."
A pinched face woman appeared behind him.
"You're one of the biker scum that she's been hanging around with. Get out of here before I call the police!"
A voice inside Jack screamed 'I'M NOT SCUM!' with tremendous force. He’d never heard that voice before. He’d never thought for a minute that he was worth anything.
Until her.
“You can have her. Tell that little hussy that she’s no longer welcome here!”
God, he wanted to wring their necks. How could they be so stupid? She was better than all of them.
A thousand times better.
How could they not take care of something so beautiful and precious? How could they do anything but protect her? Cherish her?
She was so special. So daring. So brave.
And fragile.
Janet had convinced him she was tough, along with the rest of the world. But it wasn't true. She was strong in her way, that was true. She'd had to be.
But there was a vulnerability about her he'd sensed and chosen to ignore. He’d known she needed a friend. He’d known it deep down. Now that he'd met her parents he had no doubt where that vulnerability came from.
They'd mistreated her. Endangered her. Ignored her cries for help. He felt sick to his stomach imagining her in her room, hungry and thirsty and alone.
No. That was wrong.
He was the one who left her alone when every fiber of his being had been telling him to take care of her, nurture her, protect her.
Love her.
He did something he rarely did. Something he rarely had to do. He made himself look deliberately intimidating, leaning forward to sneer at Mr. Mahoney.
"Where is she?"
Janet's mother stepped forward. She looked like his beautiful Janet, but distorted in a fun house mirror. She must have been gorgeous once. Before bitterness twisted her features. No wonder Janet's dad was so whipped.
"She ran away. Maybe if we're lucky she'll never come back."
He pushed her out of the way and stalked into the house.
"Show me her room."
Her father eyed him warily and wisely decided to humor him. He led him down the hallway to a door with a massive deadbolt on the outside. And hooks, just to make sure the door wouldn’t open from the inside.
Jack was horrified when he saw the size of that deadbolt. Janet was a girl, not a horse or a criminal. She hadn't stood a chance.
He stepped inside the room and winced. It smelled horrible in here. He saw a bucket full of piss and shit in the corner. He closed his eyes.
They'd left her alone with a bucket.
They’d made her sit in here, with her own offal.
This was his fault. All his fault. He's the one they didn't want her hanging around with.
He should have left her alone to begin with. Or claimed her for good. He should have taken care of her. Not this bullshit waffling he'd been doing. Fighting himself every step of the way.
Now she was the one paying the price.
It wasn't right.
"Get out."
Her father was lifting the bucket when Jack snapped the order at him. He hesitated then awkwardly carried the offending container out of the room. Jack blew air out through his nose and looked around the room. He could hear them arguing out there. The woman wanted to call the police but the man was
trying to convince her not to.
Everything about the room reminded him of her.
The room looked like a sanctuary. With parents like that, it was no wonder she'd created her own world in here. Posters of far away places covered the walls, all interspersed with stunning photos of dancers. Slender girls with long legs and frilly costumes.
They were supposed to be beautiful and strong.
None of them held a candle to her.
A rose colored scarf covered her lamp, lending the room an ethereal glow. He turned and saw her bed. It was a mess, with blankets and sheets everywhere. As if she'd tossed and turned on it. All alone.
Except for his helmet.
He moaned out loud, realizing she'd been sleeping with it. He closed his eyes again, feeling a sharp sting of regret. He regretted everything he'd done since he met her.
Except kissing her. He could never regret that.
He stared at the window. She'd smashed it open after three and a half days trapped in this airless room with no food or water. Or comfort.
While he'd been drinking himself into oblivion, she'd been in here, alone and afraid. Sharp pieces of glass stuck out in every direction. It was a miracle that she hadn't cut herself.
Maybe she had. Maybe she was bleeding to death in an alley somewhere. If she died, he'd never get to tell her he was sorry.
He'd never get to tell her he cared.
He had to find her. Now. But how?
She could be anywhere. Kaylie was her best friend and even she had no idea where Janet could have gone. It's not like she had anyone else to run to.
Except him. She had him and she didn’t even know it.
If he'd played his cards differently, she would have come to him for help… instead she was out there, in God only knows what kind of danger. He spun in a circle, scanning the room for a sign. There was nothing. If she'd taken anything with her it couldn't have been much.
Then he saw it. On the floor next to her desk was a piece of paper. He picked it up.
It was a list of names and numbers. He frowned and then realized they were jobs she meant to apply to. He read it quickly and sucked in his breath. The third item on the list was a body work place. She'd probably thought it was a place to learn physical therapy.
But she was wrong.
Jack knew what it really was.
It was part of an underground prostitution ring run by another club. The Vipers.
They’d love a pretty little thing like Janet. Lost and alone and so beautiful it made your insides ache to look at her.
If they got their hands on her… they'd never let her leave. He crumbled the paper in his fist and left, fear making his heart pound furiously in his chest.
He had to save her.
He had to make this right.
Chapter Thirty
Janet
Think Janet. Think. How do you get out of this. You have to get out, before they-
Janet closed her eyes tightly, refusing to even think about what they wanted to do. She was curled into a ball on the floor, trying to protect her body in case they touched her again. She waited ten minutes in that position, making sure they were gone for real.
She had been here for at least twelve hours. Enough time to wake up in lingerie, and be held down while the owner explained ‘the rules’ to her.
They wanted her to whore for them. To… take men. One after the other. She was close to vomiting from the thought of it.
They'd left her with a bowl of something to eat and some water and then shut off the light, leaving her in pitch darkness. She'd decided right off the bat that it was better to appear meek and afraid.
So far it was working. They weren’t being too rough. And they’d left her untied. That was a bad decision on their part.
She was afraid, that part was not an act. But meek? Hardly.
She used her hands to feel along the concrete floor. There was no way in hell she was going to eat the food they'd left but she needed the water. She was parched. She could tell she was dangerously dehydrated, especially after her parents had trapped her for so long.
Unfortunately, that was the least of her worries.
She was an idiot. She had got herself into this mess, and now she needed to get herself out of it.
It had been the third place she went to looking for work. The first place that hadn't cared that she'd lost her ID and didn't have references. But the joke was on her. If only there were anything funny about it.
The ad she'd found for body work had been a scam. They were running a brothel here, and from what she could tell at least 75% of the girls were unwilling participants in the scheme. She’d met a few of them before she was tossed into this dank room all by herself.
Their accents told her they were from all over the world. Their eyes told her they were beaten and broken. Like her, they were the disenfranchised. No one loved them.
No one would come looking for them.
But she vowed she would make sure this place got raided, the second she got away. These other women weren’t going to be trapped here. Not if she had anything to say about it.
She closed her eyes, berating herself for the hundredth time.
How could she be so dumb?
When she'd walked in the place they'd taken one look at her and seen a gold mine. They'd drugged her. They tried to get her to put on some sleazy lingerie. She'd fought them tooth and nail when she woke but in the end they'd won, holding a cloth over her mouth until she stopped struggling.
When she came to the second time she was dressed in a black satin corset with lace panties, thigh high stockings and black heels.
How anyone could walk in those heels was a mystery. She could, but only because she was a dancer. And now, they’d given her a weapon.
Leaving her the heels was an oversight on their part. If anyone tried to touch her, she was going to stab them with those 4 inch stilettos. She would have already but she'd eaten a few bites of the food they'd brought the first time. It was risky but she'd been so hungry at that point she hadn't cared.
Mistake. Big mistake.
It had been drugged, sending her into a stupor yet again. She'd spent half the day in a dream state, with images from her past and present intertwining.
When she woke up her purse was gone. Not that she had anything in it. Her parents had taken her phone and her wallet.
She knew she couldn't blame them for this mess though. This was all her. Stupid and impulsive as usual. And now look at the situation she was in.
She would not give in. She would not let them force her to do one damn thing!
She wiped tears off her cheeks. At least they hadn't tried to turn her out yet. Soon though. She knew it was coming soon. She'd overheard them saying something about breaking her in before shipping her overseas.
They put girls as far away from the people they knew as possible. Foreign girls came here, American girls went- well, everywhere from what she had overheard.
She knew if that happened she'd disappear forever. She'd never see Kaylie again.
Or Jack.
The thought sent a spiral of pain through her chest. Even if he didn't want her, she'd still like to see him now and then. Even if they didn't speak. Just his presence made her feel safe. Just his existence.
The world was a better place with Jack in it.
She conjured up an image of him. She'd been doing this for almost a week now, ever since she'd been locked in her room and then this hole. It gave her plenty of time to think… to fantasize.
Mostly about Jack.
She imagined what he would do if he found her in this situation. As usual, he was staring at her disapprovingly. He'd be the first one to tell her she was an idiot for getting herself in this situation.
Of course, he wouldn't actually say it. He'd just project it with those steely dark eyes of his. And then he'd smile the teeniest bit, letting her know he was glad she was okay.
Janet moved back into the corner and held a shoe in eac
h hand.
She knew what Jack would expect her to do.
She was going to fight.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jack
Jack didn't even bother with the first two names on the list. It was getting to be late at night already and he knew the legitimate businesses would be closed.
But not the Body Work Special.
Christ, if she was in there, God knew what they'd done to her.
He would kill them if they hurt her. He'd kill them if they even touched her. He was pretty much ready to kill anyone who touched her.
She was his. They both knew it. And he was done fighting it.
Now he was just fighting to get her back. And once he did, he was keeping her. Didn’t matter that she was too good for him. He would just have to learn to be good enough for her.
He texted Dev on the way. He told him to bring some guys in as few words as possible. He might need the backup. He didn't care if he made it out of there alive, but if anything happened to Janet, he'd lose his mind. Maybe permanently.
This was going to take some finessing. The Rub N' Tug was run by a rival gang. Nowhere as big as the SOS but twice as mean.
The Viper's Disciples.
He couldn't wait for the guys. If there was a chance he could stop them before they… he gritted his teeth, trying not to imagine Janet lying helpless underneath a paying customer.
He pushed open the glass door and walked in.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Janet
THUNK
Janet's eyes fluttered open, only to close again. Was someone here? No… she'd dropped her shoe.
Her weapon.
She struggled to wake up as the realization sunk in: they'd must have drugged the water too. How could she fight them when they kept her drugged constantly?
She felt as if she were moving through molasses as she reached for her stiletto heel. She nearly tipped over but after three tries she had it firmly gripped in her palm.