by Nicole Fox
I feel Sadie look at me, and my heart clenches in my chest, tightening like a fist. But I try not to react.
“But yeah, he died. Got in a shoot-out a few days ago over some disputed territory. Right after his brother told me it happened, he got one last fuck out of me and then dropped me off at the docks. So, here I am, off to service men in Europe. My business is going intercontinental,” she says sarcastically, the bitterness in her voice thick.
Sadie looks from Annika to me and back again, and I pray she won’t say anything. Considering she believes Dmitry got us all into this situation, I know she wants to commiserate with Annika about how horrible he is, but for my sake, I hope she’ll refrain.
Life inside this box is hard enough without everyone inside of it blaming me for their lot in life. Especially since I don’t believe Dmitry did any of this on purpose. He didn’t sell me and the girls, and he didn’t mean for Annika to end up here.
Suddenly, the latch on the door shifts and light streams in, blinding us all.
I turn away from the sudden brightness until I feel a squirming warmth placed in my arms.
“I’ll be back for her in a couple hours.” It’s the kind guard. Or rather, the guard who doesn’t actively abuse any of us. And he has brought me Olivia.
She smells like the sea, but I can still catch a hint of the sweet cinnamon smell I’ve always associated with my baby. I nuzzle my face in her dark hair.
Devon must be getting tired of looking after a toddler because Olivia is being brought to me more and more frequently.
I wonder what his plan is for her. Then, as quickly as the thought comes, I push it away. I don’t want to know.
I want to believe Dmitry will save us before that becomes relevant. I want to believe we will be back at home and in our house together again before I know it.
But if Annika is right, and I have no reason to believe she isn’t, this operation is intercontinental. It reaches far beyond the bounds of a single city. Can Dmitry compete with something like that?
I don’t see how the Bratva can go toe-to-toe with such a large operation, especially now that we’re already out to sea.
Larissa wakes up from a dream crying, and Annika turns her attention from me to focus on the child. Sadie, too, turns away and curls up on the floor.
For the moment, the conversation is forgotten, and I do my best to focus on Olivia while I have her. She tugs at the ends of my hair and caresses my face with her tiny hands. Then she reaches over and hugs Tati’s arm. Tati stirs and smiles, but I can see the pain in her eyes.
“Up. Out. Now!”
The Tiger is a man of few words, all of which are shouted in harsh barks of noise, waking us all from what little restless slumber we’ve managed to find.
“Where are we going?” Annika asks, hugging Larissa to her chest.
I gather Tati close to me. Instinctively, I look for Olivia as well, before I remember she’s somewhere else on the ship.
“Doesn’t matter. Just listen and go,” he says, bending down to spit the words in Sadie’s face, even though she didn’t say anything.
We all file out of the container one by one, and despite the fear gripping my chest, I drink in the fresh, salty air.
We’ve gotten small waves of it when the door to the container opens and closes, but I’m usually too distracted by what the guards are doing or saying to enjoy it. This, however, is complete.
I tilt my head up and look into the midnight-blue sky dotted with stars, a thin layer of cloud cover the only thing obscuring the brightness. A damp wave of ocean air lifts my dirty hair, and I sigh.
“Move,” the Tiger says, pushing me towards the railing. “You all have five minutes to air out before going back in.”
I turn and see a few deckhands going into the container with mops and brooms.
“You’re cleaning it,” I say.
The Tiger turns to me, disgust written on his face. “It was beginning to smell. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
He couldn’t stand it.
We’re the ones living in the container, but the smell bothered him. Poor little guy.
I want to tell him what a worthless piece of shit he is, but I also don’t want to do anything to detract from the bliss of fresh air, so I encourage Tati to move closer to the railing and further from the Tiger, and try to enjoy the short window of relative freedom we have.
For the first time in days, Tati looks like a kid. Like a little girl. Her eyes are wide with wonder as she stares out at the water. We live on the beach, but I guess being out in the middle of the ocean just magnifies everything.
It goes forever, she signs, blinking in amazement.
Not forever, but for a long way.
She nods and then frowns. Which way is Daddy?
Tears well in my eyes, and I swallow them back as quickly as I can. I wish I could tell her. I wish I knew exactly where we are and where Dmitry is. I wish I could tell her he’s coming for us, but I don’t know. I have no idea where on the goddamn earth I am right now, and I hate that I can’t offer her some form of comfort.
I try to gather the right words to comfort her without lying, but before I can, I hear the Tiger stomp across the deck.
For a second, I think he’s coming for me, and I spin around, shielding Tati.
But then, I see a man standing ten feet to my right. I didn’t even hear him approach, but he’s stumbling towards the railing with his pants unzipped. Without warning, he pulls his dick out and begins to pee over the railing into the ocean.
“Hey, you drunk bastard,” the Tiger complains loudly. “Get out of here.”
The man mumbles something and gives himself a shake before zipping back up. “I needed a piss.”
The Tiger grabs the man’s sleeve and pushes him towards the side deck, but the man resists, turning for the first time to take in the sight of the half-dozen women standing in front of him.
“You let them out to play?” he slurs, obviously drunk.
“Not for you,” the Tiger growls. “Get going, before I throw you overboard.”
The drunk man digs in his heels and lifts a finger to point directly at Sadie. She’s standing a few feet away from me, arms crossed over her chest to fend off the chilly ocean breeze. She’s in a low-cut, long-sleeved pajama top with no bra, and the cold air is making that obvious.
“How much for her?”
“Not for you,” the Tiger repeats. “Get out.”
“For the night,” the man says quickly. “Just for a night. Or an hour. I have cash.”
The Tiger is quick to anger, so I expect him to deck the man and throw him overboard for insubordination, but instead, he releases his hold on him and steps back, looking from the man to Sadie and back again, weighing the offer.
“You want to pay for one night?”
Sadie gasps and steps closer to me, as though she can hide.
The drunk man nods. “I’ll pay for whatever I can get. She’s, mm, delicious.”
The Tiger considers it for a minute, and then turns and moves towards Sadie.
She’s frozen in fear, and I throw myself in his path. “You can’t do this. What will Devon say?”
Instantly, a hand cracks across my cheek and throbbing pain blooms in my face, radiating down my neck.
“Devon isn’t here,” he spits. “Even if he was, he wouldn’t care what I do with this bitch.”
“No,” Sadie whispers. “Please. No.”
The Tiger smiles, his face morphing into a malicious mask. “She finally begs. Keep that up. I’m sure he’ll enjoy that, too.”
He grabs Sadie and pulls her towards the drunk man who is rifling through his pockets for whatever cash he can find. I reach out and grab Sadie’s arm, desperate to do anything to stop this from happening. To help her.
“Let go!” the Tiger roars, wrenching Sadie out of my grip and throwing her past him towards the sailor, who eagerly grabs her and keeps her from falling on her face.
“Don’t do this,” I
beg, though I know it’s pointless.
“Enough,” he says with finality. “Don’t forget I know where your baby sleeps. It would be so easy to lose her over the railing.”
My stomach plummets to my feet, and I turn to Sadie, mouth open in horror. She turns away from me, her face pale and shocked.
But the Tiger isn’t done. He turns to Tati, who is peeking out from behind me, and smiles, all of his teeth bared. “And let’s not forget this little bitch. You should be more careful if you want to keep her safe.”
Having read his lips, Tati clings to me, and I can feel her shaking with sobs.
I want to help Sadie, but there is nothing I can do. Not without risking the safety of my girls. So, I turn and wrap my arms around Tati. I give comfort to the only person I can while my best friend is dragged away by a drunk, horny sailor.
God only knows what awaits her below deck.
“Too bad it wasn’t the other sailor,” Annika says later that night. “He was way better-looking than the one Sadie got.”
None of us spoke for a while after we were returned to the shipping container. It had been cleaned and smelled considerably better, but the air feels stuffier than ever after having breathed fresh sea air.
An hour or so later, Tati finally stops crying long enough to show me something she grabbed from the deck while I was arguing with the Tiger: a jagged piece of metal.
For protection, she signs, placing it into my hand.
My heart is torn—between horror that my little girl is trying to find ways to protect us, and pride, that she could still be so tough after everything she has faced.
Now that she’s asleep, I work the metal against a ragged edge of the container, sharpening it into a kind of shiv.
“I doubt Sadie cares much about how attractive the sailor is,” I snarl.
“She will,” Annika says quietly. “Trust me. After a while, you take what little comfort you can find. And you’d rather sleep with an attractive monster than an ugly one.”
I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I don’t want to imagine that kind of life for myself. But after a few minutes, I can’t help but ask, “What other sailor are you talking about?”
“You didn’t see him?” she asks. “I guess you were a little busy, but there was a second man on the other side of the deck. Blond hair, blue eyes, and an ass that would not quit. The man knew how to fill out a uniform.” She laughs hollowly, but dies down when she sees that I’m not laughing with her. Not at all.
I drop the shiv and turn to her, eyes wide. “How tall was he?”
Annika frowns. “I don’t know. I was a bit distracted by all of the fighting and threats. Kinda tall, maybe six foot. He had a beard.”
A beard. I’ve never seen Dmitry wear a beard. Could he be in disguise?
As soon as the thought appears, I shake my head.
I’m being ridiculous. As though there aren’t a million men who could match that description.
“He kept staring at you,” Annika continues. “I thought he might put up some money for you for the night, too. I’m still surprised he didn’t.”
A shiver moves through me. Regardless of what Annika said, there is no level of attractiveness that could make sleeping with anyone but my husband an experience I’m interested in having.
I have to keep a low profile. I have to do what I’m told and not fight back until I know I can win. Until I’m sure I can escape. Otherwise, I risk putting my girls in harm’s way. More than they already are.
Suddenly, the latch on the door squeaks open, and Sadie is shoved through the door.
She falls on her knees in the middle of the container and immediately curls into a ball.
“Sadie,” I gasp, laying the shiv aside and crawling towards her. I wrap an arm around her body, and she’s shaking. “Are you okay?”
She lifts her face, and I can see her lip is swollen and there are bruises all over her face and neck.
I gasp again, but try to temper my reaction. I don’t want to upset her more than she already is.
“What happened?” I ask.
Sadie shakes her head, and I can’t blame her for not wanting to discuss it.
Eventually, I get her upright, and we sit against the side wall together. I hold her and try to offer what little comfort I can, but the longer we sit there, the angrier I become.
I silently vow to kill every single person who hurt her. I’ll kill the Tiger for threatening my girls. I’ll kill the sailor for hurting Sadie. I’ll kill anyone who gets in the way of my freedom.
When Sadie falls asleep, I go back to work sharpening the shiv.
7
Dmitry
I saw them.
I saw Courtney and Tati.
I remind myself of it every second. Every breath.
Every step I take down to the kitchen and every bowl of oatmeal I scoop, I remind myself that I saw them. They are alive. Though, not especially well.
Every spare second I’ve had has been spent looking for where the women could be held. The deck of the ship is littered with shipping containers and there are a thousand different doors below deck that could lead anywhere, so I hadn’t had any luck. Then, I decided to go up for some fresh air.
My roommate came into the room late, stinking of alcohol and sweat, and I couldn’t sleep anyway. So, I pulled on some clothes that barely fit and went for a walk. I heard the yelling before I saw anything and didn’t think anything of it. The men in charge of the ship seem to always be yelling at someone. They haven’t yet learned how to spark fear without raising their voices.
Then, I heard a female response.
Please, no.
I knew who it was before I turned the corner, but the sight of Courtney still almost knocked me over.
She had on a loose pair of pajama pants—the same ones she was wearing when I last saw her—but they were stained and dingy now. Her dark hair hung in limp curls around an obviously thinner face. And behind her stood Tati.
They both looked so frail, so terrified. I nearly ran across the deck and wrapped them in my arms, but then a man stepped forward and threatened them.
My vision went almost black with rage, so it took me a moment to recognize that the man was the same one from the poker night. The man with the tattoo of a tiger on his forearm. I couldn’t see the tattoo, but I recognized him.
He knew where my girls were. He was the one in charge of them.
Don’t forget I know where your baby sleeps, he said.
Those words stilled me. Olivia was on the ship, too. My entire family was under that man’s control, and I couldn’t act until I knew I could save them. Until I knew I wouldn’t get them killed.
So, I hung back in the shadows while Sadie was led away by the sailor, and as much as I wanted to, I didn’t follow the man with the tiger tattoo or the women back to where they were being held. I didn’t draw any additional attention to myself. I walked stiffly, numbly, back to my cabin and tried uselessly to sleep.
Now, I can hardly keep my eyes open.
Lunch service is in full swing. Jake was right in saying the quality of the food would grow worse over time. The produce is all frozen now and most meals lean heavily on bland rice. I know Courtney and the girls can’t be eating well, and I hope there will be enough left over that they might get some, too.
“We aren’t rationing,” the chef yells, grabbing a plate from the lineup and sliding it back towards me. I barely have time to save it from clattering to the floor.
He is a wide man with a soft chin, and I’ve never heard him say anything below a shout.
“Give them a full scoop or you won’t eat tonight,” he says, spit flying in every direction.
Truly, I don’t want to eat the food. I only eat it now to keep up my strength, but his spittle is making me want to reconsider.
“What a shame that would be,” I mumble, voice thick with sarcasm.
The chef cocks his head to the side, eyes narrowed and focused on my face. “Who are y
ou?”
I want to send my clenched fist flying into the man’s flabby face. I want to tell him exactly who I am and bring him to his knees with fear.
“Andrew,” I say.
“Well,” the chef says, taking a slow, purposeful step towards me. “That is strike one, Andrew.”
He stares at me for a few seconds as though he expects me to grovel or shake with fear. Instead, I meet his gaze, refusing to even feign respect for such an unworthy man. Eventually, he stomps away to yell at another cook for plating the chicken wrong, but I feel his eyes on me the rest of the service.
“You’ve made an enemy,” Jake says when the waiters finally take the food away to serve.
“Of the chef?”
He nods. “If you get fired, they’ll drop you off wherever we make port in Europe, and you’ll have to find your own way home. I’ve seen it happen before.”
“I’ll be fine.” I have no intention of making it all the way to Europe, but Jake doesn’t know that.
He hums, unconvinced. “You should come to poker again tonight. It would give me a little competition. I swept last night without you.”
It seems the only thing to do on the ship is poker. I skipped last night to search the ship for Courtney. It was a success considering I actually seen her out on the deck. Now, however, I need more information. I need a way to get to her.
“Plus,” he continues. “You might actually be fired, and I’d hate for you to be stranded in Russia with no money. You need the cash.”
I nod, acting like he has convinced me. “Fine. I’ll be there.”
The Tiger is at the poker game.
The nickname is not very original, but it’s what everyone calls him, and I don’t care to know his real name anyway. If it’s up to me, he’ll be dead soon.
“Ready to lose, boys?” he asks, cracking his knuckles like a movie villain.
“I can’t lose tonight,” a scrawny man says, stacking his chips into a neat pile. “I need more money if I’m going to warm my bed again.”
The Tiger hisses at him to be quiet, but I recognize the sailor as the man from the night before who paid for Sadie, and I can tell he’s already half drunk. It is a wonder he managed to get it up last night.