Vigilant (22 page)

“Why?” Ari asked. “I’ve never done anything to you—I don’t think the police would have arrested you for the robbery if you hadn’t shown up that night at my house.” She cursed herself for thinking of Jace that night. He’d been terrifying. Violent and predatory.

“You think this is about me?” He laughed, rocking faster in his chair. “You’re a blip on my radar, girl. If I’d wanted you dead you would have been dead. He’s got a soft spot for you.”

“Who?”

He continued rocking, back and forth, rhythmically. “What’s it like?” he asked. “Playing God with children’s lives. Making decisions about who stays at home and who’s sent away?”

Ari frowned. “Playing God? What are you talking about?”

“You!” he shouted. “You and those other caseworkers, acting like you’re helping people, when all you do is tear families apart. Sending us hours from home. Locking us up with other criminals and perverts.” Jace had a strange look on his face, his blue eyes glazed over. “All while living in your nice house, driving a fancy car, and worse than that,” he laughed. “You—whoring it up all over town—you’re no better than the rest of the sluts on your caseload.”

Ari jumped to her feet. “I’ve never torn any families apart! You guys do the damage way before I get there. And my house is tiny. My car has a ninety-thousand miles on it from driving kids all over the freaking state and,” she took a deep breath. “I. Am. Not. A. Whore.”

Jace froze and the rocker abruptly stopped. Tilting his head, he stood up, never taking his eyes off Ari. The backs of her knees hit the mattress and she fell, stopping herself with an outstretched hand. “I’m…” she started, but the apology on the tip of her tongue wouldn’t come. Apologize to this creep? Her kidnapper? She didn’t have it in her.

Jace closed the distance in two long strides and he grasped her chin, jerking Ari forward. She remembered what Hope told her about him, and how he’d hurt her when she was a child. She remembered what he wanted to do to her that night outside her house before the Vigilante—Davis—had saved her. The eyes she looked into weren’t rational. They belonged to a wild, feral animal. Swallowing her pride she said, “I’m sorry your life has been like this Jace. It sucks. The system sucks. ”

He narrowed his eyes and Ari took her chance. She slammed her foot down on his instep and pushed the heel of her hand to his nose just like they’d learned at the self-defense class.

“Shit!” Jace yelled, clutching his face. Blood dripped between his fingers.

Ari ran to the door and down the dark hallway, stumbling at the bottom of a set of stairs.

“Come back here, bitch,” she heard Jace scream. Her heart lodged in her throat and she knew if she didn’t get out of there, he’d kill her.

Or worse.

She scrambled up the stairwell, two steps at a time. Jace was so close she could hear his strained breath. Fingers swiped at her back and a shadow passed across the threshold. “Oh God!” she cried out, “Help me!”

“Ari!”

She peered into the dark and cried in relief. “Nick! Help!”

Ari made a break, up the final steps, tears welled in her eyes. “Nick,” she sobbed, running to the top step. He stood in the opening, arms wide. She barely stopped when she got to him, tugging on his hand. “We have to get out of here. Get Hope. Call the police,” she rambled. “Jace, he drugged me, dragged me down here…come on!” She ran out the door, trying to pull him with her, but he didn’t budge. Finally, she stopped, looking down the stairwell at Jace. The two men looked at one another. Neither seemed surprised to see the other.

“No,” Ari whispered, shaking her head.

“Come here,” Nick said, forcing her into a tight embrace. “I’ve missed you.”

* * *

Dazed and completely confused, Ari went back to her room without a fight. Once the door closed behind the three of them, she tried to speak, “Nick…”

“Do you like your room?” he asked, quietly. “I thought it would feel comfortable. Less transitional. Jace worked hard on it for weeks.”

“Yeah,” Jace said, blotting his nose with his shirt. “I would have laid the hardwood if I hadn’t been arrested that night outside of your house. I wasn’t really going to hurt you, you know.”

“I don’t understand,” Ari started. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend what was happening.

“Understand. I know. It’s a lot to take in and you’ve had a rough night. You’re right. Jace did drug you, but only for your own protection.”

“No, he had Shanna at the bar and...” She tried to rationalize the situation. She couldn’t. “Why did you bring me here?”

Nick smiled. The smile that used to reassure her. Calm her. “Because we’re good together. Out there, you’re just distracted. Work, clients, nightclubs, and Vigilantes. Here we can focus on each other. Plus there’s plenty of work to be done right here. My girls could use a companion with a little compassion. I’m afraid Jace and I aren’t really the most empathetic housemates.”

Afraid she already knew the answer, Ari didn’t want to ask. But she had to. She had to know. “Your girls?”

“Don’t be coy. You know what I’ve been doing, even if you never caught on that it was me. I’ve been acquiring them up one by one. In fact,” he said with a thoughtful look. “You basically lead me to them. The brightest of your lot. That’s not saying much, since not one of them even has a promising academic future but they’re generally compliant. Hard workers. They do love you as much as you love them. I figured if you cared about them so much then they really must be special.

“Special?” Ari hated to even ask. She felt sick. Like she might vomit.

“Sexually mature. Aggressive. Each with a history of prostitution. There’s a ton of money to be made here and they already had an understanding about how all this works. They prefer to call me their sugar daddy—or they did at first,” he smiled. “But really, I picked the girls that would make you happiest to be around.”

“No, Nick, no, this doesn’t make me happy. This is wrong. This is crazy!” Ari shouted. “This is certifiable. You’re risking everything on some teenage-girl prostitution ring?”

His eyes darkened and he grabbed her by the wrist. “I know this is an adjustment. I know it will be hard, but you don’t have a choice. I gave you a choice and you picked the wrong one. The wrong man. I will not let that happen again.”

Ari realized then that he knew about her and Davis. What else did he know? “He’ll come for me,” she spat, struggling to get away. “He’ll find you and rip you limb to limb.”

“Not if I get to him first,” Nick replied, easing the grasp he had on Ari’s wrist. He lifted her hand, pressing his lips against her skin. “I’ll be back when you’ve calmed down a little. If you need something, there’s a button you can push by your bed. Someone will come down.”

Wrenching her hand away, Ari recoiled as he and Jace left the room, locking the door behind them.

* * *

Ari spent the next fifteen minutes tearing the room apart. Ripping down the false curtains, flinging clothing out of the closet, stripping the bed. There had to be something that could help her get out of here, she thought, while moving the dresser away from the wall. Nick had lost his mind—if he’d ever had control over it in the first place.

Other than the obvious furnishings and a couple pieces of clothing in the closet, there was nothing useful in the room. Nothing, Ari noted, that she could even really use as a weapon. How long had he planned this? Jace said he’d been unable to complete the hardwood flooring because he’d been in jail. She thought back to when he’d been arrested. That was a few weeks ago, way before she broke up with Nick. That meant he’d planned on trapping her here even if they hadn’t have broken up.

Ari ran to the bookshelf. She grabbed a handful of books and threw them at the door, each one landing with a loud thud. “Let me out, you sick bastard!” she screamed. “He’ll find me!” she threatened, throwing the final book, a thick hardback. Even with the jarring noise, her words fell empty. Davis had no idea how to find her. She sneaked out of the house on Oliver—dangerously leaving him no clue where she’d gone. No family to look for her. Oliver would never suspect Nick.

The harsh reality struck Ari and she kicked the books scattered across the floor, like a child having a tantrum. Her rage turned to tears and she fell face-first on her stripped mattress, acknowledging, for the first time, that she was completely screwed.

There was no way out of this room and no way anyone would find her.

TWENTY THREE

Ari knew someone else was in the room when she woke up. Terrified Nick, or even worse, Jace, had entered her room while she slept, she carefully opened one eye, preparing herself for the worst.

Hope stood at the bookshelf, shelving the books Ari had thrown during her breakdown. The rest of the room had been cleaned up. The curtains rehung, the clothes back in the closet. Ari noticed the quilt she’d ripped off the bed now covered her legs.

“What are you doing?” Ari asked, her voice raw from screaming.

“My job,” Hope replied without looking back.

Ari got out of the bed and walked over to the bookshelf. “Hope, tell me what’s going on. How did you end up here?” She cut her eyes in Ari’s direction and didn’t say anything. Ari touched the girl’s shoulder. “I can’t help either of us until I have more information. All I know is that I went to a club and woke up here. Oh god, is Shanna here?”

“She’s upstairs, with the other girls.” Hope’s voice came out flat and uninterested.

“How many other girls does Nick have up there?”

She didn’t reply, but continued to shelve the books. Ari spun her around and grabbed her by the arms. “Hope, I don’t know what’s going on and why you’re behaving like this, but I need you to talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I have to clean the room. That’s my job.”

“Who said that? Nick? Jace?” Ari saw a dark bruise on the side of Hope’s neck. That could explain her compliance.

Hope sorted the last book, sliding it into place, and she walked to the bed and pressed the buzzer. She must have been locked in the room with Ari.

“Where are you going? Don’t leave.”

The door opened before Hope could reply, but it didn’t matter. The girl left without a second glance. Ari understood why. She’d lost her trust in the real world when she’d needed it most. Why would Hope help her now?

* * *

“How long are you going to keep me down here?” Ari asked Nick the next time he came to her room. She’d started thinking of it that way. As her room. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since his first visit but it felt like more than a couple of days.

“Until I’m sure you won’t do something stupid.”

Ari snorted, but her stomach growled at the same time, covering up any insolence. She held her hand over her shrunken belly and looked away from Nick’s probing eyes. She’d been reading a book when he arrived. Now he stood before her, wanting something. She wasn’t sure what.

“You’re hungry. Why aren’t you eating?”

“I don’t trust your food. Or what you may put in it.” Ari knew they drugged her drink at the club to get her to the house. She also suspected drugs made Hope passive and glassy eyed. Ari had started to eat the sandwich they’d given her, but the bread had smelled funny.

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

“What about the other girls? You’re hurting them.”

“You know how these girls can be. Wild. Disobedient. Different methods work on different people.”

His words chilled Ari, making her recoil farther from him. “I saw the bruises on Hope’s neck,” she said. When he didn’t reply she added, “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“Just being here is enough for now.” He opened the door and Hope came in with another tray of food. She set it on the dresser never making eye contact with Ari. Nick smiled at Ari, and he and Hope walked out the door, leaving her alone again.

* * *

Ari flipped the page of her book, thinking about how it would have been nice for Nick to have at least provided her with some new material. All the books on the shelf were identical to the one’s she had at home and had read a dozen times already. Dropping the book on the bed, she took another bite of cookie from the plate on the bedside table.

“Who’s Nick?” Hope asked.

Startled, Ari looked up. She’d forgotten Hope was in the room. Dusting or something. She came and went, still never talking to Ari and she’d gotten to the point where she just ignored the girl.

“What?”

“Nick. You’ve mentioned him.”

“Um...Nick is the guy who’s keeping us here. Tall? Handsome? Creepy as crap?”

“You mean Reggie.”

“Who’s Reggie?” Ari frowned. “I’m confused.”

“Reggie is my sugar daddy, well he was. Until he brought you and all the other girls here.”

“Wait,” Ari tried to figure it out with her addled brain. “Reggie and Nick are the same person?”

“I guess.”

“Nick is a juvenile-court-appointed lawyer. Are you telling me that’s whose been buying you stuff this whole time?” Ari remembered Devon talking about Shanna being with a guy named Reggie as well.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Is this his house?” Ari asked.

“Kind of. It’s a house, but he doesn’t sleep here.”

“How many girls here? Besides you.”

“Six, I think.”

“Shanna?” Ari asked, afraid she’d been hurt the night of Ari’s abduction.

Hope walked over to the dresser and opened each drawer, straightening the clothes inside. “She’s still here.”

“Are they all working?”

“Yeah. A couple on the street, but most of the men just come here.”

“Can they get help? If I give you a phone number, can they call? Can someone flag down the police?” Ari was sure that if one of the girls could contact Davis they could get out of here. He would stop Nick.

“The police don’t listen to us,” Hope said. “No one listens to us. We’re just whores and troublemakers.”

Her words felt like a slap. Ari deserved to be slapped. She hadn’t believed Hope when she’d told her about this place. Why would the police believe her now? Because someone with a better reputation was missing? Ari swallowed the bad taste in her mouth.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t listen. I’m so sorry. But I have someone who will believe you. I promise. He helps kids like you.”