Secret Worlds (589 page)

Ari frowned. “You let them do that in here?”

“No one’s complained,” he shrugged. “And honestly, I thought they’d be gone by now.”

Ari eyed him for a minute, astounded that he was so laid back about prostitution in the bar. Finally, she asked, “They paid you off, didn’t they?”

He smirked but didn’t reply. Why would he? It was exactly why that crap happened in the first place. People always looked the other way. Ari drained her cup of soda and pushed it away in irritation. She wasn’t one of those people. She didn’t look the other way. She fought for the girls who were left behind, used, and treated like dirt.

“Asshole,” she said, standing up. To her surprise, she stumbled, reaching for the barstool for balance. Woozy. “What the hell?” She slapped a hand over her mouth. That was the second curse word in under a minute to slip through.

“Watch it,” a girl said after Ari banged into her.

“Sorry.”

Ari walked down the bar and pushed her way through the group of men. “Move, jackoff,” she said. They argued a little but she wormed her way to the front. The girl faced away from Ari, her thin, pale hand resting on a man’s thigh. She had on a tight, black sequined mini-dress and her curly dark hair was off her neck, twisted into a bun. Loose pieces stuck to the sweat on her skin.

“Hey,” Ari said. She ignored the men and reached for the girl’s arm. “Are you okay?”

The man closest to her shot her a look. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Who the fuck are you, pervert?” she shot back. The girl turned and Ari felt her jaw drop.

“Ms. Grant?”

Ari focused on the blurry figure in front of her. Why was everything so hazy? Her stomach hurt but she strained to see the girl clearly. “Shanna? What are you doing here?”

Shanna looked between Ari and the guy. She slid off the stool. “Nothing. Just hanging out,” she said. “You don’t look so good.”

“I don’t feel good either, but we need to get you out of here.”

“You need to back off,” the guy next to Shanna said. “This is none of your business.”

Ari laughed. “You have no idea, man. This is so my business.”

“What? What’s going on here? I thought that guy was your pimp.” He jerked his thumb backward. Ari looked in the direction and through the fuzzy glare, she saw a mop of scraggly blond hair. He flashed his gold teeth.

“Oh shit,” Ari said, stumbling backwards.

“Ms. Grant? What’s wrong?” Shanna asked, holding her up by the arms. Ari paid her no attention. Instead, trying to reason through her muddled mind to figure out how this happened, she grappled for Shanna’s hand and started to pull her away.

Across the bar, Jace Watkins pushed himself off the dark, dingy club wall. The wicked grin on his face produced a shiver down Ari’s spine.

“Run, Shanna,” she said, but her feet no longer worked and her voice sounded strange.

“What? Why?”

It didn’t matter anyway. It was too late. The seconds it took Jace to reach her weren’t enough to get away, even if she had all her faculties. Before she could respond, his face was in hers. He wrapped his hands around her upper arm and squeezed.

“Finally,” he said, his breath reeking of beer. “We can finish this.”

“Go away, Oliver,” Ari mumbled into her pillow. He relentlessly pounded on her door. What the heck? He knew she liked to sleep in on weekends. Rolling over, she seized her head.

“Ow.”

It was then that she realized the pounding came from her ears and above her temple. The room itself was silent.

And dark.

Ari felt her soft pillow and lightweight quilt but pushed them back because her skin felt feverish. “Ugh,” she groaned. Her whole body ached. What was that smell? She sniffed the quilt. The detergent was perfumed and only added to the throbbing headache. Carefully, she sat up and noted the darkness of her room. Usually there was a least a slit of light near the window. Right then, everything was swallowed in black.

Instinctively, she ran a hand under her pillow for her phone but it wasn’t there. Not a surprise since she didn’t remember coming home the night before. She didn’t remember anything past the text message from Davis and slipping out the window. Did she meet him? Did she bring him home? She felt around and wondered who put her in her pajamas. Shorts and a tank top. Ari fumbled in the dark for her bedside lamp, knocking something over in the process. She found the tiny knob on the lamp and turned it, lighting up the room.

“Oh, God.”

Ari was not in her room.

Or her house.

Ari’s heart leaped in her throat and she stood up, letting the sheets and quilt fall to the side.

This was not her room but everything looked the same. Exactly. The furniture and rug under her feet. The painting of four crows hanging on the wall behind the dresser—the one she bought at the tiny art fair downtown. The books on the bookshelf—shelved identically. The antique crystal door knob. Slowly, she acknowledged that not everything was the same. Not exactly. Ari ran her hand down the wall and felt the bumpy surface of cinderblock, not the plaster of her room. And the floor wasn’t hardwood. Under the rug, cold, gray cement peeked out around the edges.

She ran to the wall lined with curtains. Throwing them aside, she cried out when she saw nothing but a blank, solid wall behind them. That was why she didn’t see light. Her heart hammered, competing with the drumming of her headache. She needed to get out of there. Where ever there might be.

Barefoot and barely dressed, she ran to the door, jiggling the knob. Unsurprisingly, it was locked but she persevered, shaking and yanking on the door until it flew open. What she didn’t expect was who was waiting for her on the other side.

Hope.

***

She stood before her in tight black shorts and a tighter black halter top. Her hair was braided to perfection and tiny diamonds glittered in her ears. Ari’s missing client held out a tray of food. “Take it,” Hope said. Her eyes listed slightly to the side and her shoulders slouched. A far cry from the firery girl she’d seen a couple weeks ago.

“Hope, are you okay? Where are we?”

The girl shrugged. “Take this and eat. He’ll be down later.”

“Who will be down? We need to get out of here!”

Hope shoved the tray into her hands and walked out.

“Wait!” Ari dropped the tray of food and rushed to the door, kicking a bottle of water across the room. Hope locked the door with a solid, loud click from the other side. “Hope! Come back!”

The sudden movement brought on a wave of nausea and Ari grabbed her waist, searching for something to vomit into. She found a wastebasket near the dresser and retched until there was nothing left.

Ari woke in bed. The same bed with the funny detergent smell from before, and no light coming from under the curtains. She winced, sitting up. Her stomach and head ached from vomiting. The tray she’d dropped to the floor earlier had been cleaned up and neatly set on the bedside table. Ari grabbed the bottle of water and chugged it, fighting off dehydration. With a mouthful of water, she realized Jace Watkins sat in the corner, rocking lazily, back and forth.

Her mouthful of water sprayed across the bed. “What the—?” she sputtered. “You did this?”

She’d been afraid before, but right then, her veins ran ice cold.

“I got you here,” he said, his gold tooth flashing in the lamplight.

“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 90,000 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 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 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.