Thirty-Four
Nate
I get shoved through the door of a house I’ve never seen before, and my shoes squeak against the floor when I don’t move fast enough for him.
“He might have actually pulled this off and you’ll be his prize if everything goes well.”
I’ve never seen this vile man in person before, and I could have gone my whole life without breathing the same air as him. He keeps answering the phone to some guy named Devin, asking whether my parents have suspected me missing yet.
How would this friend of his know? My heart is sick with worry when the worst scenarios play in my head.
“What are you making Jace do?” I ask, not sure I want to know the answer.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
I’ve hated this man from the moment I first knew he’d hurt Jace, and I hate him even more now for coming back into his life. Hasn’t he caused enough damage? Did he ever even love his son?
This man wasn’t a father. He was a fucking predator. Jace was nothing but a pawn in his game. He liked control, pulling the strings and making him do whatever he wanted. His stupid rules and snapping fingers no longer worked, though, so he used what he knew would. How’d he find out? Has he been following me all this time? Did I lead him back to his very first victim? Am I the one who placed the mark on Jace’s back?”
He guides me to a room down a dark hallway and when I enter the doorway, my stomach sinks. A man with blond hair sits on the floor in nothing but his underwear with his hands tied behind his back and a blindfold over his eyes. A gag is shoved in his mouth and he makes muffled sounds, fighting against his confines.
What have you done, Jace? What have you done in order to save me?
“Look what we have here. Exactly what I asked for. Almost.” He rocks his head from side to side. “A little more toned than I would have liked, but we can fix that with a little time.” He tugs me beside the scared blond and lowers himself to the ground to tie my ankles back together. Turning back to the other man, he reaches for the cloth over his eyes. “Now to check out those eyes.”
As he reveals the man’s closed eyes, he squints, looking closer. “What the–” And his body twitches when a knife is plunged into his throat. His eyes widen and he tries to speak, but blood bubbles between his lips when Jace shoves the blade deeper.
Sirens blare in the background and Jace shoves his dad to his back before getting to his feet. He stands above him, waiting for his body to go still before rushing my way. As soon as he unties me, I jump into his arms, peppering kisses on his face.
Footsteps pound down the hall and lights flash at us. A cop points his gun at the body on the floor and then us. “Someone call 911?”
“Me,” Jace says. “I tricked my dad into letting me near a phone long enough to do it.”
“Your dad?”
“Yeah. He’s the man dead on the floor. He was going to hurt him and sell me. He was recently released from prison, after he’d been charged with involvement in sex trafficking. He found me and wanted to make me pay for failing him.” Jace’s voice sounds weak, and the man in front of us talks into his radio as another person in uniform steps in checking Jace’s dad’s pulse.
“Let’s get these guys checked out and get their reports written down,” one guy says to the other as we’re steered out of the house and led to an ambulance truck.
They take our statements and our parents show up, following us to the hospital where they stitch the wound on the back of my head. Jace holds my hand the whole time, and my mom doesn’t say anything, leaning into my dad as they wait for me to be released.
When we get back to their house, Jace climbs into my bed with me, spooning me from behind. My Mom doesn’t walk in on us this time. She doesn’t stop him from sitting next to me on the couch the next day during family movie night either, and I like to think she finally realizes there’s no keeping us apart. Dad doesn’t even blink, and in some way I think he’s known all along. Jace is my person and I’m his. No one will ever stand between us again.