Chapter 18
Nico
She did somehow manage to stuff all that beautiful hair of hers under the wig, and she looks just as pretty in that dress she picked as I knew she would. Beautiful in that wholesome way. A girl next door rather than a fierce biker chick.
I don’t know which I prefer. Both, I think. And any other version of herself she wants to show me.
But I need to stop thinking about that and focus on the mission at hand. We’re at the community center, waiting for the event to start, but she’s been shaking slightly, and stammering when she speaks to anyone that greets us.
The event has a great turnout. If I had to guess, I’m pretty sure the whole town is here. Which is about a hundred and fifty people including all the children. And which also confirms my suspicious that there is absolutely fuck-all to do in this town.
No one’s asking us a lot of questions. They’re just gawking at us like we’re aliens that just dropped off the moon to attend their sorry little gathering.
I’ve been smiling so much that my jaw aches, trying to convince them non-verbally that we come in peace.
And to make up for the fact that Alice’s face looks like she took one too many tranquilizer pills.
“So, why are you here?” a short woman with huge dark brown hair asks. I think she’s had a few too many mugs of the sangria, which seems to be the drink of choice of all the women. The men are drinking beer that they brought themselves in coolers of all shapes and sizes.
“We’re from LA, but want to relocate somewhere quieter and more wholesome,” I say, smiling even wider and ignoring the growing ache in my jaw. “We found your little town quite by accident, but we are really enjoying the vibe.”
She laughs harshly, throwing her head back and spilling sangria on the front of her dress, which is thankfully the same color as the drink. “Come on, this sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere? I’m sure you’d die of boredom here if you’re from LA.”
She’s completely right, I would probably be on the verge of going insane after a week living here.
But I’m good at playing the parts I need to play, even when they’re just a lie.
Lots of my life was spent doing that, trying to fit in, be part of a life where there was no real place for me. So I just smile wider.
“I’ve been hustling hard for the past ten years in LA,” I say. “I’m ready to take it slow from now on. Plus, this looks like the perfect place to raise a family. And all that nature around here. I just love hiking.”
I nudge Alice to say something too, before I mess up and reveal that hiking in national parks could very well be the last thing I ever want to do.
But she doesn’t react, her eyes fixed on a spot to our left. I don’t even have to look at what she’s seeing to know that the priest has joined the party.
“Nature is overrated, but you got it right about this being a great place to raise a family. We don’t even lock our doors around here,” the woman says and extends her hand. “I’m Nancy, by the way, Nancy Cole.”
“Trent, Trent Baxter,” I say and extend my hand. “And this is my wife, Alice.”
Part of her plan was to pick made up names and stick to them. I have no idea which name I picked, much less what she decided to go as. So Mr. and Mrs. Baxter it will have to be. Unless I forget again.
At least the sound of her name got her attention.
And she’s smiling at Nancy now too, although not with her eyes.
Those are full of steel that’s not quite masking the pain underneath as the priest climbs on the stage to announce the start of the children’s show, which as I understand will be the main act of tonight’s event.
“Ooo, it’s starting,” Nancy says, clapping her hands excitedly. “It’s a production of the Wizard of Oz and my youngest, Kaitlin, is Dorothy.”
Alice audibly gasps beside me, all the more noticeable because the room has grown quiet.
“Welcome everyone,” the priest says. “Please take your seats. The performance is about to begin.”
I wrap my arm around Alice’s shoulders and lead to her to the two aisle seats in the back row.
“He put on the Wizard of Oz back then too,” she whispers. “I was Dorothy. He said he gave me the part because I was his special girl.”
We hadn’t read the full flier for this event, so this play is a surprise to both of us. A painful one for Alice if her tone is anything to go by.
The priest is merrily explaining the play on stage, announcing the players, and his excited voice is such a stark contrast to the pain in Alice’s that it makes me want to get up on that stage and punch him until he can’t get up anymore.
The lights dim, the curtains open, and the play begins.
The priest is sitting in the front row, his face illuminated by the stage lights.
And that’s pure predatory hunger in his excited eyes as he watches Dorothy—Kaitlin Cole, I suppose—stammer through her lines.
Even if I didn’t know anything about this priest, I’d know something was off from the way he’s practically ravishing her with his eyes. Fucking sick bastard.
“This is the perfect time to go do what we came here to do,” I tell Alice. “Are you up to it?”
She gives me a stern look that’s still very much filled with pain.
“Of course I am,” she says. “I’ll go first and then you follow.”
She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything more as she gets up and heads for the door.
Up on stage, Dorothy is hugging the tiny boy playing her dog Toto, telling him everything will be all right even though they’re so far from home with such feeling that I actually get a lump in my throat.
That’s what I’ll be for Alice. That kind of comfort. And I will make sure she returns from this mission—this ordeal—safe and sound, and successful in putting her past behind her. Even if she never let’s me kiss her again, I’ll do that for her. One way or another.
Nico
Not many people noticed Alice leaving the room, and even fewer saw me follow a few minutes later. She’s waiting for me by the front door of the community center, pretending to be very interested in the notice board, even though there’s no one out here.
“We have at least an hour now,” she tells me. “That’s how long the play will last.”
Then she hands me a bag of cameras and microphones from her oversized purse.
Our plan was to divide and conquer, each taking a portion of the buildings that we have to bug. But I take her hand as I take the bag she’s offering me.
“I think we should stick together.” I’m not sure she’s up to being alone right now, but I don’t say that. “If we have an hour, I mean. Plus, you’re way better at setting these things up than me.”
A smile almost materializes on her lips, I see it in her eyes as she nods. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll do this building first and the church last. Let’s go.”
She walks down the long corridor past the auditorium where the play is happening.
There are a few doors, some closed, some open, lining the corridor, but she’s marching straight for the stairs at the back of it.
And once we’re there, she doesn’t hesitate in going down into the basement.
I follow, lighting our way with the flashlight on my phone, so we don’t have to turn on any lights.
I wish we could though, because this place is oppressive as fuck.
I’d rather not imagine being a young child, led down here by a strange man.
There are four rooms down here, two of them used for storage and one is the boiler room, but the last is equipped like some sort of a work room slash man cave.
There’s a sofa, a desk, some shelves and a TV.
And it would look just fine if the sofa wasn’t pink with yellow flowers on it, and there weren’t a bunch of bags of candy sprawled out all over the desk.
Alice is actually shaking as she takes in the sight.
“This,” she whispers. “This is his room.”
The way she says his leaves no doubt that this is a replica of the room in which she was abused.
“So let’s bug it,” I say and open the bag in my hands. “Quick.”
I want her out of here as fast as possible.
“We have to be thorough,” she says and takes the bag from my hands.
Then she starts calmly and methodically placing the surveillance equipment. I just stand back and let her do it, checking the corridor outside on the off chance that someone will wander down here.
It doesn’t take her long at all. “Ok, let’s do the other rooms,” she says and brushes past me.
She bugs the corridor next, then the storage rooms and even the boiler room.
There’s still no one in the corridor on the ground floor and she puts some cameras and mics into the offices there too. And the corridor itself.
Our first setback is finding the doors of the first floor of the community center locked.
“I could break it down,” I say, checking out the lock more closely.
She shakes her head.
“We don’t want to leave any marks,” she says, turns around and heads back towards the auditorium. “I’ll do the church next. You go back to the play. Say I had to take a call or something, if anyone asks where we are.”
“I’d rather go with you to watch your back.”
“I’m fine,” she says. “You just make sure Gael is still in there and I’ll be fine. Call me if he leaves at any point.”
She doesn’t wait for a reply, just strides towards the door, giving me no chance to argue. I follow and grab her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. Then I lean down and whisper, “Everything is gonna be all right,” into her ear.
She gives me a shocked look that’s also very grateful.
I think she understands that I’m not just saying that. I mean to make sure that priest pays for what he’s done to her, and to who knows how many other girls. Pays in pain and suffering worse than the suffering he had caused. I’ll make sure of that whether Alice likes how I do it or not.