Chapter 46 #2
My footsteps echo no matter how carefully I place them. The Blackwell holds silence the way old churches do. Heavy, patient, cataloging everything that's happened inside its walls.
Knox walks half a step behind me, close enough I feel his warmth. Malachi is on my other side, hands in his pockets, eyes mapping the space the way he maps every room he enters. Candace stays at his shoulder, posture sharp, cataloging every corner.
The full team spreads behind us. Nash and Ruby are side by side, Nash's hand brushing her elbow once before falling away.
East scans the ceiling, counting cameras.
Frankie moves with her fingers trailing the wall, lips moving once without sound.
Arden is a step behind her, silent. Amelia and Felix stay near Phoenix and McKenzie.
Anna stands beside Tobias, their arms close.
"This door," I say at the east service entrance. My voice comes out level. I let it stay. "This is where they bring them in."
Anna steps beside me. She stares at the door for a long time. Her fingers curl, flatten, curl again. "It always smells of cleaning solution," she says. "Even when they haven't cleaned."
"They want it to feel clinical. Neutral. Sanitized. A place where bad things couldn't possibly happen."
"You're sure about this?" Knox asks.
I lean back, shoulders brushing his chest. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
East crouches by the doorframe, running his fingers along the lock mechanism. "Electronic. Mag lock?"
"Mag lock," I confirm. "Controlled from the security station on the second floor."
Nash takes out his phone, photographs the lock, the frame, the hinges. "We'll need the override frequency."
"Phoenix," Malachi says.
Phoenix nods from the back. "Working on it."
We move inside. The corridor narrows, the ceiling dropping just enough to make shoulders tense without anyone naming why. Fluorescent lights hum and flicker. I turn left without checking signs.
"This hallway. They keep it plain on purpose. No artwork, no signage, nothing to make it feel as though people belong here. The cameras are hidden. You can't see them, but they can see you."
East points up. "There. Recessed behind the vent cover. Another one at the junction."
"Good eye," Nash says.
Ruby marks them on her tablet, tapping locations on the blueprint she's loaded. "That's six so far. Want me to keep counting?"
"Every one," Malachi says.
Anna drags her fingers along the wall. "So you never know when you're being watched."
"Exactly."
Knox's grip tightens on my hip. "You're shaking."
I hadn't noticed. My hands are trembling, a fine vibration running through my fingers. "I'm aware. That's different."
He nods.
Candace moves up beside me. She doesn't say anything. Just walks at my pace for a few steps, close enough that I feel her there. She drops back. It's enough.
We reach the prep room.
The door is heavier than it looks. It always was. Reinforced. Designed to muffle sound from both sides. I push it open. Empty. Fluorescent fixtures dark. Mirrors unlit. The racks are gone. The counter where they used to lay out dresses is bare, a thin layer of dust on the laminate.
Anna stops just inside. Her shoulders square. Her breath goes measured and even. It's the kind of breathing you do when you're telling your body to stay in the present. Knox stays behind me. Close. Sure.
Frankie walks the perimeter of the room, one hand hovering an inch from the wall. She pauses at the far corner, fingers curling. Her expression hardens. She shakes her head once and keeps moving.
"This is where they told me I was lucky," Anna says.
I let the silence exist. The hum of the building fills it. Somewhere a pipe clicks.
"They used to line the girls up here," I say, gesturing along the wall. "I saw it when I worked the events. Shoes off. Jewelry off. Names taken last."
"Why last?" Ruby asks from the doorway. Her voice is quieter than I've ever heard it.
"Because names make it harder to forget you're a person."
Ruby's jaw sets. She writes something on her tablet. Her hand isn't steady.
Anna walks deeper, stops where the mirrors used to be. She stares at the blank wall as if she can see her reflection in it.
"They told me I was chosen. That I was special. That the men who bid on me should be considered an honor."
"I heard them say it," I say. "To you. To the others. I was in the room. I was supposed to be there to check vitals and make sure nobody collapsed before they went on stage. And I heard every word they said to those girls."
She turns to me. "You heard."
"I heard. And I couldn't stop it. It's the thing I hear most when I can't sleep."
Anna laughs once. Short. Sharp. Real. "Funny how generous they all were."
Malachi's voice cuts low from the doorway. "How many could they hold in here?"
"Twelve," I say. "Sometimes fifteen."
His mouth flattens. Candace's hand finds his forearm and stays. We leave the prep room and move deeper.
"This door doesn't open from the inside," I say, tapping a plain metal exit. "It's locked electronically during events."
Knox studies it, running his palm along the frame. "Fire code violation."
I snort. "They pay for exemptions."
"Not this time."
Nash photographs the lock. East checks the hinges. "Removable pins," East says. "We can pop this in under a minute if we need an alternate exit."
Arden from behind us says, "Mark it."
Ruby taps her tablet. "Marked."
The main floor. Dark and empty, it looks smaller. The stage is a raised platform of dark wood, scuffed at the edges where heels caught. Chairs are stacked against the walls. The air smells of carpet cleaner and cold stone.
Anna steps beside me. "It's strange, seeing it this way."
I nod. "Empty."
"Quiet," she says. "It was never quiet when I was here."
We walk the perimeter together, the full group spreading out.
I point out paths, blind spots, the places where security stands during events, where attention drifts when the bidding starts.
Anna listens, marking each one with a nod.
Knox watches everything else. Nash and East move in tandem, testing doors, checking sightlines, measuring distances with their eyes.
Ruby keeps her tablet running, logging every detail.
Frankie stands at the center of the room, eyes closed for three seconds, open. Whatever she felt, she keeps it.
Amelia walks the back wall with Felix, studying the secondary exits. McKenzie tracks the main entrance from the stage, counting steps to every door.
Anna stops at the edge of the stage. Looks at it. Steps up onto it. She stands there, center stage, in the empty room. Arms at her sides. Chin level. Breathing.
The room goes still. Everyone stops. Everyone watches. Tobias stands nearest the stage, fists at his sides, jaw locked. He lets her stand there.
Ruby's tablet lowers to her hip. Nash's hand finds her lower back. She leans into it without looking.
Candace watches Anna with her chin lifted, eyes bright and fierce.
After a long moment, Anna steps down. She turns to me. "You know you don't have to hold it together the whole time."
"I know." I swallow hard. "But I'm choosing to stay in it."
She accepts that without pushing.
Knox steps around to face me. Hands at my waist. He waits until I meet his eyes. "You didn't check the exits once," he says.
I blink. He's right. I walked this entire building and my body didn't inventory a single escape route. "I have you," I say.
His mouth curves. Barely. "You always will."
Anna clears her throat. "I'm going to step outside."
Tobias moves with her. McKenzie follows.
The room thins. Malachi, Candace, and Phoenix drift toward the back, voices low, running logistics.
East and Nash circle the perimeter one final time.
Ruby finishes her photos at the main entrance and follows them out.
Frankie passes me on her way to the door, pauses, and puts her hand on my arm.
One squeeze. "You did good." She's gone, Arden a shadow behind her.
When the room empties to just us, the silence settles. Lighter now. Knox draws me close, my back to his chest, arms around my middle. Chin on my shoulder.
"You okay?" he murmurs.
"Yes." I pause. "No. But I'm here anyway."
He exhales. "That's my girl."
I turn, forehead to his. "This ends."
"It does."
"And we don't pretend it didn't cost us."
His palms spread over my shoulder blades. Firm. Warm. The same touch he gives me in our kitchen, on the bike, at the clubhouse bar. Steady and sure. The room holds around us.
I rest my hands on his chest, feeling the even beat.
Outside, voices carry. Malachi gives orders. East laughs at something Nash said. Anna's voice, low, talking to Tobias. Bright and startled, Anna laughs. The sound bounces off the building's limestone face and finds us through the open door.
Knox lifts his head. "She's laughing."
"Yeah." My throat closes. "She is."
His hand finds the back of my neck. He sets his mouth on my forehead and holds it there. We walk out together.