34. Hazel
THIRTY-FOUR
Hazel
It took less than thirty minutes to drive down to the warehouse, so now I'm sitting in my car in silence, waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
Leaving Easton in bed just now was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my entire life, and I never want to feel like this ever again.
The good news is, I know I probably won't be thinking about it soon. The bad news is, I know I probably won't be thinking about it soon.
I know what Neil intends to do with me. I know what he tried to do to me last time, and I don't imagine this time is going to be any different.
He's going to try to sell me. He's going to sell me to the highest bidder, who will use me however they want, but it doesn't matter as long as Jade is safe.
I didn't want to leave Easton, though. I really didn’t.
With everything going on, I can finally admit to myself that I wanted that relationship to last until the end.
I love him.
I love him more than anyone I've ever loved in my entire life, and I know that it's silly. I know that Olivia and everything else in the universe, apparently even a movie, is telling me that there wouldn't have been anything between us after all this danger went away, but I don't care.
What I want is to be with Easton, and now I'll never have that.
But I don't regret my choice because I couldn't let anything happen to Jade. I love her as much as Easton, as if she were my own daughter.
The minutes tick on, and it gets closer and closer to midnight. I can barely sit still in my car. My heart is pounding. I can hear it, I can feel it, I can taste it.
I'm terrified. I'm terrified of going into that warehouse, and goddamn, I hope that Neil keeps his word.
If he's hurt Jade, and I walk into this trap with nothing to gain from it, I'm going to be more than just heartbroken. I'm going to be completely hopeless and empty.
When the clock turns over in my car, I get out. I try to be as quiet as possible, closing my door slowly so it doesn't slam.
I got one more text message from Neil while I was waiting. He has instructed me to go to the back of the building, where there will be a door, and he’ll be waiting for me.
I swallow down a lump, and then another, and then another.
Terror is ringing through my veins, and I nearly stumble on my own feet as I walk gingerly towards the back door. I'm walking towards my end, after all.
It feels like walking to the gallows, and I know I'm being rather dramatic, but I feel like I have a reason to be.
Who could blame me for getting a bit maudlin when I am literally going to meet the man who kidnapped me?
I keep reminding myself that Jade is behind those walls, that Jade is waiting for me to rescue her, that Jade is there, right fucking there, and she deserves a life.
She's a kid, and while I had some beautiful things while I was out on this side, and even though I’ll hold on to them when life gets too hard to bear, it’s her safety that matters.
I walk up to the door, ready to knock, but before I can, it opens. Neil stands on the other side, a sneer on his face.
“Come on in, Hazel girl.”
My skin is crawling as I pass by him and step inside. I haven't been that close to that man in so long.
Once I'm inside, more fear wraps around my heart and squeezes as I'm led to an office at the back of the building. This warehouse seems abandoned, which I can imagine makes it a perfect spot for Neil to hide out.
I wonder how long he's been here? Has he been there the entire time the police were searching for him? Or is this new?
“Go watch the front.” Neil’s voice booms, and I realize that he’s talking to a man in a Halloween mask. My blood runs cold. Is that the man who attacked me? “Let’s be sure there are no cops following our lost lamb’s trail.”
“I didn’t bring anyone with me. I promise.” I try to make my voice sound as level as possible, but even I can hear the tremble in it.
“Well, we’ll just be sure about that, now, won’t we?” Neil turns to Halloween Mask again, gesturing at the door with his head. “Go.”
As the man shoves past me, I stifle a whimper. I don’t want to be weak. I don’t want to just be a walking ghost filled with pain. But it’s impossible to keep myself from recoiling when Neil’s thug glowers at me from behind the eye holes of his mask.
I shiver, and then, from my other side, I hear a muffled whine. I whip my attention that way, only to find Neil yanking Jade from what I have to assume is a closet.
She’s bound by her wrists in front of her, and she’s been gagged with duct tape. My heart drops, instant tears filling my eyes.
“Jade!” I rush forward on instinct but slam to a halt when Neil steps in front of her, shoving Jade down onto a peeling leather couch.
Jade doesn't look harmed. Aside from the fact that she's messy and disheveled, she seems okay. Still, I know that the duct tape around her mouth can't possibly feel good.
But I don't see any blood or scrapes, and there’s no swelling. My heart still breaks to see Jade like this.
She's still in her pajamas. She was wearing her hair in braids last night because she wanted waves in the morning.
I take a single step forward, not trying to upset Neil. “Please, please let her go. I'm here, I'm here, just like you asked. Can you please let her go?”
There's a look in his eyes—calculation, manipulation. He's trying to work this situation, to see what's going on, but I have nothing up my sleeves.
I didn't call the police. I didn't wake up the man that I love. I came here alone, just like he asked me to.
The brief sense of relief that I felt when I saw her comes crashing down around me as I stare at the man who tried to traffic me two years ago.
“All right, Hazel, here's how this is going to go. Obviously, I want some things out of this situation. You were a very, very bad girl, and you treated me very badly. I deserve some recompense for how you've behaved.”
Neil starts pacing back and forth across the office floor. It makes a terrible sticking sound. It's like walking inside a dingy movie theater in here. I have no idea what could’ve made the floor sticky, but the possibilities make my skin crawl.
I don't know what to do right now, how to help Jade. All I can do is listen to Neil as he goes on and on about his fantastic plans, just like he used to love doing.
“We had an arrangement, you and I. And you didn't uphold your end of the bargain.
Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to bind your hands, and I'm going to cover that pretty mouth, but just for now. Before you sat on that stand and testified against me, ruining my life and my business, you were supposed to go to a very wealthy customer.”
My heart is beating furiously, and I remember the terror I felt two years ago. I can see the dark, cramped van we were transported in. I can see the dank room where we were corralled to wait.
I remember running for my life.
“He's interested in purchasing you again, so that's where you're going.
You're going to be going right where you belong, right into the hands of one of the most affluent customers I deal with.
And you're going to do everything he says.
Everything he wants to do to you, he's going to do to you.
And then I'm going to disappear to a place where no one can find me, somewhere across the globe where the United States jurisdiction comes to a complete stop.”
I'm trembling. I know I am. As much as I hate it, I can't stop myself from shaking everywhere.
This is exactly what he was going to do to me last time, and I only just pulled out of that by the skin of my teeth.
I have no one coming for me this time, and I have no intention of trying to escape, which is even worse.
No, I intend to let all of this play out exactly as he wants, as long as it means that Jade is safe.
I know that Easton will be furious that I've done this, that I've put myself in harm's way to protect them. I just hope that once I'm gone and out of his life, he can shove memories of me into the back of his brain in some dark drawer and never think of them again.
I hope that he finds someone who loves him, who will be a parent alongside him to Jade. I hope he finds someone who makes him feel worthy and cared about because he deserves that.
He's had such a hard time with his parents, his strained relationship with his sister, and then her death.
Easton is a good man, and he never lets himself feel that way for long, but he deserves to. He deserves to be loved and looked after.
He deserves to go on adventures and feel light and carefree. Not constantly plagued by worry and doubt.
If I can do anything, I hope that it’s to give Jade and Easton the lives they deserve.
If giving up my life for theirs is what is required, I will give it gladly.
Neil is suddenly in front of my face, snapping his fingers. “Are you fucking listening to me, you stupid bitch, or are you still too good for me?”
I flinch backward. I know Neil is completely capable of using his fists if he wants to. I know his words sting just as badly.
I don't want Jade to see any of that.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Yes, you can do all of that. That's fine. I will go with you, and I won't fight. I just need you to let Jade go. Please let Jade go. You promised me that you would let her go.”
As he stands there way too close to me, the smell of his cheap aftershave makes me nauseous. I can see that light in his eyes begin to grow.
He's happy. He's happy about something, and that is never good when it comes to this man. Not for anyone around him.
He steps backward and then walks towards where Jade still sits on the couch, shaking, her face stained with tears.
She whines against the tape again, but she can't say anything, can't move.
“I don't know. I've come to like this one. I think she'll do really well with the other girls. Be a real quick study. Hell, maybe that rich client of mine will want to buy both of you. You can be nice and happy together, doing whatever he wants you to do.”
The blood drains from my face. I cannot let this happen to Jade. I cannot let her see the horrors that are to come.
“You can't. You can't do that. You promised me?—”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want, you dumb cunt.”
My eyes snap to Jade, and before I can think, I leap toward her. At the exact moment, Neil dives in my direction, his hand finding my arm and yanking me down.
He tackles me to the ground, pinning me there as he towers above me. I scream on instinct, and I can hear the muffled calls of Jade behind her tape.
I think she's trying to say my name.
But the door is open, and there's no one standing in front of it now. Forcing myself to be still, I look over at Jade, where she sits on the couch, and I mouth to her the word “run.”
Her eyes go wide. Mine are right there with her, up, I'm sure, but she has to get out of here. I plead with her with just my expression, silently begging that she take the hint and start running.
After a second, then two, Jade finally gets up and takes off for the door.
Neil tries to run after her, but I grab his shirt, yanking him toward me. It's certainly not the best thing to do to keep myself safe, but I don't care about myself right now.
I care about Jade.
I dig my nails into his skin, I slap at his face and arms, and then he grabs me around the throat, pinning me back down to the floor.
Using my neck as leverage, he smashes the back of my head into the cement. Pain flares through my skull, and my vision goes white.
I lose my grip on Neil's shirt, and then I can feel him moving. He's going after Jade.
No, I have to stop this.
Not caring about how the world is just a strange smattering of stars and confusion, I reach out and grab Neil's leg, digging my fingers into the fabric of his pants.
He trips and smashes down to the floor, grunting with pain. He's still trying to get away from me, but I slip my hand beneath the fabric and drag my nails down his flesh.
I do it hard enough to draw blood.
He screams and comes after me. “You fucking bitch! You're not taking this away from me again!”
Neil clambers back on top of me, and I'm stuck there. His fist reels back, and I know that he's about to beat me to death.
I'm going to die here on this stupid warehouse floor, but at least Jade will be safe.
In the distance, I can hear sirens, but I know they're not close enough, and they can't possibly be coming here. They have no reason to.
They're probably just pulling over someone who's speeding.
This is it. I'm going to die tonight, right here on the ground. But if Jade is as fast as I think she is, she's long gone.
And that's what matters.