Chapter 38 Grace
GRACE
Ifeel him inside me with every step I take.
He holds my hand as we walk back toward the restaurant. The ground is a little slippery from the rain. It's still drizzling, but it's not as bad as before.
"There they are," Nico calls out. "And they were doing exactly what I thought they were doing."
Max shakes his head, looking defeated. My sisters watch Dante intently, like they're still trying to figure out his every motivation and intention.
Dante pulls out my chair before sitting down beside me. He ignores Nico's smirk and clears his throat.
"There's something all of you need to know," he says.
I tense. I think he’s about to tell them the real reason we're in Bali. He kept it under wraps for this long, but they're bound to find out anyway.
"We're listening," Nico says, scooping up a piece of creamy tiramisu.
"I have a twin sister," Dante says. "She's been missing for two decades, taken from our childhood home by a London gang. She’s the reason I fight so hard against human trafficking. She’s the reason I wanted to come to Bali. Last night, I received information that she’s being kept at the beach club we’re about to go to. ”
Nico drops his dessert spoon. Everyone is quiet as they stare at Dante.
Dante's jaw is tighter than ever. He's physically here, but his mind has taken him to a place where all that exists is pain. I take his hand in mine again.
He glances at our intertwined hands and takes a deep breath like I just gave him life.
"She was trafficked when she was fourteen years old," Dante continues.
"And I haven't seen her since. This is why my biggest goal in life is to put an end to this dirty business.
I want to be the reason someone thinks twice before engaging in these practices.
But it's only gotten worse over the years. They've only gotten more shameless. It’s about time that changed.”
He takes another deep breath.
"I knew I'd have to share this with you eventually," he says. "The only reason I didn't is because...I'm not used to sharing these kinds of things. And...thank you for coming here and supporting the cause even though it’s not personal for any of you.”
Everyone is still speechless. It's Nico who speaks up first.
"Of course," he says, standing to give Dante a hug. Dante dodges the hug and shakes Nico's hand instead, patting his shoulder awkwardly as he keeps him at arm's length.
Nico tackles him anyway in a side hug and presses his cheek to Dante's face.
"We'll find your sister, man," Nico vows. "We'll do our best to find all of the girls. We can't change their past, but we can make sure they have a better future.”
"Thank you," Dante says, patting Nico's arm. “I appreciate your help.”
Dante tries to pull away, but Nico squishes their cheeks together.
"And I'm sorry I was being so adamant about going sightseeing," Nico says. "I wouldn't have prepared such a colorful itinerary if I had known how serious this was for you."
Dante exhales, looking defeated as Nico clings to him.
"No, it was a good distraction," Dante says.
“Did you get revenge?” Dimitri asks.
“I had no connections at the time,” Dante says. “I couldn’t find the people responsible. All I knew then was that they were from a London gang.”
“Is the gang still active?” Max asks.
Dante shakes his head. “No, they broke apart years ago.”
Nico returns to his chair, looking lost in thought.
“Let us know if you need help finding them,” Nico says. “It’ll be a fun little task to find those parasites and flush them out.”
A heavy cloud settles over all of us.
There are so many horrors happening in the world. So many monsters lurking in plain sight.
I’m starting to understand that there are different types of people in the underworld. There are different shades of gray. And some of the villains have a better moral compass than the people who are supposed to be the good guys.
The rain has stopped now, so we hit the road once again.
Although Bali is a popular tourist destination, so much of it remains untouched. We travel through dark streets surrounded by dense forest on either side. I can hear the chatter of monkeys and other insects all around us.
And the air.
Oh my God, the air. It's so fresh that it's almost sweet. The scent of wet earth mixed with the wilderness creates a scent so alluring that I want to capture it in a bottle.
We slow when the club comes into view. It’s an oasis of light swallowed by wilderness.
Dante parks to the side of the road when we’re about a quarter mile away. The rest of the bikes come to a stop as well, forming a semicircle around us.
“Do we have to stick to the plan?” Nico asks. “Can’t we do something fun for once?”
“Nico, don’t make us put you in time-out,” Max warns.
They spent hours forming a bulletproof plan when we were on the plane. And tonight, we’re going to split up into groups and spend the night observing everything going on at the club. The main part of the plan will be carried out tomorrow.
"Can we see a photograph of your sister?" Chloe asks. “It would help us recognize her if we saw her inside.”
Dante doesn't say a word as he turns on his phone. He shows everyone the only photograph he has of his sister.
She's the female version of him. Those same honey-brown eyes, the same regal eyebrows, the same cheekbones. The sight of her makes my heart squeeze in my chest.
"She's beautiful," Chloe says, peering closer at the phone.
"And she looks so much like you," Briar says.
"What's her name?" Chloe asks.
"Ida," he replies.
There’s so much weight in that one word. So many unfulfilled dreams, so many wasted years. But that could change tonight.
I know it’s not part of the plan, but I hope we find his sister and take her home tonight.
Dante is all business as he goes over the plan once again, making sure everyone's on the same page.
We split up into groups of three. We’ll all be entering separately to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. Dante and I sit in silence as the rest of them depart for the club.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Dante says.
"Okay?"
"Whatever happens, I want you to know that you've been the biggest blessing of my life," he says.
"Where is this coming from?" I ask.
"I want to shield you from the ugliness of this world, but I also want to be honest with you," he says. "And the truth of this life is that tomorrow is never guaranteed."
"We have security on standby," I say. "We even have remote teams monitoring the situation. None of us will be getting harmed. Right?"
"I can never promise that, Grace," he says. "The chances of anything bad happening are low, but we're always prepared for the worst. I know that's not a very comforting thing to hear, but it's something you need to know."
The things he says make me see the tarot cards again.
The Lovers. The Devil. Death.
The tarot reader said that the last card wasn't as ominous as it looked. But once again, I can't shake the feeling that something bad’s about to happen.
"But I’ll die before I let anything happen to you," Dante vows.
"Don't say that," I whisper.
"Hand me your phone," he says. When I give it to him, he pulls out what looks like a teddy bear phone charm and hooks it through my phone case. He twists the bottom of the teddy bear, making a sharp knife spring out. "I want you to use this if you ever feel like you're in trouble."
"It looks like a fruit cutter," I comment, looking at the two-inch knife. I reach for the knife, trying to feel if it's sharp. Dante pulls it away from my reach.
"It's laced with a sedative that will knock a grown man out within three seconds," he says.
"Oh." I pull my hand back. "What if I accidentally nick myself?"
“That’s unlikely,” he says. “You have to twist it open, so it won’t open accidentally. Test it out.”
He turns it counterclockwise until the blade disappears, then passes it to me. I unfold it slowly, careful to keep the sharp edge pointed away from me, then twist it closed.
The teddy bear looks so innocent. Now that I know what it is, I can also feel some liquid sloshing around inside it, which I assume is the sedative.
"Where do you even find these things?" I ask him.
"I'd give you one of my Glocks, but they won't let us inside the club with that," he says. Then he checks his watch. “I think it’s time.”
He squeezes my thigh before starting the bike.
As he drives toward the club, everything that happened up to this point flashes before my eyes.
The time our eyes first met at the auction.
The gentle way he spoke to me when I was under the influence of the aphrodisiac.
Twenty questions at the beach. The pink bicycle with the wicker basket.
The church wedding. Our time in Paris. All of it merges in my head like a movie.
I've heard that people see their life in snapshots before they die.
I really hope it's just nerves making me feel this way. It’s probably all in my head, even if I can't seem to shake this ominous feeling for some reason.
The beach club stands out like a glittering constellation in the dark.
I expected it to be loud and ostentatious, but it’s all class. Torches flicker softly in the night, lighting the path to the club's entrance. A glowing sign with the club's name hangs above the entrance in muted gold letters.
SAMUDRA.
We park our bike and walk the rest of the way. Dante takes my hand in his as we enter the club.
He leads me to the bar and orders drinks for us.
The club has an open layout that stretches out before us.
I can see the ocean from here. The sight of the moon-kissed waves calms my racing heart.
If I concentrate, I can almost hear the roar of the ocean over the music.
There’s a vast outdoor section with sunbeds under coconut trees.
Some people are having dinner outside, but most of the crowd is on the dance floor.
I sip on a pink cocktail as Dante takes stock of everything.
At first, everything seems normal.