Chapter 16
TJ
“ T urn left.” I hear the panicked edge in Lacey’s voice, but her words aren’t sinking in, mere background noise as I play out all the horrible ways my sister could be getting hurt at this very moment.
I never should’ve left her alone. God, I’m such an irresponsible dick.
What the fuck were you thinking, Mom? Why did you think I could be trusted with her?
You should’ve known that I’d end up losing her, too.
“TJ, left!” Lacey grips my shoulder, shaking me back to the here and now. I’m jolted to reality just in time to slam the brakes and take an abrupt left.
“How far?” I grit out and clench the wheel tighter, as though my knuckles aren’t already drained of blood and paler than snow.
“Ten minutes,” Lacey says, her voice shaking with fear, and I reach over the center console of the car to grip her hand resting on her lap.
Don’t ask me why, but I feel the need to touch her. I can barely fucking deal with my own emotions right now. Still, I have to help her get a handle on her own.
She reciprocates immediately, squeezing my hand so tightly I can feel the cold metal of the rings on her fingers dig into mine.
She inhales a breath. “D-Do you think they’re?—”
“Let’s not go there. Not yet.”
My phone goes off before she can muster a reply answer. I’m stupid enough to hope it’ll be Kelsea. Until I see the caller ID.
Chance .
My stomach sinks like a rock.
“Shit, I had plans with the guys. Can you put it on speakerphone?”
Lacey grabs my phone sitting in the cupholder, accepts the call, and presses the Speaker button.
Chance’s voice erupts down the line from the moment she picks up. “Dude, you’re thirty minutes late. I know you were dropping your sister at your girlfriend’s place, but what the fuck is taking so?—”
“We think someone’s trying to kidnap our sisters,” I cut him off.
“Back the fuck up, what?” His voice is thick with shock.
“Is that TJ? Tell that motherfucker he should’ve been here a half hour ago,” a voice I recognize as Theo’s blurts in the background.
“Shut up. Something’s going on,” Chance tells Theo and proceeds to put the call on speakerphone. “What makes you think that?”
“We don’t have time to explain. All we know is the girls are supposed to be meeting up with some creep at the park.”
It’s pitch-black outside. Whatever scumbag is behind this would have no difficulty shoving the girls into the back of a van and driving off.
All the media’s been talking about is how there’s an influx of young girls going missing in the area. With the way all these kids have been falling off the face of the earth, I have no doubt we’d never see our sisters again.
“Do you know where they are?” Theo asks just as Lacey tells me to take another left.
“We’re on our way there now. But we don’t know who we’re dealing with. For all we know, there could be ten guys behind this.”
It only takes a moment.
“Send me the address. We’re on our way,” Theo declares like it’s a no-brainer.
“On it.” Lacey immediately texts him where to meet us.
“We’re seventeen minutes away,” Theo says once the address comes through.
“Seven minutes for us,” Lacey replies.
“Okay, we’ll see you there,” Chance adds.
Seven minutes.
The longest seven minutes of my life.
Lacey
They’re not here.
The first thing we did when we arrived was comb through every inch of the park. Nada. There’s no sign of the girls or Sierra’s creepy online boyfriend.
Are we too late ?
No, we can’t be. The text message he sent her said to meet him at nine. It’s eight fifty-seven. Unless they met up early?
TJ gestures to the run-down bungalow where the party’s being held across the street. “Let’s search the house. Just in case they’re inside.”
My stomach twists into a tight knot as we approach the house that’s overflowing with drunk teenagers. The roof is sagging a bit, and some of the window shutters are broken, hanging from their hinges.
I thought TJ’s neighborhood was bad, but this one? Not only does it look dirt-poor, but we must’ve seen at least four tent cities on our way over.
The music vibrating through the walls is near deafening, but something tells me noise complaints are the least of the police’s problems in this area.
“The guys will be here in ten,” TJ assures me as he leads the way inside.
It’s worse than I thought it would be. People are crammed into every corner of the room, dancing—no, sorry, grinding against each other furiously. And the smell…
Not sure I’ve ever smelled anything this disgusting in my life.
A mixture of sweat, vomit, and weed is the best way I can describe it.
TJ’s hand clasps around my wrist two steps inside the house, and he begins elbowing his way through the crowd of wasted kids and the thick cloud of smoke clogging our throats.
“Kelsea?” TJ shouts over the music, never letting go of my wrist as he tears through the house’s main areas.
“Sierra?” I join in, yelling my sister’s name to the point of straining my vocal cords, but even that’s not loud enough to cut through the bass.
Heads start to turn, unfamiliar faces flashing before our eyes, and we double our efforts, continuing to call our sisters’ names as we push toward the living room.
“What the fuck?” TJ’s grip on my wrist tightens when we turn the corner, and he stops dead.
There, on a dirty brown couch I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole, is Kelsea, making out with some guy who’s covered in tattoos and at least a decade older than her.
On second thought, I’m not sure I would call what they’re doing making out. It’s more like they’re trying to eat each other’s faces off.
“Oh, fuck no ,” I hear TJ say, but I barely have a chance to take in the scene before he’s grabbing the guy’s collar from behind and ripping him off his sister with so much strength the guy goes flying, landing on his ass a few feet away from the couch. Kelsea shrieks in shock, her jaw dropping once she sees her big brother towering over her.
“TJ? What are you… How did you find me?” is all she can say, but we don’t have time to discuss the why and how.
“What the fuck is your problem?” The guy TJ just turned into a Frisbee pushes to his feet and lurches at him.
Let me rephrase—the guy tries to lurch at him. TJ easily dodges his attack, catching the guy’s fist in midair and twisting his wrist like it’s a twig.
The guy wails in pain, his eyes bulging out of their sockets when TJ jerks him closer and says, inches from his face, “You’re making out with a sixteen-year-old, you fucking asshole.”
Any twenty-five-year-old with half a brain would back off, but this guy doesn’t seem to take the hint. “Who gives a shit?”
The guy tries to reach for Kelsea, who’s still sitting on the couch, watching the scene unfold. “Come on, baby. Let’s get out of here.”
Disgust crawls down my spine, a sentiment TJ seems to share because the next thing I know, he’s cocking his fist back and punching the guy straight in the nose.
“You’re not taking her anywhere.”
The sicko drops to the floor, unconscious, and no one in the living room even bats an eye, which leads me to believe that violence is an everyday occurrence in these kids’ lives.
Kelsea pushes off the couch the next second, and TJ grips her shoulders. “Where’s Sierra?”
Doubt spreads across Kelsea’s face. “I… I promised I wouldn’t say.”
“Goddamn it, Kelsea, we think this Gabriel guy might be trying to kidnap her. Where is she?”
Color spills from her face. “H-How do you know about Gabriel?”
“It doesn’t fucking matter how we know. She’s in danger,” TJ fires back.
“I… Gabe wouldn’t hurt her. He loves her,” Kelsea argues.
We’re running out of time.
I move closer. “Kelsea, please, you need to listen to us. Girls have been going missing left and right in the area, and we think my sister’s next. If you’re not going to tell us where she is, then at least tell us what happened.”
Kelsea’s features twist with worry. I can see we’re getting through to her.
Kelsea sighs. “She went to meet up with her boyfriend in the park earlier. I went with her because there was no way I was letting her go alone, just in case. I know they’ve been talking for a long time, but you never know. Once I saw he was who he said he was, I felt better leaving her with him. Then, he asked her to go for a walk around the neighborhood. He said it wouldn’t take long.”
“And how long ago was that?”
“Like, fifteen minutes.”
Wait, so the guy in the pictures really is Gabe ?
Everything about his profile pointed to him being a catfish, but you’re telling me the profile with no picture really belonged to the blue-eyed college guy?
It’s not entirely impossible that he was telling the truth about not liking social media, I guess…
So, then, why do I still have this sinking feeling in my stomach like something terrible is about to happen?
“What did he look like? This Gabe?” I ask.
“I mean, he looked like his pictures, but he wasn’t as cute as I thought he’d be. He was all sweaty, and he was shaking. It was weird, but I figured maybe he was nervous.”
Okay, none of this is adding up.
“Holy shit,” TJ whispers to himself. “He’s the bait.”
I look up at him. “What?”
“He’s the guy luring them in. The one seducing the girls to get them alone.”
That would make sense.
“Think about it. Girls wouldn’t willingly follow the fifty-year-old creep, but the good-looking college guy? Maybe.”
“But what would he get out of it?” I’m hoping, praying that we’re wrong. That my sister’s internet boyfriend isn’t a fucking psycho hired by the scum of the earth to kidnap young girls.
“No idea, but we need to find them. Now.” TJ takes his sister’s arm and drags her to the door.
We’re rushing out of the house in no time, my heart pounding against my ribs and into my ears as TJ gestures to my car, which is parked down the street. “It’ll be faster.”
We hear car doors being slammed the moment we reach mine and a deep voice shouting, “Guys!”
We whisk our heads to see Theo and Chance heading straight for us, and a smidge of relief bleeds through the fist of anxiety wrapping around my throat. We don’t know how many people are behind this. It could just be Gabriel, but I’m liking our odds better now that we have backup.
“Get in.” TJ skips the pleasantries, and we all cram into my car, filling it to max capacity.
I asked TJ to drive on our way here because I couldn’t be trusted behind the wheel in this state, and thankfully, he takes it upon himself to drive again.
The car roars to life with a powerful start, and we take off down the street, the tires screeching against the asphalt.
“What if we’re too late?” I choke out, my sight blurred by tears I can’t control.
“We’re not,” TJ says to reassure me, and I know he’s just saying that to make me feel better when, in fact, he has no idea, but I appreciate it nonetheless.
We don’t know the neighborhood, so all we can do is drive around and pray to God that we’ll see her. Somewhere. Maybe if we’re lucky, they’ll still be on their walk. Maybe they haven’t gotten her yet.
Please let us be lucky .
“Kelsea, you been here before?” TJ asks.
“Huh, yeah. For a few parties,” she admits. I bet she never thought she’d live to see the day where she’d willingly give that kind of information to her brother.
“Okay, I’m officially never trusting you again when you say you’re having a sleepover with your friends, but I can’t give you shit for that right now. Can you think of any isolated spots where he could be taking her? An abandoned building? Anything?”
She stops to think as we’re speeding down the street. “I overheard some guys at the party talking about an abandoned factory. A paper mill, I think? They said that’s where they were meeting their dealer later, so I’m guessing it’s not out in the open, but I’m not sure. I… It might be nothing.”
“Or it might be something,” TJ counters.
I pull up the address of the only paper mill in the vicinity.
“Got it. Turn right.”
We’re three minutes away. The air in my lungs grows thinner with every mile we cover, but I do my utmost to mask it, clenching my fists as tightly as I can to contain myself.
I guide TJ through a series of quick turns until we enter an industrial part of town. We drive for another minute.
Then we see it.
The paper factory.
It sits by the river and a large parking lot.
Tall.
Imposing.
Forgotten.
The closer we get, the more noticeable the graffiti covering every inch of the exterior becomes. The building bears visible marks of time, deep cracks spreading across the foundation and structure. The road leading to the factory is littered with trash, which can be heard crunching under my tires.
I scan the dimly lit parking lot thoroughly, my pulse wilding out in my neck.
No one.
I’m on the verge of tears as I croak, “I don’t see her.”
“Keep driving. Looks like the parking lot wraps around the whole thing,” Theo suggests.
Images of my sister rotting away in a basement crash into me. I can hear the voice of the reporter breaking the news on the radio, adding my sister’s name to a long list of victims, all of whom will never be seen again. Is it human trafficking? Or a serial killer targeting young girls? Will we ever know? Will we?—
“There she is,” Kelsea yells from the back seat, bringing my downward spiral to a close.
Sure enough, I spot my sister’s silhouette the instant we reach the back of the building. She’s walking hand in hand with a man, most likely Gabriel, and glancing around nervously. I’m guessing she’s starting to realize just how weird this is while still holding on to that tiny voice in her head telling her that she’s being totally paranoid.
TJ slows down to assess the situation. We’re far away enough that they don’t see us immediately but not so far away that we don’t hear the roar of a speeding car in the distance. My stomach drops when blinding headlights appear around the corner, shining directly at my sister and the boy I’m sure is responsible for many young girls’ disappearances.
The scene looks like it came right out of a movie. From the black van rushing toward Sierra and screeching to a halt to the back doors flying open and the two large men jumping out of the car.
Sierra steps back, filled with terror as the men approach her, but Gabriel holds her tighter, forcing her forward as she resists with all her might, letting out a piercing scream that makes my blood run cold.
“Go! Go! Go!” I scream, and TJ slams the gas, making our presence known as we charge in their direction.
Seeing us kicks the men into high gear, and they launch themselves at my sister, attempting to quiet her by covering her mouth as they both take her on, dragging her to the van.
It all happens incredibly fast from there. TJ pushes the engine to its limit, cutting across the parking lot in the blink of an eye. Then, TJ and Theo are bursting out of the car and throwing themselves at the two men attacking Sierra without a moment’s hesitation.
As for Chance, he goes straight for Gabriel, grabs his collar, and delivers a strong uppercut that sends him crashing to the ground.
“Stay in the car,” I tell Kelsea before climbing out of the passenger’s seat, but she doesn’t listen, rushing out, too.
“Sierra!” I shout from the bottom of my lungs, my voice mixing with her panicked screams, and Kelsea runs to my side, gripping my arm.
TJ and Theo successfully separate Sierra from the two men with a handful of punches, ripping them off her and allowing Sierra to run to us. Every fiber of my being is begging me to trap her in a suffocating hug, but I know we’ll have time for that once she’s safe.
“Get in the car and lock the doors!” I command the girls, but neither of them moves a muscle, paralyzed by fear.
At the same time, TJ, who’s still grappling with one of the men, catches on to what we’re saying and screams, “Girls! Now !”
That’s enough to snap Kelsea out of it. She grips Sierra’s hand and drags her into the back seat of my car, locking the doors as soon as they’re inside.
TJ elbows the guy coming at him in the face at the same time as Gabriel pushes to his feet and grips Chance’s shoulder from behind. Gabriel spins him around and smashes his fist against the side of Chance’s head, near his temple. Chance drops to the ground like deadweight, and I let out a shrill scream at his inert body.
I look to my right to see Theo and TJ holding their hands out in front of the two men as one of the guys waves a knife at them, stalking closer.
The two men are bruised all over, their already unattractive faces now bloody messes. TJ and Theo look relatively okay in comparison, although I’m not sure how well they’ll fare against a knife.
I grip my phone, ready to call the police, when a deep “I don’t think so” sounds on my right. The next thing I know, Gabriel’s grabbed me from behind, his hand coming to wrap around my throat and squeezing until I’m gasping for air. He steals my phone with his free hand and chucks it across the parking lot.
“You just had to ruin everything, didn’t you?” Gabriel seethes against my cheek, his fingertips digging into my neck and making me cry in pain. “You fucking bitch.”
“She’ll have to do,” the man holding the knife says.
“She’s too old,” the other argues.
“Well, we sure as fuck can’t show up empty-handed, now can we? Come on.” Knife Man gestures to the van with his chin.
I know exactly what that means, and judging from the look on TJ’s and Theo’s faces, they do, too.
Whoever hired these bastards is looking for underage girls, but because I intervened, they’re stuck with me.
Gabriel starts to drag me to the car, choking me so hard I’m getting dizzy. I catch myself eyeing the tattoo of a broken human skull on his forearm as he’s asking the other guy to pass him the knife. He’s got the blade pressed to my neck in no time, and I squeeze my eyes shut to try and maintain a semblance of composure.
“You’re not taking her,” TJ barks through a clenched jaw and takes a step forward.
“You take another step, I’m bleeding the bitch out,” Gabriel spits, digging the knife further into my skin, not deep enough to cut me but deep enough to leave a mark.
TJ sticks his hands up in surrender. “Okay, fuck, don’t hurt her.”
“You’re going to keep your fucking mouth shut and let us leave, you got it?” one of the men commands.
“Please let me go, please ,” I beg, making myself cringe. This isn’t me. I would rather never speak again than let them hear me beg. But I have to do this. It has to work.
“Shut up before I cut off your tongue,” Gabriel growls.
“Don’t you have a heart? I was just trying to save my sister. Please let me go,” I continue to push him.
“I said shut the fuck up.” Gabriel smacks his hand against my mouth, and I don’t think twice.
I take a big bite out of his hand, digging my teeth into his palm until the taste of his blood floods my mouth, and he screams out, taking his hands off me for a split second. Thankfully, a split second is all I need to slide out of his arms and toward TJ.
TJ’s arms close around me the moment I reach him, and he holds me impossibly close to his body, his hand falling to my back as if to make sure I can’t move away.
“You slut!” Gabriel erupts at the same time we hear police sirens blaring in the distance. I have no idea who called them, but it seems to scare them to no end.
“Fuck,” one of the men blurts out, and the three of them exchange glances, communicating quietly.
Then, without another word, they shoot us bone-chilling glares and get back in their van as fast as humanly possible.
Before I know it, the black van is taking off at top speed, and my sister’s almost kidnappers are vanishing into the night, leaving us to wonder if any of it really happened.
If we really just saved my sixteen-year-old sister from a human trafficking ring.
“Lacey, fuck, your neck… you’re bleeding.” I hear TJ’s voice, but his words aren’t registering.
All I can do as the adrenaline leaves my body is glance at Chance lying unconscious on the ground.
“Is he okay?” I start to walk toward him, but my legs are too weak. They buckle with every step, and TJ has to grab my hips with both hands to keep me upright.
“Lacey,” TJ repeats and spins me around, clutching my face to get me to look at him. “He’s fine. He’s going to be okay, I promise.”
I nod, struggling to steady myself.
“He’s going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay,” TJ says.
“I… I don’t feel good.”
I grip the fabric of TJ’s shirt.
Then it all goes dark.