1. Amorette
AMORETTE
T he chatter of the courtroom quieted as I rose from the table. I squeezed Irena’s shoulder as I passed behind her, giving her all the comfort I could in that quick touch. It was almost over.
Approaching the podium with my notes, I ignored the tingles in my face and neck as I let out a slow exhale. This was it. I could do this. I would do this.
Irena and her daughter were counting on me, which was record-breaking for a junior associate to even have the chance to do the closing argument.
I was shocked that Mark let me have the opportunity, but he said I was perfect for it.
At five-foot-two with doll-like features and a sweetness about me that had always been the bane of my existence, I was the perfect weapon for women in the courtroom.
And I intended to be the deadliest of weapons.
At the podium, I laid a hand over my notes and made eye contact with each and every juror. From the grungy twenty-five-year-old woman all the way to the gruff sixty-year-old man, they each held my stare. I didn’t smile. This was not a smiling matter.
“No one ever wants to be the victim. No one ever asks to be hit, burned, or raped. Ever. Mr. Wurther will tell you that he was a devoted husband–a hard worker, who treated his wife and daughter with care, but as you’ve seen over the last month, nothing is as it seems.
“Just because they were married, does not give Mr. Wurther the consent to act with profound cruelty. But as much as Irena and Anya suffered, they are incredibly lucky to be sitting here today. There are three heroes in their story up to this point. Now they stand to have twelve more…
* * *
“Thank you. So much.” Irena’s thick accent stumbled over the words as she struggled to control her tears. Her fourteen-year-old daughter sobbed into her chest as she clung to her mother.
“Don’t thank me. You two are the brave ones.
You came forward after everyone in your life told you that you were crazy.
Ungrateful. Bitter. But you didn’t let that stop you.
You got yourself and your daughter out of an abusive situation, and I couldn’t be more in awe of your strength.
Testifying can be debilitating for some, but you both did so well.
” I touched Anya’s shoulder, and she started sobbing harder, muffling her cries in her mother’s shirt even as she nodded.
“It may not seem like it now, but this is the beginning of the next chapter. Good things are coming your way.”
“Thank you,” Irena whispered. “We couldn’t have done this without you. I know you’re young, but I can’t even fathom the women you’re going to help. If you ever need someone to help talk to a victim, please call me. If that’s allowed…”
“Absolutely.” I caught her hand and squeezed. Pride filled my chest. For them, for myself. The verdict wasn’t in yet, but I had a good feeling about it.
Regardless, this mother and daughter duo had faced their abuser and came out on the other side. They won already.
* * *
Mark tapped on my door. “Hey, you did a great job today.” I held my breath, waiting to see what he’d say next.
“I was skeptical about hiring you so young, but I think it was the best decision I ever made.” He rapped his knuckles on the door again, and I exhaled as he walked down the hallway. Thank God.
Accepting praise for something that seemed like a human obligation seemed wrong.
I helped these women because they deserved to have someone in their corner.
Too many times, they didn’t have any support and were scared shitless.
I was one of the fortunate few who found my calling early on, allowing me to focus through school.
My twin, Grace, rolled her eyes every time I left her to study. We were just two very different people.
I listened for any sound in the office as I packed up. Nothing. It was completely quiet. I wouldn’t be asking any co-workers to grab a late dinner. Though, that was for the best. We needed to be in court first thing in the morning. The last thing I needed was a distraction right now.
The parking garage was mostly empty, except for a few cars every other row.
Fluorescent lights flickered above. The only sounds were my heels and the echoes of engines from upper levels bouncing off the walls.
At this time of night, I was surprised there was this much activity.
Usually, the place would be a ghost town.
My phone went off, and I pulled it out of the side of my oversized purse.
How did it go, woman? Tell me everything! I know you kicked all the ass today.
Grace. My beautiful, glamorous sister checking on my case. I loved her so much.
A smile coasted over my lips as I unlocked the screen to type a response and–
* * *
“Psst.”
It was a struggle to open my eyes, and I only managed to succeed with one.
I didn’t want to, and I couldn’t even remember why.
From what I could see of the dark room, it was spinning.
Too quick to make any sense out of which way was up.
I groaned. What the hell? Thoughts were hard.
I waited for the fog of sleep to drift away, but it clung to my mind with bitter, clawed hands.
Slowly, feeling started returning to my body, and I wished it hadn’t. Something happened. Something…
Pain lanced through my skull as my fingers pressed against tender skin.
This wasn’t a bad dream.
It was my nightmare.
I’d been abducted. I’d been mother-fucking abducted. I thought my heart rate tried to increase, but whatever drugs they pumped through my system blocked the response. Instead, chills erupted over my skin and tremors racked my body.
This couldn’t be happening.
I was supposed to be the fighter—the one who saved women.
How the hell had this fucking happened?
My teeth started to chatter, but I wasn’t cold at all. Shock. I was going into shock. I tried to catalog my surroundings, but everything was still so blurry.
I was naked. The metal floor was cool against my bare skin.
I was dirty. Even though I was still partly out of it, the grime coating my skin itched . At least, I thought it did. Maybe it was all in my head.
I was bruised. That’s why I couldn’t get both eyes open. One was swollen shut. How had I not felt the heat and ache a few minutes ago?
“Hey, are you okay?” A girl sharing my cage held a crusty bottle of water against my lips. “Drink this. Dehydration is the last thing you need right now.”
She came into focus and I wished they, whoever they were, had hit me so hard that both my eyes had swollen shut.
She was pitiful. Young, but I was scared to ask her age.
Quiet, but only because her screams had run out.
And sad, if the red, irritated tear tracks going down her face were anything to go by.
There was no good answer for her, not when we had both been kidnapped. From the sounds of women crying, we were a few among many. My stomach bottomed out. There were only a few scenarios I could think of where so many women would be taken and placed together. None of them good.
The girl nodded in understanding. She didn’t need an answer.
I tried to take the water bottle from her, but when I missed her hand three times, she shook her head and pressed it against my lips. Taking a sip of water, I hoped it was clean. She pulled the bottle away when I choked, and it burned going down my throat.
My head fell to the side, and I got my first look at our keepers.
Men. Mostly young. How funny that I needed only a few seconds to see them to know they had villainous, dead eyes and shark smiles.
I didn’t need first-hand experience to recognize their touch was only one of pain.
I was sure I’d get a chance to find out.
They were making their way around the room. Around the other cages .
On the other side of the hall, because that was what this was, some kind of large hall, the metal of a door banged against the wall. A man barked out orders in what I was almost certain was Spanish.
The men walking between the cages snapped into action and raced around the room. Someone turned the lights on, and I squinted. Pain radiated from the left side of my face and I sucked in a breath.
“Welcome, ladies.” A polished man stepped into view with his hands clasped behind his back.
He strolled between the aisles like he was taking a leisurely walk through the art exhibit, not like he was a monster ripping our lives apart, one word at a time.
“You may be wondering why you’re here. How you got here, perhaps?
” He hummed, then huffed a laugh under his breath like this was funny.
“You’ve been given the glorious honor of joining the Gallery.
We have high-end clientele who have certain…
proclivities. You ladies will be the ones to satisfy these men.
I’m sure you all will do wonderfully. If you behave.
“In my experience, you all will do much better if you understand the consequences, and believe me, there are consequences. What better way to understand than to have an example?” The man stopped right next to our cage.
He was tall and slender, with perfectly tanned skin and slightly graying hair at his temples. On any other day, I could have appreciated his distinguished beauty. Today, I only faced a monster.
“Juan,” he snapped his fingers at a nearby man who mostly resembled a boy. “Open the cage.”