Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Charlotte Mitchell
I can see the anger roll off Nix in waves, but Andre seems to act oblivious to it. He guides us to a ring with purple fire, removes his arm from Nix’s shoulder, and warms his hand over the unnatural flames.
I survey the boathouses, noting how much money had to have been poured into them, how much wealth is on this side of the river. It’s so isolated here that it makes me wonder what kind of things happen inside these boathouses that the rest of the world doesn’t know about. They certainly don’t know that there are predators chatting just behind me, and based on a quick look into the nearest boathouse windows, they certainly don’t know that they’re also getting wasted inside.
Outside, it may be calm and full of hushed conversations, but inside, I can hear great laughter and piano music fitting for the rich. Is there anyone famous in there? How deep does this operation go? How well-known are their clients? Who is behind the masks?
I swivel my attention to those beside us at the next fire pit. The four of them are passing around a gold pipe, and the stench of burnt plastic reaches my nose past the sting of the fire’s smoke. Cocaine . That can’t be the only drug going around tonight, but Andre and Nix are completely unfazed by it. I try to keep what’s visible of my face neutral and zero back on the purple flames to gather myself back together.
As the two of them quietly chat, reality comes crashing to me – why we’re here, what we’re doing – our goal and exactly who stands between us and that goal. Can we go against people like this? And still live and breathe to tell the tale?
Someone screams to my left, and I whip my gaze in that direction. Nix lays a hand on mine, the one still in the crook of his arm, and squeezes to keep me from moving from his side.
A woman is being dragged out of the nearest boathouse by her hair, and since she’s not wearing a mask, I can tell that she’s a worker. One man has her arm while the other has a fist full of her hair, and they force her in the direction of the cars.
“What’s happening?” I ask no one in particular. “Where are they taking her?”
Andre’s chuckle makes me whirl to face him. “Oh, that’s not uncommon. Chances are she refused to be fucked. Our clients are allowed to take what they want from our employees.”
Rape. They’re taking her to the cars to rape her.
Bile rises in my throat, and I want nothing more than to puke on Andre’s shiny shoes, but Nix’s hand makes me swallow it down, a reminder of why we are here in the first place.
I close my eyes to the sounds of her screams getting farther and farther away, and when they’re cut off, I grab onto Nix’s arm with all my strength to keep me in this spot instead of going after the men and giving them a taste of their own medicine.
“Delightful,” Andre says as though that didn’t affect him at all. “I’m sure you have a million questions, little Charlie.”
I grit my teeth to keep from lashing out.
“Go ahead.” He flourishes a hand.
Still, I keep silent and just grind my teeth back and forth.
“How about I answer the ones I know you have.” He points to a particular boathouse. The dock stretches out farther into the river than the rest. It’s a two-story house, the bottom half baby blue and the second story a stunning cream color. The windows are large, and there are many of them. I’m sure the view is stunning from the second floor. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Sure,” I grump.
He chuckles under his breath. “That one is mine. I don’t spend a lot of time here; I rent it out to our clients mostly, but I still call it home from time to time.”
“Good for you,” Nix grunts. He’s still holding my hand on his arm with a death grip.
“I can’t tell you the names of the other boathouse owners, but most are clients of mine.”
“And they often get filled with employees of Nix’s.” I try like hell to keep the anger dripping from my tone. I don’t know if I failed or not, but Andre keeps his grin anyway. His teeth reflect the purple flames .
“Exactly,” he says, clapping his hands together. “It’s a secluded place. It works for what we need.” He spares Nix a little glance before looking back at me. “I’m sure you’ll get well acquainted with this place before your career is over.”
I feel Nix stiffen beside me, but I say, “Good to know,” anyway because that’s the sort of obedient response he’s looking for. I can’t say what I really want to because that will bring down repercussions to both Nix and myself, so I bite my tongue to keep the words from leaving my mouth.
“Shall we go inside?” Andre asks, rubbing his hands together as if the night’s chill just can’t be chased away. I stopped feeling the cold the moment the woman was taken to the car. “I can introduce you to some people.”
“What’s the point if I don’t know their names?” I ask sarcastically. It slipped out before I thought it through.
Andre doesn’t notice the sarcasm. Plainly, he says, “Well, that’s true, isn’t it? Still, they’ll want to meet you.”
“They did that at the gala,” Nix growls.
“Not all of them,” Andre interjects as he slides his hand over Nix’s shoulder again and starts guiding us to the first boathouse. “Remember? You two love birds slipped out before the party really got started.”
We walk across the short dock in silence, the party growing louder the closer we get. And when we reach the door, my stomach does a flip. I just have to keep reminding myself that there are more places to run and hide at this location. Not that I would, but it makes me feel calmer knowing so.
He opens the door, and the scents of perfume and cologne bombard me. That’s not the only thing. There are far more people in here than I realized. Most have a cocktail in their hands; almost everyone is laughing, but in the shadows of the dimly lit living room, women and men without masks are being fucked. Right here. Out in the open. They’re working out in the open like this, and no one is batting an eye.
I avert my gaze because that could very well be me before the night is over, and Nix won’t be able to do a damn thing about it. Not if we want to keep our secret, not if we want to work this party the way we want to.
Puke threatens to make a return. It stings the inside of my throat.
“Welcome,” Andre says over the noise. He lets go of Nix’s shoulder and opens his arms, embracing the party as a whole. Then, as a waiter wearing absolutely nothing walks by, he grabs two cocktails and passes each one to Nix and me. I take it with half a mind to down the entire glass. But I know I can’t. I have to stay sharp.
Andre smiles again, that gross smile that makes me want to knock out his teeth, and then leans toward us. He whispers, “You might want to let go of each other’s arms if she’s going to be working the scene tonight.”
“Over my dead body,” Nix growls at him.
He tsks. “Consider it a warning from the man himself. She’s here to work, to bring more lucrative business to your side. You’d do best to remember who you work for and what he wants or . . .” he makes a slicing motion across his throat. And once he’s finished, he leans away, turns toward the party, and disappears into the throng of it.
Almost immediately to take his place is a couple. I cannot make out a single feature behind their masks, minus the fact that both of them have brown hair and full lips. I can tell by their demeanor, though, that they’ve had a little too much alcohol, which means they either started drinking before they came, or they’ve been here awhile. Or . . . they could have done more things than drink alcohol. Perhaps all three are true, but I tune out the conversation they start with Nix because my attention goes straight to a red-headed woman who walks briskly by.
Thanks to her not wearing a mask, I know immediately who it is.
Anya.
Relief floods me that she’s still alive.
I gently loosen my grip on Nix’s arm, and he only glances at me mid-sentence. “I’ll be right back.”
That gets his attention, and he lowers a scowl down at me. “Charlie . . .”
I point to the window where I can now see Anya standing by the rail of the dock. “You’ll be able to see me. I promise I won’t go any further.”
“Protective of her, aren’t we?” the man says with a chuckle.
I ignore them both, keep my eyes on Nix, and hold them to seal my promise. I can see his jaw working, but instead of fighting me on it – because he really can’t with an audience – he gives me a curt nod and reluctantly lets me go.
“It was nice meeting you two,” I murmur to them before heading toward the door.
The brisk, cold autumn air wraps around my bare legs, but I make an immediate stride in Anya’s direction. She stares out at the water, her hands gently resting on the rail. She doesn’t turn when my heels start to clack against the wood, but then again, she looks so lost in thought she probably has no idea someone is coming toward her.
“Anya?” I call when I’m a foot from her.
Her gaze snaps to mine, narrowing for a second, before she admits defeat and relaxes her shoulders. “I should have known you’d be here. ”
I slide up to the rail and stand beside her, gazing out on the water with her. “Did you lose the napkin?” I whisper.
“Yes,” she whispers back, her accent thick. “I tossed it in the first trash can I found.”
I sigh through my nose to keep my frustration from lashing out like a whip. Instead, I grab her arm and pull her off the dock and way off to the side of the fires, near a cluster of trees. I may be breaking my promise with Nix, but we can’t have this argument with people so close by. He’ll get over it once I tell him why I went out of view.
Once we’re far enough away but not too far, I turn her to face me. “There’s still time.”
“Time for what?” she hisses. Her fingers ball into fists at her sides. “I already told you, I cannot leave.”
“And I told you that I could save you.”
“What? Do you work for the government? You can’t make promises like that – no one can.”
I glance around to make sure no one is listening. “I can, and yes, I do. I’m a cop, and I have many friends who can keep you safe.”
She stares at me like I’ve grown a third eyeball. “You’re as dead as I am,” she says after a moment’s pause. “You cannot hide who you truly are in places like this. They’ll know. They probably already do.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “They don’t know. I’d know if they knew.” I drop my hand. “I’d definitely be dead if they knew, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
She looks at me, really looks at me, and then nibbles her bottom lip. “What kind of promises can you keep?”
Relief floods me. I take a step in her direction and lower my voice even more. “I’m here to bring down the entire operation. The entirety of it all, Anya. I’m close, so close, and my friends? They can protect you and your family while I do what needs to be done.”
“What –”
I tip my head toward the parked cars. “If you leave now, no one will notice for a long time. My friends are not far from here; they’ll find you. And once they do, tell them who you are and that I sent you.”
“I can’t just leave, not right now.”
I grab her shoulders and give them a squeeze. “You can. Right now, Anya.” I look around us to make sure no eyes are on us. “Now. You have to go now.”
“But –”
I give her a little shove toward the cars. “Now!” I hiss.
She takes a step toward the cars, keeping her eyes on me, and then another, and she’s looking at the party. She doesn’t say a word as she fully pivots and makes a brisk walk toward the parking lot. And then she’s out of sight, and I’m praying to God that she gets to Miles and my people before anyone else here notices she’s gone. I can’t have them looking for her. It won’t end well for her or for me.
I stand there for a moment, gathering my thoughts and what exactly I just did. Nix is going to be so mad that I’ll be lucky if I survive him by the end of the night.
I swivel and make my way back to the boathouse, eyes straight ahead but seeing nothing but Anya running in my mind. Nix will just have to deal with it. I’ll never live it down, but at least Anya and her family will be safe. I hope.
I almost miss it, that familiar gate, the cologne, that disheveled hair from the person walking by me, wearing a mask. Too lost in my thoughts, I dismiss it immediately because what my subconscious is trying to tell me can’t be true .
My strides slow as my brain tries to force something on me, and just as I’m about to turn around to finally listen to the organ, something slams on top of my head. Pain sears me, reverberating down my spine. I crumple to the ground, seeing grass and a pair of nice black leather shoes before all goes dark.