Seventeen
SEVENTEEN
Reagan
For someone who usually rolled with the punches, this was strange.
Before all this, I’d reached a point in my life where I realized that things were what they were, and I wasn’t going to sit around feeling bad for myself.
But it was getting more and more difficult to do that in this situation. I could have been content to live my life as I had been, accepting everything life handed to me as I had been. This was on a different level, though.
After learning the truth about Hart, after learning just what kind of man he was, I told myself it was more of the same that I’d grown accustomed to already.
But the truth was that it wasn’t the same.
Because Hart had done something different. He’d made me think there was some level of respect between us. He led me to believe he was a good man who cared about people.
Even after the initial shock of seeing him here, and despite some of the awful things he’d said, Hart had shown me kindness and tenderness when we’d been alone in that room.
He’d even demonstrated his ability to do that at dinner tonight, when he’d recognized how badly I was being affected by what was happening around me. Hart had done what he could to relax and soothe me at the same time he fed me.
And that had been the problem.
I went into the dinner tonight feeling like I could do anything I set my mind to, just like I always had. The issue was that this wasn’t just a normal dinner with people I didn’t particularly like. This was a dinner with people who were truly evil. Perhaps it was one thing to know they were evil and another to witness that level of maliciousness in person. I should have known I couldn’t handle it after witnessing what happened to Erin.
My inability to pretend like everything was just fine led me here. To a place where the only sliver of comfort I had was taken from me, done by the man himself.
I didn’t know how long I cried on the floor of my cell before I eventually stopped. It was only the mild curiosity as to what was digging into my side that led me to sitting up.
My head was spinning, and the exhaustion I felt—likely from both the fighting and the utter devastation—was overwhelming. It was only by some miracle I could keep my eyes open.
I blinked my eyes a few times before they caught a glimpse of something outside the glass wall. Directly across the hall, I saw her. Erin was sitting on the floor right at her glass wall, her eyes pointed at my cell. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t speak to one another. There was a mutual understanding, appreciation, sympathy, and respect. A look of solidarity passed between us as I fumbled to slip my hand into the pocket of Hart’s jacket.
Though I hadn’t fought him when he put it on me, I wondered if he was simply trying to torture me by doing it. Did he know I’d have his scent surrounding me in this cell overnight and would regret doing anything to jeopardize being in that bedroom with him instead? Did he know how tormented I’d feel being back here and that I’d do anything to get back a shred of decency and compassion?
I knew one thing was for certain. No matter what happened tomorrow when he came back, if he decided he would keep me with him instead of allowing someone else to come and buy me, I’d never trust him again.
My hand finally made its way into the pocket and froze around something hard and metal. A spark of hope flickered inside me.
I tore my attention away from Erin, looked down at my lap, and pulled out the object. Gasping, my free hand flew to my mouth.
A pocketknife.
If Hart only knew the mistake he’d made in putting his jacket around me, in trying to make me regret my decision to fight back and stand up for something tonight. He’d taunted me before, telling me I’d never make it out of here without some element of surprise and perhaps a weapon. I had one of those now, and it was like it had ignited a fire inside me again.
Maybe there was still a chance for me.
Just as that thought ricocheted through my brain, the lights went out, the energy in the room was zapped, and the lock on the door clicked. I looked through the glass. Nobody was out there.
Had the power gone out? Was my door unlocked?
I scrambled to my feet, moved to it, and yanked. The door flung open. Peering through the darkness in the hall, I determined it was empty. My eyes shot to Erin’s cell, and I could just barely make out her getting to her feet. Without giving it a second thought, I dashed across the hall and shoved her door open, reaching for her hand.
“We have to get the others out,” I told her.
As we moved to the next set of doors, the lights flickered on, and the locks clicked. We pulled on the handles, but it was no use.
“They’re locked.” Erin’s voice was trembling, panicked.
“We can’t do anything. We have to go and get help if we want to try to save them.” I tugged on her arm. “Come on.”
Erin and I took off running down the hall toward the bathroom. Once we got to the end of it, she said, “We don’t know where to go.”
“I do. Keep running.”
We rounded the corner, my eyes fixed on that door I’d been staring at every time I’d been brought down to use the bathroom. Hart hadn’t realized it, but he’d told me precisely where I’d need to go if I ever thought I’d stand a chance at escaping. I’d always had a feeling about that door from the beginning, and now that Hart had divulged too much information, I no longer had any doubt about it.
We were nearly there when the door suddenly flung open. One of the guards came rushing out. “Hey! You’re not supposed to be here,” he shouted.
I gripped the switchblade in my hand, pressed my thumb to the slide button, and felt the blade release. Not knowing I had a way to get past this guy, Erin’s pace slowed, but I continued charging for him.
Never giving it a second thought, at the last second, I lifted my hand with the knife and plunged the blade into the front of his shoulder. He shouted, his arm dropping, and I didn’t stop. I pulled the knife out, bent, and jammed it into his thigh.
He muttered a curse as he collapsed on the ground, just as I yanked out the knife. “You’re right. We don’t belong here.”
My eyes went to Erin. “Let’s go.”
She was momentarily stunned by what I’d done, but she quickly shook off the surprise. We pulled the door open and stepped into what could only be described as a fully furnished and finished traditional basement. If there had been another way into the basement, I never would have imagined there was anything sinister going on in this place. It looked just like the countless finished basements I’d walked through with clients at showings.
Fortunately, nobody was in the basement, and with a quick scan of the space, Erin and I found a set of sliding glass doors.
“Oh, God. We’re going to get out.”
A rush of excitement flooded me as we charged across the room toward the doors. Since I still had his white dress shirt on—though it was now white coated with a bit of bright red blood—I tossed Hart’s jacket to Erin and said, “Put this on.”
She did that while I unlocked the door and slid it open. The next thing I knew, we were breathing in the fresh air, seeing daylight for the first time since being abducted.
I could have cried at the sight of the setting sun and vibrant spring blooms everywhere.
As much as I wanted to take it all in, Erin and I couldn’t waste time being grateful.
It was only a matter of time before they realized we were missing, and I wanted to be as far away from here as possible.
“We have to run,” I told Erin. “Are you good?”
Tears filled her eyes as she nodded.
We didn’t wait another second. Barefoot, with our bodies barely covered, we took off running. And it didn’t take long to learn we were in a neighborhood. A ritzy one, but a neighborhood no less.
I didn’t know if we should risk going up to one of the houses and knocking or out near the road in hopes of seeing someone who could help. Understanding we’d only have a short window of time before they realized we’d gotten out and might come driving down the road in search of us, I moved toward the street. Erin was only a step or two behind me.
We got past two homes before we saw a truck turn at the corner at the end of the road. “There!” I shouted, ignoring the bite of the concrete into the bottoms of my feet. “Maybe that guy can help us.”
“What if he’s one of them?” Erin worried, keeping up with my pace.
I held up my knife. “I still have this.”
Between our running and the truck driving, it was a matter of seconds before we were flagging the driver down. And much to my surprise—and utter relief—I recognized the person in the passenger’s seat.
It was Mallory.
Holy crap. It was Mallory from the deli.
Her eyes were wide and frantic as she scrambled out of the truck. “Reagan? Is that you?”
I nodded, stumbled forward into her arms, and broke down into tears.
“Are you okay? What happened? Is that your blood?”
As I sobbed violently, Mallory held me tighter.
It was only the sound of a deep, masculine voice that had me coming back to my senses. “We need to move out of the street, sweetheart.”
My body froze as I pulled out of Mallory’s grasp. The man who’d approached was looking down at her, an edge of concern in his expression.
“Reagan, this is my husband, Nixon. Nixon, this is Reagan and…” she trailed off as her eyes shifted toward Erin.
“This is Erin,” I interjected, my eyes darting between the two of them. “I hate to trouble you, but please, is there any way you can help us?”
A warm smile formed on her face as she jerked her head to the truck. “Of course. Hop in.”
The four of us filed into the truck, and Nixon pulled it out of the middle of the road. He glanced back at me and asked, “Do you want to tell us what happened?”
I hesitated, briefly glancing over at Erin. She dipped her chin slightly, the tears she’d been crying having stained her cheeks.
“Erin and I were both abducted. I’ve been missing for what I think has been nearly two weeks now, and Erin…” I looked back at her and felt a wave of sadness wash over me. “She arrived just a few hours to a day after that.”
A rush of air left her lungs. “I knew you had to have seen me. I don’t know what I would have done without you, Reagan. I’d still be in there if it wasn’t for you.”
I reached for her hand and held it firmly in my own. “I promised myself if I could escape, I’d find a way to get you out.”
Her hand squeezed mine in response.
Looking back at Mallory and Nixon, I explained, “There’s a house down there that’s running a massive human trafficking ring. They’re selling women as sex slaves, and Erin and I were just able to escape.”
I went on to tell them the tale of the power going out and us realizing our cells were unlocked. Of course, while I never mentioned him by name, I did give them the story about what happened with Hart earlier, and how he’d inadvertently given me his jacket without realizing the knife was inside. I made sure they knew I’d stabbed someone for Erin and me to be able to get away, so it was likely it wouldn’t be long before someone came looking for us.
“There are so many other women in there. The power came on and the doors locked before we could get them out,” I ended.
“Oh, my God,” Mallory breathed. “I don’t know whether to hug you, take you to the hospital, or drive to the police station.”
“I’m just glad you were here.”
She smiled, nodding. “My brother-in-law, Killian, and my best friend, Magnolia from the deli, live right around the corner, so we were visiting with them for a bit before we dropped the baby off. We were headed out on an impromptu date night.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”
Mallory reached back, placed her hand on top of mine, and squeezed. “There’s plenty of time for date nights, Reagan. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“I think a hospital visit is necessary. And we should head to the police station, if we want to give those women a fighting chance,” Nixon suggested. “Are you two okay with a hospital visit?”
I turned my attention to Erin. She seemed to still be in a state of shock, but she nodded her head furiously.
Returning my focus to the two saviors in the front seat, I begged, “Please. But can we get the police there, so we can give them all the details and get those women the help they need before it’s too late?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Nixon assured me.
Then he pulled away from the curb and took off toward the hospital.