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“Why don’t we leave then?” she asks, wide-eyed.
“I have to sort out a couple things first. Okay? I’m head of security here. I can’t just disappear.” I pause to prepare myself. “I can’t risk something happening to you. We need a plan.” Her silence is telling. She doesn’t like this, but I appreciate that she doesn’t question me. “I’m going to leave for a bit. Do you have everything you need? I should only be gone for a few hours.”
Her answer is simple. “I’m good.”
“Okay. Don’t leave the room, alright? I need you to stay here. You’re safe in here, but I do need to lock you in…” It’s all I want, but I refrain from touching her. “By the way, what’s your last name?”
“Morgan, Juliana Morgan.”
I give her my first smile in months. “Okay, good. Juliana Morgan,” I repeat, tucking away the information. “Yeah, I’m leaving now. Okay?”
But I can’t manage to move.
“Bye, Griffin,” she prompts. But her smile makes me want to stay.
I leave anyway. For her.
I have to school my smile away as I leave to avoid suspicious gazes. But once I’m far enough away, I make a call.
They pick up on the first ring.
“Meet me at the normal spot,” I say.
“I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll see you in thirty.” I hang up, put the car in drive, and head to the meeting spot.
Arriving at the George R. Brown Convention Center, I see it’s packed like I’d hoped. It looks like a Comic-Con or something with how everyone is dressed up. The fur suits are terrifying; they’re like mascots. Can’t trust ’em.
Pushing through the throngs of people, I make my way to the welcome desk. I keep an eye out for anyone following me as I approach, but it feels safer with so many people about. Finally, I see the sign, and beneath it, my friend, Detective Quinn Emmerson.
“Hey, I’m hoping you can help me. I’ve lost my phone. Do you have a lost and found here?” I say.
“Of course. Let’s go in the back and take a look.”
We make our way into a small storage room, and he waits until the door is shut and locked before speaking.
“Lost and found? That’s a new one,” he jokes.
“Yeah, well, it’s fitting, considering. Look, I don’t have time for pleasantries.”
“Fill me in.”
I try to get through all the relevant information as quickly as possible. I don’t want to take any longer than I need to get back to my Jules.
“There’s a girl you need help extracting.” Exhaustion takes over his features. “Dude, I know you’ve seen a lot, but I gotta ask, why her? You know we still don’t have enough to take Mathieson down. You know you’re going to blow up four years of work, right? We still don’t know how the other girls got out. It’s shitty for sure, but I’m gonna need a damn good reason to convince the brass we need to do this for one girl.”
Shame pops up at the mention of the other girls I secretly helped. Then guilt because I know I can’t take the same risk for Jules so close to the last girl without raising Arrick’s suspicions.
“He’s unraveling fast. Arrick’s wife left with their son a month ago, and he sent me out a week ago to try and track her down.” I can’t exactly tell him the real reason they left or how. “When I got back, I was called into his office. This girl was chained to a beam. I was told to ‘take care of it.’ She’s not in good shape; I’m worried about what happens if she stays.”
“Shit, you care about her.”
“Yes,” I share quietly. It feels like a personal thing to admit, but I know Quinn will step up if he knows.
“You’ve known her for what, a few days?”
“Does it really matter? She’s injured. Badly. And completely innocent in all of this.”
