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“They take women.” Remy sighs. “Children and men too, but the women are their greatest asset.”
“Take them.” Rhea repeats slowly. “Like… Taken? Like, Liam Neeson hunting down his daughter Taken?”
I can’t help myself. The laugh bubbles out of my throat before I can stop it, so I hold up my hand in apology and chase it away with another sip of bourbon that drains my glass. The alcohol burn warms my chest, but my toes are cold.
It’s not funny, and my laugh isn’t because I’ve found anything about it amusing. It’s because it’s all fucked, because I’m fucked, because how fucked is it that it was Rhea’s last pick for movie night, and we watched it the night before Remy came along? We manifested our shitty future that night. Better to stick to cartoons from now on, I think.
“I guess.” Remy shrugs. “I’ve never seen it.”
Rhea looks momentarily gob smacked. Under any other circumstance, I’d have told Remy he was absolutely going to watch it, but I doubt I can stomach that movie ever again knowing what I do now.
“It’s a highly organized operation, Ray. I’m talking government officials in not just our country, people who work in the law and public service, people on all sides who facilitate the actual destruction of innocent lives.”
Rhea watches him for a moment, and then laughter breaks across her face and her chest convulses with it as she turns back to me. It takes a moment for her to still enough to be able to speak, but when she does, her voice is still strained in her attempt to reign it in. “Good job, guys. You had me for a minute.”
Remy’s eyes cut to mine. I don’t need to contemplate what he’s thinking—his helplessness is written all over his face.
“Rhea.” My voice is soft, giving her pause enough to really look at me and realize as long as I’ve known her, I’ve never joked about anything like this. Making this all up for a laugh would be tactless, and she seems to realize as much. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say from here, but I don’t have to, because Remy resumes speaking.
“The night that I…” A quick, apologetic glance at me sends chills over my skin. I lift my glass to my lips by habit but remember that it’s empty, so I decide to help myself to more as he speaks. I’m not sure that all that I’m drinking is even enough to help, because I still feel oddly sober. “The night that Claire and I got into an argument, it’s because I found out about her past. I misunderstood and I judged her, and she was so desperate to get away from me that she trusted Jovich to take her to the airport.” He clears his throat. “But he didn’t take her there. He took her to someone that he knew was involved in the organization… someone he knew would get rid of her.”
Before I even realize what I’m doing, I’ve poured my glass full to the rim. I take it between my shaky hands and sip some off the top so that it doesn’t spill over when I lift it to my lips.
“Davos had some of his guys in the area, and Jovich delivered your best friend to them as well as if he’d served her up on a platter.”
My skin burns, but I don’t know if it’s from the anger in his words, the rage that the situation makes me feel, or the way he has taken personal offense to the injustices against me.
“Claire…”
Remy doesn’t give her a chance to finish whatever thought she’s having. “When you realized she was missing, I put two and two together. When Jovich came back, I got him to confess that he turned her over to Davos and I thought maybe I could appeal to him. But by that time, the auction was already starting.”
“The—” Rhea swallows thickly. “The auction?”
“Usually, assets are taken to one of their locations and assessed to determine their worth. But thanks to Jovich, they realized that Claire was important to you, which would make her important to me. And they used that to expedite the process.”
Rhea sucks in a gasp and presses her hand over her heart. “Remy…” I warn. I’m not sure she can take hearing any more of this.
“You were right, Claire. She needs to know.”
I stand and slide onto the bench next to Rhea, wrapping my arms around her. I’m not sure she even realizes I’m there until she reaches one hand up and rests it over my forearm lightly. This time, the comfort is more for me than her.
“Auctions are secure, encrypted. There’s no warning for them, they just send out an invite and no matter where you are, bidding begins. That’s what they did to Claire. I tried to outbid them, I tried to bargain with Davos, but he wasn’t willing to help. So I killed Jovich for betraying us and I traced his GPS. He was an asshole, but he was a stupid asshole. I killed most of the men who were going to deliver Claire to Davos, but I took one of them hostage.” He glances at me for just a moment before focusing back on his sister. “Wes is Davos’ son.”
It's silent as that revelation settles around us. I still don’t know much about Davos, but he is obviously horrendous to do what he does. If I never hear his name again, it will be too soon.
“Wes? Like—”
“Yes.” Remy agrees. “The man you sat next to at dinner sold Claire like an old car.” He winces, realizing those words could be construed as careless, but they don’t hurt. What hurts is the way Rhea is watching her beliefs of the whole world come crashing down around her.
“But Wes is Tristan Ryan’s cousin. That’s how we met.” She shakes her head, trying to make sense of things that don’t make sense to reasonable people.
“Yes,” Remy nods. “And I don’t think that’s a coincidence that he just wandered back into your life.”
“What?” She laughs now, disbelieving. “You think Tristan boring-as-paint Ryan orchestrated running into me over the summer so that he could hope I had a friend his cousin could kidnap?”
I’m not sure if Remy is going to tell her the most disturbing part of everything that’s happened, the part that will burn the ashes of her shattered innocence. “No,” Remy dismisses that idea. “Claire was never part of the plan. That was Jovich’s doing.”
The night air suddenly feels cold, and I wrap my arms tighter around her. “No, Ray. Claire was never part of the plan.” He swallows, struggling to say the words. “It was supposed to be you.”
