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“It’s all part of the show,” he says, nodding. “It makes you feel secure taking risks you wouldn’t normally take. Maybe it starts with a little strangling and S&M. You have a false sense of security. You think we’ll come if you need out. But one day we don’t come, and things go too far.”
“She’s killing them?” I stare at Gabe and Mel. That can’t be. I would have noticed if girls were disappearing. Wouldn’t I?
“No. That’s the thing--Black doesn’t hurt the girls. She sends them out with a false expectation of safety. The client can pay to go as far as he wants--even if that means the girl will die.”
The blood rushes from my face.
Mel interjects. “Those are the lucky ones, Avery. The transactions I was tracking--they weren’t boxes of goods.”
My stomach sinks. “Then what were they?”
“People. Girls. She sold them--alive, battered, and dead. In cages, crates, and cargo. She fucking sold them!” Mel’s muscles tense and it looks like she wants to punch something.
Gabe keeps talking, explaining how it starts with something small, just what you’re comfortable with. It’s like a really good date. It might even be fun. Then it starts to slip into something else, but the girl stays. She says she’s open to anything, and Black holds her to that. I hear Black’s words rush through my mind.
I cut Gabe off. “She offered me a position as a madam.”
“She had a buyer,” Gabe says with a nod. “You narrowly avoided being sold.”
Mel turns around and punches a box. The stack shakes but doesn’t fall.
“That’s what happened to my friend.” Mel stares at the cardboard as she speaks. “She never came back, Avery, and Black wanted you for the same reason--you have that little bit of spunk, but it’s not enough to save you. That’s why she separated us. That’s why she didn’t choose me.”
We’re silent for a moment.
“You don’t have anything to nail her with?”
“Nothing that will stick.” Gabe’s eyes fix on mine. “That’s why I kept telling you to run. Once she has a buyer, the rest is a matter of time.”
Swallowing hard, I ask the question even though I don’t want to know the answer.
“Who’s my buyer? Do we know?” Gabe sees where I’m going.
“It wasn’t Sean if that’s what you’re asking.”
I nod slowly. “Did he ever do something like that?”
Gabe shakes his head. “Not that I’ve seen. Sean Ferro is a calloused sonofabitch with a sordid history, but he didn’t come around for other services. He was solely interested in you. The offer came from another account holder, one with a necrophilia request. Either way, your path with Black ends in a coffin.”
CHAPTER 5
I haven’t slept for nearly a week. Every time I close my eyes, I dream of Sean. Our last few days play on a loop in my subconscious. I see his face, the hurt in his eyes, immediately followed by a double gunshot. I wake up covered in sweat, ready to scream. Heart pounding, I throw off the blankets.
Mel is sleeping across from me. She’s got one eye open and her hand wrapped around a knife.
“Go back to sleep.”
“I can’t.” Rubbing my face, I stretch and throw my legs over the side of the bed. “I keep seeing his face. The last things he heard weren’t good.” I get up and pull on a pair of jeans and throw my hair into a ponytail.
Mel groans and pulls the pillow over her head. “Not again.”
“I need to run. I have to clear my head.”
“You’re trying to kill me.” Mel throws her pillow and sits up. “We’ve slept for a total of five hours in four days, and you spend most of your awake time working out.”
“So I don’t flip out! Pick one, Mel, crazy Avery or buff Avery.”
“Shoot me.” Mel flops back on her bed.
We’ve been staying at Gabe’s nephew’s house on Long Island. He lives a few blocks from the cemetery where my parents rest. I pull a sweatshirt over my head and gesture for the knife.
“Just give it to me. I can go on a run and make it back fine.”
“Really?” Mel arches a dark brow at me. “You’ve got not one but two psychos trying to find you, and today is the funeral of New York’s most hated woman. You seriously expect me to let you go out alone?”
“No. I’m saying that I can go out alone. Whatever is going to happen, will happen anyway.”
“Not while I’m there. Give me a minute.”
“Yeah, sure.” I don’t want to argue with her. Since Mel told me about Miss Black’s main business, she’s had this haunted look in her eyes. It’s like she helped facilitate evil things and there’s no way to wash the blood off her hands. Innocent women are gone, possibly dead, and she had a part in it. It’s not her fault, but I understand her horror. I wonder what nefarious thing my actions set in motion.
The TV clicks on in the kitchen. Gabe’s nephew is up and getting ready for work. The loudest news story all week has been about the body on the beach. They haven’t released the name yet, but I already know who it is. I’ve tried to reach Peter and Jon, but they’ve gone dark. I haven’t heard a peep from Marty or Trystan either.
“I can’t wait anymore,” I call out to Mel. “I’m going to lose it. I’ll be out front.”
“Fine, be right there.” Mel is so grouchy.
I walk past our host. He’s wearing a tattered red robe the color of dried blood. His hair is sticking up like he didn’t sleep at all, and he’s holding a newspaper in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other.
“Morning.”
“Hey, Avery. Is Mel going with you?” I nod. “I can wait with you until she gets ready.” He drops his things and is ready to stand.
“I’ll be right out front. Really, it’s fine. You can see me through the window. I won’t leave without her.”
“Uncle Gabe will kick my ass if you do.”
“I’m not leaving, Tim. I’ll see you tonight. Maybe I’ll cook something.”
He laughs. I’ve been cooking non-stop since I got here. Tim’s house is stuffed with lasagna, ziti, meatballs, and enough sauce to cause a tidal wave.
“Anything you want, Avery. Feel free to make pancakes.”
“Yeah, you just don’t want meatballs for breakfast.”
“Does anyone?” Mel asks blurry-eyed from the doorway behind me. “Shit, I need coffee.” She makes a beeline for the pot. “Go stretch. I’ll be right there.”
I nod. Mel isn’t a morning person. “See you later, Tim.” I push through the backdoor and start my day.
CHAPTER 6
I’m pushing myself harder, trying to ignore the burn in my lungs and the pain in my side. I want to feel nothing. I want to feel numb from head to toe; my broken, dying heart reminds me of everything I’ve lost every time it beats. I can’t face the world without him, I won’t.
I’ll never come to terms with losing Sean.
I’ll never move on.
There are few people in my life that have left such a dramatic impression on me. For better or worse, and I prefer to think Sean was for the better, he pushed me, pulled me, and tried to meet me where I was. He tried to be what I needed. And failed. I failed.
I’ve lost everything and everyone dear to me.
The girl running at my heels is watching me, torn between two worlds. If Mel hands me over to Black, she’ll be an instant millionaire--everything she ever wanted delivered on a silver platter. If she protects me, she gets nothing but honor. Honor doesn’t buy much these days. I’ve slept with one eye open since she told me about what Black really does. Mel’s confession should have convinced me she was on my side.
But it didn’t.
It convinced me Gabe is truly a good guy, but it proved that I don’t know Mel as well as I thought I did.
‘Surviving justifies everything.’ That’s her mantra, her motto. So, why not trade me in for a new life? Her old life is worth peanuts in comparison.
