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“Just do me a favor and keep the place looking decent?” I ask as I open the door. “I don’t want Mason thinking we’re taking advantage.”
“You care a lot about what Mason thinks, don’t you?”
“We are not having this conversation.” I wiggle my fingers in a wave and try to ignore his knowing laughter that’s quickly cut off once I close the door. It’s incredible how these doors block out all sound. Anything could be happening behind them, and the person walking down the hall would never know.
It isn’t my suite I’m headed for, even if that’s what I told Jase. I’m going to Mason’s as usual. It just makes sense. I feel at home with him.
I’m halfway there when suddenly, the elevator comes to a stop. Not this again. I jam my finger against the button, hoping it’ll start moving again, but for some reason, the doors open instead.
I’ve never been on this floor before. It’s ominously quiet. Something about the profound silence sends goose bumps racing along my arms, and I’m a little frantic as I pound my finger against the button that’s supposed to close the doors. No luck.
Wonderful. I wonder if Mason will find a way to blame this on me, even if this time I really wasn’t trying to snoop around. I stick my head out and look both ways, but the hall is just as empty as the others I’ve seen. Except…
Something is different, and it takes me a second to figure out what it is once I step out of the elevator car and begin moving slowly away from it. Light. There are faint, tight squares of light dotting the walls. Finally, it hits me: the doors aren’t solid the way they are everywhere else. There are windows in them that let whatever light is on behind the door shine into the hallway. Now, nothing can stop me from figuring out what the heck I just discovered, and my feet carry me before I’ve had time to think. What do they do on this floor?
Once I reach the nearest door, I figure it out—and what I see freezes me on the spot.
Somebody is in there. Somebody in filthy clothes, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall. His knees are pulled close to his chest. His forehead rests on them while his arms wrap around his legs. I don’t know if he realizes I’m watching him. I don’t know if he’d care.
I only know he is the most pitiful thing I’ve ever seen, and there’s no way he’s here because he wants to be. Not in an empty room—no furniture, no TV, nothing except for a bright light in the center of the ceiling and a bucket on the floor.
He’s a prisoner. They keep prisoners here. And they treat them like animals. While on another floor, my brother talks about it being a vacation.
There’s a sensation in my belly like a fist closing around my stomach, and it’s enough to shake me out of my shock and get me moving. Running. I run for the elevator and throw myself inside, and this time, when I press the button for Mason’s floor, the doors close, and the car begins to move.
How much has Mason not told me?
Is there anybody around here who has it even worse?
MASON
“No. Absolutely not.”
“She won’t be in any danger.” Griffin glances at Dallas, who nods. “Not with us there.”
“Having her along with you would make it much more likely to draw them out.” As usual, Dallas is the one with the answers.
But this time, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s unusual for me to go against him, but this is one of those times when I know better than he does. “I’m not exposing Teagan to any threats. I don’t care if having her with me would put anybody at ease or whatever you’re thinking. It’s not going to happen.”
“If we’re setting a trap, we need to make sure it works. We’ll have Teagan post a picture on Facebook with her location.”
“We’re not putting a civilian’s life in danger.”
Dallas doesn’t back down from my irritated glare, not that I would expect him to.
“If she’s there,” Griffin insists, “that could double the chance of whoever is behind this coming after us and leaving themselves vulnerable. Don’t you see?”
“They already want me, whoever they are. I’m going to have to be enough.”
I don’t like it when they exchange another look. I know them both too well to mistake what they’re silently communicating. She means too much. I care too much. They could be right. I do, but that’s not for them to decide.
“Think,” I insist. “How many people do you think will be at this fundraiser? Hundreds. Hundreds of people and countless opportunities to make Teagan disappear in the crowd. We’ll already be on the lookout for any possible threats, guys trailing us, all of that. How am I supposed to stay focused when I have to worry about her safety as well?”
“We will all be there,” Dallas reminds me. His calm, measured explanation shouldn’t set my teeth on edge the way it does. He’s talking sense—at least, as far as he sees it. But he doesn’t see the whole picture, and that’s what has me fighting the urge to tell him how wrong he is.
“Sure, and they’ll be watching you, too. We’ll all have targets on our backs.” Folding my arms, I shake my head. “I’m not interested in discussing this any further. Teagan is not coming with us. She’ll stay here, where I’ll know she’s safe, and the three of us can draw out whoever is behind this at the event. That’s all there is to it.”
Something passes over Griffin’s face. Something sly and knowing. Something that doesn’t put me in a better mood. “Do you have something to say?” I ask.
