Hold Me (22 page)

“Fine. I won’t tell him to come. I usually visit him at the station so it won’t be suspicious when I go deliver the video...”

“No,” he says, his eyes wide. “You can’t. They’ll know it was you. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

He’s right. I can’t be contacting Lloyd all the time or hand him over the video directly. “Yeah, I promise.” I squeeze his hand lightly. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Okay.” I don’t want to push him. “But if there’s anything you can tell me about Raphael...”

“Yeah.” He pulls his hand out from under mine. “If something happens to me before we can meet again, talk to Jade.”

I nod. I don’t even want to think that something could happen to him. We’re so close to victory. All we need is to make sure Raphael doesn’t find a way to escape or figures out our moves before we make them.

There just has to be enough evidence that can’t be refuted. It shouldn’t be this hard to prove what Raphael is doing, but he has connections everywhere. He’s probably been building them for years. I could totally see him washing his hands of the whole thing by saying he’s merely a pimp or placing the blame on someone else.

“How long have you been with Raphael?” I ask.

He looks down at his hands. “Six years, I think.”

“Six years?” I gape at him. My mind is spinning. I can’t even begin to imagine living like that for so long.

“Yeah, I pretty much lost every hope of ever getting out.”

I take his hands and wait until his eyes meet mine. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.”

He snorts. “No, I’m weak. I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t stop anyone from doing whatever they wanted to me or anyone else. I couldn’t stop Raphael from...” He bites down on his lip.

“No, that’s not weakness. You’re a survivor. You did what you had to, to stay alive.”

“But she’s dead. Because I was stupid.” Tears cloud his eyes, and I swallow hard, pulling him closer to me until his head rests on my lap.

“Heather?” I ask cautiously. “Raphael killed her?”

He nods. “It was a few years ago. We were young and stupid, and thought we could get away. Raphael put us together when we were just beginning to truly work for him and... we fell in love. Then Heather’s sister got sick and died, and Heather was just... She couldn’t take it anymore... Since things were going fine for Raphael and the guards didn’t have much work to do, they got sloppy. I saw that as an opportunity.”

“So you decided to use it?”

“Yeah. Everyone agreed to help us... well, after a lot of begging and convincing. We found a five-minute window between the shifts, slipped out into the night, and ran... The plan was to get to a police station in another town where Raphael doesn’t have any influence... We didn’t dare hitchhike, so we had to get the money for food and bus tickets. On rare occasions we get tips from clients, but Raphael usually finds out and doesn’t let us keep anything. One of our friends finally managed to steal some money from a client without being noticed, but it wasn’t a lot.”

I glance at the bracelet on my wrist that Caleb bought me, wondering just how much it cost him to get the money for it.

“Our luck and happiness lasted for only two days,” he says. “As soon as we got to the police station that we thought was safe, we were arrested. There were countless charges against us, and no matter what we said, the cops didn’t believe us. I don’t know how Raphael did it, but... they transferred us back here and then... Raphael just came for us. And he...” He bites down on his lip.

“It’s okay.” I caress his hair. “He’s going to pay for everything he’s done.”

He looks up at me, his eyes filled with sadness, and I know he doesn’t quite believe me. But that doesn’t surprise me. I wouldn’t have believed it either if I were him.

Caleb can’t remember the last time he was so eager to get inside Raphael’s room. Actually, that has never happened. As he strides down the hallway, he can’t help but wonder if Raphael will smile at him and tell him it has all been an elaborate con. Quietly opening the door, he flinches when he sees Raphael sprawled on the bed. Usually, Raphael isn’t in the room when he arrives and lets him wait.

Fighting the urge to glance at the statute Isaac mentioned, Caleb keeps his gaze glued to the floor as the door closes behind him.

“I’m sorry if I’m late, sir,” he says.

“You’re not.” Raphael lifts himself up on his elbows. “I want your mouth on my cock. Now.”

Caleb kneels on the floor in front of the bed, and as he starts unbuttoning Raphael’s pants, Raphael lets himself fall back to the bed and closes his eyes. A quick peek at the shelf tells Caleb the camera is still where Isaac has left it. It’s barely visible in between the legs of the statue.

“Isaac is fine, you know,” Raphael suddenly says, and Caleb flinches. “I heard some woman got him.”

Caleb remains quiet, because if he says anything, it won’t be nice, and he’s sure he’s going to regret it, so instead he just focuses on satisfying the man as quickly as possible.

When Raphael finally sighs in contentment, Caleb sits back on his heels and hopes Raphael will go take a shower, as usual.

“Good job,” Raphael says as he gets to his feet, pulling up his pants and then patting Caleb’s head as he passes by. “You can go.” He strolls off toward the bathroom.

Caleb quickly gets to his feet and starts for the shelf with the statue, glancing back and forth between the shelf and Raphael. Careful not to move the statue, Caleb sneaks his fingers toward the camera.

“Caleb!” Raphael’s voice rings out dangerous close, and Caleb lets his hand drop.

“Yes, sir?” He turns toward Raphael, hiding his hands behind his back so that Raphael can’t see his fingers twitching.

“What were you doing?” Raphael raises an eyebrow, his lips pressed into a tight line.

“Nothing. I was just going for the door.” Caleb does his best to keep his voice steady.

Raphael’s face twists into a suspicious grimace, and he goes toward the shelf. As his eyes quickly examine the shelf, a frown line creases on his brow. “Nothing, huh?”

Caleb is barely breathing, his pulse racing. Raphael will see the camera; he’s sure of it, but there’s absolutely nothing he can do.

Raphael shakes his head and faces him. “Were you looking for something?”

“No.” Caleb swallows hard, his palms sweating.

Raphael scoffs. “You’re lying to me. I know you are.” He places a hand on Caleb’s shoulder, which makes Caleb jump. “Relax. I know what you’re after. Wait here.” With a smile on his face, Raphael strolls off.

Caleb blinks, unsure of what has just happened. Gathering all of his courage, he grabs the camera off the shelf and slips it into the pocket of his sweatpants. If Raphael catches him, everything be damned.

When Raphael returns, Caleb can see a packet of white pills in his hand. The tension leaves his shoulders as he realizes Raphael thinks he’s been looking for more pills.

“Since Isaac left, I’m sure you need a bit more of this to help you relax.”

Caleb wishes he could punch the smirk off Raphael’s face.

“Open your mouth,” Raphael says, taking out one of the pills. Caleb licks his lips and then obeys. Taking another pill when he’s had one earlier today won’t do him any good, but he has to make Raphael believe he’s right. Raphael lowers the pill into Caleb’s mouth, and he immediately swallows it because he knows Raphael will check to make sure he’s really done it.

“Come here.” Raphael place his hand at the nape of Caleb’s neck and pulls him in for a kiss, his tongue parting Caleb’s lips and exploring his mouth. When he pulls back, there’s a big smile on his face. “You may go now.”

When Caleb’s finally in the hallway and the door closes, his shoulders sink in relief, but he knows it’ll be even harder to find a safe hiding place for the camera and then get it to Lilith, but at least the first step is done. Feeling lightheaded from the pill, Caleb can sense a grin forming on his lips and he hopes he won’t do anything stupid until the pill wears off.

When I’m told Caleb isn’t available, but that he’ll be soon, I decide to ignore his advice to get Jade. If Raphael realizes I’m hiring only Caleb and his friends, he’ll know something’s up. Maybe the only reason he doesn’t suspect me yet is because I’m Alessandra’s friend and because of the video he has. Or maybe he’s just confident that no one will be able to do anything against him.

It takes a week longer, but I’m glad Caleb hasn’t been discovered or Raphael would’ve never let him come see me. I pace up and down the room, annoyed that I can’t just call the cops and trust them to deal with everything.

When the doorbell rings, I rush to the door. As soon as I see Caleb, I grab him by the shirt, pull him inside, slam the door, and wrap my arms tightly around him.

He embraces me, his lips brushing my ear. “Hey, it’s okay. I got it.”

“You did?” I pull back, my voice bubbly.

He nods, and we head toward the living room.

“There’s one more thing I need you to do for me,” I say. “I got photos of everyone who works at the station with Lloyd, so if you could take a look and see if you recognize any of them, it would be really helpful.”

“I can do that.”

“Thank you.” I don’t let go of Caleb’s hand as we sit down on the couch. He takes out his phone and starts pulling it apart.

“I just got the memory card,” he says. “Don’t know what’s on it or if it’s any good.”

He hands me the card and I get to my feet, cradling it in my palm while I go fetch my laptop.

“So, what’s your real name?” I ask as I put the laptop on the table and turn it on.

“I’ve always been just Caleb. It’s the only name I know.” He shrugs.

“No last name or anything?”

He shakes his head.

“You told me you’ve been with Raphael for six years. How did you end up with him? Where is your family?”

“Before Raphael... Isaac, Jade, and I lived with an older woman. She called herself Marena. Raphael came for us when we were fifteen. He said that he’d been paying Marena to raise us and that now it was our turn to pay him back.” He stares down at his hands in his lap. “He said that our families never wanted us and that we should be glad he took pity on us and provided for us. Then we had to go with him to undergo training for our new jobs. He trained Jade and me, although he didn’t allow us to see each other. And Isaac was taken to someone else... I thought I was going to die during those two years.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat, pushing back tears that have formed in my eyes. “Do you remember where that woman lived? Maybe we can track her down.”

“Outside the city. It was a small farm.”

“Any neighbors? Anyone else you might know? Did you maybe go to school?” Finding the woman might give us a better clue about Caleb’s true identity and family. I don’t think we can trust Raphael. Maybe Caleb’s family is still searching for him.

“We had visitors. People would come to buy things we produced on the farm. We all worked on it, and Marena taught us everything. She used to be a teacher, so we didn’t have to go to school. She’d take us to some town from time to time, but I don’t remember much of it.”

I focus back on the laptop and insert the memory card in the slot. As I wait for it to load, I glance at Caleb, my head starting to hurt from what he’s just told me. As the video window pops up on the screen, I take a deep breath. “Do you want me to play the video now?”

Caleb comes to stand behind my back. “Yeah.”

“You don’t have to see this if you don’t want to,” I say, but he only smiles.

“I’ve seen and been through worse, believe me.”

“I know, but... doesn’t mean you have to see it this time.”

“Just play it,” he says, and I press the button.

The camera shows Isaac’s face as he turns it on. He adjusts it a little bit, and as he steps away, we can see a bed with dark red covers, a wooden nightstand, and also a part of a closet, but the camera mostly looks to the bed and the floor that is covered with a dark red carpet.

I guess red really is Raphael’s favorite color. Isaac is just standing there, naked, and when something rustles, he immediately sinks to his knees, his head bowed, his hands on his thighs. Raphael comes into view, wearing a black suit. He smiles at Isaac as he takes off his suit jacket and throws it on the bed. Isaac lifts his head and glares at him.