Lessons in SECRET (17 page)

Jake

I’m not sure why they
would bring me to the property where the auction and “party” are
taking place. I guess it just speaks to the arrogance of the man in
charge. He thinks nothing and no one can touch him. I had a chance,
but I blew it. Isa’s still out there. She doesn’t know who he is,
but maybe her and her friends can figure it out. Or maybe they
shouldn’t. This guy doesn’t care who he hurts.

Kurt and Grace are
directed to the main house while I’m taken to a separate building
that turns out to be a private gym. “Ready to play, Wells?” One
asks me.

Obviously, my real name
hasn’t been given out to the underlings. I wonder how they’d
react if they knew not only my name, but how much combat training
I’ve had. I don’t think this idiot would be asking to fight me.
But what he doesn’t know can only help me, so I’ll bite.

“Not really.”

“Too bad.”

I hang back, trying my
best to look nervous. It seems to work as he rushes me, and I easily
throw him over my shoulder. He gets to his feet as I chuckle. I might
as well have a little fun before I die.

An hour later, I seem
to have worn all three of them out while only getting punched a few
times. That’s when they bring out the big guns. Literally. Asshole
Number Three holds a Sig Sauer on me.

“Lie down on the
ground,” Two says.

“No thank you.”

“That wasn’t a
request.”

Shit. Why couldn’t I
just play along? I know this isn’t going to be good. Whatever they
want me on the floor for is going to hurt. I’ve been trained to
handle pain, but it doesn’t mean I like it. Since I don’t have a
gun of my own, and I’m not close enough to disarm, I have to do
what I’m told and get on the floor.

Sure enough, once I’m
down, the cowards start kicking me. The first time I pull one of the
two to the ground with me, a bullet grazes my thigh. After that, I
stop fighting; although, I do protect my head. Since I’d already
worn them out with hand to hand, they don’t last too long before
tiring out. I know I have at least one broken rib and am bleeding
from where the bullet grazed me since they made sure to kick me
there, but all in all I’m not in too bad of shape.

They handcuff me to a
weight bench and bring in three other guys to watch me. Not sure
where they think I can go at the moment, but I’m glad that they
seem to be more than a little scared of me. I’ll be sure to use
that to my advantage later.

Sleeping can be
precarious, but I decide that getting some rest will serve me well
later. I’m not sure if I’ll have a chance for
anything
, but I’ll take what I can get. I dream of Isa
and what it would’ve been like if I really was just a teacher.
She’s not a student, but just Luke Griffin’s friend. And we live
happily ever after with our 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. It’s
my favorite dream ever.

A wave of cold water
breaks me out of my happy place. I shake my head to clear it and get
the water out of my eyes. And there he is, the man himself. Bartlett
Mays. The head of this multi-state prostitution ring. And the
Secretary of State of the United States of America. God bless the
U.S.A. indeed.

“You’ve become such
a disappointment, Jake.”

“Fuck you. You’re
trading money for teenage girls. I think your level of disappointment
far exceeds my own.”

“I had such high
hopes for you,” he says, ignoring my insult. “I wanted you to run
it all.”

“Not interested.”

“All because of a
piece of ass. A nice piece of ass granted, but you’ve had better.”

He’s trying to bait
me, to get me to say more than I’m willing to about Isa. It’s not
working. “Maybe I just grew a conscience,” I say with a shrug.

“It’s a little late
for that, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think it’s
ever too late for a conscience. You should try it.”

“So you’ve gone
from a good for nothing rich kid to a comedian. You should’ve kept
your day job.”

“It
was
better than my night job, that’s for sure.”

“Do you not
understand that you’re going to die tonight?”

“Well, I was pretty
sure, but thanks for clearing it up.”

I’ve pushed him too
far. He nods, and my head snaps forward as I’m hit from behind.
Three steps in front of me and uses me as a punching bag for a few
minutes. I can taste the blood in my mouth, but my teeth are still
intact. I spit out blood, hitting Mays’ shiny shoes in the process.
I honestly wasn’t trying for that, but I’m not sorry.

“Stupid boy. I was
almost willing to let you die quickly. But now you’re going to
suffer. You’ve got a few hours to think about all the things I’m
going to do to you when I get back.”

“You? You’re going
to dirty your hands with lil ol’ me?”

“You better believe I
am. And you won’t be making jokes, I can assure you of that.”

I decide to sleep
again. I want my happy before I die. But that’s later. Right now is
a brilliant mind and braids. Laughter and kissable lips. Love and
coming home. Isa.

* * *

Isa

When we step off the
plane in Milwaukee, I don’t even recognize myself. My hair’s a
short black asymmetrical bob, my eyes are a vibrant green, and I’m
dressed like a rock dominatrix. The wig, contacts, and clothing can
change the way I look on the outside, but I need to own it on the
inside in order for it to work. We worked on my walk and mannerisms
during the last hour of the flight. I know I’m ready. I have to be.
Failure is not even on the multiple choice list.

The drive to the
mansion is short, and we have no problem getting in. With Nate and
Aiden having been at the Vegas auction, they had no problem getting
in on this one. And Matt, well he’s Matt. Not many people say no to
a Corrigan. Especially the one who’s getting ready to give up being
the biggest player in the world to get married soon. I’m going
along as his companion. Nate and Aiden said there were a few couples
in Vegas, so it was easy to bring me along.

I tense a little as
Kurt greets us at the pool house. He looks at me a little curiously,
but says nothing. I’m not sure if I’m in the clear, but for now
we’re all okay. The screens on the wall show who’s up for grabs
today. Lisa Dess sent us pics to look at on the flight. They’re of
girls she thinks have been given up to this life by their parents.
Her friends in law enforcement are with my other friends, waiting for
the signal to storm the mansion.

I recognize only two of
the girls from the photos. I know Nate and Aiden will take them. I
nudge Matt when I see Grace. He raises an eyebrow, and I nod. I’m
determined to save this girl whether she thinks she needs it or not.
He answers my nod, and we settle in until it’s time for the bidding
to begin.

It’s strange to be on
this side of things, but I keep up my act throughout the live action.
Nate and Aiden are out before us. There’s some guys who don’t
want to give up Grace, but Matt is one of the richest men in the
world, so they’re no match for his bank account. We’ve given our
room number, and we make our way up the back staircase to Grace.

Matt ushers me in the
room first and then closes and locks the door. Grace looks between us
and I see fear flash across her face before she puts her game face
on. It’s in that moment that I make my decision.

“It’s me, Grace.
It’s Isabelle.”

“What? How? Oh my
God, you have to get out of here. They’ll put you in one of these
rooms. Or kill you. They’re going to kill Mason.”

“We’re here for
him. And you, Grace.”

“He saved me on the
plane. They we’re going to all do…me. But he talked them out of
it.”

“We’re going to get
you both out of here.”

“My father will never
allow it.”

“Your father?”

“He’s…he’s the
one on charge.”

“Your father is
Bartlett Mays?”

“Yeah.”

Matt and I exchange
glances. This is even more fucked up than we thought. “And he-he
knows about you doing this? He has you here?”

“No. I found out what
he was doing when he left his personal email open one day. I knew
Kurt, of course, but I didn’t know Mason. Kurt thought it was a big
mind fuck to have me working for them.”

“How did Mason not
know? His mom and your dad are friends.”

“They are? Well, my
mom isn’t dear old dad’s wife. So most people don’t even know I
exist. That’s why I did this. I just wanted some attention from
him.”

“This isn’t the way
to get it.”

“I figured that out
pretty quickly, but I was getting attention from Kurt. And Mason
tried to talk me into leaving once he found out. I thought he, you
know, liked me. But he didn’t. He loves you.”

“Yeah he does. I
won’t apologize for that, but I meant what I said about getting you
out of here, and I’d like to help you, too.”

“Thanks. And it’s
okay about him. You two are actually kind of cute together. I don’t
know how we’ll get out of here, though. It’s well guarded.”

“We have a plan and a
back-up plan. One of them will work.”

“Or we could go with
a new plan,” Matt says. “A reunion with Daddy Dearest could give
us the distraction we need.”

“No. It’s too risky
for her.”

“For me? No. My dad
may ignore me, but I know he loves me. And when he finds out I’m
part of his little club, he’s going to freak out. He doesn’t even
want me to date yet.”

“Are you sure, Grace?
Because I don’t want to take the chance of you getting hurt. Like I
said, we have other plans.”

“You really care?
After how mean I was to you?”

“Yes. I care. I hate
to have attention on me as much as you crave it, so I understand.”

“There’s a small
alcove by the top of the stairs. Go there. I’m going to give you a
minute to get situated, and then I’m going to scream.”

“That won’t work.
When they get here, and find you alone, they’ll know something’s
up,” Matt says.

“She won’t be
alone.”

“Oh hell no, Isa.
You’re not going after Mason alone.”

“Yeah, I am. It’s
the only way. I can do this, Matt. I promise.”

“I don’t like this,
but it’s a good plan. Reina’s going to withhold sex from me
again, but I’m going to let you do it.”

“Someone’s
withholding sex from you? Is she crazy? I wouldn’t do that.”

“Behave little girl.
I’m taken, and even if I weren’t, I like my women legal,” he
tells her with a smile that
should
be illegal. And probably is in some countries.

“You watch out for
yourself, too. It’s not going to be pretty when her dad gets up
here.”

“I’m going to
demand a refund, and call the Calvary while I keep him talking.”

“Okay, I’m out.”

I creep down the hall
and find that alcove. I’m squeeze in as far as possible and wait
for it. The scream is so loud. Cries of “Daddy” over and over
again. Damn, she’s good. Or at least she will be once we get her
some help.

The hall shakes as the
men fly up the steps. I see Mays among the guards. I wait for my
chance and then fly down those stairs. I see a guard right as he sees
me, but I launch myself from the step I’m on and kick him in the
head before he can yell. Then I’m out the door.

I’m careful as I make
my way around the house. From the satellite images of the house we
saw on the plane, we’re pretty sure they’ve got Jake in the gym
that’s in a building on the property. It’s the only other
outlying building, besides the pool house, that had a good amount of
thermal energy showing up. I’m able to get to the building without
any other trouble.

I think about how I
want to play this and decide that acting like I’m lost is the
ticket. It’s not original at all, but I just need to get inside the
door. I pull down the thin black tank I’m wearing as far as I can.
The spaghetti straps forming a ‘v’ in the middle hinder me a
little, but I get it down low enough to show some cleavage. The
tight, shiny black pants I have on hide nothing, so they’re already
doing their part. I flip my wig, and walk to the door.

The first thing I see
upon entering is Jake handcuffed to a weight bench. His looks bloody
and beaten, which make me want to kill someone. Then I notice the
three men who have stood up and are coming towards me. I bite my lip
and strike a pose.

“Oh. This isn’t the
pool house.”

“No, that’s next to
the pool.”

“Silly me,” I say,
pulling on my top.

“I’ll show you,
baby,” one of them says, coming towards me.

“Oh, thank you,” I
tell him as he comes close.

“You’re—“ and
that’s all he gets out before I punch him in the throat and take
his gun.

I cock it and shoot one
of the others before he realizes what’s happening. The third comes
for me, but I’m ready for him. My training pays off as I take him
down, allowing only one punch to my cheek to get through.

I pick the gun back up
and run to Jake. I shoot off his handcuffs, and pull him into my
arms. He wakes up and says my name before passing out again. The
authorities rush in with my friends less than a minute later.

I have to let him go. I
need to be questioned, and he needs the hospital. That’s what I’m
told as my hands are removed from him by the military men who have
shown up, along with everyone else. I whisper that I love him, and
then he’s gone. Hours later, when I try to find him, I’m told
he’s been moved to a hospital in Virginia. Liz Mason gave me her
son, and then she took him away.

Isa

I’m in Virginia now.
It took time for me to get away from Milwaukee, but Reina called in
favors and I was allowed to leave. I took the jet straight here
because I need to see Jake. I know Elizabeth Mason is probably going
to try and stop me, but I can’t let her.