Vigilant (23 page)

Hope stared at her with dark, narrowed eyes. “So did you and look where it got me.”

“His name is Davis. At the Glory Youth Center,” Ari said. “Please Hope, trust me.”

Hope shook her head and left.

* * *

Nick sat across from Ari at the small dining table Jace brought in the day before. Apparently, he wanted to start having dinner with her. How romantic. The thought made her gag and took away her last shred of appetite. Plus, she only ate cookies. They seemed like the only thing he couldn’t drug and even then, she wasn’t sure.

Nick showed up alone, carrying a big tray of food, with two empty plates and wine glasses. “To prove the food is safe, we’re eating from the same serving dishes,” he said, arranging it on the table. “You’re too thin.”

The food smelled wonderful, way better than sandwiches and fruit. Beyond starving, Ari served herself a full plate of chicken, rice and vegetables. She didn’t even wait for Nick to serve himself, instead, shoving food in her mouth with her plastic fork.

“I’ve heard the name Reggie before,” Ari told him through a mouthful of rice.

“I’m not surprised. The girls call me Reggie.”

“No, other than that,” Ari said. “Davis called you Reg. I only just now made the connection.”

Nick flinched. Barely.

Ari took another sip of wine, feeling the effects almost immediately. “He never told me you were his brother, not really. It kind of slipped out when he was talking about you. He said the name Reg.”

“I’d rather not talk about that during dinner. Why don’t you tell me about one of the books you’re reading?”

Ari shrugged. “Why can’t we talk about it? Obviously it’s related. You obviously know I had a relationship with Davis. It obviously bothers you very much.”

“If you know it bothers me then why are you bringing it up?” He rested his fork on his plate and sighed.

“Why are you holding me captive against my will?”

“If you’re going to be like this, then I guess we can’t have dinner together right now.” He stood and began clearing the table. Ari chugged the remainder of her wine before he took the glass away. “I’d hoped this would be the beginning of a more civilized period between us, eventually resulting in you coming upstairs with the rest of the family. Obviously, that’s impossible right now.”

Ari jumped up and followed him to the door. “You keep saying this is about me, but I don’t think so. I think this is about him. You’re trying to hurt him through me.”

Nick spun, losing a wine glass in the process. It hit the ground, shattering into a million pieces. He set the tray back on the table and took a step toward her. “I know it may be impossible for you, but you need to learn to shut your mouth. One more outburst and you’ll find out how this isn’t a game you’re going to win.”

“He’s better than you,” Ari whispered, separated by a sea of glass.

Nick stepped forward, the glass crunching under his shoe. He pressed his fingers to his temples. “You don’t know anything about him.”

Ari laughed. “Okay, sure.”

“You’re right, though. This is about him. Believe it or not, you’re the only person he’s cared about since our father died.”

“Died? You killed him!”

He shook his head. “I’m sure that’s what he told you to make himself feel better. To make you love him. This vigilante crap is just his way of trying to be better than everyone else, without actually doing anything worthy. He’s a thug.”

“How can you say that? He helps those kids! He—” She remembered what Davis told her about Nick’s manipulative nature and stopped arguing. Ari backed up a little. “What do you mean I’m the only person he cares about?”

“Just that. He’s spent the last several years alone, building his little fortress and soldiers. Somehow you broke down the wall.”

“And you’re using that against him.”

“After our last altercation, I decided the best way to get back at himwas to become more successful than him. More powerful. I’ve managed to do this both in the professional world and the criminal. I had been waiting for the right time to reveal myself.”

“With Alvarez? By gunning down an innocent?”

“All’s fair in love and war, Ari. You know that.”

Unfortunately, Ari did.

TWENTY FOUR

Ari and Hope swept and cleaned the floors. The glass seemed to cover every inch of the room.

“Help me move the bed,” Ari said. The two of them pushed the bed to a clean patch of floor. Ari got on her hands and knees with a small broom and dust pan, searching for the tiny pieces.

“What’s that?” Hope asked.

In the tight space between the wall and the bedside table, Ari saw a black box. Her black box.

“I don’t know,” she lied. She didn’t exactly trust Hope. There was a reason Nick sent her down here every day, and it wasn’t just to unnerve her. Hope had gained his confidence. “Probably trash. Okay, I think I got it all. Can you push that side?”

Once they had the bed back in place, Hope took the dust pan from Ari. She casually said, “Shanna’s working tonight.”

“Where?” Ari’s heart leaped into her throat.

“On the street.”

Ari picked up the trash can and held it while Hope dumped in the rest of the glass, trying to control her shaking hands. “Did you get a chance to talk to her?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“And we’ll see.”

* * *

Hope didn’t return the next day. Or the next. Jace bought food in twice a day, and when she asked about Hope he ignored her, only depositing the tray and leaving right after. Fearful that Shanna had been caught, Ari started to think of her only other alternatives. Suicide or murder. To survive, she might have to kill Nick or Jace to free herself and the girls.

The problem was finding a weapon. She should have kept a shard from the broken wine glass, but they were too small anyway. Nothing in the room seemed sharp or heavy enough to really be used to hurt anyone. She thought back to her juvies and what they used in detention. They seemed to be able to make weapons out of the most benign objects. All she needed was a piece of plastic or metal. She thought for a moment and then realized her bed must have had metal pieces that could be removed. She pushed off the mattress, leaning it to the side and studied the frame. Her eye was drawn to something different though. The black box.

Ari had forgotten about it in her excitement of Shanna going for help. She picked it up and wondered why Nick would bring it from her house. Surely he knew it been a gift from his brother.

Other trinkets in her cell were from Ari’s room at home. The journal from her desk. A hairbrush. Hair clips from her bathroom. Small things that she wouldn’t have noticed were missing right away. They weren’t replicas, but her real possessions.

The box looked the same, no damage from the fall. She opened it, finding the paper inside. The symbols from his tattoo. Vigilant.

Ari ran her fingers across the markings on the side, over the tiny gold painted flowers. She fingered the latch and tiny metal plates. The box was heavy. Too heavy to be empty, yet when she shook, nothing rattled or shifted around.

“What the hell, Davis? I’m starting to think your perfect timing gift is bullcrap and you were just lucky,” she said out loud, feeling defeated.

Closing the top, Ari set the box on the table and to her surprise, heard a small click. The end of the box jutted out just a bit. She pushed one end with her thumb and pulled with the other, revealing a hidden space.

Ari reached inside and pulled out the long, wrapped object. Barely containing the smile on her face, she knew what it was the minute she touched it.

Unfolding the cloth, she found exactly what she needed. A knife.

“Perfect timing,” she said, sending a silent thank you to Davis.

* * *

Ari had refused to push the button since she’d been there. Hope had used it more than once, but Ari couldn’t bring herself to do the same. There was nothing she wanted, other than leaving, and no way would she voluntarily call Jace into her room. But this time was different. Armed and ready, she pressed her finger to the smooth white button. She heard nothing, but paced the room with the knife tucked in the back of her shorts.

She had a plan. Once Nick or Jace opened the door she would stab him, hopefully in the neck. From her perspective, she had two advantages, the knife and the element of surprise. The thought sickened her and just thinking about it made Ari run her hands over the top of her shorts to dry them off. To make it out of there alive, Ari would have to be a murderer. She had to come to terms with that.

Minutes passed and no one answered her call. Normally, the door opened quickly after Hope pressed the button. Not today. Ari decided to try it again. This time she pushed it twice, not caring if she seemed impatient. She was impatient. For this to be over.

When the door finally opened, Ari frowned. Neither Jace nor Nick stood before her. Not even Hope.

“Who are you?” she asked the young man. He looked vaguely familiar.

He stood in the doorway with his cap on backwards. His dark eyes twitched nervously down the hallway and back. “What do you want?”

“Where’s Nick?” she asked, forgetting her plan.

“Not here,” he said with annoyance. “What do you want?” A loud bang echoed down the dark hallway and the guy shook his head. “Obviously, you’re okay.”

He started to close the door and Ari came to her senses. “I know where I’ve seen you before,” she said, taking a step closer. “You were there the night of the shooting. You were with Antonio.”

This information surprised him and he dropped his hand from the door knob. Ari took her chance, rushing him while pulling the knife from behind her back. Mustering up every bit of anger and rage she’d been holding back, she lunged. The kid reacted quickly to Ari’s attack, but the knife threw him off.

“Holy shit!” he yelled, throwing his arms up over his face.

Ari went for the only part of his body she could hit, his thigh, stabbing him hard with the blade. She yanked it back out.

He howled with pain, clutching the wound. Dark red blood started dripping down his leg. “You stabbed me? Psycho bitch!”

“I’m sorry,” she said on instinct, pushing past him, and ran into the dark hallway. For the second time since she’d been kidnapped, Ari had escaped outside of her room. Unfortunately, that was as far as she’d planned.

She moved forward, barely able to see in the dark, but toward the middle of the hall she found a shaft of light. The light came from the stairwell, leading to the upper floor. Taking a deep breath, Ari began to climb the stairs but paused when she heard a voice from the hall. A girl’s voice.

She stood still, trying to hear over her pounding heart, convinced she’d made it up. Ari couldn’t wait long. She hadn’t injured the kid that badly, just enough to slow him down.

Deciding she’d imagined it, Ari had just turned to the steps when she heard it again. This time she knew the girl’s voice was real. And needed help. Help, Ari knew, was up those stairs, but it went against her nature to leave someone in need. Not when it could possibly be one of her girls.

* * *

Light in the hallway came from two sources. The stairway and Ari’s old room. There was no way she could chance going back in the direction of her room, with Nick’s lackey waiting for her, injured and undoubtedly pissed.

Ari crept along the hallway and whispered, “Hello? Anyone?”

“Ms. Grant!” she heard in reply.

“Yes! Who’s there? Hope?” She ran her hands along the walls, searching for a doorknob.

“Here! I’m in here!”

The muffled voice sounded closer and Ari’s hand made contact with a cool, metal doorknob. She twisted and pulled but it was locked.

“Ms. Grant!” Hope’s voice came from below and Ari couched, feeling along the door. There was a mail flap about halfway down. She pried it open, recoiling from the smell inside.

“Hope! Are you okay?” Ari asked, still unable to see, keeping one eye down the hall.

“Shanna never came back, Ms. Grant. I think she’s dead,” she cried. “Reggie came back on a tear the other night. Yelling and breaking things upstairs. The girls ran and hid in their rooms. He grabbed me by the throat and dragged me down here. I haven’t seen anyone since.”

“No food? Nothing?”

“No, and I don’t have a bathroom in here.” That was the smell.

A noise came from down the hall and Ari whispered, “shhh,” pressing herself as close as possible to the wall. The guy Ari had stabbed came toward her, limping. She fumbled for her knife, holding it to her chest. He stepped into the light of the stairwell and she could see the pain on his face and his shirt streaked with blood. With a vague look in her direction, he turned and started climbing the stairs. His leg must have hurt badly because each step brought a loud, stomping noise. Ari released a breath when he reached the top.

“Who was that?” Hope asked.

“I don’t know. Someone working for Nick I guess? A young guy…”

“That’s Desmond. He’s part of the crew.”

Of course. Nick had a whole group of young men working for him. “Okay, how do I get you out of here?”

“I don’t think you can. Reggie—Nick—told me I could rot in this hellhole. Do you think maybe he got caught? Maybe he was arrested. Maybe Shanna got help and they freaked out.”

Unlikely, Ari thought. That kid would be long gone if Nick had been arrested. She didn’t want to scare Hope, so she said, “I hope so, but I’m going to have to go up there and get help. Can you tell me anything about where we are?”

“Yes,” Hope said. “We’re in the basement of a house. Upstairs there is the main floor, and then another floor with bedrooms. All the other girls sleep in one room. The other rooms are for them to meet with men.”

Ari fought back the urge to vomit. Hope continued. “Reggie and Jace have their own rooms, too, you know, for the girls to meet with them, too.”

“Has anyone tried to escape?”

“No. There are bars on all the windows and doors, though. No one can get out.”

“Does anyone know we’re down here?”

She shook her head. “They definitely don’t know about you. They probably think I’m dead.”