I take a step out, and glance down the hall.
There are a few supply closets halfway down.
I run for it, finding one that is unlocked and slipping inside. I close the door and press my back against the wall, exhaling and texting Hugh where I am. He responds that he’s on his way and Delilah has Star, so not to worry. I hope he didn’t tell her what happened. I crouch down, covering my bare skin as I wait. Feeling more than a little horrified at the entire situation.
I probably deserved it, but at the same time, if they weren’t so horrible to begin with then none of this would have happened.
They started this, but I’m sure as hell going to finish it.
After that, it’s on.
Voices can be heard outside of the closet, and I press my ear against the door to see if it’s Hugh, but I quickly figure out it isn’t. It is the voices of two men, and what they’re talking about has my blood running cold.
“Did she see anything?”
“No, she didn’t, but she’s suspicious. She knew the girl, and she knows the girl was with me, so she’s asking questions.”
“Morris, if she fucking finds out what we’re doing, everything will come crashing down. You know what this means?”
“She’s my fuckin’ sister ...”
“She could destroy everything we have. We have no choice. Sell her, or deal with her, one way or another, she’s asking too many questions and we can’t have that. The last girl we sold very nearly had us fucking caught when she got away. If that happens again, we’re done.”
I swallow, feeling sick to my stomach at their conversation.
I’ve heard the rumors, everyone in town has. These men, these powerful rich men, are said to be linked to the missing girls that have been disappearing for a very long time around here, but, money talks and they’re high up, nobody has been able to get any sort of proof.
“Can’t kill her, man, she’s blood.”
“Then we sell her.”
“Fuck.”
“No choice. Too risky. You should have fuckin’ known better than to be seen with that girl, especially considering she went missing not long after. It was a fuckin’ rookie error on your part, and now you’re going to pay the ultimate price. Line it up, we need to make this as quick and painless as we can. Big money in expensive bitches like your sister.”
“You sure there’s no other way.”
I am holding my breath, terrified, and then the worst possible thing happens.
My phone rings.
Hugh’s name appears on the screen, and I frantically fight to press the end button, but it’s too late.
“Do you hear that?”
No, no, no, no.
“Fuck.”
The door flies open, and I’m faced with two men that I’ve never seen before. I have to think quick, because if I don’t, it’ll end very very badly for me. I use my greatest asset, the fact that I can speak another language. My mother spoke a lot of different languages when I was growing up, and her mother had taught her the native language and she had passed it onto me. Thankfully, it’s enough to hopefully get me out of this situation.
I start rambling like a crazy person, waving my hands around as if I was locked in the closet and they just saved my life. I then start asking them random questions, acting lost and confused. They stare at one another, and one man steps forward and grabs my arm, pulling me close. “What’s your name, girl?”
I ramble on, shaking my head in confusion.
“She don’t speak English ...”
“Maggie?”
I hear the sound of Hugh’s voice and jerk my arm out of the man holding me and rush toward him, I throw my arms around his neck and whisper into his ear. “Play along. Please.”
I start speaking a different language to him also, waving my hands and pointing to the closet.
Hugh takes a second, but he gets it.
“Sorry, she don’t speak English,” Hugh says. “What happened?”
The guys stare at him, narrowed eyes, studying his biker jacket that makes him stand out like a sore thumb in a place like this.
“Don’t know, she was in the closet.”
Hugh nods. “Sorry about that, she’s not ... well.”
He takes me by the arm. “Come on, let’s get you dressed.”
He walks me away before the two men can say anything else, but I have a sick feeling in my stomach, one that tells me they’re not just going to let it go. If they even have the slightest doubt about me, they’re going to want to make sure I don’t talk. Hugh takes me into a room, and pulls out a dress, handing it to me. “Want to tell me what was going on there?”
“Those ... those men were talking about selling women, and missing girls, and killing people, and then my phone rang and they heard me and I had to think quickly so they didn’t think I overheard them. But I did overhear them, Hugh ...”
“Maggie, hey.” He takes my shoulders and shakes me a little. “You gotta calm down, yeah?”
I take a deep, shaky breath. “Those men are selling women. Stealing them and selling them. They ... they’re monsters.”
“We’ll deal with that when we get back to the club, you did the right thing. For now, we’ve got to get out of here, yeah?”
I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat.
This day just went from bad to worse.
Real quick.
10
I stare at the bikers in front of me, all of them watching intently as I tell my story. I tell them exactly what I heard, I describe the two men and the one name I heard, and I tell them what they were planning on doing. Hugh helped me get out of that hell hole, sneaking me out so none of those other nannies could see me. Delilah took Star home, and I’m thankful, because if I had to go down there and face them, I think I would have lost it.
Hugh let me have a shower and get changed and then we came straight to the club.
My nerves are shaken, and I feel sick to my stomach but here we are, and I’m glad I have these kind of people behind me right now, because I don’t feel safe and I don’t feel like those men are just going to let this go. They’re going to question if I was telling the truth, but if they doubt me, even just a little, they’re going to want to silence me and that’ll be a huge problem for everyone.
“You think they believed your act?” Riggs asks me, when I’m done talking.
“No,” I say softly. “Not enough to feel confident. They may have doubted me, and a few questions around that club will confirm that I do in fact speak English. It won’t take long to realize it was an act and when they do ...”
“We’re not goin’ to let anything happen to you, Maggie,” Hugh says, his voice firm and assuring.
“But they’re stealing girls, selling them. They’re monsters and now they are going to have their eyes on me. I don’t see how that’ll just go away.”
“Just gotta trust us,” Beckett murmurs. “It’s our job to make this shit go away.”
I swallow, feeling unwell.
“Get you to write down anything you can remember,” Riggs goes on, “and we’ll go from there. Until then, you stick with Hugh where you can and when you’re at home, you keep shit locked up until we can tell if you’re in danger or not. Don’t do anything alone.”