“Oh, Okay?” I slowly stood up and made my way to the door.
“Thank you Sarah,” Roberto said.
I turned around with a slight smile, “It was no problem.”
“Good. I’m glad I hired you.”
I nodded, “see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, see you then.”
Chapter 20
“God dammit Alex!” Roberto yelled as he grabbed a handful of Alex’s hair and pulled him back to his feet, then he slammed his hand into the kids back and pushed him forward. “Again!”
I balled my fists as I watched Alex start fighting the two boys again. They were both a little taller than Alex, and was maybe even a year or two older than him. Neither of them held their punches.
A week after the incident with Leon’s brother and his boys, Roberto started training Alex. I was glad that I had been conditioning him, because he wouldn't have lasted even a few minutes against these boys. They were both obviously Roberto’s children, and neither of them wanted to lose in front of their owner. They were beating Alex so badly that it made me wonder if he may have pissed them off in the past.
Alex crashed down to the hard ground again without making a sound. He didn’t show much pain like I used to when I first started training. I cried, screamed, and even begged for the trainings to stop, but that only made things worse. Alex here just let Roberto yank him up and push him forward again.
I stood behind Roberto and clenched my teeth. I wasn’t a fan of these fights, but I wanted Alex to win. I hated seeing him being tossed around the way that he was, and wanted to see him beat those boys the way that he did Christian. Plus, every time I saw Roberto yank at him, I became more and more eager to beat this man’s ass.
I bit my bottom lip when Alex pulled his fists up. He didn’t really defend himself well, but he was good at being offensive. With two boys as his opponent though, he had no choice but to play defense.
“Fight them!” Roberto yelled in frustration. “Now!”
Alex took a cautious step forward, but didn’t swing. He looked as if he was struggling to hold his own fists up from the way his arms were shaking. The side of his head and his nose were both bleeding onto his pale shoulders and chest. For an eight year old he was ripped, but at the same time he still looked as hungry as the day I first met him. I would have to tell Marie to add more food to his plate.
The taller boy of the two was quick, and threw a hard side kick to Alex’s ribs. Alex brought his arms in closer to block the blow, but the impact still sent him crashing back to the ground.
This time Roberto didn’t say anything. He just shook his head and sighed, “That’s it for the day. Ronald,” Roberto looked back to Ronald who had been reading the newspaper on the steps, “take them home. Feed them well. You boys did good today.”
“Thank you sir,” one boy nodded. The other nodded as well and then ran to follow Ronald out of the basement.
Roberto turned to Alex, who was steady on his elbows and looking directly at me. He actually threw me off for a moment, because he hasn’t given me that emotionless stare since the first day that I’d met him. I didn’t know what his eyes were telling me, or what he meant by it, and after Roberto blocked my view, I wouldn’t be finding out.
“Get up, Alex,” Roberto’s accent was stronger than usual, and I could tell that he was pissed.
Alex looked up at Roberto, and then slowly got to his feet and waited for whatever came next. My heart raced faster by the second, and I could see myself in his position...waiting for pain.
Roberto ran his fingers through Alex’s wet hair and then grabbed a handful of it. When I saw his other fist ball up I was ready to lunge at him, but he was too fast. Roberto had hit Alex so hard that he slammed against the ground, and this time he didn’t move. Alex wasn’t moving.
I couldn’t help myself. I ran over to the boy and rolled him onto his back.
“Alex?” My hands visibly shook as I checked for a pulse, and I was relieved to feel one. When I looked down at his face I started tearing up at the sight of it. Most of his face was covered in his own blood, and his eye was already starting to swell where Roberto had hit him.
I clenched my teeth and frowned up at Roberto, but then my face went blank when I saw that it was Arnold who was staring down at me. I was frozen in my spot and I couldn’t move...I couldn’t even breathe. Arnold was supposed to be dead, and yet he was looking right at me in disappointment like he always did...
“Get him cleaned up,” It was the accent that brought me back. Arnold didn’t have a French accent, “and fix your face. You look pitiful. This is work. If you can’t handle it, then leave.” He turned around and made his way up the stairs.
I looked back down at the unconscious Alex and took a deep breath, then I picked him up and held him close as I made my way upstairs and put him in the bed. Marie followed me when she saw Alex limp in my arms and quickly got started with wiping him down and patching him up. It was the first time I had seen Marie look angry since I’ve worked here, and she mumbled in French as she cleaned the blood off of him.
I stood in the doorway and watched the entire time. I felt like I had to stay and watch guard over Alex because of what Roberto might do, but I knew that even if Roberto were to come in here right now and beat him, there was nothing that I could do about it. I couldn’t blow my cover, I couldn’t let more of those kids turn out like this, and I couldn’t stand up to Roberto. It felt like every time I decided to say fuck it and face him the way I would do anyone else, I would just back down. I used the operation as an excuse at times, but the truth was, he was the second person that could ever put fear into me. The only person, other than Arnold, that shook me to the core.
Marie had finally finished up and left the room while still mumbling in French. Not long after that Lorena walked in. She went right passed me and made her way to the bed and examined Alex.
“He’s going to die too, isn’t he?” Lorena asked. She looked back at me with red eyes, clearly drunk.
I frowned and felt the anger in me rising. “He’s not going to die Lorena,” I started, “and why are you drunk? I thought we agreed-”
“You can’t question me! And I don’t have to answer you! You answer to me,” she pointed to herself and then looked back down at Alex. “He’s going to die, just like they all do!”
I tried my best to control myself. I didn’t want to get mad at her because it didn’t feel right, but this side of her was new to me, and I was far from liking it.
“Lorena, shut up before he hears you. He isn’t going to die. Alex is a strong kid, and he’ll be just fine,” I said. I started moving in closer to her, not sure if I was going to try and calm her down or shake some sense into her. She had started drinking again as soon as Roberto began taking Alex into the basement. She hated that he had to go down there, and pleaded with me to just take her and him away from here almost every day since, but I couldn’t. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn’t leave those kids.
“Look at him,” Lorena sobbed. The look on her face crushed my insides and made my throat start to burn. I could feel tears coming, but I didn’t want to let them surface. All I wanted to do was pull her close and hold her against me until she stopped crying, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even get close to her.
“Loren-”
“Couldn’t you have done anything?”
That hit me hard. Could I have done anything to stop him? I almost did, but I was too late. Then in a moment of rage, I went back to feeling like a scared little girl when I looked into Roberto’s eyes. Even if I knew where those children were, would I have done anything?
“What could she have done?” I jumped at the sound of his voice. Roberto walked into the room and stopped in front of Lorena, who still couldn’t control her crying. “Go home Sarah,” his voice was deep and commanding.
“Are you sure?” I asked. I didn’t want to leave Lorena here with him, because I knew what would happen after I left. I swallowed and clench
ed my fists. “Do you want me to take care of her?”
Roberto looked over his shoulder at me, “I can take care of what’s mine. Go home, and be back in the morning.”
I stared at him for a moment and then slowly backed out of the room. Lorena and I made eye contact for a moment, and her eyes told me that she was terrified. I hoped that mine told her that she would only have to deal with this for a little while longer, but I was nowhere close to finding those kids. This wouldn’t be ending any time soon.
***
I opened the door to the apartment and stepped in. Bobby was in the kitchen waiting on whatever was in the microwave to finish warming up. When he looked back at me, the smile that was forming on his lips stopped midway and fell.
“What’s wrong?” Bobby asked. “Rose, what happened?”
There was so much running through my head. I was stuck in between what I wanted to do, what I was afraid to do, and what I had to do. This operation was getting harder and harder by the day and I wasn’t even close to where I wanted to be.
I couldn’t hold it in anymore. My heart hurt in so many ways, and I just couldn’t find it in me to be the strong Rose anymore. I felt weak, I felt helpless, and I felt angry.
“Rose…”
I covered my eyes as I cried silently. They didn’t turn into sobs until Bobby pulled me in close and I pushed my head into his shoulder.
“I don’t know what to do,” I cried.
Bobby didn’t say anything. He knew that the last thing that I wanted to hear was ‘finish the operation and keep searching’, so instead he just rubbed my back until I calmed down.
Once I finally stopped crying, I felt completely numb and walked down to my room. Bobby looked clueless as to what to do, and just watched me walk away.
“You are so worthless!” Arnold’s words echoed in my ears as I stared up at the ceiling. I was still being haunted by my memories, and the flashbacks have only gotten worse since I’ve been here. It’s gotten so bad that I no longer had to dream to see and feel everything that I felt back then.
I rubbed my hands over my face and took a deep breath. It pissed me off when I got this way. I wasn’t a weak person, but I was having a lot of weak fucking moments. This shit has got to stop. I can’t keep reverting back to my old ways and letting it bring me down. I came here for a reason, and that was to help get dozens of children out of a situation that I used to be in. They needed someone to save them just like Roy saved me, and I was going to be that person.
Chapter 21
The next day I didn’t see Lorena when I came in, and I didn’t ask about her. Alex was awake, and could clearly see the concern on my face as I sat down next to him on the bed.
“She’s okay,” Alex said, looking up at me. “She came to see me a while before you got here. She said sorry.”
I frowned, “Did she say about what?”
Alex shrugged, “She said that she said a few bad things. I didn’t hear any of it.” Alex rubbed his one good eye and yawned, “She also wanted me to tell you that she’s sorry.”
I bit my bottom lip and nodded, then turned back to Alex and examined his swollen eye.
“You need some ice for that kid?” I asked.
“Not at the moment. It doesn’t hurt that bad,” Alex responded. He gently touched his eye with the tip of his fingers. “So are we training again today?”
I couldn’t help but smile. He always put on this tough act and I found it to be cute, “I’m not sure what Roberto has in store for you today.” My mood hit the floor after the words came out of my mouth.
“Roberto won’t be here today. He took Ronald with him to meet some friend of his.” Alex sighed, “He told me to tell you that.”
Relief poured over me and I felt like a weight was lifted off of me. There was no way that I could mentally handle watching kids fight like animals for another day.
“He wants you to stay and watch over us today,” Alex explained.
“That sounds easy. So what do you want to do?” I asked.
“Train.”
We just stared at each other for a moment. I could see in his brown eyes that he was serious. Even with all his bruises, and his swollen eye, he still wanted to get better. He wanted to make Roberto proud of him.
“Are you sure?” I asked. I really didn’t think that he was ready to be doing much movement after a long week of being beaten every night, but even if I suggest something else, he would still say no.
“I’m sure,” Alex said. He got up on his elbows, but I pushed my hand against his chest to stop him.
“Get more rest first, and then we’ll train lightly today. I guess...I guess I can show you a few things that may help you against other fighters.”
Alex’s eyes widened in surprise, and I thought I saw a flash of happiness. He plopped back down on his back and took a nervous breath, “OK, well I’ll see you when I wake up.”
“See you then,” I smiled and nodded. “Then you will put ice on that huge eye of yours when we are done,” I laughed as I stood up.
“Deal.”
I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. My heart raced as I walked to go and check on Lorena. I couldn’t help but feel like I was stepping out of my boundaries, but then I had to remember that I had none. I was a cop going undercover, and I could do as I pleased.
After a long night of thinking. I decided that I was going to have to do more than just wait for Roberto to lead me to the children. I was going to have to risk my neck, like any other undercover cop, and snoop around. I had to get Lorena and Alex out of here as soon as I could. Before things got worse.
Right when I got to the tall brown doors my phone rang and I jumped. It was Roberto.
“Hello?”
“Sarah,” Roberto sighed, “did you make it back to the house?”
“Yes, I’m here now. You said to be here in the morning right?”
“Yes. Sorry I didn’t get to you sooner, but I needed to check a few things with my friend Bruce.”
“Did you want me to be there?”
“No,” Roberto laughed, “not at all. Bruce is a good friend of mine. I’ll be with him for most of the day, so just watch over my wife and child for me.” Wife and child?
“Okay, no problem,” I said. Hoping that this phone call would be ending soon.
“Great, well I have to go, I’ll see you later.”
“Oka-”
“Oh, and Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t ever look at me that way again, or I will personally have to put you in your place. You work for me, so whatever I do, you support. Do you understand?”
I clenched my teeth and held the phone so tightly that I thought it would snap, “Yes.”
“Great! Well, you enjoy yourself today.”
I didn’t respond and just let him hang up the phone. I didn’t like to be given orders by anyone, let alone someone I wanted to put a bullet into.
I put the phone away and tucked it into my back pocket, then I grabbed the handle of the big wooden door and slowly pushed it down to enter the bedroom. I moved quietly so not to awaken Lorena if she were still sleeping, which I soon found that she was.
The door slowly closed behind me and my eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful room. It looked so clean that I thought about taking my shoes off at the door, but decided not to. To my far right there was a large walk in closet, and not too far from the closet was a bathroom only a little smaller than the bedroom. The colors of the room were the same as the house which was Brown, and black, but this time the carpet was cream colored.
The room looked like any other large master bedroom from out of a movie, with the large dressers and fifty-inch TV hanging on the wall. The part of the room I loved the most was the bed. Mostly because Lorena was sleeping in it, but also because I loved Canopy Beds. I had always wanted one, but could never afford it, and in my line of work, I never would.
I slowly walked around the bed where the sunlight was shi
ning and looked down at Lorena. She was beautiful, even in her sleep. Her blond curls were a mess all over her face and the bed, and the sheets stopped at her cream colored hips, revealing her bare back.
I swallowed, thinking back to the time I had almost seen her naked in the shower. If it weren’t for those damn shower doors...
Looking her over, I didn’t spot any bruises. No purple, black, or red marks on her flawless body. Roberto had only ever left marks on her wrists, but never on her face, and obviously not her body. I guess he didn’t want to damage what was his. At least not physically at least.
Lorena was clearly broken on the inside, but Roberto didn’t care. As long as she complied with his rules and did everything that he said, then he was happy. He treated Lorena like a piece of property instead of a person, and I had no idea what he did to her when she would step out of line.
“No...” Lorena moaned in her sleep. Her face turned into a frown and she jerked her arm, but didn’t wake up, “No…”
I sat down on the bed and watched her. Is this what I looked like when I was having a nightmare? She looked scared and sad at the same time. I wanted so badly to calm her down, but the fear of Roberto walking through those doors made me hesitate.
I took a deep breath and shrugged my fears away. If he walked in, I would just say that I heard crying and came to check on her. She clearly had tears coming out of her eyes as she dreamed of whatever tortures he was putting her through.
“Lorena,” I ran my fingers through her soft hair and waited for her to wake up. “Lorena, you’re dreaming,” I said.
Lorena sniffled and blinked as tears rolled down her face. She didn’t look over to me yet, but just enjoyed the feeling of my hand stroking through her hair. I wasn’t going to stop either. Not unless she told me to.
“I’m sorry,” Lorena whispered.
“It’s okay,” I said softly. “Alex said he didn’t hear you.”
Lorena sighed, “I’m glad.”
“Me too,” I said. I couldn’t help but really look her over now. Lorena was naked in bed right next to me, and we were alone. She didn’t even seem to care that I was staring down at her body. It’s not like I could see anything but her back and side. She laid with her arm covering her breasts, so I couldn’t really get a full look at her.
Caged 2 (Caged Series) Page 14
