“Put out or get out, slut,” Harry said. He sat back, but not before grabbing Clarissa in a suggestive way as he tugged on her shirt where it was tied just beneath her breasts.
If she didn’t know better, she might have thought Harry was actually enjoying his role in this scene. She allowed her eyes to widen appropriately as she struck out at him, catching Harry right on the cheek with her open palm. If Harry was surprised at her improvisation, he didn’t show it.
He simply grabbed her upper shoulders and shook her hard. “You’re gonna pay for that, bitch,” he shouted. “No freebies, huh? We’ll just see about that!” Going with his own improvisation, he ripped her shirt open, which left just the lace bra. Her breasts threatened to spill into his hands and he drew the line there, but he did notice the actual shock on Clarissa’s face.
“Let me go!” She screamed, clawing at him. She caught his face again, breaking the skin near his ear, and suddenly she was free. She stumbled through the open car door just as she saw a seedy-looking man step out from the shadows in the alley. “Oh my god, you’ve gotta help me, that man’s crazy!”
Unused to the stiletto’s, Clarissa actually did trip, but Billy was there to catch her. She played the fall well, squeezing her eyes to allow tears to escape. “There, there,” Billy said. He smiled at her, and his yellow teeth and stale breath turned her stomach.
Clarissa held back her disgust and looked at him with eyes that all but groveled. His surprisingly strong grip was making her hand tingle as he held her upper arm. “What’s the problem, sweetheart?” Billy let his gaze travel slowly down the length of Clarissa’s scantily clad figure, lingering where her altered cocktail skirt rode up to show off her pink lace panties.
Billy was close enough to her for Clarissa to feel his hardness as he nearly drooled on her breasts. Her heart tripped as she noticed one had managed to escape from her bra in her struggle to get out of the car, but she would give herself away if she tried to tuck it back in now.
Harry barely controlled himself as he saw the way Billy all but devoured Clarissa with his eyes, but he knew they were banking on Billy’s reaction, so he peeled away from the curb as he flipped Clarissa off for good measure.
“That guy’s a total jerk,” Clarissa said, attempting to shift her position so her breast would slide back inside her bra. “I work a couple of streets over and he picked me up. I told him how much it would cost for what he wanted, but after I was in the car, he tried to get some free stuff, if ya know what I mean?” She sniffed, thinking the tears might help her situation.
She was right, or maybe Billy just knew how to take advantage of a situation. “Don’t worry, baby, you can work my street anytime,” Billy leered.
Clarissa realized she was stiff as a board, so she forced herself to relax, which proved to be the right move. Billy loosened his grip as he turned to face her head on. Clarissa smiled, attempting to show him some brazenness, but as she thrust her chest out, she knew she was on borrowed time.
Any second now, Jason would be pulling up, asking for two girls together, and it was Clarissa’s job to figure out a way to make sure she and Whitney were the ones that got into his car.
“Would you mind?” Clarissa said. “I’ve been wanting to get off the street I’m on anyway. No money over there, ya know?”
“Well now, I don’t want any trouble with your daddy,” Billy said, stepping back. “What’s his name?”
Clarissa froze, not knowing what to say. She knew she had to come up with a name, but this hadn’t been something they’d seen coming. “Well, I’ve kind of been on my own for the past few days, because I’ve been looking for this guy named Billy,” she said, holding her breath that Billy would buy it.
“You’re lookin’ at him,” Billy said, holding out both arms as he shot a smile at her. Clarissa was sure it was designed to make her feel relieved, so she batted her thick eyelashes and widened her eyes.
“Really?” Clarissa gave him the biggest smile she could muster. “I hear you’re the best in this part of town.”
Billy preened at her compliment, and Clarissa felt like things were going well. And in fact, they were, right up until the part where she saw the woman Amanda had described as Whitney walking toward a car that was not her red Miata. No, no, no, Clarissa yelled in her head. This could not be happening.
Harry was gone and Jason could not possibly have any idea of what was happening. It was up to Clarissa to figure it out on her own.
Panicking, Clarissa almost blew her cover with Billy, but she managed to bat her eyes once more. “So, Billy,” she practically cooed. “Could I start right now? I mean, maybe I could sort of watch a couple of your girls to see how you like to have things done.”
Billy frowned, and Clarissa realized her mistake. Of course they didn’t shadow each other to learn the job like a server at a diner. My god, what must he be thinking? She knew she had to fix this, and quickly. This is nothing more than a business deal, Rissa. Suck it up and close the deal.
“What I mean is I could work with one of your girls if someone wanted to ah, you know, double their pleasure?” Clarissa sucked in a breath, waiting.
Billy was either completely stupid or he was letting her play her little game. She hoped for the former, but she felt like a bird being watched by a tiger. He released her and nodded toward Carla. “Sure, why not? You can hang with Carla, but you’re on your own, you do anything and everything and I get half,” Billy said. “Just so happens that I’ve got a vacancy in Whitney’s room. You can bunk with her for now.”
“Thanks,” she said huskily. “I’ll be your best girl, you just wait and see.”
Billy snorted, but he leaned against the brick building as she did her best to saunter over to where Carla was standing. Whitney was leaning into the car at the curb, negotiating with the portly guy in the driver’s seat.
Clarissa saw the flash of red out of the corner of her eye, and she felt both relief and panic. Relief, because she was truly frightened and panic, because she didn’t know how she was going to fix this situation. Jason downshifted and pulled the convertible to the curb where he revved the engine for effect.
Carla threw her cigarette on the sidewalk and headed toward the car, but Clarissa beat her to the punch. “Hey, butt out!” Carla stiff-armed her, and the bigger woman easily outweighed Clarissa. Jason was helpless as he watched Carla knock Clarissa to the ground.
He pasted a smile on his face as Carla’s face popped over the passenger door. “What can I do for you, baby?” She purred like the Miata, her eyes lighting up when she saw the customer looked as good as his ride, from his finely tailored suit to his dreamy blue eyes.
“I’m lookin’ to double my fun, if you know what I mean,” Jason said, winking at Carla and waving a thick roll of bills in his hand.
“Sure thing, sexy,” Carla said. “Hey new girl, get your ass over here.” She hauled Clarissa up next to her. “Like what you see, honey?” She leered at Jason. Clarissa’s expression seemed to say ‘I’m sorry’ as he looked harder at Carla.
“I’m Carla, and this here’s, uh, what’d you say your name was?” She slapped Clarissa on the shoulder with the back of her hand and Clarissa jumped.
“Tiffany,” she responded. Jason’s eyes widened only slightly when he heard Carla introduce herself. He had no idea what Whitney looked like, but he knew they’d hit a major snag. Clarissa slowly tipped her head to the right, indicating with her eyes that Jason should look to her right.
His eyes landed on Whitney, who was opening the door of the other car, ready to step in. He wasn’t sure what to do, but his military training kicked in, as did his instincts.
“Get in the car,” he growled at Clarissa. He jumped out and rounded the convertible, his agility allowing him to cover the ground between his door and Whitney in just a few steps. He clamped an iron grip on Whitney’s wrist just before she slid into the waiting car. Her shriek drew Billy’s attention, and Jason knew he only had seconds before all hell broke
loose.
Dragging Whitney as she kicked and screamed, he wrapped an arm around her waist, expecting to find Clarissa in the car. He watched as she stood frozen in place, her fear rooting her feet to the spot. “Clarissa! Get in the damn car!” Jason yelled as he wrestled with the shrieking redhead, but it was too late.
Carla was already grabbing Clarissa, attempting to shove her way into the convertible as she’d yet to realize what was really happening. Clarissa surprised herself as she rammed her elbow into Carla’s midsection, but immediately she felt her hair yanked hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
Billy had Clarissa by the hair and two more men were racing down the sidewalk. Jason had strong-armed Whitney into the backseat of the convertible, but she was still struggling to escape.
“Get your ass back to your spot, Carla,” Billy shouted, slapping her across the face while Clarissa struggled to get away. Whitney was yelling, Clarissa was screaming, and Jason knew they were in a world of trouble. If Jackson and Amanda heard all the commotion through the open line of his cell phone, he wouldn’t put it past them to show up on the scene.
Billy had one hand over Clarissa’s mouth, but she bit down hard. He let go, and she managed to scream out “Get Whitney out, Jason! Get her—,” but she couldn’t say any more, as Billy’s hands were at her windpipe, slowly squeezing. Her vision grayed, but she managed to signal Jason to leave with Whitney. He shook his head before he closed the door and sped off into the darkness, the image of Clarissa’s pale skin and closing eyes now burned into his memory.
“What the hell is going on?” Whitney smacked Jason, but her blows glanced off his tight shoulders. “Where are you taking me?”
“Whitney, I’m Jason, and I’m here to save your life,” he said earnestly.
Chapter 27
“Hah! I’ve heard that one before,” Whitney spat. “I’ve heard them all, honey, but as long as you’re a paying customer, I don’t mind if it gets a little rough.” Her voice dropped to a husky note, but Jason wasn’t giving her the time of day.
As he raced the Miata toward the warehouse, he picked up his phone and started barking updates into it. “Jack, things went south,” he ground out. “I’m headed back to the warehouse with Whitney, and she’s unharmed.”
He listened for a second, then cut in. “I’m sorry, things got so crazy, Billy had Clarissa and it was either get Whitney out or take the chance of all of us going down,” he said apologetically. “Billy had several guys jumping in and he had Clarissa by the throat—she waved me off, what was I suppose to do?”
“Okay, hold on, let me drop Whitney off at the warehouse,” Jason said. “Harry should be there by now. You take Amanda there and I’ll meet you and we’ll go get this bastard.”
Shifting again, he pushed the car past seventy, carelessly blowing through several red lights before sliding into a spot right in front of the double doors. Harry burst through the opening, but he looked around in confusion as Jason held Whitney by the arm and led her to the doors.
“Where’s Clarissa?” Harry’s panic set in. “She’s with Amanda and Jack, I guess?” Jason avoided Harry’s eyes as he shoved Whitney through the doors and into one of the few folding chairs left in the nearly empty building.
“Oh, I get it, you’ve got some sort of kidnapping fantasy,” Whitney said, her eyes brightening. “Okay, I’m game, just let me get into character.” She slipped one strap off her shoulder and fussed with her hair a bit, not noticing Harry and Jason conversing quietly.
“What are you going to do with me?” Whitney cried out, sucking in deep gulps of air to make herself sound appropriately out of breath and upset. Both men looked at her in shock. She dialed it up a notch, allowing a fat tear to escape and roll down her cheek.
“Please, don’t hurt me, I’ll go willingly—there’s no need for you to tie me up!” Whitney’s voice dipped and broke as she plumped her lips alluringly. Jason was the first to recover.
He sprinted out of the room while Harry muttered and paced back and forth. Whitney turned her full charms toward Harry, assuming he was the one with the money. “Let’s get started, handsome,” she said, licking her lips. She stood, one hand trailing across her collarbone enticingly as she reached for Harry’s shirt.
Harry sighed, wondering where Jason had gone. He didn’t have to wonder long, as Jason came running back into the room with what looked like grip tape of some sort.
“Ooh, you’re gonna play dirty now, huh?” Whitney seemed excited. “Oh yeah, make sure it’s good and tight, then you can take turns.”
“Okay, listen lady, we’re here to help you, and your friend Amanda will be here any minute to tell you why,” Jason said, fed up with the woman. He heard Jackson’s car pull up to the curb and he peered through a scratch in the black paint on the window.
“Dad, go catch them up on what’s going on, because you know they are both going to freak,” Jason said.
Whitney had dropped the act, and she was now looking back and forth at the two men. “Okay, will someone tell me what the hell is really going on?”
“I’ll tell you,” Amanda said as she rushed through the door. Breathless, the two women met halfway and hugged, but when Whitney would have clung, Amanda pulled back.
“There’s no time for the whole story,” Amanda said. “I don’t know what Billy told you about me, but obviously I’m not dead. He threatened to kill you if I didn’t come back. These three guys helped us with a plan to get you out, because I’m done. I’m not going back to that life and I know that now.” She looked directly at Jackson when she said the last few words.
Jackson had time for a quick grin, but thoughts of Clarissa broke through quickly, the sense of urgency almost overwhelming him. He finished Amanda’s shortened story. “A good friend helped us with this, and she’s the one Billy has now,” he said, his voice ragged with emotion.
“It was my idea to come and offer an exchange for you, but Clarissa, I don’t know what to say, I mean, she showed me what it means to give everything for someone,” Amanda said. She was near tears as she thought of her new friend in Billy’s hands.
Just that very day she’d been worried that Clarissa was going to lay into her about Jackson again, but things had turned out so much differently and it was hard to believe she already felt like she’d known Clarissa for ages.
“We have to go back,” Amanda said. “We have to go get her, there’s no telling what Billy is doing to her right now.” She turned toward Jackson, who put his hands gently on her shoulders.
“We aren’t going anywhere,” Jackson said with Jason nodding in agreement behind him. You and Whitney are staying here where it’s safe.”
“What?” Amanda pushed back from Jackson in surprise. “No way. Whitney and I know the situation better than any of you and we are most definitely not staying behind while you men go off to save the damsel in distress without us!”
Jackson looked at Harry, who nodded, and Jason stepped out from behind Jackson with the roll of tape in his hands.
“What are you doing?” Amanda squeaked, afraid she might know the plan. Jackson put his hands on her arms as Jason came up beside Whitney.
“I’m sorry, ladies,” Jackson said. He enclosed Amanda in a hug, but she didn’t return it, wary now. Jason grabbed Whitney and before she knew it, she was back in the chair and he’d wrapped her arms in tape, but she hadn’t even felt him include the chair in the wrapping job.
“What the freak?” Whitney struggled and shrieked while Amanda started bucking in Jackson’s arms. “You’re really going to tie me up?” Whitney was in disbelief as she looked toward Amanda. “These are your friends, Mandy? Nice choice!”
Amanda couldn’t believe they were doing this. “Jack, please, don’t do this,” she said as she struggled, already out of breath.
“Amanda, I’m sorry, but the most important thing in the world to me is to keep you safe,” Jackson said, his lips near her ear. “I can’t live without you, you already know that. But
Clarissa and I go way back, and I need to be able to concentrate completely to save her, and that means I can’t be worried about you.”
She tried to struggle, but his words were an arrow straight to her heart, filling her with the warmth of being loved. However, no matter how good his words made her feel, she was not going to sit idly by while he rode off to be a hero.
She rammed her elbow into his stomach, apologizing as she did so, but she followed it with a crushing stomp to his instep. Suddenly, she was free, but Jason’s arms came around her like bands of steel. She looked down at Whitney, and her expression was full of anger.
Harry had grabbed another chair, but they wisely kept the girls across the large room from each other. It was all over within a few minutes, but to Amanda, it seemed like forever. Jackson left his cell phone on Amanda’s lap on speakerphone, already connected to Harry’s phone in case there was a problem.
Jackson put his forehead to Amanda’s. “Jack, please don’t do this,” she begged again.
Their breath mingled, and Jackson knew they had to get going. “I’m sorry, Amanda,” he whispered and then he was gone. Harry locked the doors as the men left, and Amanda and Whitney were left alone in the large, dark room.
As Clarissa watched Jason pull away with Whitney, her fear doubled. Billy continued to drag her toward the alley. She was screaming, but she knew it was useless. No one responded to screams in this area of the city.
Steeling herself, Clarissa tried to block out her fear so she could think. Should I struggle or should I go along with him? This was one deal Clarissa had never had to close, and she was at a loss. God help me, she thought. I can’t help myself.
She cried out in pain as Billy twisted her arm and pushed her roughly against the brick wall in the alley. Her throat was on fire where he’d been choking her, but at least she was still conscious. Billy’s hand came up under her chin, pushing on her windpipe again.
Hot Pink Heels (The Street Series) Page 18
