“I’m in Atlanta still. If I don’t come back in a few days, come after me.”
“How will I find you?” Dawkins asked.
“The clues are all there.” Arden replied. “I’m putting a lot of trust in you, Dawkins. Please don’t let me down.”
Dawkins chuckled. “You’re insane, investigator.”
“Possibly.”
And with that, Arden walked out of the restaurant. She found her car a block away and made her drive back to Atlanta. She checked in her rearview constantly, expecting there to be cop cars behind her. She made it back without issue.
Arden walked into the condemned house. She crawled into her sleeping bag and folded her hands behind her head. She looked up at the ceiling and thought about the contents on the zip drive. It was Hector's unedited interrogation along with a picture slide show of the condemned house. She’d leave a trail to the brothel in here for the detectives to follow.
Arden fought to remain calm but couldn’t. If she really saw the men that killed her sister, she needed to make sure she was ready to pull the trigger. Even if this didn’t have to do with Scarlet, it would be a worthwhile diversion.
That night, Arden and Joe returned to Jackie’s room.
They popped his shoulder back into place.
“You ready to help us out?” Arden asked.
They loaded him into the back of the car. Arden and Joe were ready. They drove a little way before removing the duct tape around his eyes.
Jackie wore sunglasses to hide his black eyes and a headkerchief around his bruised neck. Arden stayed seated next to him in the back seat. She was ready to hurt him if needed, but he seemed complacent. Arden gave him the flip phone. “Call your friends and tell them you’re coming.”
Nervous, Jackie dialed their number. The phone rang and rang until someone picked up. “Hey, Choppy. It's Jackie.”
“The hell you want?” Choppy replied.
“I have two fine folks interested in your stock. You available tonight?”
“Fine folk?” Choppy asked.
“Yep. Two. You good?” Jackie asked.
Choppy was quiet for a long moment. He replied. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“Sweet,” Jackie said. “I’ll see you soon.”
Jackie hung up and gave the phone back to Arden.
“Fine folk,” Joe smirked. “You don’t know much about us.”
Jackie leaned his head against the window. “As long as you hold up your end of the deal, you’ll be the finest folk I’ve ever met.”
They arrived at a busy underground club. There were stairs descending into the basement. It had the classic feel of a speakeasy.
Joe looked for a place to park. “Tell us about the place.”
“Don’t let the lurkers fool you. It’s a classy establishment. A lot of famous people come here dressed like normal civilians. With a few right words, they are allowed into the private hall,” Jackie explained.
“What’s in there?” Arden asked.
“Your heart’s desire,” Jackie reply. “That’s where you’ll find Choppy and the boys. You can do whatever you want then. So, am I free to go?”
“Not yet,” Joe said.
They parked and walked down a street lined with bars. Joe kept a tight grip on the back of Jackie’s shirt as he walked. Arden flanked him from the other side. They were ready to attack him if he tried anything.
“We won’t hesitate to kill you,” Joe said plainly.
“Okay,” Jackie replied. “And, I won’t hesitate to follow your lead.”
Jackie approached the bouncer at the underground club. He hiked his thumb back at Arden and Joe. “We’re here to see Choppy. Maybe you remember me?”
The bouncer gave Arden and Joe strange looks and moved to the side.
They stepped into the bar. It was a loud place, but not as intense as the nightclub where they captured Jackie. They walked past the bar and to the far back door. Two bouncers guarded it.
“Bannerman,” Jackie said.
The two bouncers stepped aside. Beyond was a short hallway that led to a second set of stairs. The walls had a nice wood finish. The floor had been waxed. They reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped into a gambling hall. There were crap tables and Texas Hold ‘Em being played. Through dressed casually, the men playing were high rollers. They laughed loudly and had hotties on their laps. Most of the woman looked bored out of their minds, but the moment the money started to pile up, life returned to them.
“Almost there,” Jackie said.
Arden kept her hand near her concealed pistol.
“Tell me about the place,” Joe asked.
Jackie shrugged. “Just one of many rackets around town. Not my taste. To be honest, I think most of it is a scam. You know how it is. House always wins.”
They moved through the gambling hall and to a final set of doors. Jackie said to the bouncers. “Renegade blue.”
The bouncers let them pass through into the final hall, with a seemingly empty room with glossy white walls and floors. Jackie stopped at the threshold. “Here is where you’ll find the men. Tell them you’re after Grade X.”
“What’s that?” Joe asked.
“Code to get access to their suppliers,” Jackie replied. “May I go now?”
“Stick around a little longer.” Joe said, leaving no room for argument.
Jackie frowned but stayed with them.
They stepped into the room and noticed a small desk with a young woman wearing a ladies’ suit standing behind it. Her cut blonde hair was glossy and full of product. Her nose was sharp and she had a shapely bod.
Jackie smiled at her. “Hey, beautiful. We’re interested in Grade X.”
The woman glanced over to Joe and Arden. She smiled furiously at them. “Right away.” She winked at Joe and drew out her phone.
She called a number. “Yes, we have two looking of Grade X… Male and female.”
Jackie kept his head down.
Something in Arden’s gut churned.
Jackie started to shake slightly.
Concerned, Arden glanced at him.
Jackie was laughing.
“Oh, God,” Arden mumbled.
What followed happened quickly, probably within six seconds.
A door opened.
A group of bulky hired guns -- covered in face tattoos and dressed in baggy clothes -- rushed inside.
Arden reached for her weapon.
Jackie turned to run.
Joe reached out and grabbed Jackie. His fingers brushed against the back of Jackie’s blazer, narrowly missing him.
Just as Arden started drawing her weapon, she was looking down the barrel of a half dozen pistols.
Joe drew his arm back to himself as Jackie scurried behind the receptionist.
The hired guns silently aimed their weapons at the investigators.
Joe clenched his jaw over and over, flexing the muscles under his cheeks.
Arden took her hand away from her weapon and raised it above her head.
The men stared at her. One smiled with a mouthful of golden teeth. His face was covered in tattoos that made him look like a tribal warrior.
Jackie’s chuckle rang in Arden’s ears.
The smiling thug tilted his pistol slightly sideways.
Looking down the black barrel caused Arden’s heart to skip beats. Knowing she was a single trigger pull away from the end sent chills dancing down her spine.
“Let’s talk,” Arden said.
Jackie stopped laughing and wiped a tear from his eye. “The time for that is over.”
The smiling thug said, “Weapons.”
Arden traded looks with Joe. They both knew that drawing out their weapons would result in death.
Arden carefully unclipped the pistol and placed it on the floor. She kicked it to the men.
Joe hesitated but did the same.
Three of the men swarmed Joe and three swarmed Arden.
They twisted Arden’s arm around her
back. She gasped. “We can help each other --”
Arden’s bluff was interrupted by a sharp pain in her neck. In her peripherals, she saw the point of a needle.
The room started spinning.
She frantically turned to Joe. He resisted the men and was punched in the jaw.
Arden lost feeling in her fingertips.
She tried to talk, but gibberish fell from her lips.
Darkness closed in on the edges of her vision.
She fought to stay awake, but her motor functions were quickly failing.
Jackie’s laughter grew farther and farther away.
“God help me,” she said, but no words came out.
Soon, Arden was in blackness.
7
Switch
Total darkness.
Come back to me, Arden, a voice whispered.
The world rumbled.
Arden’s face was glued to a cold surface.
Her head throbbed from the tranquilizer and the rattling of the floor.
Icy metal dug into her wrists.
The stench of body odor violated her nose.
She tasted copper.
Arden opened her eyes and saw a thin vertical beam of light leaking through the gap of two metal doors. It took her a second to realize she was in the back of a moving semi-truck, curled up like a pill bug.
She put her palms on the cold, rumbling floor and pushed. The chain from her handcuffs dragged on the metal floor as she sat up. Because her wrists were bound, the simple action was a chore. She glanced around the dark container and saw a group of three women. They were in their twenties and much prettier than Arden. One was dark-skinned with frizzy black hair and other two were white. One had blonde hair and one had red hair. They were dressed like clubbers: jean jackets, cut-off tank tops, miniskirts, leggings, and heels. They rested their backs against the front wall of the semi-truck.
Arden checked herself and realized she was dressed in matching attire. She shuddered, knowing that someone had changed her clothes. Her eyes watered. Terror slashed her heart. She had no memory of what happened after Jackie’s betrayal. She searched her mind, but there was no recollection.
Trust Me, that voice whispered again.
With no solution, no way of escape, no wisdom of her own, Arden closed her eyes and believed. She didn’t question the voice. She didn’t want to. The relationship with Jesus was all she had now, and even if she didn’t see the light of day, she held fast to the source of her salvation, knowing she was on her way to death’s door. She was tired of fearing what was on the other side. She was tired of doubting. She gave up on holding on and trying to understand everything. She gave up on going back and forth. It was time for the rubber to hit the road. No tricks were going to get her out of this one. She had to believe. Some part of thought she must earn her way back into God’s grace, but Arden didn’t fully believe that.
She turned to the girls. Without asking their names, she said, “Let’s pray.”
She saw the sour doubt on their faces, but that didn’t stop them from holding hands. Arden, unsure where the sudden burst of faith had come from, opened her mouth and said, “Father, I thank You that You always hear my prayers--”
Her own words amazed her. The logical part of her mind called her a fool and cursed God, but Arden kept on praying. “I ask by the authority and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ that we’ll be set free of this prison and that you’ll lead us into new life. We surrender to You our fears, our worries, and rely on You as our hope. Thank you, Father. Thank you for Your love and value You seen in us. Amen.”
Arden opened her eyes. She realized that the blonde was weeping, the dark-skinned girl was still praying, and the redhead glared at Arden bitterly. Arden let go of their hands and sat next to them.
“You don’t believe that,” Red said.
Arden inhaled through her nose.
Fighting to muster courage, she said, “I do.”
The change in her mind was quick. Almost nonessential, like the Creator himself had equipped her with just what she needed at just the right time.
Suddenly, the truck came to a violent stop.
The quick jerking movement slammed the back of Arden’s head against the wall behind her. She grimaced and rubbed the growing knot on the back of her head. All the girls’ eyes went wide. Arden got to her feet and watched the double doors.
The latch on the door screeched as it loosened.
The other girls stood next to Arden.
One of the double doors flung open. Arden covered her eyes from the sudden light. A man in a ski mask stood at the threshold. He wore a trucker’s jacket and tight jeans. He held a pistol with the barrel pointed down.
He signaled Arden. “You first.”
Arden didn’t move.
The man lifted his gun. “Now.”
She walked to the threshold of the door. Woods stretched as far as the eye could see. The trees and bushes were lush, green, and full of life. There was something untamed about this strange place. Keeping one hand on the gun, the man presented his other hand to Arden. She took it and accepted his help down. She looked ahead and saw a small cabin tucked away in the woods.
“Don’t run,” the man warned.
Arden stood by as the gunman called the girls out one by one.
Arden turned back to the road from which they came. It was a long dirt path with no end in sight. She was tempted to run into the wilderness and thought back to Joe and her escape from the orchard. They barely survived then. Arden knew she wouldn’t survive now.
The three other girls stood next to her. The gunman closed the latch and watched them. “You girls are very lucky,” he said. “Each one of you was handpicked.”
The man chuckled and told them to proceed toward the house. He pushed the black girl along, nearly causing her to fall. He laughed at that, too.
Arden scanned her surroundings, looking for an opportunity to escape. Before she knew it, she was already at the front door. She wished she had Joe here. Mumbling, she prayed that he was safe.
The front door opened.
A shirtless man stepped out. His hairy beer belly bulged over his shorts. His head was nearly bald, with a few wispy hairs combed weakly over his shiny scalp.
Arden glanced up at him. He smiled down at her with a mouthful of crooked teeth.
“You do look like her,” the homeowner said and told her to go inside.
She thought about running, but it would surely end in her death. She needed to be wise. She obeyed the man’s commands.
The cabin had a simple layout, nothing unusual, but Arden felt a heavy, unseen oppression. It was like the very atmosphere itself was toxic.
Once all the girls had entered, the homeowner and gunman led them to a bedroom with bunk beds. The windows were blacked out and barred. The door had many locks. As soon as Arden stepped in, she was pushed and hit the floor with her chin. Arden’s teeth loosened. After the other girls were pushed inside, the door was slammed shut and locked many times.
Outside the room, the men talked.
The homeowner said, “Thank you for the recommendation. This will be a good batch.”
“Anytime you’re paying, we’re selling,” the gunman said.
“I’ll see you in six months. Play nice.”
The words six months left a sour taste in Arden’s mouth.
“Thank you again.”
They heard the gunman walk away.
Don’t fight him, the voice whispered in her mind. Her every instinct was to resist, but she kept still.
The door reopened and the homeowner stood in the threshold. “Welcome home.” He held a thin wooden rod. There was a revolver and small set of keys in his pocket. “Stand up straight.”
The girls did so.
“You will call me Master from now on because you belong to me. You will not speak without being spoken to. You will not ask me questions. You will do everything I say. If you refuse me or address me in the wrong fashion, I will dis
cipline you.”
As quick as lightning, he struck Red in the face with the rod. She yelped in pain. A second later, blood started flowing down her face and rolled down her neck. Panicked, she tried to cover the wound with her hand. Snap! He struck her hand and tore the flesh right off. “Did I say you could cover your face?”
Tears rolling, Red pulled her trembling, bleeding hand away. Three inches of her cheek was split open and pouring crimson across the floor.
“No…” she said through her tears.
“No, what?”
“No, Master.”
Master flashed his crooked teeth. “Quick learner.” He looked at the other girls. “Boy, do I love to discipline. What did you girls think of that lesson?”
“Very good, Master,” the three girls said.
Arden was quiet.
Master turned to Arden. “What was that?”
A tear of blood raced down the edge of the thin wooden rod. His meaty hand clenched it tightly.
Arden hesitated to open her mouth.
Snap!
A razor-sharp pain exploded up her thigh. She held her tongue. The legging split. A few droplets of blood rolled down her legging.
Master waited for her to speak.
She forced out the words. “Very good, Master.”
Master clapped his hands together in childish glee. “Loyal girls. We’ll get along just fine.” He gently tapped the rod on Arden’s nose. “Especially you.”
Arden kept her eyes straight ahead. She already felt defeated by calling him Master, but it was the only way to keep her skin from being torn from her body.
“There are a few things I need to take care of before dinner. Why don’t you three get some rest?” Master turned his eyes to the blonde. “You can come with me.”
The blonde turned to Arden like a helpless dog and started to walk toward the man.
He smiled a hungry smile.
Arden, heart pounding, stepped up. “Take me instead… Master.”
Master turned to her. “Oh, you sweet girl. You think you’ll get special treatment for being my favorite?”
Arden’s heart beat faster. “No, Master.”
“Then why?”
Arden kept silent.
“WHY?” Master shouted.
Secrets Boxset: A Riveting Kidnapping Mystery Collection Page 29
