“You sure you don’t want us to wait and walk you out?” I look up from helping Julia with her coat and scarf to the sincerity in her father’s expression. His warm smile meets his chocolate brown eyes. Their kindness reminds me of my own father growing up. One night a week, Mr. Callahan brings Julia in after hours, sits in the corner, spread out under his laptop, working away while I give his eleven-year-old daughter private ballet lessons.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. I have some things I need to do before I go,” I smile, giving him my standard weekly answer. I look down to Julia, who smiles up at me with eyes mirroring her father’s. “Get this one to bed,” I say, pulling her into a hug.

Julia is my favorite student. She reminds me of myself at her age, sharing in the same dream of attending Julliard. She dances because it’s at the core of who she is. A quiet introvert in most times, she comes to life with expression when she’s wearing a leotard and some tights.

“Okay, then. Lock the door after us.” Mr. Callahan ushers Julia toward the door. I dutifully lock the door and give a final wave through the glass as they get into his car.

I make my way through the lobby and back into the studio, turning off lights as I go. My eyes scan the empty room, a surge of emotions raking over me as I think of my childhood.

This used to be my mother’s studio. She opened it when I was a small girl and it became as familiar to me as my own childhood bedroom. I would have slept here, if my parents had let me.

Taking in the quiet, I can almost hear her voice praising me when I completed my first pirouette, see her beaming smile when I completed multiples. Up until college, I learned every move for every dance of every recital I performed in, in this very room. She had more grace and style than anyone I’ve ever met. She was destined to do great things on that stage, but I came along instead.

Pregnant at seventeen, her dreams were forever altered. She married my father, had me, then Audrey, and eventually opened this studio. I never knew she’d settled, or the life that included all of us was really her plan B. I only learned of her aspirations the day my official acceptance to Julliard came. She sat me down—never making me feel like a sacrifice—and told me her story. “The sky is the only limit for you, my sweet girl,” is what she’d said in conclusion.

I wipe at a single tear, wishing it were as easy to wipe away the pain that squeezes my heart. I sigh taking in the room, leaving that memory here before turning off the light and leaving.

The steel door slams behind me, echoing in the dark alley as I make my way toward the street. I step from between the buildings and onto the vacant sidewalk, a blast of freezing air hitting me. I wrap my coat around me tighter.

I’m usually not afraid of the dark, but unease has the little hairs on my neck standing on end tonight. Maybe it’s just the cold air, I reason with myself. The dance studio isn’t in a bad neighborhood. It’s not in a neighborhood at all. Warehouses and office buildings line the sidewalks to the mostly industrial street. Except for a few apartments that sit atop a nearby gym, it’s vacant of anyone at this time of night.

A stray dog barks from across the street, causing me to jump. My steps halt, our eyes meet and then he trots along, forgetting about me and I hug myself tighter, continuing my steps toward the safety of my car. The encounter a few nights ago with Audrey resurfaces in my mind. I called her that night and the two days since, but she didn’t answer. I know she’s screening her calls and I should learn to let it go, but I can’t stop the worry that she’s into something too deep for her to climb away from.

I click the unlock button and the blink of my orange parking lights glow against the asphalt. I drop my purse from my shoulder and reach for the door handle. Suddenly, a large body slams against me, pinning me to the car.

Before I can scream, a hand covers my mouth and snaps my head back against his shoulder. “Don’t scream.” I almost don’t hear his whispered demand over the thumping of my heart. I attempt a nod, mentally running through my options. I’ve taken a self-defense class, but he’s big, bigger than the pretend attacker was in the role-play session. Plus, he has me against the car. Again, not the same scenario we used during my class.

I take a deep breath. With my arms pinned between my body and the car, my only option is to use my keys as a weapon. I shift them in my hand, feeling for the long ignition key. “Don’t even think about it,” he sneers, sensing my movement and pushing me harder against the cold metal. My eyes scan the street. It’s clear other than a few empty cars parked along the curbs.

“Fancy finding you here…on a cold lonely street.” His rough voice softens, growing nearer to the crook of my neck. When the scruff of his jaw brushes against mine, I swallow back the vomit that’s threatening to leave my stomach. “Audrey didn’t call me.”

My eyes widen, the realization of my attacker’s identity made clear.

“You heard me tell her to call me, didn’t you? Didn’t you?” He nods my head, forcing me to answer. “I didn’t even know she had a sister. I don’t know how that detail escaped me. She used to tell me everything when I was fucking that dirty little whore.” A quiet laugh comes from him and the bile churns higher in my throat. “Why do you suppose she never told me about you, huh?” He pauses, my eyes doing another desperate sweep of the street, praying for someone to walk outside in this moment. “You want to know what I think?”

I breathe deeply.

“I think you’re the responsible one. You’re the one that would have stopped her from sinking so low. And you’re also the one that will come to her rescue. That’s why you and I are having this little chat.” He breathes the last against my neck. “Since she’s not answering my calls, I’ll have to go through you.” He pushes his body against me harder, his pelvis pinning me to the car, painfully. “I can’t say I hate the idea of going through you.” He rocks into me. “Do you feel how much I like that idea?” Through my heavy coat, I feel his erection press into my back. Tears fill my eyes with the horror of what may happen.

“Your sister owes me a lot of money. I told her to call me. I don’t like when people who owe me money don’t follow my instructions. Who in the fuck does she think she is?” Between being pinned to the car and feeling as if I’m going to pass out or vomit, I can’t answer him. Instead, I focus on my galloping heartbeat.

“Maybe you and I can work out a payment plan. I got bored with the last one. Audrey was always too fucked up to perform. She wasn’t much fun. Being high all the time just turned her into a little fuck hole.”

That does it. She’s using. Vomit bubbles up, spewing from my nose and all over the bastard’s hand. He releases his grip and I spin, trying to run. His large hand reaches out, catching me by the wrist and slinging me against the car. Pain radiates through my back and the wind is knocked out of me.

“You nasty bitch!” he yells, shaking the vomit from his hand. “I want my money and if I have to go through you, I will.” He storms across the street and, reminiscent of the other night, he climbs into the back seat of a dark sedan before it speeds off into the night.

I take a lungful of air, trying to get my breathing back to normal as I watch his taillights disappear down the empty street. I creep toward my door, shedding my coat off and climbing behind the wheel.

Taking a deep breath and willing myself to not cry, I fumble with my phone.

“This is Aud, you know what to do.” Her voicemail slices through the quiet within the car. “Audrey, I need to talk to you. I just saw your friend from the other night.” My voice cripples with fear at just the mention of him and I hang up, hoping she’ll call me. I start my car and head in her direction, knowing she won’t.

* * *

The neon pink willowy woman-shaped sign glows, illuminating the dark parking lot of my sister’s club. Audrey’s been bartending at The Big Shebang for close to a year, being an all-female strip club and me, not really the bar kind, I’ve only been here a handful of times.

I find a parking place and race toward the building, glancing over my shoulder a few times, searching for Paul in the dark edges of the lot. My nerves go down a level when I dart from the parked cars and the two large bouncers that stand under the pink canopied entrance look my way. I slow my pace, despite the bitterly cold temperature.

The big blonde guy on the left holds the door handle. “You got ID sugar?” he asks with a flirty smile. I show my ID and he inspects it with a grin. “You Audrey’s sister?” he asks, his eyes skirting up my body.

“Yeah.”

He opens the door with a wink. “Have a good time,” he says just before the music overcomes us.

My eyes scan the club, forcing myself to ignore the two strippers on the stage, front and center of the room. I push through the crowd when I see Audrey at the bar, talking over a tray of drinks with a scantily dressed waitress. When the waitress walks away, her eyes lift, immediately finding mine. A moment of sorrow passes over her eyes before she schools her features, replacing it with her usual cold mask of indifference. By that look, I know she’s heard my message and anger fuels me. I’ve been worried, maybe to the point of nagging, but fuck her if she’s going to drag me through this and act as if she’s the victim.

“We need to talk!” I yell, standing on the bar’s foot rail. She turns, ignoring me as she waits on another customer. I step down, waiting not so patiently. The guy is flirting with her. Her reaction is forced, but he’s too drunk to notice. She hands him a beer, he says something else, and then walks away. She looks back my direction, indecision in her eyes. “Now!” I step away, waiting for her to follow. She says something to the other bartender and he nods, looking at me.

“Where’s your coat, Mia?” Audrey asks as we step out the back door of the club. Her eyes drop down my body taking in my black leggings and tunic I wore to ballet class tonight.

“It’s in the car.” I don’t tell her it’s covered in vomit. “I saw Paul after I closed the studio tonight. Just like the other night, he was waiting in the shadows, but this time he was waiting for me, Audrey!” Her eyes drop to the ground. “He said some pretty fucked up things about you owing him money and that you’re not paying him back. How deep are you this time?”

I’m transported right back to when she was a teenager. Our parents took a second mortgage on their house to pay off her debt that time. Only with two mortgages on that house and one on the dance studio, we had to sell everything after their death. We’re out of options this time.

“I owe him a little over twenty thousand,” she mumbles.

“Twenty fucking thousand dollars, Audrey! How in the fuck did you get that deep with someone like him?” I turn walking in circles. “And you call me fucking naïve. You’re a goddamn idiot!”

“Fuck you Mia. You don’t understand—”

“I don’t understand? I don’t understand?” A manic laugh bubbles up. “Oh, I understand perfectly Audrey. You’ve gotten mixed up with the wrong people…again! All those times you were bitching about my nagging, it was because the truth hurt, didn’t it?”

“My life sucks!” she shouts. I stop pacing and look back to her.

“And now my life sucks. Other than addiction, you haven’t been through anything I haven’t. We both lost our parents, Audrey! I’ve been nothing but supportive of you.” I glance back to the building. “I knew working here was going to cause you problems. An addict can’t work in a fucking bar! I told you that and you didn’t believe me. You said, ‘let me do things my way.’ A lot of fucking good that did you…and now me! He’s after me! That gross mother fucker pinned me to my car, breathing all over me, threatening that he’ll go through me to get to you.”

“I’m sorry, Mia. Really I am!” she sobs and it’s the first semblance of humanity I’ve seen her show since before my parents died.

“How much of his money do you have?” I sigh, her silence telling me everything I need to know. I shiver as the wind picks up, whipping between the buildings.

“Let’s go inside, Mia. You’re shaking. We’ll figure something out. Come in and have a drink.” I don’t buy into her shit, but I allow her to lead me inside because I am shaking. Only I don’t know if it’s the cold.