Chapter Twenty-Seven
Safely on the couch of her own home with the door dead bolted, Scarlet tried to wrap her head around the last couple of hours. Her apprehension was building, and her mind was electrified with thoughts of foreboding uncertainty. The pure cruelty of what happened to Lily had Scarlet on edge. What else was in store?
She mentally ran over the events that led up to finding Lily in the locker room. Nothing made sense to her. What did Balthazar Maxim want? Who was helping him? Who attacked her? Who attacked Nora? Who took Victoria and ruined Lily? Why? A big cloud hung over her head, and she couldn’t see through it. The human trafficking theory only made so much sense. Most of the attacks appeared personal, and that scared her the most.
Scarlet wanted Alex there. She knew she was too used to his presence being a protective blanket. She couldn’t count on him to be there at all times. She could handle herself. After all, she escaped her own kidnappers. While locked doors didn’t seem like enough, her will to survive wouldn’t allow her to dwell in fear.
There was a monster lurking, and it could be right outside her door.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small cell phone that he had given her. A light on the side faded in and out, constantly sending out a location signal. Scarlet wanted to text him, despite the fact that he’d just left.
She let out a long sigh and put the phone back into the pocket of her cargo pants. Her fingers traveled to her knees where she tapped on them nervously. There were zero chances of sleep tonight. She didn’t want to dream about Lily’s beaten body, and every sound the house made sounded like an invasion.
Upstairs, Nora argued with someone on the phone. Her voice was muffled, so Scarlet couldn’t quite make it out. There was a series of thumps, and a moment later, Nora stormed down the stairs and let out an angry huff.
“Is it some unspoken rule that parents just know how to piss you off with a few sentences?” Nora asked.
“You okay?” Scarlet asked.
“Yeah,” Nora said, keeping her gaze out the window. “My dad is just being … my dad. I’ll never be good enough, I always mess up… I can’t win.” She let out a nervous laugh. “He’s kind of a dick.”
Scarlet tilted her head. “I didn’t realize he was that tough on you.”
Nora’s eyes shifted to Scarlet and her jaw clenched. “Would you like some wine? I need some wine.”
“Sure.” Scarlet nodded. “I’ll drink, you vent.”
Nora retreated to the kitchen while Scarlet got up to check the window locks for the fifth time. She opened the curtain to look at the squad car parked across the street. Lightning flashed in the distance, making her jump back. A few seconds later, thunder rumbled in the distance.
The wind began to pick up, and the house creaked in protest. Scarlet looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.
“Oh good.” Nora returned to the room, holding two wine glasses. “Just what my nerves need. A storm.”
When it rains, it pours, Scarlet thought. “I feel better knowing the police are outside.” She walked back to the couch and sank down into the cushions.
Nora handed her a glass and sat across from her in an oversized chair. “Police were all over North Pointe, and someone still dumped Lily right under our noses.” Her tone was critical. “Those human traffickers must have some high standards if they rejected her. Hopefully they keep Vicki.”
Scarlet tensed her shoulders, but remained silent. She took a deep breath and sipped her wine.
“Sorry, that was mean,” Nora said. “I just feel so pent-up. Maybe I should take some hip-hop classes during this hiatus.”
Scarlet pushed out a short laugh. “Maybe we both need that.”
Nora nodded. “I feel like I need to find some sort of Zen before I explode.”
Scarlet bit her lip. Nora was edgy, and it did little to calm her own nerves. She tried to brush it off. “I feel like these past ten days have been ten years.” She took another drink of wine.
Nora’s lips twisted up into a smirk. “Well, at least it hasn’t been all bad. You have to admit, if you hadn’t been terrorized, you wouldn’t have met Alex.”
Scarlet let her shoulders relax. “True.”
Nora took a long drink of wine, almost emptying the glass of the pale liquid. “Life is weird. One moment, you’re running for your life, and the next, you’ve met the man of your dreams … and he’s trying to solve all your problems.”
Scarlet frowned. “I think Alex is trying to solve Edward’s problems.”
“Eh.” Nora shrugged. “Whatever.”
An uneasy feeling inched up Scarlet’s spine. Something was bothering her, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
“Edward cares too much about money,” Nora said. “He likes to act like he cares about his dancers, but if that were true, he wouldn’t have waited as long as he did to involve the police. He would have kept them out of it completely if that detective hadn’t shown up.”
“You sound like you want the company to fail.” Scarlet frowned at her friend.
Nora rolled her eyes. “I don’t, but there’s a serious lack of quality assurance. I mean, the bodyguard thing was okay, but there are a few weaknesses in that plan, and they all involve your vagina.”
Scarlet blinked. “What is with you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nora shrugged. “I’m just telling it like it is.”
Another creak sounded upstairs, making both girls look to the hallway. “House is just settling,” Nora said. “Stop being so jumpy.”
“I can’t help it,” Scarlet said, drinking more wine. “Maybe I should call the officers in to look around.”
“Maybe.” Nora chuckled. “We’re both useless.”
“Seems harsh.” Scarlet tucked her legs under her. “We’re being targeted by some crazy asshole who beat Lily and ruined her dancing career.”
Nora started tracing her finger along the rim of the glass. “I guess that’s life; tragic, cruel, and unfair.”
The uneasy feeling gnawed at Scarlet. Another flash of lightening invaded the room from the higher windows in the living room. As the thunder got closer, Scarlet’s mental light bulb switched on.
“Nora.” She blinked. “How do you know that Lil and Vicki were captured by human traffickers?”
Nora shifted her eyes over to Scarlet as she continued to trace her finger around the rim of her wine glass. “You mentioned it,” she said. “Or maybe Edward did.”
“No,” Scarlet insisted. “Edward was pretty adamant you didn’t know, since your dad—”
“Right.” Nora leaned forward and put her glass on the coffee table between them. “Letting my father know would jeopardize funding for the company.” She sat back and placed her arms on the armrests, a strange smile forming on her face.
Scarlet’s already wired mind started to spark wildly.
“But what Edward doesn’t know,” Nora said, “is that money comes from selling women to the highest bidder. Catch-22, I guess.”
A chill enveloped Scarlet’s body and she took in a sharp breath.
People close to you mean you harm, Scarlet repeated, her thoughts shooting to Alex. He was long gone, chasing an idea. The idea had been right in front of his face the entire time.
A sudden dizziness hit Scarlet, and she blinked to clear her head. “You…”
Nora tilted her head. “Me?”
“You’re the insider,” Scarlet breathed. “You’re the one behind all of this… How…?”
“Jeez, Scar.” Nora smirked. “You make me sound like some sort of criminal mastermind! That’s just silly. I’m not my father … yet.”
The dizziness got worse, and Scarlet’s vision blurred. No, she thought. This isn’t happening.
“So my father wanted a few ballerinas,” Nora said. “There’s a high demand for them. He has to bend to the market, no matter what the risk.”
Scarlet tried to get up, but it resulted in her stumbling forward and tripping over the coffee table. She fell to the ground with a weak grunt, landing on her arm.
“The wine…” she managed.
Nora ignored her. “And we tried to keep it low key, but when Daddy takes a liking to a woman, there isn’t much that stops him from getting her.”
Scarlet winced away the pain in her arm. She struggled to get her bearings, but the heaviness was blanketing her fast. “Why? Why would you…”
Nora sighed. “It’s really a joint business deal. I pick some women for Maxim to sell, we cause a little bit of a media frenzy, North Pointe closes, and I become prima over at Frisco Met when the dust settles. I guess I didn’t take into account the knight in shining armor shit—but he’ll be easy enough to work around.”
Scarlet managed to turn herself over and pull her weight across the floor to get away from Nora. Her legs barely worked and the room faded in and out of a full spin.
Keep it together, she willed herself. Stay awake. Call for help.
“Help!” Scarlet called out, her voice drowned out by advancing thunder.
Scarlet used all her strength to reach for her pants pocket where she kept the burner phone. The loose-fitting pants made it too difficult to locate as she lost more control of her hands.
“And it’s not like I haven’t suffered.” Nora brought her hand up to her head. “That bump on the head I got was because I couldn’t deliver you on time. Daddy takes real good care of me … unless I screw up.”
The methodic “thump” of heavy boots drew Scarlet’s attention to the stairs. A figure descended in front of her as she tried to pull herself up. Her eyes went wide as the man in the black hoodie stepped off the bottom stair and stopped in front of her.
She couldn’t see his face, but she knew it was the same man who’d been stalking her. He reached a hand up and pulled back the hood.
Scarlet’s breath caught in her throat, and she opened and closed her mouth a few times, only able to emit a choked cry of surprise.
Nora rose from her chair and stepped over to the man. They both looked down at Scarlet and smiled.
“You,” she finally managed. It was Andrej Brevic’s driver, Yuri.
“Surprise!” Nora giggled.
The man tipped an imaginary hat to Scarlet, smiling the warm smile that Scarlet had always written off as harmless.
“You know Yuri,” she said, gesturing to him, “He’s a good sport, but a little bit pissy since we had to sell his brother out to take the fall for your kidnapping. We had to throw people into a false sense of security.”
Scarlet’s head spun faster, and she wasn’t sure if it was the drugs or the shock. Andrej Brevic was the man behind everything.
“Sorry, Scar.” Nora shrugged carelessly. “I really did enjoy your friendship, but I guess I just want what’s owed to me a little more. It’s nothing personal.”
Nora had betrayed her. Confusion consumed her. She couldn’t think about why; she had to get help.
Nora stretched and placed her hands on her hips, chuckling. “I mean, I suppose it’s a little personal.” She stepped over Scarlet, turned her over on her back, and crouched down. Nora looked at her a moment before bringing her face closer. “After all, why should you just be handed prima when Isobelle quit? Worst call ever. It really threw everything off.”
Scarlet’s thoughts were fading. Nora had gotten the best of her. She was crazy, dangerous, and had completely fooled her. Scarlet’s eyelids drooped, and her arms became dead weight as her sides.
“But,” Nora went on. “We are friends. At first, I tried to reason with my father. There are so many other pretty girls in the corps. I wanted to save you from the things he does to women. It’s really not the most alluring of businesses.” She stood up, casting an irritated glance at the man at her side. He smiled down at Scarlet, exposing a row of silver teeth.
“But after the trouble you’ve put us through, I couldn’t care less. We have the women we need, the company’s name is tarnished, and in the end, I’m getting what I want. We all have dreams here. I just go about getting mine a little unconventionally.”
Tears formed in the corner of Scarlet’s eyes as the world got hazier.
“Don’t worry, Scar,” Nora said. “You’ll get used to everything. My father will take care of you. He always takes care of his favorites.”
Yuri leaned down and picked Scarlet up off the floor. As he threw her over his shoulder, her struggle to stay awake came to an end, and she slipped away into the darkness.