“Bullshit. At the most, you’re fifteen.” Taryn studied Giselle while she poured two cups of coffee. Her dark hair was caught up in two simple braids on either side of her face, adding to her childlike look. Taryn placed a mug in front of Giselle. She wrapped her hand around the other and took the seat across from Giselle.
“Almost seventeen,” Giselle mumbled. She took a sip of the coffee and spit it back into her cup. “Oh my god, can’t I get some sugar or something?”
Taryn slid the container of sugar cubes across the table to Giselle.
One, two, three, four went into her cup before she tasted it again. Then she dropped in another two. Taryn’s teeth ached just watching her.
“How are you doing?” She watched the girl closely.
“Um, okay?” Giselle took a gulp of her coffee-flavored sugar.
“Good.” Taryn wasn’t sure how to have this conversation. Never in all the years she’d been doing this had someone come to Razor Jack’s looking for a missing girl. That was how careful she was.
The fact that Giselle’s pimp had started here...
Her stomach cramped and Taryn set the coffee cup down. The bitter brew probably wasn’t the best idea right now.
“What do you want?” Giselle set the cup down on the table with a thunk.
“I can’t just check in?” Taryn deliberately pushed her buttons.
“Sure, you can,” she said sarcastically, “but you aren’t. You want something.”
Taryn hated that she was already so jaded, but that’s what the streets did. Chewed girls up and spit them out. “You’re right. I was trying to make you feel better first.”
A snort from across the table. Taryn smiled. “You want it straight?”
Giselle nodded.
“Okay.” Taryn sucked in a deep breath. She was about to seriously ruin this girl’s day. “Your pimp came into the bar tonight looking for you. I don’t know how he found you.”
Giselle paled. The blood drained from her face so quickly that Taryn worried she’d pass out.
“Did you tell him? Are you handing me back to him?” She lurched back from the table and scrambled to her feet. Coffee sloshed out of her mug.
Before she could race out of the room, Taryn grabbed her arm. Giselle struggled, but she couldn’t break Taryn’s grip. Her fear was almost tangible, and Taryn shivered. She remembered that feeling.
“It’s okay. You’re safe.” Taryn spoke quietly, as if soothing a skittish animal. “Sit down. Please.”
Giselle resisted, her body trembling. She strained toward the door.
Taryn gently steered her back to her chair. When Giselle finally sat, Taryn hooked her foot around the bottom rung and dragged the chair closer to the table, minimizing her ability to escape.
“I swear I didn’t tell him where you were. I never would.” Taryn leaned close. Made sure that the other woman looked at her. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Do you have any idea why he would come in here asking for you? Have you been here before?”
“I don’t even know where we are,” Giselle said sullenly.
Taryn pursed her lips. That was probably true. She’d had the girl hide when they’d left the sleazy hotel and entered through the back of the bar. She knew Taryn was the Jack, but she obviously hadn’t realized what that meant.
“You’re at Razor Jack’s,” Taryn said.
“The bar?”
Taryn nodded. “The rooms are in the back.”
“That’s why you didn’t want me wandering around.”
That sounded like an accusation. Or maybe Taryn was just tired. “Yes and no. I wanted you to use this time to rest. Let your body heal. Let your mind accept that you’re safe.”
