As the cook returned to pour us both fresh coffee, we ceased discussing Jade. Since we had nothing else to talk about, I said nothing, and Arnaud continued to harden his arteries with his cholesterol diet.Maybe he’ll have a stroke and end all my problems without me lifting a finger.
I stood up. “I’ll head over to the warehouse, check on things. Jade needs food.”
“All right. Remember, I’m going to New York the day after tomorrow.”
“Oh? I didn’t know that.”
He waved his fork. “I thought I told you. So, you’re in charge of our guest until I get back.”
“I won’t let you down.”
I left his mansion and got into my truck, thinking of the gift I’d just been handed. With Arnaud out of town, not just out of the house, I could search to my heart’s content. On my way to the warehouse, I’d stop by a locksmith known for charging extra for making keys from impressions. Most honest locksmiths would refuse, knowing such impressions were likely needed for illegal entries.
With my freshly made keys in my pocket, a bag of burgers and fries for Jade, I drove on toward the run-down neighborhood filled with abandoned buildings, weedy lots containing trash and broken glass, graffiti scrawled generously across the bricks and overpasses.
The guards, a pair of shifters I knew only by sight, and who knew me, offered me courteous nods as I entered. They sat in chairs at a warped table, wearing jackets against the chill that came in through the busted glass. From what I saw, they played poker and ate Chinese take-out while making sure Jade didn’t fly out.
If she did, I wondered how they’d stop her. I suspected Jade had speed and a very tough fighting ability on her side. They might wish Arnaud had assigned them different duties.
I made my way down the long set of stairs, not just to the basement, but past it to the subbasement. No outside light penetrated the place where Arnaud built his cell to hold a dragon. Nor could anyone hear her if she roared or screamed. The place felt dank, cold, and rats made their homes here, coming and going through the cracks in the foundation.
Jade sat on her cot, watching me pace toward her. Perhaps she’d been named for her eyes, for they stunned me yet again with their vivid green color. Her long reddish gold hair hung in tangles around her shoulders, down over her breasts. Jade’s still face with those high, curving cheekbones, offered the illusion she was all beauty and no brains.
“Hi.”
Jade said nothing. I turned a wooden chair around and sat, my arms folded over the back. We looked at one another for a long time, neither of us moving nor speaking. I wished I dared tell her of my plans to see my father jailed. Of how I hoped she’d escape before Arnaud came to flay her skin from her body while taping her screams.
“Your father has four more days to comply,” I commented.
Jade shrugged. “You don’t listen. He won’t. Just kill me and have done with it.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not? I’m dead anyway.”
“You might be wrong.” I didn’t want to tell her what’ll happen if her old mandoesn’tcome through. “Your pop might consider the trade worth it.”
“GQ, you’re full of shit,” Jade snapped. “Would Arnaud give up his wealth to saveyourlife?”
I looked away. By her sardonic chuckle, she certainly read my body language, my face.
“I didn’t think so,” she went on, her voice bitter. “But you believe mine would. So, I’m stuck because of your pop’s greed. And your stupidity.”
Jade was right. If her old man planned to pay mine, we’d have heard something by now. And I gullibly grabbed her off the street, thinking no one would get hurt.
I had to help her get out of there, help her to run far away from Arnaud. Andwithoutgetting caught helping her.I want to survive this bullshit situation. If Arnaud finds out I let her escape, I’m one dead dragon. He has too many thugs on his payroll willing to commit murder.
“Look,” I said, lame, unable to meet her glare, “I’ll work something out. I’ll get you out of here. But you have to promise to get out of this city, fly far away. Somewhere he can’t find you. Because he’ll look. And he’ll never stop until he has you again.”
“You expect me to believe that?” she snapped. “You’ll help me get out of here? Why?”
I hesitated. “Arnaud – he plans to make you scream, record it. Send the tape to your father. An incentive to, you know, pay up.”
“Are youkiddingme?”
Gaining a bit of courage, I finally glanced at her shock, her renewed terror. The blood had drained from her skin, leaving it deathly pale. She’d clasped her hands together until her knuckles turned a whiter shade than her face.
“I’m not,” I replied. “I honestly thought,believed, your father would pay up. That I’d not be forced to join in – in tormenting you. That Arnaud would let you go.”
