I’m still determined to free them all, but now that Nero’s decided not to give Casper to Constantine, I know I need to focus on our current problems – like the women we rescued from Nero.
And Cleo. We need to get her out of the picture before she ruins Gabe’s life.
It’s hard to have Christmas without thinking of my dad in jail and my mom with Nero. And that made me remember the last Christmas we had as a family – the TV cameras rolling as Dad presented Mom and me with custom bedazzled coffins to be kept in storage for ‘the big day.’ And that made me remember that reality TV crews film everything, hours and hours of footage, and then decide later what to put on public display.
Cleo’s influencer career began after she was voted off a reality TV game show in the first episode because she was a class-A bitch to everyone on her team, although rumor has it that something went down behind the scenes. She even posted a video about it on her social media, about how the show ganged up on her, and there arethings we don’t know, and she could ruin a lot of lives but she won’t because she’s the bigger person. People came to her feed for the drama, and she grew her audience and got new sponsorships, which is exactly what she wanted. But no other footage was ever made public.
It had to exist, though. And I knew who’d have it – Nero Lucian, who has a finger in every TV production company in California. I need to figure out how to get copies of Cleo’s tapes for Claudia without tipping my hand to Nero or Livvie. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to sneak into the laboratory, because I want to check the archives before Nero gets so pissed at Claudia he fires me, but Livvie’s been glued to me every moment since I got here. It’s only days away from the big grand opening, and Claudia’s shot all their plans to hell.
“You knew about Nero bringing in those girls?” I ask Livvie.
“Of course.” She frowns. “Don’t judge me. I’m not exactly in a position to protest. Now he’s got no women for his big New Year’s bash, and who do you think bears the responsibility for fixing that mess?” She waggles a fish on a string for Casper, who bats at it with his big paws. “At this stage, it’ll be me and Casper doing a solo show.”
I think of Yara and the other women huddled into their beds at the Colosseum, and I can’t muster up a single ounce of sympathy. “Can’t he just use legitimate prostitutes? Surely there are enough women in this city who enjoy lying on their backs for rich assholes and will dance with a snake if it pays well enough?”
Livvie shakes her head. “You don’t get it. Part of what Nero’s guests pay through the nose for is the thrill of getting off on their victim’s fear. These are sick people. If they were poor they’d be in jail or a psychiatric unit. But they’re rich so they run the world. That’s what money buys you – freedom from consequences.”
Not if I have anything to say about it.
Daniel, one of Nero’s soldiers, pokes his head through into the basement. “Livvie, the boss is asking for you.”
She stands up, dusting white hairs off her shirt. “I’d better go. Are you okay down here?”
“Of course. I’ll get started on the monkey cage once this guy is done playing.”
As soon as the door snaps shut behind her, I’m on my feet. Casper swipes at my leg with his paw, excited to play a different game. The look he gives me when I shut the cage door on him makes pain flare across my chest. “I’m sorry, little dude. I have to do something important. Hopefully, it won’t take long.”
The monkeys claw at my ankles as I run past their cage. I open the laboratory door and duck inside, slamming it shut behind me. I pull down boxes, making a path to reach the crappy old computer at the back of the room.
I boot it up. The screen flickers through several different colors before finally springing to life. I check the network analyzer – a tool George lent me that I plugged into the ethernet socket a few days ago, and then covered it back up with boxes. I follow George’s instructions to find the password for the archive.
My heart races against my chest as I scan through the file directory, searching for backups for the different network shows in the database for Cleo’s show. I don’t know how long I have before Livvie comes back. I like Livvie, but she’s Nero’s daughter. I’m not ready to stake my life on her secrecy.
“Yesss.” I click on the show’s icon and find an archive of all their old footage organized in date order. I plug in the USB thumb-drive I ‘borrowed’ from George and copy over all the pre-show and first-episode footage. The screen beeps. It’s going to take seven minutes.Fuck fuck fuck.I pace across the room as the bar on the screen fills with blue.
Come on, come on, I’ve got to get back out there before Livvie—
The door flies open. Livvie peers in at me. My cheeks flare red. I can’t think of a lie that’ll sound convincing. Behind me, the computer whirs as it downloads.
“Eli?” She tilts her head. “What are you doing?”
“I’m, um—”
What does it look like? I’m stealing from a crime lord.
“I thought so.” Livvie drags one of the boxes off a stack and places it in front of the desk. “Here, put these in front of the computer. Dad’s coming any—”
“What are you two doing in here?” The door flies open. Nero looms over us. He looks as jolly as ever in his impeccable suit, with a sprig of mistletoe pinned to his lapel. His eyes sweep from his daughter to me to the whirring computer, and he cracks up laughing. He goes from jolly to unhinged in the flick of a switch.
“Oh, hey Daddy. We’re pulling some old footage for the NYE party social campaign,” Livvie says. “I was showing Eli how to use the archives.”
“I told you he’s not to be unsupervised in this room.” Nero flashes a smile. “I’m sorry, son, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but you work for my rival now and I’ve got trade secrets to protect. It’s just business, you understand.”
“I understand.” My heart hammers so loud against my ribcage, he’s got to be able to hear it. I place my hands behind my back and step closer to the computer, so my fingers brush against the thumb-drive. “And I’m sorry things haven’t been running smoothly with the party. Livvie and I have some ideas for entertainment that don’t require the girls—”
“I’m sure you do, but I’m not interested. I’ll be giving my clients what they paid for.” Nero’s jolly face collapses into a frown. It’s disarming not to be able to read him. “I came to fetch you because your Imperator is here. She wants you to sit in our meeting.”
As Nero turns to leave, I yank out the thumb-drive and shove it deep into my pocket. “Sure thing. Lead the way.”
