“They’ve all been on the case since it began?”
“They have, yes.”
Interesting. All five of the supporting agents remained, but Howard had resigned. I was sure the other agents were aware of the activity that went on at these parties. I didn’t think Howard had a weak stomach, but I didn’t know exactly what he had seen.
“You’ll be going undercover and will attend some of these gatherings as an individual who will pay for that type of entertainment.”
“What exactly is being asked of me?”
“You’re not there to buy. You’re there to fit in, and if you can get any of the ‘entertainment’ alone, you are to find out if they’re there against their will. Howard was never able to get anyone to admit it. Despite everything under the goddamn sun pointing to what was really going on there, not a one would admit they were being held against their will.”
“By fitting in, do you mean—”
Charles studied me for a long moment before he spoke again.
“Do what you need to do to fit in and get close enough to find out if one of them will admit to being there against their will.”
“Would one of the supporting agents be better suited to move into the undercover role?” I casually asked.
“No. Absolutely not. You will do fine. I have every bit of confidence in you.” Charles held out the file folder to me.
“Thank you, sir,” I said and took hold of the file folder.
“The rest of your team is ready to get acquainted with you and will fill you in on some of the key players.” Charles waved his hand in the air a few times. “Or at least who we think a few of the key players are. A fella who goes by Sebastian appears to be in charge. You’ll see a whole section in the file about him.” Charles stood, and I followed suit. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to your team.”
2
Salem
Sixteen years old
Two years ago
After one lasthug and a wave goodbye, I slowly shut our front door to my best friend, Selena. With my hand still on the door handle, I took a deep breath before turning around and facing our empty home. I looked around at the few remaining boxes sitting on the ceramic tiled floor where furniture had once been.
We were moving … again.
My mom and I had been in this house almost two years, which was a long time considering my mom’s track record. Even though we’d moved around a lot, I had been able to remain in the same school district and with my best friend. I wasn’t like a lot of other girls, but Selena and I got along great. We always had. But this time, I was moving away from her; to the snobby area, right in the middle of the school year.
Unable to breathe through my nose, I went to the living room and sat on the hard floor. I mindlessly scrolled around on Instagram, randomly clicking the heart. I could feel how heavy my eyes were from crying while Selena was here saying goodbye.
I looked up from my cell phone when I heard an obnoxious sounding car pull up in front of the house. It was Thomas’s black Escalade. I rolled my eyes at it and couldn’t believe my mom had the nerve to drive his car down here to pick me up. No one on our street had a car like that. Whenever Thomas came down here, the older high school boys who always hung out at the house on the corner would walk over and ogle it.
Instant annoyance bubbled to the brim when I saw my mom get out of the passenger seat. She broughthimwith her? My mom stood on the sidewalk in her new fancy clothes, clutching her oversized handbag. As she waved to a neighbor, Thomas got out of the driver’s seat. He always had to make an entrance.
“Yes, Thomas. The poor folks in my neighborhood aresoimpressed with your bass-thumping Escalade. It’s nice to see you wore your casual dress pants and that blue blazer that looks different colors depending upon the lighting,” I mumbled under my breath. “Oh yes, and the thick gold rope necklace peeking out of the white shirt you have strategically unbuttoned one, or possibly two, buttons too many.” I coughed and shook my head as I stood.
Selena had thought that Thomas was one of those guys who would always look good. She and I kind of had a thing for hot older men; however, some of the time, our ideas of hot older men differed. Thomas was the perfect example. I would admit that he was a handsome older man. But the fact that he was dating my mom was enough of a stopping point for me. Selena had teased me about that being more of a reason to find him extra attractive. He was the unavailable, hot older man. She would text all the time, asking if Thomas was over and if I had checked out his bulge. We’d laughed and giggled about it, and I’d teased her back by sending her a pic of his bulge that I’d captured from across the room.
I took another deep breath to make sure I had pulled myself together. Mom had gone up to Beverly Hills this morning with a few of our last boxes. The plan was that she was going to come back around lunchtime, and we were going to go to lunch at my favorite restaurant with the taco bar. Taco, Taco was a local place, and it was going to be the last thing we did together before leaving Chula Vista and officially moving to Beverly Hills.
But now he was here too.
I opened the door as they approached, and my mom smiled widely, revealing her weird teeth. Soon after she’d started dating Thomas, she ended up having her teeth pulled and dental implants put in, among many other things I thought were weird.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“Hey, Salem,” Thomas said and flashed his million-dollar smile. I didn’t doubt that his smile could have very well cost a million dollars. Thomas was some big wig record executive and had an obscene amount of money.
