No.I will myself to calm down. I’m right there, hanging on the very edge of losing control. I want to cry, scream, yell, but I know none of those things will happen. Pushing through the back doors of the apartment complex, I run down the street, my backpack still resting heavily against my back.
I sprint down the street and hide behind a group of trees before I decide to stop and catch my breath. My little legs do nothing to help me when it comes to running. I pull out my cell phone and enter the address into the map.
A little icon pops up on the screen, confirming it works. I sag against the tree, waiting for it to load.
Would they track my phone? Who are they to my brother? Dozens of questions rattle off inside my head. I didn’t even say goodbye to him. My gaze drops down to my phone. The map finally loaded.
Fear pumps through my veins. Hopefully, whoever I’m going to see will know more than I do. Otherwise, I’m screwed.
The idea of being caught by those sinister men makes me move faster. My map pinpoints the location to somewhere called Night Shift.
After walking for what seems like forever, I arrive at the building, my eyes gliding over it. I clench my jaw in anger.
It’s a strip club.
There’s a sign plastered to the front window.
NOW HIRING: BEST STRIPPERS IN THE AREA.
My mouth goes dry. Why did my brother send me to a strip club? This has be some kind of sick joke…a chance for him to get back at me after death? Shivering, I grow afraid of the idea of going inside. Who am I asking for, and what if they tell me to leave? I wrap my arms around myself as a cold breeze blows through me.
Go inside, the same voice from earlier demands. I know I’m slightly unhinged, even more so because I’m hearing things inside my head, but it’s my body’s warning—my body’s way of making me do something I don’t want to because I’m too scared.
Dragging my feet across the concrete, I grip the metal door, the cold of it making all the warmth inside me dissipate.
I open the first door, and then a second, my feet moving on their own. I’m shaking like a damn leaf in the wind. I want to rewind time and go back to this morning when my brother was alive and joking with me.
When my feet stop moving, I realize I am at the bar. The inside isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There is a huge stage with a large seating area centered around it on the far side of the room, and a long hallway off to the left.
“If you’re looking for the boss, he’s in his office.”
I lick my lips nervously, swallowing some of the fear down.
“Which way?” I barely get the words out. The women in front of me eyes me curiously, her hazel eyes piercing mine. She looks to be ten years older than me, her face all dolled up with makeup. Her curvy body with hardly any clothing on it. Her breasts all but falling out of her top, and the shirt—if you could even call it one—only covers half her stomach.
If she wore a bathing suit, it would have covered more skin.
“Down the hall that way.” She hooks a thumb in the direction of the hallway off to the left. “Follow it until the very end and turn left. You’ll see a big man standing outside his office, that’s how you’ll know you made it.” The mystery woman smiles warmly.
My legs quiver as I head off, fear of the unknown slithering up my spine. I don’t know what I’m walking into. From the looks of the place, women are nothing more than objects, and I don’t want to be an object, not for anyone. I don’t even want to be looked at, let alone touched.
Again,I question why my brother sent me here.
Walking down the dimly lit hall, I pass numerous wooden doors. A couple moans and screams have me scurrying faster, my feet slipping all over the floor.When I make it to the end of the hall, I turn left and stop. There’s a door directly in front of me, but no man standing outside it.
Am I in the right spot?
I trace the engraved letters on the door.
DAMON ROSSI.
I blink slowly. Below his name is one single word:
BOSS.
My stomach churns, and I press my hand against the door more firmly to hold myself up. I’m going to pass out. I know it. Today has pushed me beyond my limits. I’m scared out of my mind and have nowhere else to go. I guess I could go back home and be killed—or worse, caught by those bastards. Or…I could get my shit together, walk inside the office, and find out who Damon Rossi is to my brother. Taking a calming breath, I grab the brass knob and turn it slowly, then hold my breath as I push the door open. A low creaking sound emits from the damn thing. I exhale a moment later and poke my head inside.
I can’t help but feel like a rabbit caught in a snare. Like something bad is about to happen.
