Luca covered his eyes with his hand. “I did. I promised him. While I was pretending to… to hurt him I just kept whispering in his ear. I told him about this beach. How you and me used to play out here every day and how Mom used to collect shells and how we’d see dolphins while we were swimming and that one came up to you the one time and you touched it. I promised I’d show it to him someday. When I was done, I told him he needed to sit on the floor and cry so it looked like I’d really done that to him. He said he would and then he made me promise I wouldn’t forget about him.”
I began rubbing Luca’s arms because he was shaking, though I knew it had nothing to do with the slight breeze.
“What happened to him, Luca?”
“I left him there, Vaughn. There weren’t any other kids there – it had all been part of the test. I was told to go to a different address to look at the merchandise they had for purchase that met my needs. That address led to another and another. But none of the places had Gio so I had to keep pretending they didn’t have what I wanted so they’d show me more boys. Then I got a lead on a boy that sounded exactly like Gio and I just couldn’t risk losing it… it took me three days to get back to that house but it was empty. The boy was gone… the whole place was abandoned, like none of them had ever been there. All the other places were empty too.”
“You couldn’t have known they’d be gone,” I said, but Luca shook his head.
“You and I both know that’s how they operate… they never stay in the same place for long. I knew there was a good chance they’d move that boy that very day. But I thought I’d have at least twenty-four hours.” Luca shook his head and wiped at the tears he hadn’t managed to hold back.
“But you couldn’t have known that back then. You had to make it about your son, Luca. And I know if you could have, you wouldhave done all you could have to get that boy out. But you didn’t have the resources back then.”
I realized then that that boy was probably the reason Luca had set up such a vast network of resources to not only get kids out, but to get them back to their families whenever possible.
“He was somebody’s son, Vaughn. And I promised him I wouldn’t forget him. But I left him there.”
Luca tugged free of my hold and turned away. I was about to reach for him again when I heard my name being called.
I turned to see King flagging me down from the back of the house. Fear skirted through me as he began trotting toward us.
Aleks.
I hurried past Luca. King met us right where the back deck hit the sand.
“What? What is it?” I asked, hoping like hell it wasn’t about Aleks, but I knew it was.
“Hurry up,” was all King said as he grabbed my arm. “He needs you.”
I threw King off and sprinted toward the house. “Luca’s office!” King shouted.
It took me less than a minute to reach that part of the house. I could hear Con’s voice coming from inside the room, but it wasn’t until I stepped inside it that I heard what he was saying.
“Hang on, Aleks, Vaughn is coming.”
I could hear Aleks’s sobs before my eyes searched him out. He was sitting in the corner on the floor, his hands wrapped around the back of his neck as he hung onto his head and rocked back and forth.
“Aleks,” I called as I rushed to him and knelt in front of him.
Aleks shook his head violently. “No, no, no…”
He kept repeating the word over and over. I eased his chin up because I needed to see his eyes.
To know if he was still there or if he’d been swallowed by a blackout.
“I can’t, James. Please don’t make me!”
I wrapped my arms around him. “I won’t, Aleks. You’re safe, baby.”
He sobbed against me and put his arms around my neck.
“I’m sorry, Vaughn,” Con sputtered behind me. I could hear the distress in his voice.
I still had no clue what was going on, but I didn’t care. I pulled Aleks forward so he was practically straddling my lap. It allowed him to curl into me as far as he could. It was like he was trying to burrow under my skin.
“It’s okay, Aleks, everything’s okay,” I repeated over and over until Aleks’s sobs slowed, then finally stopped. My neck and my shirt were soaking wet, but I didn’t give a shit. Aleks’s breaths were harsh and choppy, but the more I rubbed his back and just held onto him, the quieter he fell. We’d been left alone in the room at some point.
“I’m sorry,” Aleks murmured against my neck after about twenty minutes. I could hear the exhaustion in his voice.
