Page 30 of Saved by Him

Fourteen

“I don’t knowwhere you thought you were going, but you should have known that you wouldn’t get far.” Serge paced in front of me, a dangerous smile on his face.

The temperature in the room dropped, and my teeth chattered hard enough to make my jaw hurt. Goosebumps exploded across my skin, and I shivered, unable to stop. I couldn’t tell if it was more from the chill in the air or the anticipation of pain to come.

“That’s my Rona. Always trying to run away.”

My father lurked in the corner, flipping a knife back and forth between his fingers. Blood dripped from the blade and ran across the floor toward me. I tried to move away, but my limbs were frozen in place. I couldn’t leave, couldn’t fight. All I could do was wait.

“I tried being nice,” Serge continued. “Those were high-quality drugs. Plenty of people would’ve paid top dollar for a taste of what I gave you for free.”

“Nice doesn’t work with her,” my father said with a rusty laugh. “You gotta practically kill the bitch to get her to behave.”

“Fuck you.” I glared at him. If all I had was words and expressions, I intended to use them.

“Come on, little girl, you know that’s not how I do things,” my father said. “Serge, however, might want to get a little taste before he sells you off. I told him you weren’t a virgin, so it’s not like he has to worry about spoiling the merchandise.”

Serge grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. I liked it when Jalen did it, but this wasn’t even close to the same. His breath was hot against my cheek as he spoke.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said. “When I’m done with you, you won’t be able to move without remembering me. I’ll ruin you.”

The last statement echoed in my head as I jolted awake. It was a nightmare, not a memory, but that didn’t mean my pulse wasn’t racing. I rolled over, but I already knew that Jalen wasn’t there. There was something about him that made me hyper-aware of his presence, whether he was there or not.

I put my hand on his pillow anyway. It was cool, telling me he’d left a while back. Since we were at his place, I knew he wasn’t running away because of some weird freak-out. I assumed it was work, but I trusted him, wherever he was.

He hadn’t left me a note, but the robe and fresh towels in the bathroom told me he’d been thinking of me, and that was enough to make me smile. By the time I emerged from the shower, I’d shaken off the nightmare and was ready to get back to my normal life.

For me, normal life meant heading back to my PI office and waiting for people to come in and hire me to follow their cheating spouses. I called a car to pick me up, but I wasn’t stupid. I stayed inside this time, and when the car finally pulled into the driveway, I made sure the description matched what was on my phone. Then I took a picture of the car and the license plate, sent them to Jenna, Jalen, and Clay.

If I disappeared again, I’d make sure they had a trail to follow.

My driver was nice, and we made small talk as he took me to the office. Someone had already cleaned the sidewalk both in front of Burkart Investigations and my own building. The steps were cleared too. As I walked up to them, I checked my voicemail and listened to a call from Jenna. It looked like once I changed into something more professional, I’d be heading out to the Archer house.

Jenna was working with the FBI to find Serge and the other trafficked people, and that case took priority over everything else. It wasn’tquitemy normal, but it was close enough.

* * *

“I read over your statement,”Agent Matthews said. “Have you remembered anything else that might help us find these guys?”

I almost told him that if his partner had listened to Jenna and Jalen, the FBI wouldn’t have needed to find the traffickers in the first place, but I liked Raymond Matthews, as much as I knew him anyway. It wasn’t his fault that Clay had blown off Jenna and Jalen. Based on the annoyed expression on the agent’s face every time he looked at Clay, I had a feeling Clay had already been hearing it from him anyway.

“Unfortunately, nothing new,” I said. “But if I think of anything, I’ll let you know. Maybe something Rona and I find will jar a memory loose.”

“Are you sure you should be working this case?” he asked. “In the FBI, we usually discourage working on cases we have a personal stake in.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You do realize that both Clay and Jenna are my friends, which means they have a personal stake in this too?”

I caught Jenna’s smirk out of the corner of my eye, but Clay didn’t look amused. In fact, he’d barely made an expression since I’d gotten there. And he wouldn’t look at me either. Everywhere but at me.

“You can call either me or Clay if you find something,” Agent Matthews said to Jenna. “Make sure you’re being safe. That comes first. I don’t want to get in trouble for my CIs being in danger.”

He sounded gruff, but I knew he was only looking out for us. Jenna had told me how hard he’d taken it when he’d found out I was missing. Not as hard as he would’ve if it’d been her, but he’d still felt like it was his fault somehow. I didn’t tell him that I’d been walking away by myself in the snow because my boyfriend had just found out that his wife was pregnant with his child. The story didn’t get any less awkward with repetition.

“I’m going to stay for a little bit,” Clay said. “Just in case they have any questions about what they’re supposed to be doing.”

The look Agent Matthews gave him said he didn’t believe it any more than I did, but he nodded and left. Clay remained awkwardly leaning against the counter, his gaze landing everywhere but on me.

“I’ll spend the day coming up with the avenues we want to track,” Jenna said, drawing my attention back to her. “Once I know what I need you to track down, I’ll send you an email with a list of everything I want you to do. Don’t push yourself, and don’t put yourself in any danger.” Her expression was serious. “I’m not kidding, Rona. If I think you’re doing something stupid, I won’t let you help me anymore.”

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