Page 84 of Belonging to Them
Gianna plucks nervously at her wet leggings.
“That’s not pee, is it?”I say quietly.It hurts to move my mouth because of my split lip.My eye throbs.
She shakes her head, looking miserable and scared.“I think my water broke.”
“Excuse me,” I say, “this woman needs a hospital.She’s going into labor.”
“Too damn bad,” Keith says from the passenger seat up front.
“Not taking her to a hospital could kill her or her baby,” I say.“It puts them both at risk.Please, I’m not even asking to get out—take me wherever.But let her go to a hospital.Please.”
As if on cue, Gianna moans and curls into herself.
“Nice show,” Keith says.“But it still ain’t happening.”
“It’s okay, Gianna,” I whisper.“Just breathe.Keep breathing, you can get through this.”
Fuck Keith, and fuck these other guys.The two in the back with us look a little less certain about this state of affairs.I’m pretty sure neither of them wants to deliver a baby.Hell,Idon’t want to deliver a baby.I don’t know the first thing about it.
The SUV makes its way out of Gianna’s neighborhood, Old Thirty-Three, and into the Bellefleur District.But not the busy part of the Bellefleur, like where we’d find Bartleby’s and Kitty Cat Karaoke.Nope, we’re going straight past that and out to the old warehouses and factories.Many of these places look like they’ve been abandoned for years.We pull up to a metal fence with a rusted gate.Keith hops out of the SUV and unlocks the gate.We drive through and pause for Keith to get back in the car.
The lot is surrounded on three sides by three large, metal-sided buildings.Warehouses or factories, I can’t tell, although from the large, irregular chimney-looking things on the sides of the buildings, I’m guessing factories of some kind.
I watch carefully, trying to see if there are guards, or what.
Because wherever these assholes are taking us?I am hoping we can get back out again.
I don’t see guards, but I do see a few dark boxes on the buildings’ eaves that could be video surveillance.Whether it’s working or not, there’s no way to know.
The driver brings us right up to the middle building.A garage-style door rolls open, revealing a large open space inside.It’s lit with only a couple of lightbulbs dangling from the high ceiling.The driver pulls inside and shuts off the car.When the headlights go off, we’re left with only those two small bulbs to light the space.It isn’t enough, and I struggle to make out the shapes and everything else in the large room.
“This way,” one of the guys says, grabbing my shoulder while the other guy not-so-gently helps Gianna from the car on the other side.
I go with him, because at this point, I’m not leaving Gianna behind.I shouldn’t have resisted earlier, either.I need to think of both her and the baby, not just myself.
Gianna’s in front of us, her gait unsteady and slow despite her captor trying to hurry her along.They lead us to a metal door, which is locked with a padlock on the outside.After opening the lock and door, they shove us inside and close the door behind us.I hear the click of the padlock closing once again.
It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the dark room.The only light comes from two windows that must be eight or ten feet up along the wall.On the opposite side is a large desk.Slumped onto the ground next to it—a human form.The guy’s head is down like he’s sleeping, but the curly brown hair and the lanky body type are unmistakable—it’s Tommy.
“Tom!”Gianna shouts, holding a hand toward him.
He lifts his head and opens his eyes, staring in horror.“No—no, they said they’d leave you alone.Gianna, I’m so sorry!I’m so fucking sorry.”
He crawls over to where we stand, his leg dragging behind him.His jeans are dark with blood—old blood, by the looks of it, because it’s black, and dried in places.
“Tom, what happened to you?”Gianna asks.
“This is all my fucking fault,” he says.“I was trying to get out, trying to get enough money to get them to leave me alone.Ella.Shit.I’m so sorry you got brought into this, too.”
Gianna curls in on herself, moaning.“Tom, the baby’s coming.”
“What?”Tommy asks, looking bewildered and frightened.
“Look, we have to get out of here,” I say to Tommy.“Gianna’s in labor—her water broke and everything.”
“I can still walk around, I can get out of here, if there’s a way,” Gianna says.
I am not sure about that, but what do I know about what she’s going through?If she says she can walk, then…maybe she can walk.
