Page 41 of Jace 4Ever
“You need to start from the beginning, Jace.”
He huffed out a breath and ran a hand down his face. “My brother is trash. But he’s my brother, and three years ago he got arrested. My friends all helped me bail him out, but I had to take a loan for the lawyer. That cost me my dignity because I took it from a loan shark of sorts.
“So, I’ve been paying him back out of every paycheck I get from him. He takes the money and then pays me for the work. The problem is that…” He turned and looked out the window. “The company he runs does pornos and fake snuff films.
“With the money I got from the script I was able to pay him off completely, today. And today was going to be my last day. I picked a shit last day.”
“Snuff films?” I asked, horrified.
“They were always fake. Always. Until today when I realized the girl on the bed wasn’t faking her fear, and the actor Denis hired was an actual mafia soldier there to carry out a hit. Her fear was too real, and he was too…awful, too precise, too into the whole thing to be an actor.”
The rest of the story he told me had chills running down my spine. At the same time, I was unspeakably proud of him for thinking to cut the power and stop the show, as well as sending the woman out to call the police.
“Will the girl be all right?”
“She was cut, bad, but Amber and the ambulance guys all seemed to think that she would be fine.”
“Amber?”
“The medic we have on set.”
“What happened to the actor? To the director?”
“The actor ran, as soon as they heard the sirens. I don’t know his name. Denis was taken into custody, but he said he didn’t know it was supposed to be real. I kind of believe him. He makes a lot of money off these films and he wouldn’t ever actually kill someone. He’s dirty as dirty gets, but he wants money, not dead people on set.”
“You were taken in why?”
“As a witness,” he said. “They spent two hours questioning me and getting every detail they could out of me. I didn’t mind. It wasn’t the worst questioning I’ve ever had. They gave me water and a pee break.”
Worst he’d ever had? That was a topic for another day. “So, they shut this shit down?”
“No.”
“No?” The surprise came through loud and clear in my voice.
“They had no reason. Once the power was down and the actor was gone there was nothing incriminating about the set, or the setup. It stinks, because like I said, Denis plays dirty, but smart.”
The car filled with a silence between us, and I just tried to wrap my head around what Jace had told me. Snuff films were urban legend, and I didn’t know there were underground fake snuffs out there. It also bothered the hell out of me that Jace had been beholden to this man who exploited that niche and made pornos.
“You can just drop me at the subway station, if you like.” Jace expelled a long, tired breath.
“No, I wouldn’t like.”
“Nelson, I just want to go home. You don’t need to make me feel awful about this. Or more than I already do. I fucked up, I’m fucked up, and you can just be rid of me.”
“What?” A quick glance over showed Jace with his lips pursed, and pure sadness in his eyes.
“You can drop me off. You don’t have to be seen with a porno film employee.”
I jerked the car to the curb and slammed it into park. I turned in my seat and faced him. “Jace, I don’t care that you worked in porn. Not even a little. I care that you were exploited and nearly forced to work there. I am freaked out that you were a witness to what might have nearly been a murder if you hadn’t acted. But I am in no way ashamed to be seen with you, at all.”
“Look, Nels, this has been great—”
“Stop. Stop right there.” My words sliced through him. “I am telling you the absolute—Jace. Look at me. Turn your whole body and look at me.”
It took him a moment to comply, but when he did, I took his chin in my fingers and held him there gently. “I am telling you the absolute truth. Ido notcare that you worked in porn. I am not ashamed to be seen with you. I do not think you’re dirty, or wrong. I worry about you. You keep so many secrets. If I had known you owed that sleaze money, I would have paid the debt off sooner. I’m frightened that whoever that actor was, he’s freaked out enough to try and come back and take you all out for his failed hit. But I am not ashamed of you.”
Tears glistened in his eyes. “I keep fucking up.”
