Page 36 of Deliverance
I wanted Erin to be free.
I wanted Zell to be free.
I wanted all of us to be free.
When Erin was out of sight, the buzzer rang on the elevator. The party was starting, and I had to forget what was happening just down the hall.
It pissed me the fuck off, and there was nothing I could do about it.
* * *
In the week since the party, I kept my distance from Erin. Not because I was angry she slept with Frank—I was, but not at her—but because I needed to get Saffron off my back about her. When Saffron was telling Frank about Erin, I thought she might tell him lies. Tell him that Erin hadn't been with a client, but she had slept with me. It would be easy for Saffron to tell Frank anything untrue, and I couldn't take the chance.
I still didn't know how Frank knew about David and Lana, but if I had to guess, someone got to the recordings before David could delete them. Maybe it was another guard, or Saffron herself. Or maybe someone told Saffron, and Frank had said he'd seen them on the security cameras. I had reviewed the live and recorded feed for every camera, and there was no way Frank could have seen inside the stairwell. It wasn't possible, and I didn't peg Frank to lie, especially since he killed David and sold Lana. There would be no point in not telling them how he found out.
Hugging Erin in her room was bad enough. I taped over the footage even though I had put a password on the program, and I was the only one who knew it, telling myself that I would never do it again, even if she needed comfort. I hated to think that I wouldn't feel her in my arms again, but I was doing what needed to be done. Saffron was a bitch, and I had to be cleverer than her, and I especially needed to be smarter than Frank.
For our weekly park outing, Erin made two baggies of white bread for Zell to feed the ducks. Marcus was still tailing us as we made our way across the street. I made sure not to touch Erin in any way because I didn't want Marcus to report anything other than Zell fed the ducks. It had been almost two months since I’d started working for Saffron, and I didn't trust anyone except Erin. Saffron didn't care that Marcus knew we'd slept together in the limo, and there had to be a reason. He had been working for the Russos far longer than I had, and his loyalty probably ran deep. Why wasn't he head of security?
"Why are you avoiding me?" Erin asked as she sunned her face. She did it every week, and I didn't blame her. I wished we could spend every day at the park because it was ouralonetime.
"I'm not," I lied.
"You haven't had breakfast with us all week."
"I've been busy."
There was a pause and then, "I thought you'd ask me about the night of the party."
I didn't look away from the pond as I replied, "I know about the night of the party."
"I mean details."
"I saw," I breathed.
During the party, Saffron instructed me to pay close attention to the video feed from each room. She wanted to make sure the women did what they were asked—even though there was no audio—and the men treated them right. It wasn't the first time I’d had to watch one of the ladies have sex with a client, but it was the first time I’d had to watch Erin. To watch Frank sit on the edge of the queen bed and motion for Erin to twirl around. He took in every inch of her, and my blood heated with anger. Erin removed her bra then her panties, leaving the heels on. I tried not to stare, but I did, and maybe that was why I was avoiding her too. I knew everything she and Frank did.
"How?" She looked at me briefly and then turned her face up again, embarrassed. "Oh." She took a deep breath. "I'm surprised he didn't have Madam turn off the camera."
I shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. It only stays on there for seventy-two hours and then gets recorded over. It's long gone now."
Erin turned her head away from the sun and looked over at me. I didn't look at her. "I know, but it's Frank. You'd think he wouldn't want any proof that he was involved."
"Maybe he forgot to tell me to turn it off."
"Maybe."
Erin tilted her head back again, and Zell started to pull bread from the second bag. I knew our time was almost over.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"For what?"
"For not being there for you afterward."
She looked at me again. "It's okay. I talked to the other girls about it."
"That's probably better."
