Hold Me (19 page)

He vehemently shakes his head, crossing his arms. “It’s not going to work. I can say whatever you want, but by the time you get the cops anywhere near here, we’ll be all gone and they’ll never find Raphael or us, and he’ll make sure I never say another word ever again. Not that my word would be worth anything anywhere. And you’ll never get that camera out of here anyway.”

“Well, I got it in, didn’t I? The box is made of a special material and the detectors won’t react to it.”

“It won’t work. They’ll search you before they let you out. The only reason they didn’t ask you about the box is because it looks like one of those in which clients sometimes bring drugs for themselves. But I’m sure they’ll ask you to give it to them for inspection on your way out.”

Shit. I don’t have any weed to cover the camera with it. “Then what can we do? Do you know where the cops could catch Raphael in action when he can’t disappear through some hidden exit?”

He worries on his lower lip, rocking on his heels. Then he looks up at me. “You know what? I’m feeling suicidal tonight, so you’re in luck.”

“What?”

He saunters over to me and takes the camera, inspecting it. “How does this work?”

“It’s a battery-powered camera. Has a power button behind it. There’s a memory card inside it. Not big, but it’ll have to do.”

“It doesn’t have Internet connection or anything?”

“No. I couldn’t risk anyone detecting it here.”

“Good.” He looks pleased.

I get to my feet, unsure what he’s planning to do.

“I can get you footage of Raphael at his worst.” He gives me a long look. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’ll need to figure out how to get the footage back, but I’m sure Caleb can retrieve it for you from Raphael’s room.”

“Wait, what are you going to do?” His earlier words come back to me, and I gasp. “No! If it’s going to get you killed, don’t do it.”

He smiles. “You’re really serious about this. I like that. Caleb wasn’t wrong about you.”

“But...”

He raises his finger to shush me. “Not a word. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this.”

“Can you tell me anything that can...?”

“No,” he interrupts. “We don’t have time for that. But tell me, how did you get here? What do they have on you?”

“A video I wouldn’t want people to see.”

“Ah, typical.” He sets down the camera and opens the package with pills, then pops one into his mouth. He closes his eyes as if in relief. Then he walks over to the closet and picks up a leather whip, runs his hand over it, and then offers it to me. I just stare at him in confusion.

His lips crack into a smile. “You wouldn’t be here for regular sex, not on the ‘hurt your slave’ day, anyway. How exactly did you plan to explain that you paid a fortune for an hour with me to enact your darkest kinky fantasies and I don’t have a single mark on my body? Or are you going to argue that you expected something else and they misunderstood you? Because that would mean you’d have to leave already.”

“I assumed any marks would fade,” I say, feeling warmth coming into my cheeks. Alessandra told me about that to confirm our deal before I got here, but I didn’t think much of it. “I figured no one would be checking as long as you’re in one piece.”

He laughs. “They’ll check as soon as you leave, and no, most marks don’t fade that easily. Take this.” He hands me the whip. I gingerly take it, touching its leathery surface. I have absolutely no clue what to do with this. I’ve never held one before in my life. Isaac turns his back to me and presses his hands against the wall. A breath catches in my throat. I don’t even want to imagine how much the scars on his back must have hurt. He’s covered in them.

“Hit me,” he says.

“Are you sure there isn’t another way?” I step behind him.

“No. Stop stalling. We don’t have that much time. Unless you want this whole thing to fail.” He takes a deep breath, his muscles rippling. “Do it.”

I raise the whip and bring it down onto his back. He doesn’t make a sound or even flinch, so I try again, the sound of leather slapping his skin the only sound in the room.

“You’re tickling me,” he says. “You’ve got try harder than that. This won’t leave anything. My skin is hard to mark.”

I grit my teeth. I can see tiny streaks of light red where the whip has fallen, but Isaac is right, so I hit him harder and cringe as the whip hits the same place a couple of times, leaving a nasty red mark. Sweat beads my forehead, and my breathing is labored. Isaac is still in position, and he hasn’t even twitched.

“Harder,” he says. I step back a little and bring the whip again with all my strength. This time his body shudders, but aside from a sharp intake of breath, he doesn’t make a sound. I bring the whip down again and again. The welts are now deeper and visible on his skin, and the skin has broken in a couple of places, leaving a tiny trail of blood. I hit him one more time.

“Stop,” he says, and I throw the whip to the ground. Isaac turns toward me, amusement glinting in his eyes. “You don’t think we’re done here, do you?”

My eyes widen and he laughs.

He comes over to me and takes my hand in his. “Just a little something.” He raises my hand up, raking my nails over his chest. My hand is shaking, but his grip is strong, and my nails break through his skin. He lets go of me and goes to the bathroom to take a look at his back and chest. “That’ll do for your first time.” He winks at me.

First time? Oh God. I don’t want to do anything like this ever again. I glance at the clock on the nightstand. We have less than ten minutes left. I look up at him. “Wait, where are you going to hide the camera?” If they’re going to inspect him for marks, surely he can’t have it in his clothes. If he even has clothes... because I can’t see them anywhere.

“I know a place.” He takes the camera and starts for the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

I sit on the bed, tapping my feet against the floor and mussing up my hair a bit so it doesn’t look like I haven’t been doing anything. When Isaac emerges from the bathroom, I look up.

“I hope this will work,” he says. “But give me time. It’s not easy to get into Raphael’s room. He doesn’t like me very much.”

“He said you were one of his favorites.” I frown, getting to my feet.

“You don’t know what that word means to him,” he says, his face deadly serious.

“Thank you,” I say. “For helping me. And I hope I’ll see you again.”

“No, thank you.” He smiles, then goes behind the bed, sits down, and cuffs himself to the post. “Go.”

With one last look at him, I head for the door. My stomach is fluttering, but as I emerge into the hallway and the blonde approaches me, I put on my best smile.

“Did you enjoy your purchase, miss?” she asks.

“Of course.”

“I’m glad to hear it. If you want more, call this number.” She hands me a card.

“Thanks.” I take it and walk past her. As soon as I reach the exit, the guards ask for the now empty box. Once I’m out of the building and safe in my car, I look at my shaky hands in my lap. This better work, or I don’t know what I’m going to do. The thought of Caleb or anyone suffering through so much abuse, being at whim of cruel and twisted people... it makes me sick to my stomach.

Jade bursts through the door to Caleb’s room, and as she’s trying to calm her breathing, Caleb notices her brow is creased with worry and her eyes are bloodshot. He immediately gets up from the bed and places his hand on her cheek.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“It’s Isaac,” she says. “I heard... I heard he’s going to be sold.” Her fingers entangle in Caleb’s shirt and she gives him a desperate look. “We can’t let that happen! We have to do something.”

Caleb’s legs nearly give out, his breath hitching. “Why would he sell him?”

“I don’t know. Isaac did something. I... I don’t know!”

Caleb takes her hand and they both race into the hallway. Once they reach the living room, Caleb realizes everyone is quiet, their faces worried. But before he can ask anything, a group of guards strides through the door, dragging Isaac with them.

Jade yelps, covering her mouth with her hand. Isaac’s face is swollen and bloody, his chest crisscrossed with angry welts, bruises, and cuts. When Raphael enters the room, Caleb lets go of Jade and runs toward him.

“Sir,” he says, and Raphael’s angry eyes turn to him. “Please don’t do this.”

“Out of my way,” Raphael sneers. “I’ve had enough of his disobedience.”

As Caleb opens his mouth to protest, Raphael lifts his finger.

“One more word from you and I’ll kill him, understood?” he says, and Caleb takes a step back. If he infuriates Raphael even more now, Isaac dies for sure.

Isaac cracks one eye open, a small smile tilting his lips. “Keep Jade safe. Don’t worry about me.”

Caleb gives him a brief nod, even though he feels like his insides are turning upside down. If Raphael sells Isaac to someone even crueler, what chance does Isaac have of surviving? He’s always been the most temperamental one and this time that could cost him his life.

Caleb wishes he knew what Isaac has done to anger Raphael so much, but now there isn’t anything he can do. As he watches Isaac leave, his throat constricts and there’s pressure in his chest that doesn’t want to go away. He’s lost Isaac now, too. How long will it be until Raphael takes everything from him? Or has he already done that?

“Please tell me he’s going to be fine,” Jade says, tears streaming freely down her face. Caleb turns toward her and gently wipes her tears.

“He will,” Caleb knows it’s a lie, and he’s sure Jade is aware of it too, but she needs to hope. “We’ll see him again.”

“You think?” She blinks at him.

Caleb nods because he’s afraid his voice will crack if he says anything else. There’s always a chance Isaac’s new owner will come to Raphael’s party to show off his new purchase. But there’s also a chance Raphael will send him to one of those filthy brothels where Raphael took them once to show them how lucky they are to be with him. Caleb pushes the thought away.

“What did he do?” Jade asks. “We told him so many times to be careful.” She hiccups. “We told him Raphael’s threats weren’t empty and that he’d get tired of it.”

“Jade?” Sylvia approaches, running a shaky hand through her long bright red hair, her eyes travelling briefly to the guards at the door.

“What?” Jade turns toward her and frowns.

“I was in the hallway when... “ She lowers her voice. “I heard Raphael and... Isaac was yelling. I couldn’t hear what, but... I’ve never heard him yell like that.”

One of the guards moves a little, and Sylvia immediately scurries to the couch. Jade inclines her head, then turns to Caleb.

“Isn’t that strange?” Jade raises her eyebrows.

“Hey, you two. Stop talking.” One of the guards points a finger at Caleb and Jade, who immediately move away from each other.

Caleb plops down on the couch, chewing on the insides of his mouth. Raphael and the guards usually don’t immediately jump when they see them talking for a while, but something has changed. What has Isaac done and said? Caleb tips his head back. They’ll find out sooner or later.

Raphael will want to make sure such an incident never happens again. For a moment, Caleb wonders if Isaac’s last client has anything to do with Isaac’s strange behavior. Sure, Isaac loves to push Raphael’s buttons, but he never crossed the boundary before. Raphael even seemed to like that rather than just tolerate it.

Caleb only hopes that Sylvia’s sons are too young and that Raphael won’t be looking for a replacement for Isaac. If it weren’t for the families who were still leading normal lives far away from here while being constantly observed by Raphael’s men, Caleb would’ve done something... anything, but he knows he can’t. Not if he wants to protect Jade and everyone else.

The next three weeks are slow as hell. All I can think about is Caleb, Isaac, and the others. My nails are almost all chewed up, and I can’t stop myself from wondering if Isaac has succeeded or not. He told me to give him time, but I’m not sure how much. I even regularly call Lloyd to ask if there have been any more arrests or new clues, but he always says no.

Raphael’s number is apparently untraceable and leads nowhere. Actually, it seems as if his phone doesn’t exist. Still, when I decide to dial Raphael’s number, I hear a soft click on the other end of the line and then it starts to ring. Maybe the number somehow redirects the call only if a certain number calls. They have my cell phone number already, and probably my home number too.