15

Idon't want to hide. I want to completely start over. I want a new life where my brother can go to school and my best friend can do whatever it is she wants with whoever she decides. I want to be free of the plague that encircles my family and keeps finding us generation after generation, fucking us over. I planted the seed, and I'm waiting patiently for its fruit. All I want is to enjoy it in peace.

Dylan's car stops beside his trailer, opposite to where mine is, and turns the engine off. "You should know–when I left, Julius had just knocked Noah out."

How the fuck did this get out of hand? I gape at him, and I'm about to open the door when Dylan takes my hand. "Wait."

He exits the car and shuts the door after Max jumps out. The dog suddenly growls and pounces over to my door and bites out a snarl. I turn to see why he responded so aggressively and catch Noah jogging toward us from across the lot. I open the door and wince as I step on the gravel.

Dylan raises his hand up and Max barks. "That's close enough, Noah."

"Justice, you okay?"

I cross my arms over my chest, ignoring the small crowd of our nosy neighbors that's already formed. "No thanks to you, Noie."

Noah's shoulders slouch forward as if the weight of the world has been set on them, and he sweeps his hand through his hair nervously. I was beginning to like the way his hair felt between my fingers. But now, I can't stand to look at him without feeling repulsed. His face is beat and I don't even care enough to ask what happened. He wasted too many opportunities to be up front.

"I thought I told you to stay the fuck off our property!" Jule's voice shouts.

I look toward our trailer and see him jumping off the steps with Jasmin not far behind.

I wave him off. "It's okay, Jule. I got this."

Noah's eyes scan our surroundings, and he locks eyes with Dylan. A history of their own crackles in the blistering heat surrounding our shadeless standoff. From the corner of my eye, I notice Dylan giving him a solemn nod, and Noah gulps.

"I'm the one who called the cops the day you had the gun. I needed to warn Vork, but… I couldn't come up with another way."

"You?" But… "Why, Noah?"

"They knew about… my connection… to you. And your blog. I was in charge of keeping you away."

My bottom lip falls and the corner throbs. I wince, but it's not due to the physical pain of my minor injuries. This hurt gathers somewhere in the hollow of my chest and pulses. It jabs at me from the inside out.

"How many times, Noah?"

"Justice, I'm sorry. I had no choice. They threatened to take my mom." Max snarls and moves to stand in front of me, between Noah and me. "Can you tell your hound to back the fuck off?" He glares at Dylan, who raises his hands up.

"Hey, he's doing this of his own accord."

The rookie isn't lying. I've seen Max stand up for me, even to his own master. I'm not sure why he's decided to defend me against anyone he thinks is a threat, but I want to get close. So I walk up to stand next to Max and place my hand between his ears to stroke his fur. He looks up and lets out a soft whine. "It's okay," I whisper, and he sits.

Behind us, Jasmin reaches out to grab Jule's arm. She talks to him gently, and he crosses his arms and stands still.

"Did you delete the footage?"

Noah looks to the ground and stuffs his swollen knuckles into his pockets. His guilt-ridden eyes snap up to mine.

I walk slowly up to him and look up. His light brown eyes are glossed over and pain stricken, but I don't care. "Somewhere deep inside, I knew I shouldn't have trusted you."

"Justice, please—"

I stab a bloodied finger into his chest. "I let you in, and you fucking lied to me."

"I didn't have a choice—"

"There's always a choice!" I yell, spit flying out. "You work for him, Noah. What did you think was going to happen?"

Behind me, Max growls, sensing my growing anger and desire to rip Noah apart. It was all a lie.

"I never met with him directly, I swear."

"Oh, well, that makes it better." I nod and smile sarcastically.

Noah glares at Dylan when he lets out a soft chuckle. "You think you can give me and my girl some privacy, Detective?"

Max growls, and Dylan's entire frame straightens, his jaw clenches, and it looks like it's about to break from the pressure. A vein in his neck pulses, making the inked flesh rise up. I lift my hand up to him and turn to glare at Noah.

"I'm not your girl."

Noah winces and lowers his head. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"Hurt? You think I'm hurt?" I seal the distance between us, a strangled laugh erupting from my dry throat. "You broke the friendship we've had since we were fucking toddlers. We're done, Noah."

I look up and down his frame, disgusted, and move to turn when he reaches for my wrist. It happens in an instant. Max rushes to my side and growls as he jumps to snap his mouth shut around Noah's arm, who wails out in pain and falls back.

Dylan calmly delivers a command for Max to release him, and he moves to stand beside me, his master standing on my other side. "You should get that checked out." He points to Noah's bloody gash.

"Fuck, Justice. You know me! You're going to trust this psycho over me?"

Max and Dylan both growl beside me, and I have half a mind to tell them all to back off, my brother and best friend included. The fucking mob of onlookers be damned. I don't need a whole army for this. I can handle Noah. I step toward him.

"I don't know you. The Noah I know would never plot alongside criminals. And he would never lie to me about something he had to do."

He stands up, an angry rage building behind his eyes, and he points at me and then Dylan. "This isn't over."

Dylan snorts. "Oh, it's over. You should find yourself an attorney. I'm sure the paperwork I produced was only good for a release without bail. But they'll want to find someone to blame. And it won't be Niki."

I look up at Dylan. What paperwork? He pretends not to notice, and I turn to my brother. He reaches us and pulls me into a hug. Jasmin follows suit and the three of us hold each other tightly. I turn and witness Noah's heart breaking even further. He looks at me once more before turning around.

I don't hate him, I can't.

I don't know what I would have done if someone threatened the lives of Jasmin and Jule, but I would never agree to work for Vork. I'd rather slit my wrist open and watch the blood drain from my body than place myself in his hands.

Noah could never break my heart, since he never had it to begin with. But I gave him my time, allowed him to connive his way into my little family. I agreed for there to be a title for what he wanted us to have. I let myself believe that I could fall in love with him and rejoiced in the absurdity of his future plans. I sanctioned the entire thing, paved the way for his lies to snake into my fucking brain and convince me he was someone else.

Noah's silhouette disappears in the distance, and Jule clears his throat. "Thanks for bringing her back," his voice breaks, and I hug him tighter.

Jasmin sniffles and wipes her face aggressively. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Don't mention it." Dylan's thunderous voice vibrates through my frame and I pull away from my brother to glance at him.

"Not bad, rookie. But this doesn't mean you belong. You're still unwanted here."

He chuckles and whistles for Max to follow him. "You should get some rest, Niki."

I frown. Why do I want to follow him inside his mansion-like trailer and strip him naked? My mouth goes dry—fuck—I should have never kissed him. Because now that I've tasted him, I want more.

I wake up and it's dark, but I'm not sure of the time. It's quiet outside, lest the soothing melody of the hundreds of crickets right outside the trailer.

I'm sandwiched between the giant heat pad that is my brother and Jasmin, whose heavy breaths tell me she's still deep in slumber. After retreating to our little shit box, I showered and swallowed back eight beef jerky links, along with four cups of water. Jasmin refused to be apart, so she put our toddler-sized mattresses together and we huddled close until we dozed off.

My body felt sore, my limbs ached, my head was flattened to nothingness, and I wanted to disappear into a dreamless sleep. Jasmin made me ice my face, and she tended to my wrists and ankles by slathering a salve. Jule burned my clothes, and I would've argued if his eyes hadn't blazed brighter than the small bonfire he'd started in our crappy yard.

They didn't push me to talk, they never did, but Jule watched me eat, never taking his eyes off me. And then he let me comb his hair the way I would when he was little. Each night before bed, I would make him brush his teeth, and then I'd comb through his locks. The routine had stopped right around his tenth birthday. But he would allow me to bring back all the things that made me feel a slice of normalcy and the nostalgia of our broken youth.

And now, hours later, the gravity of the early afternoon events weigh heavy on me. I arch my neck back in order to peer out of the tiny window; it's pitch black out. Jasmin and I missed work tonight, and she promised our time for the next four days at Nym-Pho.

I lift my legs up slowly in an attempt to gain momentum and roll to sit up. Jule lets out a loud snort and chewing sounds; he's still asleep. And I glance at them before quietly retreating to the tiny bathroom.

After relieving myself, I tiptoe into our living quarters and open up the locker-sized closet carefully, so it doesn't creak. I dig at the bottom, lift up a tile, and pull out a small velvet pouch. I dig inside and grip one of the devices and cautiously head outside.

I climb down the steps and walk around the trailer, making sure I'm alone, before turning the burner phone on. The crickets near me scatter and chirp loudly once nestled in the comfort of the grass just outside the trailer's gravel.

The phone buzzes to life, and I take a deep breath and dial the house. It's almost midnight and I should probably wait until morning, but I can't keep this in any longer.

Piper picks up on the fifth ring. Her voice is a croaky whisper, deep and throaty. "Hey, tell me you're okay."

I breathe out. Am I? "Yes, we're all okay," I lie. "I saw him."

Her gasp is almost inaudible. She knows who I'm talking about, and I'm glad I don't have to say his name out loud. "He came into the club. I didn't get the opportunity to serve him personally, but I'll make it my mission the next time he comes in, which will be in the next two days."

It's so silent that I hear her swallow. "Then what's next?"

"The son of a bitch is throwing a party. Some ball that initiates a sort of camaraderie for those interested in sex slaves. I'm going to get myself invited."

"Fuck, Justice. You're fucking crazy."

I ignore her. We don't have time for opinions. "It's being held at The Mansion, Piper. This is our chance. Didn't you say you had footage—evidence? You can tell me how to get my hands on it, then you can use that as leverage, or blackmail, and finally get this motherfucker."

"You're seriously demented," she pauses, and I hear her breathe out a shaky breath. "But this could work."

I smile. "I'll call you once I get that invite and you can draw out a map, or whatever it is you need me to get. We're going to bury him."

"Promise me you'll be careful, loca."

"Yes, yes, I promise," I say in Spanish.

And then the call ends. I smile and press the phone to my chest. This has to work. If we manage to uncover el cerro, then all his stooges follow, no? They'll all be exposed and I'll be that much closer to Vork. My smile grows and I know I look like a lunatic, as Piper loves to call me, when I turn around.

But my smile dissipates, sucked right out of my face as if I walked into a black hole. Only it's Dylan's eyes glaring at me from a short distance.