Seventeen

Seventeen

Rhys

Cameron tells me to keep working like usual to not make Tony suspect anything.

Parker opens his mouth to argue, but Cameron shuts him down with a sharp look.

“I think everything will move very swiftly,” Cameron says. “So don’t be surprised if Tony’s arrested before you even hear from me. But I promise if the police show up, it means your brother’s no longer in danger.”

I nod because I don’t think I can speak. I’ve never been this scared before. Not even when Tony first took me away from my family.

Parker walks me to the elevator, holding my hand as we wait for it to reach his floor. “It’s going to be okay,” he says. “Soon, you won’t have to see Tony ever again.”

It’s too big of a promise for him to make, but I don’t point that out. My stomach is twisted up into an anxious knot. I should never have told Paker about Tony. If I’d just behave like Tony taught me to, Jack wouldn’t be in any danger. I don’t want to belong to Tony for the rest of my life, but I’d accepted it. It feels too risky to even dream of getting away from him. Maybe once it’s actually over, I can let myself accept it.

When the elevator arrives, Parker kisses the back of my hand before letting me go. My legs feel heavy as I board the elevator. I wish I could just stay here where I’m safe. But it’s childish thinking.

I compose myself as best I can on the ride down, and when I step out into the lobby, I keep my expression neutral. Cameron had told me to just act as I normally do, and that’s going to be the easiest part of this whole thing.

I didn’t book another appointment with Parker, so I don’t see him for the next three days. And those days pass in a numb blur of clients. For once, I’m thankful for them because I’m not working, I’m worrying about Jack.

Tony’s still angry with me and keeps a much closer eye on me than normal. When I’m not with clients, he makes me stay at his side. In his bed. Just like he did when he first took me to the cabin.

I don’t fight him on anything. I don’t try to defend myself. All I care about is getting out of this without anything happening to Jack.

But the more days pass that I don’t hear from Cam or Parker make the knots of tension in my stomach grow tighter. If I hadn’t spent the last six weeks getting to know Parker, I would think he’d lied about helping me. But I guess Tony hasn’t managed to beat all hope out of me, but it still burns in my chest.

When the police do show up, it’s not loud like in the movies. There’s a knock on the door, and then they burst in with guns. No shots are fired. Nothing gets broken. They pin Tony and get him in cuffs and out the door all in under a minute.

Only then do they allow emergency personnel into the house. While an EMT checks out my bruises and gets me ready to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance, more people arrive. They spread out with cameras and gloves, and start finding all the videos and photos Tony has taken of both me and Jack over the years.

I’m thankful when the ambulance starts up, finally taking me away from Tony.

***

After the hospital, I’m taken to the police station, where I answer so many questions that my voice grows hoarse. They don’t let Parker in the room with me, but I can see him pacing outside the office I’m in. Cameron’s out there too, but he’s sitting in one of the chairs against the wall.

After what seems like forever, the officer closes the file and says he’ll be in touch if they need anything else. Then he twists his pen in his hand and says, “Your family’s on their way.”

Sweat breaks out on my palms, but I just give the guy a nod. I’ve been dying to see my family again for the last five years, but now that I know it’s going to happen, I feel sick. What are they going to think of me? Will they even recognize me? Will they want me once they learn about what I’ve been doing since I left them?

The door opens, and Parker appears, his face lined with worry. “Hey,” he whispers.

I swallow and force a smile I don’t feel. “Hey. Is Jack really safe?”

“Yeah, he is. The police there took Mike down this morning.”

Relief floods me, and I squeeze my eyes shut because I don’t want to start crying. There’ll be time for that later when I’m out of here.

“He’s okay,” Parker murmurs. He moves to kneel beside me, resting one hand on my thigh and the other on the back of the chair I’m sitting in. “I’m sorry I couldn’t say anything until now. They wouldn’t let me come in here with you.”

“I know.” I lower my hand on top of his, drawing strength from his warmth. “Thank you for waiting for me.”

“Of course.” He leans up and kisses the side of my head. “I was so worried about you.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “My family’s on the way here.”

“Yeah, they told me.” His hand moves from the back of my chair to rest on my shoulder. “If you don’t want to see them yet, you don’t have to.”

“I do. I just… What if they don’t like me anymore?” It’s a childish question, but Parker doesn’t make fun of me for it.

He squeezes my hand and says, “They’re going to love you, Rhys.”

Voices raise outside our little office, and I jerk to turn for the door. For some reason, I expect Tony to come bursting in here. Even though I know he’s sitting in a jail cell now.

“It’s okay,” Parker says. “I think it’s your parents.”

My stomach twists in a knot, but I don’t take my eyes off the window that allows me to see out into the main lobby area. I see my father first. He’s thinner and his hair is a little lighter, but it’s him. Mom’s on his left, leaning over the reception desk. I can’t hear what she’s saying, but she sounds flustered.

Jack’s behind them. He’s the only one who notices where I am. And I realize with a start that he looks just like I did at that age. Back when I was innocent and Tony hadn’t touched me yet.

Jack starts toward me, and I stand but still cling to Parker’s hand. He’s a warm, reassuring presence beside me as Jack opens the office door and steps inside, staring at me.

My throat is too tight to move. My eyes sting with tears.

Then Jack crosses the room and grabs me in a tight, fierce hug that nearly takes my breath away. “It’s really you,” he whispers. “I missed you so much.”

I let go of Parker’s hand so I can return my brother’s hug, holding him tightly to me. I always knew that all those years with Tony were worth it if it kept Jack safe, but standing with him now, seeing him whole and happy, only drives that point home further. After all that time worrying about him and making sure I didn’t do anything that would make Tony hurt him, I can finally see for myself that he’s okay.

My parents appear in the doorway, and Jack steps back to give them some room, but I have a hard time letting go of him. I feel like if I do, he might disappear again. I won’t see him for another five years again.

“It’s okay,” he says quietly. “I’m right here.”

I nod and release him so Dad can hug me. His arms circle me, and even though I’ve grown since I last saw him, he’s still taller than me. I can still press my face into his shoulder like I used to do when I had a bad day.

“Oh my god,” Dad murmurs. His voice shakes. His whole body shakes. “You’re here. I didn’t believe them when they called.”

He kisses the top of my head, and I wish he would never let me go. “I missed you,” he says. “I missed you so much, Rhys.”

“I missed you too,” I mumble.

He pulls back and lifts a hand to run his thumb along the bruise on my jaw. “What happened?”

My mouth doesn’t want to work. Doesn’t want to form the words. I’m sure the police didn’t tell them everything since I’m no longer a minor, and I don’t want to give them all the ugly details right now.

I’m saved from having to answer when my mother pushes Dad to the side so she can hug me too. She feels smaller than she did before I left, and that hurts almost as much as knowing how much I missed out on of Jack growing up.

“Oh, baby,” Mom says, running a hand through my hair. Tears glisten in her eyes when she pulls back to take a look at me. Like Dad, her gaze falls on the bruise along my jaw, but she doesn’t ask me about it. There’s a dark look in her eyes, like she already knows what happened. But she doesn’t press me on it. Instead, she simply takes my hand in hers and kisses the back of it. Then she asks, “Who’s your friend?”

I’d almost forgotten Parker was in here with us. He’d moved back to the table, standing behind the chair I vacated, leaving plenty of room for my family to surround me. “This is Parker. He helped me get away.”

Mom reaches out her free hand to Parker, and when he takes it, she pulls him against her in a hug. “Thank you,” she whispers. “Thank you so much.”

Parker meets my gaze above my mom’s head, and his eyes are so full of love for me that it makes my chest constrict. He helped make this possible. He helped save me. And I don’t think he’ll ever know the full extent of what he did for me.

***

After a while, Parker takes Jack out of the office to get something to eat, giving me some time with just Mom and Dad. As soon as the door shuts behind Parker and my brother, I let out a breath and relax my shoulders. I still can’t get over how much Jack has grown. How much he looks like me.

I sit in one of the chairs at the table, and Mom and Dad take seats on either side of me. I can feel the urge to ask questions rolling off both of them, and Dad’s the first one to speak.

“They said you were taken by Tony,” he says. “Is that true?”

“Yes.” I try to swallow around the lump in my throat. “He said it was me or Jack. He said he’d bring me back home after he was done. I didn’t know he was going to keep me.” Though even if I had known it, I still would’ve made the same decision. I’m the older brother. It’s my job to protect Jack.

Mom takes my hand that’s resting on the table and squeezes tightly. “It’s okay, Rhys. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t reach out to you,” I say. “I’m sorry I worried you. I couldn’t risk him retaliating.”

“You don’t owe us an apology,” Dad says, placing his hand alongside Mom’s that’s on top of mine. “You’ve been so brave. And we’re so proud of you. Rhys, we are so, so proud of you.”

I can’t respond. I can barely get my lungs to move. I can’t believe I’m finally away from Tony. I’m safe.

I know I’ll eventually have to tell my parents the full extent of everything that happened while I was with Tony. I’ll have to tell them that he trained me for the purpose of selling my body to anyone willing to pay for it. I’ll have to tell them about the months in the cabin when all I wanted to do was die.

But right now, I just want to sit with them. For the first time in five years, I don’t have to answer to Tony. In a strange way, the thought scares me. I’ve grown so used to following Tony’s rules that I know it’s going to be hard to let go of them all. But I’m determined to try.