Page 18 of Redd

Cocking my jaw, I bit the inside of my lip and turned the lock. But I didn't open it, I stood there, waiting for something to happen. I wasn't sure what I expected exactly; but I couldn't move as I froze in place, just staring at the doorknob.

Another soft shuffle rubbed against the floor. My gut told me to open the door, something deep inside, something that I couldn't control or even understand, screamed at me to just tear the fucker open.

Wrapping my hand around the handle, I twisted it slowly, doing my best to keep it as quiet as possible. I was still well aware of the other guys in the house, and I didn't want them to hear me.

Pulling the door open, I looked around an empty room. There were no shelves, no supplies, no boiler or hot water tank like I expected to see. Lowering my eyes to the floor, I gasped in shock.

Nothing could have prepared me for that.

No one could have warned me about what was hidden in that closet.

And now, now everything just changed.

Huge eyes, afraid and terrified, peered up at me. Scooting back hard and fast, a young woman curled into herself, pulling her knees up to her chest.

I stood there, unsure if what I was seeing was real.

Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath before opening them back up and looking down. I expected her to be gone, to have been a figment of my imagination.

But she wasn't.

She was still there, hugging herself with pure fear turning her face white.

Her lips parted, tongue tempting the opening as if she was about to speak. Holding out my hand, I lifted a finger to my mouth and stopped her from saying a word.

“Shh,” I whispered, looking over my shoulder then back down at her. Shaking my head no, I stretched out my hand for her take.

She was reluctant, shrinking into herself more as she balled up tighter. She looked so delicate, like if I moved too fast or squeezed too hard, I might break her.

A lump formed in the back of my throat as I kept shifting my eyes between her and the dark hall over my shoulder.

Come on! Take my hand!

Flipping my fingers, I arched my brows and softened the strain on my face, doing my best to show her that I wasn't going to hurt her.

Her thin arm stretched out, our fingers almost touching. My skin buzzed with need, eager and ready to snatch her up and toss her over my shoulder. Time was one thing we didn't have.

The longer I lingered in the hall, open and exposed, the less chance there was either of us would make it out of there.

The pads of our fingers brushed, her skin to my skin, my warmth to her cold, our pulses thudding simultaneously in one quick beat. The feeling shocked my heart, careening through my muscles and forcing my lungs to lurch with one spastic breath.

I could see her fear, I could feel her fear. She passed all that pain through our touch, leaving me breathless and unnerved.

This woman is in danger, you need to get her out!

But our window of time had just closed as I heard the faint tap of heels on the ground behind me. The woman's eyes glistened and grew wider as she peered around my body and froze in place.

Lady luck had just left me alone and bare; what happened now was going to be all on me.

“Hey! Who the fuck are you!” Dominick's voice cut through my ears, the deep baritone harsh and fierce.

Jerking around, I held my arms out, waiting for him to react, expecting to see him tear a gun from his waist. But he didn't, his hands had balled into fists, lip curling up into an angry snarl.

“Why the fuck are you here?” he asked, stalking closer. “Who the hell sent you?”

“Look man, I don't want any trouble. No one sent me.”

“Then you don't belong here.” With long strides, he lurched in my direction, throwing a fist.