Page 51 of Hold Me
“No.” I cover his hand with my own to stop him from sliding it up my leg. “No sex.”
“Okay.” His shoulders slump, but I don’t want him to have sex with me because he thinks he owes me.
“Next time we see each other... would you mind if I bring my cop friend over? There’s an entrance into the building that not many people know about... Whoever is keeping an eye on you and waiting outside won’t see him.”
“I know I told you if you saved Isaac, I’d do anything you want. You saved him, so...” he says. “But Raphael probably knows everything about you and your friend. Someone at the station is probably watching his every move. If they see him coming while I’m with you... We can’t risk that.”
“Fine. I won’t tell him to come. I usually visit him at the station so it won’t be suspicious when I go deliver the video...”
“No,” he says, his eyes wide. “You can’t. They’ll know it was you. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
He’s right. I can’t be contacting Lloyd all the time or hand him over the video directly. “Yeah, I promise.” I squeeze his hand lightly. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“Okay.” I don’t want to push him. “But if there’s anything you can tell me about Raphael...”
“Yeah.” He pulls his hand out from under mine. “If something happens to me before we can meet again, talk to Jade.”
I nod. I don’t even want to think that something could happen to him. We’re so close to victory. All we need is to make sure Raphael doesn’t find a way to escape or figures out our moves before we make them.
There just has to be enough evidence that can’t be refuted. It shouldn’t be this hard to prove what Raphael is doing, but he has connections everywhere. He’s probably been building them for years. I could totally see him washing his hands of the whole thing by saying he’s merely a pimp or placing the blame on someone else.
“How long have you been with Raphael?” I ask.
He looks down at his hands. “Six years, I think.”
“Six years?” I gape at him. My mind is spinning. I can’t even begin to imagine living like that for so long.
“Yeah, I pretty much lost every hope of ever getting out.”
I take his hands and wait until his eyes meet mine. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.”
He snorts. “No, I’m weak. I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t stop anyone from doing whatever they wanted to me or anyone else. I couldn’t stop Raphael from...” He bites down on his lip.
“No, that’s not weakness. You’re a survivor. You did what you had to, to stay alive.”
“But she’s dead. Because I was stupid.” Tears cloud his eyes, and I swallow hard, pulling him closer to me until his head rests on my lap.
“Heather?” I ask cautiously. “Raphael killed her?”
He nods. “It was a few years ago. We were young and stupid, and thought we could get away. Raphael put us together when we were just beginning to truly work for him and... we fell in love. Then Heather’s sister got sick and died, and Heather was just... She couldn’t take it anymore... Since things were going fine for Raphael and the guards didn’t have much work to do, they got sloppy. I saw that as an opportunity.”
“So you decided to use it?”
“Yeah. Everyone agreed to help us... well, after a lot of begging and convincing. We found a five-minute window between the shifts, slipped out into the night, and ran... The plan was to get to a police station in another town where Raphael doesn’t have any influence... We didn’t dare hitchhike, so we had to get the money for food and bus tickets. On rare occasions we get tips from clients, but Raphael usually finds out and doesn’t let us keep anything. One of our friends finally managed to steal some money from a client without being noticed, but it wasn’t a lot.”
I glance at the bracelet on my wrist that Caleb bought me, wondering just how much it cost him to get the money for it.
“Our luck and happiness lasted for only two days,” he says. “As soon as we got to the police station that we thought was safe, we were arrested. There were countless charges against us, and no matter what we said, the cops didn’t believe us. I don’t know how Raphael did it, but... they transferred us back here and then... Raphael just came for us. And he...” He bites down on his lip.
“It’s okay.” I caress his hair. “He’s going to pay for everything he’s done.”
He looks up at me, his eyes filled with sadness, and I know he doesn’t quite believe me. But that doesn’t surprise me. I wouldn’t have believed it either if I were him.
Caleb can’t remember the last time he was so eager to get inside Raphael’s room. Actually, that has never happened. As he strides down the hallway, he can’t help but wonder if Raphael will smile at him and tell him it has all been an elaborate con. Quietly opening the door, he flinches when he sees Raphael sprawled on the bed. Usually, Raphael isn’t in the room when he arrives and lets him wait.
Fighting the urge to glance at the statute Isaac mentioned, Caleb keeps his gaze glued to the floor as the door closes behind him.