This is it; I’m going to escape. Hopefully.
Without hesitation, Yasmin strolls past Penny, who quickly gets out of her way, and goes out into the living room. I bolt to the door and peer through the small slit. Penny and Eliza are close behind me.
Yasmin walks toward Tank and Faith, hunched over and holding her stomach. Faith looks immediately concerned, but I no longer think it’s because she cares about Yasmin’s welfare. She’s worried that the girl won’t be able to sleep with fuck knows how many men tonight.
Please let this work without Yasmin getting hurt. She’s only fucking sixteen!
She places herself so that Faith and Lapdog have their backs to the door. They crouch down as Yasmin bends over further and makes a sound that’s a bit like a growl.
This is it. This is my opportunity.
With my heart beating so hard that I can hear my pulse, I slip out of the door and hold my breath. My Converse sound like high heels as I gently lift my feet up and tiptoe toward the door.
Faith stands up straight, and I freeze. I’m out in the middle of the hallway, still about five feet from the door.
God, this is it. Don’t turn around. Please. Please!
I can see my phone.
“So, you can’t work tonight?” Faith asks.
She sounds pissed off, and I wish that I could take Yasmin with me.
I take a longer stride and reach behind my back, picking my phone up. Tucking it in my pocket, I sidestep one last time, and I can finally reach the door handle. My heart is racing, but I have to try.
Faith puts her hands on her hips as she listens to Yasmin’s apology.
Fucking bitch. I hate her so much. But not as much as I hate him.
I need to do something about him, but right now, I have to get out and call Rocco.
Oh, crap, he’s going to be livid.
“She gets ill a lot,” Lapdog says.
I wonder why.
Yasmin glances at me through her hair while she leans over. It’s all I need; she’s telling me to go. I carefully take the final step and wrap my hand around the handle. I twist, and the door opens. Relief floods my heart. I didn’t want to acknowledge it, but I was scared that it would be locked.
Why isn’t it locked?
Whoa. God, no.
They don’t lock it because they know the girls won’t try to escape, and the ones who do are killed.
I burn in anger for these girls.
Stepping out the door, I give Yasmin one last look. I’ll get someone to come for you.
Then, I’m out. With the gentlest of touches, I turn the handle, and the door is closed again. I’ve done it. I take a breath, and tears well in my eyes.
Out the back.
Yasmin said to go around the back and hide near the sheds. The warehouses are all quite close together, so I can run between them if I need to. Sticking close to the wall, I sprint for the back. My heart is absolutely pounding, and I’m not entirely sure if I’m of sound mind or operating on shock. Or a mixture of both.
My legs collapse and go down in a lump when I get to the back of a warehouse. A sob escapes, but I clamp my mouth together.
Shut up!
You’re okay. You can do this.
I press my palm to my chest in a bid to slow my breathing.
Shit. It’s a miracle that I escaped in the first place.
I can’t stay hidden long. As soon as they notice I’ve gone, they’ll come looking for me. But I have no idea where I am or which direction I should go in. There’s one road, and the rest of my surroundings is fields, light forestry, and a river I can now just about see in the far distance.
Don’t think about your lifeless body being chucked in that river.
And hide really well.
Running is so very tempting; it’s instinctive. But Yasmin is right; I need to hide. She’s seen other girls being killed because they couldn’t get away fast enough. There are plenty of little buildings here to hide behind. And there are only two of them.
With my hands shaking worse than a basic white girl trying to twerk, I fumble with my phone and call Rocco’s number.
The call connects after only a second.
“Isabella, where are you?” he growls.
It’s only been about two and a half hours, but he sounds like he’s not slept for days.
“I don’t know exactly,” I whisper, half-sobbing at hearing the mixture of anger and concern in his voice.
Why didn’t I memorise the way we came?
I know the general direction and turning left at a set of traffic lights, but that’s about it.
“I’m at Keith and Faith’s house. There are other girls. And him. You need to come and get me, Rocco. They’re human traffickers, and I’m fucking scared! They wanted me to—”
“They’re what? Jesus, what the fuck is going on? What did they want you to do?”
“Human trafficking. They have a goddamn brothel and were trying to make me work there. They had Celia! It was them, and now, they want me to replace what they lost! I ran when I had the chance, but there’s just one house and a few old buildings. If I run for the road or forest, they might see me. I need you to come.”
“What the fuck?” he roars.
I don’t really get what he says next because it’s just a bunch of expletives.
“Rocco,” I hiss, gripping the side of an old shed door. “For fuck’s sake, come and get me. I…I’m scared.”
“Bella?”
“Ellis? Where did Rocco go? I need him to—”
“I heard. He’s pacing and looking for his keys, but we’re coming. You need to put the phone on silent and get into a position where you can see all around you but where you can only be seen from one direction—or better still, not be seen at all. Tell me where you are. Can you send your location?”
“I only have signal to call. No Wi-Fi or cellular data to send anything or connect to the internet. I don’t know where I am either! Their house!”
“Okay, calm down. We’ll figure it out. Can you hide anywhere?”
“Yeah, there are three warehouse-looking buildings, sheds and farmland. We went to the centre first and then came to wherever I am now. We didn’t drive for long, maybe twenty minutes. No longer. There are some trees in the distance but not enough to be a proper forest and a river running the opposite side of the road.”
I need to get to a place where I can see but not be seen.
“Okay, I’m getting the laptop out now. We’ll find you,” he says.
“Shit,” I whisper, hearing movement from the house. “Someone’s outside.”
“Are you hidden?”
“Kind of.”
“Phone on silent, Bella. Now.”
“It already is. I can’t hear footsteps, so I don’t think they’re looking for me yet. Listen, the battery on the phone is low, so I’m going to go in case I need to speak to you again. I’ll hide, but please hurry.”
“Stay safe,” Ellis orders.
In the background, I hear Rocco shout, “Don’t fucking hang up,” but I end the call.
Six percent left, and I might need every one of those. I won’t use the phone again unless I need to call them in twenty minutes if they’re not here.
They’ll be ten minutes, tops. Rocco won’t be giving a shit about any speed limits—not that he usually does. All I have to do is hide for ten minutes.
I can do this.
I look up to the sky as I feel a tear roll down my cheek. I’m making a bit of a mess of this, Celia.
Until now, I’ve not had much chance to dwell on what happened in there, but I have finally done it. I have found the man who took my sister’s life. His handprints are still on my wrists.
Closing my eyes, I think about Celia, and I’ve never felt as close to her as I do in this moment. She could have run out of the house when he arrived, but she was scared that he would come for her family. She hid me and died so that I would be protected.
Sleep easy, Celia. I’ve found him. I love you.
My sister will have the justice she deserves.
And maybe I’ll get to have the life with Rocco that we both want.
“Isabella!” Tank roars.
My eyes fly open, and I launch to my feet.
No, they’ve realised I’m gone.
I creep to the end of the shed and slow my breathing, so it’s light and so fucking quiet. Heavy footsteps get louder, and I know Tank is coming this way. I can only hear one set though, so Faith probably isn’t there. It’s one against one, and all I have to do is stay hidden until Ellis and Rocco arrive.
Piece of cake…
Biting my lip, I tune everything out and really listen. The footsteps are coming from my right, so I go left and tiptoe to the other end of the shed. Twisting my neck, I slowly look down the left side of the shed. No Tank. I step around the side.
“Bella?”
Oh, crap, he’s close.
His voice sounds like it’s right on me. I check out the ground, watching carefully, as I sidestep down the shed to the other end. I don’t know exactly where he is, but I think he’s on the other side of this small wooden building.
I put one step across the other and take a breath. I’m at the end, and I need to look around the corner again. Tank has gone quiet, and I’m terrified of seeing his face when I make my next move.
My body is buzzing with the rush and the fear. This needs to be over soon because I don’t think I can take much more of it.
Please hurry, Rocco.
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” Tank calls.
His voice isn’t close. He’s still on the other side. I safely round the corner and lean my head against the wood. My pulse is thumping.
Hang in there.
Rocco will be here any second.
I close my eyes.
Please stay with me, Celia.