Part 45 (2/2)

Eden shook her head. ”I don't think he does, no. He really hasn't had any friends at all, since Deshawndra. Seriously, Dan, Neesha's the first person his age that he hasn't shut out.”

”Are you sure?” he asked. ”A boyfriend might be different. Maybe he wouldn't tell you. I mean, I don't think I told anyone about my first girlfriend...”

”There's this h.o.m.ophobic kid, Tim,” Eden said. ”At school. And this boy, Bo, he's got a crush on. Ben, not Tim. But Bo's so far in the closet...How did Ben put it? He can't even see the door.”

”Maybe Bo turned on the closet light,” Dan said. ”Jenn said Ben spent a lot of time earlier today doing something on Facebook.”

Eden didn't look convinced. ”I think he was trying to track down the boyfriend of that kid he met at Crossroads. Peter something, from Connecticut. He wanted to make sure Peter's friends knew he was at the facility here in Las Vegas. I didn't quite get it when Ben first told me-how could this boy's friends not know where he was, you know? But now it makes sense. If they s.h.i.+p kids across the country...”

”It's twisted,” Dan agreed.

”It's worse than twisted,” Eden said. ”Jenn said she thinks it's illegal. Transporting minors across state lines...? She's going to talk to Maria and that other lawyer, Linda Thompson.”

It was then, before Dan could say, that's good that's good, that it happened. There was a knock at the door.

They were both startled, and they both looked over to check the time on the VCR. It was 0213.

”Maybe Ben forgot his key,” Dan suggested. ”Maybe all the drama is going to end-right now.”

”Please, G.o.d,” Eden said as she stood up.

Dan stood, too, relentlessly cautious. ”Don't just open it-check the peephole first.”

Eden pointed to herself. ”Female, living alone?” she said, shooting her brother a you better believe it you better believe it look as she went to the apartment door and peeked out through the peephole. look as she went to the apartment door and peeked out through the peephole.

She'd expected it to be Izzy, but there was no one there. Or rather, there was no one there of his height. But when she looked down toward the concrete walkway...

”It's Neesha,” she said to Dan and to Jenn, too, who'd come to stand in the kitchen doorway. She pulled the door open and it was, indeed, Ben's freaky little friend, as Dan had so aptly called her.

The girl was a mess. She was still wearing the clothes she'd had on when Eden had spotted her near the Starbucks-a T-s.h.i.+rt beneath which the sequined straps of a hot-pink halter top peeked out, and a pair of black pants that were dusty and torn at the knees. Her hair was a matted, sweaty mess, and she had dirt mixed in with the streaks of perspiration and tears on her face.

”Oh, dear Lord,” Eden said. ”Get in here.”

The fact that the girl came swiftly inside, and even helped Eden close the door securely behind her was telling. She was terrified and exhausted. And had probably been running, full speed, since Eden had seen her last.

In the living room, Danny had gotten to his feet, but he sat back down as Neesha eyed him nervously.

Jenn, meanwhile, had gone back into the kitchen and she now brought Neesha a gla.s.s of water. ”Honey, here,” she said, handing it to the girl. ”Drink this. You're okay now. You're safe with us.”

But Neesha looked up after taking only a sip from the gla.s.s. And as she looked from Jenn to Eden and over to Danny in the living room, she said, ”But I'm not. And you're not safe here, either. They know where you live. They were here, in the courtyard.”

”Who was?” Jenn asked as Eden glanced over at Dan. Like her, he already knew what Neesha was going to say before she said it.

”The men who are chasing me,” Neesha said. ”They were here here. Four hours ago. I saw them. They took Ben.”

Danny snapped instantly into Navy SEAL mode, getting very decisive, very quickly, after Neesha told them, in pretty specific detail, what she'd seen and heard-and a condensed but no less horrific version of precisely why those men were chasing her. a condensed but no less horrific version of precisely why those men were chasing her.

The man from the mall, whose name apparently was Jake, had been in the courtyard with two other men-one of them named Todd, whom Neesha knew not only because he'd worked as a guard at the brothel where she'd been a slave, but because he'd also been one of her ”visitors,” or clients, for years.

Jenn didn't want to think about what that meant. And there really wasn't all that much time to focus on that aspect of the nightmare-because Neesha had overheard Jake telling the other two men to shoot and kill Dan and Izzy on sight. He had somehow known they were in the military and therefore a threat.

The girl had also overheard Jake telling his cohorts to wear masks-so their abductees would believe they would survive their kidnapping.

Which meant that the men who had taken Ben had every intention of killing him-no doubt immediately after he divulged Neesha's location.

Except Ben had no idea where Neesha was hiding.

And this time, Danny didn't need his uniform to become larger and commanding.

”Get your things,” he ordered both Jenn and Eden, ”your handbags, whatever. Grab Ben's insulin, too. We're leaving. In about thirty seconds.”

”I need to call Izzy,” Eden said, her phone already out in and in her hands.

”You can call him from the road,” Danny told her, checking to make sure he'd put his own cell phone into his jeans pocket.

”I'm calling him now,” Eden told him.

”Kill the light in the hall,” he said as Jenn stayed over by Neesha, giving the girl what she hoped was a rea.s.suring smile as the light went out so that Dan could go into the bedroom and look out the window and into the courtyard without being seen.

”He's not picking up,” Eden said. ”Come on, Izzy...Answer your phone!”

”Doesn't it seem really unlikely,” Jenn said as Dan turned off the bedroom light, ”that they'd come back here? They got what they wanted, right? When they took Ben? I mean, I know it's not safe for us to stay here, but to have to rush away?”

Dan stopped there in the bedroom doorway to grimly say, ”If they've had Ben for four hours, they know by now that he's got no information that'll help them find Neesha. So yes. They'll come back. To get Eden, who helped Neesha escape. They'll think she knows something, and they'll come while it's still dark.”

”Oh, my G.o.d,” Jenn said as he went into the bedroom.

”Eden, s.h.i.+t, come here,” Dan called in a rough whisper, and Eden followed him.

”Oh, c.r.a.p,” Jenn heard Eden say. ”That's him. The man with the gun, from the Starbucks. Izzy, where are are you?” you?”

”Oh, my G.o.d.” Jenn said again, her heart in her throat. ”Are you serious?”

”Keep watching them,” Dan commanded Eden, adding, ”Jenni, put the chain on the door and throw the bolt.” He limped out of the bedroom and over to the window in the living room-the one that looked out over the street-as he dialed his cell phone. ”s.h.i.+t. There's a van idling on the street. That's not good. Neesha, were you followed? Did anyone see you come here?”

The little girl was shaking her head, terrified. ”I was careful. I waited and watched-even after I saw you come home.”

This little chain on the door wasn't going to keep anyone out for long. Not if they wanted to get inside. Jenn turned back to Dan.

”There are two men in the courtyard,” he told her, even as he held his phone to his ear, ”and one of them is the man Eden tried to run over earlier tonight. They look like they're waiting for someone. Whether they're here for surveillance or...something else, they're sure as s.h.i.+t not even attempting to be covert-No, I can't hold-G.o.d d.a.m.n d.a.m.n it.” it.”

”If we try to leave,” Jenn started.

”They'll see us,” Dan confirmed, holding out his phone and glaring at it. ”There's no way we're sneaking out without that happening. And with my f.u.c.king leg, we can't outrun them-”

”Yeah, sorry,” Jenn said, looking around for something to push in front of the door, since leaving wasn't an option. ”But I'd bet big money you can still still run faster than me, even with your 'f.u.c.king' leg. So we hunker down. Shouldn't we call the police?” run faster than me, even with your 'f.u.c.king' leg. So we hunker down. Shouldn't we call the police?”

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