“Does it matter?”
“No, but I want to know ...”
“It’s just the name that we came up with. A brotherhood.”
“Why did you pick that, though?”
“Why are you asking so many fuckin’ questions?” he snaps.
“I think I’m allowed to ask a damned question considering you haven’t asked me any, like the one where you asked me if I wanted to be here ...”
His jaw clenches and he gives me a hard look before muttering, “Johnny, Aiden, Greg, George, Eddie, and Rusty. Think you can figure out what that spells. Been together since we were kids, and it stuck. All the boys except Rusty go by created names, which is what you hear me call them - Angel, Ace, Bull, and Snake.”
So they’re basically a gang?
“You’re a gang, then?”
“We’re not a fuckin’ gang. We’re a brotherhood.”
“Same thing,” I say, tipping my head to the side. “You’re like an MC without the motorbikes.”
“Be very careful what comes out of your mouth next,” he snips, his voice a warning.
I cross my arms, glancing around the house again. “Can I come out of that room?”
He’s over at the sink now and he stops moving again at my question. Without turning, he says. “You will stay in there because I don’t trust you.”
“Please, you can supervise. I don’t want to spend the next ... however long ... in that damned room. Surely you have some heart.”
He spins around, slamming a glass down onto the bench. “This isn’t a hotel, princess, you’re not here to enjoy yourself. If the room isn’t good enough for you, I have a dark basement riddled with rats that you might prefer?”
I grit my teeth. “Fine.”
His eyes lock onto mine. “Trust me, we’re not the only people looking for you. If Manchez and his gang got hold of you, that room would look like fuckin’ paradise. You should think yourself lucky.”
“Who is this Manchez anyway?” I ask.
“Manchez is the most feared gang leader in this city, and he wants the information your father has. You don’t even realize the danger you were in, do you?”
“It would appear not,” I mutter.
“As I said, think yourself lucky we got you.”
“What about my sister?”
“She ain’t his child. As far as anyone knows, you’re the only one he cares about.”
“How did I not know I was in danger if so many people are apparently after me?”
“It took a while to link back to him, but when we did, we figured out we weren’t the only ones after what he knew.”
Right.
That’s just fan-fucking-tastic.
“Can I go back to my room? I’m done sharing life stories.”
I push out of my chair and walk back into the room and over to the bed I’m starting to realize is going to become very familiar in the coming weeks. I turn and face Jagger as he begins to pull the door closed. “How long am I going to be here?”
His hard gaze locks onto mine before he closes the door. “However long it takes.”
Then with that, he’s gone.
God help me.
3
Your mind will do crazy things when it’s left to just think. Five days, it has been five days since I’ve had human interaction. Whatever they’re doing out there, they no longer need me for it. I get tossed food, water, and am given zero conversation. I’ve paced, I’ve sung, I’ve danced, I’ve cried, I’ve done everything in my power to try and keep my mind from going crazy, but with my genetics and history, that isn’t going well.
It's on the morning of the sixth day that I decide I’ve had enough.
I’ve worked out the times to perfection, the times he comes in to drop off the food. I’m not spending another second in this hell hole; I’m getting out of here before him and his minions decide they no longer find me useful. What if they decide they can’t release me back into the world now I know what I do? Will they make me disappear just as they have so many before me, I’m sure?
I can’t let that happen.
My eyes zone in on the table where Jagger walks in and places my food trays. It’s near the door, a little to the left. He basically just steps in and places it down before ducking back out. If I drag the table a little further away, he’ll have to come into the room a bit more and when he does, I’ll take my chance. You see, in the mornings Jagger is alone, I can tell by how quiet the house is, not to mention I watch all the trucks roll in after lunch. The guys come in, they do whatever it is they do, then they leave.
If I can take Jagger down, I can get out of this house.
It took me a while to unscrew the lamp from the table, the smart bastard made sure it was fixed. I spent hours looking for something I could manipulate the screw with and managed to find a small paper clip behind the old desk that works. It took me hours, god, so fucking long, but I managed to move the screw enough to get the lamp off with some force. I’m going to use it when he enters this room, and I’m going to go home.