Van
Nearly twenty years ago
My pulse quickened as the raised voices came into range. A cyclone of thoughts ran through my brain at sonic speed, the most pressing being, What the fuck was happening?
As I pushed the key into the lock on my apartment door, I chastised myself for still living here, for putting Madison and Lena in danger. The volume of their voices exploded as the door swung inward. The entryway was as it had been when I left for the office this morning. The table and mirror were in place. I moved slowly, hoping to surprise whoever was here.
Butler. That was my first thought.
The fucker hadn’t pressed charges when I beat the shit out of him. It was more than likely because my attorneys contacted him first. The agreed-upon mutual decision was that if Butler didn’t want his ass in court as the defendant in a case charging him with domestic violence and the purchase of sexual services—not something that bodes well for him as an attorney himself—and also as a witness in a second case against Infidelity, the piece-of-shit company that employed Lena and let her contract be bought out by Butler, then he’d keep his mouth shut about the beating I gave him.
Who was with Lena and Madison?
They were the only voices I heard above the roar of my blood circulating in my ears as I crept closer to the kitchen, near the back of the apartment.
I fucking needed a gun.
Why didn’t I own a gun?
Then I remembered Lena’s gun.
Did she have it?
Lena was the first to come into view. I moved closer, using to my advantage the element of surprise. “What the hell?”
My gaze darted between the two women. No one else was present. Both of their eyes grew large, probably thinking I’d lost my fucking mind.
“Van,” they both said in unison.
“Holy fuck, I could hear you from the hallway. What the hell is going on?”
Madison crossed her arms over her breasts and tightened her jaw. “I’m sick and tired of being held prisoner in this apartment.”
“You’re not a prisoner,” Lena replied. “It’s for your—”
“Own good,” Madison interrupted, her arms flying high before falling as she slapped her thighs.
Admittedly, I was having trouble shifting from emergency alert to following this ridiculous and loud conversation. “Wait.” I lifted my hand. “Why is this World War III?”
“Madison wants…”
“I need freedom…”
They both spoke at the same time.
I shook my head. “First, the apartment is temporary. I’ve got a deal in the works. When it pans out, we’re going to have everything we want.”
“What deal?” Lena asked.
“I just want to be free to work or shop or breathe,” Madison added as she took a seat at the kitchen table.
“We need to get away from Chicago,” I said. “Butler’s too close and he knows where I live.”
Lena turned to Madison. “Which is why you’re not leaving the apartment.”
“You both leave, every day.”
My gaze met Lena’s, silently saying that Madison was right. Lena and I both went out into the world. Even though her payment from Infidelity showed up in her bank account last month, she wasn’t certain it would the next. There were still four more months on the contract, but she hadn’t seen Nicholson or Butler since the night I brought her here.