Page 30 of Zero

“I just need a name and your age,” I said, staying close to the door. “We are trying to get you outta here.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you should have told me what you were doing.” My little one walked in.

“Her name is Ari Hamilton, and she’s fourteen,” she said, getting on the bed to hold her. “They are with me.”

The girl immediately went into her arms. I could see the affection she had for her and Ari looked relieved to have her in the room with me.

“Can I have a picture?” I asked, holding up my phone. “I need to find your missing person’s report.”

The girl looked at Ally before nodding. I opened my camera app, snapping a photo of her. We did the same thing for the next three girls. They all looked scared except the last girl. She was angry and didn’t hide her disdain. From what Little One told us, they hadn’t been touched, just scared, malnourished and roughed up.

I hated leaving the girls, but we couldn't risk being seen. The moment we walked back into her room, King took his phone out of his pocket then showed it to me.

The Mayor – Contract kill - Kris and anyone associated with him is to be reprimanded. See you at Midnight.

I looked at King and he nodded. Looks like we got permission to kill, and I was fucking ready for it.

15

Ally

Ididn’t expect to have so much anxiety when they left. Boogie argued about staying to protect me, but King said they had to leave, and they would be back tonight. He looked at me to help him calm Boogie down. It felt wrong, but I lied saying I would be ok and to come back quickly.

Kris didn’t come see me like I thought he would, which made me feel even more nervous. I knew he was going to kick my ass or worse, let the men have me and drug me up again. I shivered at the thought, praying that they saved me before that happened.

I showered and changed for the day. Once I was in my elf outfit, I grabbed breakfast for the girls and checked in on them. It hurt my heart to see fear in their eyes every time I came into their room. This was a life I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

There was still no sign of Kris or Dale, his right hand. I cleaned the photo station and pulled out what I needed. The town was coming alive as people arrived for work. Most of these people had no clue what was going on behind closed doors and if they did, Kris always took care of them. We had a handful of people who worked the front and the back end of the business. Kris kept it like that to ensure we didn’t have people running their mouths to the wrong person.

I shivered, wondering if I was next. After last night, I didn’t know how he could have believed that King was Daryl. I wasn’t going to think about it because honestly, I just needed him to believe it until tonight.

My nerves made me nauseous all day, each loud noise made me jump and when we were getting ready to close there still was no sign of Kris or his lackey. He usually kept tabs on me and the town, occasionally walking around.

Once the last person had left, I was not feeling well. The sense of dread had been intensifying throughout the day and I had a weird sense of foreboding. This night needed to end quickly. I finished cleaning and putting away everything. I walked around the town watching shops close up and our vendors pack up.

I knew the moment I got back, it might get violent, and I didn’t know what sick punishment he had in store for me this time. My body grew hot the moment I stepped into the building, walking to my room. Maybe I should have gone with Boogie and King.

The hallways were fairly empty as I made my way to my room. I showered and changed into a large shirt with leggings. Both had seen better days. I threw my hair in a messy bun before going to check on the girls. I opened Ari’s door, but it was empty.

No… No… No…

I rushed to the other girl's room to find all of them empty. Did he sell them? Did he kill them? Vomit burned my throat wondering if I had sealed their fate last night. Tears gathered in my eyes as I fell to my knees. I tried to get my shit together. I couldn’t panic, those girls relied on me.

Taking a deep breath I stood up, walking to the packaging room. Maybe he told them to help. The room was empty when I looked in and I knew this was bad or that something hadhappened last night. I walked around aimlessly trying to decide what to do.

Should I run? I didn’t have time to decide when someone covered my mouth and pulled me backwards. I kicked and screamed, but I was no match for whoever it was. There was a reason Kris liked small women, we couldn’t fight back, and even if we could, we’d be no match for men almost twice our size.

I was dragged to the main room that held most of the meetings, and where Kris liked to play king. He had let power go to his head, and these last few years he had become more and more ruthless, but also very sloppy. I was thrown on the floor in front of Kris, who was sitting on some big obnoxious chair.

I sat up looking around to see most of his guys here. My throat was dry, my heart was racing, and this was probably the end of my time here on earth. Kris and I stared at each other until I heard the girls being dragged in.

They had been beaten and one of them was unconscious. My heart constricted, failure ran through me, and I let out a cry. I stood up, ready to go to them when a gun was pressed to my head. This wasn’t the first time this had happened and as brave as I wanted to be, dying didn’t help them.

They were all forced to kneel in front of me. Ari was trembling, Fatima was crying uncontrollably and Jo was just glaring at the men. Sera was dumped on the floor, I prayed she was not dead already.

“I believed your story yesterday, until a little birdy told me that those men you were with were none other than King and Boogie.” He sat forward, clasping his hands together. “Did you spread your legs open for them so that they would help you?”

I stared at him, there was no point in giving him an answer, he had already made his conclusion.

---