The place they'd been holding us was huge. It looked like an old abandoned factory, or maybe a shipping center. Rusted metal and cracked cement were everywhere.
I saw the truck parked between a gaggle of bikes. We headed right for it, and Brass handed me the keys to open the door. He passed Jackie back to me when I was in my seat. She barely fit on my lap in the truck.
The dream-like coma my brain was in while I was on that chair started lifting. I looked at him and blinked, feeling the life come back into my tongue.
“Jesus, Brass. Can you believe what just –“
“Don't talk yet, babe. Not 'til we're on the road heading for the state line.”
He pushed the key into the ignition. The truck growled to life, and Jackie twitched in my arms as he peeled a tight circle, aiming for an old gate.
Shit. My sister's eyes lit up and she shook her head, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.
“Hold onto her tight!” Brass growled. “We're gonna hit a little bump when we go over.”
I backed up in my seat and clutched Jackie tight, burying her face in my chest. Bump was an understatement. The truck bounced in the air as it flattened the chain link fence, bounding over a depression in the ground, then tearing through the tall overgrown grass outside for several feet before we hit the road.
Jackie clawed at me like a scared kitten. “Missy? What the fuck?!”
“Shhh. Easy, sis. We're almost home.”
The warehouse – factory? – whatever the hell it was, the place was just a small dot by the time she finally got herself seated between us. My little sister's eyes were bugged out, looking between me and Brass.
“What happened to those men? They knocked out Christa and grabbed me, held something strong to my face so I couldn't breathe...”
I didn't want to say. How was I supposed to explain away the ruthless bastards who'd punched her tutor out and dragged her to the shitty warehouse, where she'd mercifully slept during the torture and death I'd witnessed? But silence was going to panic her. I swallowed hard, trying to make my brain work.
“You had a bad nightmare, Jackie. There's no men, no –“
Brass shot me an angry look. “Don't bullshit the girl, babe. Tell her the truth. We're on the road and we're not coming back here 'til it's safe. I'm protecting you both.”
He was right. Guilt swelled in my chest, and I grabbed my sister's hand, trying to find the strength I'd had just a day ago. Watching Serial nearly rip her to pieces had sucked it out of me – hopefully not forever.
“We got attacked,” I said with a heavy sigh. “It's okay now. Brass and his friends got us out...we're on our way somewhere they can't hurt us anymore. It'll be all right, Jackie. I swear.”
Can you really make those promises? Doubt swirled in my brain. I wanted to believe I could, wanted to keep her safe...but if it wasn't for the other men, even Brass wouldn't have been able to save us this time.
“Stop talking to me like I'm a fucking kid!” Jackie screamed, shoving me in the shoulder.
“Jackie!” I grabbed her wrists, trying to hold her down.
She was surprisingly strong for a teen. Brass' knuckles went white as he gripped the steering wheel, trying to ignore the screaming match going on inside the truck.
“I've been through the exact same crap as you, sis. It's like you've forgotten,” Jackie said, tears sliding down her red cheeks. “Daddy died and screwed up big time, leaving us money we never deserved. I get that. I know it's the reason these men captured us. I can put two and two together, Missy. I'm old enough to handle this.”
You shouldn't have to, I wanted to say. But she was right – and it hurt for me to see the cold truth. All this hell we'd been through forced my little sister to grow up before her time.
“It's my job to make sure you don't have to,” I snapped. “And...and I think I'm fucking failing at it. You want the truth? I don't know what tomorrow's going to bring anymore. I want to find a way out for both of us, and I keep digging, trying to find the light...but there's just more darkness ahead. Even when Brass is in the lead. There's so many things he can't control. No one can.”
“Whatever.” Jackie covered her face, turning away from me and burrowing into the worn seat.
“You said your piece,” Brass said, glancing at me as he drove. “Let her get some rest. We had a close fucking call back there. We'll all feel better by morning.”
I looked through the darkness at him, annoyed. I shouldn't have needed any advice about how to handle this...but shit, what did I really know about this life? What did I know about my own sister?