Eight squares fill the screen. There’s no movement on six of them. Just empty rooms. But one reveals a room with several women huddled together on the floor, they seem to be comforting one another. It’s not that room that’s so terrifying though.
As if reading my mind, he releases my waist to reach for his mouse and then opens the eighth square to make the visual on that room full screen. There’s no audio but the visual is crystal clear.
Edgar Finn.
He stands next to a bed wearing nothing but a pair of pants. His chest heaves as he takes deep breaths. Other than the small movement he makes breathing, he’s otherwise unmoving and fixated on the girl on the bed. Her stomach and thighs have been crisscrossed with bleeding cuts. Something, a rag maybe, gags her mouth and she’s bound with an appendage tied to each post of the bed.
A bloody star fish.
Just waiting to be released back into the sea.
“You’ll bleed out all over my Persian rug and I’ll drag your ass outside to dump you in the goddamned ocean.”
But she’s not bleeding out all over his rug. The blood slowly seeps from her wounds and runs down, soaking the comforter beneath her. Her eyes look past him and straight into the camera.
I recognize the look in her eyes. A look of despair and resignation. One that has come to the realization she’ll never see her family again.
“We have to save her,” I mutter, my voice barely audible as I jump to my feet. The room spins and his strong hands find my hips to steady me. He tries to pull me back into his lap but I start pacing the room. “Warren, you have to save her.”
When Edgar Finn starts moving closer to her and the glint of his blade shimmers in the light, I feel bile rising in my throat. Bolting from the office, I run as fast as I can to the guest bathroom and barely make it to the toilet before throwing up.
That girl. Nothing more than a commodity. Something for him to consume and then discard.
“You are nothing but a meal purchased to be devoured with greed and no restraint.”
I’m haunted by his words and it does nothing to help my nausea. I wish Land were here this evening instead of catching up on some work at the office. He could bring me a cold rag and some ginger ale. Land would take care of me like Dad would have. Instead, I’m left to deal with the sickness, the rage of what Edgar is doing, and the demons of my past all alone.
But you’re not alone.
War wants in. You have to let him in.
He will save you from yourself, Baylee.
War’s voice comforts me as he shouts at Stark over the phone, no doubt telling her to save that girl. His heavy footsteps can be heard as he paces around his house. He may not be able to physically comfort me right now, but I steal any comfort I can get. And just hearing him sound so powerful and strong has my nausea settling.
Let him in.
On shaky legs, I stand and quickly brush my teeth. After I wash my face, I make my way over to the guest bed and crawl onto it. Curling into a fetal position, I let my emotions take over. I cry myself to sleep hoping and praying they can save that girl.
Someone needs to save her from the monster.
And one day she can move on and be free again.
I just hope she doesn’t turn out like me.
Drifting.
Lost.
Alone.
She deserves to be free.
I STARE AT my phone.
With each second that ticks by, the next slower than the last, I grow more and more impatient. It pisses me off but I can’t speed things up. So, instead, I just stare at my phone willing Stark to call me back. But the call never comes. Finally, at just after midnight, I receive a text.
Stark: We got the bastard. An “anonymous” tip of a woman being harmed was enough to get the warrant we needed. Finn is in custody. The other eight women are being treated for minor injuries. Girl number nine is in the hospital but expected to fully recover. You did well, War. Thank you.
I let her words wash over me and I can’t fight the grin that spreads over my face. My initial reaction is to scream it through the house. To tell Baylee we’ve taken down one more monster in this godforsaken world.
But then I remember she’s already gone to sleep. After those horrifying images showed up on the video feed, she disappeared. I could hear her retching in the bathroom but I was too hopped up on adrenaline to let it get to my head. I’d wanted to go to her—to comfort her in her time of distress—but Stark needed to get to those women. I had to make sure I sent them right into the lion’s den before it was too late.
My feet carry me to the doorway where she sleeps and my heart sinks. She’s still curled up into a little ball, making her seem so much smaller. Day by day, the medicine makes me feel stronger. Levelheaded and calm. But I’ve been too focused on Finn. I haven’t stopped obsessing long enough to focus on my poor, sweet girl breaking apart before my very eyes.