Harlan Coben: Shelter

Ema said, “Uh, it’s getting kinda yellow in here.”

Yellow. The code word.

I wasn’t sure what to do. Sure, we had talked about a code word-but not really what to do if Rachel or Ema actually, uh, said it. I had to get them out, that much was clear, but how? If I called the cops, well, Juan/Antoine had warned me where that might lead. Do I just run through the front entrance myself? Would that work? Wouldn’t that also set Buddy Ray off?

I started prying at the door again. It wouldn’t give.

“Tee-hee,” Rachel started up again, “okay, sure, let’s do the audition. But first I have to go tinkle.”

I stopped. Tinkle?

That was what one of the guys said too: “Tinkle?”

“Tee-hee. Like go to the little girls’ room? Tinkle? You know, silly.”

“Or as our friend Buck says,” Ema added, clearly for my benefit, “we have to go wee-wee.”

“Oh,” a male voice said.

Then another: “The dressing room is over on the left. You might as well change into one of the, um, costumes while you’re there, Bambi.”

“You too, Tawny.”

Tawny and Bambi. How imaginative.

I waited by the door, not sure what to do. I heard some movement and then more commotion. Hopefully they’d find a way to get alone so they could talk to me.

A few seconds later, Ema said, “Mickey?”

“Where are you?” I said.

“In the dressing room,” Ema said. “Which, judging by what I’m seeing, should be called the undressing room. We haven’t seen Candy yet. You still in the car?”

“No.” There was no time to go into detail on my meeting with Antoine/Juan. “I’m outside in the alley by the fire door. Ask one of the girls where it is and then let’s just get out of here.”

“Okay.” I heard conversation. Then Ema came back on. “I think we know how to get…” She stopped.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

“Hello?”

Then Ema’s voice came back on the line. “I think I found Candy.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’s getting too dangerous. You two need to get out.”

“Just hang tight,” Ema said. “Oh, and put the mute back on.”

I wanted to ask more questions, but if she wanted the mute back on, there had to be a good reason. I could hear voices again, but I couldn’t really make anything out. I stood alone in the alley, hopping impatiently from one foot to the other. I tried to think of something to do, but there was really no option here.

I had to wait, no matter how helpless I felt.

Ema wasn’t talking anymore. Rachel wasn’t talking anymore. I could only hear background noises. I didn’t know what to make of that. Suppose something happened. Suppose they couldn’t talk. Was I just supposed to stand here doing nothing for… well, for how long? Five minutes? Ten? An hour? I remembered Buddy Ray’s face, the joy he took in hurting me. I thought about the fear in Candy’s eyes when we hurried past the “dungeon.”

How could I have let them go in there on their own?

Time passed. I don’t know how much. It might have been ten minutes, but it was probably more like two or three. And then, just when I thought that I might jump out of my skin from worry, the fire door opened.

It was Ema.

“Get in,” she said quickly.

“What? No. You get out.”

She stepped aside and now I could see Rachel and Candy standing there with her.

“Get in,” Ema said again.

There was no time to argue. Suddenly I was back inside that blue room with the throw pillows. The heavy fire door closed behind me. I glanced at both Ema and Rachel, who signaled that they were fine. I turned to Candy. She looked different now, though I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly had changed. She looked thinner somehow, more drawn, paler. There was a quake running through her face. Her lower lip trembled.

“Where’s Ashley?” I asked her.

Candy shrugged without conviction. “How would I know?”

“Because you e-mailed her,” I said.

Candy looked left, then right. “Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But she did. No question about that now. “You e-mailed her that you were in trouble. That’s why she came back here, right?”

Candy said nothing. The quake in her face got more pronounced. I put my hands on her shoulders and started shaking her. “Tell me where she is.”

Candy started sobbing.

“Where is Ashley?” I demanded, my voice a little louder.

Rachel said, “Mickey…”

I looked at her. She shook her head. I nodded. She was right. I was being too rough. Ema moved closer, sort of pushing me away from her. Rachel took Candy in her arms and stroked her hair.

Rachel’s voice was soft and comforting. “You e-mailed Ashley that you were in trouble.”

Candy nodded.

“What kind of trouble?”

Candy just shook her head. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

I felt my heart lurch when she said that.

“I know,” Rachel said gently. “It’s okay. Just tell us what happened.”

“Ashley was my best friend,” Candy said.

Ema glanced at her watch, then at me. I knew what she was thinking. The “boys” would only be patient so long with Rachel’s “tinkle.” We had to speed this up. Ema moved to the door to keep guard.

Rachel said, “You need to tell us what happened, Candy.”

Candy nodded, pulled away. She wiped away her tears with her sleeve. “We always said, Ashley and me, that we would get out of here together. You know? We had plans. We’d run away to California. We’d leave this all behind. It was just a dream. I mean, we both knew Buddy Ray would never let us go. But…” She looked up at Rachel, her eyes pleading. “Ashley escaped. Don’t you see? I thought Antoine had gotten her. But she ran away. And she didn’t take me with her.”

“She left you behind,” Rachel said, trying to sound understanding.

“She swore she would never do that,” Candy said, crying again. “He”-now she pointed her chin at me-“he told me that Ashley was fine. That she was in some rich-kid high school. How could Ashley do that to me?”

“So you set her up,” I said.

Her eyes shot hard at me. “I didn’t have any choice. Buddy Ray knew I helped you. He told me if I didn’t help him get her back, he’d kill me.” The tears started flowing again. “How? How could Ashley have just left me like that?”

“She didn’t,” I said, not wanting to go into details about Antoine’s real identity or the Abeona Shelter. “She was taken by surprise. If she contacted you, it would have risked everything.”

“So Ashley didn’t…?”

“She didn’t abandon you, no. Now, if you know where Ashley is…”

I looked at Ema. She was still checking outside the door. I turned back to Candy. Her face had fallen.

“There’s no hope,” Candy said.

A cold gust blew across my chest. “What happened?”

“You’re just a bunch of kids. You can’t defeat Buddy Ray. Do you know what he’ll do if he even knows I talked to you?”

Candy quickly rolled up the sleeve of her blouse. We squinted at what she was showing us. It didn’t register at first. Then Rachel gasped out loud.

There were two fresh cigarette burns on Candy’s arm.

“There’s more. That’s all I can show you.”

“Oh my God,” Rachel said.

I felt my stomach do flips. “And he has Ashley? Where are they?”

Candy shook her head.

“Please tell me.”

And then Candy did something that truly chilled me. She slowly lifted her head and looked all the way across the room. I followed her gaze and saw now that Candy was looking at a door.

The door that led to the dungeon.

Suddenly there were voices coming closer. Ema turned and harsh-whispered, “Mickey, hide!”