I had to do something to keep my mind busy. I may be running on zero sleep but the adrenaline rush from the interview had chased away any notations of sleep I may have had. Any time that I let my mind wander I would see Joey advancing on me with his weapon drawn, or the feel of Creeper’s hands while he forced my head into a specific rhythm, or relive the shock of learning the Joey was an undercover FBI agent. I needed to stop that from happening, thus the need to do something to keep my mind busy.
I decided to go to Grace’s apartment a grab her clean clothes to change into. Everyone feels more comfortable in their own clothes. When I got to the address that was listed in the original missing person’s report I was a little shocked. It was located in a run-down area within Hunts Point. The front door to the building didn’t close properly and didn’t lock. I was able to simply open the heavy door and step inside. The inner doors to individual apartments looked more secure and when I reached 3A, I knocked loudly on the door. I heard someone moving around within the apartment and I reached behind me to lightly grasp the gun I had tucked in my waistband. There was scraping that sounded like someone was releasing a chain lock and then the door was opened by a young woman dressed in yoga pants and a sports bra with her brown hair pulled up in a tight ponytail.
“What do you want?” Ms. yoga pants asked in an impatient voice.
“I am here to pick up some clothes for Grace Harris.”
“Of course, she is sending people to bother me to get her clothes instead of getting off her fat ass herself,” the girl said before flinging the door open and walking into the apartment. I wanted to chastise this girl for letting a stranger into her apartment without even asking for a name or a relationship to Grace but decided it would cause too much drama. Ms. yoga pants pointed her finger in the direction of a closed door. “That’s Grace’s room. Please hurry, I have a class to get to.” I hoped it was an exercise class and she wasn’t going to attend a class at Colombia dressed like that.
I walked through Grace’s door and found a neat but bare bedroom. There was an old white wrought iron queen bed pushed up against the wall and a sturdy-looking desk on the opposite wall. There was a laptop and several textbooks on the desk and even more books piled on the ground. Other than a few photos pushed into the sides of her mirror the only thing that the room held was clothes. Grace had an impressive collection of clothes, shoes, and accessories.
Overall the room felt impersonal and cold. Combine that with the annoying roommate and the lack of decent security and I developed a strong dislike for Grace’s apartment. I pulled out my phone and looked up the distance to Columbia University and saw that this apartment was located over six miles from campus. In New York traffic, it would take her anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour to get to class. I made a snap decision and went to the closet to find any luggage that Grace owned. I pulled out one large rolling bag and one duffle and started filling them with things from the small bedroom. It took me only ten minutes to fill each of the bags and estimated I had 70% of everything within the room.
I hefted the duffle bag on my shoulder and pulled the other one behind me as I walked out of the apartment without saying another word to Ms. yoga pants. When I got to the curb, I called the hotel and ordered another rental car to be brought to my location. While I waited for the car, I looked up a real estate agent in the Harlem area.
I was going to buy Grace a more suitable and safer apartment located closer to Columbia University.
During the process of picking out and buying a condo, I received several calls and texts from Mia. Clearly, Mia wanted to talk and wasn’t going to take the hint that I wanted to be alone. I wasn’t in the mood to be psychoanalyzed but Mia was doing me a favor and I hadn’t seen her in over a year. I finally texted back to have her meet me at the mall and headed that way myself.
“Don’t tell me you have decided to pick up shopping as a hobby,” Mia said as soon as she was close enough for conversation, “because I won’t believe you. There are too many people at malls for you to keep your eyes on.” I shifted slightly and had to agree with Mia. I had been waiting for Mia outside a Macys with the building to my back so no one could sneak up on me, but there were dozens of people flowing in and out of the building.
“Well then it is a good thing you are here Professor, you can help me keep an eye out.” I had met Mia when she had been dragged in to teach a class at my University. I had taken the class, Psychology of Abuse, as a freshman purely out of curiosity. I quickly discovered that Dr. Hollinger really knew what she was talking about and the next girl that I smuggled out from under the consigliere I had brought to Mia.
“Of course, personally I love shopping. Are we looking for anything in particular today?” I shifted on my feet again. The logical side of my brain knew that dropping over a million dollars on a condo for someone else who hadn’t asked for or seen it was not normal. Mia would know that I had done it because of all that had happened in the last two days. I was embarrassed to emit what I had done.
“I kind of bought Grace a new, safer condo and we need to get all the things that go in it. Like sheets and fancy couch pillows.” Mia’s piercing green eyes searched mine and I tried not to squirm under the scrutiny.
Mia decided not to press the issue right now and turned to face the department store doors. “That is quite a lot of shopping. I am glad you brought me in. Now, how many bedrooms?”
We spent the next couple of hours shopping and by the time we exited the mall, my nerves were shot and the sun was setting. We piled all we had bought into my rental car and drove over to the new condo. It was located on a top floor in a high-rise building that had a doorman/security guard at the front desk. The doorman enlisted some building employees to help us bring the massive amount of stuff we had bought up to the condo. I had bought the furniture that the realtor had used to stage the apartment, so it was not empty when we entered.
“Wow this place is beautiful,” Mia cooed. “I think it might be nicer than my place.” She walked through the apartment and checked out all the rooms. I pulled out the bags that contained the bedding Mia had picked out for Grace’s room and headed down the hall to the master bedroom. I had put the bags containing Grace’s things in the room earlier. Mia joined me in the bedroom and went to check out the walk-in closet and the master bathroom.
“I was hoping to get this room set up for Grace before she gets released from the hospital tomorrow, so she feels like she has her own safe place to be in,” I stated. Mia came out of the bathroom and started opening the packaging on the king-sized sheets.
“That is a good idea. I am sure she is going to love it. I mean did you see that bathtub?” I had watched Mia talk to dozens of traumatized girls and recognized that she was keeping the conversation light on purpose. Soon she would ease into talking about feelings and coping mechanisms. I didn’t like being led or manipulated into anything, so I decided to just rip the band-aid off.
“In order to find where the cartel was keeping Grace and the other girls, I got myself kidnapped. I was forced to give a guy named Creeper a blowjob, almost got my throat slit, and had a minor panic attack when Joey burst through the door to save me. Oh, and in order to get the location of another batch of kidnapped girls I had to tell my background including my relationship with Joey in an FBI integration room to the psychotic leader of the cartel.” I said my entire recap while pulling the fitted sheet onto the mattress and studiously kept my attention on my task and away from Mia.
I almost jumped out of my skin when Mia wrapped her arms around me from behind. Mia was undeterred by my skittish response and held onto my shoulders. “Why does the worst shit keep happening to you?” Mia asked with her face pressed against my back. I had never heard Mia curse before and was surprised at this display of affection. Mia had always respected my need for personal space.
“Umm, I was also stabbed in the back last month and your nose is pressing into my healing stitches.” That got Mia to release me and step back in a hurry.
“Stabbed? Payton, I thought that you got out of danger after the trial was over. Isn’t that the whole purpose of witness protection? You get to start a new life. A new, safe life. What in God’s name are you involved in now that gets you stabbed and kidnapped?” Mia demanded in an exasperated voice.
I shrugged my shoulders and replied in a small voice, “I thought I would try my hand at working at a private security firm. You know, protect people and be one of the good guys.”
“Oh honey, you were always one of the good guys. You just got dealt a really bad hand of cards in life and had to work to survive. But think of all the girls that you saved from having to endure the childhood that was forced on you. You are a good person.”
When I wouldn’t meet her eyes she continued, “Would a bad person allow herself to get kidnapped just to find some girls that they had never met before? Would a bad person open old emotional wounds to keep the search going for a different set of girls? You need to forgive yourself for the things that happened when you were under The Family’s control.” I finally looked up into Mia’s green eyes and allowed my walls to drop enough to let in what she was saying. A single tear rolled halfway down my cheek before I could wipe it away.
“Can we-” I paused to swallow the lump in my throat, “Can we just set up the bedroom please?”
“Of course. But after this one room, you must get some sleep. You look like the walking dead,” Mia replied before turning to set up the master bathroom.
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