Ryan was thankful when they finally pulled up to an old warehouse that looked close to falling in on itself. He could finally get out and put some distance between Craig and himself. Esposito and the others would be crashing in soon.
He turned to the back of the van where Craig walked to open the doors. A half dozen girls stepped out. They were all drunk and one could barely stand on her own feet. "You have a lot of friends for the party."
"What can I say? Ladies love me." Craig laughed as he started to lead them all inside.
Ryan followed behind slowly, casting a quick look over his shoulder. His backup was supposed to already be here. He knew they had to stay a few blocks away so Craig never caught on but this was pushing it a little close.
He went inside anyway to keep Craig from growing suspicious. He called him over to the front of the group. "Kelly, sweetie, come here."
Ryan slowly walked to him, wobbling slightly in his heels. Craig wrapped his arm around his waist, letting his hand rest on his ass. "We're going to have some fun tonight. So why don't we all head down this hall?"
Looking down the dark hallway, Ryan knew he didn't want to go down it. "Where are we going?"
"To the party, my dear."
Ryan had to smile and nod to keep his cover up. He let Craig push him down deeper into the hall and farther away from where Esposito would find him. "Is there a window in here we could roll down?" Ryan asked, remembering the code. "It's hot in here."
"Don't you worry. I'll take care of that in a second."
Soon, the hallway came to an end and they walked through doors into an open room. There were bright lights and nothing else except for a few folding chairs. "Ladies, do you mind lining up against the wall?"
Ryan felt his heart beating faster and faster. Where was his team?
"I thought we were celebrating my birthday somewhere private?" Ryan asked, hoping to get him away from these girls.
"Of course we are, but we just have a few things to take care of."
Ryan was debating whether or not he could take Craig on alone when another male voice came from behind him. "Hey, man, got some nice broads tonight."
Ryan cursed under his breath, keeping it low so only the microphone around his neck could pick it up.
"Hey, Bobby," Craig said, tightening his grip on Ryan. "You wouldn't believe it. You remember that chick from the restaurant I told you about?"
The man came in front of them and looked Ryan up and down. He desperately wanted to both pull his dress up and down to cover his chest as this dirtbag eyed him like a piece of meat. "This her?"
"You bet."
Bobby laughed loudly. "Well, ain't that something? You were gonna go lookin' for her but she came to you."
"It's fate." Craig laughed as well as he slid his hand up his dress to hold his ass with only the underwear standing between their skin.
Ryan smiled through his cringe. So even if Ryan refused to help out with the case, he'd still end up here. Just much less prepared.
"I'll go get the water set up, have these beautiful ladies ready and we'll start," Bobby said before turning around and walking back to the other side of the room where there was a door to walk through.
Ryan frowned, trying to think of what water he could be setting up.
"Girls, do me a favor and step out of your clothes," Craig called over to the women. It scared Ryan that they didn't even protest before stripping. He turned his gaze away, unable to violate these poor girls. Ryan was starting to wonder if they were influenced by a little more than alcohol.
"Why are they getting out of their dresses? They're dressed for the party." Ryan asked.
"I have better dresses for you all," Craig answered.
"M-Me?" Ryan stuttered, trying hard to keep up with his act. "But this is my birthday dress."
"Oh come on, a little slut like you. You knew you'd be getting out of this dress tonight." Craig purred, leaning too close to him.
"I didn't imagine it like this," Ryan replied honestly.
Chuckling, Craig said, "Oh, you're right. You've probably been imaging me undressing you since the moment you said your tight little ass in my seat."
Ryan wanted to fight him but there was still no backup. Sure, the phone was still in the car but it couldn't take took long to find where they were in the warehouse.
Craig's hands were on the hem of his dress and pulling it down. He had to tug with some force to get it from around his hips. Ryan's felt himself grow hot at the embarrassment of being stripped down when this was supposed to be an easy 1, 2,3 takedown.
Ryan closed his eyes as the dress fell to his ankles and Craig started to work on his underwear. The bra came off faster than he could ever take it off himself and then his panties joined the dress at his ankles.
Craig grabbed his wrists so he wouldn't be able to cover himself. His eyes trailed down his nude body excruciatingly slow. "I can't wait to get inside your hot little bod."
The second Craig let go of his wrists, he turned around to make his way to the wall. He stood there still, not looking Craig in the eye. The girl next to him was babbling about something but her slurred speech was making the words unrecognizable. She looked young, barely 21, and was struggling to stay on her feet.
"Let 'em go, Bob!" Craig shouted.
Before Ryan could wonder what the hell he was talking about, they were sprayed with freezing cold water. It hit him hard in the face and he gasped, only resulting in swallowing water. He panicked, grabbing the locket around his neck. He wasn't sure if the microphone would work after being soaked.
For the next few painful and long seconds, Ryan couldn't move as the harsh spray of water stung him worse than he thought it could. The longer the water sprayed him, the more he felt like he was underwater drowning. And drowning in ice cold water brought back memories he wished he could keep buried.
Lockwood.
And it was entirely stupid and irrational to find himself being tortured again. He wasn't in that basement and he wasn't swallowing ice water allowing it to slowly fill his lungs. But his mind definitely decided to connect the two events.
When it finally stopped, he was left shivering. The girl next to him lost her balance and would have fallen if Ryan hadn't caught her.
"Thanks," she mumbled. She looked up at the ceiling with a frown. "Didn't know it was supposed to rain today."
Ryan let her fall carefully to a sitting position on the ground against the wall. He kneeled next to her to make sure she was okay and also to cover himself up. Unfortunately, a rough hand was on his back too soon.
"That wasn't too bad was it?"
"Cold," Ryan replied as his teeth chattered. He was still trying to chase the last memories of Lockwood out of his mind.
Craig grabbed his hand and brought him up to his feet. Ryan shivered at how freezing he was and could not hide himself from Craig's hungry eyes. "Now you're all nice and clean."
Of course. They wanted to clean up their products before they sold them to who the hell knew. Bobby came back now that he wasn't controlling the water. In his hand were white hospital gowns.
Craig took one from his hands and said, "I'm going to give my girl here her birthday present. Can you take care of the others for now?"
"'Course, boss." Bobby winked as he looked Ryan up and down one last time.
Craig wrapped an arm around him again and started to lead him towards another door. Ryan wanted to grab that gown from Craig's hands to have a little decency but he didn't think he'd be able to get it.
"Can I have that?" He decided to ask.
"Why? I thought we both wanted you just like this." Craig opened the door and pushed Ryan through. He looked around the small room where there were a dozen cages along the wall. Inside, Ryan could see girls curled up on their sides.
"That water was freezing."
The moment the door was closed and they were inside the room, Craig had Ryan crowded against the nearest empty cage. His back hit the cold metal hard and he hissed in pain. Immediately, Craig was rocking his body against his. "Things are about to heat up, don't worry."
Ryan squeezed his eyes shut when Craig's face went into his neck. His hands were grabbing Ryan's wrists to keep him in place so thankfully, he wasn't groping him with them. He was rubbing himself on him though and the metal bars were painfully cutting into his backside.
"You want this, bitch. It'll be okay." Craig growled before biting Ryan's neck hard enough to hurt but to break the skin.
Ryan wanted to say something to distract Craig but he couldn't get his mouth to work. Then a hand left his wrist and was trailing down his stomach. Just as he cupped him roughly, Bobby's voice came shouting from outside the door.
"Yo, C, we got a problem out here. Girl won't stop puking!"
Craig stopped moving and Ryan went still. Craig groaned and ripped his hands off of Ryan. "I'll be right back, baby." He stormed out the door and could be heard screaming at Bobby the entire way back to the other girls.
Ryan didn't move even after the door slammed shut. He took in a deep breath and let it out shakily. "Where are you?" He asked his necklace in a small voice. Hopefully, Javier could still hear him.
"Don't bother fighting him," a soft voice said.
Ryan jumped slightly as he stared down at the cage next to his. He saw a young teenager sitting in the corner of the cage. Ryan saw the white gown on her and remembered to grab his that Craig had dropped. He pulled it over him and kneeled in front of her cage, "What?" He asked.
She sighed. "If you don't fight him, he gets what he wants and leaves. If you fight him, he beats you close to unconsciousness, takes what he wants and leaves. There's no point in trying to fight him. Trust me."
"I'm not giving him anything."
She laughed sourly. "I thought that too. Now, look at me. I've been here for months and it's the same thing: sex, shower down and then rotting in these cells. But it's better than being with the others. It's better to be here than sold to men who can't even speak English to be some sex toy for their gangs."
Ryan took his her blonde hair and blue eyes. She fit the age as well and her face definitely looked familiar. "You're Cassie."
She leaned closer to Ryan. "Do I know you?"
Ryan smiled softly. "I'm a detective. I'm here to get you free and all the other girls."
She laughed again. "You're here to get me out? You looked just as stuck as me, buddy."
"I have backup coming. They just must have run into a little problem but they'll be here soon."
"I wouldn't count on it," she said, looking down at her feet. "I've been here for who knows how long and I'm still here."
"December 15."
"What?"
"It's December 15, 2016."
"Oh," she said and paused in thought. "I've been here since May 10. It was the day before my junior banquet."
Ryan slipped his fingers through the bars. "I'm going to get you out of here. I promise."
Cassie grabbed his fingers with her own and let her forehead fall to the bars. "Please," she whispered.
Ryan leaned in closer to offer her more comfort when the door came slamming open. Ryan jumped back, hoping to keep the attention from Cassie. It was too late.
"So you've met my little friend." Craig grinned. "I'm sure she'd love to join us but for now I'd like for it it to be just you and I. Special birthday gift, remember?" He grabbed Ryan by the hair and pulled him up.
Ryan hissed and rushed to get to his feet so his weight wasn't being supported by his hair. He pushed him up against the cage again. His hands went roaming down the front of his gown but at least he wasn't naked anymore.
"Aw, you covered up?" Craig whined as his hands moved to his shoulders. Before he could pull the gown down, Ryan grabbed his hands and guided them to his ass. Craig smirked. "I knew you were a little slut looking for a man like me to come make you happy."
Ryan just ignored him. He had to wait until the right moment to knock him out on his ass. If he did it at the right time, he would go down in a second. If he messed up, he would only be pissed.
So Ryan flipped their positions around so he was the one pushing Craig into the cage. He started to roll his hips against Craig to keep him pinned. "You go, baby," Craig moaned, his eyes fluttering closed when Ryan rubbed his thigh on the bulge in his pants.
Ryan smirked and grabbed the collar of Craig's shirt to pull his head closer. "Time for my birthday kiss," Ryan whispered. But instead of bringing Craig's head closer so their lips touched, he slammed his head backward into a metal bar.
Craig's rolled to the back of his head and he fell in a pile of limbs in front of him.
"No fucking way," Cassie said from her cage, her wide eyes on her tormentor's unmoving form.
Ryan didn't waste any time before he was kneeling by Craig's body and he started to feel around his pockets for a key. If he needed to, he could pick the lock with the bobby pin hidden in his hair.
But there was a key so, Ryan was able to unlock Cassie from her cage. He held his hand out for her to grab. He helped her out and the minute she was standing straight, she wrapped her arms around Ryan. "Thank you so much," she said tearfully into his shoulder.
Ryan wrapped his arms around her and said, "It's no problem." Cassie let go and he met her eyes with a smile. "So what do you say we lock his ass up?"
She didn't need to be told twice before she was dragging his legs. Ryan grabbed his wrists and helped her move him into the now empty cage. Ryan handed her the lock to secure the shut door.
"Now what?" She asked.
"Now," he replied, "we hope the next person to come through that door is my partner and not one of Craig's buddies."