JENNIE
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I could tell that she didn't want to leave me, and yet she did.
What does that say about her? What does it say about us?
At least she told me she wished she could tell me everything that's going on but she said it would be better if I didn't know.
I'm inclined to agree with that.
I've spent the last hour wondering if I simply waited in the foyer or the kitchen, if Aria would come. I bet they're all watching and waiting. The men would leave me alone to see what I'd do. But I don't want to be left alone. It would almost be better to be locked in here because then the thought of running wouldn't exist. I'd know I'm not able to.
The sound of construction outside wouldn't remind me that now is my only chance to run.
I've barely eaten anything. I simply haven't had an appetite. But given the state of my hunger, I have to. My stomach growls as I get out of bed, only to realize I'm still in the same clothes as yesterday. For a moment I consider changing, but I decide to just wash my face and brush my hair and teeth.
Even doing those simple tasks feels like a struggle and for a blip of a moment I'm reminded of what it was like when I was with Kai. When I fell into a horrible depression. As I spit out the water I rinsed my mouth out with, I stare at my reflection. A dull complexion and dark undereye circles stare back at me.
My first instinct is to call the doctor, but for what? I can't schedule an appointment. I'm fucking trapped here.
The beep, beep, beep of some construction vehicle backing up keeps me from breaking down entirely.
Gripping the edge of the sink, I remind myself, all I have to do is obey. It won't be like this forever. It's simply a test, isn't it?
As I walk out, I consider taking my phone. There are unread messages from my mother and there's no access to social media on it. I leave it there, and head down the quiet hall.
The doors that line it are still shut and I don't know what's behind them. I don't dare look. I don't dare do anything other than walk to the far end that leads to the foyer. There's no curiosity anymore. There is only waiting and the silence that's filled with unwanted thoughts.
I'll make coffee and maybe that will give me energy. I'll eat something and then wait in the kitchen. There's a large window there and the light will do me good. And maybe Aria will come. If she sees me, maybe she'll have some sympathy for me.
Maybe I won't be alone with my thoughts and memories that won't be quiet. My bare feet pad against the cold marble floor. As the beep, beep, beep gets louder, the irony of it all hits me.
In this place of luxury, I'm a pawn and a prisoner. All because I fell in love with a girl who I thought needed help. Who I wanted to help but didn't know how.
Maybe in some fucked-up way, I did this to myself. Light filters in through the massive front doors. They're gorgeous and intricate and I haven't attempted to open them even though Lisa said she'd leave them unlocked. She even gave me the code: 71017.
Vaguely I wonder if she did. I think about waiting here for Aria and asking her to open them. Just to see. I only want to know if Lisa lied to me. If that's the test.
I take a few steps closer, but not close enough to touch, only to look out just a bit. Only to see what I can see while I'm far enough away for her to know I won't run. There are cameras. They are always watching when I'm outside of the room. I know that much.
It could be over if only I asked her to open them. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't dare.
As I stand there, wondering if it could really all be done with if only someone opened the doors, a man's voice that chills me to my core is heard from the other side of the doors.
Paralyzed, I stand there and his shadow is cast along the carved glass.
"So it's true, then? That bitch sent it?"
I can't breathe. Nate's voice brings me back to the freezing cold bath. Over the memory of my screams I hear him say, "Lisa's going to lose her fucking mind. I don't want to be the one to tell her."
I try to inhale but my head is light and nothing inside is working right. My body trembles as I remember the bath.
"You're sure it was Jennie?"
I nearly collapse right there at the mention of my name and the venom he holds behind his statements. I don't see another shadow and it takes me too long to realize he's on the phone and he's getting closer.
What did I do?
"All I know is, I don't want to be the one to do it this time."
My head spins as his heavy footstep approaches. He's coming for me.
I run, as quickly and silently as I can, throwing open the door and I don't stop. I nearly fall as I come up to the bedroom door and inside, panic ensues.
Every word he said plays back to me: So it's true, then? That bitch sent it?
"I didn't send anything," I murmur to myself as I pace at the end of the bed, staring at the bedroom door.
Sickness churns as I worry that Lisa won't believe me.
I didn't do anything. I didn't, did I? If I did, I didn't mean to. I didn't know.
Heaving in air, I try to calm myself but I can't. Instead all I can hear is the cage dropping into the water and my screams.
I'm blinded by it all and I act without thinking.
Rushing to put clothes on top of the money in the bag, I've never acted so fast in my life. All the while tears stream down my face and the vision in front of me is Lisa, as I'm lowered into the water and left there.
They'll never believe me. Even if Lisa loves me, they'll never trust me. They'll never let me leave. I scribble a note I don't know is even legible. I'm sorry.
I'm out of breath and can barely see straight when I get to the foyer. It's silent when I open the door to Lisa's wing. My heart races as I listen for Nate's voice.
No one's there and in a rush of adrenaline, I rush to the front doors and input the code. I hold my breath until they unlock and pull open so very easily. With the heavy door ajar, I'm met with a biting cold and a reminder I need to hurry.
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LISA
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The Club once felt like my hunting ground. Safe, controlled and secured. I could do whatever I'd like and rule over every soul who entered this place.
But now as I rewind the footage once again, with my tired eyes focused on the screen filled with the image of Jennie, it feels like a prison.
One of my own making.
There has to be something I missed. I only have an hour, maybe two before the feds will be here. Or so the tip said. I wanted it done here. Not with Jennie watching.
They'll raid. I'll be present and be picked up for questioning. Shortly after, I'll be hit with a subpoena for a deposition. It's all been done before and I couldn't care less. All I care about is what's on these fucking tapes. Whispers in the back of my mind warn me that it's all there.
There's a knock on the door a second after I hit play, and I call out for them to go away. "I'm not here. Leave."
I'm left with the sound of retreating footsteps and in the corner of my eye, the security cameras capture the bar nearly packed, the stage curtains closed but ready to open as the night descends. It's all patrons. There's no one I'm concerned about in this whole damn place right now.
There's no break in this life. No moment of reprieve. Even as I beg the footage to show me something, anything at all, I'm not given a moment for it all to just stop.
There were only so many hours she was left alone with the computer. I know from history she didn't email anything or save information to portable storage.
There were only a handful of details given to the feds. A few lines that she must've memorized. No one else touched that computer. In the security footage, she doesn't save data onto a USB. But she also doesn't take any notes. A note that someone else could find or a note she was paid to make.
There's no way around it. There was incriminating evidence in drug sales on the spreadsheets and she remembered them because they didn't make sense, fed the information to someone and that's the only possible explanation.
The numbers don't exist in reality. They're fake. Planted there just for her.
She taps away on the screen in the video, occasionally looking across the office to my empty chair. I swear she smiles in fondness and I have to rewind the footage.
I swear she loves me even here. It makes no sense.
How could she want me like she does here, while planning on turning over evidence? Frustration gets the best of me and I throw the fucking remote across the room, smashing it into the drywall. The damage is minimal and I couldn't care less.
I don't fucking know what happened, but I believe her.
There has to be a reason other than Jennie handing over the information. She would have had to memorize it since she didn't leave the office with it. Exact numbers. It's not difficult, but it doesn't seem like Jennie.
The video plays and I watch as the door opens and my Jennie straightens her posture, peering up at me and waiting for an order. I watch as I grasp her chin, lower my hand to her throat and kiss her. No, I fucking devour her and she leans into my touch. Eager and wanting. The laptop falls to the floor and she doesn't stop it. She doesn't care about it.
My chest tightens with an uncomfortable ache.
I really fucking love her. I should marry her, just in case they pick her up. Then she can leave. She can go anywhere and the feds can't legally question her about me. No one would dare touch her if she had my ring on her finger. None of this would fucking matter.
I think she'd do it. If she could leave without worry, she'd agree to it in a heartbeat.
My brothers would leave us alone. They would learn to trust her when all of this blows over. And it will. I won't allow it to linger and taint her reputation or mine. They'll all see that she's good and good for me.
I watch as the screen plays nothing but an empty room after I lead her away. The laptop closed and the room quiet. Every minute of footage is like this. She's the only one who touched it and there's no explanation that makes sense. But I don't give a fuck about logic or reason anymore.
They'll learn to love her and she'll learn to love them and the ways of this life. Just as the thought hits me, my phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out to see Mino calling.
He'll give his blessing. I know he will. Even still, I'm anxious to answer the phone. I can't shake this feeling.
"Mino," I answer and clear my throat. I lean back in my seat but stiffen when I hear the tone in his voice.
"Lisa, where are you?" He already knows what's happening today.
Chills prick down my arm. "At the bar waiting for the—" I answer.
"She left. Half the money and left you a note."
"No." The word leaves me even though even I can hear the denial that's wrapped around the single syllable.
"I'm sorry," he tells me, his tone full of remorse. Clicking over to the tabs for my room, I flick through them, each and every one.
My gaze flicks to the empty screen, willing her to be there, but she's not.
"Do you want me to read the note?" he asks and the blood drains from my face.
"What does it say?"
"I'm sorry. I love you. I can't stay here anymore. I swear, I didn't mean to."
"I wonder what they gave her. What the feds could have offered her that would make her want to work with them," I say.
"She was friends with Jisoo … you know how those things go. It's possible Jisoo dragged her in … maybe she didn't realize until it was too late." Mino offers an explanation but it doesn't do shit to keep me upright as the reality hits me.
"She could have told me. At any point, she could have—"
"She was scared, Lisa. We all saw it."
"Well no shit, she sold us out." The anger is dull. There's nothing but fucking heartache that overwhelms me.
"She didn't call them. She called her mother and that's it."
"Her phone is still bugged?"
"Yeah."
"What did she tell her?"
"That she misses her but she's scared," he answers and the back of my throat dries and I have to clear it once again. I fucking hate this. With my hands going numb I run them down my face.
How the hell did this happen? I don't understand. I loved her. She loved me.
"You there?" my brother questions.
"What else?"
"That she's going away for a while and that she loves her."
"Do you have the recording?"
"Yeah. It sounded like she wasn't coming back, Lisa. She tossed the phone and left the car … took a taxi or hitched after that."
"We know where she is?"
"Yeah … all that cash and she went to a shitty motel down the interstate."
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