Savior:A Tattered Club Story(53)

Ethan liked his supervisor. She hated when he called her that, but they both laughed and it made him not feel like a mooch for taking the job. “Everything is done. Ben didn’t need anything and Knox’s needle drawer is full.”

Scarlet’s nails made a metallic clicking sound on the keyboard. “And Niko?”

Ethan started to sweep the same spot on the floor until he was sure the varnish was wearing off. “He’s good. I mean, he’s okay. I don’t think he needs anything.” The truth was when he’d checked on Niko all he got was a grunt as the sound of the gun hummed through the air.

“He usually stocks his own stuff. I’ll check on him after bit. You’d better get going. I’ll call Dad in the office. There’re doughnuts on the table under the TV in the employee area. These guys are pigs when it comes to sweets so be sure you snag a couple.” Scarlet’s bright red lips parted into a sweet smile.

“Thank you.” Truth was, Ethan’s stomach had been growling all morning. As he put the broom in the back closet, Niko walked by. Ethan kept his head down and focused on putting the dustpan on the clip on the closet wall. First, he felt a warm hand glide across his waist then a gentle squeeze.

Niko kept his gaze on the end of the hall and as soon as he’d passed, the touch was gone. The blood rushed to his head, making him almost sway from the dizziness. The slightest touch and he was sent into an alternate world where every fantasy seemed real.

“You ready to head out?”

Ethan jolted out of the daydream and saw The Professor standing in the doorway of his office. He quickly shut the closet door and started toward the apartment door. “Two seconds. I just have to grab my bag.”

“I’m parked in the back.”

Ethan nodded and jogged to the back to run up to his apartment.

The Professor parked in the employee parking lot outside the art building. Ethan had a little ways to trek to his English class, but he didn’t mind. He still had fifteen minutes before class started and it was a good way to clear his head.

When he rounded the corner of the industrial tech building he felt a tug on his backpack, hard enough he stepped off balance and fell against a hard wall. He tried to pull away from the wall, but the man had his hands sealed on Ethan’s arms and was dragging him around the other side of the building.

In shock and knowing there was nothing but the sidewalk between the buildings, he tried to scream when one meaty hand flattened over his mouth. “Mr. Cavanough would like to have a word with you. If you try anything funny, this will get a lot worse than it needs to.”

Ethan froze, going limp. He knew what worse entailed. The man kept one hand gripped on his arm and the other had the back of his shirt twisted in one strong fist. “He doesn’t need to see me. I told him I would keep my mouth shut. What does he want with me now?”

The man didn’t speak but instead shuffled Ethan toward the small parking lot where a black Mercedes with tinted windows waited by the curb. Ethan looked to the left then right. The few students who were walking past had headphones on and were focused on their phones.

Ethan tried to get their attention, but the tall man rushed him into the open door of the car. When he landed in the back, Charles was sitting in the leather seat. “I told you I’d find you, my love. Playtime is over. You’ve had your fun. Now it’s time for you to come home where I can keep you safe.”

“You’ve never kept me safe. You paraded me around like a prize pony. I regret letting you use me so I could take the easy road. The money was never worth what you did to me. I’m safe now. I was never safe with you.”

“Ah, that’s not true. You were homeless when I found you. I gave you everything you wanted. Now, you have the nerve to be ungrateful.” The slap stung. The taste of a dirty nickel coated his mouth as blood trickled over his lip. “Look what you made me do. My pretty Ethan, come home and that will never happen again. We can take up where we left off. You want that, don’t you, to go shopping? I’ll take you shopping tomorrow.”

“Hell no!” Ethan screamed, pushing Charles against the door. “You can’t have me now or ever!”

Charles took Ethan’s momentum, grabbing the nape of his neck and slamming his face on the console between the front seats. The burn and pressure behind his right eye made his vision go black. Pain seared the back of his eye, shooting all the way down into his neck.

Tears rolled over his cheeks when he fell against the seat. Instantly, white flecks blanketed his vision as fear set in. The reality that he might not make it out of the car or, worse, Charles could have the driver roll away from the parking lot and take him back to his house.