Fall Gently (Red Light: Silver Girls series) (10 page)

"Fuck," mumbled Jeremy, pulling on his beard. "You said this Vince guy was dead, huh?"

"Yeah."

Tiff stood. "There're only seven more weeks, and Red Light is closing. Roni will be leaving. I think you need to do whatever you can to get her to go now."

"Hang on." Jeremy stepped back up to the table. "Do you think that's wise to send her out without the Network supporting her because, for all we know, you could be putting her out on the street. If she doesn't trust Dawson, she'll run. She's already proven that she's capable of running away."

"I don't want to hold her prisoner." Dawson stood. "I can support her until she gets a legitimate job that doesn't involve letting someone use her body. I've got a place with an extra room."

"Jeremy's right. If she doesn't trust you, you'll never be able to keep her long enough to help her." Tiff pushed herself to her feet, groaning. "She's got two days off starting today. Let me have some time with her."

"I don't want you involved," said Jeremy.

"Too late." Tiff patted Jeremy's chest. "I take care of my ladies."

"I appreciate any help." The tightness in Dawson's chest eased. The whole time he'd stayed with Roni, tried to get her to talk and dream about life away from selling herself, he ended up more frustrated. He had no idea what would help Roni understand she deserved better than the life she was living. "Have you ever had a sex worker show up with a past filled with abuse?"

Tiff sighed. "Honey, the ladies that walk into my building have backgrounds that'd give you nightmares. Don't get me wrong. They are all strong women, the strongest you'll ever meet and that includes Roni, but they come from neglect, abuse, and desperation. In all the years I've run the bordello, I've never had a sex worker who spread her legs for the sole purpose of enjoying sex. Besides being pregnant and wanting to raise my child in a stable home away from the ugliness of the world, my heart can't take any more stories of sadness. There's a better life out there for all of them, and when they walk away from Red Light for the final time, I want to believe they're going to find their rainbow."

He let his chin drop to his chest in respect. The women were lucky to have Tiff step into their life for three months. They all stood a better chance at making it in the outside world.

"I'll walk you out." Jeremy clamped his hand down on Dawson's shoulder.

"Tiff?" Dawson stopped and turned back to Jeremy's woman. "Can you have the doctor look at her wrist this morning? It's not swollen, and she was moving her hand last night while she was sleeping, but I'd feel better if she had it looked at while she's there."

"I will." Tiff straightened her shoulders and put her hand on her lower back. "While you talk to Jeremy, work something out so you can come back upstairs tonight and stay with Roni. I don't think she needs to be alone right now."

He studied Tiff. "Are you sure? She's farther away from me than ever after last night."

"She only wants you to believe that." Tiff smiled sadly. "The closer she gets to you, the harder she's going to fight and the stronger she'll become. Don't ease up on her and don't let her make excuses."

Jacqueline used to fight with him when she was a teenager. Having to be brother and dad to her, he'd stuck to the rules and made sure she was home on time, and he knew where she went with her friends. Until he'd gone to prison, the structure he'd set up kept the two of them close.

"Thanks." Dawson nodded at Tiff and followed Jeremy outside.

The cold whipped through his flannel shirt. He shoved his hands in his pockets, only now realizing he'd left his jacket and gloves upstairs in Roni's room.

Jeremy stopped outside the door. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

He shook his head.

"Go to the hotel, sleep, and come back at two o'clock. She'll have to leave the room to have dinner in the kitchen with the others but I agree with Tiff, you need to be on her as much as you can. I don't like the thought that we're going to send men to her room in two days after learning what she's already gone through."

"You want her gone?" He ignored the cold.

"This atmosphere isn't good for her." Jeremy lifted his chin. "Get out of here. Get some sleep."

He walked away, head down against the wind, and wondered how in the hell he'd get Roni out of the building, in his car, and heading toward Seattle without her screaming her head off and alerting everyone to what was happening.

R
oni brought two pop cans into the room and handed one to Dawson. She sat back on the bed and took a drink. After lunch, he'd shown up in her room and so far had no plans on leaving.

She set the can on the nightstand. When she'd excused herself for dinner leaving him in the room, she'd hung back in the kitchen longer than necessary hoping to find him gone when she returned to the room.

He hadn't left.

She'd used three excuses to go to the kitchen hoping to catch the other ladies, but they all went to their rooms and retired early. There was nothing she could do to waste the night away except spend the time with Dawson.

"Did the doctor take x-rays of your wrist?" asked Dawson, leaving his drink untouched.

"No." She pulled up her legs and hugged her knees. "He said it was only bruised, and I have to be careful not to put weight on it or fall again for a week. It doesn't even hurt unless I push my hand all the way back and put weight on it."

"That's good." He set his unopened pop on the floor by the leg of his chair. "Do you go to the doctor's every week?"

"Yep." She leaned her chin on her knee. "It's the rules, even though I don't have sex."

"Well, I imagine they have to be safe in case you do."

"I don't."

"But they don't know that." He gazed around the room. "Unless they have cameras in the room."

"Is this really what we're going to spend all night talking about?" She sighed. "I don't know why you'd want to spend time here. It's a room. You can't even see anything through the door to the balcony but the brick building next door and the sporadic snow fall. Don't you want to visit a bar or check out the area?"

"Nope." He leaned back in the chair. "What do you do when I'm not here?"

She lifted her brow. Sure that he wasn't asking to hear about how many dicks she put in her mouth, she remained silent.

"Come on, sweetheart, make this easier on the both of us." His boot tapped against the floor. "If you could do anything you want right now, what would it be?"

"I have no idea. I've never been in Federal before. I arrived after dark and was ushered into the building. Besides walking down the block to the doctor's office, I don't know what is here." She unfolded her legs and picked at her below-the-skin thumbnail with her fingers.

"Okay, let's say it's Saturday in Seattle. You've got two hundred dollars in your pocket, a handsome, if not rugged, guy at your side that looks a hell of a lot like me, and you want to do something that'll make you smile and impress him. Where are you taking me...him?" Dawson grinned.

She smiled holding in a laugh. "That's pathetic."

"Hey, cut me some slack, I'm trying to start a new conversation like you asked for." He shrugged. "Let's hear what you got."

She studied the hole in her jeans. There would be no snow in Seattle and with money, she could disappear for a day.

"Bainbridge Island." She glanced at him. "We could ride the ferry."

"As walk-ons or are we driving?"

Amused at his adding on to their imaginary date, she said. "Bicycles."

"I don't own a bike."

She looked away to hide her smile. "We'll rent two just for the day with our never-ending money pile."

"Why do I think this won't end very well?" He laughed. "I haven't ridden a bike since I was twelve years old."

"Seriously?" She shrugged. "I was fifteen and rode one to school until someone stole it off the bike rack. My mode of transportation didn't help me become popular in high school when all the cool, rich kids owned a car."

"Biking is better than walking." He latched his hands behind his head. "Isn't there a coffee shop on the island?"

"I've never been there." She crossed her legs. "Before Vince, I used to spend a lot of time at the pier during the day. I'd make up stories for the people that would come off the ferry and wonder what it would be like to go on something so big and yet floats on water."

"Can you swim? he asked.

She shook her head. "Never learned."

"Then you can't go on the ferry."

She frowned. "Of course, I can go. That's not a rule. I'm sure there are lots of people who can't swim who use the ferry. Like old-old people."

"I'd want to keep you safe. The boat might hit a seal or something and knock you overboard." He cleared his throat. "I went on the ferry once. Me and a couple...friends walked on. It was raining, so we stayed inside for the ride."

"Since you've already been there, where would you want to go instead?" Her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know what kind of date he'd take a woman on.

"Ivar's." He chuckled. "They have the best shrimp dinner, and then we'd walk down to the park and catch one of the concerts because we can still talk while listening to the music. Afterward, we'd walk back to my place enjoying a star-filled night, open a bottle of wine for you and a beer for me."

She propped her chin in her hand. "I like seafood."

"Then, it's a date." The low timbre of his voice gave her goosebumps. "Ivar's for an early dinner, concert, and back to my place."

"That's it?" she said, before realizing she spoke her thoughts.

He lifted his brow. "Depends."

She searched for the mint in her mouth with her tongue and discovered it melted. "On what?"

"You." He leaned forward. "Is it our first date or our tenth? Do you like me or are you going with me because you're afraid to tell me no? Will you ask me to come inside the apartment for more? There are a lot of things I don't know about you, and until I do, that's the end of the date."

His gaze intensified, seeking answers only she could give him. Her chest warmed imagining the night out with him and all the intricacies that went along with spending time with someone you enjoyed. Where sex would be a reward for her and not only for him. Where she wanted to touch him to appease her curiosity. Where she wouldn't be punished and instead she'd be allowed to let the growing feelings consume her.

She stood from the bed, walked into the bathroom, and removed one of the five containers of wintergreen Lifesavers. She popped one in her mouth and without letting herself second guess her reasons, she carried the container out to the room. Dawson's gaze stayed on her, and she looked down at the floor in front of him.

"Here. You can have it." She hurried back to the bed, to safety, when he took her gift.

Dawson shook the container. The mints rattled against the side. She bit into the breath freshener. It was a stupid idea to encourage him.

He'd tasted her. Tasted the mint on her tongue. And, he'd admitted he liked kissing her.

"Thanks," he said.

She lifted her gaze and caught him putting a mint in his mouth. He smiled at her. She gasped silently, and warmth flooded her face. All the tension he'd created with his pretend date settled low in her stomach, unsettling her in a good way. She wanted the feeling to last and feared what would become of her if she continued to believe Dawson was telling her the truth, and she could trust him.

"He's buried deep in the ground somewhere, isn't he?" she whispered, afraid to let go of the fear she'd lived with for the last three years.

"Vince?" Dawson stood and approached the bed. He sat down beside her. "Yeah, sweetheart. He's dead, and you're free."

Unaware if she leaned toward him in relief or he gathered her in his arms, she found herself sitting on his lap with her head tucked into the nook of his neck. The strain of living each day looking behind her eased. Her body relaxed. Her overactive mind exhausted her.

Dawson swayed side to side, rocking her into security. She closed her eyes. For a few minutes, she'd trust him. She'd let go. She'd just
be
.

The next thing she knew, he placed her on the bed and covered her with the blanket. She kept her eyes closed and never questioned him when the mattress dipped with his weight, and he settled in for the night beside her.

She curled down in bed missing the comfort of his arms and needing to know one more thing before she started living as if the shadow of her past no longer stalked her.

"Dawson?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"You said Vince was killed. How?"

"It's not a bedtime story, sweetheart," he muttered.

"I need to know more than he was shot."

Several seconds passed without a reply. Finally, Dawson said, "Three bullets to the chest."

She opened her mouth to get more air. "Where? Where inside the house was he killed?"

"Roni, you don't—"

"I need to know everything." She swallowed down the nausea that attacked waiting for the information she needed, knowing she'd made her decision on what to do after her contract ended at Red Light. Good or bad, she wanted out of the Network. "If I'm going back to Seattle with you, I need to know."

The bed shifted. "In the kitchen of his house as he sat at the table drinking his morning coffee."

She opened her dry eyes and stared into the darkness. "Thank you."

Vince was dead.

At the end of her contract, she'd have a year's worth of money saved up. Her job paid well. If she stretched every penny, she'd have plenty of time to find an honest job without selling herself. She only needed a way back to Seattle and Dawson had offered her a ride.

D
awson toweled off his wet hair after taking a quick shower. His days and nights were fucked up. He had no idea what time it was anymore.

He walked out to the living room and found Jeremy still sitting on the windowsill in the Ryan Hotel looking down on the street.

"Thanks for waiting." Dawson bunched up the towel and threw it to the corner of the room. "What do I need to do to get Roni out of the Network?"