Chapter 2
“Ugh, Charlie, say something already!”
Rachel’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
I quickly tucked away the hatred in my eyes and replied with a calm, neutral tone.
“No problem. I’ll be right there.”
“Yay, Charlie, you’re the best! Hurry–Luna Lounge, Suite 3601!”
The second the call ended, I opened my delivery app and ordered a mini recording device.
Once it arrived, I picked up my phone and called Ethan.
“Hey, are you busy?” I asked sweetly. “Rachel just invited me to the bar, but it’s getting late, and I’m worried it might be unsafe for just the two of us. Can you come with me?”
Ethan clearly hesitated.
“Didn’t you say you were too tired to go out lately?”
I pretended to be offended.
“What, are you with someone else and trying to ditch me? Fine, whatever. If you’re too busy, I’ll
just go find some other hot guy to party with.”
That did the trick. He agreed immediately and said he’d pick me up in half an hour.
Right on the dot–thirty minutes later–he was at my door.
“You’re really showing up like this?” I scolded, reaching out to straighten his messy collar. “You
didn’t even fix your shirt.”
While pretending to fuss over his clothes, I discreetly pressed the tiny bug onto the back of his
collar.
Ethan leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Charlie, you’re so good to me.”
My stomach churned, but I forced a smile. I had bigger plans.
Just like last time, when we arrived at Luna Lounge, Rachel was nowhere to be found in the private
room she’d said she reserved.
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Ethan swallowed nervously. “Maybe she got held up on the way.”
I stayed calm and popped open a beer. “No big deal. We’ll have a drink first.”
A few minutes passed. Ethan started getting antsy.
“Why isn’t she here yet? You don’t think something happened to her, do you?”
I didn’t respond. I was too busy mixing drinks, looking completely unbothered.
“I can’t sit around,” he muttered. “You just… enjoy the booze.–I’m gonna go find her.”
“I’ll come with you,” I offered lightly. “She’s my sister–in–law, anyway. If something really did happen, my brother’s gonna come after both of us.”
Ethan quickly blocked my way. “God, no. Don’t make this harder than it already is. You’ve had way too much to drink, and if Rachel really is in trouble, the last thing I need is to babysit you too.”
Before I could argue, he bolted out the door.
I let a small smile curl on my lips. Awfully eager, aren’t they?
After finishing my drink–one I’d personally crafted–I picked up my phone, satisfied.
“Hi, 911? I want to report a sexual assault. It’s happening at Luna Lounge, Suite 3601.”
My left hand trembled from adrenaline as I ended the call.
Right on cue, I fired off a group message to my parents and my brother, who was still out of town.
[Rachel’s in trouble at Luna Lounge. Urgent. Come quick!]
Michael texted a moment later.
[Keep me updated. I’m already on my way.]
Figures–she’d chosen a bar just ten minutes from my place. In less than that, my parents arrived in a frenzy–along with a few relatives, every one of them holding something they could use as a
weapon.
“Where’s Rachel? What happened to her?” my mother demanded, face pale and voice shaking.
I feigned a frightened look.
“S–she was dragged into one of the private rooms… I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t. He even hit
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me.”
I showed them my arm–already scraped and bloodied. My relatives recoiled at the sight.
“Forget that for now,” my father barked. “Which room was she taken to?”
He grabbed my injured arm, not even noticing the pain he was causing. His eyes were full of panic–
but all for Rachel.
“3601,” I told them. “Come on. Follow me.”
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