Forgotten Luca (The Four 1)

I expected him to react in some kind of meaningful way, but all he did was take the money and then shut the door in my face.

Remy, who’d seen the exchange, shook his head and then turned on his heel.

“What?” I asked because my gut was telling me the action had been directed at me, not the kid.

“Nothing,” he muttered. He sounded disappointed.

“No, what?” I asked because if anything, I’d expected him to be pissed since I hadn’t helped him get home. I grabbed his arm to stop his forward trajectory. Not surprisingly, he pulled it free and kept right on walking.

“You’re assuming he’s even got a home to go back to,” Remy said dispassionately. “Even if he’s one of the lucky ones and does have a family who gives two shits about him, do you really think it’s lack of cash that’s keeping him here?” He shook his head again. “You have a lot of money, Luca, so clearly you’re a smart man, but you don’t know shit.”

“Money will give him a chance, at least.”

Remy snorted. “If he’s gutsy enough to hide it from his pimp, he’ll put most of it up his nose. It’s just a question of whether he’ll do it all at once or try and make it last.”

I felt my heart constrict at his comment and I actually stopped in my tracks. Would the kid really use the cash I’d given him to buy enough drugs to end his suffering?

“You got out,” I murmured, more to myself than anything else.

Except he hadn’t. A week ago he’d been handing me a baggie of drugs that he’d bought after two years of sobriety. His hate for me had driven him to do that, but I had no idea if he’d bought more that night or in the days that had followed. And of course, I’d assumed he was turning tricks a mere twenty minutes ago.

Jesus, what kind of arrogant asshole was I that I thought I could save some kid just by giving him some money? I’d spent years trying to save kids like Remy and my own son, but what did I truly know about their lives? I was the bank account. My brothers were the ones who did the real work. They got the kids out, they took them home or found them new lives… I’d known those kids had suffered, but I’d never let myself think about it. It would have meant having to confront the reality of what my own child had been enduring.

I hadn’t been able to save him, either. Yes, he was alive, which I would be eternally grateful for, but the torture he’d experienced…

“Hey.”

I was surprised when Remy touched my hand. He seemed surprised too because as soon as he looked down at where our hands were connected, he pulled his away.

“A dozen guys have probably offered to save him just this week,” Remy murmured as he motioned in the direction of the room with the kid. “Doesn’t matter how he got here… he’s the only one who can get himself out now. Maybe you’ll be the one who makes him want to try.”

He didn’t sound particularly hopeful. As he turned away, I found myself grabbing his hand, but I wasn’t sure why. Amazingly, he didn’t pull his hand free right away. I ended up staring at his long, slim fingers as I considered all he’d been through in his young life and how badly I’d really failed him. I wanted to tell him I was sorry again, but I knew he didn’t want to hear it and it didn’t really matter. There were no words, no actions that could undo what I’d done.

At least he was here. At least he’d been strong enough to survive it all. I remembered what his friend, Aleks, had told me a few weeks back. I hadn’t realized he’d been talking about the young man I’d known as Billy, but he’d said his friend was a fighter… that Remy was the reason Aleks had escaped the same brutal life.

“I didn’t know,” I heard myself whisper. “I didn’t want to know…”

I expected him to berate me. I wanted him to because I deserved it. But he surprised me once again by softly saying, “Who would?”

Remy gave my hand a gentle squeeze before he released it and turned away. I hurried after him. I kept my hand beneath my long jacket so I’d have quick access to the gun at my back, especially when a few men eyed Remy as he passed them.

It took just minutes to get to the opposite side of the warehouse. Remy finally found what he was looking for in the third room he checked.

“Hey!” a man’s voice grunted when Remy threw open the door.

“Where is she?” Remy yelled just as I stepped into the room and took in the chaotic scene. There was a woman lying naked on the bed, her eyes glazed over. Her legs were splayed open and there were several discarded needles on the floor next to the bed. The man with her was mostly dressed. He was fumbling to get his condom-covered dick into his pants.