The Lair

by Lisina Coney

“Something similar happened years ago with Allison Buccieri. The internet never learns.”

“Stay with me. Take a deep breath,” Jada instructs. I do as she says, but I don’t feel any better. “I scanned the internet this morning and saw nothing else about you, okay? This is all there is for now. I’m only telling you because you asked for updates if there ever were any.”

“Don’t run away, Allie. Not again.” There’s a frustrated edge to her voice I haven’t heard in a long time. “If you leave, you let your parents win. They don’t deserve to have control over your independent adult life after everything they put you through.”

“Oh, honey. You deserve a calm, happy life more than anyone else I know. And you will get it. But sometimes we need to be a bit brave in order to get what we want. You should take this article as a wake-up call and start living your life unafraid of the future,” she says. “Worrying and running away won’t fix anything. You’ve been doing that since you left California, and it didn’t change this outcome. It won’t stop people from talking about your case. So you might as well start living that calm, happy life now, Allie. Live your life for you.” “I don’t know how to do that,” I confess quietly. “And that’s okay, but it’s time to figure it out. Step-by-step.”

“L-Let me go,” I stammered, yanking the door handle to no avail. Her eyes met mine through the rearview mirror, all traces of friendliness gone from them. “Should’ve thought twice about getting in the car with a stranger, little girl.”

ran. I ran faster than I’d ever ran in my entire life. I didn’t know where I was, or where I was going, or if Claudia was coming after me, or if someone else who was working with her had their eyes on me. I just knew I’d die if I stopped. Then I saw it—a fence.

“Did you seriously fucking lose her?” the man shouted. “She kicked me,” Claudia shot back. “She couldn’t have gone far. Search the inside.”

“While you do what?” “I’ll check if she jumped the fence and is roaming the streets. If she stumbles upon those fucking pigs, we’re done.”

Not that it would matter, because just then I heard a voice shout, “Check the cars at the front!” I was dead. I was going to die at twelve years old at an abandoned warehouse somewhere, and nobody would ever find me.

I screamed until the silent promise I’d made under the car reached the sky. Until it answered in the form of a police patrol car, stopping on the other side of the warehouse fence. “Shit,” the man grabbing me hissed. My ears started ringing. I kept screaming. I couldn’t stop. Two police officers got out of the car, guns pointed at us. I promise. I promise. I promise.

When I left the hospital soon after that, I saw myself in the news. I saw myself everywhere. Tragedy hits the Buccieri family. Child of influencer family gets kidnapped. How much of our personal lives should we share online? Online.

That afternoon, I took her phone while she was in the shower and saw everything. Photos of me, of Johnny, of our baby sister, Cindy, all over the internet.

Photos of our home, our bedrooms, our vacations. Of the shelves she had recently replaced. Pictures of me in my school uniform, holding certificates and awards with the name of my school.

Our lives for millions of strangers to see. My body turned cold. Was this how Claudia knew about my family? Because my mother talked about it online? It wasn’t until years later that I brought up Claudia to Jada and asked her what had happened that day. Not what the news had speculated on, but what had actually gone down.

“After they were arrested, the police told us she was part of… of a ring of some sort.” “A ring,” I echoed. By that time, I was old enough to understand what that word meant in that context.

“Why did they come for me?” “They knew your parents had money, so maybe they wanted that. Your mom… Well, she made it easy for them to find out all kinds of information on your family to gain your trust.”

“What kind of ring was that woman part of?” Jada lowered her gaze. “Child trafficking.” The ground opened beneath my feet. My soul turned cold. I understood then. All of it. The danger I’d been in. What could still happen to me if I didn’t save myself. Because nobody else was going to do it for me.

“Don’t forget my bracelet.”

“Green and white, right?”

“Thanks, boss man, but I don’t want you to spoil me so much.” The hardness in his face doesn’t go anywhere. “It’s late and dark.” “And I’ve been on my own for the past six years, taking care of myself. I’ll be fine.”

“What happened to you?” Travis asks when he turns to me, a disapproving notch between his brows. “You don’t look well.”

“What happened?” Too tired to dilute the truth, I tell him, “Someone broke into the apartment next door, and it freaked me out, so I slept very little.”

“Come again?” “There was a break-in⁠—” “Are you hurt?” “What? No.”

those green eyes darkening as if bathed in shadows. “Travis,” I start, my heart hammering in an uncomfortable way, “what the hell is going on?”

“You’re moving the fuck out of that shithole.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re moving out,” he repeats. An unpleasant feeling of disbelief clings to my chest. “Says who?” “Says anyone with the slightest damn bit of common sense.”

“What the hell are you doing?” I hiss. The deep breath he takes next personally offends me. “Allie.”

“Travis.” “You live in a dangerous part of town.” I frown. “What?”

“Goddammit, Allie.” I let my arms rise and fall to my sides. “What now? Why do you even care so much in the first place? Why are you angry with me and behaving like a total ass?”

“I care, Allie, because I lost both of my parents to the same kind of shit they do in that area.” My heart plummets to my feet.

“I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you or be an ass. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I concede. “No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.” “We’re both agitated. Let’s… let’s just forget it.”

“Do you think it’s possible for someone to open a car window from the outside without breaking the glass or damaging the rest of the car?”

“Why do you want to know?” he asks, slowly.

“Last night, I found one of my car windows open. But nothing was stolen or vandalized, so maybe I accidentally left it like that. I don’t know.” “Someone broke into your car.”

“Maybe not.” But I’m not sure. “You should’ve called me right away,” he grunts. “Allie, this is some serious shit.” “No, it’s… it’s just in my head. I must have left it down and don’t rem...

They won’t. I’m safe. I’m fine. “Not feeling in danger and not being in danger are two very different things,” Travis says, that worried notch between his brows still in place.

“I’m walking you to your car every night from now on. Not up for discussion,” he declares, and I find myself not wanting to fight him on it.

I pull the door open, my shoulders sagging with relief, and stare into the eyes of the man who both confuses me and makes my heart beat faster than anyone else ever has before. Travis’s stoic expression doesn’t go away. “Can I come in?”

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, boss man, but what are you doing here?” His hand moves, and I notice the plastic bag he’s holding. “Got a lock for your door.”

“Have you had dinner yet?” I ask him, suddenly not wanting him to leave as soon as that lock is in place. He doesn’t look away from the lock as he asks, “Are you offering to feed me?” My heart leaps. “What if I am?” “Smells fucking good in here, so I’d say yes.”

“I’ll make a plate for you. Do you like chicken tikka masala?” “I do.” This time, he glances at me over his shoulder. The softness in his eyes turns my legs to goo. “Thanks, Allie.”

When he empties his plate and I offer him some more, he gets up and says, “Don’t move.” I try not to smile when he comes back with another plateful, but I fail spectacularly.

“Charlie didn’t say anything.” And he would have. I’m sure his friend would’ve complained about his landlord if he was that bad. Travis slides me a look. “It’s not men he has issues with.” Oh.

“Do you think he won’t rent it to me because I’m a woman?”

“Maybe I should cancel the whole thing. If you say he’s a misogynistic asshole…” There’s the huff. “You can’t stay here.”

“I’ll break his goddamn legs if he so much as thinks about it.”

“Would you really do that?”

“In a heartbeat.”