Chapter 5

Frederick starred back at him, his eyes heavy and gray. His jaw was clenched tightly as he nodded to the boy. Taylor stepped back, to let him in.

The man’s face grew tighter as he surveyed the room. Taylor didn’t follow where his eyes went. The shame was too great to re-live, to see the look on the man’s face as he worked out what had happened.

“I’m to bring you to the car,” Frederick said, his deep voice suddenly tight.

Taylor nodded. He wanted to shower, but not here. Not again. He didn’t want to rest and snack and recover, hoping it was all over. Not again. He wanted to be out and out the door. New Mexico wasn’t far enough.

To his relief, Frederick nodded and waved him toward the door. With the press of his thumb, the door unlocked again and they were gone. The air was cool and fresh on the other side of it. Taylor had to limp to keep up, but Frederick slowed his pace to accommodate.

“We’re going back through the entrance you came through, and I’m afraid it’s a bit of a walk. Tell me when you need a rest, and we can stop. I’ll try to make sure we don’t pass anyone we don’t need to.”

Taylor’s heart raced a bit at the thought, but he nodded. They made their way back down the elevator to the main floor in silence. True to his word, they passed no one until the third pool, and doubled back to go through hallways marked for meeting rooms and supply cabinets. After ten minutes, Taylor’s head collapsed and he found himself dragging against the wall for support. Frederick helped him to a nearby bench, and sat him down gently.

After a few minutes, Taylor nodded, and Frederick helped him back to his feet. “Reinhart’s many terrible things, but he’s a man of his word. If he’s offered you a deal, he’ll honor it,” he said, his arms still around Taylor’s shoulders for support.

Taylor felt he should nod, or acknowledge the man in some way, but couldn’t muster the effort.

So what? So the man who had him held down and raped will leave him alone if he keeps his mouth shut? He’d pinky swear to not do it again, unless he wanted to? Unless Taylor’s father annoyed him again? Or would he just drag his mother here instead, and see if that breaks the saintly fucking Senator.

Frederick grip on his shoulders suddenly tightened. Taylor shrugged him off and trudged on.

“Taylor, stop.” The boy limped onward, ignoring him.

“Taylor,” Frederick said, sounding worried, suddenly hustling to catch up, “There is a third option,” he hissed.

Taylor stopped

Frederick spoke very quickly, his voice low, “You can try to report this -and I can assure you it will fail, and then there will be consequences. Or you can take their plane ticket and their money and try to forget about all this. And that ... may work for you. Some can resign themselves to it. But there is a third option.”

Frederick’s eyes were bright and glistening, though his face was hard. “I can take an apprentice. I can take you as my apprentice.”

Taylor’s mouth slowly gaped, caught between not understanding and not believing.

Frederick stepped closer, holding up a placating finger. “The Gentleman’s Club was not always like this. It was the man before Reinhart that started this. We didn’t need to scare people into thinking we had power, not before him.

“And we’re not all criminals. We do good things. Sometimes it takes a strong hand to see things through. We stand for a lot of things, not just power and trying to spread evil. We want to make this world better, even if it just means making it better for our own sake. It’s how I use the influence I have. It’s how Reinhart uses it, too, when he’s-”

“Don’t,” Taylor warned. He couldn’t express much of what he felt right then, but he could say that.

Frederick shook his head and held up his hands. “He’s evil. And he’s brought that evil into this club. But our roots run deep. There’s nowhere they could send you where they couldn’t also just take you again, if they felt the need.”

Taylor shut his eyes. The thought was too much to consider just yet.

“If you join me, though, if you join us, they won’t touch you. I swear it. They honor these codes, if nothing else.”