Damaged Goods (Cruel Crimes Book 1)

by Jarica James

  When the wall was clear, my arms shook from the effort, having quickly lost steam. I flopped into the chair, ruthlessly kicking aside their precious toys on the way. It gave me a small bit of twisted satisfaction to see their beloved torture room in complete disarray. I’ll teach them real quick not to fuck with me.

  The more I glanced around the room and saw how trapped I was, the more detached my emotions became. My brain had traveled to the past, hurling me right back into that place Eros had loved to see me in. The numb indifference let me think clearly, creating a weird form of dissociation that was probably more harmful than anything.

  “Good luck, Princess,” Eros said, closing the door behind him. The warehouse he’d shoved me in was dark and filled with shadows. At this point, none of this was new to me, and I’d learned to always tuck weapons away. Reaching into my holster, I pulled out my Sig and stepped carefully through the warehouse, unwilling to let my steps give me away. The gun was still a bit clumsy in my small hands, but I knew I’d get used to it quickly, and at least I could shoot it with precision.

  A small noise on the other side of the warehouse had my feet speeding up. A narrow storage room was the first thing I came across, and I slipped inside, pausing briefly to listen before continuing to find a place to wait.

  My size worked to my advantage. I was thin and small for a preteen, so I wedged myself underneath a large cabinet, sliding out of view and trying to forget that bugs existed. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of fucked up shit Eros had gotten me into this time. Why couldn’t I just enjoy a fucking night in without him turning it into a survival game?

  The buzz of a radio hit the room before the footfalls. Judging by the sound, an adult male. He walked carefully through the room before hitting his walkie-talkie and whispering into it.

  “Target isn’t in here either. We sure this is a hostage transfer?” There was white noise for a second before it cut off, another voice coming through.

  “Affirmative, it’s a girl, preteen, brunette, small, quiet. That was the description, and he’s never not come through on a sale like this. She’ll go for top dollar.” Like hell I will.

  “Fox… Lake… you guys got anything?” he asked, starting to walk away. But I wasn’t giving him the chance. I slid out, aimed for a kill shot, and squeezed the trigger. Not bothering to see if I made it, I returned to my hiding spot and waited.

  “Jones?!” The yells rang out as another man came in, gasping at the sight of his friend bleeding out. The small light that spilled through the window was enough to make out the movement. As soon as I had another good shot, I took it, the deafening sound leaving my ears ringing, but I didn’t even flinch.

  “Are you guys shooting the merchandise?!” the voice screamed through the comms, but dead men don’t use walkies, so it fell only on my ears.

  Two down, two to go if the man directing them is here too.

  This time, the wait felt like it went on forever, long enough that my legs were going numb and I was ready for a hot shower.

  “Jones? Lake?” The comm finally went off again, this time accompanied by two sets of shoes pounding on the concrete floors. “What the fuck?” The comment was in surround sound, coming through the comm and from the man himself. When both of their backs were turned, I took my third shot, but I wasn’t quick enough to get out of view. The man rushed forward and snatched me out by my arm, my gun flying across the floor. “You little bitch! You fucking killed them!”

  “And you were going to kill me,” I fired back before he used his other hand to slap me across the mouth. My eyes narrowed as blood pooled with my saliva. Not bothering to let this drag on, I pulled the easiest knife I could grab, the one in my other boot, and shoved the blade in his throat. Blood poured out of the wound, covering my hand and arm as he let go of me before dropping to the floor with his brethren.

  I shook myself out of the memories and took a deep breath. Back then, killing them was easy, a necessity, and not once did I feel bad about exterminating traffickers or criminals. I was no longer the scared seven-year-old girl forced to kill grown men; I was stronger and a weapon in my own right. Getting myself out of danger is what I do, and I can certainly do this. What I needed was a way to escape, but this room had no windows and only one door. That just so happens to be made of steel. They weren’t idiots. A door like that would be impossible to get through without some major firepower. Scanning the walls, my eyes caught on a sliver of light peeking through the display, only just visible now that it was cleared. Pulling the curtains the rest of the way off, I could see there was a large wooden board screwed into the concrete, which made it easier to drill in the hooks for hanging their toys, and easier for me to get out. I searched through the discarded tools, picking out a thick steel crowbar and using it to pry the wood away. The process took what felt like forever, but I was eventually able to free it, the wood splintering as it finally gave in.

  Using the same bar, I slammed it into the small window, the glass shattering after just a few hits. I sighed in defeat, knowing I’d never get it all, so I swiped the edges the best I could, grabbed a few strips of the leather they’d had hanging, and pulled myself up. Glass tore into my skin as I shimmied through, my clothes tearing along with it. I gritted my teeth against the pain but kept quiet, unsure if there were more security guards outside and not willing to give myself away.

  Once I’d made it to the gravel of the alley, I maneuvered back into the room just enough to reach the wall. Using my own blood, I scrawled out a quick, ‘Fuck you’ on the cement before crawling away. I looked like a crime scene, and not the fun kind, but there wasn’t much I could do to disguise it other than use my undershirt to bind the bigger cuts. Quickly ripping it in half, I wound strips of the cloth around my thigh and my forearm before taking off.

  I stuck to the back alleys as I made the trek home. When I had to pass a busy street, I did so quickly and waited for the people to clear away. The shop was closer, and they’d be less likely to check there first, so I eventually settled on going there, glad I kept extra clothes in my office.

  When I finally reached the back entrance, my feet were throbbing, and I was hungry and annoyed beyond reason. I keyed in the code and stepped inside, heading for the alarm and shutting it off before retrieving my extra set of keys to open the front.

  My phone was in the triplets’ apartment, so I couldn’t give anyone an update, not that I felt like talking to those assholes anyway. Instead, once I was changed and bandaged and looked like a human and not a member of the undead legion, I opened the store.

  Now to see how long it takes them to show up.

  Kyrell

  “Well, we’re going to have fun fixing all this,” I deadpanned, taking in the ridiculous amount of destruction one woman had left in her wake. I hadn’t expected her to be here, but this was next level insane. God, I love this woman.

  “Is that blood?” Killian asked, noticing the broken shards of glass and dried red trail from the window.

  “Oh, and a love note,” I teased, Keir barking out a laugh at the scrawled letters on the wall beside it.

  “Fuck, she’s perfect,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Kill, get this fixed. I’m going to find her.”

  “I’ll be going with you,” I said dryly, not wanting any part of this disaster.

  “Fuck you,” Killian mumbled, but he got to work right away, barking at Carlo to call in a cleanup crew to help him.

  “How angry do you think she is?” Keir mused as the elevator closed behind us.

  “That blood was dry, so she’s had hours. Our girl is stubborn,” I mused aloud, stepping out of the elevator as soon as it opened. After all of the bad news, I was ready to get back on my kitten’s good side so we could have an uneventful night. Especially now that it looked like we’d be treating some wounds.

  “Oh god, don’t look,” Keir warned as soon as we stepped outside, his voice pained. My eyes fell on my poor car, and my heart stuttered at what I saw.

 
“No! Not my fucking Lexus! Son of a bitch!” I yelled, the sight making me see red. The tires were slashed, windows broken, and in the driver’s seat was Jason’s body… or what was left of it. Guess he was lying after all.

  “Joe, security footage outside of our building. Now. We’ve only been back for less than fifteen minutes, and somehow they went undetected by our security,” Keir shouted into the phone as I shifted my jacket in front of my nose and leaned into the broken passenger door window. The smell of rotten flesh permeated the thick cloth I held in front of my nose, making even my stomach turn, and the maggots crawling along my seat and floor didn’t make me feel any better. A folder was in the passenger seat, barely visible under the glass. Stepping away to slide on my gloves, I reached inside and pulled it out, shaking the small bits of glass away before opening it. Instantly, the situation went from bad to worse.

  “Keir,” I growled, holding it out with one hand and slamming the other into the frame of my car. The pain that radiated from the force of the hit helped ground me as he took the paper and cursed.

  “Let’s grab Kill and another car,” he bit out, already running inside and heading through the back hall to our parking garage. Knowing he wasn’t about to stop, I pulled out my phone and called Killian.

  “Get to the garage. Now,” I ordered as soon as he answered, hanging up before he could rant about being interrupted.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Killian asked when he climbed in a few minutes later. I just handed over the folder and let out a sigh. “Fuck, we have to find her.”

  The folder was filled with pictures of Sana going about her day to day life. Even more alarming were the ones taken in her apartment, meaning someone had been inside. The thought alone made my blood boil, and judging by the hairstyle, they’d been at this stalker bit for a while because she looked completely different. Then there was one of her handing a gun to someone in the back office of Gamester’s Paradise. That one was surprising, though if I thought about it, not out of character for her.

  How did we not see it? Could Eros be more involved than she thought? Because she wasn’t even associated with us then.

  If so, what does that mean for the Lachs? Because this was clearly them.

  “She’s selling weapons?” Keir asked, finally addressing the elephant in the room. “How did we not know?”

  “Well, Joe has been looking for the elusive seller. Guess we just didn’t think Gamester’s Paradise would be the location he was trying to sniff out,” Killian said, sounding kind of proud.

  “She got angry at us for doing what we do, but she’s still doing shady business on her own time,” Keir added.

  “True, but there’s a difference between selling arms and torture,” I argued, giving him a pointed look. Just as we eased into the midday traffic, all three of our phones rang. “I got it.” With that, I hit the speaker on the dashboard screen, the call connecting through the car’s speakers. “You’ve got the three of us.”

  “Hey, bosses,” Joe said, his voice frantic. “Fire at your girl’s apartment. It’s not looking too good. Someone locked down the fire escapes and main doors first. The fire department is working hard, but no sign of her yet.”

  “Fuck,” I yelled, taking a side road and picking up speed, the smell of smoke hitting as soon as we got a few blocks closer. “Keep talking, Joe. We need updates.”

  “The roof access was open, so they’re getting some survivors down now,” he continued. “Those with balconies are alright, so it’s mainly down to saving everyone else through windows at the moment.”

  “I can’t get closer,” I said, pulling into a parking lot and shutting the car off. Keir and Kill were already out of the car before I even unbuckled my seatbelt. My heart hammered in my chest, and I felt terrified, for possibly the first time in my life. Not knowing if she was alright… or even alive. Panic was an understatement.

  “Sana! Dani!” Killian called out, the crowd so thick we couldn’t make anyone out. The cops and firefighters were all too busy to stop us, not that they would once they recognized who we were.

  “Sana!” Keir’s voice joined in the yelling, but it was impossible to make anything out through the chaos. “Here, let me borrow that,” he said, grabbing a megaphone from a nearby cop without warning. The officer started to protest, but his partner slapped a hand over his mouth. “Dani!”

  “Keir?!” Dani’s voice called back, the crowd moving aside as she savagely shoved her way through. “Tell me you’ve got her with you?”

  “She’s not here?” I asked, ice running through my veins at the realization.

  “You literally took her with you!” Dani yelled, her anger rising enough that her face was turning red.

  “Yeah, and I locked her in the fucking basement… but did that stop her? Of fucking course not!” Killian yelled back, Dani’s eyes narrowing dangerously.

  “Her phone is either off or back at our place, so we can’t call her,” Keir said, glaring at the burning building like it had personally wronged him.

  “Idiots,” Dani growled.

  “The shop is closer than here. Maybe we should check there?” I asked, unsure. “I swear to god, if the Lachs got her, then we go to fucking war.”

  “Castrate them one by one,” Kill added. Dani laughed darkly at that, the chilling sound a reminder that no matter how much bubblier or outgoing she seemed than Sana, she was a Priamos through and through. A moment later, the amusement was wiped from her face, a furrowed brow replacing the manic smile she’d had a moment earlier.

  “You’ve been around Sana too long,” she said, her voice too worried to sound amused.

  “Then let’s go fucking find her,” I growled, turning and running back to the SUV, the other three climbing in along with me. The phone started ringing again as soon as the car was on, so I answered the call, nearly holding my breath with hope.

  “Get to Sana’s shop!” Joe’s frantic voice cut through. That was all I needed to jump the curb and speed through town.

  What the fuck is going on?!

  My eyes scanned over the documents in front of me, the missive from one of our intel sessions, showing the Lachs explaining exactly how they planned to take our family down. You’ve got to love the secrets a drunk man will cheerfully spill for another round.

  “Uncle Hector?” My nephew’s voice came through the door, followed by a slight knock. And my luck just keeps improving, I thought as I tucked the paper away.

  “Come in, Devin,” I called back, happy that at least one of my nephews knew who the real patriarch of this family was. Something I would prove by coming out on top and stopping the Lachs while our “boss” remained ignorant of the whole thing. I still had plenty of people loyal to me, and once they saw who the real savior of our Family was, the rest would fall in line.

  “We did it,” he announced, the excitement in his voice making me sit up straighter.

  “You found them?” I asked, holding out my hand for the folder he was holding. We’d been hunting a new weapons trafficker for the last year or so, but every time we’d get a lead, we’d hit a dead end. Whoever they were, they were good. But now that I was finally going to learn his identity, I could put phase one of my plan into place.

  “It was something we missed from the Lach intel I sent over earlier,” he explained. “The Lachs are working with another Family based out of Chicago, which we’ve heard before, and this connection apparently gave them some kind of tip about the weapons dealer. Why Chicago has their eye on things happening here, I’m not sure, but we followed the lead and now have the code word used to get access to the special stock.”

  I glanced down at the first document in the folder, barely managing to hide my shock, but of course I pulled it off in the end. Bosses needed to maintain a cool facade at all times, always letting the Family know that you were ready to handle and had likely even predicted whatever our enemies threw at us. Let’s see how well my nephews can maintain their cool when they find out what their little pet h
as been doing right under their noses. Laughter escaped before I could stop it, the moment too good not to fucking savor it. Nothing would better prove their incompetence than their unhinged plaything undermining their entire empire. Well, I’d get real proof and show the family who the traitor was, because there was no other word to use for her blatant mockery of our name.

  “Ready for some undercover work?” I asked, his dark chuckle giving me all the answer I needed. This was the perfect opportunity to take the crown from the false kings.

  Otsana

  As I sat there in the store, waiting for the guys to finally realize where I was, I forced myself to think about what had been going on lately.. I felt bad enough that Gamester’s Paradise was constantly closed. I might not be drowning in customers, but I had enough steady clientele that I knew I’d be letting people down if I didn’t fix this situation. Maybe I can hire someone to maintain it… if I can convince anyone after the break-in. But having a stranger in the building would mean dropping my side hustle. Choices, choices. Was I really ready to give up on the gun business? All signs pointed to a confrontation between the triplets and me soon, and I had a feeling they’d have some strong opinions on my little secret.

  There was one thing I knew with absolute certainty. If the guys thought they’d march in here and make demands, especially after locking me in a sound-proofed room like a naughty child, they had another fucking thing coming. I’d seen just as much as they had in my life… if not more. There was no doubt in my mind that I could more than handle whatever came my way.

  When the bell above the door went off, I glanced up, expecting to see them, and was relieved to see Gabe instead. The poor guy probably thought I had a stalker or something after all of the erratic behavior and crazy hours. Man, my life was so calm before the Adrostos waltzed back into it.

  “Hey, Gabe,” I greeted, setting aside the box of inventory I was sorting and smiling up at him.