Sure, Josh. No problem.
Was it any wonder that I had a trust problem? I’d tried to explain it to my sponsor, but she’d told me I had to learn to forgive and forget. I don’t know which was harder: forgiving heartbreak, or forgetting it.
Max was the first guy who’d made me think I might be ready to try again. Sure, we picked on each other. Hell, I was convinced I hated him the first few months we’d worked together. But there was something about him that got to me, something that made me think we had more in common than either of us realized. There was a familiar pain in his eyes, one that mirrored the one in mine. I knew without asking that he would understand what I’d gone through. Now that he’d shared a little of his story with me, I knew he would.
But was it too late? Was there too much tension between us? Had I told him too much? Had I shown him too much of my real self with the cargo pants and the combat boots? Did he only kiss me that day because I was wearing these stupid, tight clothes that Skylar had picked out for me?
My pops had told me constantly when I was young that I would find a guy someday who would see the real me and find me just as beautiful as the next girl in her tiaras and frilly dresses. I’d believed him once upon a time, but now I wasn’t as sure. Most guys saw me as one of the guys. Was that how Max saw me, too?
All these thoughts were driving me nuts! I needed to do something!
I went to the fridge for a water bottle and realized there were none left. There was a grocery store down the street! I was supposed to leave the apartment a couple of times a week, anyway. Maybe today it would be for a trip to the store.
“Hey, partner,” I called, pushing through the hidden door in the closet. “I’m going to the store.”
Max was at the bank of computers he had set up in the bedroom, the clothing he’d been wearing before replaced with clean jeans and a button-down with the sleeves rolled up. He was wearing blue, a color that made his gray eyes look like steel.
“Cheryl sent over some information on Ahsan. She thinks he might have a property here in San Antonio.”
“Big surprise that is. The man lives here, so it would make sense he would own property here.”
“Yes, but that property could be a potential place to hide his victims. And one of those places isn’t too far from the warehouse where last night’s party took place.”
I moved up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder as I studied the information displayed on one of the monitors. He was right; the place—a house that would have cost more than three times the cost of the one I grew up in—was about two miles from the warehouse where the party had been last night.
“Convenient. Do you think they took anyone last night?”
“Don’t know. Cheryl’s checking the police reports now.”
“Are you thinking he might have the Porter kid there?”
Max nodded, glancing up at me. “Cheryl said she’s already notified Ox and that he’s got Oliver in his office. They’re going to get a team together to go check it out.”
“If they do find someone there?”
“You and I will be sleeping in our own beds tonight.”
He was right. If they found the Porter kid, or a kid taken from the party last night, that would give them the evidence they needed to take Ahsan down. Our case would be over.
Was I ready for that?
“I’m walking to the grocery store. I need some things on my side.”
“You should get a taxi. I know you need water bottles.”
“Maybe on the way back.”
“Which store?”
“The one on Park. It’s just a mile or so that way.” I gestured to the north. “You coming?”
He groaned. “I have a little bit more left to do here. You think you could wait a few minutes?”
“I’m so bored that I think my head is about to explode!” I shook my head. “I need to get out of here for a little while even if it means carrying a damn purse.” I gestured down at the skirt I was wearing. “Can’t carry a damn thing in this little pencil.”
“All right. Just… give me a sec.”
“You can catch up!” I headed for the hidden door. “I’ll meet you there.”
“You can’t go off alone, James. Just give me a minute!”
“Take your time. They aren’t going to pluck me off a busy street in broad daylight. If they wanted to do that, Ahsan would have done it when he met me in the convenience store.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m leaving…”
“I’ll take the SUV. You should take a taxi.”
“I’ll be there before you.”
“You better be! Straight there. Straight back.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
I laughed as I left his apartment, thinking it was nice to have that old banter back. But the idea of the case being over… There would be other cases, but this one seemed different. Things had changed. I didn’t want to go back to normal just yet.
As terrible as it was, I kind of hoped they didn’t run a raid on Ahsan’s house. Just a few more days…
Chapter 15
Max
I sat in the SUV for a few minutes after arriving at the grocery store, using Cheryl’s tricks to hack into the security system so that I could watch James closely without having to be in the aisle behind her. The camera feed appeared on the screen of my phone, clear as glass. I took a set of earbuds out of the glove compartment, plugging them into the phone, and headed for the store. There was no sound, but it would look to the casual observer as if I was watching a television show or some sort of podcast.
The grocery store wasn’t terribly busy despite it being early afternoon on a Saturday. I made my way through the produce department, picking out fruits and fresh vegetables, thinking I might invite James over for a home-cooked meal tonight. That was if they didn’t run a raid on Ahsan’s property and end the case. I wasn’t sure Ox had enough evidence to convince his law enforcement contacts. He might… but it seemed doubtful. Besides, it would take most of the night to sort things out, so James and I could probably count on at least one more night at the apartments despite what I’d said earlier.
The idea thrilled me more than I wanted to admit. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, couldn’t get her story about that young country hick out of my mind. It had really messed her up to have him die like that. I wondered if it would have had the same impact if he’d died from a sniper’s bullet.
I’d been where she was. I’d found ways to deal with the grief of it, with the spiritual struggle. You have to find ways to deal with it. I’d heard she’d had some trouble when she first came home—some sort of violent outburst fueled by booze—but I didn’t know the details. I’d never known her to drink or otherwise struggle outwardly. But this morning…
I wanted to help her. I had this overwhelming urge to be someone she could count on. But there was this fear, this deep-rooted idea inside of me that I couldn’t do it again, that I couldn’t be there for another woman the way I’d been there for my mother. That, given a choice, I would prove to be the same sort of coward my father had been. I couldn’t do that to myself, and I couldn’t do it to a woman I cared about.
But I couldn’t shake all these thoughts about James. I just… I wanted to kiss her again.
I smiled as that thought passed through my mind. It was as simple as that. I wanted to kiss her.
A woman passed me and did a double take, a big smile crossing her expression. I nodded and continued on, for once not interested in the single women who would be impressed by a man who could cook. I glanced at the phone screen, realizing I’d been there a good ten minutes and hadn’t yet seen James. I studied the feeds from the various cameras all over the store, looking for her familiar face. Nothing.
She’d left before me. She should have been here and halfway done with her shopping before I picked my first tomato. Where was she?
A trickle of fear slid through me. I shouldn’t have let her walk alone.
I should have followed on the street, should have walked behind her. Fuck being seen together—I should have walked right next to her! I should never have let her out of my sight.
I abandoned my cart and walked up and down the aisles as calmly as I could, searching each face I passed for hers. By the time I made it from produce to meat and back again, I knew there was something wrong.
Outside, there was no sign. No James.
I sent a text to Ox and then began to retrace the path she would have taken. Five blocks south, three blocks east. I walked quickly, but kept my eyes peeled, checking out every storefront, every alley, looking into all the places where she might have stopped to do a little window shopping, or to buy some little trinket. There were lots of gift shops around here. Maybe she’d stopped to get something for her father.
I had to believe there was an explanation for her absence.
I was nearly back to the apartment building, just a few blocks away, when I saw something. A small, gold purse. James didn’t carry purses. But… she had mentioned something about the lack of pockets on the skirt she was wearing today. Had she grabbed one of the many accessories Skylar had brought for her? The gold didn’t match the black skirt and gray blouse she was wearing today, but James wasn’t very good at accessorizing, was she?
I glanced around, wondering if anyone else had noticed it. There were tourists walking around, checking out the shops, and a few locals going about their Saturday errands. No one seemed to notice me or the purse. I snatched it up as I stepped into the alley, realizing with a start that this was the same alley where James and I had fought several days ago. This was where I’d kissed her.
I opened the purse and recognized James’s canvas wallet. It was something of a joke around Caballo, how she carried this worn-out wallet in one of the lowest pockets of her cargo pants because it was too heavy to carry anywhere else. She always had something smart to say to those comments.
And her burner phone.
It began to ring as I pulled it out. The number was blocked, but I suspected it wasn’t a coincidence that it’d begun to ring now.
I connected the call, but didn’t speak as I lifted the phone to my ear.
“I don’t know who you are or what you and your girlfriend think you have on me, but I’m telling you right now that if you go to the cops, she’s dead before you disconnect the call. Understand?”
I nodded. “I understand.”
“Good. We’re closing up shop in San Antonio. As soon as we’re ready to leave town, we’ll give you another call and tell you where you can pick her up. Until then, I suggest you go back to your little apartment and sit on your hands. Understand?”
“Understood.”
“Her life is in your hands. I sincerely hope you can follow orders.”
“Give me proof she’s alive.”
There was silence on the other end. It was always a risk to ask for proof of life, but I needed to know as much for myself as for James. I thought they might have disconnected the call, but then I heard a shuffle and then a muffled noise. Finally, James’s familiar voice filled my ear.
“I guess you were right. They grabbed me in broad daylight.”
She sounded pissed. That was a good sign.
“I warned you.”
“Yeah, well, tell that ox of a friend of yours to go ahead with his plans. You don’t have to worry about me getting in the way now.”
“No, I can’t—”
“She’s a damn hard bitch, isn’t she?” the original voice asked. “Be a good boy and obey orders if you ever want to see her again.”
The beep of the line going dead sounded, alerting me that they’d disconnected. I turned away from the mouth of the alley and screamed, tempted to slam the phone against the wall, but I was going to need it if they were serious about calling back.
This was on me. I’d left my partner alone. But I wasn’t going to leave her to die at the hands of some damn pervert!
They had no idea what kind of horror they’d just awakened!
Chapter 16
Ox
“We know that the house next door is empty,” I was telling a room of operatives, pointing to a Google Earth image that had been printed, blown up, and hung on the wall of the conference room. “We can set up an observation team in that house, see if we can make a determination of what Ahsan is using the property for.”
“Do we think he’s keeping people there?”
I looked up, pleasantly surprised to see Detective Salazar, my contact with the San Antonio Police Department, walking in. As always, she was all business, an expression of almost bored professionalism on her face.
“We think it’s highly likely.”
She crossed her arms over her chest as she came to stand behind Akker so that she could see the map better. “How many?”
“We’re not clear. There are four missing-persons reports that match the profile, so we’re thinking at least them. Perhaps a few more.”
“You’re on this case because of a missing person—right?” She glanced at me. “Are you counting that person among this four?”
“The four have only gone missing since last night.”
Her eyebrows rose. “That many in one night? Is this characteristic of this particular group?”
“Not that we can tell. We’ve researched missing-persons reports that match their profile and found that on average only three or four disappear per month. My guess is they try to keep their movements to a minimum in order to keep your department from noticing.”
“Then they’ve taken a whole month’s worth of victims in one night.”
“It is an escalation.”
“Is there evidence that they’re planning on splitting town?”
I crossed my own arms over my chest and faced her. “Isn’t that something your office should be able to tell us?”
“I thought you were the experts in all this.”
“And I thought this was your job.”
Akker stood, clearing his throat quite loudly. “We’ve considered conducting a raid on the property, but the FBI have informed us that we haven’t gathered enough evidence to prove Ahsan is involved in a human-trafficking ring.”
Detective Salazar studied me a moment longer before turning her attention on Akker. “What evidence do you have on this Ahsan?”
He grabbed a file folder and handed it to her. “We’ve got him claiming to be the one running these raves from which several young men and women have disappeared over the past six months. We’ve also got him cultivating a young woman who works for us.”
“Coming on to a pretty girl isn’t evidence.”
“He’s promised her a life of luxury.”
“Most men do that, whether they can deliver or not. Have you not tried that yourself, Mr. Mills?”
“I can actually back up that sort of promise.”
“Can you?”
“Better watch out,” Brock announced. “Akker’s got a pretty impressive girlfriend.”
“So I’ve heard,” Salazar said as she thumbed through the file folder. “Do we have him on tape talking about buying and selling human beings?”
“Of course not!”
She glanced at me, one eyebrow raised as though she was amused by my outburst. “Then I don’t see how any judge in the country would give us a warrant to run a raid on this man’s property. The fact that he’s from Bahrain and he lives a playboy lifestyle here doesn’t mean that he’s done anything illegal or nefarious.”
“That’s why we’re setting up surveillance in the house next door.”
“Yes, well, that could be too little too late if he’s planning to move his whole operation out of the area.”
“Our hands are a little tied, detective.”
“Now you know what it’s like to work within the system, Mr. Winn.” She tossed the file folder onto the table and smiled sweetly at me. “Let me know when you find a way around the law.”
She started for the door, but Skylar had just bu
rst in and everyone in the room could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong. She had my cell phone in her hands—I sometimes gave it to her to monitor, when I was going to be in a long meeting—and she was waving it in the air.
“You’ve got messages from Max.”
I grabbed the phone, a foreboding making my blood turn cold. I didn’t bother with the first message, though it registered as my eyes moved over it.
James has gone AWOL.
It was the second message that got me.
They have her. Threatened to kill her if I leave the apartment. I think they’re watching.
I turned away from the people in the room, my thoughts immediately spinning. This was not good. My hands were already tied, and now… This was where members of law enforcement needed to leave the room so we could do our jobs properly.
“Detective,” I said, my voice breaking a little.
“Already gone. Just don’t lose my number if you get evidence we can use.”
“You’ll be the first we call,” Akker said as he escorted her out the door.
I turned and studied the familiar faces gathered in that room. Akker and Skylar. Trey. Oliver and Brock. These were people who would put down their lives for me, and for each other. I hoped it would never come to that, but I knew if I was in trouble, these were the people I would want on my side.
I knew James felt the same way. I hoped we didn’t fail her.
Chapter 17
James
I was calm. Panic wasn’t helpful.
It was Zaki’s security detail that had approached me on the street. I was walking, minding my own business, and they came out of the alley. They just surrounded me, three of them, without saying a word.
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