by Voss, Deja
I was trying to have some empathy for the chick. She was probably nervous. She was about to start a new life. She was leaving behind everything she knew.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I am not a very good conversationalist. Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Not much to know, sweetie. What you see is what you get.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I spotted the exit to the airport. I still hadn’t heard from Sage, but as soon as I dropped off Fawn, I’d be sure to give her a call. Maybe she was still in bed recovering from whatever Kevin had drugged her with last night. I wondered if she’d be mad if I showed up with soup and flowers.
“The fuck is that?” Fawn shouted. “What’s he doing?”
A state trooper whipped a u-turn in the middle of the express way, his lights flashing and siren going.
“Probably an accident up ahead,” I said. I checked to make sure I was going no more than five miles over the speed limit and pulled over into the right hand lane as soon as I found a spot.
“Why isn’t he passing us?” she asked. He was trailing about three yards behind us, his lights still flashing. As soon as he could, he pulled directly behind the Range Rover. “Are we getting pulled over?”
“God dammit,” I muttered. Maybe I’d been speeding, but not anymore than the cars all around me. I should’ve known better than to do Kevin a favor after everything I knew about him. For all I knew, this fucking car was stolen. In a past life, getting pulled over wouldn’t have stressed me out at all. I’d go to jail, Omar would get word, and magically, I’d be out by the next morning unless it was a weekend. I’d spent a couple weekends locked up in my day.
Things were different, now though, and my heart raced as I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road.
“You got anything on you you shouldn’t have?” I asked.
“No,” she said, nervously buckling her seatbelt.
I pulled out my drivers license and concealed carry permit from my wallet. While she fished around in the glove compartment for the registration and insurance cards. By the time the police officer made his way to the vehicle I had everything ready to go for him in a neat little stack.
Didn’t rightly matter. He had a gun trained right at my head.
“Hands where I can see them!” he shouted.
“What’s this all about?” I asked. The passenger door swung open and they were ripping Fawn out of the vehicle as she clung to my arm.
“Ma’am, you’re okay,” an officer was saying. “You’re safe now. He can’t hurt you anymore. Please cooperate, ma’am.”
She was kicking and screaming and I just sat there with my hands up in the air.
“You’re under arrest for attempted kidnapping and human trafficking,” the officer said to me. He pulled open the door and kept the gun trained on my head.
I knew better than to open my mouth even though this was obviously a complete misunderstanding. I let him cuff me and read me my rights, Fawn screaming and bawling the entire time. This was nothing a halfway decent lawyer couldn’t fix. Better I just let them do their thing than take a stray bullet for the sake of arguing my case.
“My name is not Fawn!” the redhead was screaming. “Let me go! I have a plane to catch! My name is Sage Smith! Look at my ID card!”
My ears perked up at the mention of that name. That hit way too close to home to be a coincidence. Was this some sort of set up? I couldn’t be certain, all I knew was in that moment I was way more worried about Sage’s safety than my own.
“Fawn, the women in the house are not safe!” I shouted as the officer pinned me to the police car tighter. “Please, you gotta call somebody. Get somebody over there.”
“Shut the fuck up,” the cop said to me. “Fucking scumbag. You have the right to remain silent and I’d probably take that as a warning if I were you.”
“You gotta listen to me, officer,” I pleaded. “Evergreen Drive, there’s a mansion full of women. They’re all in danger.”
“That a threat?” he asked.
“No, officer,” I muttered. “Fawn! You gotta work with me! Tell them who you are. Tell them everything! Quit playing around!”
“I have a plane to catch,” she shouted. “I don’t have time for this nonsense.”
The police officer stuffed me in the back of the car before I had a chance to talk to her anymore.
“I’m innocent,” I repeated over and over all the way to the station. “You need to listen to me. I used to be an undercover agent for the government. My girlfriend is working a case right now and she’s in danger. I think her cover has been breeched.”
“This guy sounds like he’s got more than a couple screws loose,” the one police officer said to the other, throwing his head back laughing. “Let me guess, there’s been an alien invasion, and they’re planning on taking her back to their mothership?”
“I’m not fucking around,” I said. “You gotta listen to me.”
“You can tell it to somebody who cares,” the cop said as I fought my urge to thrash around in the backseat. I was certain I could kick this window out if I had to, but what good what that do?
I didn’t have the protection of the agency anymore. I was a civilian. I needed to play their game and wait for my phone call. I hung my head and hoped the station was nearby, trying not to think about what was going on in that house that seemed so far away.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sage:
“Kevin, what are you doing in here?” I asked. I was started to see him standing in the window of my bedroom, his back facing me.
“Maybe I should ask you the same thing,” he said. “Did you come in here looking for this?”
He turned around and held my pistol in his left hand. My first instinct was to drop him to the ground, but I fought back the urge.
“A girl needs protection, Kevin. You know that.”
“A girl needs government issued protection?” he said, his cocky smile stretching from ear to ear.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my heart racing.
“Can it with the accent, Sage. You’re not fooling anybody anymore.”
“Fine,” I said in my calmest possible voice. He wasn’t going to shoot me, of this I was certain. Men like him didn’t like to get their hands dirty. “Can you put the gun down at least?”
“You’re right,” he said with a shrug as he set it on the nightstand. “You’re much more valuable alive anyway. At least for now. I don’t much know the market for law enforcement snuff, but I imagine it’s a pretty lucrative niche.”
I charged towards him, keeping my eyes on the gun the entire time. I could easily subdue him and grab it.
“Before you put your hands on me again, there’s probably something you should know. Go to the laptop,” he said. He nodded over to his laptop sitting on my vanity. I flipped the screen open and my blood went cold.
“Fuck you!” Athena was shouting. “You fucking pieces of shit. My husband will rip you in half with his bare hands and I’ll piss down your bleeding throats!” She was dirty, mud smeared all over her gray sundress, and there was a streak of dried blood in her platinum blonde hair.
“How do I know this just isn’t one of your little computer tricks,” I said.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and spoke into it. “Shut her up.”
Two masked men appeared on the screen. They tackled Athena to the ground much harder than necessary and one of them shoved a ball gag in her mouth while the other held her arms down.
“That’s enough, gentlemen,” Kevin said as the one kicked her in the ribs. “You’ll have plenty of time to play with her later.”
They disappeared off screen and Athena curled up into fetal position. I could still hear her screams through the gag. It was absolutely chilling.
“You have to let her go,” I pleaded. “She had nothing to do with any of this.”
“Oh sweet Sage, do you really think I’
m about to believe a single word that comes out of your mouth?”
“How do you know my name?” I asked.
He clicked some buttons on his computer and brought up what looked like my personnel file from the agency. My real photo ID was right there on the screen, along with a list of all the aliases I went by.
“You didn’t have me fooled for a minute,” he said, getting so close to me I could smell the minty mouthwash on his breath. “There’s a lot of people out there you fucked over, Miss Smith. Lotta people who wouldn’t mind seeing you get your limbs ripped off one by one.”
“I don’t understand,” I muttered. I held my hands up in the air next to my face so he knew I wasn’t trying to make any sudden movements. I needed answers. I needed time. I needed to prolong this as much as possible so I could figure out what the fuck I was going to do. I hadn’t had a chance to forward all the paperwork over to Omar yet. Maybe if he didn’t hear from me for a few hours, he’d send in backup.
“You think you and your agency are so powerful? I have technology you people have never even heard of. I can find out who anyone is with three clicks. You coming to me was an absolute godsend. Your little boyfriend constantly trying to come to the rescue has been a pain in the ass, but it definitely added to the excitement. That show last night at the party? My phone’s been ringing off the hook all day.”
“Where is he?” I asked. If they knew who Law was, he wasn’t safe. I might not make it out of here alive today, but that didn’t mean he should have to suffer for my missteps.
“Oh he’s somewhere very safe. Likely behind bars by now. It’s amazing how few rights perpetrators of kidnapping and trafficking have. Good thing you called it in. Another bad guy off the streets. You should be so proud.”
I clenched my fist. “You tapped my phone?”
“Sage, I have had eyes and ears on you since the second you walked in my office. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to bug someone these days. Then again, you’d think the agency you worked for would’ve had that figured out by now.”
At least I knew Landon was safe in the prison. No matter how much shit I’d been through with the military and the agency, I believed in our justice system. I knew it was just a temporary thing. Still, it made me feel like shit knowing I was the one who called him in. I’d have to worry about that later. Right now, I needed to get to Athena. I needed to get out of this house. I needed to figure out how I was going to draw attention to this situation without hurting anyone innocent.
“You let Athena go and I’ll happily take her place,” I pleaded.
“Really?” he asked with a sneer. “You’re really going to serve yourself up for some biker slut?”
“Yes,” I said. I knew she wasn’t just some biker slut. She wasn’t anymore of a biker slut than I was. If that’s what the term was for women like us, I was proud to be a part of that crowd. She had a family to live for. A motorcycle club who loved her. A baby. A husband.
“Fine,” he said. “Follow me.”
He walked out into the hallway and led me through his bedroom until he reached that secret door with the elevator behind it. It felt like it was moving faster than it should’ve been. I needed more time to think. More time to figure out what I was going to do. I knew this wasn’t going to be a peaceful trade off, but I knew how to fight. I just had to make sure Athena was out of harm’s way first.
We hit the ground floor where the studio was. I followed him from the elevator and got into a different one, one concealed behind a janitor’s closet. This elevator proceeded to take us even further underground. My ears were popping and the air grew colder and damper.
“I’m not going anywhere until you assure me she’s safe and secure,” I said. “I need to see her.”
“Oh you’re going to get to see her alright,” Kevin said. I didn’t even have time to brace myself before I felt the sear of a blunt object on the back of my head.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“Wake up.” I felt the cold clammy hand on my forehead and tried to blink open my eyes, but everything was spinning. I groaned, my stomach lurching, and rolled over to the side and promptly threw up. “Sage, are you alright?”
Athena was kneeling over me.
“I should’ve known better than to trust that cocksucker to play by the rules,” I said, spitting the rest of my breakfast out on the floor next to me. “Athena, I’m so sorry.”
“Where the fuck are we?” she asked. “Is this some kind of sick joke?”
I had to keep my composure. She had no idea what Kevin’s plans were. I needed to protect her for the sake of her sanity. I didn’t need her freaking out anymore than she already was. If we were going to get out of here, we needed to save our energy to plan a counterattack.
“What time is it? My tits… Harley needs fed.” She cupped her breasts in her hands and a pained groan escaped her lips. “I need to get out of here. My baby needs me.”
“I’m going to get you out of here,” I said. I had no idea how, but I would if it was the last thing I did. “He’s watching our every move,” I said. “Listening, too.”
“Who, Kevin?” Athena asked. “Kevin I don’t know what the fuck you’re trying to pull here, but it is not gonna end well for you,” she screamed, waving her arms in the air. “Nobody’s ever going to work with you again. Do you know who the fuck I am? Do you know who my husband is?”
“Calm down,” I said, pressing my finger to her lips. “Save your energy. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Other than that dick who kicked me in the ribs, I think I’m okay,” she said.
I paced around the dark dingy basement. There was no natural light source anywhere but harsh florescent lights hung from the ceiling. There were two medical exam looking tables fitted with chains and cuffs and I shuddered at the thought of what Kevin had planned for us. I pushed that as far away from my mind as possible.
“What are we doing down here, Sage?” she asked. “Did you know anything about this?”
“I can’t lie to you, Athena, I did.”
“What the fuck!?” she shouted. “What do you know? What’s going on?”
I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her, tucking my chin into her neck so I could whisper in her ear. “You’re going to have to trust me, and you’re going to have to fight. I know you got it in you. You don’t have to do it for me. Do it for baby Harley.”
“Yes,” she whispered back. Her eyes squinted and her lips turned up into a scary smile. I didn’t have to worry about her laying down and taking whatever was about to come, and I didn’t care what it took. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. To Law. To my new family. I’d fight until my last breath if I had to.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Law:
“If you’re not going to let me make a phone call, can you please make one on my behalf?” I asked the interrogating officer. I’d already explained everything to him a million times over. I already pleaded until I was blue for them to send backup to the house. They didn’t seem to comprehend what a dangerous situation Sage was in knowing that her cover was blown.
They didn’t seem to believe me at all. In their eyes, I was a human trafficker. They’d taken down a bad guy. They were going to be celebrated heroes. I’d be locked up and helpless while who knows what happened to Sage.
“You’re making a big fucking mistake,” I pleaded. “When all this gets sorted out, there’s going to be a lot of blood on you and your mens’ hands.”
“Tell us how much he paid you,” he barked, leaning back in his seat.
“He didn’t pay me shit. That’s completely irrelevant, officer.”
He stood up from the chair and hovered over me, pulling his fist back like he was going to punch me. I didn’t flinch. If roughing me up would get this guy any closer to listening to me, I’d take whatever he had to give.
“My girlfriend is in that house. Please. She’s not safe.”
“You got your girlfriend in on this? God, she must
be just as sick as you are,” he said, shaking his head at me. “Hopefully she’ll be rotting in prison soon, too.”
This time his fist did make a connection with my nose. I heard it crack and I grunted in pain, clenching my fists to my sides, knowing it was better if I didn’t fight back.
“Officer Martin,” another cop said as he sprinted into the room. “That’s enough of that.”
He handed me a fucking tissue and I rolled my eyes at him.
The phone on the desk lit up and rang, and Officer Martin picked it up. He frowned as he spoke. “Is that so?” he asked, hanging up the phone.
“Apparently you’re free to go,” he said. He was still looking down his nose at me, and I knew if the other police officer wasn’t in the room he would’ve hit me with a sucker punch for the road. “Fawn’s story coorbarreted with yours. Also, apparently a man by the name of Omar has made arrangements for you?”
“Got it,” I said, standing up and sprinting for the door. “Thanks for being so helpful.”
I should’ve given him a couple black eyes as a parting gift, but I didn’t have time for that shit. I didn’t even fuck with protocol. I needed to get to Sage as soon as possible. If Omar knew I was here, I could only hope he’d taken care of the paper trail already.
I ran out of the station while everyone watched with their jaws agape. They should’ve listened to me in the first place because they were in for a world of hurt and paperwork when word gets out about what they did.
I could give two fucks about that guy punching me. All I cared about now was Sage. If Kevin knew who she was, what was he planning on doing about it.
I pulled out my cellphone and called her. It rang and rang until it went to voicemail.