He smiled and rested his hand on her shoulder as they walked out the door of his bedroom. “I’m glad you like it.”
“How could I not?” She grinned up at him as they reached the hall table where she’d left her purse. She pulled out her weapons belt and her new sheathed Glock that she’d taken out of the glove compartment earlier.
When she was finished, they headed out the front door. “Thank you for not getting one in pink.”
He locked the door behind them. “I know better. No pink or paisley for you.”
She shook her head and grinned. “Nope.”
Kelley waited as Reese hit the remote for his truck locks and she let him open the passenger door for her. Her thoughts filled with meeting Zip, she climbed into the cab and Reese shut the door behind her.
It wasn’t long before they were headed off to the abandoned ranch to meet with her informant. The drive was short and when they arrived, Zip was already there, leaning against his blue Camaro, smoking a cigarette. As Kelley climbed out of the truck, he pushed away from the car, tossed his cigarette down and ground it into the dirt with his shoe.
Kelley walked the distance between the truck and Zip. “What do you have to tell me?” she asked.
Zip shoved his hands in his front pockets, darting a nervous glance at Reese before looking at Kelley again. “Johnny Rocket has a shipment ready to send down to Mexico.”
Kelley frowned as thoughts raced through her mind. “Why would he be shipping drugs to Mexico?”
“Not drugs.” Zip shook his head. “Women. Girls. He’s selling them into slavery and they’re being sent to South America. Apparently he has wealthy clients who like blonde hair and blue eyes. Gringas. Johnny’s been kidnapping them from all over Northern Arizona and he trades them for cocaine.”
Kelley tried not to reveal her shock in her expression. “Where is his ‘shipment’ of women and girls?”
Zip pushed his fingers through his hair looking distracted, his body seeming to vibrate as if he was high on crack. It was hard to tell if it was fear or if it was drugs that made him act this way.
“If he finds out I tipped you off, he’s going to kill me.” Zip’s hands shook as he took a lighter and another cigarette out of his pocket.
“I can get you protection, Zip,” Kelley said.
He shook his head. “I’d rather take my chances.”
She flexed her fingers, her whole body wired for action. “Where are they?”
Zip lit the cigarette, took a hit on it, and blew out the smoke. She thought she was going to lose it as she waited for him, her patience riding on a thin line.
He lowered the cigarette. “In the back of a semi. It’s ready to leave soon.”
“He has the girls in the back of a semi?” Kelley’s mind spun. “In this heat?”
“Where?” Reese’s voice jarred Kelley as he repeated her question. She was so wrapped up in Zip’s revelation that for a moment she’d forgotten Reese was there.
Zip answered, giving them an address that wasn’t too far from the warehouse that had been blown up not that long ago, the one that had taken Reese’s two fingers and had given her the concussion.
“If this pays off, I’ll give you your usual fee,” she said as she and Reese hurried back to the truck.
“Double it,” Zip called after her.
She didn’t answer. Instead, she climbed into the truck as Reese called for backup.
Chapter 13
Sirens wailing and lights flashing, Reese and Kelley tore through Prescott in his truck. She clenched and unclenched her hands, praying that Zip had given her the right information and that they’d get there before Rocha’s shipment of women and girls left town.
Shipment. A part of her couldn’t believe that this was going on in their town. It seemed almost inconceivable. Bad things went on everywhere, but slavery was something that just didn’t happen in this area.
Hadn’t happened, she corrected herself. With this news, everything had changed.
That bastard, Johnny Rocha, had brought bad things to Prescott. Seriously bad things, worse than what they’d been facing before.
Reese cut the sirens when they closed in on the location Zip had given them. They pulled onto the street, not too far from where a semi truck was parked in front of an old condemned building. The ground around the building was barren with sporadic patches of weeds and yellowed grass.
He parked his truck and climbed out at the same time Kelley did. From behind the front seat, he brought out a bulletproof vest and his raid jacket with POLICE across the back. He was all business now. Gone was the friend and lover, something she appreciated even if she didn’t appreciate his over-concern.
“I don’t have a vest small enough to fit you.” He frowned. “You need to stay with the truck.”
She clenched her jaw, giving him a stubborn look. “I’m in on this, Reese. It’s my informant, my tip.”
“Damn it.” He looked away as two police cruisers came down the street. When he returned his gaze to her, he said, “Wear my jacket.”
She would have laughed if the situation weren’t so dire. She shook her head. “It’ll go down to my knees.”
Police cruisers arrived from both sides of the street, blocking incoming and outgoing traffic. Officers also went around the back so that both entrances to the building were covered.
Just as the team started to approach the semi and the building, the big rig roared to life. A man appeared in the driver’s seat, as if he’d been lying down and was now straightening behind the wheel. Kelley saw his arm move and heard gears grinding.
Officers in front of the truck positioned themselves so that their vehicles shielded them. Their guns were trained on the driver.
“The girls could be in the back of that truck.” Kelley narrowed her gaze as she looked at the vehicle then glanced at Reese. “If we’re going to take him out, we’ve got to do it now, before that truck starts moving.”
Reese gave a nod. He spoke into his radio and divided his team into three. One team to penetrate from the back of the building, one team to enter through the front entrance, and a team for the truck.
On Reese’s signal, the teams went into action. Shouts of “Police!” rang through the air along with gunfire the moment the two teams entered the house.
Reese and Kelley were with the team that was prepared to take the truck. Reese had his weapon ready. Like Reese, Kelley had her gun trained on the truck driver. The man’s window was open, so Kelley knew he had to hear every word they said.
“Step out now with your hands up,” Reese shouted as he eased closer to the driver’s side door. “We will shoot.”
The truck motor roared. Kelley saw the fierceness in the driver’s eyes and in his expression.
“He’s not going to surrender,” Kelley said.
Reese gave a nod to one of the snipers. “Take him out.”
The truck vibrated as if the driver was shifting into gear.
A crack from a rifle. A hole appeared in the driver’s forehead and his eyes went blank. He slumped over the wheel.
The rig started to roll.
Reese bolted the few feet to the truck. He jumped onto the running board and wrenched open the door of the cab.
The truck crept slowly forward as he hung on with the three fingers of his left hand and grabbed the dead man by his collar with his opposite hand. He pulled the man’s body out of the cab and it tumbled to the ground.
Kelley’s heart beat faster as the semi slowly picked up speed, heading toward the line of vehicles in front of it.
Reese swung inside the cab. He wrangled for control of the truck as it got closer and closer to the police cruisers. Officers jumped clear as the huge semi plowed into the vehicles.
Metal crunched. Glass shattered. Brakes screeched.
And then moments later, the truck came to a shuddering stop. Reese killed the engine and the rumble died away.
Even though she’d been concentrating on the semi, she’d also
been aware of what was apparently going on in the building. Whoever had been inside had put up a fight, but now the teams that had taken the building were marching cuffed men outside.
Reese and Kelley both ran to the back of the semi trailer. A large padlock was on the back, locking the doors tightly. Reese called out for bolt cutters.
Kelley’s heartbeat was erratic as she waited to see what was in the back of that trailer. Would Belle be there? What about the women Zip had claimed were in the back of a semi? Was this the right one?
In moments, an officer had returned with bolt cutters. John came up beside Reese and Kelley as they waited for the lock to be cut. The lock dropped to the ground and both Reese and John climbed up and opened the trailer’s doors.
Kelley’s breath stuck in her throat as she saw eight women and girls bound and gagged. They looked terrified, as if suffering from heat exhaustion, and faint with hunger, even as they blinked away the sudden brightness from outside.
“We’re the police.” Reese walked into the trailer. “You’re all safe now.”
Looks of relief crossed some faces, disbelief on others. Tears rolled down many of the women’s and girls’ cheeks.
Kelley climbed inside. The hot interior reeked with smells of sweat and unwashed bodies. She recognized several from pictures that had been circulated of each missing woman or girl from missing persons cases. How long had some of them been gone from their families?
While she walked through the back, stepping over many of the occupants, all appearing to be blonde and blue-eyed, Kelley made reassuring comments as she went. With single-minded determinedness, she searched for Belle.
“I can’t find her.” Kelley fought to keep her voice calm. “I can’t find Belle.”
“I don’t see her, either,” Reese said as he knelt and began freeing the occupants by cutting their bonds and then removing their gags.
Louder sobs and whimpers could be heard now that gags were being removed. Officers helped women out of the back of the trailer. Grateful words were being said by many of the women while others looked too shell-shocked to speak.
Sirens approached, no doubt ambulances. Some of these women could be transported in available vehicles to the hospital, but others needed immediate care.
Kelley still kept her eyes open in case Belle was here, but her heart sank even further when she didn’t see the girl anywhere.
“Petrova.” John’s voice had Kelley turning to face the truck’s opening. “You need to see this.”
Kelley finished freeing a girl then helped her to the back of the truck. When they reached it, Kelley handed off the girl to a paramedic.
“What do you have?” Kelley asked John.
John inclined his head to where Reese was now standing and holding a blood-splattered document. Kelley felt a renewed pounding in her chest.
“What is it?” Kelley asked as she reached him.
He raised his head. “John took this off the dead driver. It’s a bill of sale to someone named Ortega.” He handed the papers to Kelley, his features hard. “These women were being sold like cattle.”
Her stomach churned and bile rose in her throat. “We’ve got to get to Johnny Rocha.” The paper wrinkled in her hand as she clenched it. “I’ll kill him myself.”
“If I don’t get to him first,” Reese said in a growl.
Chapter 14
Sometime later, after things had been sorted out and the women and girls whisked to the hospital, Reese took Kelley to her home. Unbelievably, it was only two in the afternoon. It was hard to believe that only that morning she’d awakened in Reese’s bed and had enjoyed breakfast with him before Zip called. Everything from that point had tumbled from one thing to another.
She was so wound up that when she looked at Reese, she felt a need so great for him that she could barely keep from touching him. She clenched and unclenched her fists. God, she had to have him.
When they reached her home and Reese parked, Kelley looked at him. “You are coming inside,” she stated.
He looked at her, his eyes darkening with arousal. She hurried out of the truck and he walked with her to the front door. She fished her keys out of her purse and unlocked the door.
When they were inside and had closed the door behind them, he grabbed her by the waist and she gasped as he slammed her up against the wall. His mouth came down hard on hers and she groaned as he kissed her with savage need.
She let her purse drop to the floor with a loud thump. He drew away long enough to pull her T-shirt over her head, taking care not to hurt her shoulder, but stripping her bare all the same. He dropped the shirt and unfastened her bra before tossing it aside.
With a growl of need, he lowered his head and sucked her nipples. She moaned, wanting to climb him, wanted him inside her.
She pushed his overshirt off and he let it fall to the floor, then he helped her tug his T-shirt over his head. And then they were bare chest to bare chest as they kissed with frantic abandon.
“Where’s your room?” he asked in a husky voice. He’d been to her home before, but never to her bedroom.
“I don’t want to wait.” She had a hard time getting the words out, she was so anxious to be with him. “I want you now.”
Her words seemed to incite him even more. He swung her around and set her on the sofa before going down on a knee and removing her boots and socks. He brought her to her feet again and shoved her jeans down to her feet and she stepped out of them.
He moved her up against the wall again as he paused long enough to fish a foil packet out of his wallet and then tossed the wallet aside. He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans before pushing his jeans and boxers down and freeing his erection. He tore open the packet and quickly sheathed his cock.
With a groan, he lifted her up by her ass and she wrapped her legs around his hips, feeling his erection against her. He positioned himself at the entrance to her core and slammed his cock inside of her.
She nearly screamed at the suddenness and pleasure of his entry. He took her mouth again as he fucked her hard and fast. She hung on for dear life. The wall was hard against her back, his kiss fierce. She matched him with her own hungry kiss.
An orgasm rushed forward, and her head seemed to spin. He pulled away and he watched her as she came. Sparks exploded in her mind as her orgasm slammed into her. She screamed.
He took her harder and harder yet, his expression primal as she climaxed again. Her core pulsed around his cock and then he was shouting his release. She felt the throb of his cock inside her as he moved in and out a few more times.
A groan rumbled out of him as he sagged against her, pinning her to the wall. Both of them were breathing hard, perspiration coating their skin. He kissed her again before raising his head.
He took only long enough to pull his jeans up to his hips, and then with his eyes fixed on hers, he took her down to the rug and brought her into his arms. She sighed and rested her head against his chest. His embrace felt secure and she melted more fully against him. He smelled of sun-warmed flesh and his bare chest was hard against her cheek.
For a moment she wondered why she didn’t mind showing any kind of weakness in front of him now. Their relationship had changed irrevocably and with it, so had her need to hide anything from Reese.
When she tilted her head back to look into his eyes, he was studying her. He lowered his mouth and kissed her long, sweet and slow.
He drew away, breaking the kiss, and brushed hair from her eyes with his fingers. “I don’t know how long I can be your partner without worrying about you.”
She frowned. “We’ve been partners for a long time. You know I can take care of myself.”
He gave a gentle smile. “Yes, you can. I’ve never doubted that.”
She moved her hands to his chest. She liked the feel of his bare skin against her palms and how his body heat radiated through her. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I—” he started say but his cell phone rang and he paused
.
“Go ahead.” She let her hands slide away from his chest. “Take the call.”
He sat up and unholstered his cell phone. “Detective McBride,” he answered. As he listened to the caller, his expression darkened. “I’ll be right there.”
“What happened?” she asked as he holstered his phone.
“Your informant, Zip.” Reese looked grim. “He’s been found. Dead.”
Chapter 15
“Zip has been murdered?” A cold chill washed over Kelley’s skin. “Where?”
“In his apartment.” Reese pushed his fingers through his hair. “Neighbors heard shots and called the police. When they arrived they found his body.”
“I’m going to the scene.” She scrambled to her feet. “I just need to get on some clean clothes.”
Reese looked like he was going to say something, but thankfully he didn’t.
She hurried to her room and changed into clean panties, bra, jeans, and T-shirt. At least she’d showered that morning. Having met with Zip and then immediately investigating his lead, she hadn’t had a chance to go home and get into clean clothes until now.
When she returned to the living room, she scooped up her cross body purse from where she’d dropped it on the floor. Reese reached for the doorknob, opened the door, and held it so that she could walk through. She locked the door behind him as he stepped out of the way.
As she shoved her keys into her purse, she hurried down the steps to his truck to keep up with his long strides. Within moments they were in the vehicle and driving to the part of town where Zip lived.
She felt jittery, as if she’d had a dozen cups of coffee. Had someone found out that Zip had given her the lead to the women and girls? Or had he been murdered for some other reason? Damn, she should have made him accept the protection.
When they arrived, squad cars were parked in front of the apartments, the vehicle’s red and blue emergency lights flashing. The area was cordoned off with yellow tape.
Kelley and Reese climbed out of his truck and met up with John.
John glanced toward the first floor apartment door where law enforcement personnel were going in and out. He looked at Kelley and Reese. “No sign of forced entry or struggle. The victim may have known his assailant, but so far we haven’t been able to determine if that was the case.”
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