by Stormy Glenn
“No,” Juarez said, “but it wouldn’t hurt to have your personal physician check him over in a week or so.”
“I paid a lot of money for my merchandise. I don’t like receiving damaged goods,” Vinnie said with a growl in his voice. “None of this was mentioned in your advertisement.”
“Like I said, his injury didn’t cause any permanent damage,” Juarez said quickly. “I oversaw his care myself.”
“Do you have any other merchandise I can look at?” Vinnie asked. “Any undamaged merchandise?”
There was a nervous tone to Juarez’s voice when he replied. “Oh, uh, I have a few more boys downstairs, but none of them meet the same quality as this one.”
Porca troia! He had more than Lany.
“I’d like to see them,” Vinnie said.
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Vinnie and Burke weren’t rushing Lany out of there.
What was their game?
“Mr. Castellano—”
“Now.” Vinnie’s voice brooked no resistance.
“Right away,” Juarez replied. “While they are being brought up, we can conclude our transaction for the auction.”
“Of course,” Vinnie replied. “I merely need your account number to transfer the money.”
“I have it all set up right here, Mr. Castellano.”
I wasn’t real sure what was happening right then because everything grew quiet. I assumed Vinnie was transferring the money he had paid for Lany into Juarez’s account. I hoped that we would be able to get that money back for him one day. If not, I knew Lany’s father would pay it, and then I would willingly spend the rest of my life paying Lancaster back.
“Burke, take my merchandise out to the car,” Vinnie said after a few minutes. “Don’t damage him anymore than he already is.”
I glanced toward the front of the house, holding my breath as I waited. I wanted to jump out of the car and rush up the steps when Burke walked out with Lany tossed over his shoulder.
I stayed where I was.
When the door to the limo opened, I dug my fingers into my thighs to keep from reaching for Lany. Since I wasn’t supposed to be inside the car, I couldn’t very well be seen. I had to wait until Burke placed Lany inside before I could reach for him.
Bu the second he was inside…
“Lany!” I grabbed the man and yanked him into my arms, tucking him close to my body. “Porca troia, Lany,” I whispered into his hair. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
I had just a moment to meet Burke’s eyes over the top of Lany’s head before the door was slammed closed and the man walked back toward the house. The three bodyguards Vinnie had brought with him took up a stance in front of the door, blocking anyone’s view of the inside of the limo.
I ran my hands over Lany, checking for any sign of injury, and because I needed to touch him more than I needed to breath. “Hermetically sealed bubble, Lany, I swear.”
Lany grunted.
I frowned when I leaned back. I knew exactly what the red ball in his mouth was for. My Lany had been talking. I had often thought about getting him one, but usually only when he was driving me insane. I’d never do it for real.
I unsnapped the ball gag and tossed it across the limo and then went to work on Lany’s bound hands. The second his hands were free, he wrapped his arms around my neck.
“I want to go home.”
“We will, caro. We have to take down the bad guy first.”
“Juarez.”
“I know.” There might have been a few other people involved in the whole sex trafficking ring, but Juarez was the one I was after. That man was going down even if I had to devote the rest of my life to seeing him pay.
“No gags.” There was a promise of death in his eyes if I disagreed with him.
I wouldn’t. I would give Lany anything. I had him back in my arms where he was safe. He could have whatever he wanted.
I chuckled as I brushed a kiss across Lany’s lips. “I promise, caro.”
“He has more slaves,” Lany said. “I think that is what Vinnie and Burke are doing, trying to free them.”
“I know, I heard.”
Lany’s head snapped up. “You did?”
I smiled at the frown on his face and pointed to the speaker box. “A little present to Vinnie from Isabella before she died.”
“Oh.” Lany’s frown deepened. “Why don’t I hear anything?”
I glanced toward the house, my own frown working across my face. “I don’t know.”
I shoved Lany to the floor when the sounds of gunfire erupted.
“Damn it!” I slid my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Clarke. He and the others were waiting down the street. “Clarke, get your ass down here. Things have gone to shit.”
“Two minutes out, Lieutenant.”
“Make it one.” I snapped my phone closed and shoved it back into my pocket. “Lany, do not leave this limo for any reason, do you understand me?”
Lany nodded. Fear, stark and vivid, glittered in his eyes.
I looped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss that stole my breath. My heart took a perilous leap when our lips smashed together. Our connection was hard and searching, me needing to know my Lany was alive and breathing, Lany needing reassurance that I would stand between him and whatever dangers we faced.
I always would.
“Tu sei una stella…la mia stella.”
Lany would always be my star, my beacon.
I needed him far more than he needed me.
Lany drew in a shaky, stuttering breath. When he released it, all of the tension seemed to drain out of him. “You’ll be careful?”
I grinned. “Always.”
Lany chewed on his bottom lip for a moment as if unsure he should say whatever words were floating around in his head. “Can I have a gun?”
Yeah, he should have kept his mouth shut.
“I’ll let you have a gun when you let me put that ball gag back in your mouth.”
Lany’s eyes narrowed.
I should have been afraid, but I wasn’t. Lany loved me. He would never hurt me. He could make my life a little uncomfortable, but he would never do anything that would truly cause me grief.
“I’ll be back, caro. Stay in the limo.”
I opened the door on the far side of the car and climbed out, crouching down so I wouldn’t be seen from the house. I motioned to the first bodyguard and then pointed to the limo. “Keep him safe.”
“Yes, sir.”
I didn’t know how well Vinnie’s thugs would follow my directions, but they knew that Vinnie considered me a friend. Hopefully, my words would hold some weight.
I pulled my gun and then jumped up and sprinted for the house. I was a little surprised when I was able to enter without resistance. No one was manning the door. They hadn’t even locked it.
I kept my gun at the ready as I stepped inside the house. There was a body on the floor just inside the living room. I squatted down next to it and checked for a pulse. There wasn’t one. I grabbed a handful of hair and lifted the man’s head, making sure it wasn’t Vinnie or Burke.
It wasn’t.
I didn’t recognize the man.
I stood up and started searching the rest of the house. The first floor was clear. As I started to go up the steps, I heard something that made me pause. A creak of the floorboard, a door closing, something.
I turned and headed back toward the kitchen. I had already searched it, but it wouldn’t hurt to search it again. I made a careful scan of the kitchen this time, making sure I checked every possible hiding spot.
Nothing.
I had watched Vinnie and Burke walk into the house. I had watched Burke bring Lany out and then go back in again. I knew people were in here. I just couldn’t seem to find them.
The front door opened as I headed back to the living room. I tensed until I saw Clarke, Wu, and Brodsky come in. All men on my SWAT team. All men I trusted with my life.
Brodsky glanced toward the stairs. “Have you checked upstairs?”
“Not yet. I was starting to, but I heard a noise back toward the kitchen. I didn’t find anything, though.”
“Basement?”
Porca troia.
It made sense that there would be one. All of the houses on this street looked the same, and they were built around the time people had root cellars.
I turned around and trudged back toward the kitchen, looking for a door that might lead down to the basement. “Brodsky, you search the top floor. Clarke and I will look for the basement.”
Assuming I could find the damn door.
Brodsky took off to the upper part of the house while Clarke and I opened every door we came across. Clarke and I met up again in the kitchen after a few minutes.
“Anything?”
Clarke shook his head. “I don’t know if this place even has a basement.”
“There has to be something some—”
I dropped into a crouch and pointed my gun toward the wall when a section of it swung out. Clarke did the same, dropping down beside me. The tension that had gripped me eased a bit when Vinnie walked through the hidden doorway, followed moments later by Burke.
And then I saw the man behind them, holding a gun on them.
I fired, aiming for Juarez’s arm. I probably should have called out “police” first, but I didn’t think this was going to go down well. Getting the gun off of Vinnie and Burke seemed like the way to go.
Juarez cried out and dropped the gun before grabbing his arm. While Vinnie kicked the gun away, Burke turned around and grabbed Juarez, yanking him into the kitchen.
“Are there anymore?’ I asked as I stood.
Burke nodded. “There are a couple down in the basement guarding the others Juarez kidnapped.”
“I’ll get them,” Clarke said as he headed for the basement.
“Who shot the guy in the living room?”
“Juarez did,” Burke replied. “He shot Rolfe when the guy tried to defend us.”
I grimaced. “The guy in the living room?”
Burke nodded.
“He’s dead, Burke.”
“Damn it.” Burke’s shoulders slumped. “He was on the job, Sal. He blew his cover to protect us.”
Every bit of anger and hatred welled up inside of me when I looked at Juarez. “Just one more thing you can put him away for.”
“I wanted the guy locked up, but not like this.”
“I know.” I felt for Burke. I knew what it felt like to lose a member of my team. Rolfe might not have been on Burke’s team, but he was still an FBI agent. He died protecting someone. “Maybe his family can take solace in the knowledge that Rolfe died putting away a scumbag like Juarez.”
“I doubt that will be much comfort to his family. I’m sure they’d rather have Rolfe.”
I knew that, so there was no point in replying. “What happened?” I asked instead.
“After I took Lany out to the car, we were trying to get the others Juarez had locked up in the basement. Vinnie didn’t want to leave anyone behind.” There was an edge of respect in Burke’s eyes as he glanced at the man in question. “He wanted to buy them all.”
Vinnie didn’t say anything.
“I don’t know exactly what tipped Juarez off, but he pulled a gun. Rolfe pulled his and things kind of went to hell from there.”
“What were you doing in the basement?”
“That’s where the others were being held,” Burke explained. “Juarez made us go down there. I think he planned to lock us up in one of the rooms down there and leave us there, except he heard a noise upstairs. Considering how much money he got from Lany, I think he was hoping it was Lany coming back inside.”
I was glad I had left Lany in the car.
“So, now what?” I asked.
Burke grinned, and it was a wide grin. “We have Juarez on tape selling Lany to Vinnie, plus a trail to his bank account. We also have several sex slaves locked up downstairs. And we have an FBI agent who witnessed Juarez killing another agent, not to mention your kidnapping and the attempted murder at the courthouse. This guy is probably going to face the death penalty. Even if he doesn’t, he’ll never see the outside of prison cell.”
I grinned just as big as Burke when I glanced at Juarez. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
Chapter Eighteen
Salvador
I chuckled as I watched Lany’s father talking baby talk to the twins. For a man who was reported to be the business mogul of the decade, he sure was brought easily to his knees by a pair of sweet giggles and cute button noses.
If I took pictures of the guy playing peek-a-boo with the twins, I could blackmail him for millions. Too bad Lany and the twins loved him so much…and I didn’t like blackmail. I did like knowing Lancaster had a soft spot, even if it wasn’t one he showed to many people.
I glanced across the room to where my Lany was holding court. Friends—his, mine, and ours—all surrounded him as he regaled them with tales of his terror. There had been a few nightmares in the weeks since he had been kidnapped, but they were growing fewer and farther apart.
I think I had just as many as he did. Watching Lany be sold on the black market was one of the memories I wished I never had. It was one of many that I wished I didn’t have.
But that was what I took on when I swore “in sickness and in health, in good times and bad.” I didn’t get to pick and choose. I had to take the good with the bad, and there was a whole hell of a lot more good than there was bad.
“He’s happy.”
I jerked a little, not having heard Jerry walk up. There was still sadness in Jerry’s eyes that I imagine would be there for a long time to come. “Was it worth it?”
Jerry raised an eyebrow as he glanced at me. “Was what worth it?”
“Losing Sally,” I said. “Was the time you had with her worth the pain you’re going through from losing her?”
“Yes,” Jerry said without hesitation. “Two seconds with her would be worth every second of misery I’ve suffered. I’d take another twenty years of misery if I had just one more day with her. But I don’t.” Jerry drew in a deep breath. “And maybe someday, I won’t feel like I have an aching hole in my chest.”
“I wish there was a way I could give you one more day, Jerry.”
Saying I’m sorry seemed trite.
Jerry smiled and gestured to Lany. “Spend one more day with Lany and then one more after that, and then another one. Make sure you live every second of each of those days knowing you made the time worth it.”
I wasn’t one for emotional displays, but I did have to swallow hard as Jerry walked away. The man was suffering and nothing anyone did was ever going to change that.
Maybe not even time.
“Is he going to be okay?”
I glanced to my right to see Marcus standing next to me. I nodded and went back to watching Jerry strike up a conversation with Vinnie of all people. “Yeah, he’ll be all right.”
Eventually.
“It’s just going to take some time.”
“He loved his wife a lot, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, I think he did.”
“Okay.”
I frowned and glanced at Marcus again, but the man was watching Jerry. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing in Marcus’s brown eyes, but it made me wonder just how long Jerry was going to be sad…and alone.
Wouldn’t that be an interesting twist.
“Maybe he could use another drink,” I suggested.
“Yeah, maybe,” Marcus said before sauntering off toward the liquor cabinet.
I chuckled as the man made a drink and carried it over to Jerry. The look of surprise—and something cautious—on Jerry’s face was one I doubted I would ever forget. I’d known Jerry Harris for a long time
. I never once dreamed there was more to him than what a person could see.
When I caught Vinnie’s eye, the man nodded.
Perfect. My plans were in place.
Now just to get Lany.
“Salvador,” Cynthia said as she walked up. “What’s going to happen to that horrible Juarez man who took Junior? Any news on that?”
“He took a plea deal to avoid the death chamber. He’ll never see the light of day again.”
“That’s it?” Cynthia did not sound pleased.
I couldn’t say I was either. I wanted the man to pay for he had done to Lany.
“As part of his plea deal, he has to name names. The FBI and DEA are salivating with everything they are learning about Juarez’s organization. They have been able to break up a significant sex trafficking ring from here all the way down to Columbia. They’ve freed over a hundred boys and girls, some of them as young as ten years old as well as cutting off a drug distribution network that was worth millions.”
“Well.” A grimace of distaste covered Cynthia’s lips. “I’m glad something good has come out of this mess.”
“I’d rather it never happened, but it did. Lany is home safe, and that’s all I wanted. The rest of it is just a bonus.”
“Yes, you are quite right.” Cynthia smiled again. “There is a children’s fair in the park tomorrow. Lancaster and I would like to take the girls.”
“Sure.” I smiled at my mother-in-law. “Lany and I can meet you at the park tomorrow and we can go to lunch afterwards, make a day of it?”
“Oh.” Cynthia smiled. “That would be wonderful.”
“Could you watch the girls for a couple of hours? There’s a surprise I’d like to show Lany.”
“I would be happy to, but should you be leaving your own party?”
Ever the proper woman.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Everyone else is in on the surprise.”
“If you say so,” Cynthia said. She didn’t sound convinced.
I leaned down toward Cynthia. “I’m sure Lany will tell you all about it tomorrow.”
“Very well.”
Cynthia Harris was never going to change, and I was okay with that. She was a strong woman with a sense of family she had instilled in Lany that I would forever be grateful for.