by Campbell
She nodded quickly and used one hand to hit a button.
A series of low beeps sounded as they let themselves into the area behind the reception desk.
At the same time, a door opened behind the blonde. She threw a panicked look over her shoulder, then back at Dro as a pair of security guards stepped forward and flanked her. The two males were cookie-cutter images—tall, brawny, bald-headed with ruddy complexions. On spotting the three Kings, both men pulled their weapons.
Shaz reflexively drew the Glock and leveled it at one of the guards. Dwayne did the same with the other. Time hadn’t allowed for any target practice recently but Shaz figured if his aim was off at this distance, he deserved to have his firearm license revoked.
“Think very carefully about your next move, unless you have a death wish.” Dro shifted to one side, his 9mm Sig Sauer handgun drawn. His pitch remained cool and unhurried for someone who’d just been in the flight path of four bullets. “In which case, my colleagues will be quite happy to oblige. They’re crack shots.”
“Not to mention the fact that you’re outnumbered,” Shaz added. “The bigger question is this. Are you willing to die for the scuzzballs who employ you?”
The tense seconds stretched and none of the men stood down.
The receptionist hyperventilated with her back pressed to the wall.
“Let me put it to you this way,” Dwayne said, from his position next to Shaz. “This standoff can be easily resolved. You lower your weapons and we bring this to a close without anyone getting hurt. I’m a peaceful man … my brothers here, not so much.”
When the guards didn’t give an inch, Dwayne continued. “You know what? I’m always willing to try something different. My first bullet is about to land in someone’s ass. Let’s see which of you will cop that honor.”
After a silent exchange that lasted a few seconds, both guards let their hands fall to their sides.
With his gun, Shaz motioned to them. “Put your weapons on that table and take a seat.”
Dro reached into his knapsack then approached both men, who sat in disapproving silence while he confined their hands with plastic handcuffs. That done, Dro, Dwayne, and Shaz scanned the electronic display board on which several lighted buttons blinked at intervals.
Shaz crooked a finger at the receptionist, who tottered toward him from her position against the wall. Pointing to the unit, he said, “This tells which rooms are occupied?”
The tall woman nodded.
If the lights told a truthful tale, at least a dozen clients were in-house.
“What’s over here?” He pointed to an elongated block that pulsed with eight circular crimson lights.
She stiffened. “I’m not allowed to say.”
Shaz exchanged a glance with Dro, who was using the radio. As his mind flashed back to their earlier meeting, he had a brain wave. Daron had mentioned a black-out area he hadn’t been able to crack and see inside to determine what activity happened there. Shaz had his suspicions. Settling his weight on both feet, he folded his arms. “What’s your name?”
“It’s Angie,” she said, flipping hair over her shoulder.
“Think about this, Angie.” Shaz enunciated his words so she wouldn’t miss anything he said. “Things will go much easier if you cooperate. I’ll remember that you helped us when this cesspool goes public and your role in it is exposed.”
She gasped, “But I’m only an employee.”
He tipped one brow. “Who’s aware of what’s happening in her place of employment and is complicit with her bosses’ illegal activities.”
“But—”
“Spare me.” He raised both hands. “We need access to this place. Where is it?”
Angie rubbed her forehead, then lowered her head. “It’s behind a wall that’s located beyond where we—they keep the pregnant girls.”
“D’you have the code for those rooms?”
She shook her head. “No, the security personnel do.”
“Thank you.” He unclipped the radio from his belt and with his eyes on Dro and Dwayne, conveyed what he learned to Daron.
The staccato beat of footsteps came from the corridor, along with the Alderman’s protests. The disheveled politician was secured between two FBI agents, who frogmarched him toward the entrance.
Shaz’s only pang of sympathy was for the Alderman’s family, who would not be spared in the backlash from his activities within The Castle walls.
Angie gasped, then covered her mouth with both hands.
“What are you staring at?” Bennett bellowed. “Get Milholland on the phone. Now!”
Turning to one of the agents restraining him, he barked, “This is outrageous. I demand to speak with my lawyer.All of this is unnecessary.” His gaze fell on Shaz and a ripple went through his body. He came to a stop despite the officers flanking him. “This is your fault. You did this. You’re going to be sorry.”
“Not as sorry as you’ll be where you’re going,” Shaz warned, then gave him a mock salute.
From behind them another wave of disturbance arose, and Shaz drawled, “Here comes your lawyer now. Good luck with negotiating your case. Since the two of you might be cell buddies, you’ll have the chance to compare notes.”
Milholland was as rumpled as his client, with wisps of hair sticking out from the fringe around his head. His pale eyes darted to his client, who was still throwing threats.
“This isn’t finished,” Bennett snarled. “You’ll hear from me.”
“You and your threats.” Shaz looked him up and down and let contempt drip from his voice. “Use them on someone who give a rat’s ass about them.”
By the time the two men left the building, almost dragged by the agents, Shaz was thinking he might not need to put Georgiana through the trauma of testifying since Milholland had also been caught with one of the girls.
As FBI agents perp-walked more than a dozen influential businessmen and politicians out of the gentleman’s club, Shaz wondered about the compulsion that led them to put their freedom and reputation at risk when they all had families.
The last person to be led out was Angie, who was weeping by that time.
Shaz rubbed his eyes that were grainy from the lack of sleep and the indulgences with Camilla last night. He was bone tired, but had one other matter to deal before he could rest.
The other individuals inside who were still imprisoned, as well as the missing girl. Nicole.
CHAPTER 25
On his way to The Harem—as the holding area for the girls had been labeled—Shaz identified himself to FBI agents and police officers. None of the Kings were allowed inside while another team of FBI agents— including several females—processed that part of the building.
Ten minutes later, after he, Reno, and Dwayne had a mini-conference in the back lounge of The Hub, Shaz moved into position as an agent led the girls out and made them sit in what had formerly served as a waiting and transit area before they were sent to their assigned client. While he waited, Shaz pulled up Nicole’s image on his phone.
The girl he was looking for was short, with bright eyes and a dark complexion. He hung back, leaning against the maroon accent wall. She was the last to emerge, looking gloomy and shaken with her arms wrapped around her body.
He stepped forward and kept his hands in his pockets. These girls had been abused, and he didn’t want to inflict even one additional moment of stress. He kept his voice pitched low. “Nicole?”
She tipped her head back and moved sideways out of his reach. “Yes?”
“Georgiana gave me your name.”
Still skittish, she stood away from him. With her brows furrowed, she asked, “Who?”
He pointed toward where she’d been kept. “She was in here and escaped weeks ago.”
“Oh.” After a moment, a tiny smile shone through. “She kept her promise. She said she’d tell somebody I was here.”
“Yeah.” Shaz smiled back at her. “Your mother asked me to look for you.”
Nicole shrank back and reverted to Patois. “She know me in here?”
“Yes, she knows you’re here.”
“She goin’ to kill me.” Tears streamed down her face and she looked up at him.
Shaz didn’t think it was wise to touch her although she clearly needed to be comforted. Instead, he stooped and looked up at her. “Listen to me. The only thing on your mother’s mind is having you back. Stop worrying. I’m going to call her, so she can be on spot when you’re released, okay?”
Nicole grimaced as if she didn’t believe things would work out that easily, then whispered, “Thanks.”
As a female agent pointed her toward the waiting area, Shaz closed his eyes. His mother had told him never to turn his back on a good opportunity. He’d done exactly that the first time Khalil reached out to him and look how that turned out. Thankfully, he was now in a position to right those wrongs alongside his brothers.
His blood brother crossed his mind, but Shaz set Martin’s problems aside to figure out later. His heart contracted as another set of girls, each of them in various stages of pregnancy, filed through the passage toward him. This scenario was exactly what he expected to find after Georgiana’s revelation, plus the details he uncovered. None of the girls looked older than sixteen. All of them seemed lost. Blank stares and hopeless eyes greeted him from their faces.
Dwayne, Dro, Grant, Reno, and Shaz exchanged pained stares. Through his expertise in the solutions side of domestic abuse and providing shelter for disadvantaged women, Reno would be able to help with housing.
When the last of them left with the agent, Shaz faced the doorway leading to the cells. “There’s one more thing we have to do before they take the guards away.”
“What’s that?” Dro asked as they all fell in step with him.
“You’ll see.”
He strode to an office behind the back wall, where agents were in the process of combing the room, which housed several desks, chairs, and a similar control panel to the one behind the reception counter. A quick study confirmed this edition was more sophisticated.
After introducing himself and his brothers to the man in charge, Shaz stated his case. “Somewhere along this wall is an entrance to another part of this set up. My guess is based on what I saw on the electronic system at reception.”
With his thick eyebrows pulled together, the beefy redhead folded his arms and glowered at the four beefy female guards standing along one wall. “What will we find?” he asked.
Shaz angled his chin toward the seemingly flat surface behind the man. “Agent McClausky, I suspect there are little ones back there.”
His eyebrows shot toward his hairline and he took in the other FBI agents, who now stood motionless, in one sweep. “You mean like a nursery?”
“Exactly.”
Abruptly, Agent McClausky moved toward the guards, pacing in front of them. When he spoke, his voice thundered. “You. Step forward.”
The tall, heavyset woman was expressionless.
Agent McClausky pointed to the table with the computer equipment. “Open the paneling.”
She didn’t move immediately, and a humorless smile twisted Agent McClausky’s lips. “You better think about making things easy on yourself, since as of right now, you’re in a hard place.”
Her lips twisted in a smirk. “In case you missed it, I’m only an employee here.”
McClausky shook his head. “You better get in line with that sad excuse. This must be the fifth time I’ve heard that tonight. You’d be singing a different song if one of these girls was your daughter.”
His words seemed to deflate her and she turned away and faced the desk. In a series of key taps, she put in a command.
Before their eyes, the entire wall retracted and a set of double doors with frosted glass appeared. Nobody moved until Agent McClausky barked, “Open it,”
Two agents surged through the doors ahead of him, and the Kings followed.
A pair of wide-eyed nurses, wearing hairnets and surgical masks spun away from them.
“Federal Agents. Do. Not. Move.”
Trembling, the women stared at the men surrounding them as they were made to sit in a far corner, furnished with a central table and visitor’s chairs.
The brightly-lit room contained a row of cribs along one wall and on the other, a set of incubators. Digital display panels lit the equipment connected to each incubator.
Shaz hovered over each less than a second and was shocked to find six of them occupied by infants of various ethnicities. Only two cribs contained babies. “Where are the mothers?” he asked one of the nurses.
“Let us ask the questions, Mr. Bostwick,” Agent McClausky said. “Most likely they have them at another location. We’ll treat their welfare as a matter of urgency.”
He cracked a smile. “Now that you’ve dropped more work in our laps, you and these gentlemen should give us a chance to request more personnel to process this area. We need to let Agent Stone know of these developments.”
“No need for that,” Jason said, walking into the room. “I heard.”
He shook hands with each of the Kings and after a brief conversation, promised to update them as much as he was able to, under the circumstances.
By the end of the round-up and processing of various individuals, it was 7:00 a.m.
The Kings all stood in the foyer of the main building of The Castle. Similarly dressed, and in various stages of exhaustion, they looked like a battalion of war-weary soldiers. In a sense, they were. Hand in his pocket, Shaz fingered the medallion with a sense of satisfaction. This was the reason he did what he did. To right wrongs and be of service to his fellowmen.
With a half-smile on his face, Shaz went through and did a man hug with each, clapping them on the back and expressing his thanks for the night just past and again for their overall support. They weren’t family by blood, but they made a heck of a lot of difference in helping him shut down a small slice of the evil that had invaded the Castle. Dro and Daron were now tasked with following leads to see how far that trail went.
Shaz had a couple of things to conclude to make Bennett’s case air-tight, then he’d be free and clear to put the finishing touches on his personal agenda.
CHAPTER 26
Before he held the car door open, Shaz brushed Camilla’s lips with his. Then he went in deep, as if he hadn’t kissed her two minutes ago.
They stood outside the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where people waited curbside for pickup and some breezed past them, getting in and out of cabs.
Ayanna pulled his shirt sleeve, and he looked into her bright eyes. She held her arms open and wriggled her fingers. “Sha, kiss!”
Laughing, he took her from Camilla’s side and smacked her cheek. “Happy now?”
She grabbed his jaw and started a conversation. In the past few weeks, he’d gotten more fluent in her baby talk, but still had a way to go.
Camilla tried removing her from his arms, but she protested.
“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing Ayanna’s back. “I’ll strap her in.”
While he did, Camilla watched him. She kissed his cheek when he stood straight. “Thanks. Soon, she won’t want me to do anything for her.”
“She’s a sweetie,” he said as Camilla sat in the passenger seat. He threw Ayanna a kiss over his shoulder. “And she knows what she wants. Right, Ayanna?”
She giggled and squeezed the rag doll she carried close to her chest.
Behind the wheel, he looked across at Camilla. “Let’s go home and then over to Mom’s.”
“Do we have enough time?” she asked, glancing at her watch.
“Yeah, they won’t be ready to eat for another couple of hours.”
“As long as you tell Miss Paula this was your plan,” Camilla said, giving him a doubtful look.
He patted her thigh and met her gaze for a second. “You worry too much.”
“With good reason sometimes.”
Shooting
her another glance, he said. “There’s never a good reason to worry. As long as you’re taking steps to resolve your problems, worrying is a waste of time. Thursday was a case in point.”
She shrugged and looked over her shoulder at Ayanna. “I’ll give you that.”
“Baby girl, you know I’m right.”
Camilla stroked his locs and rubbed his jaw with the back of her hand. “Okay, so you were right this time. Don’t be getting a big head over it.”