by Lacey Silks
Wow, this operation was blowing my mind by the minute. I hoped Gabe was right. While I wanted his words to ease the tension that was deflating my lungs, it would take much more than an expert’s confidence to lessen the drips of sweat running down my back. My gaze flew to the pastries on the table, and I wondered whether any of them were baked in the City of Oz and therefore meant to add courage. When my stomach turned, I decided not to touch any just yet.
“So, what is the plan?” I asked.
At my question, the glass door opened, and a lady who looked way too young to lead this whole Let’s destroy Infinity mission, stepped through. At first I thought it was one of the secretaries. She walked toward us with poise and her head held high, and exuded enough courage and spirit for at least a dozen people.
She reached her hand out toward me, saying, “Hi, I’m Emma. Thank you for joining us.”
I had imagined Emma to be more like Judi Dench, the boss of MI6, or at least much older than the smiling girl standing before me. She couldn’t be older than me, maybe in her early thirties. Emma was wearing a pantsuit, and her hair was up in a ponytail that looked like she pulled up a rush. Her cheeks were flushed, as if she’d run here.
I pushed my chair back while shaking her firm grip. “Stay seated. I’m sorry I’m late. The weather delayed my take off. We have a lot to cover, including your training over the next few weeks.”
“Training?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m not letting an unarmed woman face these fucks without at least having an idea about self-defense. And thank you for trusting us. We understand how difficult it is to trust anyone after the ordeal you must have been through. You’re a brave woman. You’re exactly what we need.”
If she was trying to boost my confidence, it was working.
“Is training really necessary? I didn’t realize I’d be facing anyone.”
She wasn’t expecting me to fight, was she? All of a sudden, I had the urge to re-watch all the CSI episodes I had followed with my sister, and maybe add a couple of Mission Impossible movies to the list as well.
“It’s always necessary. A dangerous situation can turn into a life-threatening one very quickly. Hopefully you won’t need to use any of it, and if you don’t, you’ll have a skill for the rest of your life,” she chirped. I had never met anyone so optimistic. “You better watch yourself, Ace. Once I’m done with her, she’ll have you down on your knees in one move.”
I felt my mouth curve up. I liked Emma. She was someone I could see as a friend. Sometime before all the Infinity crap started, I had thought I was that robust and confident as well. What had happened to me since then? I tried to pinpoint the exact moment when I’d changed and become this hopeless girl, but I couldn’t. They had stripped me to the soul. Any strength I had possessed disappeared. It wasn’t until Ace showed up in my life again that I began remembering my old self. While I knew I would never need to use any defense skills on Ace, they’d definitely be an asset when one of the clients tried to push the boundaries beyond what was agreed on. But wait – if everything went well, I would never have to face another client again, would I? Ace had told me he’d never let anyone else touch me again.
“Do whatever you need to keep her safe, but she’s not answering another call.” Ace brought my attention back to the room.
“She won’t have to. Once the virus is installed, Infinity will be too busy scrambling and trying to figure out what went wrong. Most of the girls will be getting a break from these assholes. But Ace, you’re aware that no matter what we do, I can’t guarantee safety where Infinity is concerned. Have you not gone over that with her?”
“I said what I had to. There’s no need to freak her out any more than she already is. If there’s anyone who’s aware of the kind of bastards they are, it’s her.”
True. That was so true. Any more fear and I’d lock myself up in a prison cell just to stay away. If it weren’t for my family, I probably would have already. Now that I knew they could potentially find out that I had betrayed them, I was half-expecting someone to break through the door and strangle me. But Ace, my anchor, had kept me grounded thus far.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe I should have just continued fulfilling the sick contract for the rest of my life. However, after I had been there a while and seen their requests, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep it up until the day I died. At the rate they had me working, I’d be dead way before my time was up. Somewhere along the line, I was going to fail Infinity. They would make me fail. And I’d disappear like one of the girls on the wall.
“When I signed up, I thought they were just an exclusive escort service catering to rich men who wanted something different. I thought if I followed their rules, I wouldn’t get in trouble.”
“That’s what it appears to be on the outside, but it’s not. Their moves are calculated. They learn about each woman they hire to the point of predicting when she’ll have to go to the bathroom. And when they find a weakness, they make their move to isolate her from her family and friends so that when she disappears, no one questions it. Your case was a bit different because of your need to protect your sister. In my eyes, it makes you an asset to us.” She leaned on the table, bracing her arms underneath her. “It also makes you the bravest fucking woman I know.”
Wow.
“Don’t forget who you are, Zoey. Whatever happens, I promise that we have your back. It will be dangerous; I’m not going to lie to you, but we’ll do everything we can to make your safety our priority. Listen to Ace. If he says it’s safe to go out, then it is. If he tells you to hide in the nearest sewer you can find, then that’s what you need to do.”
Emma’s gaze shifted to the white board full of X’d pictures.
“They all worked for Infinity?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What happened to them?”
“The victims? Their murder is made to appear as suicide, usually by overdosing. It’s rare to find one drowned or hanging by a tie in her apartment closet. Even then, there’s usually a suicide note. Never any fingerprints. Definitely no DNA evidence. Not even when there are signs of forced sexual acts.”
“They don’t always wear condoms,” I said feeling Ace’s body go rigid beside me.
“True. But they’ve found a way to clean off the body without leaving a trace. Seems impossible, but it’s not when you have the money to cover up anything and everything you want. We’re working closely with a private forensic pathologist and analyst.” She turned her attention to Gabe and another man who had snuck into the room without my noticing. “As of this morning, our Infinity mission has been officially given the green light by the governor. It’s time to take them down.”
“How are you planning to do that?” Ace asked. “I’ve been working on the girls for years, and none of them are willing to talk. They’re petrified. They’d rather die than say anything. And I doubt anyone will talk to Zoey even if we send her in.”
“With the intel you got, we’ll be able to get Zoey close to one of the main guys. In two weeks, she’ll fly out to his retreat for a party.”
“You better not fucking mean what I think you mean by getting Zoey close to these fucks.”
“Don’t get riled up, Ace. I know what I’m doing. And that is exactly what I mean. If you’re not going to trust me on this, you can go back to being daddy’s bitch.”
Ace shot off his chair. He stood face to face with Emma, whose confidence seemed to have grown to match his size.
“If you weren’t a woman I’d... ”
“What, Ace? Hit me? Slap me? Punch me? I dare you to try if you want to feel what it’s like to have a broken arm again.”
Again?
“That was a fluke, Cross, and you know it. Look, I’m not letting Zoey get within a mile of any of these douches without me. There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind. I’d rather take her away from here, settle on a deserted island, and never look at another face again.”
As he
turned around to go back to his seat, Emma grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the whiteboard.
“Look at those faces.” Emma’s voice was pitched with impatience. What the hell had happened to the chirpy Emma? She braced one of her hands on her hip before pointing again to the whiteboard, never letting go of Ace. “Do you think Tracy deserved to be prodded with a stick until her insides broke and she bled to death?” She then moved to the next photograph. “What about Kate? You think she wanted to sniff that much coke? Or that Brenda jumped out of the hotel room window all on her own and left her baby twins? You’re saying that the past six years of our work has been a waste, and you’ll step away just like that?” She snapped her fingers and I jumped. “Because if you are, then you’re not the man I thought you were, and you have no fucking clue what it’s like to be trapped by those bastards. Are you willing to throw everything away? Risk the lives of these women? What if Infinity still exists when you have a daughter? And she grows up and finds herself at their mercy? What then, Ace?”
“Stop!” Ace pulled his arm out of her grasp and started pacing. “I know what I signed up for. My family once supported them, and I need to fix those mistakes. I will do everything to clear the Wagner name. My father didn’t deserve what he lived through, and you know it. He was forced to live the life of a criminal. This is the one thing I can do to make things right. Besides, even if it weren’t for my family, I’m not a scum who will sit by and watch women be abused, hurt, and killed. I get it, okay? I just can’t have anything happen to Zoey.”
Why me? What was it about me that had Ace so petrified about finishing the job he started years ago? I’d risked so much already by being here. And even if I wanted to, there was no turning back now. If I was their ‘in’ person, then I wanted to help.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll just pretend it’s another client.”
“You are not fucking anyone, Zoey. She’s asking you to meet with the biggest clients at Infinity, who could hold a clue to where Craig keeps his memory stick with the information about his compounds. If you get close enough to any of his main men, forget a gang rape or blowjobs. That’s nothing compared to the sick fantasies these men have. And they won’t stop there; they’ll push the boundaries of the agreement, and I promised you that not another man will ever touch or hurt you again. And I will not break that promise.”
My gaze flew from Ace to Emma, who had a look of genuine concern in her eyes. She came closer and crouched beside me, saying, “I know this is scary and dangerous, Zoey. And this sting does come with a lot of risk, but I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe so that no one touches you again. They’ll think they did, but they won’t have.”
What?
“And I mean that. But let me be clear, no matter how much Ace wants to protect you, and no matter what precautions we take, there will always be risk.”
I didn’t think I had much choice anyway. Without Emma and Cross Enterprises, I was already dead. Ace had removed my tracker. Once Infinity found out, I was done. Slashing my own wrists would have probably been the easiest way to go. But I wasn’t a coward. At least I had Ace, as well as this amazing group of people who actually cared. And if there was anything I could do in this life, it was helping those who had no one. For the first time since joining Infinity, there was someone in my life who hated the secret clan as much as I did and was convinced they could help me. How could I say no to that?
“I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Emma smiled and gave Ace a look of satisfaction. I bet she knew she’d win any argument before she walked into a conference room.
“What do you need us to do?” Ace asked.
“Stay low for now. We’re trying to plant a seed and keep her off the radar for another two weeks until the party.”
Every muscle in Ace’s body tensed.
“Do you have a safe place to keep her at?” Emma asked.
“I just got a new condo. It’s anonymous.”
“Make sure it stays that way. Okay. We’ll formulate the final details over the next two days, and then go in for the kill.”
She made a pistol shape with her fingers, and my phone vibrated.
“You’ll meet with the guy and…”
“They’re on her,” Gabe said from the corner, and I saw the red dot which was supposed to be tracking me turn green.
Everyone’s attention flew to me.
The sound of my phone was the only one in the room.
“It’s them,” I said.
“You fucking plant your seeds a bit too well, Cross. She’s not ready.”
“Maybe it’s a regular. Pick it up.”
I pressed the talk button and waited for the standard instructions of where and when I was to meet the next appointment. But the voice on the other side was nothing I had expected.
“Hello, Mr. Harper.”
Chapter 16
Zoey
And the hope I had to train and maybe build an inch of muscle before we made any move on Infinity was just flushed down the toilet. I listened to the ominous voice on the other end of the phone and scribbled the address and time on a piece of paper someone passed to me, listening to Craig’s phone instructions and desperately trying to remember every detail. The last words he said to me about the actual assignment made me feel queasy. I shut my eyes as Craig said, “Are you capable of that, Ms. Blakely?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’m glad you’re committed to Infinity. You’ve proved your allegiance over the past three weeks. You’re one of our best, and I’m glad I’ll finally get a chance to experience your talents for myself.”
Talents? What did his disgusting offer have anything to do with talents?
“Of course, Sir.”
“I’m looking forward to this weekend, Zoey.”
Three days. I had less than half a week to get ready to meet Infinity’s leader. I waited for the click of the hang up on the other side, and then collapsed into the chair. I didn’t even realize that I had been standing.
“Are you okay?” Ace passed me a glass of water, and I nodded. This was nothing new. At least it shouldn’t have been. Only the boss of the biggest escort service, if you could call it that, was expecting me to sleep with him on Saturday night. And if that wasn’t enough, the way he explained the arrangement still had my stomach twisting in knots. How could I even tell Ace the truth about what Craig really wanted to do to me? And why was it that the man who apparently had been so difficult to approach by anyone outside his circle was suddenly interested in me? This couldn’t be good. Did he not remember that I had rejected his original offer to go away to his island? Or was he just doing a quality check on what he considered to be one of his assets — me?
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just... he’s...”
“Zoey, do you think you’d feel more comfortable talking to me about it?” Emma asked.
“There’s nothing she can say to you that she can’t say to me,” Ace barked. It appeared that they didn’t like each other too much. Anything beyond mutual respect was unlikely.
“I doubt that.”
“It’s okay. He just said that I would be unconscious.”
Ace’s brows scrunched up. “What? Why would he—”
“—it’s a sexual paraphilia,” Emma explained.
“They’re still tracking her. I’m sending the signal out of the apartment heading west. You need to tell me where she’s going in case they checkup. I can’t upload the virus until they’re offline again.” Gabe shut his laptop, stuffed it into a case, and headed for the door.
Emma grabbed her phone and coffee and came back to my side. “We gotta move. What would you have usually done after a phone call?”
Cry. I skipped telling them that part, of course.
“I’d go to the clinic for blood work and a physical. They have a turn-around time of twenty-four hours.” I looked at my watch. “I need to go to the clinic now.”
“She’s still green. We
need to move while she’s green.”
“Okay, send the tracker on a path they’re less likely to have a visual on. If she goes offline, let me know. And get that damn virus working. We’re depending on it.” Emma then turned toward me, saying, “We’re going to the clinic. Until we know they’re not following you, we need to get you back in synch with the tracker.”
“What do you mean, ‘we’?”
“We’ll follow you. We need to time this right with the tracker to have you there when they expect you. We’ll try to distort the signal on the way back.”
“Oh, okay.”
Everything was happening so fast now; I had no time to think. I had no time to let the fear overwhelm me, so I took a deep breath, nodded and headed out the door. Since Ace had driven me to the meeting at Emma’s, they dropped me off around the corner from a bus stop so that I would show up at the clinic at the same time the tracker did. Hopefully no one from Infinity would look for me before then. If I had to bet, I’d say Emma and her team had been expecting something like this to happen. That was why we had met at this location, wasn’t it? Because it allowed us to stay close to Oyster Bay and my apartment.
The moment I sat down on the bus and was on my own, I felt more alone than I had ever been in my life. I scanned the three other people there: a grandmother with a cane and a bag of groceries, a teenage girl scrolling through her phone, and a man, whose build frame looked quite familiar. Was that Gabe? He looked so different with glasses on. More like Clark Kent. I felt the tension in my neck ease and my heart rate jump up. They did have my back, didn’t they?
Don’t feel too safe, Zoey. This is Infinity.
I stepped off the bus and walked the next mile to the clinic. A black cat crossed my path.
Shit!
Did I even believe in superstitions?
When a biker forced me to the side of the sidewalk closer to the building and I had to walk under a ladder, I cursed under my breath.