Indebted: 'Til Death Do Us Part (Teal & Trent Book 3)

by Inger Iversen

  “Is she like me?” Mia asked.

  The words had Teal’s brow wrinkling in thought. Sister Ellen had asked if Spooky was bringing her another. Another what, patient? Oh hell no. She backed herself into the corner even more.

  Spooky pointed to the seat in front of them. “Sit. No one is going to admit you into the psychiatric hospital.” His voice was a stony command that rubbed Teal the wrong way.

  But what was she going to do? Run from the room? She couldn’t go anywhere if she tried, and the clink of the lock behind her as she walked in the room had been utter proof of that.

  She ambled to the seat and sat, crossing her arms over her chest in protest of the command. Teal took a moment to gaze at the woman. She didn’t look sick, so maybe it wasn’t a visible or even a physical ailment.

  Spooky turned to face the woman. “No, Mia, she’s not.” He stopped, closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before continuing. “And while I told you that you’d never have to experience that part of your past again, I need your help.” Those words were uttered on a soft sigh, so low, Teal could barely hear him speak.

  “So, she isn’t a sex slave?” Mia’s tone sounded relieved, as if she were glad Teal had never had the title.

  Teal couldn’t find the breath to speak. Of course, she knew that a woman had been taken, beaten, and raped, but she hadn’t known it was happening frequently enough to produce sex slaves.

  She leaned forward, placing her arms on the table. “Did—did someone do that to you?” Teal had worked with abuse victims before. She’d even seen men brought into her prison for sex trafficking, but it had never hit her personal life before. Not like this.

  Mia nodded and Teal sat back in her seat, the heavy weight of the truth causing her to need to catch her breath. “Sex trafficking in Paris, Kentucky.” She spoke more to herself than to either of them.

  “Mia is originally from Florida,” Spooky cut in.

  “I was taken in Clearwater, then moved to Treville with three other women. The men in the clubhouse used us until more women came in, and then some of us were sold, while others stayed.”

  Spooky’s arm wrapped around the woman’s back and Teal caught the moment she stiffened. With a deep breath, she calmed and leaned into Spooky’s light embrace. Teal glanced into Spooky’s eyes and noted his relief, but most of all, she saw his love for her. His complete adoration for the woman filled his eyes.

  “I was sold to a man in New York, who was far eviler than any man I’d been forced to be with in the MC.” She gave a tentative smile. “Spooky, Gator, Blu, and Abel came to New York for his ex-wife. She’d escaped him by—”

  “Thea and Lex,” Teal supplied. She didn’t know the whole story, but the names were familiar to her.

  Lex had filled a spot at Trent’s shop, and Thea had helped Teal man the phone lines. Trent had told her that Thea’s friend had run from a man in New York. Teal had even gone as far as to call Safe Haven to check if there was space for one more woman, but by the time Trent had told her, she and Abel had figured everything out and Abel was taking the last spot at the shop.

  Was this how they did it? With the help of the Blackwater Renegades? Teal was beginning to understand there was more about these men then they cared to let on. They were more than renegades and outlaws, they were in some cases, saviors. Still, they’d broken into her home, asked a mortal sin of Trent, and abducted her. How was she to not take them at face value?

  “I don’t know Lex and Thea. I only know that Mark—the man I was sold to—had brought me with him to his meeting with Hope. He’d brought me because he still owed the MC money from a debt, and they told him if he didn’t pay, they’d take me back.”

  Teal shook her head in revulsion.

  “When it was all over and Spooky ushered me from the room, he asked me where I was from. I was so scared. I only trusted them because Hope trusted them. For a moment though . . .” Her eyes clouded over and she was no doubt taken back to the time in which she’d been held captive. And Teal knew the feeling. The moment your mind goes from safety, to the place where every monster lives and breathes to bring you pain.

  “They want my husband to kill someone,” Teal let the admission fall from her lips. “They are going to break up my marriage to get what they want,” she added.

  To her surprise, Mia didn’t ask who, what, where, or why. She simply said, “If I were you, I’d load the gun, and hold it steady as my husband pulled the trigger.”

  The statement shocked Teal. She also didn’t miss Spooky’s smile of appreciation.

  She sighed, long and deep. “We have a family.”

  “So did I,” she countered unflinchingly. “And the law didn’t, or couldn’t protect me, but these men did. I needed to be saved and as much as it kills me to have ever felt so weak, I understand now that weakness is needing help and being too bullheaded to ask for it. I can’t imagine the guts it took the men to ask your husband for help.”

  “They didn’t ask, they threatened, so spare me the bullshit, okay?” Teal stiffened as a growl sounded from Spooky’s chest.

  “No,” Mia placed a hand over his heart. “She’s right. He should have been given a choice. Just as I should have been given a choice. No matter what you think, the ends don’t justify the means if you are taking away someone’s free will. You know this, Spooky.”

  He had the nerve to look abashed. “I am not the President of the MC, Mia. I don’t make the choices.” He stroked her face in reverence.

  “But as I recall, you men always vote on subjects like this, and the vote must be what?” She waited for his reply.

  “Unanimous.” His face reddened in what Teal thought was shame. “But baby,” Teal’s eyes widened at the term of endearment, “I have to get these men. They have to be stopped.”

  “You think they are the men in charge? They just supply the women; the Russians demand them, and in higher and higher quantities with each request.”

  Well, if that admission didn’t make Teal want to pack up and move right the fuck back home, nothing else would.

  “And for some reason, they love black women, as if we’re some sort of commodity.”

  Teal stood corrected. It was that comment that had her mentally packing her bags. She listened as Spooky and Mia spoke about the kidnapping and trading of women, and of how Senators and other government officials lined their pockets off the backs of these women.

  Honestly, Teal had already known about the missing girl Trent was to help save, and it shamed her to say that it hadn’t seemed real until now, while she was sitting in front of a victim of these men, watching as she shied away from Spooky’s touch, even as her eyes pleaded for him to hold her.

  No, she still didn’t want Trent to kill anyone, but he was Trent. He was not the type to sit back and watch as women were mistreated. It was still a hard pill to swallow that they would hurt him if he didn’t pull the trigger though.

  Mia’s words caught Teal’s attention. “Who will go down for this if he’s caught?” Spooky’s head ducked away. “Me.”

  Mia gasped. “Oh no.” Her words were as soft as a summer breeze.

  Teal felt like the woman could finally understand what she’d gone through, watching as Trent loaded himself up with guns.

  “How long would you be away from me?” Her tears fell once again.

  “Life.”

  Teal knew that was a lie. Kentucky had the death penalty and as a person who’d worked in the system, she knew murder one could get the death penalty. From Mia’s eyes, she knew the same damned thing, but instead of crying and raging against that truth, she stood.

  “Is this to happen tonight?”

  Teal stood as well. “Yes. In only a few hours.”

  Mia nodded. “You both need to leave.” She hustled to the door. “You need to leave and make sure the plan goes resoundingly, Fergus.”

  Spooky winced. “Oh, don’t call me by that name.” His Irish accent strengthen and his face reddened.

  “An
d why not? It is derived from ‘man’ and ‘strength,’ and denotes a resilient warrior. Is that not what you are? What you are for me?”

  He stalked around the table, his footfalls heavy and fast until he stood not an inch from Mia. Teal felt his intense heat as he rushed past her and to this woman. His nostrils flared and eyes widened, taking her all in without so much as touching her.

  Mia stood her ground, a proud tilt to her chin. She truly cared for this man, even though something kept her here in this psych ward.

  Placing hands on either side of her head, and trapping her against the wall, he growled, “Always for you, I am Fergus. Your strong, virile warrior.” He wanted to kiss her, Teal could sense it, but she also sensed the wariness in Mia. He pulled away and knocked twice on the door. Seconds later it opened, and Teal and Spooky were shown out.

  Outside, Spooky paced like a caged animal. He’d stripped out of his vest and shirt and was striding around as if shedding extra energy. But when he’d turned to face Teal, staring through her as if she wasn’t even there, she caught sight of what kind of energy the man had been trying to walk off.

  He was hard as hell, and showing through his leather pants. She blew out a breath and headed over to his bike to let him get ahold of his situation. Moments later, he arrived beside her at the bike, bare under his leather vest.

  “Are you going to put your shirt back on under your vest?” she asked as he kicked the kickstand up.

  He glanced down at his naked chest as if he’d forgotten he’d divested himself of it. “It’s in shreds out there somewhere.” He motioned to where he’d been pacing a hole in the ground. “And it’s called a cut.”

  “Huh?”

  “Not a vest, a cut.” He pushed the kickstand down again and turned to her. “About what you saw back there . . .”

  She knew where this was heading. “I understand now why you asked Trent to do this.”

  “He’s the only sharpshooter who can make the shot, and he owes us.”

  “I know, but I also know what you are trying to do for these women. I’ll never agree with murder, or forcing a man to kill, but I at least understand why this is happening.”

  “And you didn’t before?” he asked, not unkindly.

  Teal thought for a moment. Sure, she had gotten it, but seeing it up close and personal had opened a door she wouldn’t be able to soon close. At work, she could separate it from her personal life, and on top of that, the men were in prison where they belonged. In this instance, they were free and paying debts with the blood, sweat, and sanity of stolen women.

  “I did understand. I just needed to see it firsthand.” She closed her eyes and shook her head, hoping to clear the pain and fear in Mia’s eyes from her memory. When she opened them, Spooky had a cell in his hand, shoving it toward her.

  “Call your man and put him at peace,” he said.

  Chapter 22

  Trent balled his fists at his sides and took in a deep, cleansing breath. Ace would regret the day he’d given him a loaded sniper rifle . . . but that would have to come later. Right now, he had a job to do. And he reckoned he could force himself into soldier mode.

  A man on a mission, to safeguard the freedom of Americans.

  It wasn’t a hard mode to settle into when he thought back to his last dealing with the MC. He’d watched as a young girl put a bullet into the heads of the men who’d abducted and raped her. And who’d come to her rescue? Ace and his crew. That was the only reason Trent hadn’t put a bullet square in Ace’s chest.

  However, his next actions could—no would—cost the life he and Teal had created together. Still, Trent had to take in some hard realizations, because he knew Teal wasn’t as happy as she’d let on.

  He’d fought hard about the job she’d wanted, and then fucked her raw, as if sex was supposed to be the period at the end of his adamant no. She’d given in, as she usually did. And she’d kept her promise, but had he kept his? Had he made her the happiest woman alive, and kept her satisfied, mentally and physically?

  Each time he’d fucked her, she’d came—he knew that. But how satisfying was an empty orgasm? One you know is meant to silence you. Fuck, had he become Shayla? Had her toxicity seeped into his soul and dragged him into depths he could never emerge from?

  Mutt lit another cigarette and lifted it to his mouth. “Marine.” He caught Trent’s attention and pointed to the map on the table. A map of a hundred-mile radius of Treville laid in front of him, with a black X marked over his position, some five hundred yards from the mark. Trent eyed the map, this having been the second time.

  “You’ll be there. Keep the walkie-talkie on and the second you confirm the kill, you’ll have sixty seconds to get to the car. Blu will be driving. If you aren’t there in sixty, he leaves without you and you find cover until dawn.”

  Trent glanced up. “Then what?”

  Mutt pointed to another place on the map with a red circle. “We’ll send one of the girls to pick you up. It’ll be less conspicuous to have a chick riding around in Snake’s territory. One of us would raise suspicions.”

  A door opened and a young kid stuck his head in. Trent read the name stitched across his patch, Prospect. The blond boy stepped in, a cell phone in his hand. He motioned to Trent.

  “The fuck you want?” Gator growled.

  The kid held his own. “Marine’s got a call from Spooky.” He thrust out the phone to Gator, who took it.

  “Out,” he ordered. The kid made himself scarce, and Gator pressed the phone to his ear and spoke.

  “Why is Spooky callin’ for me?” Trent glanced around the room at each of the men, their blank expressions giving nothing away, which worried Trent. Then it hit him.

  “Where the fuck is my wife?” he asked through gritted teeth. His hand was halfway to his gun when Gator spoke.

  “It ain’t Spooky on the phone, it’s your wife. You want to put the gun down and speak with her before we leave?”

  Trent shoved his gun back in his waistband and rushed to the phone. He placed it to his ear and mimicked Gator’s words. “Out.”

  Gator and the men laughed as they headed toward the door. Mutt uncrossed his arms and dropped his butt in an ashtray. Grudgingly, he pushed away from the table and headed to the door.

  “Be ready in five,” he threw over his shoulder just before slamming the door.

  Trent pressed the phone to his ear. “Baby, are you okay? Anyone hurt you?”

  “No, I’m good. I just wanted to call and talk to you.” Her voice cracked and his heart broke.

  “This can’t,” he swallowed hard, “wait until after?”

  “No, it can’t.” There was a beat of silence before she spoke again. “I understand why you are doing this. I think I always had, I just didn’t want to. But after tonight, what Spooky’s shown me, I understand. I needed to see it. I had to see it firsthand.”

  Trent grew confused. What was she talking about needing to see? “See what, baby? What are you saying?” he asked, but Teal ignored the question.

  “I—I still don’t want you to do this, but I won’t leave you if you kill him.”

  Trent nearly fainted at her words, but his fear still grew, because maybe he wouldn’t lose her physically, but would she still be there emotionally? Trent couldn’t help but to think that the chasm between them had grown even more, requiring more than just words to mend the enormous fracture.

  “Baby? What are you saying to me?”

  She cleared her throat. “I’m saying, I wish I’d listened.”

  Just barely, Trent heard the note of sorrow and regret in her tone. And it irked him because he’d been the one to place them in this mess. His issues with honesty were rearing up again. Protecting her meant keeping her fully informed, no matter how much of a burden he believed his past to be.

  “I wished I’d been honest. Sometimes I feel like I have to—” He stopped. Trent didn’t want Teal to feel as if she and Emma Mae were more than he could handle. “I feel like there are tim
es when I feel so overwhelmed with the responsibility of protecting you and Emma Mae, that I feel as though I’ll explode.”

  It’d been easier to admit that to her than he thought. “But I love you both, and if keeping y’all safe means losing you . . .” He’d die. He knew that just as well as he knew the sweet taste of his woman. He knew there was no way to have experienced happiness with his family, only to lose it all.

  “You won’t lose us,” she affirmed. “Spooky told me that there is a failsafe if you are caught. The MC has a plan to keep you out of it.”

  “What the fuck?” he hollered. Here he was worried to the nuts about the possible outcomes, and it turns out there was a plan to keep him out of this shit if the law was to get involved? “What’s the failsafe?” he growled.

  “Spooky is taking the fall for you. He’s rather new to the MC, so they will explain it away as a rogue MC member killing out of spite. But, baby . . .” She paused and Trent could hear the voice of a man in the background. “He can’t go to jail. So, if you do this, you have to do this right. I might not lose you, but there’s a woman here who needs Spooky. And she’s sitting around with the same fear I had. That I would have to wake up without you every day.”

  “Baby, you were going to leave me just a bit ago,” he reminded her.

  “Shut up.” They both chuckled. “Yes, my head told me to leave, but my heart wouldn’t have survived it. And Emma . . . I can’t. You have to do this right. So much is at stake. Our future, Spooky and Mia’s, and the girls being sold and traded.” She gave a harsh laugh. “Also, I am taking the job at Safe Haven, and the women that the MC save will be offered a place there if they want it. After the life they are forced to endure, they’ll need a safe, comforting place to heal. I want to be that place, Trent.”

  He was silent for a moment. He still didn’t want her to work, and really didn’t want her around anything to do with the Renegades, but the steely tone in her voice said she wasn’t compromising this time.

  “Trent.”