by Taylor Lee
“Why did Ariel leave the shelter? What did that have to do with her earlier abuse?”
Not expecting him to understand, she looked up at him. “Because she saw Miss H and the man who abused her at the shelter.” At Jax’s startled reaction, she said flatly, “They were on the wall in the library.” Seeing his questioning frown deepen, she added, “In the photograph of the shelter’s board of directors.”
For some reason the rest of the story flowed more easily. She realized she was too tired to care what any of the men at the table thought. She started speaking faster, the words tumbling from her lips in a rush of detail. She didn’t care if it made sense; she knew Jax thought she was crazy, so why not confirm his beliefs. When she told them how she recognized Rodney Williams’s voice and was sure that the woman’s voice belonged to Miss H, then concluded with their order to Hank and Davie to kill her after they found out if she’d told Jax what she knew, she stopped. She took a deep breath, then blew it out. She was glad she was done. She didn’t think she could talk anymore.
She looked up in surprise when Jax reached for her hands and forced her to meet his gaze. His expression was hard to read. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was concerned. He frowned and then said carefully, “Sweetheart, I know you are exhausted, but you lost me. We need to go back to when you jumped to the assholes who captured you last night. I need to understand how you figured out that Williams and Miss H knew one another and that they were large-scale child pornographers.”
Viviana stared at him in disbelief, not understanding why he couldn’t appreciate how evil the hideous pair was. Fighting her fatigue and not knowing how much more she could talk, she asked impatiently, “For God’s sake, Jax, the FBI has been looking for the Lolitas Unbound for five years. Isn’t that large enough scale for you?”
She saw his expression harden and didn’t need the pressure of his grip to know that something was wrong. From the rigid set of his jaw, she knew it was serious. His voice was curiously soft, unreadable. He even hesitated for a minute, then nodded and asked, “You went to the FBI, Viviana, with this case?”
She was too tired to understand why he seemed surprised, then wondered if she’d forgotten to tell him about her visit to the FBI office. She gave a weary shrug, then said slowly as though she was repeating part of the story that they already knew, “Yes. Remember, that’s when I confirmed that Ariel was one of the Lolitas Unbound and that the FBI had been looking for the perpetrators for over five years.”
Chapter 29
Listening to her extraordinary tale, Jax was thunderstruck. He’d forced himself to let her talk, even though every detail made her unwillingness to bring him into the case more damning. He’d said he would give her a chance to explain, but as she lay out one incredible detail after another as though she were reading a recipe from a cookbook, he struggled to contain his anger. She was describing a hideous case of child pornography that once again involved major players in their community. As she began to talk faster, adding one seemingly unrelated incident after another, he became concerned. Shoving aside his anger at her refusal to involve him, he realized that he was missing critical ingredients. Something wasn’t adding up. Glancing at Greg, he saw that his fellow agent also understood that Viviana was reaching the breaking point. Francis’s obvious concern was all the confirmation he needed. But it was when she casually mentioned the FBI and the code words “Lolitas Unbound” that he truly began to understand the magnitude of what she had uncovered. And the scale of what she had refused to tell him.
Fighting the anger that was about to overcome him, he reached for her hands. As quietly as he could, he asked, “I need to understand, Viviana, when and why did you go to the FBI?” Even as he said it, something snapped and his fury flared. Unable to stop the tirade that sprung from his lips, he turned on her. “Goddammit, Viviana, you went to the fucking FBI? Without informing me? Damn you, Viviana. So help me God, I hope your body heals quickly. I don’t know how long I can wait to make it clear to you just how very angry I am with you.”
Seeing her shocked expression, Jax acknowledged Greg’s cautionary frown. Shaking his head, he reached again for her hands and held them tightly in his. Forcing himself to speak calmly, he apologized to her, not surprised that he addressed her intimately.
“Jesus, Viviana, I’m sorry. Damn, darlin’, I . . . I lost it for a minute. Forgive me, baby. But no, sweetheart, you didn’t tell us that you had gone to the FBI or that you discovered Ariel was part of a major child pornography case.”
Taking a deep breath, Jax admitted how shattered Viviana looked. As if he needed a reminder, he acknowledged that she had suffered a severe beating last night and could have been killed. In addition, she was still recovering from the powerful drugs the motherfuckers had shot into her body. Holding her hands more tightly, he shoved aside his urge to simply take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be all right. But he knew he couldn’t do that, because everything was a damn far piece away from being all right. It was now clear that the inimitable Enchantress had once again come close to cracking a major federal case. Even more astonishing, if Viviana was correct—and he knew that she was—the perpetrators were within miles of them, and they likely had a day or two at the most to bring them down. Knowing how close to the edge Viviana was, he changed tactics. “Let’s back up, sweetheart. Which FBI office did you go to and which agent did you talk with?”
Punching in the number she gave him, he put the conversation on speaker when Agent Reynolds answered. The agent’s greeting confirmed once again how devious Viviana had been. At least she had the decency to blush when Reynolds warmly greeted Jax. The agent indicated that he had been expecting Jax’s call but that he’d agreed to Sergeant Moreau’s caution not to relay their conversation to anyone, including Jax, given that she and the chief were close to breaking the case.
After a challenging conversation regarding the extraordinary breakthrough Sergeant Moreau had made, Jax was surprised when Agent Reynolds asked, “Is Sergeant Moreau all right?”
Jax glanced at Viviana and saw that she was looking down and twisting her hands in her lap as if she didn’t want to hear what Agent Reynolds was saying. Her obvious unease prompted him to respond, “Why do you ask?”
The agent quickly replied. “I was worried about her. I thought she was going to be sick. Not that the scenes I showed her wouldn’t make anyone sick. But I was surprised by her reaction. I thought she was going to faint a couple of times. I was so concerned, I wanted to call her or you and check up on her. But Sergeant Moreau was specific. She indicated that both you and she wanted me to keep our conversation under wraps until she gave the word.”
After he ended the call, Jax rose to his feet. Without looking at any of them, he punched in another number and again put the call on speaker.
After greeting his and Greg’s Special Operations buddy Serge Stryker, who’d been on the Belize mission with them, Jax asked, “You remember Maja?”
“Hell, man. How could I forget? I heard that both you and Greg are trying to keep a lid on her. I imagine it is more than a one-man job.”
Jax glanced at Viviana and then Greg and agreed wryly, “So it would appear.”
Without waiting for Stryker to respond, Jax pressed on. “I need your help, buddy. I need everything you have on the Lolitas Unbound case.”
Stryker whistled in appreciation. “Christ, man, that’s a huge case. One of the biggest the bureau has been chasing, for more years than I can count.”
Jax quirked an ironic bow and replied, “Well, it would seem that the Enchantress, as they call her here, has found one of the Lolitas and potentially identified the ringleaders.”
Stryker’s surprise was evident. “Fucking Christ, man. That may be the coup of the century if it pans out.”
Agreeing to call Stryker back after he closed his meeting, Jax allowed himself to focus on Viviana. Frowning, he saw what could only be fear in her dark blue, nearly purple gaze.
; Her lips trembled when she reached for his arm. “I . . . I wasn’t lying, Jax, honest. I . . . I thought I’d told you—about the FBI. It was how I knew what a big case I was on.”
She came to a stop, seeming to realize what she’d said. It didn’t take her stricken expression to make Jax understand that she was afraid he was going to make good on his threat to take her badge. Ashamed of himself for heaping that torment on top of her clearly compromised physical state, he turned to the others.
“Okay, men, I think we’ve learned as much as any of us can handle for the moment.” He rose to his feet and reached for her. Gazing down at her, he added, “Especially this remarkable young woman.” Scooping her up in his arms, he held her close to him. Nodding to the others, he said, “After we’ve had a chance to talk with Serge, we’ll reconvene.” Tossing Greg a knowing glance, he confirmed that Greg should initiate the call.
***
Jax laid her on the bed, then seeing that she was shaking, he picked her up and sat down on the edge of the bed with her on his lap. Holding her tightly against his chest, he admonished himself for his selfish response to her remarkable story. Christ almighty, she was still coming down from being dosed by God knows what vicious hallucinogens, and he’d put her through a literal inquisition that included threatening her with her job. He lifted her up against the stack of pillows resting on the headboard and tucked a warm throw around her shivering body. Reaching in the bedside stand drawer, he took out an inhaler he’d put there last night.
Sitting next to her on the edge of the bed, he reached for her chin, forcing her to look at him. Showing her the inhaler, he said, “I know you know what Narcan is, Viviana. I debated giving it to you last night, but not knowing what opioids they gave you, I needed to watch how you came down. It’s clear you’re still fighting the shit they gave you. Narcan can help reduce the crappy symptoms you’re feeling. In my experience, it’s damn near foolproof. How about it, sweetheart, will you take a few breaths of this?”
Viviana nodded but grasped his arm, shoving at the inhaler. Her dark-eyed expression was fierce. “I will, Jax, but first I need to know. Are you going to take my badge?”
Her question shouldn’t have surprised him but it did. He was truly chagrined. Christ, how could she not be concerned the way that he’d attacked her, ignoring her compromised state and threatening her if she so much as equivocated. Shoving at his embarrassment, he put down the inhaler and pulled her into his arms. Tipping up her chin, he looked into her anxious eyes, trying to ignore the fear he saw there, and aimed for humor. “Ah, sweet baby, are you kidding me? Fire the hot sergeant that, according to none other than Super Agent Serge Stryker, may have pulled off the coup of the century? No, darlin’, your badge is safe, but as for that ass of yours, I’ve got you dead to rights and will be collecting my reward as soon as you get rid of the shit in your bloodstream and a few dozen of those ugly bruises.” Gratified at the glimmer of a smile that crossed her lips, he reached for the inhaler. “How about you breathe in some of this so that you can come back down to earth? I need you, Sergeant Moreau, to help me close this phenomenal case you have cracked. Together, you and I and the rest of the team are going teach some very bad people what happens when they run up against the Enchantress—and the guy who’s her boss and, not incidentally, the man who is madly in love with her.”
After she’d breathed in the hoped-for antidote, Jax helped her undress and then get into bed. Lying alongside her, he held her in his arms, not willing to let her go until he was sure that her tremors had stopped. He rubbed her back and murmured comforting words until her breathing slowed and her body relaxed. When he was sure she was sleeping soundly, he covered her with warm blankets and went into the living room to reconvene the team. He hadn’t intended to include Francis Fleming in the strategy session but knew that the only person who knew more about the case than her CI was Viviana. At base, he also knew that Francis likely had done everything he could to convince Viviana to bring Jax into the case. Moreover, Francis’s tearful gratitude when Jax invited him to stay confirmed what Jax now admitted. If Francis hadn’t called him when he did, the likelihood that Viviana wouldn’t have survived the night was too damn close to call.
***
In the short time that it took to put Viviana to sleep, Mick and Greg had gone into high gear. Greg was downloading the information that Serge and his team had assembled on the Lolitas Unbound case. Knowing that Viviana had already done this research, Jax wished that they had access to her brain. But for the moment that wasn’t possible, and it was probably a good thing. Jax needed to look at Rodney Williams and Hannah Dillinger through fresh eyes, not Viviana’s prism. Within minutes Mick O’Reilly was flooding the screen with biographical information on the pair. With Francis’s help, they soon assembled a profile of the two and began matching dates and places that coincided with the timeline that Serge’s team provided for the likely perpetrators of the blockbuster child pornography ring.
The conclusive evidence came from the sons of bitches who’d captured Viviana and nearly beat her to death. Now safely concealed in the “Tomb,” as the SJPD secure lockup was appropriately nicknamed, the pair had sung like proverbial canaries after being convinced by a brand of justice that was as old as mankind. Jax had worked with Greg in some of the most dangerous places in the world. Along the way they had both learned ways of getting information that wouldn’t pass the smell test in an American court but were guaranteed to make the most reticent perp spill his guts. They had solid identification of Williams and his accomplice Hannah Dillinger not only from the two ne’er-do-wells, but from Ariel, as well as four other young girls that identified the pair as their rapists from photos Serge and his team had shown them.
Knowing that Williams and Dillinger likely had a treasure trove of accomplices that no doubt included San Jose residents, Jax put Mick in charge of constructing a vise-like cordon of SWAT members around the Williams home, where the pair were apparently holed up. Jax declared that it was imperative that Viviana be included in the takedown. While they were waiting for her to waken from her essential sleep, Jax, knowing that Williams had a private plane waiting at a nearby airstrip, had replaced the crew with one of his own, cutting off every possible avenue of escape.
After each detail of the meticulous plan was in place, Jax joined Greg and Francis in the living room for a much-needed shot or three of Viviana’s best scotch. As they sat in silence, all obviously consumed with the astonishing events of the last two days and knowing what was to come, Jax looked up to see Greg studying him. He laughed and chided his friend. “I know that look, Greg. Don’t tell me you have more love life advice, bro?”
Greg returned Jax’s grin, then refilled his glass and a serious expression replaced his smile. “Not love life per se, buddy, but maybe an issue that definitely affects yours and Viviana’s future.” Taking a visible breath, Greg said, “I gotta wonder, Jax, why the fuck is Viviana so secretive? Christ, man, the two of you are ape-shit in love, but she doesn’t trust you any more than she does the rest of us. I don’t know, buddy, but something convinced that woman up the wazoo that she can’t trust anyone, but herself, no matter how dangerous that is.” Before Jax could respond, Greg persisted. “One more thing that has been bugging the hell out of me: her obsession with abused girls. What the hell is that about, Jax?”
Jax took a healthy slug of his scotch and met his friend’s questioning frown. He shrugged and said with a hard sigh, “It won’t surprise you, bro, to know that I’ve been wrestling with those same questions for a hell of a long time now.” Turning to Francis, who was staring pointedly at the floor, Jax said, “You know more about Viviana’s past than anyone does, Francis. Anything you can add to this discussion?”
Meeting Jax’s stern gaze, Francis said, “You probably know she had a rough childhood, Jax. But anything I know she told me in confidence.” He hesitated and then added quizzically, “Probably wouldn’t hurt if you pushed her. Hell, you might be able to do something ab
out it. I never had the balls to try.” He put up his hands in defeat. “Besides, there’s a lot of shit in my life that I want to forget. I guess Vivi and I made a devil’s bargain to accept that yeah, we’re both fucked up and let it go at that.”
Epilogue
Viviana breathed out a hard sigh and looked up from the elaborate plans their team had made. It took multiple monitor screens to detail the investigative work had already been set up in the three hours she’d been sleeping. Glancing around the room, she was struck by the number of agents and uniformed police who had arrived since Jax had put her to bed in her bedroom just down the hall. How she’d slept while the elaborate plans were being conceived and finalized was a miracle. What wasn’t a miracle was that the strategic genius standing next to her, pointing out the elements of the plan he’d clearly designed, was none other than Jaxton Hughes, her police chief and, not incidentally, the man she was deeply in love with.
“We waited for you to wake up, Sergeant Moreau. It was important that you be at the helm of the takedown team. Without your intrepid legwork and remarkable insights, we would not be within hours of taking down the masterminds of one of the largest child torture pornography rings in the country. Make that an Internet pornography network that has lived untouched on the Dark Net for over five years. You should be very proud, Sergeant Moreau, and I hope excited, that by 5:00 p.m. today, the breaking news on every media channel in the country will be championing yet another remarkable Enchantress coup.”
Viviana leaned into him, needing his strength. She spoke for his ears only. “Please don’t, Jax. Don’t make me feel even worse than I already do. You know if it wasn’t for you and the rest of the team . . . and all of these people . . . ” She waved at the crowd of men and women hard at work at their various posts and added helplessly, “You know, Jax, if it was just me, Roger Williams and Hannah Dillinger would be back in New York growing their incredibly evil empire on the backs of innocent children.”