A sound at the door of the room alerted her to company.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Keep the mask on.” They had turned off 610 five minutes ago and Matt figured they were now on I-45. They were heading toward Galveston, but was that their destination? After another fifteen minutes a turn, a mile or so drive and they stopped. Where they were, he didn’t know.
The guy opened the driver’s door, came around, and opened Matt’s. “Step out, please.”
Thor followed Matt out of the backseat.
The guy took Matt’s arm and led him to a door. Keys rattled and it opened. “I’ll need my computer if I make a purchase.”
“Not a problem. Wait here. And please don’t remove the mask. There are surveillance cameras in every room.”
Matt was in combat mode. He felt the room around him. It wasn’t large, but small, suffocating. He waited, Thor beside him. Another man came into the room, and dismissed the driver. “Wait for my call. It shouldn’t be more than an hour or so.” He left the room and shut the door. The other man moved over to stand beside Matt, who put a hand down to Thor’s head. He didn’t want the dog to be aggressive. Not now.
From the man’s breathing, he was about Matt’s height. Not too heavy, as his breathing wasn’t labored. Matt’s senses heightened. People didn’t know they carried a certain odor. Whereas the person who drove him here had smelled of a cheap aftershave, this person carried a hint of expensive cologne and soap, along with the faint aroma of coffee. Both were about the same size.
Finally, the man spoke. “Your dog will have to wait outside.”
His voice was low, but firm. Every sound and smell embedded into Matt’s brain. This man would sense a possible threat. Though blindfolded, Matt was ready for whatever came next. “Then I’ll have to leave. This is a trained Service dog and can save my life. I wouldn’t want to have an epilepsy episode in the middle of a buy.”
“Do you have proof?”
Matt fumbled in his pocket, pulled out the pills, and handed them toward the voice. The man took them and handed them back. Matt held out his arm and shot his cuff to show his medical bracelet.
“Very well. We’ll make an exception. You can remove your mask.”
Though the lights were low, Matt blinked. The man facing him was just as he suspected: average height, medium build, and wore a half-mask. They were in what looked like a mid-priced house. Matt glanced around the small foyer.
“There will be quite a bit of competition tonight, but only one other bidder is here in person. If it’s okay with you, I’ll put you both in the same room. It’s large, has a two-way mirror where you can see the merchandise, but no one can see in. You make your bid with this.” He handed Matt a small laptop computer. “I have it programmed so all you have to do is put in the bid. If there are other bids, they will show on the screen and you can either bid higher or drop out.”
“Simple enough, but, as I told your employee, I’ll need my computer to complete the purchase.”
“Of course.”
He led Matt down a hall and opened a door. “If you prefer to wear a mask, you may do so. The other gentleman chose not to.”
“Then I won’t bother.”
Thor followed them into the room that had once been a bedroom. A short, overweight, gray-haired man slouched in a comfortable, upholstered chair in the far left corner. Several chairs of the same style were lined up in front of the window. Matt went to the chair on the far right, Thor on his heels.
One wall of the room had been replaced with a large two-way mirror overlooking a room that had probably been used as a family room, but now resembled an empty stage.
“How much longer?”
The man looked at his watch. “Just a few minutes.”
The sooner the better. Matt gave the man a curt nod.
“There’s a bar against the back wall. You can help yourself to anything you like.”
“Thanks.”
The man turned and left, the door shutting behind him.
Matt looked around the room. There was a surveillance camera in each corner. The bar looked fully stocked. He went to the back and helped himself to a bottle of water. He noticed that the man to his left had a glass that held either bourbon or scotch.
They nodded and Matt sat back down, noticing the cameras on the stage area. Once more he realized these guys were pros. His blood ran cold.
The next few minutes were going to be the longest of his life.
Carrie had better be here.
****
It was time.
Taking a deep breath, Carrie waited.
When she heard footsteps close to the bathroom door, she opened it quickly and stepped out. It was the same guy. “You look…” The sentence didn’t get finished, as Carrie pivoted, kicked him in his groin, and struck his throat with the side of her hand. He went down like a stone.
Quickly, she dragged him into the bathroom, tore off a large piece of the excess toga material, stuck it in his mouth, slapped the handcuffs on him, then tied his feet with the rope he had thrown aside. Taking his gun, she stuffed him in the shower and shut the door. There was no way to hide the gun on her body. After removing the bullets and putting them in the toilet tank, she tucked it under the mattress.
One down.
Breathing heavily, she grabbed her bottle of water, took a drink, and went to the door. There was lots of activity. How soon would the guy be missed? She had to hurry.
With no one in the hall, she edged out of the room and shut the door. Raised voices came from the room next to hers. “Pull yourself together. I can’t hold you here any longer. It’s been too long as it is. You’re to go out there tonight and sell yourself, or get a bullet. Which do you prefer?”
A woman sobbed hysterically. The door opened and the boss stepped out. “What are you doing out here?”
Carrie shrugged. “What I was told.”
“And what happened to your dress?”
Another shrug. “Never did like long dresses.”
“Dammit. I hate stubborn women.” He looked behind her. “Where’s my guy?”
She shrugged again. “No idea.” And please don’t look for him.
Cursing under his breath about unskilled labor, he pulled her inside the room where the woman was sobbing loudly. “Stay in here until I get back.” And he gave both women the evil eye—one that sent the blonde into another spell of loud wailing.
The door locked behind him.
Her heart hammering a mile a minute, Carrie ran to the woman and pulled her hands from her face. One look and she caught her breath. “Amy? Amy Strong?”
Blue eyes opened wide. “Who are you?”
“Shhh. Stop crying. You have to get dressed. When that guy comes back, he’ll have a needle in his hand.”
“He’s going to kill me.”
“No. He isn’t. I’m going to get us out of here. Trust me on this. Just don’t say anything, or he’ll kill us both.”
Carrie all but dragged Amy to the bathroom and stuck her in the shower. She handed her the body wash. “Lather up and rinse off. Make it snappy. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Amy stepped out of the shower and Carrie had her wrapped in a towel before they heard the boss re-enter the room. Carrie whispered, “Don’t say a word.”
She dropped the toga over Amy’s head, tilted other woman’s face, and began to apply makeup.
“How did you manage to get her to shut up long enough to get her cleaned up? The woman has been nothing but a pain in the ass since the day she got here.”
“Give us another few minutes.”
“Glad to.” He jammed a syringe into his shirt pocket.
When Carrie finished brushing Amy’s hair, the boss grabbed the blonde’s hand and ushered her out of the room. “You’re first. Do as I tell you, and don’t cause any trouble.” He turned to Carrie. “Stay close, you’re next.”
She wanted to take him down, but before she had the chance, he was out of the room an
d going down the hall, dragging Amy with him. Carrie followed quietly behind them until the two entered what had to be the living area of the house. Peeking around the corner she saw a long, wide, mirror. One you couldn’t see through, but where the person on the other side could see everything. “Buyers,” she whispered to herself. “Bastards.” She’d take them down as well.
****
Matt leaned forward when the boss brought out a blonde. Tears lined her face, but you could tell she was pretty. She looked weak and beaten, with a wild look in her eyes. The masked boss man had a hold on her arm that would leave bruises. What had she gone through? Where was Carrie? Would she have that same look in her eyes? Was she even here? Ice formed in his belly. Carrie was one of a kind. Beautiful, talented, and with a personality everyone loved. If this blonde had ever been the same, it was gone now.
He looked closer. He had seen her before. He gasped the minute recognition hit. Amy Strong. Carrie’s missing woman. His hands tightened on the chair. Thor went on alert. Matt gave him a comforting pat.
The bidding started.
The man at the other end of the room chuckled. A bid of fifty thousand popped up on Matt’s screen. He punched in one hundred. No old, fat, evil man would get this woman. For a moment, it was as if the auction was for real. That the woman would go to the highest bidder. Not this time. The computer sat at one hundred for a while. The loudspeakers came on. “Gentlemen, it seems you are the only two bidding on this lovely blonde today. I can’t let her go for such a low price, so up your bids and let’s see who the lucky guy will be.”
Fat man added another fifty. So did Matt. And so it went until Matt was standing at two-fifty. The loudspeakers came on again. “This is your last call, gentlemen. Going once. Twice. Three times. And we have a winner. She will be available when the auction is over.”
The blonde fainted.
A big masked man who resembled a wrestler came in, picked her up, and took her away. The boss went to the door and came back in with another woman.
Carrie. Matt’s face was as close to the mirror as he could get. Was she all right? She stood tall, straight, and beautiful. There was nothing hysterical about her. The see-through dress sent anger tearing through him. The boss whispered something in her ear. Carrie gave him her evil eye. But it did no good; the man was insistent. The loudspeakers came on once more. “This is a rare gem. She has down-to-the-roots red hair, green eyes and, as you can see, a gorgeous body. The bidding will start at half a mil.”
Both men punched in a bid. There were other bids as well.
Matt punched again, bringing his total to two mil. The old man punched again. Matt punched the computer until he was at three mil. He wished for a gun; he was ready to go down there and take the boss guy out. The man was armed, while Matt had nothing but his anger and a promise to get Carrie back no matter what he had to do. He had to be patient. His FBI buddies would be here any minute.
When Carrie began to sway to and fro, Matt’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. What was she doing? Every inch of her beautiful body was outlined. She was so sexy his toes curled. The boss took his hand off her arm and smiled as she continued swaying. Faster than Matt could blink, she turned toward the boss and kicked out. As he went down, Carrie grabbed the gun from his holster, and hit him across the head.
“What the hell?” Matt stood. Thor went on alert.
The gun swung around to the mirror.
She wouldn’t! Matt wanted to cry out, but the words stuck in his throat. Legs spread—the gun pointed right at him, she looked magnificent. And determined. He ducked.
Two shots and the mirror burst into shards of glass around him.
He stood up and stared down at Carrie, the gun in her hand pointed at the two men.
“Get your perverted asses down here. Now!”
Coming up behind her was the wrestler. Shit. “Fass, Thor. Attack.” Like a bullet, Thor was through the window and had the big guy on the ground. Matt jammed his hat on his head and went through the window after him. The fat guy sat in his chair, a stunned look on his face.
“C’mon, you low-life, bastard.” She waved the gun at Matt. Motioned for fat man to get over there as well.
But Matt was already there and her gun was aimed at his gut. “Don’t come any closer, or you’re a dead man.”
“I’ve been called a lot of things, but never a pervert. And move the damned gun before you shoot somebody.”
The gun wobbled. “Matt?”
“Of course it’s me, don’t shoot.”
“How did you know…?”
“Later. We need to get these guys in cuffs before we do anything else.” Only, he didn’t have cuffs. He shrugged out of his jacket and slipped it on Carrie. She gave him a grateful smile as he raced to the camera and smashed it on the floor.
The front door crashed in.
Matt and Carrie looked at one another. She turned toward the sound, her gun up and ready.
Coop and Dirk came running into the room. Then stopped. “What the hell?”
“Where are my guys?”
“Lost. They were screaming they had no signal until we guided them here. It took us a couple of minutes to take down a guy sitting outside in a Mercedes.”
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the room overflowed with black-suited men and women all wearing jackets identifying them as FBI.
Matt laughed aloud. He’d never seen such a wonderful sight.
They walked over to where Thor had the big guy on the ground. “Get him off me,” the man wheezed.
After Matt called Thor off, one of the agents pulled the guy to a sitting position and yanked off his mask. “Do you know him?” the agent asked Matt.
Matt bent over to give the guy a good look. “Zane Malin. We’ve been looking for you for a good long while.” Two years, to be exact. He was the killer who had shot Lanie at the lake and escaped when all the others in Natane’s sex ring were captured. “Let’s see if the boss man is who I suspect.” The leader of the ring was sitting up and rubbing his head when Matt removed his mask.
“Hank?” Carrie cried out. “How did you get involved in this?” She’d thought she recognized his voice, but it was different somehow.
“I have a feeling this man’s name isn’t Hank. In fact, I’ll bet my next paycheck he’s Ason Mallory. He and his buddy are on the FBI’s most wanted list.”
“His name isn’t Hank?”
“If I’m right, he’s the missing son of Bart Mallory, former head of the Natane group who is now in prison for life. Like father—like son. You’ll be in the pen alongside good old dad.”
Ason, if it was Ason, shook his head and groaned.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Carrie told them.
Matt followed her. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight now. She went to one of the bedrooms where they found Amy handcuffed to the bed. Matt let out a yell and his partner came in. “Take the cuffs off.” Sweeney did, and taking off his jacket, wrapped it around her.
Carrie put her arms around Amy. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. How long have you been here?”
Tears trickled down Amy’s cheeks. “I didn’t think you were telling the truth when you told me you would save us. I thought I was going to die. I’ve been here forever. They told me they were holding me for a big auction. I wouldn’t eat. I lost weight, cried, and screamed all the time, so they kept me drugged. I figured I would rather die than go home with some perverted bastard.”
“I understand. Thank God, we found you.”
“Who are you? You saved my life.”
“My name is Carrie. I’m a private investigator. Your mom hired me to find you.” She jumped up. “I think there’s another woman here.” She ran out of the room and down the hall.
But she was too late. Coop was standing in the hall with a tall brunette in handcuffs that an FBI agent was unlocking. The other woman was already wrapped in his jacket.
Coop came up to Carrie and gave her a hug. “Than
k God you’re all right.”
“I’m so glad to see you guys, I could kiss you.”
“Go ahead,” Dirk teased.
“And face your wives? I’ll settle for a group hug.”
Then she was in their arms, tears streaming down her face. “I hate to admit this, guys, but I’ve never been so frightened in my life. I tried not to have doubts about the outcome, but I’m afraid I did. And I never expected to see all of you here.” Then she was sobbing and couldn’t seem to stop.
“I’m sorry you had to go through this, Carrie.” Matt wanted to wrap her in his arms and get the hell out of here. He couldn’t.
She swiped a hand over her face. “Me, too. It was pretty hairy there for a while. By the way,” she looked at Matt. “One of their guys is tied up in the bathroom of door number two. He’s probably conscious by now.”
“Do you have any idea how amazing you are?”
Matt gave orders to one of the agents, took Carrie’s hand, and led her away from the others. “I don’t know whether to hug you until you can’t breathe, or put you in handcuffs and keep you close forever.”
“Skip the handcuffs. I’ve had enough of those to last a lifetime.”
He bent, kissed her on the lips.
Nothing had ever felt so good.
She pushed him back. “You’re going to have to tell me how you knew to come here, how Thor entered the picture, and mostly, where you got that gorgeous outfit you have on.”
Matt grinned. “You like cowboys, do you?”
“Not until now.”
She smiled her beautiful Carrie smile and his heart turned over.
Now all he had to do was convince her they were meant for each other.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Carrie’s gaze swept the room. The FBI had rounded up the three slavers and had them in handcuffs. Stunned and relieved, Amy and the brunette were flanked by two FBI agents, who were telling them they were safe and could go home later after they had been seen by a doctor. Carrie went to them. “Do you have clothes you can change into?”
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