by J. L. Beck
I shake my head. “Why is everybody so surprised by me saying I’m sorry? I’m not a completely heartless asshole.”
“I don’t know you well, but you don't seem like the type of guy who does a lot of apologizing.” Well, he isn’t wrong there I’ll give him that. I’m not sorry often and even when I am I don’t announce it to anyone. My gaze moves to Sophie, her beautiful hair frames her heart shaped face, and a smile tugs at her pink lips...lips I spent all night kissing. Before her I never felt the need to apologize, to admit my faults, but now I need too. I need to be that man who isn’t afraid to speak out, who isn’t afraid to say sorry when he fucks up.
“You’re not wrong there, but I actually have something to be sorry about and if it was the other way around I would have reacted the same way. I’m protective of Sophie as much as you are of Elyse so I get why you wanted to beat my ass.” I’m not going to say this out loud cause I don’t want to sound like a suck up but I actually pretty impressed by him standing up to me the way he did.
Even more so I’m glad that Elyse has someone who will protect her and stands up for her.
“Alright, since you fuckers have finally kissed and made up,” Xander calls across the table. “Maybe we can get down to business and discuss how we’re going to do this today?”
“We go in and kill everybody, what the fuck else would we do?” Hero announces and I grin. I’m pretty sure him and I are going to be best friends.
“You coming with?” Damon questions.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I am. If we’re going after that bastard then I’m coming with. He hurt Elyse, and I’ll be damned if I let him continue to hurt more people.”
Yup, best friends...we’re totally going to be best-fucking-friends.
“We can’t just go in killing everyone. We still need intel on what they’re doing and we don’t know who knows what. We need to question the men first, then we can start killing people” Xander says deep in thought as if he is strategizing the whole operation inside his mind.
“What about the women and children and even the younger men. Not all of them are bad,” Sophie pipes up and suddenly I feel the need to protect her.
“Obviously, we’re not going to hurt the women and children,” Xander says defensively, his dark gaze landing on Sophie. I clench my jaw, reining in my feelings. It’s a simple conversation...nothing more.
“As for the men, I can’t make any promises. We don’t have time to sift through the flock and pick out the good from the bad. Plus, how would we even know which ones are fucked in the head and which ones aren’t?”
“Xander…” Ella I think is her name scolds. Her voice is tiny, but she’s definitely not timid, or shy. She’s a good equal for a man like Xander. “We can find a way to make sure that the younger men aren’t harmed. No one who is innocent will be harmed...right?” Xander’s jaw flexes, and I can see that he wants to promise her that nothing will happen but he won’t lie to her.
“You know I can’t promise you that, Mouse.”
“But you’ll try?”
“We’ll try,” Xander tells her, earning himself a kiss on the cheek. I can’t help but smirk seeing this tiny women having Xander wrapped around her little finger. Then I look over to Sophie and my grin widens when I realize Xander and I have more in common than I ever thought possible, hell me and every man in this room have something in common.
We’re ensnared by a tiny little woman that holds our hearts captive.
“Can we eat? Keria is ready to start chewing my arm off,” Damon says, a hint of amusement in his tone. His wife elbows him in the side, giving him a dirty look. His face softens, and he pulls her into his lap, whispering something in her ear that has her squirming.
“Yes. Let’s eat. We’ll need our strength. I’ve got a plan.” Xander smirks, and it looks like the devil is staring down at us.
Fuck. What have we got ourselves into?
***
Vengeance for my Sophie consumes me when I get into the Humvee. I want her free of the abuse, the pain, the crippling fear, and today, it will all end. I stare out the window and pray for the patience I’ll need not to kill the son of a bitch out right.
The compound, ironically named Safe Harbor, comes into view off in the distance. We don't bother sneaking up on it, there’s no point. If her father was watching us, then he’ll expect us to come. Sophie and Elyse told us the layout of the entire place and everything else we needed to know. We already know they won't stand a chance against us. The secluded compound is surrounded by wire fencing, but we barely notice it as we crash through it with Xander’s Humvee.
The inside of the compound is set up more like a small town. For an outsider who doesn't know what kind of shit is going on in here, this might actually look like a nice place. There are a bunch of single family homes, most of them with actual white picket fences around them. I even see a swing set in one of the backyards and children’s bikes in another front yard.
The picture perfect scenery is quickly disturbed by two men storming out of a house, holding shotguns in their hands. A smile pulls at my lips. I’ve got to give it to them, they have some balls, heading toward us. Two men with two guns versus four armored Humvees with five armed men and guards.
Either these two are really fucking brave or really fucking stupid. I’m guessing it’s the latter. My suspicion of their lack of intelligence is quickly confirmed as they both take shots at the first Humvee. Four shots are fired, with two double barrel shotguns, which means these idiots just shot all their ammo at an armored car.
Stupid fucks.
The Humvees come to a direct stop, and I’m sure we will have run-ins with more idiots. I take my gun into my hand as we pile out of the car and head toward the stupid fucks. One runs away while the other tries to reload his gun with shaking hands. All color drains from his face the moment he realizes we’re going to get to him before he can put the new round in the chamber.
“Look, I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but this is a peaceful settlement,” the guy tries to explain, dropping the gun and holding up his hands in surrender. He knows how this is going to go, and most likely doesn’t want to die. Well…too little too late.
“Peaceful, my ass,” I spit out, grabbing him by the shirt. My fist lands in his face a second later and he almost passes out, from the hit alone, but I shake him so he stays awake.
“Where is Joseph Tanner?” I scream into his face. He shakes his head a little, his eyes wide in fear. I raise my fist to punch him again and that’s all it takes for him to crack.
“Okay, I’ll tell you,” he begs, throwing up his hands in defeat. Pussy.
“They’re having a meeting down in that building…” He points to a building off in the distance, his hand shaking. “That one right next to the church. He’ll be in there.”
“Who all is having a meeting?” Xander asks coolly, saddling up beside me.
“The council, they decide everything around here. I don’t know what today's meeting is about but I know Joseph is one of them, he’ll be in there…” I shove him to the ground, about to kick the shit out of him, but Xander is quicker.
He pulls out a knife, kneels on the guy’s chest and slits his throat, ear to ear, before the fucker can even scream. Then he gets up and wipes his knife on his shirt like nothing ever happened. I’ve seen death, a lot of it, mostly at my own hands, but I’ve never seen anything as crazy as that. Xander gives me a grin before he starts to head toward the building we were told to go too.
I shake my head, grinning back at him. Sick bastard…
Adrenaline courses through my veins. I want this fucker dead already.
We all follow his lead. Ivan, Hero, Damon, and myself go with Xander through the front door, while the rest of the men surround the outside of the building. We walk through a set of double doors into an open conference looking room.
In that room sits seven men. Seven sadistic fucks. Seven men who most likely had everything to do
with Sophie and Elyse being hurt. Seven men who will pay with their lives today.
Every head in the room snaps toward the door when we walk in.
“Who are—?” one of them starts, but Xander cuts him off.
“Shut the fuck up! We’re asking the questions here. You only speak if we speak to you. We aren’t here to have a nice fucking conversation.”
“How dare y—” Bang. A shot echoes through the room, followed by a loud cry from the man who just spoke. The man who’s now sporting a bullet hole in his kneecap.
“Did I not make myself clear?” Xander snarls, and I have to admit, even I’m kind of worried about this guy’s mental state. The guy starts to cry, legit fucking cry, and all the other men in the room take that shot as a warning: you talk out of turn you get shot.
“Him,” Hero announces with a monotone voice as he points to the head of the table at a man looking at us with shock and anger in his eyes. “That’s their father.”
I lift my eyes to the front of the table and it only takes me a moment to spot Sophie’s dad. I know who he is as soon as I see him, not only because I’ve seen him before, but because of the way he is staring at me as if he knows exactly who I am, and why I am here.
“Certainly we can discuss this as god fearing men?” The douchebag announces standing at the head of the table like he’s about to read a sermon or something. Obviously he’s never met men like us before.
Xander laughs, “I’m not god fearing. I know I’m going to hell, so I’ll have no fucking problem putting a bullet between your eyes. Now are you Joseph or do I need to kill a few more men to find out who is who?”
He holds up his hands palms first. “Yes, I’m Joseph, and there is no need for violence. We will not hurt you.”
I snort on his remark. What a fucking prick. An image of Sophie’s bruised and battered body fills my mind. Won’t hurt us. The urge to smash my fist into his face until he stops breathing is so overwhelming I damn near charge to the front of the room and grab him by the throat. I know I can’t hold on much longer.
“Maybe you won’t hurt us, but it doesn’t stop you from hurting helpless fucking women that can’t fight you,” I growl, taking a determined step forward.
“Soon, brother,” Ivan whispers beside me, placing his hand on my forearm as if that would stop me from lurching forward and throttling the son of a bitch.
I glance over at Hero who looks just as much on edge as I am. No one knows what Elyse and Sophie have been through quite like us. We’ve seen the fear, watched them struggle, and I’m sure Hero want’s Elyse to be as free of these monsters as much as I want Sophie to be.
“Since you are so open to cooperating with us, why don’t you tell us who exactly is trying to kidnap and sell Sophie?” All the men in the room look between each other, some of them look shocked while others seem ashamed that their sins have been exposed.
Joseph opens his mouth, and it looks like he’s about to start talking when Xander holds up his finger. “Before you say a word, I want to remind you of how important it is for you to not say anything besides the truth. If anything else comes out of your mouth, if you lie to me, or any of my men, you’ll wish for death to find you. Do you understand me?”
All the blood drains from his ugly face and I can see him trying to swallow down his fear from across the room. He looks so scared and I wouldn't be surprised if he started to piss himself.
“Look…” He sighs, “I’ll tell you everything I know...these men, Dante’s crew, they just want Sophie back.” He swallows, and I so badly want to crush his windpipe. “They’re not going to stop, she was promised to them and they want the money they can make off of selling her, or at the very least get her back. That’s it. Just let them have her and everything can go back to normal.”
Anger spirals out of control inside of me. Normal. It can go back to normal if I just hand over Sophie...hand her over, give her to these vile monsters. I’m seething, boiling… something inside me snaps, and all I see is Sophie’s body on the floor covered in bruises. My sweet Sophie battered by this man in front of me. There is no one in this room who can stop me now. I shrug Ivan’s hand off like nothing. I hear nothing, and feel nothing in that moment. I’m across the room in a millisecond, my hands wrapped around his slimy neck.
“I should kill you right now...but that would be far too kind for a man that likes to put his hands on women,” I whisper into his face, watching as his eyes bulge out of his head, and lips turn blue. I can hear the gurgling in his throat as I tighten my hold.
“I saw the bruises...I heard the stories. You aren’t going to heaven you sick fuck, you’re going to hell and I’m going to put you there,” I snarl, wanting to rip his heart out of his fucking chest. His fingers wrap around my hand in an idiotic attempt to stop me. I want to laugh in his face, but I don’t.
My hands shake with rage, and my fingers dig into his flesh. I feel hands on me, pulling at my arms. Nobody else in the room moves, most likely because they know they’ll die if they do.
“Come on, Roman. Let him go. You can kill him once we get the information we need.” Damon’s voice somehow reaches my subconscious and I release the bastard, shoving his pathetic body to the floor.
Sophie. Do it for Sophie. I tell myself as my body vibrates with rage. I’ve never wanted to kill someone as badly as I want to kill him.
“I’ll tell you what I know,” he rasps, still gasping for air. “But these men aren't going to stop, they want the same amount of girls every year and they’re not going to accept any less. They’ll kill all of you.”
That statement makes me blink, and turns my blood to ice as I realize what he just said. Girls?
I glance around the room, and find the other guys just as shocked and disgusted as I’m feeling.
“What the fuck do you mean by the same amount of girls? Are you fuckers seriously selling off girls on a regular? Where are you getting them?” Hero’s voice cuts through the room, anger reflecting in the tone of his voice. It rises with each question till he’s all but screaming.
“Let’s keep our heads men.” Xander says, no emotion whatsoever to his voice. “Joseph answer his question. What kind of sick fucks sell off their own daughters? How regularly are you doing this kind of business?”
Joseph’s body trembles as if he knows what’s going to happen when starts to talk, “It wasn’t just my idea...It started out small, and then…they just kept coming back demanding more, and more.”
“It really wasn’t just his…” Another man starts talking and Xander lifts his gun, pointing it right at the guy. He pulls the trigger without hesitation and the sound echoes off the walls and right through me.
“I really hate when people don’t follow my directions…” Xander seems more annoyed than anything and I’m partially glad he’s here to keep us on track. Joseph looks like he’s going to be sick, and part of me hope he barfs so I can tell him to eat it off the ground.
“I’ll give you one more chance to answer my questions and then I’m going to start killing people left and right. Innocent or not...I don’t give a fuck. Their blood will be on your hands.”
“They are not our daughters, okay? We are not selling our own flesh and blood!” He yells as if he is defending himself and I find myself grabbing my gun.
“What are you talking about?” I growl at him.
“Sophie is not my daughter, we adopted her. Just like we do with all the other girls we sell. We either find them in homeless shelters or we adopt them from the over-populated foster homes. I would never sell my own daughter,” he says it like he is sitting on some little thrown, like he’s done nothing wrong at all, like selling people against their fucking will isn’t illegal.
“We raise them, give them a good home for a few years and then we let them go,” he speaks as if he is doing a good deed, as if he is proud of himself.
“You let them go…? And by that I’m assuming you mean you sell them into prostitution or into the auctions? Cause let’
s be honest no one is going to miss them when they are dead, right?” Damon speaks for the first time.
Joseph nods his head slowly, as if admitting it out loud bothers him.
“I know you probably don't know who I am,” Xander says. “But I can assure you, I’ve done some things that would make a grown man cry, cringe, vomit, but you…” He shakes his head and I can see the emotions swirling in his eyes. “This must be the most disgusting and disturbing thing I’ve ever heard in my life, and if you knew my father you would know that I’ve seen and heard some pretty bad shit.” Xander still has his gun trained on Joseph and I have half a mind to ask him to pull the trigger, but I need this information.
“How many girls? Where are you keeping the ones that aren’t ready to go yet?” I demand. Sophie would want me to ask these questions, to help set them free, just like her.
“The girls are scattered around within the community. They just live with different families, among everyone. None of the girls know any different. When it’s time, or a specific look is needed we send for them, bring them in and then ship them off. There is a list in my office, with all the adopted girls’ names, and ages on it,” Joseph explains. “It’s next door, I can show it to you if you’d like.”
“If we would like,” I snort. “You’re going to show it to us, or I’ll blow your fucking brains out, how about that?” I’m going to blow his brains out anyway, but I keep that little tidbit to myself for now.
“Lead the way old man,” Ivan points his gun at Joseph. He hesitates for a moment and then gets to his feet. Ivan and I follow him out as he leads us through a backdoor.
As soon as we are outside, Xander’s men are at the door.
“Kill the ones inside,” he orders one of his men, like he just placed a dinner order. “Search the rest of the building for anyone else. If you find them bring them to me. Do not hurt anyone else unless I give you an order.” The men nod in unison and walk past us. Seconds later we hear five gunshots one right after the other…I don’t even blink at the thought of those men losing their lives. Anyone who knows about, or is a part of this should be killed.