Finally, I respond, "It beats running for the rest of my life."
Teddy shrugs. "You get used to it."
I pace in the small space in front of the beds. "What do we do first?"
Teddy's face goes blank for a moment. "Lucien and Sin have been focusing on following the people connected to both the club, and Damien Blackthorne. We'll let them continue to do that, but I'm going to follow the money."
"How are you going to do that? Are you a secret hacker too?"
He laughs, a deep belly laugh that brings tears to his eyes. "God no. I'm lucky I can check my email."
"Then how? I hope you aren't thinking I'm going to be able to do it, because my computer skills are average at best."
"Don't worry about it. Lucien isn't the only one with contacts. One of the detectives that went after my dad is a forensic accountant with the FBI. I'll put him on the trail and see what he turns up."
I kiss him on the cheek. He puts his hand over the spot my lips touched. "What was that for?"
"For giving me hope. I can't lose him, Teddy."
Teddy takes his cell phone. "We better get moving on this right away. Eventually, Lucien's contact will come through. I've got another thought. What will happen if your father finds you?"
"I imagine he's going to try and marry me off, which is just a legal way of selling me to the highest bidder. Lucien thinks he needs the money to fund his campaign. Apparently, he thinks my virginity will fetch a high price."
"And when he finds out you aren't a virgin?"
I blow out a breath. "I don't know, but it won't be good."
"We need to prevent him from being able to marry you off, just in case he finds you."
"How do you propose we do that?"
"You need to get married."
I blink several times. "To keep from being married off, I need to get married?"
"I'll think about it, but for now, make that phone call," I reply.
30
Options
Raven
I push Teddy's suggestion out of my mind. What's the point in fighting for my freedom if I don't actually get to exercise it? Do I want to marry Sin? Maybe. Honestly, I've never thought about marriage much. I want to be with him, that's not a question, but I don't need a legal stamp on our relationship to feel like it's important.
Ford lets himself into the room and finds me staring off into space. "Hey, firecracker, what's put that vacant look on your face?"
"Everything. What are we doing? We can't live out of motels forever. Most of you have school to go to, and Teddy thinks I should get married so my father can't force me to marry someone else," I unload.
The door slams and I realize then that Sin followed Ford into the room.
"The fuck?" he explodes.
I shrug. What am I supposed to say? It's not like I plan to go along with his suggestion.
Sin is wound up, wearing a path in the already thread bare carpet. "What's the point of doing all of this if you end up being forced to get married?"
"I didn't say I thought it was a good idea. Why are you so pissed off?"
"It's not a horrible idea," Ford interjects. "Come on, it's a good contingency."
Sin's glare could peel the flesh off your bones. "It's a shit idea. Marriages can be annulled. Once he's got her he'll get one of the many public servants on his payroll to push it through."
"It'll buy time for us to rescue her. Look, it's just another roadblock," Ford argues.
I step in front of him. "Stop, please." He looks down at me.
He grabs the back of my neck. "You aren't marrying anyone except for me, but I can't. They're right, it's a good idea."
Our foreheads press together. His breathing is choppy, and there's a desolate look in his eyes. "I can't marry you."
My heart sinks. I know he's not ready, hell I'm not ready, but it still hurts knowing he doesn't want to. If our situation were reversed, there's nothing I wouldn't do to keep him safe.
"You're not ready, I'm not either. It's a stupid idea, just forget about it." My voice wavers revealing the cracks spreading through my heart.
I try to pull myself out of his grasp, but it only causes him to tighten his hold on me. "You've got it wrong. I didn't say I don't want to. I literally can't. I don't exist, Raven. I can't give you my name, because legally I don't have one."
"We can fix that," Ford speaks up again. "I've got a lawyer on retainer to help women who seek help."
He grabs his phone off the nightstand. "Let me see what we can do. Even if you choose not to use it to get married, you should have your life back. Raven isn't the only one who needs protection."
Ford leaves us alone and we stand staring at each other. A heaviness hangs in the air making it hard to breathe. Try as I might, it's hard to disregard his plans to turn himself in to protect me.
He cuts straight to the center of my fear. "Lucien is still trying to get in touch with the governor. I don't want to waste whatever time we might have arguing."
Pleading with him didn't work before, and I know he's determined to follow this plan. There are so many things we need to work out logistically, but in this moment we want the same thing. The only thing I fear I'll ever want above all else, him. If we had years to explore each other perhaps these feelings wouldn't make me quake with terror, but as it is there's a sword hanging over our heads.
We come together in a frenzy. Teeth clashing, clothes ripping, and we don't stop. Ford could come back any moment, and I can't be bothered to care. The urge to connect with him is primal and more important than anything else.
He's vital to me. The thought of losing him forces tears from my eyes. Gently, he wipes them away. "Don't cry. I'm still here."
I lick a few errant tears from my lips. When I speak, my voice sounds strangled. "Make love to me. I need you."
His answering smile is sad, but he doesn't stop. Everything slows down. He still hasn't told me he loves me, but I feel it in every caress. The words are less important when I can feel his love in every cell in my body.
I've had him rough, fast, hard, and yet this surprising tender side of him sends me crashing over the edge harder than ever before. The look he gives me as we hold onto each other is desperate. My fear is his, and I vow to myself not to let him give up his future for me.
As usual, my brother has impeccable timing. Sin and I lay tangled in each other on top of the blankets when he lets himself into our room.
"It's official. I'm going to need therapy," he complains, and covers his eyes. He gropes on the floor for our clothes and throws them at us.
Sin pulls on his pants and hands me my clothes. "You already needed therapy growing up as the son of Satan. If you'd learn to fucking knock you wouldn't see shit."
"Maybe if you didn't bone my sister every chance you got I wouldn't have to worry about it. It's almost time to check out, and we need to figure out what we're doing."
"We're dressed now, asshole. Tell everyone to come in here so we can talk," Sin snaps.
"Fuck no. It reeks of sex in here. Let's go to my room."
"Like it smells any better in there," I mumble.
He just shrugs. "I'd say we could go to Shane's room, but I don't think that's much better. Let's just go."
Everyone is already gathered inside. Jess glowers at everyone. She's a shaking, sweaty mess. She could be pretty, but not with greasy hair and puke stained clothes.
"You can't keep me locked up forever. I've got a life to get back to," she argues.
"Don't kid yourself, Jessica. We aren't letting you out so you can sell us out for crank," Teddy tells her.
"I don't like you anymore," she pouts.
He laughs a short barking sound. "Like I give a shit what a tweaked out whore thinks of me. Shut your mouth or I'll gag you again."
She's either still under the misconception that Teddy is a nice guy, or just too strung out to care, and she opens her mouth to argue more. It wasn't an idle threat though, and he shoves a washcloth in he
r mouth to shut her up.
"Better," he says and flops down on his bed.
Lucien ignores the entire scene, and flips open Sin's laptop. "There's no movement on the remaining soldiers, but I still don't think returning to the gym is a good idea. One of Shane's neighbors called him and said someone went up the access road to the cabin."
"I'm hooking that place up with more security the next time I go up. It could be nothing, but we can't risk going there either," Shane agrees.
Teddy's phone starts ringing. "That might be our answer," he says before answering. His conversation is short with a bunch of clipped responses.
He ends the call and locks eyes with me. It's all I need to know he's got something in the works to circumvent Lucien and Sin's plan.
"Don't freak out," he begins.
"Nothing good starts out like that. What did you do?" Lucien interrupts.
"You aren't the only one with contacts who can help, and your plan is fucking stupid. One of the feds my mom and I dealt with is a decent guy. He's going to help us crack the trafficking ring."
Sin crosses his arms and stares daggers at Teddy. "How exactly is that going to help us take Damien down?"
"Agent Grant Holbrook followed the money trail. Honestly, I thought it would take longer to find something, but Blackthorne has grown lazy. There's no smoking gun yet, but money washed from the club is showing up in equal deposits in a bank in Devil's Crossing. Damien's name isn't on the account, but it's enough to rouse suspicion."
"Feds don't offer protection based on suspicion of crimes. We're still royally fucked. This doesn't change anything." The stubborn set to Sin's jaw tells me he is still determined to turn himself over.
Teddy's demeanor is smug. He leans back, and crosses his ankles, getting comfortable on the scratchy comforter. "We actually do have proof that Damien deals in human trafficking."
Sin's brow pops up. "Do tell what this evidence is."
The corner of Teddy's mouth quirks up. "You are all the evidence we need."
"How exactly do we provide this evidence without me detailing the crimes I've been forced to commit?" Sin challenges.
Teddy looks at me, and there's an apology I don't want to see. The look is brief, and he directs his attention back to Sin. "I'm not sure we can, but you're already determined to turn yourself in. I'd rather deal with experts who deal with victims of trafficking than the governor's task force. Those dicks only see crime in black and white. You didn't have a choice in what you did, so you shouldn't have to face the consequences either."
I want so badly to punch him in the throat. Not until that moment did I realize how much the thread of hope buoyed me until it was snatched away.
Another message signals on his phone. "He's agreed to meet with us."
"Where?" Lucien pipes up.
Ah, the circular question comes back. Where are we going to go, what are we going to do? This half life isn't fair to the others who were pulled into our world. Yes, they were warned, but how can someone really grasp danger as a concept?
Sin scrubs his hand across his face. "We may as well return to the gym. Lucien and I can go clear it and make sure it's safe. This situation isn't tenable long term."
Resolution. Every decision we can make is fraught with horrible consequences, all of them bad. Either we continue to run, and eventually get caught unaware, or we stand and fight. Both roads have the potential to end in death. Hell, there's already been blood spilled, I just hope it continues to belong to those loyal to my father.
Since there's not much time left before we need to check out, Sin and my brother head out to secure the gym. The rest of us set out to pack our things and erase any evidence of ourselves from the hotel. I'm not sure if my father's men are searching for us already, after the blow we delivered, but it's better if they don't have concrete proof we remained close by.
Teddy waits a few minutes after they leave. Once he's sure they're not hanging around the property he dangles some keys. There were too many of us to fit in one car.
"We've got an appointment."
Ford steps in front of the door. "Ted, this isn't a good idea."
Teddy unfurls from the bed. His countenance is similar to Sin's. There's a lethal edge to him I'm still getting used to. Yet, I don't hesitate to follow him down to his car.
"Where are we going?" I ask when we're away from everyone. I get the sense he doesn't want them to know what we're up to.
"I lied earlier. Agent Holbrook wants to meet with me first. I know you're scared about what will happen, so I thought you'd like to come with me?"
I squeeze his arm. "Thank you."
He drives outside of Playa Pacifica to a small truck stop diner off the freeway. A man in his late thirties sits at a table nursing a cup of coffee. The bell over the door alerts him to our presence, and he gives Teddy a nod to greet him.
Teddy encourages me to slide into the booth, then scoots in next to me. "Holbrook, been a long time."
"Trouble seems to follow you kid. I should be thanking you though. Breaking up the O'Brian family made my career, but what you've handed me might put me at the head of the FBI."
He reaches next to him and pulls a thick file out of his satchel and lays it on the table. "I followed the money as we discussed. Blackthorne is a devious bastard, but he's grown complacent."
He flips through the papers and shows us some photos. The first are of the men I saw in my father's house. Some of them show a couple of the men entering a bank. I see bank statements on the top of the pile, probably coordinating to the dates and times of coordinating deposits in my father's accounts.
I tap one of the men in the photos. "I've seen him. I don't know his name, but after I graduated and was brought to Devil's Crossing he was the one who kept me locked in my room. The others I'm pretty sure I saw around the house. I can't be positive though.
Holbrook raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean he locked you in your room. How old are you?"
"I'm nineteen." I didn't know how to answer the rest of his question.
"Did you want to return home?" he pushes forward.
Shaking my head, I answer his question. "That was never my home. I've lived with nannies or in boarding school my entire life. After graduation I was put in a car and brought to my father's home. I'd applied to several colleges and was accepted to three of them. I'd even gotten scholarships so I wouldn't have to rely on my father to pay for my school."
I smile, but it's not a happy look. It probably looks like more of a grimace. "I was so close to being free. Truly and completely free for the first time in my life. No one to tell me where I could go, who I could speak to. That ended when the car door closed behind me. Of course, I had no idea for the first week why I'd been brought back."
Teddy looked at me with pity. I didn't need it. Never again would I be under my father's thumb, even if I had to burn his world down around him.
Glancing at Holbrook, I see he's got a tight grip on his mug. His face doesn't radiate pity, but there's an empathy in his gaze I wasn't expecting.
"What did he plan to do with you?" His voice is quiet, as if not to alarm me.
I lick my lips and stare at my fingers. "He plans to marry me to George Campbell. Damien made an agreement with his father to get his political backing in exchange for me marrying his son. Lucien and Sin were afraid of me being at the father's mercy, and we ran that night."
Holbrook slumps back against the bench. "This is worse than I thought."
Teddy leans forward. "Explain," he demands.
"I've heard of George Campbell, Sr. He's been married three times, and all of his wives have died under mysterious circumstances. There's never been enough evidence to charge him with their murders. Not only that, but he's been under investigation for racketeering for years, but the witnesses always disappear."
I swallow hard. Sin and Lucien already explained all of this to me, but hearing it from a federal agent somehow makes it more real.
"You're very lucky th
ey took you away. I don't know about the son, but women don't last long in their world. As far as the connection to your father, I doubt politics is their end goal. Campbell and Blackthorne have been working together for years, but the connections made by criminals can be flimsy. Having a family tie gives them more of a binding agreement."
"Always great to hear you're nothing but a commodity to trade," I grumble.
"That brings me to the real reason I asked to meet with you," Teddy interjects.
Holbrook taps his knuckle on the thick file. "This is a good start, but it isn't enough to hang Blackthorne. There are boxes and boxes of reports from drug running, gun sales, and human trafficking, but he's a slippery fucker."
He winces. "Sorry for my language."
I shrug. "He is a slippery fucker."
"What do you need?" Teddy asks. The look on his face signals he is already in possession of the answer.
"I need direct evidence of human trafficking. Anything short of that and the federal prosecutor won't even move to indict."
"What if we had a victim?"
Holbrook leans forward. "That would be a game changer."
"Certain protections need to be met before I bring them to you," Teddy hedges.
"What are we talking here?"
"Immunity." The silence is deafening as we wait for Holbrook to respond to Teddy's demand.
He blows out a breath. "That's a big ask. You're going to need to give me some details."
"Not all of Blackthorne's soldiers are willing participants. I've got two of them who were coerced by threat of death to commit the crimes. One of them has existed as a slave since he was a child. He's never had a choice in anything he's done."
Holbrook digests the information. "I'm assuming we're discussing Lucien Blackthorne and this man?" He pulls another photograph of Sin from the stack and sets it on top.
How long have they been gathering evidence?
"My brother has been captive just as much as I have been. From the time he was a child he has been trained to do what he was told. My father doesn't give love, he gives orders. If those orders aren't followed, you die. It doesn't matter if you are family or a stranger. Everyone is dispensable," I step in.
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