He shifts. Theasshole can't help but feel a little pride, I just
know it. Like he's doing something good in the world, when all
he's doing is plaguing hundreds of little boys'and girls'
nightmares.
"I was hoping you could help me out, man."
"Yeah?" he patronizes. "You think so? You think I'm going to tell
you shit, man?"
He fires off another shot, this time next to me. Too close for
comfort. Enough to feel the heat of the bullet. I still don't flinch,
and if anything, that pisses him off more.
I sigh. With his current state of mind, he's useless to me. Just
gonna have to kidnap his assand wait till he comes down from his
high.
Aquick sweep of my eyesproves that I have about two
seconds before the rest of the men start shooting, regardless of
what comes out of my mouth.
Two seconds—that's all it takes to stick my hand in my hoodie
pocket and fire off a shot through the material, downing one of the
men to my left.
The surprise of thatmove gives me a small window of time to
upend the table and roll behind it.
Glass shatters from the ashtrays, and a gun falls off the table
and discharges, eliciting shocked screams from the girls.
Fuck.Ifthat bullet ricochets and lands within an inch of those
girls, I'm going to let them stab me for sure.
No cries of pain follow, so I blow out a deep breath. Relieved,
but no less pissed at myself.
Like clockwork, a stream of bullets impales the thick, wooden
table. Lucky for me, most don't make it through.
It's too dangerous for me to return fire. I won't be able to peek
my pinky toe out without it getting shot off, and I refuse to
endanger these girls even more and fire blindly. I don't take shots
unless I'm positive they'll hit true.
The only thing I can do is wait.
It doesn't take long for them to empty their clips.
I hear the rustling of clothing and muttered curses as they
scramble to reload.It takes even less time for meto shoot the remaining four dead,
sans Fernando. I'm going to save him for later.
The bullets rip through theirbrains in such quick succession
that their bodies drop at the same time.
"You see that?" I ask aloud,already knowing Jay is watching
through the cameras.
"Fuck, it only took you eight minutes," Jay groans through my
earpiece.
"Five hundred bucks, fucker," is my smug answer. Astring of
curses leaves his mouth, but I tune him out.
Fernando is spitting out his own colorful tirade as he scrambles
to find another gun. I shoot him in the knee, the angry man
collapsing instantly. Screams of raw pain and angerfill the
warehouse, and if I didn't know any better, I'd think he was a little
girl himself.
No—the girls in this warehouse are far tougher than he could
ever hope to be. He's just a whiny bitch trapped in a man's body.
I stand and saunter over to Fernando, enjoying the sight of him
clutching his knee, blood bubbling from the wound and onto the
floor. His face is red, full of murderous intent as he glares at me.
I ignore the look, instead surveying the copious amounts of
blood streaking the cement floor. I don't want the girls to have to
step through it.
"Jay, have Ruby make a pathway for these girls." Ruby is one
member of the crew who comes in, explicitly assigned to handle
the survivors and get them to safety. She's a redheaded spitfire
but turns to mush when she's around any of the women or
children we save.
"A pathway?"
"Yeah, I don't want a drop of blood on their toes."
The warehouseis full of about fifty girls, all deeply traumatized
and broken. They will never have to wash blood from their bodies
again if I have anything to do with it.
One of the girls stands, a fierce expression on her face. She
can't be more than fifteen years old, but a pedophile ring will age
anyone significantly.
"Are you going to hurt us, too?" she asks loudly. Herdirty
brown hair is tangled around her face. She's filthy—they all are.The extensive amount of skinshowing is smudged with dirt and
blood. She looks the oldest, and by her protective stance, she's
pronounced herself the mother of the group.
All of the girlshere were kidnapped within the past six days.
Six days of unspeakable torture and assault that will stay with
them for the rest of their lives. Six days of dirty men sexualizing,
beating, and molesting them. The young girls would not have
been deflowered, but that doesn't mean the monsters didn't find
other ways to get pleasure out of them.
Jay andI have been watching this location for the past twelve
hours, identifying both the girls and the men. Each second that
ticked by felt like an eternity—knowing that they were enduring
something horrific.
While Jay kept tabs, I allowedmyself five hours of sleep before
I came here, enough time to keep my mind sharp. I have to be at
my absolute best if I'm going to get them out alive.
"I'm here to get you girls home," I respond, tucking mygun
back in my boot.
She looks at me warily, as do some of the other girls.
None of them are going to trust me.
I get it.
I'm scarred from head to toe,have two different colored eyes—
both onthe dramatic spectrum—and I'm not a small guy. Not to
mention, I just murdered a bunch of men in front of their faces.
"Backup is coming in," Jay informs, right before I hear the back
door open and several people rush in.
"Young man, it's a bloodbathin here. These poor girls! Shame
on you, Z." I wince at the sound of Ruby's voice. Can't make me
flinch from firing off a bullet two inches from my head but Ruby…
God help me.
"It couldn't be avoided, Ruby. I—"
"Not another word from you.If your mother were here, she'd
have your ass."
I grunt but don't respond, letting her hem and haw over the
survivors while still muttering reprimands under her breath. Ruby
was a good friend of my mom's and likes to remind me—and the
rest of the crew—that she used to wipe my ass when I was a
baby.If I could've killed the traffickers in private, I would've, and I
hate that I added to their trauma. But when you have a warehouse
full of armed men, there's no calling them back to your office one
at a time like they're being fired from their job. They need to be
taken down swiftly where they stand. Otherwise, there's room for
error, potentially resulting in one of the survivors getting hurt or
killed.
Necessary means to get the girls out.
The other two that came in with Ruby, Michael and Steve,take
care of the bodies. Michael is dragging a struggling Fernando out,
tossing me the keys to the girls' chains as he passes by. Ruby
already found another set on one of the dead bodies and is
currently unchaining the others.
I approach the mother hen ofthe group and unchain her collar,
my hand nearly shaking from the fury of having to unhook a
fucking collar from a little girl's neck. Welts and a large bruise
encircle her throat, but I don't let her see the rage simmering
beneath the surface. She stares at me silently, suspicion and
tentative hope warring in her pretty light brown eyes.
Her eyes remind me of my little mouse, and something
protective flares inside my chest.
"What's your name, kid?" I ask, keeping my eyes trained to
hers. She's probably waiting for my leery gaze to travel the
expanse of her body, but she won't ever get that shit from me.
"Sicily," she answers. I quirk a brow.
"Is that where your parents come from?" I question, noting her
tanned skin peeking from beneath the grime on her face.
She nods her head tentatively. "Ma and Pa were born there,
but they haven't been able to go back since they were in their
teens. They said they named me after the island because even
though they're homesick, I provide them with the only home they need."
I nod, eyeing her face. Purple blooms from her right eye, and
another spark of anger ignites.
"You ready to give them a home again?"
She pauses, and then a small smile forms. "Yes,"she
whispers.Tears flood her eyes, but I don't let her know that I noticed. I
can tell she wouldn't appreciate it.
"Let's go then, kid."
This little girl will go back home, and though she has along journey ahead of her, she'll heal.
We keep tabs on all the girls we extract to ensure they don't go missing again. If it can happen once, it can happen twice.
She huddles in close to me as we walk out of the building. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a girl step in blood. I pause, pointing
at her but glaring at Ruby.
"Ruby! What'd I say? Not a drop of blood on the girls."
Ruby startles, roles reversing as she rushes towards the girl with shame.
"I'm sorry, honey bunny, let me clean you up," she coos to the
little girl with way more than just a fucking drop on her foot.
"Watch your step, okay?"
I turn, satisfied that she won't let it happen again.
I help Sicily navigate through the carnage, keeping one eye ffirmly on her feet and where she walks. When she's in the clear, I
lead her to the van where they'll transport her safelyto the
hospital. There, her family will be notified.
I whistle an unnamed tune asI let my crew take care of the rest
and head to my Mustang, hidden in another parking lot across the
street. I'm eager to get the fuck out of here.
My hunt isn't over yet. I have to play with my little mouse now.