Page 100 of Crimson Love

Bella glares at her brother through the screen, before she turns her attention to me. “Your father is trafficking humans—young women, much like yourself.”

My hand flies to my mouth. I may throw up again. “No.”

Crew leans forward on the desk they’re sitting at with all sorts of screens and technical equipment in the background. “We would never tell you this without conclusive evidence. The victims are from the islands or Central America. They’re being sold all over. We caught a break from a few elusive texts. We followed the trail, and it’s clear. Since this is going on outside the country, we’re going to let Carson take the lead on this and provide support. Brax and King are working with him on the ground in Florida.”

My heart speeds, and unlike learning my mother is dead, I can’t control my tears.

I lose sight of Crew and Bella on the screen and drop my face to my hands. Jett pulls me to his chest where my silent sobs come in full force for innocent victims.

Like me.

And all of a sudden, I feel like I hit the jackpot. I know my fate with Andrei could’ve been so much worse. The thought of what these people might be sold into makes me ill.

I hear Crew, Bella, and Devon murmur in the background about what’s next and what to do with me and even how to keep me safe.

Safe.

That word feels different in my soul than it has until now.

“Shh, baby. It’s okay.” Jett soothes me. “They’re going to find him. He’ll be put away for good for what he’s done. He’ll never touch you again.”

I force myself to look up at him. “But what about what he’s already done? It sounds like it’s been going on for years. What about those people who are probably lost forever?”

Jett frames my face with a firm hand. “It stops now. I promise.”

“Tell her the rest,” Devon demands.

I wipe my cheeks. “There’s more?”

Crew continues. “Your father might have had clients all over the Caribbean, but he was living the high life in Ft. Myers. Petrov invested in his business. Brax and King just got a warrant to freeze his bank accounts. It’s like cutting off the food supply to a rat. He’ll get hungry enough to surface. His federal warrants have been upgraded in a way he’s not going to like when we finally find him. It would be really nice if we had a phone to track. We might not have warrants, but we can backtrack proof after the fact. We do that all the time.”

I rub my eyes and don’t care if I look like a racoon from crying off all my makeup. “What can I do to help?”

“No.” Jett bites that word with force. “They’ll find him, probably sooner rather than later, since he’ll be cut off from all his finances. You’re not getting anywhere close to Reed.”

“Or.” Bella draws that word out long enough for Jett to glare at her. “You could help to draw him out.”

“No way,” Jett bites with a sting. “And even if you would, we don’t know where he is or how to contact him.”

Bella rolls her eyes. “Calm down, Jett Parker Cross. I’m not suggesting she chummy up to him.”

Jett frowns. “Did you just call me by my full name?”

She shrugs with a sly smirk. “It’s a really great name. It seemed like an appropriate time, so I gave it a go. I have no regrets.”

Jett ignores her lack of regrets. “How in the hell do you expect Lennon to draw him out?”

“In the spirit of brainstorming when there’s no bad idea, what if Lennon goes public? She’s not on the run anymore. He knows where she is. I say it’s time Reed Shaw is tried in the court of public opinion. Who’s with me?”

I glance around the room before looking back at the screen. “You want me to go public about what he did to me?”

All of a sudden, Bella’s face lights up. “I say we go for it. Let it go viral. We’ll get Ozzy’s wife, Liyah, to share it from an activist standpoint. She’s still got millions of followers. It’ll go viral. The world will be up in arms, and someone will see your father in a donut shop, a strip club, or wading through the swamp like the disgusting monster he is. And just like that, someone will turn him in. I’m positive.”

“Well, if you’re positive,” Jett growls sarcastically. “No. That’s a shitty plan. I don’t care how much of a badass everyone says you are or about the rules of brainstorming. Lennon has been through enough. She doesn’t need to subject herself to the trolls of America. Your idea officially sucks.”

Crew leans back and crosses his thick muscled arms across his chest. “It’s a solid option.”

Devon nods. “Probably the fastest way to flesh out the rat-bastard. Who knows how long he could be in hiding? We also have no idea how much cash he has stashed away to get him by without his bank accounts.”