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River, already here, pushes off the wall.
Syd scans Delilah. “The bartender, huh?” When I nod, and Delilah’s brow shoots up, Syd exhales an appreciative laugh. “I see why you’re in this, man.”
Wide-eyed, Delilah asks, “Can you show us?”
Syd’s eyes slice to mine. “Are you sure? It’s not pretty.”
“I’m sure,” Delilah interjects, clearly annoyed Syd’s checking with me for confirmation. “I want to get to the bottom of this.”
I take her hand, pulling her close. She shouldn’t be here. But I have no right to keep her away. She deserves to know what’s after her. “Show her.”
“This way.”
We head into the back office where Chili’s already at the computer, clicking around on a massive, curved monitor that takes up most of the desk. Warren sits in a chair beside him.
Chili whistles. “We are gonna have some fun today, aren’t we?”
“Cut the theatrics, idiot,” Syd orders, coming around the desk to swat Chili on the back of his shaved head.
Ezra and River trade amused grins.
“All right…” Chili pulls up a black screen and types in a password. “The USB leads to a virtual safety deposit box.” Delilah nods along like she knows all this. “Which I cracked, you’re welcome.
“See this?” His mouse hovers on a file folder labeled PROSPECTS. Everyone leans in as he double-clicks. A grid of images appears. Women.
“Cole, tell me I’m not going to have a mental breakdown after looking at this.” Ezra’s eyes glide over the screen.
“There are girls in these files.” Chili looks at all of us. “From everything that’s in here, it looks like these are girls he—Please or whoever the fuck—plans to abduct. Their names, locations, places of employment, everything you could want to know, it’s all there.”
I can feel the room tense, every one of us holding our breath as Chili clicks into different images.
“Wait!” Delilah exclaims. “Go back.”
Chili does. The screen fills with a photo of a pretty girl with auburn hair.
“That’s Clea.” She stares at the screen like she’s willing herself to crawl into it, her face desperate. “She’s from the club.”
“It’s like a list.” Warren shakes his head.
“Like a menu,” Delilah breathes.
“Trafficking?” I ask.
“April.”
The rasp comes from River. Delilah looks up at me, confused. Ezra and I share a look.
“Is she in there?” River asks, coming closer, his face creased in pain.
“It’d take time to sort through them all.” Syd hesitates. Nods at Delilah. “But she’s in there.”
My fists clench at my side, my entire body becoming one pulsing heartbeat.
“Me?” She sucks in a sharp breath, and her gaze flies to me.
“Yeah. You.”
Fuck.
