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“We already missed Oskar once,” he pointed out, his fingers pausing. “Do you want to miss him again because you’re too busy trying to be sneaky and covering your ass? Bullstow might not even figure out Teresa is involved.”
“They’re slow, but they aren’t inept, not with someone like Natalie.”
“You’d rather keep your nose clean than save Oskar? I thought you were different.”
Lila bit the insides of her cheeks, annoyed by how much his censure cut. “Don’t forget why we didn’t save Oskar at the auction house.”
“Maybe it wasn’t smart, but I was trying to help a child. What’s your excuse?”
Dixon whistled and shook his head at both of them. Stop being assholes. Lila has a point about Shaw.
Tristan hopped off his perch on the coffee table, tapping on his palm. “Fine. We’ll tail Teresa for now. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and she’ll meet her German contacts. She might lead us straight to Oskar.”
“We should be so lucky.”
“Dixon, any other ideas?” When his brother shook his head, Tristan resumed his typing. “Give me the list, Lila. My people can check them out, narrow down the brothels from her other businesses.”
Lila clasped her palm more tightly.
Tristan looked up. “Lila, give me the list. I assure you, my people can be trusted.”
“I don’t even know your people.”
“You know me. Isn’t that enough for you? We’re talking about kids here. They need to be rescued as soon as possible. We can sort out the list and take it to Shaw ourselves. If you’re worried about him knowing where it came from, I assure you, I can come up with something that doesn’t involve you.”
“I don’t even know if I have all the addresses yet.”
“Bullshit. If that’s what you have, then it’s complete. I’d bet—”
“You’d bet? I wouldn’t. Like you said, these are kids. I’m not perfect, Tristan. What if I don’t have them all? What if I don’t have one on my list, and they go deeper? What if they’ve moved all the kids already, and this just tips them off? What—”
“What if you give me the list, and we save most of them? What if my people and I spend the next six months trailing every pervert and pedophile in the city to see where they go for their next fix?” Tristan raked his fingers through his hair. “Damn it, Lila. Natalie was taking workborn. Most of them slaves. It’s not your call. What do you think we do all day when you’re not here? Fix cars and eat Chinese food? Give me the damn list.”
It wasn’t even a request this time. It was an order.
Dixon held up his notepad. Give it to us, Lila. We’ll help. This is what we do.
She looked back and forth between both men, chewing her lip. Reluctantly, she scribbled down the list on Dixon’s notepad, not wanting to leave an electronic trail.
While Tristan sent out messages to his people, Lila pulled up a new file sent from Chief Vance to Shaw. As she had suspected, a large dose of sleeping medication had been found in the hot chocolate.
Her palm vibrated in her pocket, and Lila stared at the message, wide-eyed.
Captain Regina Randolph had finished testing the hot chocolate, confirming Vance’s findings.
She’d also found tracers in the tea.
Chapter 23
“Guan will be over in thirty minutes.” Tristan shoved his palm into his pocket and sat in the oversized chair, far from Lila.
Lila put the menu back on the coffee table and slipped off her boots, leaving her socks on, overly conscious now about her feet and toes around Tristan. “I didn’t know the Plum Luck Dragon delivered.”
“Madam Chen started a couple of weeks ago, just for us. She said we were her best customers.”
Dixon grinned a little and scribbled on his notepad. You flirt with a woman once.
“You didn’t?” Lila scoffed.
