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She nods. “I suspect he’s grooming the kids he has living with him and I believe the young woman has been there with him since she was also a kid. I was about to kill him and his associate but Mikhail pulled me out of there,” she says, her skin turning red with anger.
I nod, logging into the system, showing her everything I found first. I show her the payments made to law enforcement and she’s outraged and heartbroken at the fact that the officers are sleazebags everywhere, although she isn’t surprised. With anxiety, she tells me, “See if he’s made any payments to Harry Burns.”
I type his name in as sweat begins to form on my forehead, knowing what this is doing to her. From the corner of my eye, I can see that she’s digging her nails into the palm of her hand again. The throbber spins and I hear her breathing hot air next to me. Then the page opens.
Nothing needs to be said as it’s clear as day on the screen that Harry Burns has been buying babies and kids of all different ages from this man for decades. He’s also been sourcing them and selling them to him too.
I’m disgusted. I’m enraged and I hurt for the babies, the kids, and Julissa. I turn to look at her as she remains frozen, her eyes locked onto the screen. I give her a minute, watching her while she still doesn’t move before I ask her. “So what are we gonna do?”
She turns to look at me and it’s like all life has left her eyes. She gets up from the bed. “Don’t worry about it,” she says.
“I am worried. I want to know if I can help,” I say.
“Are you willing to die for this, Calder? Are you willing to give up this charade of playing pretend in this bullshit ass town, Calder?” she asks me, without care for my answer.
I stutter and pause for a quick second. She takes that as hesitation and she shakes her head.
“As I said, Calder, don’t worry about it. But you did a good thing telling me,” she says before walking toward me and hugging me. “I can see how this information has wrecked you after holding on to it for so long. Thanks for letting me know.”
And with that, she releases me and walks out of my room.
Chapter 24
Julissa
I’mnotgoingtowork today. There’s no need. The charade is over and the plan is set. Sure, it would’ve been nice just to go in and tell Anne to shove her job up her ass but I don’t have time to indulge my ego. Today is the day I fuck this town up and I spent all night thinking about how I’m going to do it. I won’t bring the guys down with me. Poor things. They are still holding on so tightly to this damn charade. Mikhail’s in super panic mode, Calder’s a nervous wreck and Axel just keeps his distance. And you know what, it’s fine. If they want to be trembling little anuses, let them be. They don’t have to make this their fight. But it’s mine.
I’m not dwelling on emotions right now, I need to think straight. It’s still early in the morning, none of the guys are awake yet but they should be getting up soon to start getting ready for work. This means I have to move fast. I make my way down to the basement and I gather different types of blades which are my personal favorite and a bunch of guns. I stuff them in the bag that I took down here with me. In that same bag, I put my share of money which I’ve taken from the stolen stash. I run upstairs and hide the bag under my bed. I just have one more thing I have to get. I sneak out of the house another fucking time and make my way down to the nearby pharmacy. I’m just hoping that they have something I can use, since unfortunately for me, I don’t know any local drug dealers here.
The only thing I can get access to over the counter, which is also safe, is a sedative antihistamine. I’m frustrated because if this doesn’t work, it’s going to sabotage my plan. I ask the pharmacist how much she would recommend taking to fall asleep instantly without overdosing and she tells me. I don’t want to use too much and accidentally kill them but I don’t want them waking up until I’m well on my way.
I hurry back. I hope this fucking works because if not, I’m gonna have to knock them out or tie them up so I can leave and I don’t want to have to do that. I’d rather leave without disturbing their peace. Because you see, the plan is that once I do what I need to do, I’ll do what I can to not get caught but if I am, I’ll take the fall for everything that happened in Vegas and everything that’s about to happen in this small town in The Berkshires, New England.
Since today is the last time we’re going to spend together, I call Axel so that he can meet us all here tonight. I’ve removed all emotion from what I have to do but it doesn’t mean that I’m not emotionless when it comes to never see them again. I can’t leave without spending time with each of them and giving them one last kiss goodbye because although I intend to survive, I know the risks and I know tonight may just be my last night alive. So after I’ve sorted all the details and I’m sure that I’m prepared for later, I spend the rest of the day waiting for them to get home. These past few months have just been a mess and we’ve lost touch with one another. A few months ago, they were the only thing I had that was good in my life. I want that back. If the odds don’t fall in my favor tonight, I want to spend as much time with the people I love the most. I want to put all the negative tension and animosity, loss of confidence, and fear that we’ve been consumed with since we’ve been on the run behind us today. I want to pretend that it’s all new and fun again. I want it to feel good between us again. And I don’t want them to suspect that they will never see me again, whether or not I die.
I’ve gotten dressed and changed into lingerie and a robe, not because I need the robe to hide but because it just adds to the element of surprise and I want to play the game of seduction. I’ve prepared dinner for all of us and gotten us some wine.
* * *
The door opens and I look to see that it’s Calder who’s come home first. I approach him and he looks at me with that sexy smile that I don’t get to see as often anymore, the one that had me jumping on him the first time we had sex back at his house in Vegas. Lately, other than when all of us have sex together, he seems to be withdrawn into himself. And with everything he found out yesterday, he looks like death now. I want to see life in him again. I don’t want to think about the things that feel horrible. I’m going to deal with them starting tonight. Right now, all I want us to focus on is what makes us feel good.
“Hey,” I say, my tone soft as I smile up at him.
“Hey.” He smiles and looks around in confusion. “Smells good in here.”
“I made dinner,” I tell him.
“Okay.” He kisses me on the cheek and takes off his jacket. “But have you thought about what we spoke about yester…”
I put a finger on his lips. “Don’t worry about that. Not tonight. Let’s not think about what we don’t have any control over. I want to focus on you right now. Can we do that? How was your day?”
“Horrible. I couldn’t think of anything else.” His face is weary and there are bags under his eyes.
“Come here.” I take his hand and lead him to the couch. I kneel before him and start unbuttoning his shirt. He’s looking at me unenthusiastically but that’s to be expected. “Do you mind taking your shirt off for me?” I ask him.
“Julissa, I don’t know. I’m just not in the mood,” he says.
“For what?” I ask him.
