Page 27 of Trista's Truth


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“Yep,” she said, following him down the hallway. He was pretty sure that the door at the end of the corridor would lead into the warehouse, and to all of the women that the Gemini Brothers were holding.

He pushed his way through the door, Melody hot on his heels, and found the large room filled with women in cages. Most were crying or calling for help as guards let them out to the trucks that they had waiting for them. They were going to move the evidence and Joel knew that if they did that, the CIA’s case against the Gemini Brothers would be nonexistent. It’s why they could only pin Dante down when he was arrested the first time, and they couldn’t take the chance that the Gemini Brothers would just put another head in place to lead their family business. Dante might be the acting head, but the Gemini family was large and had many willing men who’d gladly take his place.

“I’ll call in back-up,” Melody said. “You go after Dante.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. He knew that Melody enjoyed the thrill of the chase as much as he did.

“I am,” she said, “if we let them move those women, we will have gone through all of this for nothing. We’ve come too far to let that happen, Joel.” Melody was right, although, he’d never tell her that. He’d never hear the end of her “I told you so’s” if he did.

“Be careful,” he ordered. “Axel will kick my ass if you get shot.”

“I’ll do my best not to get shot,” she said. “You be careful too.” He headed over to the dark corner of the building, needing a quiet place to scope out the warehouse for Dante. He spotted the guy almost immediately and was surprised that he didn’t have many of his guards around to protect him. He literally let his guard down and Joel knew that he had found his opening, and he wasn’t going to waste it.

He hurried along the permitter of the warehouse. Dante seemed distracted watching the women being loaded into the trucks. “Bring in the other truck,” he shouted to one of his guys.

“Good plan,” Joel said, “looks like you’re going to need it.” Dante turned around and looked Joel over, his smile was mean. He had his gun pointed at Dante and wasn’t sure what the guy had to smile about, but Joel liked to have a bit of fun—he’d play along.

“What’s funny?” Joel asked.

“You just don’t give up, man. You fucked up the first time arresting me, so now, you’re back to try again. You do know that my attorney will have me out again in no time. You’ve already admitted to failing to follow procedure the first time you brought me in, what makes you think that this time will stick?” he asked.

“Because I’m here to assist,” Trista stepped out from the side of the building and Joel was sure that his girl has superpowers.

“What the hell, honey?” he asked. “How did you get here so fast?”

“Well, I took care of the trash, and now that Pete’s out of the way, I thought that I’d come on over here and give you a hand. Plus, I wouldn’t miss the chance to set the record straight with this asshole.”

“Go for it,” Joel said. This was going to be fun to watch.

“You’re under arrest, Dante Gemini, for human trafficking, the murder of two CIA agents,” her voice cracked a bit when she said that part, and Joel knew that Trista had left some members of her team up in the office where she had been shot. He listened to her as she read the rest of the charges against Dante Gemini, along with his rights and when she finally finished, the rest of the team was there. Melody had come through and called in backup. She got to them in time to watch him and Trista cuff, Dante. The rest of the team swarmed the building, taking down the guards with very little resistance.

“It’s over,” he said to Trista.

“It’s far from over,” she said. “We have a long night of paperwork and questioning ahead of us, Joel.”

“No,” he said, “you have a trip to the ER to have that shoulder looked at. And then, we’re going to get some rest, so that tomorrow, you can hit the ground running—as long as you’re medically cleared to do so.”

“Joel,” she breathed.

“No arguments, Trista,” he said. “I love you and I’m not going to stand back and let you bleed out while you do your job.”

“Wait—you love me?” she asked.

“I do. I have for a while now, but I didn’t want to scare you off,” he admitted.

“Why now?” she asked. “What’s changed?”

“I heard those gunshots when you went into Dante’s office, and God, I thought for sure that I lost you. Hearing that scared the shit out of me. When I heard you tell me that you were okay, I knew that you were lying. I knew that you had to be hit, and that thought terrified me. I knew that I couldn’t live without you at that moment. I don’t want to be without you, ever. I love you, Trista, and if that scares you—well, too bad.”

She smiled up at him, holding her shoulder with her good hand. “It does terrify me, if I’m being honest, Joel. The problem is, I love you too, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you too.”

“You do?” he asked. She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her. He felt as though he was holding his whole future in his arms.

“I do,” she said.

“Good,” he said, “then you’ll be willing to say those same words to me when you marry me, honey?” he asked.

“I will,” she promised. “I’d love to marry you, Joel.”

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