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The cabinets are two-toned. The outside cabinets around the perimeter of the space are a beautiful dark gray, and the island itself is a rich black. Everything is so bright and open, even with the dark colors that were added.I love this house, even the light fixtures around here are cool.
“No thanks. I’m just finishing up some chef-quality hot ham and cheese sandwiches with a side of chips,” Stryker tells me, laughing at himself while plating the sandwiches and chips. We gather up all the plates and carry them out to the rest of the crew. We both find a seat on the huge sectional with everyone else and begin to eat. Stryker chats about our plans here in Vegas so we can get the ball rolling, so to speak.
“I had Conrad run a trace on the phraseCooter Clubhouse,” Stryker announces to the team as we eat. “I wanted to get that search going right away. We want to put a stop to this human trafficking ring as soon as possible. If the trace finds anything, we will be alerted right away, and we can look at it together to see if there is anything good to look into further.”
Everyone just nods their heads in acceptance since they all have mouthfuls of food. I guess it’s time to get to the more boring part of this trip. “While we are all together, I wanted to let you all know that I have given everyone room assignments, so there is no fighting like the last time we were sent out on a mission similar to this one,” I chime in, turning my head to King. I look him directly in the eye and say, “Yeah, I’m looking at you, King,” he just laughs at me in return, shrugging his shoulders and brushing it off.
“Anyway up the stairs and to the left, there is another living room with a couch and flat-screen TV. The next door on the left is BJ, and then Marcela’s room is next to yours with a joint bathroom.”
“Fuck yeah, thank you for that,” Marcela exclaims appreciatively.
“I wanted to make sure the ladies were taken care of for their privacy.” I smile at the girls and Stryker, raising my eyebrows at them, amused with myself.
“In that same hall, but on the right side of the hall is Stryker’s room, also with a bathroom. I’m right next to you, so at least your neighbor is good-looking,” I tease.
“Hilarious, asshole, but thank you,” Stryker says.
“King your room is down the stairs and to the right, Alexie will be in the room across the hall from you. You’ll be sharing the bathroom in that hall, but it is huge.”
Nat lets out a fake-sounding cough before saying, “Um, hello, what about my room? Or am I just chopped liver?”
A grin you could probably see from the stars splits my face, and I tell her, “Well, I thought you could choose a different room each night based on who you wanted to sleep with while we’re here.”
She just smiles and nods as if that is an acceptable alternative to not having her own room. “But I will need to find a landing spot for all my things. Can I maybe have a random leftover room for my clothes and maybe if I need some alone time away from all of you guys? I think I deserve my own space too,” she stresses to me.
“Yes, Spitfire, there is one leftover room if you’d like,” I say, winking at her and gesturing down the hall with my arm. She mouthsthank youto me without making a sound.
Marcela groans and rolls her eyes as she gets up and heads in the direction of her room.
“I doubt we will have much spare time to get any use out of it, but if you go down the hall on the right side of the common area, you’ll find an indoor pool and seating area. There is also a home gym down there.” I yell out loud enough for her to hear me down the hall.
Stryker stands up and dismisses everyone else to put their shit in their rooms. He then tells Alexie that the clothes and toiletries sent here for him should be in his room waiting for him.
“I appreciate that. I had little my own to bring with me from the safe house,” Alexie says gratefully.
Right then, my computer beeps over on the countertop. Stryker’s and my head whip over to it, then back to each other, making eye contact as if we both have a mutual understanding of what we might find on that computer.
We dash over to the laptop and read the screen together, letting out a gasp. “Nat is going to lose her shit when we tell her this,” I say just above a whisper. I stare at Stryker, waiting for him to say something. This is going to break my Spitfire, but we can’t keep it from her. She has to know, and one of us has to be the one to tell her.
“We tell her with the team, so she has support and we don’t split hairs or ease into it. Straight facts, so she knows how serious we are taking this,” he tells me without hesitation. Then he takes a deep breath and yells out to everyone. “Hurry, guys. We have some news, and it ain’t the prettiest.”
Minutes later, the team gathers in the dining hall, all of us taking a seat in the chairs which I set up earlier. “Shall we begin?” Stryker asks everyone and gestures for me to start.
“I was running a search on the clubhouse to see if anything popped up. A notification just came through that the scans found something big just as everyone was heading to their rooms,” I look over at Nat and give her an apologetic look. I know what I’m about to reveal is going to affect her the most. “Seems Volkov is hosting another one of his auctions in one day in the basement of Cooters Clubhouse.”
BJ’s mouth falls open, and Marcela says, “Looks like we got to Vegas right on time then.”
“Yeah, we sure did. He has a few photos posted with the auction listing on the dark web of what they’re calling the more ’sought-after listings’.” I project my laptop screen onto the wall and show them some of the pictures.
There are a few handsome young men, a few small children, and finally…a photo of Katia.
Nat’s face falls, changing completely. She looks so defeated, and her eyes glisten like she may cry any second before she whispers, “NO…”
Katia
ONE YEAR AGO
Goinghomeaftermyshift and running a hot bath sounds way more fun than meeting with Andrei Volkov. He told me to meet him at his office, and when I told him I had plans and would meet him tomorrow, he demanded it be tonight. Normally, I would have no problem telling a guy to ’fuck off’, but Andrei is Alexie’s dad, and he’s been helping me out financially. I try really hard to be grateful for what he’s offered me, but at the end of the day, Andrei Volkov is the head of the Volkov BraTVa, and there’s always going to be a catch to his compassion.
