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“To think,” I murmur as I come to stand behind him, “this wouldn’t have happened had you not stolen from us.”
I slice my knife along his throat. It comes as easy as breathing. Within seconds, he’s dead. They all are.
I step away and drop the knife, my chest heaving as the red haze suddenly clears from my vision. I stare at the massacre in front of me and realize just how fucked up it is. Blood coats the floor, walls, and ceiling. I was careless as I carved Angela up. There’s no way in hell the baby would have survived what I was doing to its mother. No fucking way.
I glance down at my hands. They’re covered in the metallic coating of Angela and Gio’s blood.
Christ… This looks like something out of a horror movie. It’s blood and gore. Angela’s lying on the floor, and her insides can be seen from where I’ve cut her open.
I swallow hard and move to the sink, needing to clean the blood off my hands. I don’t give a fuck about what’s on my clothes; they’ll be burned before morning. Right now, I need to clean my hands, and then I need to get the fuck out of here.
TWENTY-ONE
PORTIA
SIX MONTHS LATER
The wind whips around me as I exit my apartment building. Once again, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I get the sense that someone’s watching me. It’s been this way for the past three months, and yet whenever I look, there’s no one there. Either I’m going crazy or someone’s doing a good job of watching me and concealing themselves. That feeling I feel, it reminds me of whenever I’d be around Dario.
I glance around, and as always, there’s no one there. I strain my gaze around the parking lot, checking all the vehicles and coming up with nothing. I can’t find anyone watching me.
I release a sigh and continue toward my car. My heart’s heavy as I think back to six weeks ago. I spent the weekend in Bora Bora for Teagan and Elio’s second wedding. For this one, my best friend got the choice to marry the man she loves, and it was the happiest I’ve ever seen her. She was smiling widely and just radiating happiness. Something I hadn’t realized was missing from her before.
Of course, being in Bora Bora meant that I would be around Dario. It was hard to see him, but I couldn’t deny how fucking amazing he looked. Being so close to him was hard, and my resolve vanished. The next thing I knew, he was kissing me, and we spent an amazing night together. Dario’s the only man I want. He’s the only man I have ever wanted. But he knows how to infuriate me better than anyone else in this world. While I was basking in the afterglow of our loving making, he got all growly and demanded that I stay away from Kelvin.
I shake my head, pushing the thoughts of the asshole out of my mind. I need to focus on what needs to happen next. For six months, we’ve been trying to track Marco and his men, and we’ve come up empty. Women have been disappearing a lot more frequently than they had been, which means he’s got enough buyers to keep him in business. It’s hard to find out who he’s working with. No one knows for definite, and it’s just angering everyone involved in trying to bring the ring down.
My mind is on the case as I drive to the office. Jamie and I have been taking it in turns to go undercover on the streets. It’s not uncommon for homeless people to drift from place to place, coming back every so often, and that’s what Jamie and I have been doing. Every three weeks, we’ll switch places and then do a three-week-long stint on the streets while the other person washes up, returns to the employment world, has a warm roof over their heads, and a place to bathe.
“There you are,” Kelvin snarls as I enter the office.
I blink, glance at the clock on the wall, then down to my cell. “Yeah, and good morning to you too,” I reply, my anger raging through me. I hate it when he speaks like this to people. He gets so caught up with what he’s doing that he turns into a huge asshole.
He runs a hand through his hair. “Shit, I’m sorry, Portia. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but I have a feeling it has to do with a woman, and she’s really getting to him. He needs to sort it out and focus on this job. We can’t afford to have anything go wrong. If I’m right, then Marco has already managed to get his first shipment through and he’s now taking women from the streets to sell them in his next one. I hope I’m wrong, I really fucking do, but I can’t see them sitting on a shipment for six months. They’d lose profits, and the women wouldn’t be pliant enough to do as they wanted.
“Has Jamie checked in yet?” I ask as I take a seat at my desk. Every morning, Jamie and I are to check in when we’re on the streets. It’s to ensure that we’re safe, and that if anything has happened, the rest of the team can bring help as soon as possible. It’s as though everyone’s on pins and needles as we wait for the call to come through. Everyone’s holding their breath until it does.
“Not yet. It’s still early. Give it time. Don’t borrow trouble,” he tells me, and I nod. He’s right. Thinking that something’s wrong means it will make bad things happen. It’s always best to think positive, especially when Jamie’s alone and doesn’t have anyone to save her if it goes sideways.
“Any word on your friend?” I ask. Kelvin has a side to his business that he doesn’t share with many people, and he has a lot of contacts, even more than anyone realizes. And he’s calling them in now.
“Stephen Maguire and Maverick O’Hara will be arriving within the next twenty-four hours,” he tells me.
I blink. Are those names supposed to mean anything to me? “And they would be?”
His lips twitch. “The two meanest sons of bitches on the other side of the Atlantic. They’re good at uncovering information. Not to mention, both aren’t known to Marco and his men, which gives us the upper hand.”
I nod. “Okay, so what do these men do?”
His grin is a little on the feral side. “Well, from what I’ve gathered, the men are prolific in making sure their prey’s bodies are never found. They’re the best men to ensure that when someone dies, there’s never an investigation into their disappearance as there’s never any evidence. But more than that, Stephen and Maverick have a lot of connections in Europe, and we all know that if Marco’s selling women and girls, then he’s going to be trying to trade them with Eastern Europe, as that’s one of the biggest traders in women.”
Seems as though Kelvin has friends in high fucking places. I nod. “That’s good. Hopefully, we can hit the ground running and have them dig deeper into Marco and what he plans on doing.”
He nods. “Yes. They’ve been digging already. The moment we set to work on this, I had them doing some work in their off time, and they’ve managed to find something. What, I don’t know, but we’ll find out when they arrive.”
I fucking hope that it’s when and where this shit is going to go down. I’m not sure we’ll be able to wait any longer, especially as the rate of women disappearing is growing by the day.
