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“You live in your happy little bubble, and I want nothing more than for you to be able to stay in that innocent place. However, I will not take any chances when it comes to your safety. Please do this for me.” Before she had the chance to answer, he pulled her to him and kissed her with a passion that turned her legs to Jell-O. If he hadn’t had his arms around her, she would have ended up in a puddle on the floor.
“I hate that you’re leaving,” she whispered.
“I will be back as soon as I can. Will you be here?” He was asking if she was going to honor his wishes that she stay at his place instead of her own. The independent woman in her thought she should tell him no, but she just wanted to do what she could to make him happy. This was a small way she could. If he was worried about her, he wouldn’t be focusing on his mission, and that she didn’t want to risk.
“I’ll stay here, I promise.” Her phone alarmed, letting her know their time was growing short. She should have taken the day off but didn’t, hoping that staying busy would make things easier.
“I need to get going. I left something for you on the counter in the kitchen. Check it out after your shower.” He took her hand in his. “I love you, my sweet Red.” He kissed her one more time, a sweet, loving kiss and turned and left before she had the opportunity to respond.
“I love you, too,” she answered the empty room.
After a quick shower and dressing for the workday, Samantha went to the kitchen to refill her coffee and see what Derrick had left for her. She found a key with a note attached.
Hey, beautiful. Take care of yourself and make sure you go back to my house at the end of the day!The text message came from an unknown number but could have been nobody but her man. Hell, he was even Dominant in text form.Bossy much?she responded, knowing it would likely earn her a punishment when he got home. The thought made her happy as she started to gather her things, knowing she had just enough time to get to the restaurant if she left in the next ten minutes.
“Dr. Gardner, please report to the ten south nurse’s station, Dr. Gardner to the ten south nurse’s station,” was announced over the speakers.Damn.She really wanted to get out of there as quickly as she could, but, she couldn’t ignore the page, so she headed to the elevator as quickly as she could. As the doors shut, she wondered why she would be needed on the tenth floor since she didn’t have patients there.
Once the doors opened, she followed the hall to the nurse’s station, noticing there were no patients in the rooms she passed. She started to have a gut feeling something wasn’t right, when she looked up to see John Michaels glaring at her. “What is going on, John?” She had run out of patience for his games.
“I am over you thinking you can tell me what to do. I’m over stupid bitches thinking they can hold power over men, and now I don’t have to worry about you anymore.” His evil smile grew, and she felt real fear coursing through her veins.
“What in the world are you talking about?” She retreated from him, hoping to make it to the elevator before he decided to back up the words he was saying.
After two steps, she felt arms tighten around her before she had a chance to fight back. She struggled but the vise grip allowed for no movement. Her mind raced as she tried to put together what was going on. John stepped up to where she was fighting her captor and held a rag against her mouth. “Good night, bitch, where you’re going, you’ll learn your place. I would say have fun, but that would be a lie.” She heard his cackling as the darkness overtook her.
* * *
Derrick smiled to himself as he put the phone he was using in his pocket. Leave it to his Red to be sassy even in text. He would have a great deal of fun reddening her sweet bottom when he got home. This would be the last chance to reach out to her for a while. In fact, he probably shouldn’t have this time, but he couldn’t help himself.
His mind was never very far from her, which told him this needed to be his last assignment. As soon as they were able to put the scum ball as far under the prison as possible, he would walk away. But he couldn’t in good conscience leave until the job was finished.
“Dude, I don’t know where your mind is at, but you need to get your head in the fucking game.” Dean, their team’s computer expert got his attention. He was right. If Derrick was distracted, people could die, which meant no matter how much he missed his woman, he needed to get his shit together. This was so unlike him. “What have you found? We need to get this asshat before another woman is taken.” Part of him hoped he never made it to the jail alive.
“This goes deeper than any of us thought. I’ve been following the money, and though the girls seem to all end up in Mexico, it appears it’s based somewhere in Texas. I haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly where yet, but it seems to be in our own backyard.” He focused on the screen in front of him.
It was a lost cause to continue to converse with his buddy when he was chasing a lead, so Derrick grabbed his phone and texted one of his assets who lived in the city. After typing out his message, he put his phone in his pocket, grabbed a cup of lukewarm coffee, and sat down in front of his laptop to get to work.
The notification from his cell phone drew his attention from the information he had managed to gather. Unsure of how much time had passed, Derrick picked up his phone, and, after putting in the security code, noticed an hour had gone by. He opened his text box to see Carlos had messaged back with a time and place to meet, and he had to get moving if he was going to make it on time. Carlos was a nervous man and wouldn’t wait if he was so much as a minute late, even if he left him very little time to get to the appointed place.
After grabbing his keys, he headed to the rental and checked the glove compartment to make sure his spare pistol was still where he put it. You could never be too prepared, especially when dealing with the kinds of people Derrick did on a daily basis. Once he was armed, he went to the car and, using his GPS, arrived at the meeting spot with minutes to spare.
“I thought you might be standing me up,” came from around the corner. Carlos was nothing if not dramatic.
“Dude, you knew I would be here, so what do you have for me?” His patience was wearing thin and he wanted to get what he needed.
“And here I thought I was impatient.” Carlos walked up to him, finally showing his face. He looked around at their surroundings before finishing. “I know why you’re here, and you should be looking much closer to home.”
“Why can’t you ever just say what you mean, Carlos? No hinting, just tell me what the fuck is going on.” Derrick crossed his arms and waited for him to respond. Time was not on their side, and he was feeling antsier by the moment, though he didn’t know why.
“I thought I just did, so let me lay it out for you. The asshole selling women may be bringing them through Mexico, but his operation is based out of Texas. Clarksburg, Texas to be precise. While you’re down here chasing your tail, I have it on good authority he took another girl. It seems he has taken a liking to one in particular and plans on having some sick fun with her before sending her on. Someone needs to take the sick fuck and wipe him from the face of the planet.” Carlos often did shady things on the wrong side of the law, but he drew the line at hurting women and children.
“Well fuck. Give me a name, Carlos. No matter how much we put behind this, we can’t seem to get his real identity. He changes names faster than most men change their pants.” Derrick looked down and realized he was wringing his hands in frustration.
“Shit, as far as you’re concerned, when we finish here, I am a ghost. We never met, and you need to lose everything that may point in my direction. You got that? This is the last piece of information that I will ever give you, am I making myself clear?”
This was a lot, even for Carlos. He had been a good informant over the years, but the intel he could possibly provide in the future would in no way overshadow what they needed now, so his decision was a no-brainer. “Clear. Give me a name, and I will walk the fuck away. You will never hear from me again.”
“The dickwad you’re looking for comes from money, and lots of it. His father is in politics as well as coming from old oil money. Name is Kyle McAllister. He is slimy as fuck. Whenever he gets himself into trouble, his daddy finds a way to get him out of it, no matter how deep it goes. There have been some rumors his father is involved in the operation.”
