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My chest heaves with a shuddering breath. “Javier,” I breath him name.
He smiles against my cheek before kissing it gently. “Don’t do anything stupid,rainha. And stay close to me, I’ll show you the consequences of disobeying me when we both get home safely later.”
I go to argue but he’s already out the door. Smoothing my hands down my black trousers, I take a steadying breath. This isn’t the first mission I’ve been on, but it’s the first with Harvey and I find myself wanting to prove to him that I’m capable. I’malso nervous about ensuring all the victims are safe and out of their cages, both metaphorical and literal.
Guinevere waits inside the door as we all leave, Stuart waits outside to ensure we’re all in the vans and as I pass them, Lee runs back to plant a lingering kiss on Guinevere’s lips. They speak quiet words to each other, and he runs back to the car. Stuart blinks at me.
“How long has that been going on?”
I snort. “Years.”
“Fuck me, I leave for a few weeks and suddenly I’m completely out of the loop.”
“Don’t worry, you’ve not missed anything else,” I assure him as we both head to the lead vehicle, him to the driver’s side, me to the passenger. Harvey is already in the back.
“Uh huh, you sure about that?” He gives a pointed look to the back door where Harvey is concealed by the black out windows.
“Oh.” I feel my cheeks flush and I hate it. “Well—”
“I’m happy for you Anni.” He smiles at me over the roof of the car. “You deserve it. And aren’t you glad I brought him in for interview now?”
I glare at him and he chuckles, getting in the car and buckling up. We’re on the road in seconds, a convoy of some of the scariest people in this city, on our way to kill the men who hurt my girls. I look back at Harvey and he offers me a small smile.Ourgirls.
37
HARVEY
We’ve parked a little way up the road from the target house and all run with impeccable stealth to the property in question. Night has fallen now, the street quiet and peaceful bar the sound of our booted footsteps beating on the pavement. The house sits in darkness, the unknowing passerby might think it empty, but Mabel told us there was always someone there and that the night times were busy with men coming and going. Everyone knows their role and when we reach the place, they all split off to defend their designated areas.
Just before we break the door down, The Daos exchange some kind of secret handshake, a good luck routine. Stuart turns to Annika and me and gives a half salute before beating his boot against the door. It buckles instantly and he, along with the two Daos, move fluidly up the hall, guns trained ahead of them. It takes no longer that ten seconds for the first man to appear from a room to the left of the hall. A mop of greasy hair hanging to his shoulders and a stained white vest on over baggy jeans. His eyes are red rimmed as they narrow in on us in confusion. O’Reilly takes the shot. His gun cracking with a deafening bang as he pulls the trigger, the man goes down with a hole in his forehead.
Then chaos ensues. Shouts can be heard throughout the house and screaming. Girls screaming. Some are coming from up the stairs on our left, which mean not all the victims are in the basement. I tap Annika’s shoulder and point to the door just beyond the staircase where Mabel told us the stairs to the basement are. Two more gunshots sound and the thud of two more bodies hitting the ground ahead of us.
“Help!” A traumatised cry rings from upstairs and before I can stop her, Annika heads in that direction taking the steps two at a time. I’m right behind her as we get to the landing. A man emerges from a doorway, rifle cradled in his arms and blasts a round in our direction. Pushing the top of Annika’s head down, I managed to duck her beneath the bullets and release a single shot into the bare chest of the shooter. He lets out a pained cry, falling back against the door frame with a crack. His hand flies to the weeping wound in his sternum, then he holds it out in front of him to inspect the blood now coating his skin. He looks at me in shock and I train my weapon in him once more, to put a bullet through his skull.
A loud cry comes from the room he was in and I head that way as Annika starts opening doors along the corridor to inspect the other rooms. I push open the door to a dark room that smells of must and cigarette smoke. There’s a rickety metal framed bed pushed in one corner and on top is a girl who is naked and shivering. She sits with her knees to her chest, her arms hugging her legs and a curtain of long brown hair fanning across her shoulders and back. Her crying is loud and raw.
“Hey,” I say gently, crouching by the side of the bed and taking a risk by holstering my gun. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re here to help you.”
Her head lifts slightly so her waterlogged eyes meet mine. “Are you the p-police?” she stammers.
Am I? I swallow the sudden bout of self-doubt and give her a soft smile. “No, darling. We’re better than the police. We’re going to take you away from here, some place safe and warm. I need you to trust me, okay?”
Unlike Mabel when we first found her, she’s willing to trust me. Willing to believe anything I have to offer is better than this. “O-okay.”
She unfurls and stands on wobbly legs, completely naked and seeing her for the first time, I swallow down the rage bubbling up my throat as I see the face of a child. She must be the same sort of age as Mabel, I’d say fifteen. Looking around the room, I try to find something for her to wear or wrap around her.
Understanding my intent, she shakes her head. “They don’t keep anything like that around here, we can’t wear anything.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. It will take too long to take my vest off and remove my t-shirt for her and then get my vest back on. We have blankets and clothes in the van waiting for them, but we obviously couldn’t carry them in with us and I don’t want these girls to have to walk past the guys completely bare.
Before I can think of an alternative, three gun shots sound from this level. My gun is in my hand in an instant. “Stay here,” I say to her and head to the door.
I get back out to the hall to find Annika in a room at the far end, two dead bodies at her feet, and a young girl wrapped in her arms. This one older, tall and blonde, holding on to Annika in a state of extreme distress, wailing and screaming into Annika’s shoulder. Annika turns to see me watching them, and with the movement, the girl’s back is to me. The tops of her inner thighs are dark and smeared with fresh blood. One of the men on the floor next to them groans and shuffles. I pounce. Rushing to him, I pull him up by the mullet slam his head into the wall.
“Fucking disgusting piece of filthy shit, motherfucker,” I spit at him while driving his head through the plasterboard. His skullcaves in and blood pours from his temple to my wrist. Once I’m sure he’s dead, I drop him to the floor. “We need to find them something to wear,” I say.
“Them?”
