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“What do you mean, bigger than anything we could imagine?”
“Fuck,” Zander curses, standing up out of the chair as he begins to pace the room. “Okay, so let me break it down for you. Hank Weller, he’s recruiting these girls throughhisgirls. He’s using women like Dana to recruit younger, more attractive girls that buyers will want. Girls that will bring a pretty penny when they’re sold to the highest bidder. There are online auction sites set up for this kind of shit. Men can go out on the web and look through a gallery of photos, pick the one they like the most, and bet on her. They get sold to the highest bidder, like a fucking cattle auction. But Weller is not the end all in this. There are much bigger things at play here. Wood gained access to Weller’s computer system the other night, uncovering atonof files from his desktop. It’s not good, Callaway.”
“Just how ‘not good’ are we talking here?”
“Child pornography, human trafficking, just to mention a few.” He scrubs his hand over his face. “I saw things on that computer that I can’t ever unsee, but the shit that Dana Marks has herself wrapped up in? It’s a wonder she hasn’t been killed.” I drop my glass on the desktop, rage building up inside of me.
“Do you think she’s in on it? That she’s somehow a part of it?”
Zander shrugs. “It’s a possibility. But it’s also a possibility that she has no fuckin’ clue what kind of man she’s been shacking up with and is unknowingly recruiting young women for his sex trafficking ring.” I think back to the comments he made about Genevieve the other night and I feel sick. I flip open my laptop and pull up all three trackers that I have for them. All of them are at Avery’s house. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“What now?” I ask Zander.
“I’ll work it from my angle and as for Jensen, you can consider him out of the loop unless something happens that requires official law enforcement. I don’t want him to incriminate himself if shit goes down. If I need to call him, I will. But, until I get a lock on Weller and whatever ring he’s running, you need to keep an eye on Avery and those kids.” He leaves my office with a promise of texting me later and I pack up for the day, calling it quits early. I have a family of three to move into my house.
Avery
I’m just putting the last dish in the drying rack when there’s a knock on the front door.
“Coming!” I holler, drying my hands and tossing the towel on the counter before padding my way through the kitchen to the front door. Pulling it open reveals Jaxson.
“Ace,” he says, his eyes dropping to my bare feet before slowly making their way up my bare legs to my cutoff shorts, past the sliver of skin that’s showing above my waistband and over my crop top before finally settling on my face. The trail that his eyes snaked leaves my skin feeling hot. “Got a minute?”
“Sure, come in,” I motion for him, but he shakes his head. Oookay. I slip out the front door and follow him to the porch swing, dropping down beside him. He swings us back and forth gently for a few seconds before saying anything.
“Heard from your ma?” He asks and I shake my head because I haven’t. She hasn’t tried calling, hasn’t reached out to me at all.
“Maybe I should go check on her,” I say, worrying my lip with my teeth. Jax’s hand drops to my bare knee and squeezes.
“I already did. She’s fine,” my heart thumps with his confession. This man. “But I need you to listen and I need you to not fight me on what I'm about to tell you.” I motion for him to go on. “Zander dropped by the office today after you left and he told me some things about that guy, Hank. Ace, bad things. Things you couldn’t even begin to imagine.” I break out in a sweat at his comment, a feeling of unease settling around us. The same unease I felt when I saw Hank in my living room with mama backed up against the wall.
I swallow thickly. “What kind of things?” Jaxson shakes his head.
“Sex trafficking rings, Ace.” My stomach drops as I think of Hank’s comments towards Genevieve the other night.
“Jax,” I start but he cuts me off.
“You can’t stay here alone with the kids and Ace; you don’t have a security system. I can’t protect you here. I need you to stay with me and I need you to not fight me on this.”
“Done,” I say, standing to go tell the kids to pack their shit. He grabs my wrist and turns me towards him, an eyebrow arched.
“Just that easy?” He asks and I roll my eyes as he pulls me to stand between his legs, hands snaking around to my ass and settling themselves there. I slide my hands over his shoulders and to the back of his neck, tilting his head up towards me.
“When it comes to the safety of my kids, Jaxson? Yes, just that easy.” I lean down and fuse my lips to his, letting his tongue find its way into my mouth as I give myself to him, trying to trust him with more than just our safety but my heart, too. I pull away.
“Pack somethin’ sexy, honey,” he says, gripping my ass cheeks with his hands before letting me pull away.
*****
“Why did we have to come here?” Genevieve says, taking in her temporary new room. It’s got a television mounted on the wall above the dresser and a huge king size bed in the middle of the room, flanked by solid oak nightstands on each side. There’s an ensuite bathroom with a clawfoot bathtub and huge walk-in shower. I roll her small suitcase into the walk-in closet and turn to face her.
“Vie,” I start but she cuts me off.
“Damnit, Avery. Just be honest.” I flinch at the harshness of her words, reminding myself that she’s sixteen and not a baby anymore. I walk to the bed and sit at the foot of it, patting the spot beside me, silently asking her to sit. She sighs before settling herself beside me. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, and she drops her head to mine.
“Mama got herself into a lot of trouble, Genevieve. Trouble that I can’t help her out of. She’s got herself mixed up with some really dangerous men.” I hesitate, not sure if I should tell her everything but knowing I want her to be able to trust me, and for her to do that, I need to be absolutely honest. “Sex trafficking, child porn. None of it’s good, Vie.” She gasps and lifts her head from my shoulder, and I take in her face, pale and tears in her eyes.
“Are you serious?” She whispers and I nod my head. “How could she be so stupid?”
