Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Curtis walks beside me now into the restaurant and steers us toward a private room in the back. A man stands from the table and he’s not at all what I thought he’d be.
Monsters aren’t supposed to look like us. They’re not supposed to dress in expensive tailored suits and have thick, dark hair. They’re not supposed to have blue gazes that sweep over you and make you feel as small as a bug.
I expected someone so different. Someone as grotesque and ugly on the outside as he surely is on the inside. This man exudes power and confidence. His watch probably costs more than all of the gold rimmed plates that the customers were eating off of. He could be featured on the front of a magazine talking about his success story and giving stock investing tips. He looks wealthy but normal. He can’t be. Normal people don’t try to buy another person.
Still, I smile demurely like I’ve been told. There are two guards of Mr. Von Hagel’s standing in the corner of the room. Their eyes are scanning our every movement. I’m sure it would only take a nod and bullets would pepper the room.
Mr. Von Hagel pulls out a chair for me as Curtis and the enforcer fade into another corner of the room. Naturally, they’re not letting the merchandise out of sight until they’ve been paid in full.
“You’re older than I expected,” he says as soon as he’s seated in his own spot. I don’t like the look in his eyes. The enforcer had a mean glint. This man has a sadistic one. He reminds me of a little boy who would hold a magnifying glass over an ant just to watch it slowly die.
I don’t answer the man. Instead, I wait for a question that doesn’t come because we’re interrupted by our server. I can’t see him as he’s behind me, out of my line of sight. “Which drinks would sir and madame like to start with this evening?”
For a split second, I forget to breathe as my heart beats double time. I recognize that voice. I’d recognize it anywhere. It belongs to my dad’s best friend. He came to rescue me.
11
COLT
Most people think human trafficking is something that happens in other places. Not in their hometown. Not in their streets.
If they do have the insight to recognize it happens everywhere, they still tend to think of dingy warehouses and dirty, disheveled men that prowl the streets looking for teenage runaways.
They don’t consider the rich and influential businessmen like Hugh Von Hagel. They don’t know anything about the victims either. They don’t know they’re not sold by some stranger. They’re sold to the traffickers by a family member or close friend. Someone that betrayed their trust.
In the last few hours, I’ve gotten a crash course on the topic. I’ve learned more about this world where humans are bought and sold than I ever wanted to know. It’s easy to think of them as numbers until you see the faces and listen to the testimonies. Then it fuckin’ breaks you.
Brody, Ryker and I planned to come in here and take Sierra by force. We’ve done more than one hostage extraction and we’ve could have done this neatly. Quietly. No one would have even known we’d been here.
We were prepared but as Brody dug deeper into Von Hagel, we realized a sickening truth. He has a private island filled with women and girls, most of them underage. Some of them he loans out to his rich and powerful friends when they visit his island. His friends include politicians, company executives, and billionaires from many different industries.
This man thinks he’s above the law. He thinks he can own whoever he wants. He’s certainly paid off enough people to look the other way. But that shit ends today.
Ryker called in a favor with a man he knows at the FBI, someone high up who is above corruption. He’s waiting to make contact with Sierra now. The moment he gets enough testimony from her, he’ll have the island compound raided. Teams are already on standby.
I want to whisk her away from all of this. It’d be easier for me to simply rescue the woman I love and close my eyes to what’s really happening. But then men like Von Hagel get to continue on.
When I was growing up, my dad used to tell me that evil reigns only so long as the heroes are silent. Well, I’m here and I will not let Sierra be silenced. She will get the chance to tell her story.
For now though, I have to be patient as I pretend to be a waiter in a stuffy hotel restaurant. I’m wearing a tuxedo that costs more than I spent on my last stud bull while serving food to a man that thinks he’s going to own my woman. It’s the ultimate test of self-control for a warrior who is used to rushing in and kicking ass.