Risky Romance (Wolf Security #4)

31. Whisper

CHAPTER 31

Whisper

“Stand back,” Viper hissed before yanking open the trap door.

My world tilted as I peered down a metal ladder that plunged into absolute darkness.

The others exchanged glances and pulled their weapons.

Shit! This isn’t good. A chilling mix of cold air and chemical fumes wafted up from below.

Viper nodded at Blade before slipping onto the ladder in stealth mode, showing zero fear as he descended into the hole, followed closely by Blade and Maya.

My heart thundered as I froze at the top next to Cody, who stood rigid with his fists clenched at his sides. His expression was a volatile mix of fear and blind rage.

“Clear,” Blade called from below and his voice bounced around the hollow darkness.

Lacey and Tory climbed down next, followed by Ryder. Aria lingered, fixing her gaze on Cody with contempt as cold as ice. I fought the urge to step between them and shield him from her cold judgment. She didn’t know Cody like I did, the hardworking farmer who had risked everything to save me. The man who had fought to prove himself, despite his rotten childhood.

But as the bitter, chemical odors wafted up from the darkness below, dread coiled in my stomach. I had a sick feeling that whatever lay at the bottom of that ladder was deeply entwined with the criminal underworld that my friends and I had been battling for years.

“Aria.” Blade’s voice boomed from below as the dim glow of their flashlights lit up the ladder shaft. “You better get down here.”

Cody went rigid beside me like he was bracing for impact.

Just minutes ago, I’d been apologizing, telling him what a good man he was.

Now uncertainty clawed at my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Aria climbed onto the ladder and met my gaze.

“You’re next, Jewel.” Her sharp tone left no room for argument.

The metal rungs dug into my palms with each step, taking me closer to a truth I didn’t want to face. The thick air was heavy with a chemical tang that stung my throat.

When my feet finally met the concrete, I turned, and my chest caved. Before me sprawled the vast underground room that was my worst nightmare for Cody—a drug lab. The beams of Blade and Viper’s flashlights danced over damning evidence: steel tables lined with professional lab equipment, precision weighing scales, and endless stacks of vacuum-sealed packages containing white powder. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. Each package was a nail in the coffin for Cody.

Cody reached the bottom. He turned in a slow circle, and the color drained from his face. As his gaze darted around the drug lab, he seemed to crumble piece by piece. The raw devastation etched into his features made my heart clench.

The brutal reality of a drug den hit me like a punch to the gut.

This was no makeshift operation; this was a sophisticated drug operation that had been running right under Cody’s plantation for what looked like a long time.

Cody is in serious trouble.

Blade leveled his gaze at Cody. Fury filled the space between them and his jaw clenched so tight the muscles stood out like cords of steel.

Cody’s hands trembled as he raised them.

“I swear to God, I knew nothing about this,” he choked out.

Raw disbelief shone in his eyes, and my heart ached at his distress. Every instinct screamed to reach for him, to promise we would fix this. But the damning evidence surrounding us made those promises hollow.

His eyes finally found mine, and the devastation there hit me like a physical blow, forcing me to look away. I’d brought this nightmare to his doorstep, and now it would destroy him.

“I didn’t know. I swear.” His voice broke and his shoulders sagged as if crushed by an invisible weight.

They weren’t the reactions of a guilty man—but the evidence painted a different story. Questions crashed through my mind like waves. How long had this been happening? How had they moved the product in and out without Cody seeing it?

And the one question I dreaded most: Was he really as innocent as I desperately wanted to believe?

“Hey, guys!” Maya’s voice echoed from the back of the room. “We’ve got something else here.”

Oh, God. What now?

Gripping their weapons, Blade and Viper sprinted toward Maya’s voice.

Aria jabbed her finger at Cody. “Don’t move.”

Despite everything screaming at me to stay with Cody, I tore my attention away and followed Aria. Whatever they’d found, I had to know.

Blade and Viper positioned themselves at another secret door while Maya trained her weapon on the opening. As they unhooked the latch and pushed the panel aside, a wave of stench assaulted us, the sickly-sweet reek of mold and decay.

And something far more hideous: the unmistakable odor of human suffering.

Blade’s tactical light sliced through the darkness, and the shriek that followed chilled me to my core—a sound of pure, primal terror.

The sight was horrific. Nine figures huddled in the corner like wounded animals with wide, terrified eyes and trembling bodies. Young men, women, and children all bore the haunted look of having lived through hell.

Their terrified gazes were a knife to my heart.

“Oh, Jesus.”

Some asshole locked them in there and left them to die.

The silence shattered with a sound I knew would haunt me forever, a child’s broken sob.

“It’s okay. We won’t harm you.” Maya holstered her weapon and held up empty hands, her voice gentle but steady. “You’re safe now. We’re here to help.”

As she stepped into the cramped room, the victims backed away, shying from the lights.

We guided them from their prison and like ghosts, they staggered through the massive drug lab with a familiarity that confirmed they knew where they were going.

Jesus, how long have they been down here?

Two boys, barely in their teens, had grubby faces that were gaunt from deprivation. Five of the victims were young women, and two were little girls. All their bodies had whittled to skin and bone, and they wore filthy clothes and no shoes.

Some kept their heads bowed and their shoulders curved inward as if they couldn’t hold their bodies straight anymore. The man who looked the oldest met my gaze with haunting eyes that had obviously witnessed horrors no one ever should. One little girl trembled as she clutched a ragged blanket around her tiny body as if shielding herself from the nightmare she’d been living.

Through tears that blurred everything into smears of harsh light and shadow, I searched for Cody.

He gripped the stainless-steel counter like it was the only thing keeping him upright, and his knuckles strained white against the metal. His face had turned ashen, and as his gaze darted from one victim to the next, he looked seconds away from retching.

“Cody . . .” His name caught in my throat like broken glass, but my words died before they could form. I had no idea what to say.

While we tried to console the victims, Tyler strode toward Cody. “Cody Mitchell, you’re under arrest on suspicion of involvement in human trafficking and illicit drug manufacture.” The words fell like hammer blows to my chest. “You have the right to remain silent.”

I’d let Cody into my heart. I believed we had something special that was worth exploring.

How could he have missed all this?

His wild eyes found mine across the room. “I didn’t know about this, Jewel. I didn’t. I promise you.”

His voice splintered on the words.

Everything in me wanted to scream that this was wrong, that the gentle farmer I knew could never be part of something so monstrous. But the surrounding evidence told no lies. These victims suffered right here; beneath the land Cody worked every single day.

The truth was like acid in my veins, either he knew, or he chose not to see.

My heart shattered into a thousand irreparable pieces.