Chapter 32
KNOX
“Alright, people, our targets are five executive-level men at a big pharmaceutical company. Four women have secretly visited us and registered a complaint against them. These men have been harassing several women in their company. They’re not just sexually harassing them but also holding out promotions, giving them awful reviews, overworking them, and blackmailing them with videos and footage of their assaults. ”
Tara stewed in silence beside me while Samaira growled. “I’m going to kill these pieces of shit slowly.”
I turned to Lena, who was briefing us. “Have they contacted the cops?”
Lena’s face tilted while Tara rolled her eyes dramatically.
Samaira scoffed and met my eyes. “You think they wouldn’t have?
You think cops could have done anything to save these women?
To bring them justice? They don’t have the balls to stand up against large corporations and the people who fill their pockets. No offense, Lieutenant.”
I stayed quiet and turned my eyes to Lena, waiting for her confirmation.
She nodded and said, “Two women in the past have contacted the police. The cops registered their official complaints but asked them to settle in court. The women quit their jobs and, two months later, went missing. They still haven’t found them.
The executives effectively silenced the women.
This is when we come to their aid, Lieutenant. Any other questions?”
“None. Continue.” When Lena looked away from me and turned to the evidence board tacked with their photographs and locations, Tara kicked at my leg and glared at me.
I pressed my lips to stop my smile. I knew she was mad that I questioned her leader. But hey, I was still the cop. I was just doing my due diligence. After all, I did tell them that I’d keep an eye on who they choose to kill.
Not that I particularly cared.
If my Tara said they needed to die, I’d happily hand her the knife.
Lena continued with the plan for our evening.
“We will kidnap and bring the executives to our safe house in teams of two. Samaira and I will get two executives, Tara and Knox will get two, and the two recruits will grab the last remaining executive. It would be a good challenge for them. Samaira, choose which trainees are the most prepared for this mission.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Alright, each of you knows your targets. Tara, you can bring Knox to the safe house.” They had a separate safe house?
Ten floors of this giant skyscraper weren’t enough for them?
I hid the surprise on my face when Lena turned to me.
“Mr. Steele, I’m putting my faith in you.
You will keep the location of the safe house confidential. ”
I nodded. I didn’t feel the need to validate anybody except for Tara.
She looked around at the four of us. “Everyone will return to the safe house at ten p.m. with their targets.”
After Lena was done, I called Greg. It was the morning after Sloane had walked into the lion’s den with Greg. The rest of the Wildcats sat around the desk, staring at the phone I’d put on speaker.
The call connected after four rings. “Sir?” Greg’s hushed voice came over the line.
“Greg. Give me the update.”
“Sir, after you let us go, I took the girl, Cherry, to the hideout where I used to go with the kidnapped ladies. I met with my, umm…work associates. They got me in touch with Vadim Orlov, the boss who inspects the women we kidnap and decides what to do with them. He agreed to give me another chance and will meet me tonight. I will send you the location once I get the update.”
“How is Cherry? If I find out that you’ve harmed her or touched her, you know I’ll pull out your balls and feed them to you.”
He audibly gulped. “No, no, sir. Miss Cherry is unharmed. She’s kept with five other girls, the ones that my work associates have kidnapped.”
The Wildcats around me visibly relaxed. I turned back to the phone and said, “Good. Send me the address.”
I dropped the call before he could respond.
Lena looked around at the rest of the ladies.
“Naomi, you and five other recruits will follow Greg and Sloane and find the first leader. I need locations. His photograph. I want a tail on every man entering and leaving the hideout where Vadim is hiding, including pictures of every man around Vadim. We need to get ahead and mark every single hideout place operating under these fucking Russians.”
“Will do,” Naomi said.
“Alright, everyone, you each have your task for the evening. Dismissed for now.”
Tara and I walked to the elevator in the lobby of the Wildcats HQ. She wore her mask since the trainees were all present. I hated not seeing her face. I hated that she cared about the opinion of anybody who wasn’t me. Or her. Those were the only two people she should care about.
Last night was a revelation. My little beauty had enjoyed being stalked and obsessed over. It was her dirty little kink that she was now terrified to relish in. Understandable.
My blood boiled, and my rage thrashed against my skin at the thought of the fucker who’d put his mark on my girl.
I wanted to bring him back from the dead and slaughter him all over again.
The fucker had left a permanent reminder of himself on my girl’s body, and I was determined to make her forget all about him. That was a promise to myself.
Every time she looked at herself, all she’d remember was me. All she’d see was me. The dead fucker would lose all the power and hold he still held over my girl from the fucking grave. I would make sure of it.
She belonged to only me.
She would think of only me.
She would dream of only me.
She would crave only. Fucking. Me.
I turned to my beauty after pressing the elevator button. She looked at me with a mischievous smile on her face. “You ready to become a kidnapper tonight?”
I pulled her closer by the front of her hoodie and leaned over her. “I’m ready to become a murderer for you.”
A dark-red blush coated her cheeks, and my mouth watered to taste her soft skin. “Should I pick you up from the precinct in the evening?”
“I’ll be ready to head out at six.”
She looked at me from under her hooded eyes, a shyness creeping up her face. She looked like she was remembering last night, or this morning, as she bit her lip. “I’ll bring my special kidnapping van.”
I snorted and kissed her cheek in goodbye, right as the elevator doors slid open. “Don’t miss me too much,” I said, getting into the elevator and pressing the ground floor button.
The elevator door closed at her scoff, and her absence immediately soured my mood.
The day passed by in a blur. My detectives took on new cases and updated me on the evidence from past ones.
The work was the same as it has ever been, but it made me question our efficacy.
The cases that took us months to solve, the Wildcats solved in days.
The suspects we knew were guilty were allowed to walk free, only because they had money or connections.
I operated in a world that worked for the rich and the corrupt.
Where either the cops held no power or held too much of it.
It always bothered me to let a criminal go who was actually guilty but was found not guilty because of his money and connections.
It wasn’t the lack of justice for the victims that bothered me, but my lack of control.
But watching the Wildcats—my Tara—pour her heart and soul into bringing justice to the women she didn’t even know tugged at some deep sense of justice lying dormant in my heart.
No, I wasn’t suddenly developing a heart for the victims or starting to hate the criminals.
But I began to realize that in a lawless world, people needed the Wildcats.
Someone who wasn’t bound by the laws, who didn’t let criminals jump through loopholes to escape, and who weren’t corrupt.
We needed these anonymous vigilantes who took action and were unstoppable in their pursuit of justice.
The evening didn’t come soon enough.
Little Criminal: ETA - 5min. Will stop the van two blocks down the avenue.
I walked down to the location she’d sent me as I read her text once again. Excitement zapped through my veins like a live wire, firing up all my senses. A large black van with dark-tinted windows slowed near me, and I jumped into the passenger seat.
My girl, in her half mask, looked tiny in the driver’s seat, the large steering wheel almost digging into her stomach. It pulled a smile on my face. “You ready?” she asked, quickly glancing at me.
“Yep. Who’s our first target?”
“Ethan Copper, the CEO of PMC Pharma. Lives in a large brownstone. No wife. No children. We had our girls tracking him for the past three weeks. He’s a regular at the Pier 65 club. We’ll grab him from there. Easy enough.”
I couldn’t stop my smile at seeing Tara in her element. We were on our way to kidnap a man, and she’d never looked more confident and at ease.
After she parked the van at the back door of the club, she grabbed something from her pocket and threw it at me. A fake beard. I gave her a smile and pasted it on my face.
Her eyes widened, and a furious scowl came over her face. “Must you look hot in every-fucking-thing?”
I laughed. “I’ll wear it again once we’re back home.”
She grumbled under her breath and opened the door of the van. “Let’s go. Follow my lead.”
As we approached the club entrance, I noticed her outfit. A slinky, tight violet dress wrapped around her curves like a second skin. She removed her mask, and her burns were barely noticeable. I quite literally stumbled over my step. “What the…?”
She pressed her lips in a smile and rolled her eyes. “It’s called makeup.”
There was still evidence of the burns near her eyes and her lips, but the makeup hid most of the discoloration and the damaged skin texture. “And why don’t you do that instead of covering your face in a mask?”