29. Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Out of the frying pan…
Berlin hated waiting for anything, but she really hated waiting as Chance slipped into the dark lake like a ghost, disappearing right before her eyes as he ducked under the murky waters. He’d told her that he planned to swim along the shoreline, using that as his guide since it was too dark to see anything.
That alone was terrifying.
But she remained hidden in the shadows of the trees, only peering out with the binoculars to keep an eye on the man on the dock. The rain had slightly lessened, and he was scanning the turbulent lake, almost seemed to be waiting for something… Oh god, had he called in backup?
But then he turned, striding back down the dock toward the shore in clear frustration. The dock was long, but so were his strides as he hurried toward shore.
Suddenly a shadow erupted from the water, and while she couldn’t see what happened, the man cried out, crumpling onto the dock before he was pulled into the water, his head hitting the wooden planks with a sickening thud before he disappeared from sight.
Thirty seconds later, Chance stalked out of the water like an avenging god, dragging the body with him, tossing it into the sand—
“Quietly stand up and don’t make a sound or I’ll be forced to shoot you in the face.” Berlin turned at the sound of a female voice, froze.
It took a second but she recognized the woman from Chance’s camera feed before it had gone dark—Nicola. Berlin was glad she’d tucked her pistol into her jacket pocket and hoped the woman wouldn’t search her. She slowly pushed up from where she was crouched by the tree, held her hands out.
“Hands down. I know you’re working with Enzo’s brother. How did you get here?” The woman wasn’t wearing a boot on her foot anymore, and was standing normally.
“SUV.”
“Take me there now.”
“No.”
The woman blinked, shoved her pistol at Berlin, but she didn’t take a step closer.
“You’re just going to kill me,” Berlin said, trying to stall.
The woman rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not. I just want to get the hell out of here before backup shows up. And I see your partner,” the woman murmured as the rain started to pick back up, lightning forking across the sky in angry slashes. “Move, unless you want me to shoot him.”
Berlin wanted to stand her ground but knew she needed to wait for the right moment. She stalked back into the shadow of the woods, the rain pelting Berlin in the face, little pings of pain against her cheeks as she slogged through the mud. As they headed deeper into the woods, Berlin couldn’t see the shoreline anymore, couldn’t see Chance. But it was clear that this woman was walking just fine, had probably never needed that boot at all. Had she…killed Enzo? Oh god, Berlin shoved that thought down, refused to dwell on it.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, hoping the woman would give her something.
“I just need a ride out of here, that’s all. I’m not going to kill you.”
Berlin certainly wasn’t going to believe the woman pointing the gun at her. “We’re here to help you guys, to get you safety.”
The woman gave a bitter, mirthless laugh. “No one can keep me safe.”
“Were you ever really being trafficked?” Berlin asked.
Now the woman snorted derisively, the sound eaten up almost immediately by the falling rain. “I’m not one of those women.”
As if being a victim was the real crime. “So why are you here?” Berlin had to slide over a fallen log, slipped and fell in the mud.
“Come on, hurry,” the woman urged, but at least she didn’t shove Berlin. No, she was looking behind her, likely for Chance.
She was wise to be afraid of him.
Berlin pushed back to her feet and kept onward, dreaming of dry clothes, clean fingernails, a warm fire and none of this bullshit. “You’re going to kill me anyway. And I’m curious about who you are.”
“You know what they say about curiosity,” the woman murmured, still clearly distracted. “I work with some men who transport women to the East Coast. Among other things. They didn’t trust Enzo—or the man who’d sent him, more accurately—and tasked me with making sure he made the delivery. And they were wise not to trust that little bitch. He has no idea who I am. But I’m using this as an opportunity to leave everything behind and start over.” There was a grim determination to her voice.
Berlin had no doubt that the woman herself had suffered, but she was still part of trafficking humans. She wouldn’t feel bad for her.
At the sound of a branch breaking behind them, Berlin turned to find the woman had swiveled as well, had her weapon aimed at the darkness.
Berlin slid up behind her, pressed the pistol to her spine. “Drop your weapon now. Or you’re never walking again. Don’t bend down, just drop it.”
The woman sucked in a breath and Berlin swore her own heart stopped for long moments before the woman released the pistol, dropping it into the mud.
Chance stepped out of the darkness then, his own pistol trained on the woman. Berlin felt the energy drain from her in that moment. She wasn’t going to fight.
“Is your brother okay? Did you find him and the others?”
Chance nodded just as she heard the sound of… Was that rotor blades in the distance?
Yep.
That was either very good, or very bad.