Chapter Eighteen
Gwen
“She was there?” I screamed at the federal agent.
He glared at me, unfolding his arms from his chest as he stepped toward me. “Lower your fucking voice,” he seethed.
“Watch your distance, Garner,” my fiancé chimed in from his place against the hood of the car. James had been charging towards me, ready to lay into me, but Dean’s words stopped him.
We were in the parking lot of the Boston field office, the glow of the building allowing me to see the anger in James’ eyes. Kay had been there tonight, hours ago. She was in a closet with James, and she didn’t want to come home.
That stung.
My eyes darted to where her brother was standing at the edge of the lot, his back to us as he stared up at the night sky.
It was just after one in the morning, and we were all waiting for the armored truck.
Even though she didn’t want to come back, she had given us the location of a shipping container full of women and children.
That made the sting fade.
She also gave us Haley's location; she was alive and healthy.
That made my knees give out. Of course, that was hours ago, and five minutes ago, James finally showed his face—hence me yelling at him.
He had been in the office on the phone with his director.
The agent pulled us from the party, drove us to this building, provided a brief information dump, and left us in the lobby.
Jeremy stormed out of the building two seconds after that.
He had been in the same spot for the last three hours.
“She said that if we forced her out, she would scream for him,” James said.
Now it was my turn to step forward. “You should have anyways, James! And if he came for her, I could have kill—”
“You told me to think about this,” he snapped, pointing at his chest. “Karina Jones has feelings for him, and the moment she mentioned Haley—” He cut himself off, spinning away from me as his hand flew to his hair.
“Enough. What’s done is done,” Dean said.
“Kay is healthy and willing to stay with him. She gave us inside information, Baby Girl. She just saved lives. She is helping us in her own way.” His large, warm hands landed on my shoulders, pulling my body back to his.
His lips pressed a hard kiss in my hair.
“Save your strength. We have bigger battles to fight.”
I closed my eyes, shutting off my feelings. My anger could wait. We had people to save. “Okay. What’s the plan?”
“Jeremy is going to get Haley,” James said, sighing as he turned back to face us. His eyes shifted to the man in question.
“That’s probably for the best,” Dean agreed quietly. “We don’t need him going off the rails just yet.”
I looked to the man in question, the brother of the woman who refused to be rescued.
His hands were out of sight, probably folded over his chest, his head still tilted up to the sky.
My heart ached for him. For months, he had been going out of his mind looking for his sister, and tonight— I blinked back the tears in my eyes.
Tonight, we had Kay in our grasp, but she refused us.
Before I could stop myself, my feet were moving in his direction, even though my mind was telling me I shouldn’t. Jeremy was dangerous when he was unstable, but yet…my feet still moved.
My friend needed me.
When I was foot away, I came to halt. “Jer.”
“Don’t,” he said. His voice was low and brimming with anger, but there was also pain.
“We are going—”
He spun, charging me. “I said don’t.” His warm brown eyes were cold—deadly—and my own eyes looked down at his fists at his sides, noting the way they were shaking with a fury that needed to be released.
“I am going to kill him,” he hissed, getting in my personal space as I looked back up to him. Jeremy was always warm and kind. The last few months had been difficult, and his restraint had been put to the test, loss after loss. I understood his anger, but—
What if Haley was right? Her agent said Kay denied having Stockholm…
What if Kay really did love Collin?
My stomach twisted at the thought, the sting of his betrayal still in my heart, and though with time it had faded a bit. Seeing the man that I thought I knew just ripped open the wound all over again. I was stuck in No Man’s Land, in the middle of a raging war of love.
My friend loved his sister so much, he was blinded by the regrets of his past as he fiercely tried to protect her. She, an angel with a kind soul, loving the very man set to hurt us all…ready to fight for him and protect him.
Love had no warning bells. It claimed your heart when you least expected it and no matter how many walls you tried to build against it to shield yourself—love would conquer it all.
Could I let him kill the man who his sister might love?
There was no crime in falling in love, even if it was with a man possessed by darkness.
I’d spent the last five years trying to run from love and all the pain that came with it. What I failed to realize was that I was actually fighting for love. The love I had for Dean and our son. The love I had for my friends. The love all of us deserved.
My heart constricted at the realization as tears filled my eyes.
My revenge was an act of love, not pain.
“Jer, I need you to think about this,” I urged gently, my mind spinning.
“Collin Stevens will die, G.”
I shook my head. “Kay—”
“Jeremy.” James’ voice cut mine off.
My friends’ eyes flicked up behind me, and he lifted his chin.
“You're going back to St. Louis.”
Jer moved past me, pointing west as I turned to face them. “If you think you can send me home when my sister was in your fucking grasp tonight—”
The agent held up his hand, his dark eyes flaring with fury. “Your sister provided the location of Stevens’ house. Haley is there. You'll be going to extract her.” He looked at me, his scruffy jaw tight. “I want that house turned over. Arrest the staff.”
“Whoa! Kay said not to touch the staff or the house!” I protested, stepping up to them. Those could be innocent people. A tan, tattooed arm shot out, catching me at the waist before I was hauled against a hard, warm body.
“Baby girl…”
“Karina Jones is not my boss, nor does she have any say in how I conduct this case,” James said at the same time Dean tried to calm me down.
“She said to not hurt the staff, that they were innocent in all of this,” I snapped, straining against Dean’s hold. Holy hell, had he been working out? More?
The tainted agent shot me a look. “They will be perfectly fine in the holding cells.”
“James—”
“Enough!” Jer roared, his voice echoing across the empty lot.
I jumped in my baseball player’s arms, my eyes going wide as I stared at my friend. He was fuming as he looked between all of us before focusing on James, his jaw hard.
“I want Casey.”
“Excuse me?” James asked, raising a brow as a frown formed on his lips.
“I didn’t fucking stutter. Gomez comes with me.”
James stared for a moment. “No, she is needed in the field office. I have a team ready for you—”
Jer crossed his arms. “Fuck your team. She comes with me.”
I twisted my neck to look up at Dean. A small smirk was forming on his lips, his blonde hair brushing against my cheek as his hazel eyes bounced back and forth between the two men.
“What am I missing?” I whispered as the two men argued.
Those hazel eyes met mine, a sparkle of mischief in them. “Jer wants Casey.”
“How did I miss that and you didn’t?” I hissed quietly through clenched teeth.
“I am just that fucking good, baby girl.” He winked down at me. and I glared at him for a moment before looking back at the two men.
Jeremy and Casey?
My heart fluttered. Maybe love would conquer him before he destroyed his sister’s…
Thirty minutes later, James, Dean, five other agents, and I were headed to the docks. Jeremy was in the air, heading back to St. Louis where he would meet Casey.
Dean and I shared a look as James phoned the tech girl and excused himself to discuss something with her in the back of the cabin.
Eyes.
Hundreds of eyes stared back at me as I looked into the container, the metal groaning as Dean and James pulled the doors open all the way. Ripping my protective helmet off, my hair fell down around me. There were only two men guarding the large, rusted shipping container. It seemed almost too easy.
Dean shot one in the chest; the other was handcuffed in the back of the truck, ready to be transported back for questioning.
When we approached the doors, James told the men to stay out of sight before turning to me.
He thought it would be best if a woman greeted the victims first, so they would feel safer.
I agreed.
These girls had seen enough of grown men and guns. The light from the dock stretched across the dark space. It was cold in here, despite the number of people, a deathly chill lingered in the air.
They were so…
Dirty.
They were impossibly dirty…and nude.
Rage filled me, but I tried to swallow it down, along with bile in my throat. This was evil in its purest form, and it sickened me. They didn’t need to see me like this. No, these women needed a kind face and gentle voice.
“James,” I said softly, twisting my neck as he peeked his head around the corner.
“We are going to need clothes and blankets,” I breathed, wiping away a tear before any of them saw it.
His jaw hardened. That was the only sign of emotion he gave me. “I have my guys scouting the perimeter. Local PD and ambulances are on their way. I will make sure they have everything they need,” he stated, his voice gruff.
I looked back at the women, curled up in fear, before I looked at my friend once more. “James?”
“Yes?”
My eyes held his. “No cameras. No news. Not yet.”
These women had been through enough. One of the last things they needed was news crews, nosey reporters shoving microphones into their faces. He nodded once and stepped back.
Dean remained on the other side, out of sight, but I could feel him. Knowing he was here gave me the strength to do this without breaking down.
Inhaling a shaky breath, I turned back to the victims, my eyes scanning across the sea of broken ones.
“My name is Gwen. I am an associate of the FBI. You are safe. We are here to help you,” I said softly, my eyes stopping on a young woman in the middle of the crowd.
She couldn’t be more than fifteen, her hair in disarray, the skin on her face covered in dried blood and dirt. Her eyes were…lifeless. A zombie.
My throat tightened as that burning rage scorched up my spine.
Romano would fucking burn for this.
“We're hungry,” a soft voice said.
“Thirsty,” another croaked.
My stomach dropped, the heavy weight of dread holding it down with no promise of it ever coming back up. I would never be the same after this. Evil changed you, branded your soul, and no matter how hard you scrubbed, that mark would never come out.
“You will have food and water. Clothes, too. You are safe now,” I promised, crouching down in front of them, getting on their level, so, they would understand I wasn't here to control them.
“None of you will ever be sold or used again.”
I turned to the woman closest to my right, her dead gray eyes peering up to me. “How long have you all been here?” I asked her, keeping my hands where she could see them, so she knew I wasn’t there to hurt her.
She shook her head, her entire body trembling in fear.
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay,” I cooed as she scrambled away from me, but I didn’t chase her. This was her way of protecting herself, and I wouldn’t get in the way of that. My eyes dropped to her feet, where the bottoms were exposed, bleeding.
Mercy.
“She can’t speak,” the girl beside her said, her voice emotionless. This girl wouldn’t look up at me, keeping her eyes on the dirty, cold floor.
“They cut her tongue out last week because she bit a man’s cock,” another girl said.
Jesus Christ.
I shook my head and turned to the voice. This girl had short, dark hair and a black eye. There was dried blood on her lip and bite marks all over her chest.
Those monsters.
“Do you know how long you have been here?”
She looked at me, and I saw it. Her fight. Her fire. Her rage.
Thank God.
Her soul wasn’t broken. Hope bloomed in my chest.
“In this bin? Three weeks. I think someone is dead back there,” she said, jerking her thumb to the back. “The stench is awful,” she deadpanned, looking outside.
Three weeks? Haley was taken three weeks ago. Before I allowed myself to analyze the timeline, I stood.
“You are safe,” I announced, my voice firm. “We will provide clothes, food, water, and shelter. Whenever you are ready, please come outside. We have people ready and willing to aid you all.”
Silence was my only reply, but I didn’t miss some of the women nodding or shaking their heads.
Once I stepped out of the container, I was surprised to find a triage camp halfway set up and a row of ambulances, medical personnel, and law enforcement around us.
I stepped aside to Dean, taking off my vest.
“Baby girl,” he said in a soft warning tone as he grabbed my hands. I looked up at him. “What are you doing?” he asked.
I swallowed. “My job. I can’t help the injured in this.”
He released my hands, and I removed my vest. The victims began trickling out as his hand snaked to my chin, forcing me to look up into those hazel eyes. My eyelids fell closed. I couldn’t look at him.
I needed to focus, and if I looked at him now, I would break.
“Gwen, look at me,” he whispered, his voice a low rumble that warmed my chest.
“I can’t,” I breathed.
“Baby girl, look at me,” he pleaded, his voice softer than before.
When I opened my eyes, my world was filled with hazel. Everything around us—the pain, the terror, the evil, the heartbreak, the chaos—fell away leaving only him and me. He loved me. I was lucky to have found a man like Dean Connors. .
Did I deserve to be this lucky?
My sins greatly outweighed theirs. I was certain of it.
I should be the one in that container, not them.
“Gwen,” my fiancé growled, shaking me gently.
“I have to help them. Please—I have to, Dean,” I rasped.
“Get out of your head, Gwen. You stay right here,” he said, bringing my hands to his chest right over his heart. “You stay right here with me. You got me?”
I nodded, bringing my bottom lip between my teeth and biting down, praying the pain would snap me out of it.
“Tell me you love me,” he said, bending so that his forehead could touch mine.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“You are the strongest person I know. Only you would be ready to jump in and help after what you just saw. The world doesn’t deserve you. You got this. I am right here. I will always be with you. You understand?”
“Yes.”
He kissed my forehead. “Go. Be a superhero.”