Chapter Twenty Four
Mac ran from the office with his radio in hand, calling out orders.
Rachel paused as she applied the blush to Kara’s face and showed her the difference in wearing makeup and making it appear like she didn’t have any.
Rebecca rose, walking toward the door. Mac’s prosthetic sounded heavy on the stairs as he rushed toward them. Fear filled her as she saw his worried gaze.
“We need to round up the rest of the women and children. They’ve tracked you here,” he explained.
Rebecca shook her head. “No. Kassie and the team checked and scanned our bodies.”
“They somehow reactivated them and Julio ordered me to get you to safety. We need to get everyone to the basement,” he ordered.
Rebecca tensed and stared at Kara, both feeling the terror of being forced into a dark basement. She couldn’t allow her fear to jeopardize them now.
Rebecca and Rachel grabbed Kara and ran down the stairs. “Delaney,” Rachel called as they opened the door leading to the darkened room. The pregnant woman held her stomach as she ran toward them, and Rachel helped her down the stairs.
Kara struggled against Rebecca’s hold. “I’m not going into the dark.”
“We don’t have a choice. They’ll take you back if they find you. I won’t allow it,” Rebecca said firmly. “Rachel will stay with you.”
“What about you?” Kara shouted.
‘I have to help get the others. I’ll be back soon. I promise,” she said, following Mac to the front door.
“Get in the basement, Rebecca,” he said as he hobbled to his truck, cursing.
“I’m not leaving them like sitting ducks. Two of us can round them up faster,” she argued as she got in beside him.
“Ragu’s rounding them up with Annabelle and the counselors.
We’ll throw them in the back of the truck.
The hands will take positions and keep watch.
Julio and Leo’s team won’t arrive for another three hours, and we don’t know when these bastards will arrive,” he said, speeding down the road to the cabins.
Annabelle herded the children toward Mac while Ragu lifted them into the truck. The women followed, holding the kids close. The two counselors jumped in. Ragu lifted Annabelle and jumped in beside her. He hit the side of the truck, indicating Mac should take off.
Rebecca’s heart raced, and she clenched her hands together. Her breathing increased as she tried to get air. Would they never be safe? What about those who had already reunited with their families?
They came to a halt in front of the farmhouse and Ragu jumped out, already unloading everyone.
Rebecca hurried toward the back, taking the kids by the hand and leading them up the porch.
Rachel stood at the basement doorway directing them down the stairs.
Delaney greeted them, putting them in the far corner of the room.
With everyone inside, Mac handed Rachel weapons for her and Delaney. He turned to Rebecca. “Julio wants you safe.”
“I want to shoot the bastards,” she replied. “Either you supply me with a gun or I’ll find one on my own.”
Mac shook his head, muttering about the place getting overtaken by bossy women as he went to retrieve more guns.
Ragu kissed Annabelle and sent her downstairs. He turned to Rebecca. “You deserve to get a shot at them,” he said, handing her his weapon. “Shirley will take good care of you.”
She raised an eyebrow at him as she accepted his offering. “Shirley?”
“Yup. She’ll ‘surely’ get em,’” Ragu said, winking at her.
Rebecca rolled her eyes and put it in her waistband. The hands arrived and Ragu and Mac directed them to their positions.
When everyone seemed to have an assignment, Ragu turned toward her. “Leo texted. They’re boarding the plane and bringing back more guests. Julio ordered me to drag you down to the basement.”
She pulled her gun, pointed it at him, and then lowered it. “Now you can say I held you at gunpoint. This happened to me, and I’ll not cower down below when I’ve gone through training for this, and we’re outnumbered.”
“Good enough for me,” Ragu said. “We need to find the trackers. I don’t have a scanner and I don’t want to offend you.”
“You mean you don’t want to touch me,” she corrected him. “I don’t understand. How could we miss it on all of us?”
“It’s undetectable unless it’s sending a signal. It must be someplace not easily seen,” he said, gazing down her body.
Even knowing Ragu, his actions made her uncomfortable. “I’ll ask Annabelle to check again. Will Mac retrieve me if you see anything?”
“I give you my word,” Mac said solemnly. “Once you discover it, check the others.”
Returning to the basement, she took in the scene of the women and children. Their faces appeared haunted by the memories of the too-recent past. “Annabelle, I need help,” Rebecca announced.
“Did someone get hurt?” she asked.
“No. We need assistance with locating something,” she informed Annabelle.
“I’m coming, too,” Rachel insisted. “Matthew and Delaney taught me how to shoot, and I’ll be damned if I get stuck down there with crying kids and scared women. I understand they went through something terrible, but I didn’t. I’ll be one more person protecting them.”
Rebecca didn’t have time to argue. If they found the trackers, it might save them all. “Fine, they placed trackers on us. We don’t know all the details, but they shut them off. I need you to inspect every inch of me. If we’re lucky, they put them all in the same place.”
“We’ll have to go upstairs. The men have taken up positions downstairs and toward the front. Mac and a couple of others took the back positions,” Rebecca said, racing toward the stairs.
Entering one of the bedrooms, Rebecca sat on the bed, shrugging off her boots. Her hands went to her shirt and she hesitated.
Annabelle knelt beside her. “I’ll try to do it as fast as I can.”
“For Pete’s sake, we don’t have time to coddle you. Do you want us to find it or not?” Rachel said, appearing annoyed. “We still have to locate it on the others. You keep saying you did your job. Keep the attitude until we finish.”
Rebecca took a deep breath before nodding and hastily removing her shirt and pants.
“Leave your undies and bra on, and hopefully we’ll find it,” Annabelle suggested.
Rebecca lay on the bed as Annabelle started at her feet and worked her way up, checking between her toes and gliding her fingers across Rebecca’s skin, searching for any tiny bump.
Rachel held her hand as Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Fuck, the assholes branded you,” Rachel whispered in shock.
“Rachel,” Annabelle chastised.
“I didn’t mean to sound insensitive. It must’ve hurt like a bitch,” Rachel said, staring at it.
Rebecca opened her eyes in time to see the wave of pity cross Rachel’s face.
The one look she detested the most. Then, Rachel scowled and her mouth firmed into a thin line.
“If I get the opportunity, I’m aiming for certain body parts.
It might not kill them, but they’ll never hurt anyone again.
” She squeezed Rebecca’s hand tighter in a firm alliance.
“I don’t feel or see anything,” Annabelle announced. “Turn over.”
Rebecca flipped on her stomach as Annabelle inspected her skin. Rachel narrowed her eyes. “I’m not in law enforcement, but if you needed to hide something secretly and you didn’t want it to show, I can only think of four places.”
Annabelle paused, considering Rachel’s idea.
“It seems to me I’d hide it in my hair, near my private parts, under my boobs and butt cheeks,” Rachel said out loud.
“Kassie inspected me from head to toe,” Rebecca replied.
Rachel stared at the long mass of hair. “I’m guessing it’s there,” she said, pointing to Rebecca’s scalp.
Annabelle considered it for a moment before nodding. “It’s an easy place for kids and if they did it to an adult toward the back, no one would ever know.”
Rachel rose from her spot and rummaged in a nearby dresser, pulling out a pair of scissors. “We don’t have time to search this thick head of yours. We need to cut it.”
Rebecca grabbed her hair, knowing the woman made a good point. The thick, heavy mass would take too much time and they still needed to search the remaining people.
“Cut it,” Rebecca said, her voice cracking.
Rachel grabbed a comb, brushed it out, and tied it into a ponytail. Taking the scissors, she sawed through the thick mass. She handed the piece to Rebecca as Annabelle and she took a side and started parting it, searching carefully.
Rebecca stroked the mass as she fought back the tears. Julio always loved her long, thick hair and the traffickers managed to steal it away from her, too.
“Wait,” Rachel exclaimed, leaning closer and rubbing a tiny spot on the back of Rebecca’s head.
Annabelle leaned over and examined the area. “I’ve never seen one before, it’s tiny.”
Rebecca felt the small lump. “It’s smaller than I’ve seen, but technology changes daily.”
“We need to get it out,” Annabelle said. “I don’t have enough medication to numb the area for all of you.”
“Cut it out,” Rebecca insisted when she saw Annabelle hesitate.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Don’t you cut people for living?
What a wuss,” she exclaimed, grabbing a small pocketknife and a lighter from the nightstand.
She sterilized the blade and leaned over.
Annabelle fetched a shirt from the chair to catch the blood.
Rebecca flinched as Rachel made a slice and dug out the tracker with the tip of the knife.
“I got it,” she said, pressing the shirt to Rebecca’s head.
Annabelle removed it and peered at the cut. “I don’t think it needs stitches. We need to bandage it.”
“There’s a first aid kit downstairs. Between your supplies and it, we might have enough to get everyone done,” Rachel said, wiping the blade as she headed toward the door.
When they didn’t follow her, she frowned and jerked her head toward the stairs.
“Time’s wasting, ladies, we have trackers to destroy. ”