Chapter 36
Rooster
When I began my job with Cerberus, I never imagined I'd be involved in a case that was so close to home. Although Morgan hasn't been sex trafficked, she's in a situation that Cerberus would get involved in whether she was linked to us or not.
The anticipation and unease inside of me feels ten times worse than it did those times I was sitting in on missions that Cerberus was executing when we were all training in New Mexico. Of course, I was anxious, wanting things to go well, but I had no real skin in the fight.
Right now, as the guys are gearing up to push inside of the hotel room that Henry is in, I feel like my own life is being held in the balance. I will never forgive myself if something terrible happens to Morgan. I'm a hundred percent responsible for what has happened so far, and if I'd just kept my distance or never even took this fucking job in the first place, then she wouldn't be going through this.
I can reason that no matter where I would've been in life, Henry still would've found a way to ruin it, but at least this one woman would've been safe. As huge of a sacrifice as it would be for me, I would've forgone ever meeting her to save her from whatever Henry's plans were.
"We're seconds away," Wren says, his words meant to be reassuring, but this feels almost too damn easy. "She's going to be fine."
I remain silent. There's nothing I or anyone else can say that will make me feel better right now.
Morgan has been with Henry for hours at this point, and a hell of a lot of things can happen in that time. The woman who smiled at my twin, thinking it was me when she left work, could very easily not be the same woman the guys find when they bust through the hotel room door.
I watch body camera footage as the guys clear the stairwell and slowly and methodically make their way down the hallway.
"Seems too easy," Wren mutters through the comms as if reading my mind.
I'm connected to the guys through our own system, and although Wren can see what's happening, they can't hear him. The last thing the guys need is him in their ear, making them second-guess what their actions should be.
"I know," I tell him. "There has to be a twist somewhere."
No sooner do they push into the room do we realize just how big of a fool Henry made us out to be.
I watch as Heathen enters the room, going to clear the bathroom only to be met with a man screaming from the shower, demanding to know who they are and asking why they were in his hotel room.
"These should be fucking illegal," Bandera says, holding up a nylon mask that has mine and Henry's face on it.
"That explains the ninety-six percent," Wren says with a sigh.
"Those are going to cause a lot of fucking problems," Whiskey quickly agrees.
"Bring it with you," I tell the guys. "But there's no telling how many he's handed out."
They're in the room for another fifteen minutes, reminding the guy that he's not an innocent fucking bystander. He confesses to having been paid a thousand dollars to wear the mask and go to a prepaid hotel room. Information comes out that this agreement was made on the strip earlier in the day, and the timeline puts this exchange happening before he picked Morgan up from her job this evening.
"This changes everything," Wren interjects as the guys work out of the hotel room. "Facial recognition isn't going to work if Henry was wearing a mask to enter a hotel."
"I doubt he was," I interject. "I don't think Morgan would walk calmly into any place if she had already discovered that he wasn't who he said he was."
"Holy shit," Wren says. "Look at this while I dig deeper."
My computer makes a pinging noise as it sends over a link to a social media post.
Brenson Hurst: I didn't have getting the wrong room card and walking in on a kinky couple on my bingo card. Get your shit together #TheEliteLasVegas #Kinky #TiedUp #IHopeThisKindOfLoveFindsMe.
"This could be something," I say, knowing Wren is already on it.
My hands tremble as I wait. I want her to be found, and as much as I pray we find her soon, there's nothing about what that man typed that makes me wish it was Morgan and Henry he walked in on. My mind races with what could be happening to her.
"It was posted ten minutes ago," Wren says.
"I don't put it past Henry to be on the same fucking floor so he can watch through the peephole as the guys made their entry on a room across the hallway," I mutter.
"Room twelve-forty-eight," Wren says, and I relay that information to the guys before they can make their way out of the hallway from the original room.
"Three flights lower," Heathen says into the mic. "Let's get this bastard."
"He came into the building via the parking garage elevator hours ago," Wren says. "I'm sending you the footage."
As much as my mind is telling me to watch the video, I just can't stomach the idea of it. There's nothing I can do for her until she's back here. Watching her with my brother will only make me wish the man dead, and I've been fighting the urgency to see that happen since Heathen found me outside of the gym.
I see no other way of stopping Henry for good, and just thinking of him gone from this earth makes me want to scream and cry, but hoping he'd become a better man all these years hasn't gotten us anywhere.
The guys remain silent, a well-oiled machine, as they make their way to the stairwell once again to head to the twelfth floor of The Elite hotel. My pulse is racing once again, but even still, this seems too easy. Henry isn't one to just give up. If anything, I suspect that he plans to exhaust the men, dropping all sorts of hints and clues that lead nowhere. Knowing Henry, this can go on for days and weeks, each clue another step in his plan to have utter control over the entire situation.
There's a very real chance this is no different from the hotel rentals in the different countries that led us to this particular hotel to begin with.
"On my count," Bandera says before counting down from four.
Wren was able to convince one of the managers in the lobby to provide the guys with a key card that would access every room in the hotel. I get the feeling he didn't do it by asking nicely, but I'm in no position to argue about how he's helping to find Morgan. I contacted him because his moral compass has a lot more gray in it than I have in mine.
The beep of the door as the keycard is swiped near it makes my breath freeze. My lungs burn as I watch the team enter the hotel room.
Fully expecting to see yet another pawn in Henry's game, I'm breathless when I see Henry sitting on the sofa in the room as if he had been expecting us all along.
"Get your fucking hands up," Bandera growls. "Someone cover her up with a blanket."
Rage swirls deep inside my guts at the sight of Morgan on the bed, completely naked and strapped down like a hog ready for slaughter.
"What the fuck did you do to her?" Bandera growls as he pulls Henry from the sofa and slams him to the floor on his stomach.
"Nothing she didn't beg me for," Henry says.
I don't know how Bandera restrains himself. If I were the one putting him in cuffs, I'd have my hands around his throat and wouldn't relent until his face turned blue.
"Piece of shit," Bandera growls as he climbs off Henry's back and forces him to stand. "Don't even look in her fucking direction."
I refocus on Heathen as he works to untie Morgan's arms and legs. The sight of the irritated skin at her wrists makes me mad enough to spit fire.
"We need to get you to a hospital," Heathen says, his tone even and professional.
"I d-don't need a hospital," Morgan says with a sob.
"Morgan," Heathen says. "If he—"
"He didn't," she interrupts. "He didn't."
"Thank fuck," Wren whispers, his voice swirling around me in the conference room, making me feel even more out of touch with what's going on.
I feel like I should be there with her, but I'm the reason she's in this mess to begin with. I wouldn't be surprised if the woman never wanted to lay eyes on me again. I wouldn't blame her either.