13. Andrie
Andrie
The familiar calm that washed over me as I strode into the Iron Wraiths’ clubhouse was both a blessing and a curse. It numbed my emotions, knowing what I was about to encounter. But while the disconnect was what I needed in order to do the most good, I always paid for it later.
Sobbing, and the occasional scream, came from behind the heavy front doors, confirming what I already knew. Without hesitation, I pushed them open, knowing the hell I was about to step into. I still saw it in my nightmares.
It was worse than I’d expected. At least fifteen women and girls were scattered throughout the room.
Some were crying, huddled against the wall, others—the ones more seriously hurt and bleeding—were fighting some of the men who were trying to staunch the worst of the wounds.
On one of the tables, I saw Jasper, the MC’s medic and an ER doctor at the local hospital, attempting to save a woman covered in blood, her body shaking with shock and blood loss.
Despite Xander’s question about being ready, it was clear he hadn’t known what we were walking into.
He paused inside the door, eyes wide as he processed the chaos.
I didn’t so much as flinch, wading into the fray to calm down the women.
I heard Jasper shouting to Grimm about needing to open up the MC’s medical room, which they kept on hand when they needed their own care and couldn’t or wouldn’t go to the hospital.
It wasn’t a surgical suite, but it was better stocked than most clinics.
Despite trying to be as non-threatening and unassuming as possible, the men were still being yelled at and outright attacked by the women they were trying to help.
“Drugged?” I asked Vik as I joined him. He’d managed to pull a girl, who looked all of sixteen, into his arms, holding her in a bearhug as he let her wear herself out.
“They’re higher than the Empire State building. It’s just our bad luck we came across them right after their captors had given them a bad batch. Or maybe not,” he said, considering his words. “Whisp might not have known what was in the truck if they hadn’t started screaming.”
“Mobile prostitution?” I asked, knowing outfitted trucks, hauling unwilling women instead of goods, were growing in popularity.
“Tame” girls were handed off to a paying customer for the night, while the ones who hadn’t been broken were sold and raped right there in the truck.
Without a permanent address, and having the ability to move cities every few days, mobile units were harder to bust by local law enforcement.
Xander, breaking out of his trance, came behind the four girls Savage and Shade were trying to reason with.
Taking a page from Vik’s book, he grabbed two of them from behind and lifted them clear off their feet.
The girls, so out of it they weren’t even sure what they’d been fighting against, screeched, struggling in his firm grasp.
He backed a few feet until he was against the wall, sliding down until both women were cradled to him as he whispered to them in low, soothing tones.
They quieted, practically melting against him, faces wet with tears.
The matching track marks in their arms and the bruises circling their wrists spoke of their past abuse.
Grimm came back into the room, his face expressionless as he reached for the medical bag Jasper had left on the table. Seeing him pull out a vial and a handful of syringes, I came over to help. “The woman?” I asked softly, heart dropping even as I held out hope.
He said nothing, just shook his head slowly. “Jasper’s cleaning up real quick before he comes back out. No use upsetting everyone again. At least she’s no longer in pain.”
“She died free,” I reminded him, keeping my voice steady. “And that’s more than she could have hoped for yesterday. She was surrounded by people who care and will continue to work to help others in her memory.”
His lips thinned, but he nodded once, seeming to take a bit of peace from my words. “Let’s get to it, then. As you said, there are others to help.”
The sunrise greeted me when Xander, Vik, and I finally stepped outside.
There were seventeen women, ranging from fifteen to twenty-two, now coherent, clean, warm, and safe.
Thanks to the massive number of empty rooms due to the MC’s recent move to Louisiana, each woman now had their own space, safeguarded by a steady rotation of the remaining club members, and a medical doctor staying on site for the next few days.
I’d visit twice a day until they’d all either gone back to their families or were relocated.
“I take it this isn’t the first time you’ve walked into a situation like this?” Xander asked as we piled into my car, Vik practically sprawling across the back seat.
I shared a look with Vik in the rearview mirror.
Hell, we’d damn near been a situation like this, but I didn’t want to relive the memories from that time.
At least I hadn’t had to deal with a forced drug habit on top of the other trauma.
“Normally, we have more notice,” I said, unsure if Xander was a part of what this small sub-group of MC members did.
“I thought it was just moving them,” Xander said more to Vik than me. “I assumed the missions were either international or at least in bigger cities.”
Vik shrugged. “Just because our main focus is helping them get a fresh start doesn’t mean we turn a blind eye if something happens across our path.
But Andrie’s right. Normally, we get the intel, and a few members who specialize in that kind of rescue situation go in.
But this was completely off our radar. If Whisp hadn’t been roaming, which he has a tendency to do, we’d have never known they were here until it was too late. ”
Vik frowned, thinking. “Grimm’s going to be out for blood. This is still Iron Wraith’s territory, and not only did this crew set up shop here, but none of our contacts on the streets came to us with this information.”
“Wouldn’t they keep it off your radar, knowing you don’t allow it, if the people coming in paid them off?” Xander wondered.
I snorted. “Grimm’s going to string them up by their balls for not coming to him, probably literally.”
Blinking in surprise, Xander shifted in his seat to look at me.
That blood-thirsty comment was straight Alex and one he probably didn’t expect to come from Andrie.
He saw the wallflower, the quiet one. The woman who mediated feelings instead of expressed them.
But he didn’t know me, not the woman deep down.
I shrugged, not a bit repentant. “I’m a psychologist, not a saint.
I’ve seen and experienced things that humans should never have to—even if it’s through my client’s eyes,” I covered, not wanting to explain my own past to this near-stranger.
“I fully believe there’s evil in this world that will never be reformed.
I also believe some people’s lack of a moral compass will let them allow unspeakable things to be done without losing sleep over it.
For those people, fear is the only thing keeping them in line.
If Grimm has to remind the others who really controls the streets around here, he’d better do it fast before they start getting ideas. ”
“She’s not wrong,” Vik said, stretching his arms over his head as much as he could in the cramped space. “You’d better get a few hours in this afternoon because you can bet he’ll have one hell of a statement for us to make come nightfall.”
Xander looked pleased. “Think he’ll let me help? I know I’m still getting in with the crew, but you know my stance on forced sex trade and human trafficking.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You have experience with it? I didn’t think Vik had. At least, not until coming here.” He had mentioned losing someone that morning.
Vik had been one of the men who’d rescued me from my own hell.
While we’d tried to keep our lives before that moment as pushed into the past as we could, in the early years, when I’d broken down and needed to talk about Demi, Vik would tell me stories about the two of them.
While I’d always thought Vik had been truthful about those times, I now realized how odd it was that he’d never mentioned a brother.
I’d always thought Vik had been an only child.
He and Demi were so close that I’d seen him that way—almost like a brother-in-law—when I was with Demi in Russia.
After the rescue, Vik had become my brother, our bond just as strong as the one I had for Demi though in an entirely different way.
I felt more than saw Vik stiffen behind me, but Xander only crossed his arms, his jaw tight. “Someone close to me was taken when I was younger. She was a very beautiful woman and was trafficked. By the time I was able to track her down, she was beyond my reach.”
Reaching out to him, I took his hand in mine.
I’d lived that life, even wished I’d been the one to die several times on my journey over to the United States.
I’d spent weeks in a cargo container crossing the Atlantic, the air heavy with feces, sweat, and despair.
The doors had been opened only twice a day—in the morning, when they tossed in a little food and a bucket of water to be shared among the group, and at night, when they picked a girl to sample as their evening entertainment.
I’d never learned what happened to the ones taken—whether they’d been killed and thrown overboard or put into another container after they’d been used.
All I’d known was that I never saw them again.
Regardless, we’d started out with twenty-six of us packed in so tightly we could barely breathe let alone move around.
By the time we’d arrived in America, only fourteen remained.
I’d been separated from the rest almost immediately, loaded into a small truck not unlike the women tonight had been rescued from, and driven to and was present for two auctions—though, thankfully, I hadn't been the one being sold—before I’d found myself in the basement, chained to a wall, before being rescued by Vik, Lessia, Grimm, Savage, and Charge.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I whispered, pushing back the memories that wanted to break free. My eyes burned with emotion, knowing what his friend would have gone through. He tightened his grip on mine.
“Thank you,” he said quietly as if it were just for my ears.
Vik broke the solemn silence. “I think Grimm would love the extra assistance when it comes to matters like this. He did tell you to find something you’d enjoy,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.
Xander’s lips twitched. “I think he was referring to finding a job.”
“Well, a hobby’s the first step in the right direction.
Besides, if you can’t find something else to do, you could always use this as a way to gain a reputation.
Once everyone is scared of you, you’ll have an easy time finding a job as a bouncer or even personal security for some of the local mob connections. ”
Xander rolled his eyes, “As if I’d work for any place other than yours as a bouncer. And I’m trying to get away from the criminal elements, thank you very much. Current company excluded, of course.”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” I said, not quite believing I was joking with these two after the night we’d just had. “I don’t even have a speeding ticket.”
Vik snorted. “Yeah, ‘cuz you’d actually have to go over the speed limit. You regularly get passed by old people.”
“Doesn’t hurt to drive carefully,” I sniffed, needling him. “I take pride in the fact I’ve never even been pulled over.”
“You get flicked off more often than I do,” he shot back, much to Xander’s amusement.
“And the cops are probably afraid to pull you over for fear you’ll start in on their driving.
Hell, you and I can’t even ride together to get groceries without you freaking out on me or me yelling at you.
You literally called out every traffic sign the last time we rode together. ”
“I was afraid you hadn’t seen them. You know, with your going twenty-miles over the speed limit and not stopping at a single stop sign,” I retorted. “Maybe you need glasses. I should make you an appointment.”
Xander’s laughter filled the car, shaking it as I came to a stop in my driveway. “You two really are like brother and sister.”
“Are not,” we replied in unison, succeeding in making Xander laugh even harder.
“Come on, let’s get inside. It’s barely even morning, and something tells me the day isn’t going to get any easier.”