Chapter 24
Dean
It’s been a few days since Eddie attacked Sophia. After speaking with Humphrey, Eddie has agreed to put the mess behind him, so there’s no future trouble. I told Humphrey that was fine, and all was forgotten.
Of course, that’s a lie.
Nothing is fine. I forget nothing. And giving Sophia a few days to heal has given me the time to rally my troops together to take down Humphrey’s operation.
In the few days while Sophia’s been healing, we were able to get the layout of his club.
“Look at this right here,” Zack says, pointing at the blueprint of Humphrey’s club.
I stare at where Zack’s finger points. “Looks like a lot of room for extracurricular activities.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Zack says. “I bet he has a house somewhere near the club where the women sleep, and he transports them to the club on weekends.”
“I can’t believe those poor women,” Sophia says, sitting on a lounge sofa in my office. She’s been healing really well. Her black and blue bruises are a delicate shade of yellow now.
“Don’t worry. We’ll save them,” I tell her.
She smiles at me and it lights up the room. “I can’t wait until they’re all free. We’ll need somewhere to place them.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already got that all set up. My good friend, Gabriel Prince, and his wife, Clementine, are opening up a shelter to help these women get the assistance they need, and to get them prepped for getting jobs and being able to get out on their own.” Like I said, it’s been a busy couple of days.
“And that is why I love you. You think of everything.”
I feel that ping of something deep in my bones. The type of feeling you get when you know without any doubt you’ve found your soulmate.
“We move tonight?” Leo asks.
I nod. “Yes, in and out. Quick and easy. Anyone gets into any trouble, you know what to do.” I don’t foresee any major trouble happening.
Normally, I’d just call the cops to strip the club down. But knowing these people, I’m sure they have a lot of influential people on their payroll, namely cops, politicians, and judges. I’m sure whatever a police raid could do wouldn't shut the place down.
No, we need to make sure everything goes down the way we want it to. Zack and my team leave the room and I move over to Sophia. I kneel on the floor before her. “You’ll be ok here alone.”
She shakes her head. “No way. There’s no way you’re leaving me here.”
I run a hand over her brown hair. “I want you to stay safe.”
“Dean, I’ve been after this for so long. I need to go.”
I know she’s right. I know I can’t deny her this victory, but every part of me wants to keep her safe. Protected here at my condo, where I know she’ll be safe. However, I need to let her get her own revenge. “Ok, you’re coming with us.” I kiss her on the lips. “But you stay right by me the whole night.”
She smiles. “Of course.”
We pull up to Humphrey’s club, and there’s no line out front. There’s no security at the door. The place is dead. Which is what we were counting on. Humphrey usually opens his club on the weekends for his friends. During the week is when we’re thinking he must open the club up to the special VIP with his slaves.
I have twelve men with me and about fifteen more on backup not too far away. I’m not foreseeing too much of a problem. I’ve cased the club before, and Humphrey’s security is lacking. It’s not packing much heat, and I’m sure my guys will have no issues bringing them down.
“Stick by me,” I tell Sophia once more.
She nods.
I tap my Bluetooth, speaking to my men, “On my count.” We all get out of our vehicles and surround the building. I hold up my hand, counting down on my fingers, listening if I hear anything going on inside the building.
I hear nothing.
There’s a back door and I try the handle. It’s locked, so I call one of my men to bring his lock pick device to open the door. We wait, standing by while he opens the door, and I glance at Sophia, making sure she knows we’re going once the door opens.
“Go,” I call out, and we move in tandem, like a swat team with precision and grace throughout the building, looking for any signs of life.
Nothing on the main floor.
“All clear,” Zack calls to me, and we move toward the stairwell.
I point to three of my men, telling them to go upstairs as I aim my sub-machine gun toward the basement. “Stay close,” I remind Sophia, and she aims her Glock-19.
She nods. “After you.”
I take the steps, making my way toward the basement. We’re all in black, with our guns ready and loaded. There’s a door at the end of the hallway, and I check to see if it’s locked. It’s open and I peer over my shoulder once more, making sure my team is ready.
Because I have a feeling whatever we’re looking for is on the other side of this door.
And I’m right, the moment I open the door, the lights flip on and I spot a man with a woman on the bed.
He stops what he’s doing to the woman and faces us. He’s naked, and the woman screams when she sees us.
“Hands where I can see them,” I shout at the man and woman on the bed.
A door from the back opens, and Humphrey comes rushing in with a few of his men. “Dean, what’s going on here?”
Dean’s eyes zero in on him. “Game’s over.”
Humphrey waves his hand, like he’s dismissing us, and he laughs. “This isn’t what you’re thinking. They’re both two consenting adults.”
My eyes flick at the woman on the bed who looks horrified and covers herself with a red satin sheet. “Is this true? Are you being forced?”
The woman doesn’t answer, and I shout the question again. Her eyes dart back and forth between the naked man with his arms up and Humphrey.
Sophia steps up. “I remember her. She’s from Romania and her name is Svetlana.”
Svetlana sits up, staring at Sophia as if she’s trying to place her.
“She’s being forced. Where’s the other women?” Sophia points her gun at Humphrey.
Humphrey’s smile disappears as he glances around the room for the answer. “What do you mean?”
“The women, now,” I shout, tired of Humphrey beating around the bush.
Someone pushes past Humphrey. It’s Eddie. He’s in a suit, a nice one, and he holds a gun as well. “Well, hello there. Did you honestly think you could beat me up and nothing would happen?” He walks around the room, and all of our guns are pointed at him. “I recognized this whore the first time I saw her.” He stares at Sophia.
“Why don’t you shut the fuck up and listen to me.” I aim my gun higher. “This is how this is all gonna go down. We’re going to get the ladies out of here. We’re going to shut this place down, and you two are going to get lost.”
Eddie laughs. “You really think I’m going to give up everything for you?”
I nod. “You kind of have no choice.”
Sophia steps forward. “You need to let the women go.”
Humphrey steps closer. “I don’t understand. Why would you do this to me?” Humphrey is the type of man who thinks he doesn’t do anything wrong.
“We’re taking your women and shutting this shit down.”
He laughs. “You can’t shut me down.”
“Like hell, I can’t.”
“You won’t get away with this.”
I smile. “I already have.” I aim the gun at him. “The women, where are they?”
He holds his hands up, glancing behind him at one of his men. “Take them to the women.”
I look at Zack, making sure a few of my men are ready to go with them. This isn’t over yet, and I want to make sure they’re keeping their eyes open.
“As soon as you leave, I’ll just get more women.”
I laugh a little. “No, you won’t. Do you know who Gabriel Prince is? Let me tell you, you won’t have your license long enough to even open your club another night. We’re going to make sure you never work in this town again.” I direct my attention to Eddie. “And as for you, you’re done.”
Eddie makes a move to go for Sophia and aims his gun at her. I see everything slow down in my eyes, and I move closer, trying to make sure she’s safe.
Eddie fires his gun. I throw Sophia to the ground, landing on top of her.
She lets out a yelp, but I know she’s ok, because I felt the bullet graze my leg.
“Dean’s been shot,” Zack yells out, and Leo puts three bullets into Eddie’s chest.
“Dean, are you okay? Please be okay,” Sophia says over and over, holding my face in her hands.
“I think I’m ok.” I sit up a little, glancing down at the stinging in my leg. “The bullet barely nicked me.”
Sophia’s eyes widen. “You’ve been shot. This isn’t a graze at all.”
I cradle her face in my hand. “It’s fine.”
In about two minutes, I’m not really sure on the time, the place is surrounded with cops, and an ambulance. I’m a bit dizzy and before I pass out, I smile at Sophia. “Make sure you find the women.”
She laughs a little. “Shhh, just worry about yourself right now. Zack’s handling it all.”
Her eyes gaze upon me, and I pass out, smiling up at my angel.