Chapter 15 #2
For all she knew, she was on her own, and it terrified him what she would do. There was zero chance she’d just sit there quietly and wait for rescue. She was going to fight, she was going to come up with some sort of plan to get herself out, and in doing so, she’d be putting herself in more danger.
The worst part was, he couldn’t even blame her for it.
He’d been the one to tell her to fight smarter next time, keep her emotions out of it, and do whatever she needed to do to protect herself and live.
Which he respected. He was proud of her for maintaining her spirit, but he couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that could happen to her.
She was so vulnerable, and—
“Van!” Griffin’s voice echoed through the building.
From the tone, it seemed that something was wrong, but he had no idea what.
All the other women were safely tucked away.
There was no chance that anyone could know he was undercover.
The camera system was up and running, and the factory was pretty much fitted out now.
There was nothing wrong as far as he could see.
“In here,” he called back, not shifting off the couch where he was sprawled.
“Of course you're watching a movie,” Griffin muttered when he stormed into the room a moment later.
Shrugging, he set the tablet down. “What else should I be doing?”
Growling, the other man reached out and snatched up the tablet sitting on the couch beside him.
For a moment, it looked like Griffin was going to toss the electronic across the room as though it were personally responsible for whatever had him worked up, but the man didn't. Instead, his fingers curled tightly around it, tight enough that Van almost expected the man to snap it with his bare hands.
“Going to tell me what's got you all flustered?” he drawled in a tone he knew would irritate Griffin.
It wasn't that he particularly wanted to frustrate the second in command of Azure for fun, it was just that everyone here expected him to be unconcerned about everything, distracted by whatever he was watching, and empty inside.
“The girl,” Griffin snarled.
“What girl?” he asked, but his stomach churned. Was it Makayla? She was the only one here who had caused trouble recently, but she was gone now, there was nothing she could have done that would have gotten back to Griffin. Was there?
“The crazy one who beat up Josh.”
A small snicker passed Griffin’s lips at the mention of Josh getting knocked out by Makayla.
Because they didn't want to risk the cops getting involved, Josh hadn't been taken to a hospital, but they had cleaned him up and stitched his wounds. They were pretty sure Josh had been given a concussion, but he’d be all right, and even if he wasn't, Van didn't care. He’d deserved what he’d gotten and so much more.
“Makayla Adair,” he said, his voice completely calm, even as he was desperate to shake answers out of the other man and find out what the hell was going on with her.
“Yeah, that one.”
“She’s sold. Why is she our problem anymore?”
“Because of who bought her,” Griffin said through gritted teeth.
“No idea who bought her,” he reminded the man.
It wasn’t their job to know who purchased the women.
Of course, Van usually knew anyway, because he had reason to keep track of the buyers, but Griffin didn't know that.
This time, he had a name, but everything he and Prey had done with the name and the bank account details hadn't led them to an address where Makayla could be being kept, and that was all he cared about.
“Not usually necessary for you to know.”
“But it is this time?” Van asked.
“Yes,” Griffin ground out.
“Going to need more to go on than that if you expect me to do something about whatever your problem is.”
“All of our problem, if we don’t fix it.”
“Very cryptic.” Van feigned boredom and held out a hand to grab the tablet back, but Griffin yanked it away before he could snag it.
“The girl ran.”
A mix of surprise, terror, and pride swirled inside him. Of course, his girl would cause chaos. He’d only known her for days, and it was already what he’d come to expect from her. “She escaped?”
“Yes,” Griffin snapped.
“Like, actually escaped? Managed to get away from whoever bought her?”
“Yes,” the other man ground out with a glare.
“How the hell did she manage that?”
“Killed someone.”
Almost choking on his own saliva, Van pushed up so he was sitting properly instead of half reclined on the couch.
She’d actually done it? Killed someone? It was what he’d told her to do, to put everything else aside and focus only on what she needed to do to save herself, but part of him had believed she didn't have it in her to be that ruthless, that selfish. Regardless of her knowing she didn't have a choice, he could guess it was eating Makayla up inside to know she’d taken a life. Worse, she was alone out there, with no one to reassure her that she’d done the right thing.
“Makayla Adair killed someone and escaped?” he repeated, not quite sure he was hearing everything correctly, because it was so outlandish.
Even though he’d known his girl had what it took to escape, he hadn't really thought she’d be able to pull it off, because you didn't purchase a woman and then not have proper security in place to keep her contained.
Only it looked like Asahi Watanabe, in fact, did not have proper security.
“She was being kept in a glass cage inside Mr. Watanabe’s bedroom.
When the maid came to bring her breakfast, she attacked the woman.
Stabbed her twice, then took her uniform and put it on.
Walked right out of the building, and no one stopped her because they didn't realize it was her. It wasn’t until Mr. Watanabe was ready to have his breakfast served, and it didn't come, that they realized something was wrong. Another maid went looking for her, found the woman in the bed in the cage, she’d bled out, probably quickly from the position of the wounds.
By that time, Makayla already had a head start on them and was long gone. ”
“Wow. That is quite a story. Would have thought he’d know better than to underestimate one of the women sold specifically because they're so wild,” he said, once again reaching for the tablet.
As badly as he wanted to know more, to get the address he needed to send Prey in after Makayla, if he acted desperate for the information, he’d give himself away.
“No more iPad for you,” Griffin snapped at him as though he were a toddler begging for more screen time.
“Why not?”
“Because I need you to get on a plane and go to Japan. I need to send someone there to fix this mess. Ideally, you’ll be able to find the girl and return her, after punishing her, of course.
If not, you’ll need to apologize to Mr. Watanabe and have him choose another woman to replace this one.
If he decides he doesn’t want another woman from Azure, we will offer to purchase her for him.
I want the girl stopped before she can get to the cops, but if not, then I want her taken care of as soon as she gets back home.
She knows too much, and she’s going to be a talker.
Without her, they’ll have nothing, and I won't risk a repeat of this behavior. So if she isn’t found and returned to her owner, then I want her taken care of. For good.”
Van understood what his boss was saying. Makayla was a liability they couldn’t afford and it was safer to have her dead than able to escape again and talk, but he had an entirely different plan in place for taking care of his girl.