Sasha
After about twenty minutes outside, Emily and Julia returned. Both were smiling from ear-to-ear like two satisfied cats who’d just feasted on one hell of a fat canary.
“What did you two do?” Naomi asked. “Spill.”
Stepping forward, Emily went first. “I called a few local reporter friends and told them that someone busted into the Serpents’ compound and found several missing girls and a whole lot of drugs. Oh, and that they found evidence that the city’s chief of police is somehow involved. Every news station in the city is about to land on the Serpents’ back porch and shine a big freaking flashlight on the Seattle PD.”
“Wait, what? I thought they were just going to rescue the girls.” I was so confused. This didn’t sound like the plan we’d discussed at all. “Did they get the girls out?”
“Yes. Sorry. I forgot that part. The girls are safe. The Serpents are currently all handcuffed and ready to be taken into custody. The men aren’t playing around, and they’re sure as hell not letting people get away with trafficking in Seattle. We altered the plan a bit after we left to make sure no amount of money, power, or influence can bury this for the Serpents.”
“It gets better,” Julia said. “Yesterday, I met with Noreen Tomlinson, the wife of the acting mayor, and told her what was happening. She and my mother used to be friends, and I knew she’d see me if I pressed the right buttons. She’s very political and wants nothing more than for her husband to win his current position in the next election. Anyway, Alan Tomlinson’s election platform is all about cracking down on crime, so Noreen will make sure that he’s personally involved in the prosecution of everyone involved in the Serpents’ operation. I sent her the files Morse collected from the bugs Tap planted in Buzz’s office. They’re not admissible in court, but at least the Mayor now knows who to have investigated.”
“This is amazing!” Jayson said, fanning his eyes as he hugged Emily. “This is exactly why I encouraged you to fall for that sexy, brilliant, tattooed, hung-like-a-horse Neanderthal. I knew he’d remind us why we started practicing law in the first place and help renew our faith in the system.”
Laughing, she hugged Jayson back. “Yeah, you were right all along, Jay.”
He sniffled. “I mean, I usually am right, but it’s nice to be reminded of my brilliance every once in a while.”
I was still too shocked to speak. It was more than I could have ever hoped for.
“You okay?” Naomi asked, rubbing my arm.
“Yes. I just… it’s a lot to take in. The Seattle PD is going to be shaken down to its roots. It’ll be interesting to see what all falls out of the branches. It’s still hard to believe that a motorcycle club risked itself to go after these cocksuckers, and that they have amazing women who helped them. I’m just… I need Tap here safe and sound so I can reassure myself that this is real and not some incredible dream I’m having. Are the guys on their way?”
“They’re headed back to the station,” Julia said, typing into her phone. She stopped and looked up at me, her expression softening. “But Tap’s not with them. He went after Breaker.”
Time stopped. It felt like my heart stilled. All the what-ifs I’d been trying not to think of all morning came rushing back to my head, drowning me in worst-case scenario images.
“He’s gonna be okay,” Naomi said, pulling me in for a hug. “Tap is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. He’s calculated. He’s not going to rush into danger and get himself hurt. If he’s going after Breaker, he has a plan.”
My mind knew she was right, but my heart hurt so bad I could barely breathe. After everything I’d lost, I’d finally found something worth keeping. I didn’t want to lose him, too.
***
Tap
Sasha’s living room, kitchen, and bathroom were all clear, leaving only the last room on the right-hand side for me to check. Holding my breath, I grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it, cracking the door open.
Another sleeping gas canister would be really fuckin’ nice right about now.
Unfortunately, I’d only been given one, and I used it in Breaker’s room back at the compound. So, I did what I’d been trained to do, and listened. The faint sound of snoring encouraged me to keep going. Opening the door just wide enough to admit me, I crept in and looked around.
A dresser stood in the corner by the door, a closet was to my right, and a queen-sized bed sat on top of a simple bed frame under the window on the far wall. And Breaker was out cold in the middle of the bed with one hand down the front of his pants and his other resting on the empty bottle of Jack Daniels beside him.
This was exactly why I didn’t drink. There was no way in hell anyone would ever catch me passed out in the bed of a woman who didn’t want me, with my hand down my pants like some pathetic creep.
Breaker disgusted me, but seeing him in Sasha’s bed flipped a switch that filled my veins with rage. Not only had this asshole drugged and fucked her, he’d been in her space, seen her things, and slept in her bed. His presence had violated her apartment before she even got the chance to show it to me. We’d never sleep in this bed now, not after knowing he’d been in it.
Sasha was mine.
Breaker couldn’t find her, but he hadn’t given up. The pizza boxes and fast food wrappers by the side of the bed told me this wasn’t the first night he’d spent here. He wouldn’t give her up. Hell, he had no contact with her, so this was how he’d chosen to fuck with her head.
Goddamn amateur.
The dumbass had no idea what he was up against, but he was about to learn. I pulled my backpack off my shoulder and got to work.
After I was finished, I slipped out of Sasha’s apartment and tugged a burner phone out of my backpack. Disguising my voice as a woman, I called 911 and reported the crime.
