Eventually, she runs out of words and slumps against the couch, exhausted, then Jake takes over.
“When Jacinta stumbled into the police station early this morning, I was immediately alerted. She was able to tell us how to get back to the place where they were all held. We’re hoping they haven't noticed she’s missing yet since they were having some kind of party when she got free.”
“That seems like a long shot to me,” Kai grumbles, and Jake shoots him a sympathetic look.
“Yeah, it’s not a lot to go on, but it’s our only lead at the moment.”
“I’m coming with you. Give me five minutes,” Thomas orders as he hurries down the hallway to get changed, I guess.
Again, we hear a commotion at the front door, but when I go to see what’s happening, Melinda and Chuck come rushing down the hallway. When she sees Jazzy, Melinda cries out, her eyes darting around like she’s trying to find Harlow as well. The moment she realizes Harlow isn't here, she bursts into tears.
Dad gets up and goes over to the two of them. “Come sit, I’ll fill you in on what’s happening. We have to let Jake and Thomas go.”
Melinda follows Dad, but Chuck has a familiar stubborn set to his shoulders. He crosses his arms. “No way, I want to go wherever they are,” he insists, but Melinda cries even louder, shaking her head, and he visibly softens. “Okay, I’ll stay and wait. I trust you guys to get our Harlow.”
“We aren’t going to take no for an answer,” Oli chimes in, turning to look at Jake. I know that Jake is going to have a major argument on his hands if he says no, so I’m relieved when he nods.
“I thought you might say that. You can come, but you have to stay back until either Thomas or I give you the all-clear. That is non-negotiable. I willnothave civilians getting in the way.”
“Agreed,” Oli immediately says, looking mighty pleased with himself.
“Dad, you, Chuck, and Poppy stay here. We’ll let you know as soon as we find them,” Declan says as Thomas returns wearing his bulletproof vest over the top of his shirt. He already has his gun in hand, checking the magazine.
“Let’s go,” Jake says, and the five of us follow him out. When we reach the foyer, Thomas turns to us. “Declan, you come with me and Jake. You three go in my SUV.”
Kai, Oli, and I head toward the garage exit while Declan follows Thomas and Jake out the front, and soon enough, we’re flying down the driveway.
“I can’t believe Raquel is involved with this as well. I hope we can get to them before she tries to do anything to Jaxon. What’s with the Summer boys attracting batshit crazy women?” Oli’s low ramble shifts the back of my mind, my focus on the way we’re speeding down the road.
“Like you haven't dated your fair share of freaks. What about that guy in college who wouldn’t go out on a full moon? It wasn’t until the third month that you discovered it was because he thought he was a werewolf because he insisted you chain him to the bed so he wouldn’t infect you. Jacinta didn’t let you live that down for months,” Kai snaps back, going on the defense, and I cringe as I remember who he’s talking about. Oliver was with that guy for about three months, and I avoided going anywhere I thought they might be during that time. It was awful.
“Yeah, yeah, baby daddy,” Oli mutters defensively, and I hush him.
“Stop it now, both of you. No point in tearing into one another. We’ve got to be team Summers to help Jaxon and Harlow through this,” I scold them, desperately hoping there’s a Jaxon and Harlow to get through this once we’re done.
The wait in the car is excruciating. Declan joined us once we arrived, and our car was parked out of the way of the house that the others had been kept in. It was about a half-hour drive from our place, sitting at the end of a long dirt drive, almost surrounded by trees. We’re under strict directions not to come down until we get a call from our brother or Jake.
By the time we get the all-clear, we’re all ready to run to the house if needed. Kai rushes our car down the driveway instead, and the four of us jump out once we pull up next to Jake’s car. There’s a lot of police officers milling around, and an uneasy feeling washes over me as I scan the chaos for a hint of my brother or our girlfriend. Thomas’ face confirms what I’m afraid of when he comes slamming out the front door of the house.
“Fuck!” he screams, and my heart sinks. No, they can’t be dead. I grab for Oli’s hand, and he latches onto me, expressing my thoughts out loud.
Our brother comes striding over to us, and with each step, his face settles into something that’s closer to anger than devastation. Maybe the worst hasn’t happened yet?
“They’re not here,” he tells us when he gets to us, and although I’m disappointed, I’m also relieved that he’s not giving us worse news. “They must have moved after they realized Jacinta was missing.” Just as he says that, Jake leads a man out, handcuffed, and starts reading him his rights.
“Who’s that?” Declan asks, nodding at the dude, and Thomas sighs heavily. Before he can answer, more men are led out as well as a couple of women.
“All of them were passed out inside the house. I’m assuming this is the party that Jacinta said they were having. The women are whores and one of them was happy to tell us everything. Apparently, she was close enough to the head guy that she knew some details of his plans. The guy with Jake is Sergio Garcia. He’s high up in the chain of the Carrera Cartel out of Mexico, and he was a known associate of the count many years ago. We think the two of them may have had a sex trafficking ring going on. The details the woman shared about what theirclientslike to do… Well, they cater to men who have some depraved tastes.”
“Like what?” Oli asks, and I cringe, waiting for the answer.
“They like to kill and torture while they fuck,” Thomas says flatly. “There’s something else,” he adds, and there’s a small hint of something that might be satisfaction in his eyes when he looks between us and the house again. “Cecelia won’t be a problem anymore. It’s safe to say that she won’t be sabotaging anyone ever again.”
“She’s dead?” Declan asks, sounding shocked, and Thomas nods. Declan heads to the house like he wants to make sure for himself, but none of us follow him. Thomas doesn't even try to stop him.
“Yeah, it’s not pretty. She’s got bruises around her throat, and she’d been sexually assaulted—both anally and vaginally—with a knife.”
“Her mother left her to die?”
