“You lied to me,” Mace stands over him and pulls out his gun. I almost take a step forward to stop him but one angry glare from Mace tells me not to try it. My mind is working overtime, connecting dots.
When I was working at the carnival, the place where Dirt found me, this kind of thing happened there. No one talked about it and a lot of people weren’t aware of it, but I was more observant than most people and for a guy who kept to himself, I got interested.
Every now and then women would show up, sometimes for a couple of hours, others stayed until the following evening, but they were moved on in the dead of night. Most of them were beaten, nervous and shrunk away from any kind of attention.
“Prez.”
Mace visibly reacts to me calling him that. I can’t tell if it’s a good or a bad thing. But this situation needs to be de-escalated as quickly as possible.
“Can I talk to him?”
Mace’s jaw clenches. When he doesn’t say no, I step closer to the man on the ground.
“Are you part of a network?” I ask him, quietening my voice. This guy is close to shitting his pants.
“No,” he shakes his head, his eyes change as he realizes I know what is going on. “I’m taking her to… I’m not supposed to say,” his voice breaks. “They said I had to get her to a meeting point.”
I crouch down in front of him and hold his eyes. They’re full of so much pain.
“The Veil Line?”
He’s shocked at my quiet words but after a moment, he nods.
Shit. I stand up and stare off into the distance. It’s been a long time since I heard that name.
“What is he talking about?” Mace asks as quietly as I spoke to the man. “What network?”
Nodding at the man on the floor to let him know it’s okay, I turn to Mace and indicate I want him to move away. He tells Hozier to watch the guy but not to pull his gun again. That tells me a lot about Hozier.
When we’re far enough away I blow out a heavy breath. “He’s taking her to an underground network in Ohio called the Veil Line. They will make her disappear.”
Mace’s face grows angrier, misunderstanding what I mean. I hold up a hand.
“She’s escaping a violent situation. He’s doing it to save her life.”
From the look on his face, he’s starting to figure it out. I take a moment to decide if I trust him. Despite our issues, he’s not a bad person, he’ll handle this the way it’s supposed to be. I take a chance.
“I was once a part of the Veil Line.”
Chapter Ten
Cassie
Splashing my face with water over a public bathroom sink isn’t going to cut it. I need a shower. A long one, where I can scrub my body clean. Not that it will wipe away the horrible feeling I have inside me. No amount of scouring my skin will wash that away.
The image of her crying is embedded in my gray matter, it will never go away. Every time I close my eyes I see her fighting it, so hard. I’m certain the inside of her cheek is raw from chewing it to stop herself, but she couldn’t stop a few rogue tears falling.
It should have been enough to make me falter, to call it to a stop. The line of questioning tore that poor woman apart. I had to go through with it and then sit there and watch as she pulled herself together, stood up with her head held high and walked out of that room as strongly as she could.
For one split second she looked at me, maybe thought there was some spark of decency within me but her face hardened against me. I’m the enemy in her eyes.
Being part of the reason she cried is tearing me up. My work doesn’t usually get to me this way. Taking depositions is one of the easiest parts of the job. This time, not so much, because I believe her.
Now it’s my turn to put on a show. To harden all my edges and sit through this meal with these so-called men. Celebrating and congratulating themselves on knocking her down, on destroying her when she is fighting so hard to be that rare person who stands up to the man who hurt her.
Being dragged along on this dinner with Vance and Harry, watching them behave this way is leaving an even worse taste in my mouth.
I’d seen the way her lawyer looked at me too. The judgment, the disdain. Wondering how the hell I can defend a man like him.
