Shoving his magazine into place on his Glock, he nods, “Got it.”
For such a large investor in the trafficking operation for this region, the only security this guy has is locks on his door and a security system that we disabled when we cut off the power. Spits said that the piece of shit has been doing this for a long time, he probably thinks he’s untouchable.
There are no guards inside the house either, but the show of wealth covers the walls and furniture from floor to ceiling.
We silently search the bottom floor, and I signal to Scott that Jax and I are going upstairs, he gives me a thumbs up and turns to work on his part of the plan. To make sure that there is nothing left of the house and make it look like an accident.
Not sure what we’ll find upstairs, we move back-to-back through the large hallway. I point Jax to the door at the end, which is the master bedroom and I move to the first bedroom to see if my friend Miller is inside. The bed in this room is empty, so I back out and as I move to the second door a scream pierces the quiet.
Turning my back to the wall, I wait to see if one of the other two bedroom doors will open. I don’t have to wait long.
A big, burly guy in nothing but sweats, holding a gun, steps into the hallway and I level my barrel at his temple, “Stop.”
He freezes and holds his hands up, the gun dangling from his finger, in my ear I hear Jax, “I’ve got the boss, what do we do with the wife and kid?”
The wife and kid are an unwanted surprise.
“On my way.” I say to Jax, “Move.” I say to the guy in the hall and tip my head toward the master bedroom as I grab the gun from his hand, he has a scar on his neck, and excitement bubbles in my chest.
A baby starts crying as we step into the master bedroom, the boss is sitting on the side of his bed in his boxers with his hands up. The wife is sitting up but still under the covers with them pulled up over her bare chest, her scream scared the baby in the crib in the sitting area and it’s screaming at the top of its lungs.
“On your knees.” I press my gun against the back of Miller’s head and wait for him to get down before I look at the woman, “Do you have access to a car?”
Her eyes flick to the man sitting on the edge of the bed and back to me before she nods her head.
Lifting the gun I took from Miller just moments ago, I point it at the wife, “Get the baby and get out, this place will be nothing but ash soon.”
Her hands are shaking, and she looks at the boss again, fear crossing her face, and then to Jax before she looks at me. She slides out from under the satin sheets, grabs her robe at the end of the bed to cover her naked body, and then runs to the laundry hamper close to the crib.
I look over to Jax, keeping her in my peripheral, who looks at me, while keeping the gun aimed in her direction to give her privacy as she slips on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt she pulls from the hamper.
She turns to me as she lifts the baby, “I want to get the money from the safe.”
“Don’t you dare, you fucking bitch.” The boss grinds out between clenched teeth.
Jax hits him on the forehead with his gun, “Shut up.”
She ignores him and starts bouncing the baby on her hip,her eyes locked on mine, “I’m not married to him, I never wanted to be here, if I don’t take the money from the safe, I have nothing.”
Stories Sloane told me about living job to job and hoping she had enough to get a hotel room come to mind, and she didn’t have a baby to take care of while doing it. I look at the silk robe on the floor that she discarded when she got dressed, “Give me the belt from the robe.”
It slides out of the loops as she picks it up and hands it to me, “Step away,” I say when I take it, and she steps back to the crib. I hogtie Miller on the floor and turn back to her, “Show me the safe.”
She runs from the room, and I toss the second gun to Jax as I follow her. She passes Scott downstairs, staring at him with wide, terrified eyes as she runs to the office behind the kitchen. Her focus is solely on getting to the safe, she doesn’t even look in my direction as she pushes a part of a bookshelf with her palm, and it clicks open to reveal the safe hidden behind it.
With swift fingers, she turns the knob and pushes the bar down to pull the door open, grabs a folded duffel from the top, and starts shoving stacks of money into it. There has to be half a million to a million stacked in that safe, she reaches back in, but her hand falters and she turns to me, “I want to take the gun, I need to be able to protect myself.”
Stepping over to where she is, I see the Ruger on the shelf. I grab it, eject the clip and the bullet in the chamber, and drop all three pieces into the bag. “Anything else?”
She nods, grabs a couple of velvet bags from the same shelf the gun was on, and drops them into the duffle. I zip it for her since the baby has laid its head on her shoulder and gone back to sleep and loop the strap over her other shoulder.
Before she turns to leave the room, she whispers, “This is about the girl that was in the basement yesterday, isn’t it?”
I look over her face, she is young and pretty, too youngand pretty for the asshole upstairs, and nod my head.
“I knew it, they rarely bring girls here. Tell her I’m sorry I didn’t help her, I couldn’t, or he would take my baby and probably kill me.” She pauses and whispers again, her lip pulling up to bare her teeth, “I was taken to be one of those girls, but he liked me and kept me like a dog. So, thank you.”
Nodding again, I step to the side so she can leave the room. I follow her through the kitchen, and she slips on some shoes next to the door and grabs a set of keys from the counter. I watch her strap the baby into a car seat in a black Land Rover and she lifts the garage door and leaves.
