“He has a buyer for the little virgin. They want her untouched. I don’t know who it is.”
“Is it the senator?” I rear back and aim for his other knee, but he begs me to stop.
“No, no, wait. Don’t hurt me anymore. I’ll tell you what you want. We just told him we would sell her to him. A better offer came in when I posted a picture. Someone Andrus wants to impress. A bigwig in DC. Something about him being due her because he purchased her before, but she escaped.”
I stop and turn to Cronus. He shakes his head. He’s not telling me something.
“Who?” I pull back, ready to smash the other leg.
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me, but he’s like in line near the president.”
I pause and turn to Cronus, who is already up and out of the room. The one thing we made sure of was that no signals could work down here.
He’s racing up the stairs, and I turn back to Diego, who is mumbling something.
“She’s not the important one. It’s the crazy bitch that Ahriman wants back.” His voice fades as he loses consciousness. His words hit me.
“Water, now,” I bark, and Thanatos walks to the wall and kicks on the hose. He sprays Diego, who wakes sputtering. “What do you mean he wants her back?”
He coughs, and I poke him in the stomach with the bat.
“Tell me,” I demand, and his head rolls before he stares at me.
“She blew up his yacht.” He falls into unconsciousness again, and I drop the bat as I rush up the stairs.
I bypass Cronus and run for the shower, where I clean myself up, washing away the bits of blood splatter before heading out. I can’t focus on anyone except getting back to my files and confirming what he just said.
By the time I find the information I need, it’s late into the night, but I know how I can get Fury to help me. I open the chat again, knowing he’s a few hours behind us.
Me
They’re in danger. The trafficker who owned mine knows she’s alive and is after her and M.
I don’t use their real names, just in case.
FuryBC
Fuck. I’ll get a message to them if I can. I don’t know where they’re headed, but when I do, I’ll reach out.
Again, he closes out and leaves me hanging. So, he knows it’s them, and he has been the one helping them. I figure it has something to do more with Maisy than Stormy, but I can’t search his background to find out without alerting him to the fact.
I need to find out what Cronus figured out, and I need to tell him what I found out.
Chapter Eleven
Stormy
Las Vegas, NV
As I walk along the dark street, the hair on the back of my neck rises.
Nonchalantly, I stop and glance around. I don’t see anyone, but there’s a car down the block with its parking lights on, just sitting there. I wish I had brought Gurgi with me. I should have, but I didn’t want to leave him tied up on the corner while I went into the grocery store. They don’t allow animals in there unless they’re service animals. Part of me has thought about saying he’s one, but I think that would mean I’d have to register him. I’m not sure. I’ve heard I would, and I’ve heard I wouldn’t, but I can’t register him without giving my name.
I chose for us to come to Las Vegas, but now I’m regretting it. I picked this city because I thought it would be easy to hide in plain sight, but I forgot this is the most telemonitored city. There’s practically a camera on every street. It’s only a matter of time before Atlas finds me. For now, we’re stashing money before moving on to the next city.
Maisy and I ended up heading down into Texas after Arkansas, where we changed trucks again. Now, with some of Fury’s help, we have a small apartment that allows pets, and both of us work at an off-Strip casino. We made it through the Christmas holiday, which only made me miss home more. The desert has nothing on snowcapped ridges and mountains.
Just the thought of Atlas makes my heart ache. He’s been on my mind a lot. I remember everything about our night together and how he made me feel. Now my body craves him. I wake in the middle of the night sweating and in need of a release that I can’t give myself, no matter how hard I try.
