"Most of them are dead now. Because of you," the Handler spit out.
"Tragic," Tristan heard Tag snark.
"Who else besides the guys at the houses?"
"A few drivers, a couple of enforcers, a cleaner."
"Is that it?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"I want their info."
"It's on my phone. Your guys already took it."
There was noimmediate answer, and Tristan heard some shuffling. "Show us," Cade commanded.
A few murmurs that Tristan couldn't make out followed, then he heard Cade again. "And that's everyone?"
"Yeah."
"So without you two and the Broker, without the guys in the houses and these few stragglers, no more girls will go missing? No one's going to take over your business?"
"No."
"And you're sure about that? There's no one else?"
The Handler murmured, "No, no one else."
Tristan dragged in a breath, acutely satisfied and relieved that these people would not be able to hurt anyone ever again.
"Anything else?" Cade asked in his normal voice.
Tag answered, "No. I think we're done."
"Okay, so what's in the bag?" Cade asked conversationally.
"Mostly the usual, but I did get a new cordless drill."
"Cool. What should we start with?"
"I cooperated!" Glasses yelped indignantly, just as the Handler shrieked, "You said you were going to put us down easy!"
Cade growled with barely contained rage, "Yeah, well I lied. Wanna know why? That man you took? That you sold? He's mine. The moment you messed with him, you sealed your fate."
Tristan's breath hitched when he heard,He's mine.No one had ever claimed him like that, and though it sounded primitive and maybe even a bit toxic, he had to admit that the possessive declaration made his pulse race, made him believe that maybe he and Cade could have something when this was all over.
Cade continued, "I'm going to kill you slowly, make you writhe in agony. I'm going to enjoy your screams and laugh when you beg for mercy. I'm going to take you apart, piece by piece, and watch you bleed.
"I will make you pay for what you did to my man, his sister, and those hundreds of girls you sold to creeps who raped and tortured them. And while you suffer, the only thing I’ll be thinking is how you earned it by destroying all those lives for money."
A gasp tore from Tristan's throat. He had asked for this retribution and still believed these men deserved it, but for a split second, he questioned the rightness of torturing someone before taking their life.
But then he thought of Natalie and so many other victims who'd been torn from their homes, sold like merchandise, turned over to men who raped them and committed other unspeakable acts, and he decided these monsters deserved everything they got.
He heard the Handler sneer, "You talk about torture? You're no better than me."
Cade's voice was venomous. "I am nothing like you. I don't prey on innocents, I don't sell children to sexual predators, to men who rape and abuse them. I freely admit I'm a killer, and I will have no remorse when I exterminate you. When I go to hell for it, at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing I sent you there first."
