Rhett Carter sure lived up to his responsibility. He is greed personified.
Carter had no right to involve himself in sex trafficking, which is a Lust & Envy responsibility, and it’s against the rules to sell children. It seems Carter had moles in Eric’s operation, and instead of rescuing children and setting them free, these moles were hijacking the operation and funneling the kids back into the system.
The woman in charge of rehabilitating victims within Lust & Envy was bought by Carter to hide his despicable behavior. She has already been taken care of. Skilled experts and grunts have been assigned to a special task force to uncover other illegal sex trafficking rings being run by Carter and a second team created to identify other corrupt elements within our society. It’s work that will need to continue for years to weed out all of Carter’s supporters, but at least we are on top of it now.
We don’t know if Carter was just greedy for more cash, did it to thwart the Lust & Envy Luminary, or if he was offering these kids as sex slaves to high-profile individuals in return for their support. It’s possible he was planning to blackmail Eric Stewart if he needed a Plan B to force him to play ball. It wouldn’t have taken much to convince others it was Stewart who was scamming the system for personal gain.
We have a solid case now with irrefutable evidence, and it’s enough to justify killing the bastard. As soon as Carter is found, we’re moving on him.
I am keen to end this. To get justice for my little sister, for Doug, for Chad’s dad, and all the innocents who have been abused or killed at Carter’s hands.
“Ares?”
Lili’s soft tone drags me out of my head. “Yes, munchkin.”
She smiles at my familiar nickname for her. “You zoned out.”
“Sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind.” I didn’t even realize we had stopped walking.
“Lili was commenting on how different you look too. She loves your ink.” Ash waggles her brows.
“I love Ash’s hair too,” Lili adds, smiling at my woman. “And I can’t wait to meet Bree and see her blue hair. Do you think Mum would let me dye my hair pink or maybe purple?”
“I don’t see why not.” Mom is pretty free-spirited, and I think Lili will have both of us wrapped around her little finger now. I can’t see myself denying my little sister anything after her ordeal.
“I can take you to the salon if Hera okays it,” Ashley says. “We can make a day of it and get manis and pedis too.”
Lili shrieks, the sound penetrating my eardrums. “That would be so awesome.” Emotion swells my chest as my sister hugs my girl.
“Thank you,” I mouth over Lili’s head as Ash hugs her.
“Are we all going to live here now?” Lili asks, shucking out of Ash’s embrace.
I shake my head. “Things are a bit up in the air. We need to keep you and Mum protected, so you’ll be going to live in a secure location until it’s safe for us all to be together.”
The smile drops off her face. “I don’t want to be separated from you.” She snuggles into my side as tears pool in her eyes. “I missed you so much, and I always feel safe when I’m with you.”
Taking her hands in mine, I hunch over so we’re face-to-face. “I promise we’ll all be together soon. This is only temporary.”
“You’ll be living with friends of ours,” Ash says. “Tessa is fourteen, and I think you’ll both get along great.”
“I don’t want to ever go back there, Ares.” A visible shudder sweeps over her body. “It was horrible.”
Acid churns in my gut, and I work hard not to show too much emotion. “Did they?.” I stop, fighting the bile climbing up my throat. Ash moves to my side, offering silent comfort. “Did they hurt you?” I rasp.
ChapterFifty
Ares
Slowly, Lili shakes her head. “No. Not like that,” she whispers. “They didn’t touch me, and I had my own room, and they fed me and gave me clothes. I wasn’t allowed the internet or a phone, but they gave me books and art supplies and games. They let me swim every day, and if I was sick, they gave me medicine. Not like the other girls and boys.” Her voice wobbles, and she looks down at her feet.
Relief comingles with horror at her words. Ash squeezes my arm in support. I bundle my sister into my arms, holding her against my chest. “I’m sorry for whatever you had to go through, Lili, and I promise, I swear to you on my life, that nothing like that will ever happen to you again. I would die before I let anyone take you away.”
“They were so mean to the other kids,” she says, her words muffled slightly against my chest. “They made me watch sometimes. If I was ever bratty or at times when I cried for you and Mum, they would force me to watch men doing…horrible things to them.” A strangled sound rips from her throat, and I hold her closer, squeezing my eyes shut, hating my sister had to see anything like that. Hating how her innocence is now gone and fearing what all of this might do to her attitude and response to sex.
I’m grateful it wasn’t her. Which sounds awful, because those other poor kids endured hell, but I’m so glad she wasn’t subjected to that. It’s more than I dared to hope.
“It was sick,” she whispers, clinging more tightly to me. “And they beat them and starved them and…and killed them sometimes.”
