I had to bite my tongue and hide it with what I hoped he took as a sweet smile. “Oh, nothing special. Just an office manager. Not nearly as exciting as what you do, I bet.”
The smarmy look on his face made me want to throat punch him. Whatever charm Allan possessed at the club had fallen away in the bright light of the condo. His knee bobbed in a restless pattern, and he kept his attention wholly focused on me in a creepy way. The small crease between his brows told its own story.
“What, the Rohypnol not kicking in as fast as you thought?” My tone was light and teasing, so the words didn’t register in his head immediately. But I enjoyed the decomposing of Allan’s face as it went from impatient, to shocked, to scared, and landed on extremely pissed off.
“What do you—”
My leg was over his hip with my left hand shoved against his throat before he could get the question out. The full glass fell tothe floor, spilling its contents all over the white rug. Watching his blue eyes widen in shock was satisfying enough to make this whole role-playing experience worthwhile. Allan’s mouth opened again, and I shoved the knife strapped high on my right thigh against his carotid artery. A pitiful whimper leaked from his lips when the blade pressed enough to draw a drop of blood that trickled down onto my hand. The keychain dangling off its handle clacked loudly as it swayed with the motion. At least he was smart enough not to thrash and end my fun too early.
“I’m done playing,” I hissed. “Let’s not pretend we don’t know exactly who each other is,Nick Elgan.Trafficking women doesn't count as exporting, asshole.”
“I’m not—” Nick tried to shake his head, but I pressed even closer. “You crazy bitch, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Oh yeah? Flip the cushion beside you.”
His jaw shifted side to side in frustration.
“Do. It.”
Allan–or rather, Nick’s–hand crept across the couch to the cushion on his left, the one he had essentially pushed me over to avoid sitting on. The one that was just a little higher than its neighbor and slightly lumpy. Spitting a curse, he pushed the cushion to the floor to show what I already knew was there.
Hatred burned bright in his watery eyes. As I held my advantage, I glanced over to take in the rope, a rag probably soaked with chloroform, and his own rather large knife. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? I doubt too many girls you bring back are into being drugged and tied up. That looks like a trafficker’s starter kit to me.”
His chest began to rise and fall rapidly with his ragged gasps. Those tears pooling in his eyes now dribbled down his cheeks, and he shifted like he was trying to unbalance me. My legs tightened their death hold on his waist, and my hand on his chest slid up to twist into his hair and pull his head to a painfulangle. Nick’s eyes rolled like a scared sheep that had been thrown to the ground and pinned.
“Who do you report to?”
Nick bared his teeth and tried to spit on me. It landed on his chin and slid down his jaw, making him look like even more of a mess. “I’m not telling you anything, bitch!”
The charming façade had completely fallen away. All that was left was an angry, scared little man who was pissed at getting bested by a woman. “Works for me,” I chirped happily.
Then I reversed the knife with a quick flick of my hand and jammed it all the way to the hilt, where his pulse thrummed. Nick immediately started to gurgle and thrash as I ripped the blade all the way across his throat to the opposite ear. His neck gaped wide and gushed blood all over both of us when I tilted his head all the way back, watching the life drain from his eyes. I was propped all the way up on my knees, looking down on his red-splattered face while his mouth opened and shut like a fish out of water.
“Tonight was fun, but you’re not my type,” I slapped his cheek, hard. Nick’s eyes had already stilled along with the rest of his body, arms lying limp on either side of him as the massive gash across his throat went from spewing blood to a slow trickle. The entire front of my sparkly pink dress was completely soaked through and sticking to my skin. It separated with a wetshluckwhen I pulled it away, pinched between my thumb and pointer finger.
My face twisted in disappointment as I walked toward the front door and dug for my cell phone, still tucked away in my clutch. I loved this dress. If I could kill that asshole all over again for ruining it, I would. Still holding the now-scratchy fabric from my torso, I pulled the phone out and opened it with my cleaner hand. Taylor’s name was pinned at the top of my text window.
Hey, got him.
*eye roll* Really? You couldn’t wait one more hour until I was done with recon? Damn girl, you’re impatient.
I was the one who rolled my eyes this time.Dropping a pin, can you send a crew and come pick me up?
You know I will.
Thanks, bruh.
Heaving a tired sigh, I looked back on the mess I made of Nick’s once-pristine condo. It probably wasn’t even his. Catching this trafficker in the club was a stroke of luck. Really, it felt like catching one fish in a sea full of them. Sometimes I wondered if it was worth it, hunting down all these monsters who thought they could just take advantage of people and sell them like cattle. That little niggling doubt was quickly squashed, though.
I am who I wish someone had been for me ten years ago. And that’s all I needed to keep going.
The Camgirl
Grant
It’s nine o’clock at night, and I’m still staring at the white textured ceiling in this borrowed bedroom, like I was going to divine some fucking answers from the random patterns. It wasalready Thursday, and all I could think about was the sweet-spiced vanilla scent stuck in my nose since leaving the Masked Merrow. Never in my life had I cursed my exceptional sense of smell than I did right now.
I couldn’t be certain, since the woman was clearly wearing something to muddle her smell. From what I remember of Reggie waxing on about when he found my foster mom, Felicity, I had my suspicions. How he couldn’t stop thinking about her, how every time he caught the barest notes of her scent, it would steal all his attention, and how every female after smelled bland and wholly unattractive… I couldn’t imagine it before, but I’m living the experience now. Walking through the club after leaving the office had my nose wrinkling, balking at scents that weren’t offensive when I first wove through the dance floor to meet the alleged club owner.
