“Three this time. We’re not sure what happened to the other two, but we at least are getting the three out of here.”
“Good to hear. How many bodies should I tell the crew to expect?”
“Affirmative. We have six bodies.”
“Busy, busy boy. Did any of them have the brand?”
“All of them did. Shit’s pissing me off. Every ring we take down is a dead end.”
“Every truth eventually comes to light, Kayden. I know you’ll figure this out.”
“Yeah, yeah. Words of wisdom and all that. I’ll let you go, though. Thanks, Emilia.”
“Anytime.”
The line goes dead and I quickly shoot off the text with my location. Emilia’s connections have made my life so much easier these past few years. Her clean up crew is the best of the best. Granted, my own team wasn’t bad, but her team is specialized in this sort of thing. Torture and murder tends to go hand in hand with the mafia lifestyle she runs.
Leaving the sack of shit’s body down here, I make my way up the stairs and nearly run into my lead operative, Donovan.
“Whoa there, Boss.” He reaches a hand out to my shoulder, but I shrug him off. I’ve never been big on people touching me. It’s nothing against him, it’s just the way I am. Receiving pain instead of tender touches from the people that gave you life will do that to you, I suppose. I remember giving Emilia a hug years ago the night she drugged us and it took everything in me to even do that.
“How we doin’, Donovan?” I peer behind him, taking in a few of my men supplying immediate medical aid to the women in the home. You would think that these pieces of shit would want the women untouched and in perfect condition for selling, but the longer I’m in this game of dismantling their operations, the more I see that couldn’t be further from the truth. These low-level trafficking rings rape and abuse these women like they have no care in the world. These women are only good to them for one sole purpose, and that’s to serve. It’s sickening.
“We’re good to head out if you’re ready? The women have been patched up as good as we can until we get them to Eden.”
They’ll be free to stay at Eden until they feel well enough to leave and they have their living situation figured out. Most of thewomen accept the money and housing we provide them with, though. The housing usually consists of an apartment building or condo that I own, with options all across the United States. No one is forced to stay here if they don’t want to. I understand better than most the want—no, need—to start fresh somewhere and leave their demons behind. I can’t thank my adoptive parents enough for doing the same for me.
“Let’s round up the boys and get out of here. I’m fucking tired.” No one knows I was up all night watching Dani sleep, but it’s no one’s business but my own anyway.
“Ten-four, Boss,” he replies to me before shouting over to the other guys, “Team, let’s move out!”
Now that this mess is taken care of, it’s time to rest so that I can keep an eye on Dani later.
Five
Dani
The morning sun creeps into my bedroom, lighting up my eyelids as I fight to stay asleep just a little bit longer. Turning over in bed, I feel Amzee’s claws tangled in my hair and I gasp from the pain as my hair gets pulled from the roots.
“Amzee Marie. Get your stinkin’ paws out of my hair!”
Meow.
Rolling my eyes, I reach up and untangle my hair from her claws, tapping her butt once I do to get her off my pillow. Laying my head back down, I stare up at the ceiling, contemplating what I should do with my day. Normally my weekends are my time to catch up on much needed sleep and run to the store for groceries, but now that my fridge and cupboards are full, I have some free time.
Pulling myself from the warmth of my bed, I move to the bathroom to get ready. My lush black hair is usually the longest part of my routine; it doesn’t look like it, but my hair is thick so straightening it takes forever. Once I’m finally satisfied with it, I add a light dusting of makeup, placing mascara on my lashes and white eyeliner on my bottom lash line. My eyes used to be one of my strongest attributes when I was modeling. I would get compliments left and right over them. They’re a soft sea-foam green with a darker green around the edges and an almost golden ring in the middle surrounding my iris. I would be lying if I said they weren’t my favorite feature.
My body is covered with piercings in my nose, septum, eyebrow, lip, and belly button. After being rescued, I sort of went all out getting piercings and tattoos. I think part of me was trying to erase any hint of the woman I used to be—the model with perfect, unflawed skin. I felt like modeling got me into the mess I ended up in, and I was set in my desire to wipe that version of myself off the planet. Friends from my past life probably wouldn’t even recognize me now, and I think that’s what I was going for all along.
After cleaning up and putting away everything in the bathroom, I stumble as I walk into my bedroom when my phone gives out a loud blare, causing my heart to nearly burst from my chest.Good god, what the hell was that?
I grab my phone from my nightstand, noticing it’s an alarm. I don’t remember setting any alarms… and the title of the alarm says “Take morning meds.” Did I set an alarm last night after I took my sleep meds and then forgot about it?Shit, maybe I do need to go back to therapy. Why am I having a sudden lapse in my memory? I shrug my shoulders, wanting nothing more than to move on with my day, and turn off the alarm. Setting my phone down, I catch a glimpse of something I didn’t notice before. A daisy… a single daisy lays on my nightstand. Was someone in my apartment? A chill runs down my spine imagining whoever it is still in my home. I cautiously and quietly open the nightstand drawer to take out my gun from the hidden compartment at the bottom. I quickly turn off the safety and ensure I have one bullet loaded and ready to go.
Stepping lightly out of my room, I look all over the apartment but don’t see anyone here. Was this Derek? I know he gave me my apartment key back, but there’s no way of knowing if hecopied the key before that. I curse myself for not changing the locks.
Still anxious, I walk back to my bedroom and put my gun away before picking up the daisy. I twirl it in my fingers and smell the flower. A sweet, fresh floral scent tickles my nose, and I put a hand over my face to hold back a sneeze. Daisies are one of my favorite flowers. Another chill runs down my spine. Someone was in my apartment… maybe when I slept? Or maybe yesterday before I got home and I just never noticed the flower? Iwastired after my date and my sleep meds have a habit of making me loopy.
Part of me wants to call the police and make a report, but another part of me doesn’t want to involve the authorities. Since getting my new identity, I try to avoid them as best I can. An errant thought has me pausing. Kayden did admit that he’s been following me. Could this be from him? What about the groceries?
