I wiggled my eyebrows. “Then get to talkin’, hot stuff.”
His stare darted back to mine before he drew in a deep breath. “The DOJ has enough from us now.”
That got me to pause. “They’re opening up the investigation?”
He grinned. “More like they finally put the team together, and when the team sat down and assessed everything, they packed their things.”
I gasped. “They’re on the way!?”
He placed his finger to his lips before he nodded, keeping himself silent. I cupped my hand over my mouth and giggled, both out of sheer delight as well as excitement.
Finally, there was an end in sight to all this shit we were pulled into by The Iron Battalion.
But then another question came to mind, and my hand slid away from my mouth. “How’s Charise? That girl my brother’s looking after?”
Brutus nodded. “King says she’s doing good. Talking a little more. Getting her appetite back. She’s got another appointment with Doc today. He hopes she’ll let him draw blood. He’s worried she’s got some sort of infection. King says there’s a smell on her breath in the morning sometimes that doesn’t go away when she brushes.”
I crooked an eyebrow. “My brother knows what her morning breath smells like?”
Bee paused and pointed his fork at me. “You didn’t hear that from me.”
I acted like I zipped my lips closed and locked them with a lock. I flicked the imaginary key away before I hit him with another question.
“Have my brother and his guys figured out anything about the kidnapped woman from this area?”
Bee’s eyebrows rose on his forehead before he leaned back in his chair. “That’s what I wanted to tell you originally. It was a trap.”
My jaw hit the fucking floor. “A what?”
“King heard back from the sheriff. Turns out, those microphones on those cameras The Devil’s Legion petitioned are fucking outstanding. The kidnapping was staged. They were attempting to lure people out who would help, and then take them.”
My jaw hit the fucking floor. “They’ve got a woman working for them in that ring!?”
“It’s her! That’s her! Marla, that’s her! Marla, that’s her! Marla, that’s her!”
Charise’s voice rang out across my house while she chanted. I looked at Brutus with widened eyes before the two of us took off, leaving breakfast in our wake. He barely got the door opened for me before we both crashed out into the hallway, and I ran as quickly as my little flip flops would allow.
Charise’s voice grew to feverish pitches.
“It’s her! It’s her! It’s her! It’s her!”
“Hey, hey, hey,” I heard my brother saying in a calm, collected voice. “It’s all right. It’s just a picture. She’s not here.”
“She took me! It’s her! She took me! It’s her!”
I rounded the corner into the room Charise occupied and I saw her hitting herself. Doc had a handle on her wrists, and my brother had her wrapped up from behind. Marla, bless her soul, did her fucking best to get through to the woman, but it was clear she was spun up in something.
Another flashback, maybe.
“The fuck did you guys do!?” I exclaimed.
“It’s her! It’s her! It’s her! It’s her!” Charise practically shrieked as she tried hitting herself.
Doc released her long enough to reach down into his bag before he pulled out a needle. “She’s gonna feel a pinch.”
“Nooooo! Get her away! It’s her! It’s her! It’s her!”
“Who’s her?” I asked breathlessly as I rushed over to Charise while Doc plunged the needle into the top of Charise’s arm.
