“And Range,” Marla said as she sat with her back pressed to mine.
“And Wrecker,” Amanda said as she collapsed down onto the bed with a blanket wrapped around her.
“And Cap,” Ariel whispered as she stood in the hallway, staring down the length of it.
Where those asshats ripped them away from us in handcuffs.
“Same with my brother’s crew,” I said, trying to reassure Char with all my might. “I don’t know what screws the DOJ has that are loose. I don’t know what in the hell is going on, but you can trust us. All of us.”
“Including me,” Marla said. “I know what you’re going through, Char. I know what it’s like to be tortured by the people who had you in their grasp. We will make sure the DOJ pays for this. Because those men are good.”
“And when we’re done with them?” I said as I scooped Char even closer to me. “The DOJ will have to declare bankruptcy just to survive us.”
“You got that fuckin’ right,” Ariel said before she stormed into the room and hopped onto the bed with her sister.
And as all of us fell silent, save for Char’s sniffling and tears that she just couldn’t hold back, I vowed revenge on the entirety of the DOJ.
Because there was no way in hell they were getting away with this.
Not after what The Iron Battalion and The Devil’s Legion had done to help them.
26
BRUTUS
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" My wonderful, beautiful Anna screamed as the man arresting me yanked me out into the hallway. "THEY DIDN'T FUCKING DO ANYTHING!"
I went to call out to her again, but Cap shot me a look over his shoulder. A look that said, this is what we all agreed to. Don't blow it.
My guilt was outstanding.
We should've told the girls this was part of the plan.
Out the door we went, one by one, with the DOJ slapping cuffs onto us without even reading our rights. Jasmine was quick to the punch, and even I could see the pride in Ghost's eyes, even as they shoved him through the front door of Anna's home.
I looked around at all of the broken glass. The gas that had filled the area just to make things look good. The doors slammed in, the knobs jammed into the plaster of her walls.
Would I ever be able to make this place safe for her again? Had this really been the only way to execute this? All of the men had agreed in church except for me. None of them seemed to take into account that this was Anna's home.
I'll make you a new one. I'll fix it. I swear it.
My silent vow had to be enough, because when I got shoved out the front door toward one of the blacked-out SUVs that had rolled up on us in the middle of the night, I had to pay attention to something else.
The shrieking girls behind us curdled my stomach. For the first time in probably my entire adult life, I felt the start of tears burning behind my eyes. I swallowed the knot in my throat.
"I'm sorry," I whispered as the DOJ officer placed his hand on top of my head. "Duck," he muttered.
I grunted as I got shoved into the back of the vehicle.
Make them let go. Please.
For as long as I lived, I'd never forget her face. The whimper that came from the back of her throat. The desperation in her gaze. The thing I'd seen in her eyes when she pulled back to look at me, like she was trying to read something she couldn't quite translate.
She'd almost had it. She was close.
Anger surged through me. It took every ounce of energy I could muster within my body to sit in the back of that goddamn vehicle with my hands cuffed behind my back. I reminded myself of the church meeting. Of the agreement we all made. In order to keep the women safe, it had to look like we were being arrested, too. That way, if any stragglers from the trafficking ring were watching, they'd assume we were swept up in this just as much as they were. So that they didn't retaliate against the girls for our actions.
"You better not fucking do that again," Ranger growled as the door on the other side of the SUV ripped open.
