I raise a brow at him.
“What Callie went through…it changed her. She doesn’t have what it takes.”
I have no idea what she went through, but my gut tells me to fight for this girl. Not to have her in the organisation, but to back her and believe her. No one believed I had what it takes, and to be honest, most of the people out there in the room are probably hoping I’ll fail. But I’m determined to prove them wrong.
“What happened to her?”
“She was groomed, kidnapped, trafficked and sold. Tortured and abused,” Devon informs me matter of factly. My stomach drops.
“How did she survive?”
“We called in every favour we had to get her location, and we’re able to intercept her en route to her newest buyer,” East mutters bitterly.
“And the ones responsible?” I ask sharply.
“We’re working on it,” Devon mutters darkly.
“Let us help you.”
“We asked The Order for help, and were told that unless we could pay for the resources, we were on our own. We were tapped out just from getting her location. Twice. We missed her the first time by hours.”
Anger bubbles in my gut and I know, justknowthat The Order’s refusal to get involved came from Harold.
“Well, that was before,” I tell them calmly, though I’m feeling anything but. “You may have noticed that we’re under new management now, and things are being done differently. You have our entire resources at your disposal to bring down the monsters who did this to your girl.”
Devon scoffs.
“What?” I challenge.
“And what if it turns out that she was taken byourskin rings?” I freeze. What? “You didn’t know? What kind of leader doesn’t even know what filthy fucking pies she’s got her pretty little fingers in?”
“Devon, that’s enough,” East warns, but I’m reeling. I once asked the guys about the more criminal aspects of The Order, and they swore to me that the organisation didn’t deal in sex slaves or children. Were they lying to me?
There’s a knock at the door, and someone clears their throat. I blink and call out for whoever it is to enter.
Slate pops his head around the door and frowns when he sees my face.
“Everything okay here?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Just to say we have to start in a few minutes.”
“Give us ten.”
He nods and closes the door once more. I turn back to the table.
“I meant it when I said things are different now. You have the tools at your disposal and I want regular updates. Whatever you need to get this task done, do it. There’s no charge or expectation of favours.” Devon looks incredulous – he doesn’t believe me but I don’t have the time to convince him I mean what I say. He’ll learn soon enough. “However, I still need to know about your other assignment, so fill me in. The abridged version please.”
“Thank you,” East replies quickly. I hold up a dismissive hand. It’s the right thing to do, and if they’re not mistaken and The Order really is dealing in skin, I owe them big time. Because my priority is now shutting that shit down. “We extracted the information from Sebastian. It wasn’t much to go on. He was working exclusively with Harold but doesn’t know his location or his plans.”
Disappointment lances through me.
“But, he was able to give us one thing we didn’t expect,” Devon interjects.
“Which was?”
“He was working with someone. Sebastian never met her, but he heard them talking on the phone together. Often.”
