The girl's brow creased, and her eyes shifted to the unconscious girls. "What about—"
"Them too," I promised with another encouraging smile. "I want to get you all out safely. Please..."
After another hesitation, she sniffed heavily and reached out to take my hand. The relief that rushed over me was enough to make my knees weak, but I just pulled her out of the corner as gently as I could and hurried her into the corridor where Alexi and Zed were both on their phones.
Seeing them, the girl gave a scream and cowered behind me. I instantly cursed at myself for not seeing that coming, but I crouched down to wrap my arms around her on instinct.
"It's okay; these two are my friends," I told her, trying to be soothing as she clung to my neck. "No one is going to hurt you anymore. I promise. No one."
How the fuck I was going to follow through on that promise, I had no fucking clue. I could protect this child while she was in my territory but what then? More to the point, why was I making it so damn personal? I should have just called in my Wolves to handle it all, and yet here I was hugging a dirty, tear-stained child.
"Boss," Alexi softly called out. "Transport is incoming. ETA two minutes to south gate."
I gave him a nod of understanding, my stomach a mess of anxiety as I thought about what would happen if these girls were taken in by the dirty SGPD. They'd never make it to any kind of child protection agency. They'd be handed straight back to Chase's slimy associates to be sold on the flesh markets.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" I asked the girl softly, feeling the tug of her fingers twisting my hair. She was locked around my neck now and didn't seem willing to let go.
"Diana," she whispered back, her little face tucked into my neck. "But my sister calls me Deedee."
Cute. Diana was the Roman version of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. I wonder if Deedee knew that.
"I don't like it though," she added in a small, angry voice. "My sister is mean."
A smile curved my lips, and I sighed. "I'm taking Diana down to meet the cars," I told Zed and Alexi. "Get those girls in there moved as fast as possible. We cannot be caught off-guard again. Anything less than flawless on this job will be your last strike, Alexi."
It was unfair of me; he was racing the clock just like I was. But fuck fair. People worked harder when they were properly motivated, and Alexi badly needed to impress me right now.
He jerked an understanding nod, and I scooped Diana up in my arms as I stood. She was light as a feather, and I'd be able to get us out a crapload quicker if I wasn't waiting for her to keep up.
"Dare..." Zed started to follow, but I put out a hand to stop him.
"Stay here and help. There are eight more girls in there who need saving. Save them." My tone was hard, but Diana just clung tighter. Crap, I was scaring the kid.
Zed nodded tightly, and I hurried back toward the stairs we'd entered through. As we got to the top, I whispered to Diana to stay silent.
Somehow, I managed to wiggle my gun free and holding the child with one arm, I swept the area, ensuring we were alone before I raced across the complex. I sent a silent thanks to fate for making me pick up sneakers instead of heels when we left the house, because it made the run a hell of a lot easier with a passenger around my neck.
Three dark vans were pulling into the south gate as I approached, and I recognized the plates as being from Timberwolf garages. Two huge men climbed out of each van, and I jerked my head in acknowledgement at Bulldog. Without his tip, we never would have known those girls had been stashed.
"Interrogation room," I told them. "Be quick and silent. I want everyone gone before cops even get their fucking anonymous tip."
The men all murmured their understanding and took off in the direction I'd come from. Only Bulldog remained behind, silently offering to take Diana from me. I tried to hand her over to him, but the instant she tensed up and tangled her hands in my hair, I knew it wasn't going to work. Poor kid was scared shitless and had latched onto me as her savior.
"It's fine," I murmured. "I'll stay; go help the guys. I want you all back here in less than five minutes."
It was a made-up timeframe, but it got my point across. Bulldog grunted his understanding and loped off into the darkness, shockingly quiet for such a heavy dude.
Alone again, I shoved the side door on one of the vans open and sat on the step, Diana in my lap. "We're alone," I told her quietly. "My friends are going to get all the other girls out, then we'll take you somewhere safe."
The kid relaxed her hold on me slightly, raising her head just enough to look around cautiously. When she was sure I'd told the truth, she carefully climbed out of my lap and sat beside me instead. The tears were all gone now, replaced with a stubborn determination I could relate to.
"Then what?" she asked, blinking up at me. Her face was grubby and her hair greasy and tangled like she'd been denied a shower for way too fucking long. Fury boiled my blood, and I vividly pictured what I would do to the people responsible for her imprisonment—and to her fucking family if they had indeed sold her knowingly.
"Then..." I replied, still imagining violent, messy murders, "then we work out what to do. But I promise you, kid, no one will hurt you."
She stared up at me for a long time, then nodded. Just like that.
43
As it turned out, my Wolves didn't need the full five minutes. They arrived back in three, each of them carrying an unconscious girl. Zed confirmed they'd swept the rest of the rooms and everything was clear, so I ordered the vans to move out—get the girls to my safe house on Wattle Lane where Nadia would meet them.
Diana shed some tears when I told her she needed to go with the other girls. But I reminded her of my promise, and she visibly pulled herself together. Tough little cookie.
Still, there was a sick feeling in my stomach as Zed, Alexi, and I watched the vans pull away with their cargo, like I should have gone with her, if for no other reason than to keep her calm.
Shaking it off, I turned back to Alexi and Zed. "Let's do a sweep of all the buildings," I told them. "Turn lights on if you want, but let's doublecheck in case this is a decoy."
Alexi grimaced. "A distraction in the form of trafficked kids, while the real setup is right under our noses."
I shrugged. "I don't put anything past that psychopathic fuck. Best be sure. Alexi, call in some more teams and get all of our venues swept the same."
He nodded, and the three of us split up to check over the rest of Anarchy. Having been transformed from an old amusement park, there were a lot of places to check. And yet by the time we were done over an hour later, still no cops had turned up on an anonymous tip to find the girls.
I dismissed Alexi, telling him to collect reports from all the other sweep teams and report back. Just as he was about to climb into his car, I called out again.
"Good work tonight, Alexi," I told him, my jaw tight. "This could have all ended a hell of a lot worse."
He seemed shocked by my praise but dipped his head in acknowledgement and drove off into the night. Zed met my gaze over the hood of his car, his eyes questioning, but I didn't have the answers. What the hell had happened here? Why stash those girls and not call the cops in to frame me? Was this all just a headfuck?