"She hit her head," Diana said in a small voice, making both Nadia and I turn to look at her.
Nadia raised a brow. "That's good to know, sweetheart. Thank you."
"What's going to happen to us?" one of the other girls asked, her confidence seeming to spark with Diana breaking the quiet. This girl seemed older, maybe thirteen or so, and had a French accent.
Nadia flicked a quick glance at me, then pursed her lips as she returned her gaze to the girl who'd spoken. "Well, we have a friend coming now to check that you're all recovering from the drugs, then I think it might be nice to have some showers and clean up. What do you think?"
The girl gave a halting nod, her scared gaze flicking between Nadia and me. "But what then? Will we be sold again?"
Nadia blinked a couple of times, then shook her head. "No, child. I told you when you woke up that we're here to take care of you. You're safe."
"Told you," Diana muttered, glaring at the older girl. "They saved us. Idiot."
The other girl's expression darkened like she wanted to reach out and smack Diana for insulting her, but her response was interrupted by the polite chime of the doorbell.
"I'll get it," I muttered, placing my drink down and hurrying to the door.
It was Maria, our nurse, who gave me a quick greeting before bustling through to the living room with her huge medical supply bag tucked under her arm. Before I shut the door again, though, I spotted another car pull up.
Maxine and another girl from Club 22, Sabine, climbed out, both dressed in sweatpants and slippers like they'd rolled straight out of bed, but their faces were creased with worry as they hurried up the front steps to where I waited.
I stepped out onto the porch and gave them an abridged version of events to fill them in.
They both listened attentively, then when I was done, Maxine gave a firm nod. "Got it. Clean them up and get as much personal information as possible so we can get them home again."
"Or not, depending," Sabine added with a shrug. She'd fully understood the subtext when I’d glossed over the need to reunite the girls with their parents.
I nodded. "Exactly."
Maxine gave me a knowing look. My past was closely guarded, but all the current Timberwolves knew about the massacre. Maybe not what sparked it, but they knew that the majority of victims that night had their hands in the flesh trade. Every one of my Wolves knew how deeply I abhorred traffickers, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise that they were so ready and willing to help out.
"We've got this, H," she assured me with a small smile. "Sab and I are good with abused kids."
Sabine snorted. "Birds of a feather and all that shit."
The two of them headed inside, leaving me out on the porch alone. Having them there, along with Nadia and Maria, eased the tension across my shoulders. I fucking sucked with kids, no matter what I’d said to Zed. Hell, maybe if I'd been better, Seph wouldn't be such a spoiled princess now. I screwed up trying to raise her, and I would inevitably screw up trying to talk to those girls in there.
Better someone with a more approachable personality handle them. Maxine and Sabine were perfect.
So instead of heading back inside, I sat my ass down on the porch and waited for Hannah and Gen. A minute later Zed finished his call from where he'd been standing on the lawn, then came to sit on the step with me.
His arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into his side, and his lips pressed to my hair.
"You want to go?" he asked softly after a couple of minutes. "There's not much more we can do tonight."
I nodded vaguely. "Soon."
He didn't question that response, just sat with me in silence until Hannah and Gen pulled up in separate cars just seconds apart.
Shivering, I pushed to my feet to meet them and give the same rundown I'd given Maxine, then told Hannah to use my credit card for anything the girls might need.
She gave me a confident smile in return. "Absolutely, sir. We've got it handled."
I nodded back. "I'll keep my phone on; call if you need me."
Hannah agreed and continued up the steps to the house. Gen lingered a moment, though, a worried frown creasing her brow.
"This is dangerous," she murmured, unnecessarily. "If there are missing-person reports out and they're found here..."
I shrugged. "It's a risk we'll take. I'm not dropping them off at the dirty-as-fuck police station just to be tossed back into the skin market. Max and Sabine are going to try and get some names; your job—"
"Run them through the database," Gen finished for me, her mouth tight. "Understood."
With a quick smile to Zed, she hurried up into the house. Only once she was safely inside did I nod to Zed that we could leave.
As we climbed into his car, I flicked my eyes around and checked off all the backup. All of Alexi's guys, the ones who'd transported the girls, were still present, just out of sight. Smart guys.
44
Cass was already home by the time we got back to the house, sitting at the dining table and playing poker with Lucas. Neither one of them were drinking, though, and both had their guns sitting within reach. High alert.
Exhaustion was making me lightheaded, but at the same time I was so keyed up I doubted I could have slept even if I tried. So I sat my ass down and summarized everything that had happened, while Zed made me a Baileys on ice.
After he placed the drink in front of me, he gathered my hair up and tied it in a loose knot. Then he proceeded to massage my shoulders while I talked, and I quickly retracted my mental statement about not being able to sleep.
"You reckon they were all sold by their families?" Cass rumbled when I was done. The anger in his voice was dark enough to make me shiver, and I didn't blame him.
"Probably not all," Zed answered for me, "but the little girl Dare spoke to seemed that way."
Lucas blew out a long breath, raking his fingers through his hair. "Fucking hell," he murmured. "Poor kids. Is there anything I can do?"
I shook my head, leaning into Zed's hands harder. "Not tonight. They're well looked after tonight."
Cass grunted a sound of agreement. "Nadia's there; they'll be fine. Everyone should go to bed."
Lucas snorted a laugh. "Okay, grandpa."
In retaliation, Cass cuffed him around the head. "Watch your mouth, Gumdrop."
I gave a short laugh at their teasing and finished my drink with a large swallow. Then I pushed to my feet with a yawn.
"Any movement from Seph?" Zed asked as we all made our way upstairs.
"Nothing," Lucas replied. "I even checked in case she'd, like... somehow crept out of her alarmed window, but she was snoring with her mouth open and drool all over her pillow."
I smiled. It wasn't the safest, but I liked how deeply Seph slept. It meant she wasn't plagued by the nightmares and horrors that the rest of us were.
When we got close to Zed's bedroom door, he wrapped his hand around my wrist and tugged me inside with him while Lucas and Cass made sounds of protest behind us.
"Not cool, Zeddy Bear," Lucas called out when Zed slammed the door.