Bill sees what I’m up to and snorts.
“Smart man.”
“Why don’t you grab yourself a drink, on me, and help Earl out behind the bar. I’ll be right back.”
Bill gives me a sober nod and sets about doing just that.
I don’t bother knocking when I reach the upstairs office. I swing open the door, and Elias and Shelby look up from the couch where they’re sitting. It strikes me at that moment that the last time all three of us were in this room together was the day she was dumped on the doorstep.
“C’mere,” I mumble and brace for her impact.
She launches out of Elias’s grip and into my arms. I bury my face in the soft crook of her neck and breathe in deep.
“Are you okay?” She beats me to it.
“Fine, blossom. You want to share what you know about that man?”
I set her on her feet but keep an arm wrapped around her shoulders as I guide us to the chair in the corner. I take a seat and tug her onto my lap.
Elias leans forward on the sofa with his elbows on his knees. “He was a client.” He spits the word as if it was foul-tasting. “As far as she can remember, she only saw him once.”
I look searchingly into her eyes, and she nods her confirmation.
“Are you okay?” I ask low as I attempt to control my temper. Her soft, warm palm against my cheek soothes the beast inside me.
“I’m just fine,” she murmurs. “A little shaken from how quickly it all escalated, but Elias got me out of there quick.”
I give my best friend a chin lift. “Thanks.”
He jerks his head back at me.
I clear my throat. “I think the time has come for you to tell us what you know about that place. Anything you can think of that could help us help your friends.”
Her shoulders rise with a visible breath. “What do you need to know?”
Shit, I could kiss her for being so brave. “Anything. Are there specific times or days for their movements?”
Her brows furrow, and her lips pucker. “Everything happened at night unless it was a special request. Most nights, we were loaded into black vans, two girls each, and dropped off at different locations.”
Elias and I share a look. That’s not great news. It means more than likely one or two men guard each group of girls, which makes us nearly outnumbered. On the other hand, it means the guards will be somewhat spread out, and it might be difficult for them to call for back up before we split.
“They also used motels, scummy ones without cameras, but they’d always rotate at random which ones we went to and never more than once a week.”
“How did that work?” Elias asks.
Shelby shifts in my lap and lets out a shaky breath. “There were two types. The super-crappy motels that you can only get in from the outside were the busiest. I think the boss thought he had less of a chance of getting caught if the johns never had to walk by a front desk. They’d be given the room number, one which was requested to be in a dark corner or away from the front. Different men would be in and out all night long.”
I clamp my lips together to hold back a snarl just as she continues.
“The other ones he frequently used were the Blue Chain motels. Everyone already knows they’re the hot spot for truckers and prostitutes. But for us girls, the rumor was the boss has people on the books. When they’re working, they earn a cut of the profits and basically turn a blind eye.”
“A rumor?”
Shelby turns to look me dead in the eye, hers serious and sad. “They’d usually get a turn with a girl of their choosing. It was probably part of their incentive.”
If she weren’t seated in my lap, I’d explode out of this chair. Instead of knocking her to the floor, I slither my arm around her waist and hang the fuck on. Each time I think the details can’t possibly get any worse, they do. For her, for Molly, for the rest of those girls. The thought of being brought out in public, tasting clean air, and the freedom so many people take for granted, only to realize there isn’t anyone to call for help that isn’t a monster is sobering.
The iron bars of that prison stretched much further than four wooden walls.
“I vote we make our move downtown. Best chance of getting out of there alive if they have motel workers on their payroll,” Elias chimes in.
I forgot what we were discussing after the picture Shelby just painted in my head. “Yeah,” I grunt.
“Does that mean what I think it does?” Shelby asks from my lap.
“Yeah, blossom. We’re going after your friend.”
She pops to her feet. “When? How can I help?”
I snag her hand and tug her until she’s standing between my spread knees. I tilt my head back to look into her beautiful face, her hair falling around us like a veil. Releasing her hand, I cup the backs of her thighs, drawing her back to me. “Soon. Elias and I need to do some recon first. See if we can figure out a pattern to their movements.
“As for you, and as much as it fucks me to get you involved, we need your help. We’ll do some drive-bys, and if you can point out any locations that look familiar to you, that’d be helpful.”
“I’m in.” She leans down and presses a chaste kiss against my mouth. “Thank you.”
She turns to Elias.
“So much. Thank you both.”
Elias scrubs a hand down his face. “We can’t promise anything except we’ll do the best we can. If anything looks bad, goes bad, we won’t attempt this again.” He pins me with a glare. “Yeah, I’m speaking for both of us because I know you’d go half-cocked to get her anything she wanted.”
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I wouldn’t…” Shelby trails off, looking at Elias with a pained expression.
He softens his tone. “I know you wouldn’t. But this asshole here seems to have little regard for his own safety and his life where this is concerned. This time I’m putting my foot down. We’ve got one shot. There are no redo’s.”
I look at Shelby, who’s watching Elias with almost regret, and I don’t even have to question it. He’s right in that I’d do anything for her, but getting myself killed won’t do her any favors. Not until she’s healed and finds her family. Not until she leaves me to be the hollowed shell I came from. Only then, when she’s safe from me and my destruction, will I keep going back. I won’t stop until the blood of every man in that operation is on my hands.
Chapter Eighteen
Shelby
The paper in my hand is official. Today, I become Shelby Sinclair. Alex, Elias, and their friend Richard attended my witness hearing today to grant my request for a name change. I was nervous all morning, but the worst part of the day was writing my past down on a piece of paper.
Clara Diane Smith
When I woke up in the bedroom at Elias’s house what seems like forever ago, I couldn’t remember who I was. Truly. The two years of drugs, injury, and trauma clouded my brain for a long time. Slowly, the pieces came together, and I remembered. I remembered my name, my mother, and my auntie. I remembered who I was supposed to be. But the name given to me at my birth no longer fit the woman I’d become. Sweet, naïve Clara died the day I was taken and given my first high.