Elias and Richard enter the kitchen, each outfitted similarly in jeans and boots. I look at the men who have had my back since day one and refuse to let me down.
“We ready?”
I get a couple of nods.
“I’ll be heading to Sinclair’s. I won’t be of much use, but if you boys get into trouble, I can have an officer sent. The GPS is ready to go on my laptop, so I’ll set up as soon as I get there and be conferenced in with you both.” With that, Richard heads out. After what happened with my father, he’s less than eager for another mission, but the old man doesn’t have it in him to say no.
“How about you?” I ask Elias. He’s regarding Shelby with a look of respect and gives me a raised eyebrow.
“Ready as ever. I have the shit Honda as my ride. I’ll be waiting in the parking ramp off 7th until I hear from you.”
“And we’ll be circling the blocks starting with 4th Street and up to 9th. We’ll make four passes, but if we don’t see anyone, we may park and wait a while before trying again.”
Elias gives me a chin lift. He checks his weapon and tucks it in a holster beneath his jacket.
“This is for you.” He crosses the room to the kitchen counter by the fridge and offers a small teal rectangle to Shelby. “It’s a stun gun.”
The repressed growl rumbles my chest like thunder.
He ignores me with a chuckle and goes on to explain. “You slide this switch here and then press this round button.” He gives a test fire. A bright burst of light and loud crackle spits through the air, sending Shelby back a foot. He grins. “This is a safety pin. Wear this strap around your wrist. If anything goes south and someone tries to take it from you, it’ll be disabled.”
“Thanks. I hope I don’t need it.” She grimaces as she plucks the box from his hand.
“Anything else?” Impatience rises, and I remind myself to be cool.
“No. Just…” Elias steps closer and snags me in a one-armed grip. With a smack on my back, he retreats. “Be careful. Both of you.”
“Yeah. Same, brother.” My eyes hold the gratitude I can’t properly express out loud.
Elias pulls Shelby into her own hug, this one longer and warmer. He releases her with a gentle push and kisses her quickly on the crown of her head.
“Stay safe. I know he can be a jackass but listen to Sin. See you out there.” With a final clap on my shoulder, he’s gone.
“Ready to roll, blossom?”
Her alabaster skin glows beneath the kitchen lights. The column of her throat works over a forced swallow. She lifts her chin, injecting herself with bravery and steel.
“I’m ready.”
***
“What do you see?” Elias’s voice filters through the Bluetooth in my ear.
“We’re coming down 7th now. So far, no sign of anyone Shelby recognizes.” I feel her eyes burn on me as I navigate the SUV down one road and then up the next, careful not to go too fast or slow, insignificantly over the speed limit.
“Keep going,” he urges. “I got a feeling about tonight.”
“Feelings, eh? You get those often?” I joke, easing us onto 8th.
“Fuck off,” he mutters.
“Pay attention, you idiots,” Richard scolds in our ears.
Shelby turns her attention back out the window, pulling a black cap lower over her brow. I threw it at her once we made it downtown and requested, as gently as I could in my heightened state, that she put it on. Those fuckers who left her for dead on my doorstep need to believe it ended that day. The last thing we need is anyone recognizing her.
“There. By that hotel.” She follows with her head as we pass by a small gathering of people, faces distorted by the inky shadows.
“I’ll circle back.”
“You got a lock on her?” Elias joins back into the conversation.
“Hold,” I tell him.
“How sure are you?” I ask Shelby, whose knee begins bouncing erratically.
“It’s the red shoes. I’d know them anywhere.”
“Could be a coincidence.” I take the next turn to circle the block again and glance at her as she sucks her pouty lower lip into her mouth and bites down.
“It could be, but I know it isn’t. Please believe me,” she whispers.
“Stay down,” I order, turning another corner. “We’ll check it out.”
She obeys, slinking down in her seat enough, so just the top of her head is visible above the window. She pulls the cap lower and aims her eyes in the direction of the pack.
I decrease speed incrementally, only one to two degrees below the limit and drive past.
“Anything?”
“It’s her,” she whispers frantically. “Send him in.”
I settle my palm on her erratic knee.
“It’s go-time, brother. Black leather miniskirt, red tube top, and bright red high heels. Turn right onto the one-way out of the garage, and it’s the hotel by the corner. You can’t miss her.”
“I’m on it,” Elias replies. “Get to the meeting point. I’ll be there in a few.”
“We’re heading to the empty lot now,” I answer.
With one little pit stop.
I circle the block again, waiting at the corner until I see Elias pull from the garage. He slows by the hotel and pulls off to the curb. I watch the target sashay to his passenger window. Just as she’s about to get it, I cut the corner and peel my way loudly down the block, shooting past at reckless speeds.
Shelby sits back up and grips her shoulder strap. “Did he get her?”
“Hang on. I’m waiting for confirmation.”
“Why’d you do that?” she asks a little breathless.
“Distraction.” Hopefully, if anyone starts asking questions, witnesses will remember the car flying by, not the one picking the woman up.
She gnaws her bottom lip. Considering the circumstances, it still makes me want to kiss her. I stow that thought away for later times. I can’t be getting rock hard during a rescue attempt, even if she is enticing no matter the circumstances.
In a handful of minutes, I pull into an empty lot behind an abandoned warehouse. Elias and I checked it out earlier this week, even going as far as contacting the realtor about buying it so we could inspect it for squatters. Everything seemed clear, so we wrote it down as a rendezvous point, although after looking around inside, I’m tempted to buy it for us. We could turn it into a shelter or a rehabilitation center for sex trafficking victims.
Those thoughts will have to wait as Elias’s voice comes back into my ear.
“Got her. On our way to you now. Ah, fuck!”
My hackles rise. “What?” I bark.
“What’s wrong?” Shelby asks beside me, straightening in her seat.
“She’s, ah, settle down! You’re okay! Shit, woman, stop,” he rants, alternating between soothing and stern. “She’s freaked out.”
“She’s freaked,” I relay to Shelby, helpless to the situation.
“Tell her you’re taking her to Chloe.” Her voice is steady, but I don’t miss the slight wobble to her chin as she pronounces that name. I tell Elias what she said.
“That helps, thanks. Few minutes.”