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Rows of beds with curtains between them fill the space. A naked woman lies in each bed. She’s on her back with her hands and feet tied to the bed so she’s spread eagle. We can also see two men, their naked asses in the air as they pound themselves into the vulnerable woman beneath them.
Next to me, Abra swears and I feel him pulling his gun from under his kutte.
“We can’t go in there guns blazing,” I remind him.
“Check out each floor,” Hex says. “We need to know everything. Are you recording?”
“Yeah, I’m recording,” Jack says, swallowing hard. I can hear his voice breaking, so I clap him on the shoulder to offer him my strength. Because I know just what he’s thinking.
“This has to be what Mikel was talking about when he said he could destroy Cleo. If the cops raided this place, she’d have no way of explaining that she didn’t know what was happening here,” Hex says.
“She could call it in herself,” I suggest. “Call the cops and tell them she discovered this when she was doing a check of all the buildings owned by her late father.”
“That’s an idea,” Hex says, taking his phone out of his kutte. He calls Cleo and gives her a brief description of what we’ve found. I hear her distress and hope Delphine is nearby to comfort her.
“Another car’s coming,” Jack says, moving the drone into place. What we see has us rethinking our plan. A police car drives up and the cop inside leans out and enters the code before driving in.
“Fuck,” Hex mutters and I hear Cleo asking for an update. He tells her what we just witnessed. Cleo says something back to him before he ends the call. “No calling the cops,” he says. “Cleo said Golubrev had several of them in his employ. Even FBI agents. We don’t know who we can trust.”
“Which means we have to close this place down ourselves?” I ask.
He nods.
“Fuck, we need to expand our ranks,” Hex mutters and I nod. These past few days have driven that point home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: DELPHINE
Cleo tells us what she learned from her phone call with Hex.
“Those poor women,” Olivia says. “Should we call the cops?”
“Won’t help,” Cleo says. “My father owned most of the cops in and around New Orleans. He also had other law enforcement personnel, including FBI agents, on his payroll. We don’t know who to trust. If we call them, they can shut the place down and move it to another location.”
“So, what do we do?” Olivia asks.
“The guys need to handle it,” I say. “But they aren’t doing it without our help.”
“How can we help?” Sasha asks.
“We can focus on the women while the men focus on the guards. We can get the women out of the building and to somewhere safe. Some may need medical help. We’ll take the SUVs so the prospects can drive the women away from their prison,” I explain.
“That’s a good idea,” Cleo says. “Now we just have to convince the guys.”
When the guys arrive, I expect them to head into Church, but they don’t. They take seats around the largest table in the common room and ask us to join them. Hex explains how they split up into three groups and examined several buildings owned by Golubrev Shipping, and therefore now belong to Cleo.
“All the buildings Dixie and I visited are empty. However, a few looked to be in use until recently. We think someone used them for smuggling drugs. We found coffee grounds and white powder.”
“Same here,” Zip says. “But we also found a chop shop.”
“We put cameras up on every building, so we can monitor them. However, you should hire a security firm or two to keep them from being used again,” Hex says to Cleo, who nods in agreement.
“I’ll make some calls,” she says.
“The chop shop can keep. We may need help from other Chapters to shut it down. The biggest problem is the office building,” Hex continues. “Mikel mentioned that if he doesn’t make contact soon, that Cleo will pay the price. My guess is they plan on exposing what’s going on inside and tie it to her. We have to get those women out. Tonight.”
“And we’re going to help,” Cleo says. She holds up her hand when Hex opens his mouth. “I know what you’re going to say, but you need us there. Those women need us there. They’re traumatized and won’t see you as their saviors. They’ll see you as the enemy. We’ve already discussed it and we have a plan. Are you going to listen?”
I give Hex credit when he grins at his woman and gestures for her to continue.
