Page 82 of Zeus

I take a deep breath, reminding myself to manage my expectations, but, in all honesty, knowing I need to and actually putting that into action are two very different things.

"I think Bobby will be very happy with this," I say as the truck rolls to a stop at the end of a nearly hidden driveway. "Can't even see the house from the road."

"The tree coverage is great now, but when all these leaves die off in the fall, the entire property will be exposed."

"Won't matter," I assure him. "These places are temporary. He won't use it long before moving on to the next one."

"We're over an hour drive from the compound," he says, looking around the property as I slowly drive toward the house.

"Even better. He wouldn't want it too close. If this property is discovered by or reported to the police, it's less likely they'll find a connection to The League with it being so far away."

"Seems like he'd want something closer, something he could get to in case of an emergency," Zeus says.

"Oh, he'll definitely have people from the compound looking after it, especially if he's using it to bring in a new shipment of women. Even if he's planning to use it as a drug den, someone has to be here to sell the drugs and keep a little order."

"That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen," He says just as I come to a stop in front of the house. "This place is a dump."

"I have no doubt that whoever he chooses to be out here will be someone who partakes a little in the sales, but did you see the way everyone put distance between themselves and him last night? I bet it's a very rare occurrence when someone fucks up so badly they end up on his shit list. They're terrified of him."

"I noticed that, and he fucking loves it. Was all but gloating last night about it," he says as he opens the truck door. "Seriously, this place should be condemned."

"It probably is, and that means it's less likely someone will show up and discover it's being squatted in before they're done using it."

"They would have a timeline in mind when they get started?" he asks as we meet at the front of the truck.

I scrunch my nose at the idea of going inside. I'm not scared of many things, but this place looks snaky as hell, and the thought of coming across a rattlesnake inside makes my skin crawl.

"Probably no formal timeline. They usually shut it down and move locations after people start ODing."

"Nothing like having an ambulance show up to ruin their high," he mutters, taking the lead toward the decrepit front porch.

"More like dig a shallow grave and bury them out back," I explain.

This information stops him in his tracks, and I pull in a ragged breath. No one in our line of work should be okay with participating in a situation where there's a very real chance that our actions have contributed to the death of another. Being complicit in someone's death simply because they were an addict in need of help still carries the same weight as if it were a woman being trafficked, and I'm curious about his thoughts and point of view on the matter.

"So we just let people die?"

"The goal would be to get the info and evidence we need before that happens," I say.

"Fucking drug addicts," he mutters. Still, his tone suggests his empathy for those in the vicious cycle of addiction rather than disdain for someone many people are willing to toss away as if their life is less valuable than someone who has never suffered from the disease.

"I did some research, and I can say that Tennessee has a lot more resources for addiction than many other states, but it'll never be a perfect system. There's never enough money to go around."

"Are we heading in there or not?" he asks,

"Unfortunately," I say with a slowness in my steps that makes it easy to read my distress in entering the house.

"Still hate snakes?" he asks with a chuckle as he stomps on the first step leading up to the front door to test if it's safe enough to stand on.

"You remember that?" I ask. "I'm sure I only said it in passing."

"In passing?" he scoffs. "You trembled the entire time we watched Anaconda."

"Still hate snakes," I confirm, wondering the whole time we scope the house out just how many details he remembers about me from all those years ago.

Chapter 28

Zeus