“Half hour is my guess, but I really don’t know.”
She nodded and sat down on the bed. “Why did they do that?”
“I don’t know that, either.” I sat next to her. “But friends don’t usually drag their friends off with black hoods over their fucking heads.”
“That’s a good point.”
I grinned at her. “Happy you came with me?”
“Not at this moment, no. Not really.”
I laughed. “This is what my life is like, dangerous and violent.”
“So you get a black bag over your face a lot then?”
I smirked. “That was a first.”
“Well look at you. Apparently you haven’t done everything.”
I leaned closer to her. “I’ve done enough, girl. You learned all about that last night.”
Before she could answer, there was a short knock at the door before it pushed open.
A woman stepped inside, quickly shutting the door behind her. She had blond hair pulled back into a tight braid and wore a flannel button-down shirt and tight jeans. She had a large rifle loosely hanging down from her shoulder.
“Brooks, Emma. I’m Kasia.”
I stood up. “Kasia. Where the fuck is Louisa?”
“Lou couldn’t come with us, but I’m her second in command,” she said. “I want to start by apologizing for this.”
I stepped toward her but she didn’t flinch. I saw her hand drift slowly toward her weapon and grinned at her.
“Why are we here?”
“You were under surveillance, Brooks,” she said. “We had to take action quickly before we were discovered.”
“Who was watching?”
“Your boss, Dante,” she said. “Apparently he’s more capable than we realized.”
“Just him?”
“Him alone,” she confirmed. “But he got too close.”
“Why the fucking bags?”
“We couldn’t wait for you to decide. We had to move. The bags were to protect the location of this safe house in case you both decide you wish to leave.”
“So you’re still helping us then?” Emma asked, standing.
Kasia smiled at her. “Of course we are. Did Lou tell you what we do?”
“She said she gave power to the powerless.”
Kasia laughed. “That’s just the way Lou talks sometimes. Really, we combat human trafficking. We save lives, Emma. That’s what we do.”
“I saw what you do,” I said quickly. “You don’t save lives.”
“Yes, well, that operation got out of hand, thanks to you,” she admitted. “We prefer to save these girls with a lot less bloodshed, but things happen.”
“They do happen,” I sneered. “I don’t appreciate getting a bag over my fucking head without my permission.”
“Brooks,” Emma said, and came up behind me. “Calm down.” She put her hand on my arm.
I realized how fucking tense I was. I wanted to tear Kasia apart, even though that went against everything I believed in. I wanted to tear her fucking smug smile from her face and shove it down her throat. I hated being locked in a cage, but more than that, I hated how Emma took everything she said at face value. These people were liars and killers, but she couldn’t see it.
“Here’s the deal,” Kasia said. “You’re not prisoners, not exactly, but we do need to keep you inside this room. We can’t risk either of you running away and betraying our location. We have other women here who need our help too, and we can’t risk their lives.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Emma said.
“So,” Kasia went on, “if you want to leave this room, just knock. There’s a guard nearby that will escort you around.”
“How about you let me leave right now?” I asked Kasia.
“If that’s what you want,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea. You two should stay here. We’re safe, far away from the mafia. Soon we’ll figure out a way for you both to escape the state and to set up new lives.”
“Sounds too fucking good to be true,” I grumbled at her.
“Maybe,” she said, “but this is Lou’s dream, helping the helpless.” She smiled at Emma. “I’ll be back to check on you two later.” She turned and quickly left the room, shutting the door behind her.
I walked over to the door and tried the knob, but it was locked. I knew I could probably force it, but if there really were guards, then it wouldn’t be worthwhile.
Emma came over to me and put her hands on my arms again. “Come on, Brooks,” she said. “Sit down with me. Let’s figure this out.”