Precious Angel (Alpha Province #4)(2)

"I'll bet she's a looker. All that blonde hair is amazing," Gravelly Voice said.

"She is, or was. I saw her when I went to the supermarket in Bismarck, a  few weeks back. I planted the suggestion to the bastard father about  using her to pay off his debts."

"Good idea. When she's recovered she's going to be popular with our clients. Will you let me train her?" Gravelly Voice asked.                       
       
           



       

"No," Accent Voice snarled. "She's mine. When I've tired of the use of  her body, I'll put her to work to regain the money that motherfucker  owes me."

Gravelly Voice laughed. "She's going to make you a shit load of cash  with that body. Our clients are going to be fighting over who's going to  fuck her first."

Accent Voice chuckled. "Yeah, they will. Maybe I'll sell her instead."

"You'd make more by doing that. There's a Triad leader expected to  arrive in Minot tomorrow morning," Gravelly Voice said. "I have a  contact in the organization. If you want, I can take a picture and send  it to him. I'm sure his boss would love to add a sexy blonde to his  collection. He's already obtained a red-head, brunette, and a few other  women. Apparently, he's obsessed with acquiring a blonde. She'd be right  up his alley and he'll pay big bucks to acquire his final piece."

"How much do you think he'd pay?" Accent Voice asked.

"In excess of five hundred K."

"Why? He could get one of his men to snatch any woman he wanted off the street."

"He likes to stay as close to the parameters of the law as he can. He  doesn't want the law nosing around his business," Gravelly Voice  explained. "He's built up a reputation for being a savvy, legitimate  businessman. All his other deals are done by his men, so he can't be  implicated.

"From what I've gathered, Lei's old man has strict moral values and if  he got wind of what his son was up to, the shit would hit the fan. He'd  likely disown his son for bringing shame to his family's good name. The  father is a big deal back in China, someone with political clout."

"Take the picture," Accent Voice said. "The shipment is supposed to  arrive in a few minutes. I want all the men ready. We don't want any of  those women drawing attention to this place. They need to be gagged and  cuffed, so they can't scream or get away."

"They're already out back waiting, boss. You have no need to worry,"  Gravelly Voice said. "What do you want me to do with this one?"

"Leave her. I don't think she'll be waking up anytime soon and if she  does, she's too injured to get far. I'm heading to the office for that  call I'm expecting. You go and deal with the women and tell those horny  bastards to keep their hands to themselves and their dicks in their  pants. The only way they'll be getting a taste of the merchandise is if  they pay for it."

Kenzie lifted her lids until she could see through the narrow slits and  sighed with relief when she saw the men disappear from sight. She was so  scared she was trembling, or maybe the quaking was a combination of  pain, fear, and cold. She wasn't sure how she felt about finding out the  man she knew as her father wasn't related to her by blood. It was a  relief after the way he'd treated her, but also a shock.

However, it didn't matter right now. She could deal with that later.

She was alone in the large warehouse for the moment but from what she'd  overheard, she wouldn't be alone for long. This might be her only chance  at escaping and she wasn't about to let the agony searing her body or  the terror causing her to tremble, stop her from trying.

She'd rather die from a bullet in her back than have her body used against her will, or be bought and sold like a commodity.

Her teeth bit into her lip as she rolled over onto her hands and knees.  She was panting heavily and sweating up a storm as pain wracked her  body, but she didn't have time to wallow. She dug her teeth deeper into  her lip and shoved up to her feet. Her head throbbed, and she swayed on  her feet dizzily, trying to keep her breathing fast and shallow so as  not to cause her aching ribs to protest. She turned in a circle, gazing  about, and her heart flipped in her chest when she saw light coming from  what she assumed was an office where Accent Voice was going to be  making or taking his phone call. There was a door that was ajar on the  opposite side of the warehouse, not far from the entrance to the office,  and she guessed Gravelly Voice had exited through it. She turned again  and took a hesitant step toward another closed door on the far side to  where the office was, hoping that it wasn't locked or squeaked from  disuse. Another step followed the first and then another and another,  until she was finally close enough to reach out for the door handle. She  held her breath and tugged on the handle, glancing back over her  shoulder toward the office and the ajar door, and pulled it open.

The breath whooshed from her lungs with relief and she sucked in another  deep gulp of air. Blood filled her mouth when she bit into her lip,  quelling the moan of pain when her ribs expanded.                       
       
           



       

Once outside, she quietly closed the door behind her and gazed about.  There were a few cars in the parking lot, but the street was deserted.  She had no idea what time it was, but guessed it was well into the early  hours of the morning, maybe close to dawn.

Kenzie had to get away. If she didn't, her life would be over one way or  another. She hurried toward the empty vehicles as much as she could and  pulled at each door, hoping to find one of them unlocked. She was in  tears as she moved quickly to the last car. Please, let it be unlocked.  Please, someone help me? God, are you listening to me. Help me!

She nearly fell back on her ass when she tried the door to the last car  and it opened. A low moan emitted from between her bloody lips and she  prayed no one would realize she was missing. When she saw the key still  in the ignition, hope started to replace the fear and dejection.

Kenzie tried to ease herself in the driver's seat, but ended up falling  in. She was in too much of a hurry to worry about putting on her  seatbelt, but she didn't think she'd be able to reach it with her ribs  screaming at her anyway.

She kept her gaze on the warehouse as she turned the key and started the  car. After putting it in gear, she drove from the parking lot out onto  the road without the illumination of headlights to aid her vision. She  was going to drive as far as she could without them. When and if she  found a main road and she figured out her location, she would turn the  lights on. She needed to get as far away from Bismarck, North Dakota,  her father, and the men he'd sold her to as quickly as she could.





Chapter One




Jayson Cannon sang along with the radio as he drove his truck toward his  hometown of Ambrose, North Dakota. His brothers had been bitching and  moaning about not having a couple ingredients for the dish they'd wanted  to make for the day's special, but instead of one of them deciding to  drive to Crosby to the store, since the own store didn't have what they  wanted, they'd continued arguing.

He'd had enough of their shit and without a word had left the kitchen of  the Ambrose Hotel, gotten into his truck, and taken off. Normally he  and his brothers got on, but lately they'd all been quick with their  tempers. Him included.

Jayson had a feeling it was going to get worse before it got better, but  what pissed him off was he had no idea why they were all so antsy.  Usually, him, Jenson, and Jordan were levelheaded and even-tempered.

He'd just turned his truck from 103rd St NW onto 127th Ave NW when he  spotted the car on the side of the road a few hundred yards in front of  him. He wondered if the car had been abandoned or if it had broken down.  He was just about to pass it, but he slammed on the brakes when he saw a  blonde head leaning against the window. The driver could have been  taking a catnap to circumvent fatigue, but when the hackles on his neck  rose and his gut knotted, he knew there was something wrong.

After making sure the road was still clear behind him, he put the truck  into reverse and backed up. He parked behind the silver four-door sedan,  turned the ignition off, and got out. Using his inner animal's enhanced  vision, he kept his eyes trained on the driver just in case they were  up to no good. This close to the US/Canadian border, it wouldn't  surprise him if the person in the car was a criminal and pulled a gun on  him.

He stood outside the door and waited for the driver to notice him, but  they were either deeply asleep, sick or dead. Once more calling on his  inner panther, he used his enhanced hearing and nearly sighed with  relief when he heard a heartbeat.