He audibly swallows and sits up in the chair. “She’s at the club,” he whispers. He takes a deep breath when I don’t respond.
“What else?”
“As far as I know he’s got her locked in one of the floors under the club. It goes down two levels, but I’ve never been through them all. Some of the girls who dance at the club have rooms there, but mostly it’s Nico’s space on the first level. The one below it is where he cuts most of his drugs, so it’s impossible to get inside. Just give it up, man.”
“So you think he’s got her on the first level? The floor he’s staying on?” I try not to let my mind wander to what it is he could be doing to my fairy. I can’t allow my brain to go there yet. I have to stick to my plan and mentally organize myself or I’ll have another breakdown.
“Yeah, but listen, you can’t get in there. He won’t hurt her. He swore it to me. All the times I tried to give him his money back, he always just wanted her. From the beginning, something about her made him crazy, and he had to have her. He’ll take care of her, I wouldn’t have told him where she was if he would have killed her.”
Rage like I’ve never felt boils through my body and I react. I ball up my fist and backhand him out of the chair and halfway across the room with one strike. I walk over to where he landed and grab him by the back of his shirt, dragging him back to where we were. I pick him up and toss him back in his seat and lean down again so we are eye to eye. He’s having a hard time focusing on me, so I grab his face and make him look at me.
“You betrayed the one person in this world who ever loved you.” Tears start to well in his eyes, and then he’s full-on sobbing while I hold his face. “Listen to me, Sam. When I find her, if there is one hair on her head out of place, I’ll show you what it’s like to beg for death. Do you understand?”
He’s still crying like a child but nods his head in agreement. “I’m so sorry. I was doing so good, but then the cravings hit and I needed a fix. I thought I was doing the right thing.” I let go of him and he drops his head in his hands, his body shaking with his sobs.
I walk out of the warehouse and leave him sitting there. When I exit the building, Hank is leaning against the car waiting on me. “She’s at the club, isn’t she?”
“It’s what we expected. I need a layout of the building and exit points. It’s happening tonight.”
“Just us two?”
“I’m prepared to go alone.”
“But lucky for you, you don’t have to.” Hank winks at me and then gets in the car. I slip in the backseat and mentally shuffle my plan. I have to have this perfect before we go in.
I take a deep breath and recheck my weapon before we enter the building. We are trying to blend in, and looking as normal as possible helps our cover. Hank and I are dressed in suits with only one gun each. We’ve got silencers on them just in case we run into trouble, but from what I’ve calculated, this should be a casualty-free event.
It’s a wonder drug dealers make it so long, because the people they surround themselves with can be so easily bought off. A few hundred bucks and we found out when the guard’s shift change is and, more importantly, where my fairy is being held.
“It’s time,” I say, and give Hank a nod. I lead the way through the back alley and through one of the secret entrances. The door has been ‘accidentally’ left ajar and this is our sign that all is good to go.
A few hundred dollars more got us a map of the building, so Hank and I know where we are headed. Through several hallways and down a dark set of steps, we come to the end of a long hall. The lights are set to low and we can hear the sound of women talking. We are on the right floor, and we need to make this fast before the guard we paid off has to flip the cameras back on.
I count off doors as we reach the end of the hall and come to a door with the deadbolt on the outside. This is her. I look back and Hank nods at me, signaling he’s ready. He draws his weapon to cover my back and I pull my gun, ready for whatever is behind this door. I silently flip the lock and turn the knob. When the door is just a few inches open, it’s jerked out of my hand and a metal tray is swinging towards my face.
I duck down, so the tray barely misses my eye, and catch it before it bangs against the wall, giving our position away.
“Bray!” Rebecca shouts, and Hank and I fall into the room, shutting the door behind us. Hank pulls the door back open just a crack to keep watch and see if anyone heard her. I’m scooping her up in my arms and holding her to me as I scan the room for danger. “Oh God, oh God, Bray. I didn’t think you’d come for me.” She clings to me and weeps in my arms.