It was my lucky night when I walked in.
Lance was holding Carla-one of the dancers who had just come off duty-in his arms while Simon was pulling a needle out of one of her veins. Carla's eyes rolled back and her head lolled to the side.
Simon's head whipped toward me, and his eyes seethed with anger. "Get the fuck out," he barked.
"Sorry, Boss," I hastily said as I stepped all the way in and closed the door behind me. "But ALE is out there … demanding to talk to you. They want to search the place."
"Fuck," Simon muttered and glanced at his watch. Lance shifted and adjusted Carla's weight in his arms.
Simon's eyes narrowed on me, and I let my gaze dart over to Lance and Carla before looking back at him.
"What can I do to help?" I asked boldly … helpfully … trying to calm my pulse. There was no doubt that I had just walked into the middle of an abduction, and my head was spinning over what to do.
He was sizing me up … I could tell. His eyes held me with keen inspection, and I held his stare with confidence and an eager look to please my master.
Simon strode across his office and got right in my face. "You fuck this up and you're a dead man."
"I won't. Just tell me what to do," I said confidently.
"Take Carla … put her in your car and drive. Don't go too far but get to the outskirts of town. Be careful and don't get stopped. I'll call you when I'm ready for you to come back with her."
I nodded quickly and stepped over to Lance, taking Carla from him and hauling her up over my shoulder. By the way her body rolled, I could tell she was passed out cold.
"Lance … I need you to get rid of the shit in my safe. No clue if they have a warrant but get it out of here. I'll go stall ALE for a few minutes but be quick. And then call our buyer. Tell him there's a delay, and we'll deliver the package mostly likely in a few hours."
I had no clue what kind of "shit" Simon was referring to in his safe, but I bet it was documentation about the slave sales he'd made.
"Got it," Lance said, heading toward Simons' safe behind his desk. Lance was really within the circle of trust because he spun the combination dial efficiently.
"Need me to do anything else?" I asked as I grasped onto the fire exit door that led out of the back of the building from Simon's office.
"No," Simon growled, sparing me a brief glance. "Just keep your phone on and I'll call soon."
I didn't respond just pushed my way out of the door and headed across the darkened parking lot toward my car. After unlocking the door and carefully laying Carla across the backseat, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called my handler, Special Agent Mike Gomez.
He answered on the second ring with obvious worry in his voice because I wasn't to call unless it was a dire emergency.
This constituted dire emergency.
"Raze?" he answered, careful to call me by my alias.
"I need you to meet me out on Six Forks Road, north of Durant … there's a small country gas station about quarter of a mile down on the left."
"I'm familiar with it," he said.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Have EMS there and tell them they'll need Narcan," I said quickly as I got in the driver's seat and started the engine.
"What's this about?" Mike asked quickly.
"I just walked into the middle of an abduction. Simon and Lance drugged the girl. I've got her in my backseat."
"Fuck … are they on the run?"
"No. He asked me to get her out of there when ALE showed up. Wants me to bring her back when it's clear."
"Then that's what the fuck you do," Mike growled. "If you don't return her, you blow this entire operation out of the water."
"We are not turning her back over to them. I overhead Simon … he was taking her to a buyer tonight."
"Wyatt … we have to let him take her to the buyer. We can follow and make the bust there."
"No fucking way," I snarled. "You're not putting her at risk. You said we had an agent ready to come in on the inside. We need to go that route."
"And just how do you think you're going to explain this girl's disappearance to Simon?" Mike asked skeptically.
I took a deep breath and blew it out. Putting the car in reverse, I started to back out. "I'm not sure yet, but I'll have something figured out by the time I meet you. Just get there on time."
Disconnecting the call before he could argue with me, I pulled my car slowly out of the parking lot of The Platinum Club onto Kramer Street, heading toward the outer beltline. My mind was racing but by the time I met Mike and several other agents at the gas station, I knew what I had to do.