Desire Protected (2 page)

“
No, I’ve seen it.” A
chill lifted the hairs at the back of his neck. He’d never forget
that dank room. The overly bright smells of urine and the welts
covering the bodies of the girls chained to the walls.

“
You took down a ring last
year. That’s what got our attention. Ethan, this organization is
ten times as big.”

“
Fuck.” Ethan pressed his
lips together. These groups were like a cancer. “If you’re not
ready to take out the entire organization, aren’t you worried
taking this woman out will push your timeline back?”

“
We’ve got a plan for
that.” She rubbed the back of her hand.

“
I see. I’m not privy to
your plan.”

“
You don’t want to know,
believe me. I’ll let you know when it’s something to worry
about.”

“
Fine.” He watched the
traffic. “Stan,” he called to his driver for the day. “Take us to
Evanston.”

“
Do we have to involve the
others now?”

“
You’ve put it off long
enough. If you want me to kill a woman today, you need to tell the
others what you told me. What you’re setting in motion is bound to
touch all of them.”

Chapter Two

Nadia dropped onto her office chair
and stared off into the distance. When she and Ethan first got
together, she’d been asked about that blonde woman. She’d been
following Ethan at the time. Why was he meeting her now? Could she
have made the phone call that had him dropping everything and
running off to meet her?

Nadia’s vision blurred as she set her
chair to rock back and forth. She needed to put the whole thing out
of her mind. Ethan would take care of his business and then come
home to her tonight. Nothing had changed. She had to believe it or
their relationship would never work.

Ethan was her rock and she was his.
She was exactly what he needed. They needed each other and that
would never change. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath.
Someday soon they would get married and live happily ever
after.

“
Enough silliness for one
day.” She grabbed the smoothies from her purse and went in search
of Sam. She found him chatting with her assistant in the office
kitchen. “Good morning.”

“
Hi.” They both said in
unison.

“
I have an extra smoothie.
Would either of you like it?”

“
I do.” Her assistant
grabbed it and waved to Sam as she left the kitchen. “Call me
later, Sam.”

He blushed a nice cherry red. “We were
just talking. I wasn’t flirting or anything.”

“
It’s fine. You should
call her later. She’s a nice girl. Come on.” She turned and headed
back to her office. “There are a few things we need to discuss
before you head out to your offices.”

“
Okay. I know Aidan needs
to meet with me today but it’s not until later.” His phone buzzed
and he took a quick look. “Take that back. He had a meeting pop up.
If we meet, it will be much later. Dang, I was hoping to show him
the app I just finished.” His pleasant expression faded
away.

“
You can show me.” She
stepped around her desk.

“
Can I? Oh, that would be
great. I know I’m supposed to keep security tasks separate from
you. Aidan made it really clear, but this app is harmless.” He took
the phone lying next to her purse. “Is this yours?”

“
It is. What are you
doing? Wait, I have a password.”

“
Don’t need it.” He handed
it back to her. “When it finishes installing, you’ll be able to
track any phone.”

“
What?” She held out her
phone like it had been given too much power. “Isn’t that
illegal?”

“
Well, it’s for helping
clients. It’s a part of the grey area you and Aidan talk
about.”

“
I see.”

“
It should be done
installing. Go head, type in a phone number.”

The phone’s screen displayed one lone
field. She should enter her dad’s phone number, only her dad’s
phone number. She entered Ethan’s and a map appeared.

“
Isn’t it perfect? There’s
no junk cluttering any of the screens, no one will be able to track
your activity in the app either.” He pointed to her screen. “Do you
see the blue dot?”

It blinked on a restaurant in Evanston
where she knew Ethan kept a private dungeon in the back. This
couldn’t have been where he’d been taking that woman, that pretty
blonde woman. Damn it to hell, her jealousy flags were waving like
crazy.

“
Simple, right?” Sam’s
smile was bright and satisfied.

“
Yes, it gets right to the
point.”

“
Thanks for taking a look.
Okay, I’ll focus for you now.” He pushed up his sleeves. “What do
we need to discuss?”

****

Ethan led Clair to the
backroom.

Max was already sitting. “Gavin went
to search for coffee. Aidan should be here any minute.”

“
Thanks, Max.” He sat in
one of the four chairs at the round table and pointed to a chair in
the corner. “Grab yourself a seat.”

“
So you’re the one we’ve
all been talking about?”

“
That would be me.” Clair
raised her eyebrows as she settled at the table. She reached out
her hand. “I’m Clair.”

“
I’m Max.”

“
I know.” Most people,
when put in a room with Max, would cower, but not this gal. She was
made up of something altogether different.

“
Right.” Max kept his gaze
on her.

Aidan and Gavin walked in together.
They all sat and watched Clair. “Thank you for helping me with this
case.”

“
We haven’t agreed to
anything, yet.” Ethan said. “Tell us what you know
first.”

“
I’ll share what I can.”
She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck. “The gun runners
you’ve been watching aren’t shipping guns.”

“
Max and I found their
safe house up near Milwaukee. It’s guns. We saw it for ourselves.”
Ethan looked between her and Max.

“
You didn’t see everything
they were transporting.” Clair tilted her head.

“
How is it you have any
idea what they’re doing?” Max said.

“
I have a man on the
inside.” She sat up straighter. “When they take the girls from the
strip club, they drive them to that cabin, and from there they’re
somehow taken out of the country.”

“
Has your man been able to
tell you anything more about their routine?” Gavin
asked.

“
We haven’t heard from him
since he left with the last shipment and we’re not supposed to
until he has some idea how far down the rabbit hole goes. They’re
scheduled to transport the next group of girls tonight. I’m not
going to lose one more girl to these monsters. If you guys aren’t
willing to step up, I’ll find someone else.”

“
Now, hold up. I didn’t
say we wouldn’t do it. In fact, this is the kind of situation we
typically handle. I’m just not so hot over killing a woman.” Ethan
sat back.

“
I can tell you how she
treats these girls once she has them locked up. None of them have
seen the light of day in weeks, and she starves them more and more
every day. When she does bring them food, she acts like she stole
it, like she’s risking her own life for them. By now, more than
half the girls have bruises covering their bodies and it will only
get worse when they get where they’re headed.”

“
Enough. We get it. I’ll
take her out tonight,” Ethan said and then caught Gavin’s
gaze.

“
Thank you.”

“
Thank you for trusting us
with this,” Gavin said and then nodded at Ethan.

“
I have a team in place to
take the girls.” Clair’s whole demeanor lightened.

“
I assume your team isn’t
handling the kill because—”

“
Because we’re not
supposed to take action on U.S. soil. It’s the only reason I’m not
taking care of this bitch myself. You’re a lucky man,
Ethan.”

“
Right.” Lucky was not the
word he would choose. “I guess I’ll get back to the office.” Busy
work is about all that would get him through the day. What he
really needed was Nadia but he couldn’t face her knowing what he
had to handle in a few hours.
Shit
. He’d have to cancel on her
this evening.

“
You okay to handle this?”
Gavin clasped his shoulder.

“
I’ll be fine, especially
once I see the girls go free.” His clients in this case were
nameless but he prayed he’d get them out of their prison tonight
and back to their families. Countless others who had yet to be
taken would be saved tonight as well.

Thank God, Nadia no longer had to see
the horrors he faced. She’d already seen enough of his business.
Their arrangement kept a part of their lives separate but it kept
her safe and that was all that mattered.

“
You can find your way
from here?” he asked Clair.

“
Yes, I’ll be fine. Call
me when it’s done.” She stood and walked out.

Aidan followed her out. When he came
back to the table, he said, “Terry’s making sure she stays
gone.”

“
How do you plan to verify
her claims?” Gavin asked.

“
I can have my team add
surveillance outside the club today.” Ethan thanked his lucky stars
he was currently fully staffed.

“
Since we can’t contact
the agency directly to verify her operation, I’ll reach out to my
friends at in the Justice Department,” Max said. “Human trafficking
is a hot topic. Someone is bound to know something.”

“
Thanks.” Ethan rolled his
shoulders.

All four men pounded their knuckles on
the table and left in opposite directions.

Once outside, he dragged cool air into
his lungs. He would give about anything to restart his day, to be
back at Nadia’s, to pull her body flush against his. Just the
thought of her, knowing he would have her in his arms again, gave
him enough to push through crappy days like this one. He climbed
into his car and on the way to the city, he called her.

“
Hello.” Nadia’s sweet
voice warmed him all over.

“
Hi, honey. I’ve got a
client who needs me tonight.” He rubbed his knee.

“
Oh.” Her voice came out
quiet and small.

“
I’m going to have to
reschedule our dinner.” He felt like a jerk.

“
I understand.”

“
How about we go out for
lunch tomorrow?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Sure, we haven’t done
that in a long time. I’ll even pick the food truck.”

“
Sounds like a date.” Her
silky tone stroked along his senses.

“
Nadia.”

“
I’m still
here.”

“
I love you.”

“
I love you,
too.”

Hours later, after a shitty day at the
office and not a single bit of corroborating evidence, Ethan walked
into the strip club. The only thing his surveillance cameras had
picked up on so far was the type of clientele. This wasn’t the
typical nightclub. His high-end suit would fit in quite
well.

The place was hopping with high
rollers. He wondered if any of them had any idea what this place
was really after. There was plenty of money to be made from pretty
women taking off their clothes, but it paled in comparison to
selling them as sex slaves. He cracked his knuckles. It would all
end tonight if he found anything that confirmed the
claim.

He strolled around the various stages
and bars. It seemed swanky for a place that stole women and sold
them to the highest bidder. From the chandeliers to the intimate
seating areas, it resembled more of a classy hotel than a strip
club. The dancers were even finishing their time on stage without
taking off their panties. It appeared tasteful, fashionable even.
Several couples were arriving to enjoy the sexy scene
together.

Could Clair have it all wrong? What
did he really have to go on? Her word was all he had. His team and
Max’s contacts gave him nothing to go on. Too bad he couldn’t march
into her offices and ask. No matter how necessary his work was it
was still illegal and she knew it.

His stomach rolled. If the place was
what she claimed, it put on a pretty face as a ruse, the perfect
cover for a disgusting reality. Scum in any covering was still
scum. Tonight, he’d take out anyone responsible for stealing
lives.

He walked to the bar and ordered a gin
and tonic. While he waited, he made note of the entrances and
exits. There appeared to be only two, one at the front and one at
the back. Both were flanked with a couple of large bouncers. The
rear door must lead to private rooms. Several of the dancers were
escorting customers back and forth.

The bartender placed his drink in
front of him. He tossed it back. The chilly pine rolled down his
throat. If he was going to get in the back without creating a
commotion, he’d have to pick a dancer. He clenched his
knee.