Castle Investigations Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  "She's, um—she lives in Arizona."

  "Was that who you were talking to on the phone?" Zach asked, the pieces falling into place.

  "Yes." Quita didn't elaborate, but Zach didn't mind. Relief was filling every corner of his heart. He'd ached, thinking that she loved another man, but it was her mother she'd shared those words with.

  Sully walked in just then, along with Ethan and Lucas. Gabriel was out on another assignment with his wife, Cate. She was now working for Castle Investigations, and they sometimes took cases together.

  When everyone was seated, Sully turned his attention to Zach.

  "Any breakthroughs?"

  Zach nodded. "I’m close. I should be in by the end of the day."

  "Excellent."

  The ringing of a phone interrupted him. Quita scrambled, pulling a phone out of her pocket. "Sorry," she murmured and looked at the screen. Confusion and worry pulled at her features.

  She answered, seemingly forgetting where she was and that she was in the middle of a meeting.

  "Mom?"

  She paused, listening. Her terrified eyes met Zach’s, and all the color drained from her face.

  "What do you want, Tobias?"

  Chapter 10

  Cold fear ran through Quita's veins. Tobias Winters was in her mother's house. Calling her from her mother's phone.

  "Well, hello to you, too, Quita."

  "Cut the shit, Tobias. What do you want?"

  Tobias laughed, his self-righteous, arrogant, you-can't-touch-me laugh. "You know what I want. The drive, of course."

  "I don't have the drive."

  "Well, I’m sure your friends at Castle Investigations do, though. Bring me the drive, Quita. By Saturday evening. If you don't, well, I'm sure you know you won't like the consequences."

  "Leave my mom out of this, Tobias. I'll do whatever you want. But leave her out of it."

  "Yes, you will do whatever I want. So bring me the files, or mother dearest might have a little relapse that ends her life."

  "If you touch her, I swear I'll—"

  "Please, my dear. Cut the dramatics. Bring me the files by the weekend, and all will be well." Tobias rattled off the address of a hotel, and Quita scrambled around the table, looking for a pen and paper. Sully pushed them over to her, and she wrote the address down.

  "Put me on speaker, now, dear. "

  Quita hit the speaker button and waited.

  "Hello, Castle team. I do hope you'll help Quita out and relinquish the drive. Her mother's life depends on it. And your lives, as well as the lives of your loved ones, depend on your staying out of this. She comes alone. Is that clear?

  The room fell silent. Anger simmered in the air, ratcheting up the tension to unbelievable heights.

  "Is that clear?"

  "Yes," Sully answered.

  "Good. Saturday evening, Quita. Now, here's your mother."

  Her mother's worried voice came over the line. "Love? Are you ok? This man showed up this morning and said you were in trouble and he needed to reach you. Is everything all right?"

  Tears filled Quita’s eyes and ran down her face. She choked back the sobs that arose at her mother's worried voice and swallowed hard.

  "Yes, mama." Her voice came out shaky. She cleared her throat as the tears continued to run, unfettered, down her cheeks. "Everything is just fine. Looks like I’m going to come out and see you after all.”

  "Really? Why the change of plans, dear?"

  "I forgot about a job I was offered. It has me traveling to Phoenix for the weekend. I'll see you Saturday or Sunday. Ok, mom?"

  "Oh, that's wonderful. I'll see you then. Be careful. I love you."

  "I love you, too, mama." Quita said the words and ended the call, the sobs choking her.

  Zach reached for her, and Quita curled into him.

  "I’m sorry. I'm so sorry."

  "It's not your fault."

  "Tell us what's going on," Sully said. "Why is he threatening your mother?"

  "She has cancer. A rare form of lung cancer. The regular treatments weren't working, and we'd run out of money and options. I was working in Las Vegas at a respectable club. Tobias approached me and offered me a way I could make an enormous amount of money."

  The tears broke through, then. Quita couldn't hold back the sobs. The embarrassment, the shame. It all came flooding back. How desperate she'd been. How much she'd despised herself once she’d realized what she would be required to do.

  "It started out slowly. I was still a showgirl, singing, dancing. Then came the stripping." She took a deep breath. Knowing this would be the worst of it.

  "He told me I had to recruit other girls. I'd lure them in with the promise of fame and fortune. I didn't know—" Quita broke off on a sob. She hadn't known what he’d been doing with the girls—that they'd be sold into slavery. And what's worse is that she wasn't certain that, had she known, she'd do anything differently.

  "The treatment saved my mom. She's had to have more, and hasn't hit remission yet, but they've given her a seventy-five percent chance of survival."

  "The girls…he sold them?" Sully asked, his voice soft. No accusation there. Just facts.

  Quita nodded. "When I learned what he was doing, I told him I wouldn't do it anymore." She inhaled deeply. "That was the first time Bruno beat me. I almost died. I couldn't perform for months. My jaw had to be wired shut for three weeks. I had to tell my mother that I was sick and couldn't talk." The tears had stopped, leaving Quita with itchy eyes and a sore throat.

  "After that, they decided I'd be more useful as a performer and…other things," she finished quietly. She didn't want to go into detail about the things she'd been forced to do. She had convinced herself that she deserved it. After all, she'd been the one responsible for luring so many women into worse circumstances. She never tried to escape. It was her punishment.

  "They forced you into prostitution?" Isabel asked.

  Quita nodded.

  "And you never tried to escape?" Isabel tried to meet her eye, but Quita lowered hers. She didn't want to see the pity there.

  She shook her head.

  "You thought you deserved it," Isabel said quietly. Quita shrugged.

  If Zach didn't hate her now, he probably would once he opened those files. Once he saw the rest. She didn't have the guts to meet his gaze. She could feel it on him. Feel the heat of it like a caress against her cheek.

  Finally, she looked up, determination fueling her resolve.

  "I'm sorry. I have to take the files to them. Can you break the code before I leave today?"

  "You're not going alone," he said firmly.

  "I have to. They'll kill my mom."

  "No. They won't. But once you get there, they'll kill you both. I won't let that happen."

  "You don't have a choice."

  "I absolutely have a choice. You're not going alone. I'll go with you."

  "But—"

  "It's settled," Sully said. "They'll be looking for a van of people. They won't notice Zach missing. Zach, you can finish breaking the encryption while on the road. I'll check with my connections and see if I can get you a flight out of here."

  "I can't ask you to do this. You all have already done so much for me."

  "We care about you, Quita. And your mom. Let us help," Isabel said, her kindness becoming Quita's undoing. The tears came again. She hadn't cried this much since her dad had died. Not even the many times she'd been beaten to within an inch of her life.

  Isabel rose and pulled Quita in for a hug. Quita had never had friends like this before. Friends who would do anything for her. Isabel pushed back and gave her a watery smile. "Let's get you packed."

  Zach nodded when Quita turned back to him. She followed after Isabel, taking the elevator back up to the top floor.

  Maggie sat on the couch, still talking with Scarlett. "What's wrong?" she asked, jumping up off the couch and coming over to Quita. She took her hands in her own and squeezed.

  "My mom needs me.
I'm heading out tonight." Quita wasn't sure how much the guys wanted Maggie to know. Although she was in this now up to her eyeballs. She looked to Isabel with a question on her face.

  Isabel nodded for her to share more.

  "Look, Maggie, we have a computer drive that some really bad people want. They're the ones who torched your house. They're threatening to kill my mom unless I bring them the drive. Zach and I are flying out tonight," Quita said.

  Maggie's face filled with compassion. Scarlett stood and came over as well. "You're in good hands with Zach."

  "I know—I just hate that I'm bringing you all into this mess.”

  "You stole those files for us," Isabel said. "None of this is your fault. We're all in this together. And we're going to get you out. Now, let's get you some clothes for the trip. Hopefully, once you get to Arizona, you can buy some that fit."

  She winked, and Quita laughed. Although she was used to clothing that was tight in all the right places, it would be nice to have something that fit a little better, even if it did come from a low-budget department store.

  Maggie and Scarlett sat back down, and Quita followed Isabel back to her room, where she took out a duffel bag and began filling it with underwear, socks, and clothes. Fortunately for Quita, since they were about the same height, they also wore the same size shoes.

  Quita wasn't sure what to say to Isabel, so they worked together to pack in companionable silence. Finally, Isabel broke the silence.

  "Zach cares about you."

  Quita's mouth popped open, and she opened and shut it a couple more times before she could get the words out. "I mean, sure. We're friends. He's a good guy."

  "No, I mean he really cares about you. When he came back, he wasn't the same. Distracted. Always in his head. When we'd bring your name up, his whole demeanor would change." She stopped shoving clothes into the bag and met Quita's eyes. "He was worried sick about you. And not like an operator worried about a case. Like a man worried about a woman he very much cares for."

  "Oh."

  "So be gentle with him. These guys act all tough and hard on the outside, but on the inside, they're just big teddy bears. Take care of him, and he'll take care of you. You're good for each other."

  "Isabel, I'm sure Zach doesn't care about me that way. I mean, we've kissed, but—"

  "You kissed? Why didn't you tell me that? When? Where? Was it good?"

  Quita chuckled a little hysterically. "Yes. In Vegas, after I stole the files. And then in the diner yesterday. And then again this morning in here."

  "Man, girl, you sure know how to make quick work of things."

  The words stung, even though Isabel hadn't meant them that way. As if she realized what she’d said, Isabel put her hands over her mouth.

  "I didn't mean it like that, Quita. I'm so sorry. I just meant—"

  Quita put her hand up to stop her. "I know what you meant. It's ok."

  "No, it's not. I should have been more sensitive." She sat down on the bed and pulled Quita down next to her.

  "You have to know that those girls—it wasn't your fault. The life you were forced to live—not your fault."

  "I know that here," Quita said, pointing to her head. "But I’m still trying to accept it here," she added, pointing to her heart.

  Isabel nodded. "Well, if you need to talk to someone, let me know. I'm here."

  "Thank you, Isabel. For everything. But mostly…for your friendship."

  Isabel drew her into a bone-crushing hug.

  "Ok, girl, let's get your toiletries."

  Isabel hopped off the bed and into the bathroom, gathering up some travel-sized items. "I have a bunch of these on hand. When you get a case that comes in, you don't always have time to go to the store. So we try to stay stocked up."

  Quita was so grateful for Isabel's hospitality.

  "Have we heard about the outcome of Maggie's house yet?" she asked.

  Isabel's look was grave. "Yes, right before we met, the fire inspector called. The house is all but a total loss. The bedrooms still have some salvageable things left in them, but most of the house is gone."

  Quita felt the tears build again. Damn it! She hated crying, and it seemed that that was all she'd done that day. "What's Maggie going to do?"

  "Live here, of course. We have plenty of room. And it's just Sully and Zach around, most days. Zach rarely sleeps. Sully, too. So she'll have free range of the place. Until she figures out what to do."

  Quita felt her insides clench. She hated this. Hated that Tobias had hurt someone she cared about. She'd only known Maggie for a little over twenty-four hours, but already she knew that they'd be good friends if they had a chance.

  Quita hadn't met very many truly kind people for many years. But Maggie, Isabel, Sully, and the rest of the Castle team had been more than kind to her.

  And Zach.

  Zach had cared for her and worried about her, even when she'd hurt him by leaving without a word and taking the drive with her. These were good people. She hated that they were being dragged into the drama of her life.

  But then, Isabel was right. It had been their idea to go after the files. She'd just volunteered to be the one to retrieve them. So maybe they were all in this together.

  Maggie hadn't deserved any of this, though. She'd simply offered Quita a place to stay. She wished she could make it right.

  One day, she'd return the favor. When all this was over, she'd make it up to everyone. Somehow.

  * * * *

  Zach worked diligently at his computer, trying to break through a tricky level of encryption on the files. The encryption overall was one of the best he'd ever encountered. It had to mean that there was really good information stored inside.

  He still felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut. Quita had helped recruit women to be sold into sex slavery. Granted, she hadn't known at first, and refusing after she’d found out had left her almost dead. He thought back to when he'd found her. To know that she'd been beaten worse than that was hard to imagine.

  And Zach couldn't blame her. If his mom were around, he'd do anything to keep her alive as well. Quita had walked into something thinking she'd found a solution to her problems, only to be tricked into harming other people. She'd paid for it in spades.

  Bruno Lopez and Tobias Winters were the bottom of the barrel. He wanted to kill Bruno all over again, and Tobias—well, Tobias had it coming. The sick son of a bitch needed to pay for all he'd done.

  Zach glanced at his watch. Sully had just informed him that the plane would be arriving at five o'clock. It was three o'clock now, so he had just enough time to throw some clothes together and get them through security in time to take off.

  It was nice working for a company that had powerful people who owed them favors. They rarely had to fly commercial anymore. One of their "contacts" usually had a private plane they could borrow. It amazed him that people had that much money. Having been raised in a single-parent home for most of his life, and then living with his mother's sister—he refused to call that dreadful woman his aunt—he hadn't had a lot growing up. At least his mother had loved him well. He'd never felt as if he’d wanted for anything while she was alive.

  Turning off his computer and putting it in his bag, Zach trudged upstairs to his room. Maggie and Scarlett were on the couches, drinking wine and talking. He waved but didn't stop to talk. He and Quita needed to leave soon. He already had a bag out from staying at Maggie's, so it took only a couple of minutes to pack a few more things.

  He stopped by Isabel's room and knocked.

  Isabel opened the door.

  "Oh, hey, Zach."

  "Hey. Can you tell Quita to meet me at the car in fifteen minutes? We need to catch our plane, and I need to stock up on some other essentials." He winked, and he knew that Isabel knew what type of essentials he was referring to. The kind that made a lot of noise and caused a lot of damage to bad people.

  "Sure thing. We're almost done, anyway."

  "Thanks, Izz."
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  Zach left the top floor and went back down to the office level. At the end of the hall, he opened the door to the armory room. Sully was already there, packing a bag.

  "I've loaded most of what you'll need in there. Any idea if Quita knows how to handle a gun?"

  "I'm not sure. I can ask. If not, I can teach her a couple of things once we get there."

  "I've cleared the firearms through the TSA, so you're good there. Gotta love having friends in high places." Sully grinned, and Zach couldn't help but grin back.

  Zach bent down to pick up the weapons case and the extra bag of firearms.

  "Want to tell me what's going on between you and Quita?" Sully asked out of the blue. Zach was startled at the question. Sully wasn't usually one who wanted to talk about feelings and women.

  "Want to tell me what's going on between you and Maggie?"

  "Ok then, good talk," Sully said, patting Zach on the back.

  Zach broke out in laughter.

  "I don't know. She's special. But you know me, man. I’m all messed up inside."

  "Sometimes we need the right person to help put us back together." Sully gave Zach a nod and moved to the door. Turning back, he said, "Think about it."

  Zach did. And when Quita walked down the hallway toward him, he felt his heart beat wildly in his chest.

  She was special, all right. And he'd do anything to keep her safe.

  Chapter 11

  The early fall weather was erratic in D.C. One day, it was eighty-five degrees, and the next, it was forty-five. It was hard to know what to plan for. As they left the warehouse, the day had grown chillier, and Quita huddled in the light jacket that Isabel had given her. They were headed to Arizona, where the heat would be in the nineties that week. She wouldn't need the jacket by day, although it could get a little cooler in the evenings.

  Zach adjusted the temperature in the car. "Cold?"

  Quita shrugged. "Just a little. It's ok."

  Zach gave her a look that said, Give me a break. "Thanks," she muttered.

  The quiet in the car had been awkward. She hadn't talked to Zach since she'd told the team about how she'd recruited those women for Tobias and Bruno. There was still more left to the story that he didn't know, and when he found out, he'd never look at her the same way again.