by Iris Bolling
“I got six women in this room,” Cotton called out as he met Nate in the hallway.
“I got six over here,” Nate replied. “A man is missing.”
“Check the basement,” Skylar’s voice came through the earwig.
Rapid shots rang out from the room Cotton was covering. He grabbed his shoulder then fell against the wall.
55
Nate swung his weapon up and aimed directly at the closet door.
Cotton adjusted his position on the floor pointing his weapon. “Two semi-automatics aimed at the closet door. Open it slowly, throw your weapon out or it will be your coffin.”
They watched as the knob slowly turned. A nine- millimeter sub gun dropped to the floor.
“Step out, hands up,” Nate yelled.
A man came out with his hands up.
“On your knees.” Nate yelled with his weapon aimed dead center at the man’s chest. The man dropped to his knees. “Hands behind your head,” The man laid on the floor. “You have him covered?” Nate glanced at Cotton.
From his position lying on the floor, Cotton nodded. “I got all of them covered. Anyone moves a centimeter, and I’m shooting their ass.”
Nate chuckled as he put zip ties on the man. “A little pissed, are we?”
Cotton stood, holding his arm. “One of them could have motioned or pointed to the closet. They had to know he was in there.”
“You all right?” Nate asked as he stood the man up.
“Flesh wound,” Cotton replied. “My wife is going to be pissed. Why in the hell didn’t one of you warn me?”
“He was in the closet with a gun,” one woman replied. “What did you expect us to do?”
“Warn me,” Cotton sighed. “We came in here to get you out. Do you understand that?”
Nate walked into the room with the man from the closet. He knew Cotton’s adrenaline was running high.
“Good news, bad news?” Nate asked as he looked around the room where everyone had gathered.
“Three dead, two injured, and him,” Devin replied nodding at the man Nate had just sat on the floor.
“What’s your name?” Nate asked the man.
“Go to hell.”
“Is that with two ‘L’s’ or one?” Nate asked.
The man smirked.
“You got company coming. Two white vans at rapid speed from the north,” Donnell advised.
Nate and Devin met in the living room of the house.
“They are coming for your ass now,” the man laughed out. “This is bigger than you know. You can’t touch us.”
They heard an explosion. “Hit the floor,” Nate yelled. The women fell to the floor as the sound of the explosion filled the air.
Nate yelled, “Talk to me Donnell.”
“One of the white vans was hit with something that caused it to torpedo in midair, flip over, then burst into flames. And then there was one,” Donnell said in his ear.
Another explosion rocked the air.
“What in the hell is going on out there?” Nate asked.
“The other van was met with the same fate. And then there were none,” Donnell said.
Nate heard the humor in his voice. He glanced around as he eased up from the floor. “Everybody okay?”
“We’re good back here,” Cotton called out.
“Good on the south end, but I hear the boys in blue coming in,” Tony advised.
“On my end too,” Scott added.
“Tony, Scott, take the front. Handle the onlookers until the men in blue get here. Jarrell handle the women. Devin you are on him.” Nate pointed to the man from the closet. “Shoot him if he moves.”
Nate and Cotton walked out onto the porch. Skylar met them on the steps. They looked to the left and right at the burning vans. Neighbors were now coming out of their homes watching the action.
“Did you bring projectiles with you?” Nate frowned at her.
“No.” Skylar frowned up at him. “Did you?”
They both looked again.
Nate shook his head. “We don’t have those kinds of resources.”
The two looked at Cotton.
“Not my doing,” he replied.
They all looked at each other.
“Detail surveillance, and projectiles from…?” Nate questioned.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Skylar shrugged, “I’m going to check out the basement.”
Nate stood there for a long moment. He looked around the area that was now lit up with emergency vehicles. He knew damn well that two vans did not explode on their own. Someone was out there watching their back. He had to wonder who but decided not to question it now.
“Are you coming?” He heard Skylar call out.
Still not seeing anything out of the ordinary, Nate turned to Cotton. “Get that arm checked out.”
“Will do.” Cotton glanced at Nate. “Who would have access to that kind of fire power?”
“Good damn question,” Nate said then followed Skylar’s voice into the basement.
Three wooden stairs near the kitchen led down into the basement. It was a large area, with cement floors that seemed to cover the square footage of the house. Support poles separated the spaces while carrying the weight of the structure. One area had a washer and dryer with a sink and was directly in front of them. To the right were at least ten barrels lined up against the wall. Near the door that led to the backyard, two barrels sat apart from the others.
“Shall we?” Skylar looked over her shoulder at Nate.
Nate’s gut began to churn. “Hold up.” He took Skylar’s elbow. Shaking his head. “Don’t touch anything.”
“Why?” She suspiciously looked around.
“Devin,” Nate spoke into his earwig. “I need you in the basement. Are the crime scene techs here yet?”
“Just pulling up,” he replied.
“Bring one with a camera with you.”
“What are you thinking?” Skylar asked.
“I think those barrels are going to be like opening Pandora’s Box.”
“What’s up…?” Devin stopped talking as he came down the steps into the basement. “Damn.” He pulled out a mask from his back pocket. Working on cold cases had trained his nose to recognize the smell of dead bodies.
“A distinct smell,” Nate nodded.
Devin looked at the wall of barrels and took a step back when he reached the two by the exit. “Here,” he pointed.
Nate spoke into his earwig. “We need forensics in the basement and call Tess Holiday. I want her on the scene.”
Skylar shook her head. “Do you think girls are in those barrels?”
Nate shrugged. “I don’t know if they are girls or boys. I do know there are dead bodies inside.”
“I concur,” Devin exhaled.
Nate looked at all the barrels wondering if the others were empty.
“You better put these on. The moment we open one of these the smell will penetrate the senses in your nose, and it will be hard to get it out.” He gave them both a mask. The tech with a camera came down the steps. “Start filming from there,” Devin commanded. He then glanced at Nate. “You ready?”
Nate nodded. “Open it up.”
Devin used his pocketknife to jar open the top of one of the barrels. At the mere crack the smell began to penetrate the room.
“Oh god,” Skylar gasped when the top came completely off. A girl’s body had been stuffed inside.
“Barrel number one,” Devin placed the top on the floor. He then opened the second barrel. The outcome was the same.
Skylar turned to walk up the steps. “We can’t allow this to continue to happen. I’m going to talk to the women.”
Within the hour Tess and her team entered the basement.
Looking around the room, there were at least ten barrels. “Thank god there are only two with bodies,” Cotton who had joined them exhaled.
“This could have been devastating if bodies were in all of these barrels,�
�� Tess stated. She glanced up at Nate. “I wonder if any of them have numbers on the bottom of their heel?”
Nate stared at Tess. “I wonder too.”
“Numbers?” Cotton raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Tattoos on the bottom of their feet…” Nate stopped mid-sentence in his explanation. He turned then ran up the steps, through the kitchen and into the dining room.
Skylar looked up when he came running into the room.
“Take off your shoes,” he said to the women. “Take off your shoes. Let me see the bottoms of your feet.”
The women complied. One looked up. “My feet are still sore.”
Skylar could see tears in some of the women’s eyes. Some were hesitant while others were just defiant, and she could not blame them.
“Let me see,” Nate said a little harsher than he intended.
Of the twelve women, five of them had numbers. Nate and Skylar looked at each other.
“Bingo,” they said simultaneously.
Skylar told the woman who spoke, “Come with me.”
Nate pointed to another. “You with me.”
56
Krystal looked up from her desk when Evan walked in. “One of my men is missing.”
“Who?” Krystal asked.
“Benjamin Corbin. Did you speak with him the other day when you called?”
Krystal sat back as if thinking. “No, I did not. I did leave a message for him to contact the office, but I don’t know if he did or not.”
Evan nodded. “It’s not like him to miss assignments. He is one of my most faithful. I need him on something.”
“You look shook. What’s going on?” Krystal could see the hesitation in his stance. “It’s going to come out eventually. Tell me what’s happening so I can help.”
He exhaled. “One of DeFazio’s locations was raided by RPD tonight.”
Krystal shrugged. “And?”
“Some of our women are there.” Evan replied.
“Any of them from the system?” Krystal raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, I’m certain of it.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know,” Evan shrugged.
“Then take a guess,” Krystal responded more harshly than she intended. “Sir,” she added to smooth it out.
“Five, maybe more,” he replied. “Reach out to your people. See what needs to be done to get them back. How did the test go with the CA replacement?”
Krystal nodded. “Well, he performed the task without questions being raised and had Cory moved up in a better position to acquire information on our behalf.”
“Good,” Evan nodded, clearly pissed at the situation. “We may need him to give an assist here. Where did they move young Vaughan?”
“Assistant to Deputy Chief Bynum.”
“Perfect. The timing could not be better. That should give us access to everything happening below Chief level. Yes, see what you can get from him. This is something we should have known before it happened, Krystal. I want to know who dropped the ball here.”
“Until this move, Cory’s access was being limited by Detective Reigns.” Krystal stated. “This new position clears the way for more access to information.”
“That Colored is becoming a thorn in my side. It is my understanding he headed up this raid on the house tonight.”
“Who?”
“Detective Reigns,” Evan replied.
“It would be wise to proceed with caution with that one. He is more perceptive than some.”
“He is causing issues for the organization?” Evan questioned.
“Just the usual arrogance some of them tend to possess.”
“It may be beneficial to strip him of some of that arrogance. It would make life a bit easier around here.” Evan nodded. “Get what you can out of young Vaughn, then try to reach Ben again. I may need him before the night is out.”
Krystal picked up the phone to get what she could from Cory.
Evan returned to his office just as Toby walked inside. “Your timing could not have been more perfect. There was a raid on one of the houses where we transport the women.”
“Were any of them taken?”
“Yes, we need to get them back,” Evan stated.
“We did not receive an alert that this was about to happen?”
“Would I be this pissed if we had?” Evan hissed. “We do not need interruptions of this nature at this time. With the income pouring in from our different entities, the higher levels are mentioning my name more for an upward move in the organization. I cannot allow one man to continue to cause issues for the organization.” Evan sat behind his desk thinking. “We need to find a way to slow him down.”
“Him who?” Toby asked.
“Detective Nathan Reigns.” Evan replied.
“Do you want me to look into him?”
“No.” Evan replied. “The last time we had contact, I checked him out. There is a do not touch flag on him.”
“Why?”
Evan shook his head. “Levels much higher than I have access to the answers. I do not. Nonetheless, something has to be done to knock him down a notch or two.”
“Sounds like a boy who needs a reminder of his place in life,” Toby huffed.
Evan looked at him, then tilted his head. “You up to a little action?”
Toby took a step closer to the desk “Are you going to allow me to deliver my kind of reminder?”
Evan sat back with a smile. “No limits. You handle it your way, just do not kill him. Understood?”
Toby shrugged, “I’ll just make him wish he was dead.”
“Check the database for his address,” Evan replied. “Nathan Reigns had the nerve to look me in the eyes once when he shook my hand. I never had the opportunity to punish him properly for that insult. Now it seems he needs a reminder of his inferiority to me.”
“He will pay the price for that insult, tonight.” Toby chuckled. “About time you let me have a little fun around here.”
57
It wasn’t often that his brother asked anything of him, Hayden thought as he drove the Mustang to Nate’s house. He understood the significance of the gesture Janice made and was honored Nate trusted him with such a treasured possession.
The vehicle was in mint condition, and for the life of him, Hayden could not imagine what more needed to be done. But knowing his big brother like he did, both he and Alex wanted the vehicle to be a perfect replica of what it once was.
He pulled into Nate’s driveway, parking it to the side; so when Nate pulled in, he could still get into the garage. It had been a while since the two brothers had just hung out together. With that in mind, Hayden planned to hang around and chill on Nate’s deck until he got home from work. Hell, he might even put a few steaks on the grill for later tonight.
Before getting out of the vehicle, Hayden pushed the button to close the convertible top. The sun had set giving Nate’s place a glow of serenity.
“Yep, a couple of steaks and a few brews…”
Before he could complete the statement a force Hayden had never experienced slashed across his back. He fell to his knees with a scream lodged in his throat.
“You people will never learn. Your purpose for being in this country is to serve your superiors.”
Hayden fell face first to the ground when another slash came across his back. A scream escaped from the tearing of his skin.
“Most of you understand your place. Then, there are the Coloreds like you who have to be taught how to bow down to us.”
“Reigns do not bow down to anyone,” Hayden heard himself say as he crawled away from the next strike. It was dark. He could not see what he was being hit with, but the air swirling around from the object gave him the timing he needed to catch the next strike as it hit the ground next to him. The thick rope circled around his hand causing him to scream out again, but he closed his hand around it and yanked. The man stumbled forward; Hayden kicked up connecting between the man’s legs.
The man fell to the ground, groaning in pain.
Hayden cursed as he tried to move. The pain was too much, “What the hell?”
Another man appeared to his right. With nothing else to fight with, he swung the rope in his hand around the legs of the man who was now running towards him. When it wrapped round his legs, Hayden yanked it causing the second man to fall to the ground. He could feel the blood gushing from the open wound on his back. The second man fell to the ground next to him. The pain in Hayden’s back was excruciating. But his anger propelled him forward.
“You want to take a man down, use your damn fists the next time,” Hayden yelled as he began pounding the man as if he was tenderizing a piece of meat. He heard bones cracking in the man’s face as his fist continued to pummel. To his surprise, his intention was to kill the man. Then, the words his mother said to him once filled his mind. This is not who we are. This is who they want us to be. The fierceness of his punch eased. Hayden slowly stood, stumbling backwards against the garage door. The impact of his body falling against it caused him to scream out in pain. Before he could stand up straight, the first man who struck him was back on his feet coming at him.
The sound of a silencer firing, two quick bursts, filled the air. The man fell at his feet. Hayden turned to the sound of the silencer again as he sat on the ground watching the impact of two short bursts of the bullets hitting the other man’s body. Hayden looked up expecting the bullets to hit him next. All he could think was he would take a bullet for Nate. He grabbed the rope thinking he was going to need to defend himself when the shadow of a body loomed over him.
“I’ll take that.”
“NO!” As Hayden pulled the rope to his chest, his mind closed down wondering if he would live to have that beer with his brother.
58
The raid on the house had RPD brass celebrating. They had taken down a house used for trafficking girls from an otherwise nice neighborhood. Twelve girls had been saved from a dangerous situation, allowing them a chance at a brighter future. Yes, the brass, and the Mayor’s office had something to celebrate. However, there were still questions that had to be answered.
