by Stormy Glenn
The white flowing pants weren’t bad.
I went through the pile until I found enough to cover me that wouldn’t show more of me than I wanted to be shown. As much as I hated it, I kept the thong on simply because I wasn’t taking it off with Rolfe in the room.
By the time I was dressed and turned around, Rolfe was hanging up. “Well?”
“You’re right,” Rolfe replied. “He’s coming for you.”
I never doubted it for a moment.
Chapter Sixteen
Salvador
“Well?” Vinnie asked after I hung up with Rolfe. “Is he there?”
I nodded. “He’s there.”
Damn it.
“He is a natural at this, isn’t he?”
I nodded. “He is.”
No one could get into a mess like my Lany.
“I don’t see any reason to change the plan,” Vinnie said. “I won the high bid. If everything goes according to usual procedures, Juarez will have Lany waiting for me. I give him the money. He gives me Lany. Once the exchange has been made, your FBI friend can arrest Juarez.”
Burke snorted, but didn’t say anything. The two men had been dancing around each other since Vinnie arrived. By unspoken agreement, they had put their differences aside to help me rescue Lany. I had no doubt once Lany was safe, Burke would be after Vinnie again.
I still couldn’t believe Vinnie had learned about Lany being sold before I did. I knew Lany had been taken, but it wasn’t until Vinnie had shown me the live feed of Lany being held in some windowless room that I knew he had been taken to be sold as a sex slave.
I still cringed at the idea.
My Lany as a sex slave.
Maybe my sex slave, but no one else’s.
“I can’t begin to express how much this means to me, Vinnie.”
The man was using his reputation to bid on Lany, and his money to win him.
There was no thank-you for that.
“I have never held for slavery, Salvador.” Vinnie’s hand fisted on his knee. His gaze went to the FBI agent sitting across from him in the back of the limo. “I’ve done a lot of things I am not proud of, many that…uh …skirted the edges of the law, but I have never dealt in human beings.”
I believed him.
“You’ll still have to stay behind, Salvador,” Vinnie said. “Juarez knows your face. If he sees you before Lany is handed over, all bets are off.”
I didn’t like it, but I understood it.
“I’d just like five minutes alone with that monster,” I snapped. “Five minutes.”
Burke chuckled. “I might be able to arrange that.”
My smile was weak. I had no amusement in me, and I wouldn’t until my Lany was returned to me. And then I really was going to lock him up in a hermetically sealed bubble. At least until my heart could handle the ache of worry that seemed to be my constant companion as of late.
It might be awhile.
Burke held his hand out, opening it up to reveal a small earpiece. “This is so we can communicate with each other.”
Even I knew what Vinnie’s response was going to be before Vinnie opened his mouth. This was not my first rodeo.
“I cannot,” Vinnie said. “Juarez will no doubt search us both. If he discovers a listening device on either of us, our little plan will be shot to hell.”
“Well,” Burke said, “we have to be able to communicate with Sal and his team somehow.”
“Not to worry, my law-abiding friend.” Vinnie held up his arm, showing off the shiny silver watch on his wrist. “This was a gift from an old friend. It looks like any other Rolex, but when I do this”—Vinnie turned the dial on top and then pressed a button on the side—“everything can be picked up on a communicator that comes out here.” He lifted the middle section between his seat and mine, revealing a small mechanical device.
“Great, so they can hear us,” Burke said, but even I could tell he was impressed. I was. “But how does Sal communicate with us?”
Vinnie tapped the diamond stud earring in his ear. “Once the watch is activated, the earring acts as a communicator.”
I chuckled. Vinnie had nifty toys.
The man turned toward me. “A Christmas gift from Isabella before she passed.”
My heart ached for the sadness I could see in the man’s eyes. Isabella had been his best friend and bodyguard, as well as the mother of the twins. A year ago, she had died protecting Vinnie from an assassin’s bullet. That’s when Vinnie had come to me and Lany about adopting the girls.
Only Lany and I knew who their biological parents were.
When Burke just stared at Vinnie, the man laughed. “I’ve been at this game a very long time, Supervisory Special Agent Burke. I know when to hedge my bets.”
“Exactly what game is that, Mr. Castellano?” Burke asked.
I knew Vinnie wouldn’t answer. He hadn’t gotten where he was by being stupid.
“Why, the rescue Lany game, of course.”
I chuckled. So, okay, he answered, but it wasn’t the answer Burke had been hoping for. Of that, I was sure.
“Of course,” Burke grumbled as he sat back in his seat. The man looked as if someone had just run over his puppy.
Burke never could understand how I could be friends with an “alleged” mobster. I doubt he ever would. He was a by-the-book FBI agent. Taking down mobsters like Vinnie was his bread and butter.
Usually, I would say the same for myself, but Vinnie was a special case, only because I knew how hard the man was working to get out of the mobster business. He still had a little way to go, but he’d get there. He wanted a life like the one I had with Lany, and he knew he couldn’t get that if he stayed in the mob.
All thoughts of Vinnie and his mob issues fled when the limo slowed and then pulled into a driveway. I sat forward and glanced through the tinted glass windows.
“Do you know where we are?”
“More than likely, this is a throw-away house,” Vinnie said.
I glanced at him. “A throw-away house?”
What in the hell was that?
“It’s probably a rental, rented under an assumed name. If Juarez was smart, he didn’t use his own name.”
“But what is it?” I asked.
“Oh, a throw-away house is one that can be walked away from without worry if the authorities take an interest in it or it is no longer of any use. Nothing inside will point to whoever has rented it, not even fingerprints.”
“Oh.” That was actually something I had never heard of.
And I didn’t like that I hadn’t.
“How can they get rid of fingerprints?”
“Gloves.”
Crap.
“So, there is no way to tie Juarez to the scene?”
Vinnie shook his head. “No.”
Double crap.
“With a throw-away house, even if the authorities bust the place and find a hundred sex slaves inside, it can’t be tied back to Juarez. If you want to charge him, we have to actually catch him in the act.”
I’d like to kill him, but I doubted mentioning that would go over well. Vinnie might understand it, but Burke was by-the-book. He’d have an issue.
I glanced up when Vinnie patted my knee.
“Not to worry, Salvador. My main objective is obtaining Lany’s release. After that, pursuing Juarez will be up to you and your FBI friend.”
Oh goody.
Vinnie pointed to the electronic device built into the seat between us. “This will record whatever is said after I activate my watch.” His glanced at Burke. “As long as it is not discussed where it came from, I will turn the recording over to you for use in prosecuting Juarez.”
“We can’t do that,” Burke said. “Any defense attorney worth his salt will demand to know where it came from.”
I wanted to strangle the guy.
“Then the tape stays with me,” Vinnie said. “And if you bring my name into it, I can have fifty people swear I was somewhere else.”
>
“I’d swear to it,” I said. I wanted it made clear to Burke that Juarez was going down.
“Sal!”
“I’m sorry, Burke, but this guy needs to go down.”
“I get that, but—”
“You don’t get that,” I snapped. “He took Lany, Burke. He planned it out. This is premeditated. He threatened us with a bomb. He kidnapped me and left me to die. He had people try to kill us at the courthouse. All because of some stupid pictures on the wall. He is evil incarnate. He needs to go down.”
He needed to die, but…
Burke sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No.”
Not a chance in hell.
Burke grimaced. “Fine, raise your right hand and repeat after me.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Just do it,” Burke said. “You too, Mr. Castellano.”
We both raised our right hands.
“I—state your name—do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
I was a little shell-shocked as I repeated what Burke said.
Vinnie seemed amused.
“For this situation, and only this situation,” Burke said, “I have deputized you to stand as FBI agents under my command. It’s the only way I can think of that we can get that tape into court without giving Mr. Castellano’s name away. An agent’s name can be redacted for security reasons. If we can bust this guy and close down a sex trafficking ring, my supervisors will support using you two on my task force.”
Task force? Was that what we were?
I’d take it.
“Thank you,” I said because I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Burke was bending over backwards to accommodate me and the situation.
“Just try not to kill him,” Burke said. “That will be a little harder to explain.”
I grinned at the man. “I’ll do my best.”
I wasn’t making any promises.
“We are here,” Vinnie said when the car came to a stop. “How do you want to play this? Sal can’t go in, but I doubt Juarez has seen you.”
“My undercover character—Mark Burke—should work,” Burke said. “If they do a search on me, my ID and fingerprints are attached to my undercover persona. I can go in as hired muscle.”
“Don’t forget that Rolfe is inside with Lany,” I said. “If it comes down to it, he can help out.”
“He can also back me up if there’s a need,” Burke added.
“Let’s hope there is not a need,” I said. “Just go in, give Juarez the money, get Lany, and get the hell out of there. We can send in the troops after Lany is safe.”
“That is the plan, Salvador,” Vinnie said.
“Yeah, but Lany’s in there, and nothing ever goes according to plan when Lany’s involved.”
Lany
I tried not to fidget too much when Rolfe replaced the ball gag in my mouth. It took all of my control. I hated the damn thing. Rolfe insisted that I needed to wear it. I was pretty sure he just didn’t want me to give him away.
Luckily, he tied my hands loosely behind my back. I could easily get out of the rope if I tried. I would have preferred walking out of the bathroom with my hands untied and a bazooka, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“Stay close to me,” Rolfe whispered as he walked me out.
Like I had any intention of sticking with anyone else.
I was led back down the hallway, but instead of taking me into my windowless room, Rolfe took me up the stairs I didn’t remember coming down. I knew I was right about being in a basement when we reached the next level and I found myself standing in a kitchen.
The two guys sitting at the table in the middle of the kitchen glanced up and then went back to playing cards. I made careful note of every exit I could see as I was escorted down another hallway to a living room.
Well, I was pretty sure it was a living room. There were three run-down couches, but not much else. I was starting to suspect that this was just a staging house and no one actually lived here. If they did, their decorating tastes sucked.
Not even Gino could decorate a house this badly.
Rolfe shoved me into a couch. Hard. I knew he was doing it for show, but it still hurt. I cried out as I landed and then quickly scooted around so I was sitting up. Juarez stood by the window, peeking out through the curtains. He paused what he was doing and glanced at me.
“The buyer is here,” he said. “Rolfe, go open the door.”
Rolfe grunted—obviously back in his undercover character—and went to answer the door. I had to admit, I was curious about who he was letting in. Who spent two million dollars on a sex slave?
My eyes bugged when Vincent Castellano walked into the room with four men, one of them being Miles Burke. It was probably a good thing I had a ball gag in my mouth or I would have given it all away by calling out to them.
Both men stopped right inside the room and then waited as Rolfe patted them down. Burke pulled a gun out of a holster inside his jacket and held it up for Rolfe to see. He did not release it.
“I assume you do not mind if my bodyguard carries?” Vinnie asked.
“Of course not, Mr. Castellano,” Juarez replied. “But I must insist that the others remain outside.”
“Fair enough.” Vinnie nodded, and the other three men with him turned and walked out of the room. Vinnie straightened his suit jacket, tugging at the sleeves just a bit before looking at me. “This is my merchandise?”
Juarez chuckled as he waved his hand toward me. “As advertised, Mr. Castellano. A diamond in the rough in need of a little polishing.”
“That remains to be seen,” Vinnie said as he walked toward me. When he bent down to grab my chin, I pulled back. Vinnie raised an eyebrow and then reached for me again, grabbing my chin. He turned my face one way and then the other before making a tsking noise.
“Does he have all of his teeth?”
“Yes,” Juarez replied. “Of course.”
“Too bad,” Vinnie said.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Vinnie released me and turned toward Juarez. “What is the reason for the ball gag?”
“He’s…in need of training.”
That was delicately put.
“Has he had any?” Vinnie asked.
“Not that I am aware of.” Juarez held up a file. “This is his complete medical file. He did suffer a head injury lately due to a fall in the bathroom. I would suggest restraints until he is properly trained.”
Vinnie snapped his fingers, and Burke rushed over to take the file and hand it to Vinnie. I had no idea what Vinnie was looking for when he flipped through it, and I wasn’t sure even he knew.
“He’s had all of his shots and was tested at the hospital less than a week ago,” Juarez continued.
“Is there any lasting damage from the fall?” Vinnie asked as he looked through the file.
“No, but it wouldn’t hurt to have your personal physician check him over in a week or so.”
“I paid a lot of money for my merchandise. I don’t like receiving damaged goods,” Vinnie said with a growl in his voice. “None of this was mentioned in your advertisement.”
“Like I said, his injury didn’t cause any permanent damage,” Juarez said quickly. “I oversaw his care myself.”
After a moment, he closed it and handed it back to Burke. “Do you have any other merchandise I can look at? Any undamaged merchandise?”
Juarez looked flustered for a moment, swallowing hard several times and tugging at his shirt collar. “Oh, uh, I have a few more boys downstairs, but none of them meet the same quality as this one.”
“I’d like to see them,” V
innie said.
And I wanted out of there. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Vinnie and Burke weren’t rushing me out of there.
What was their game?
Chapter Seventeen
Salvador
Sitting in the car while Vinnie and Burke went inside was probably one of the hardest things I had ever done. Not being on the front lines was hard enough. Not being on the rescue was gutting me.
I was about ready to scream by the time I heard a metallic crackle and then Vinnie’s voice came over the speaker loud and clear.
“This is my merchandise?”
There was a chuckle and then someone said, “As advertised, Mr. Castellano. A diamond in the rough in need of a little polishing.”
“That remains to be seen,” Vinnie replied. “Does he have all of his teeth?”
Does he have all of his teeth? Of course he had all of his teeth. Lany had the brightest smile I had ever seen.
“Yes, of course.”
“Too bad,” Vinnie said. “What is the reason for the ball gag?”
Ball gag?
He was wearing a freaking ball gag?
I was going to kill someone.
“He’s…in need of training.”
I clenched my hands to keep from punching something. My baby did not need training. Lany was perfect just the way he was.
I knew I was supposed to remain somewhat unemotional so I could function as a SWAT commander, but this was my Lany they were talking about as if they were buying and selling aside of beef and not a human being.
“Has he had any?” Vinnie asked.
“Not that I am aware of,” the other man replied.
I assumed it was Juarez. I didn’t remember how he sounded. I hadn’t been paying attention at the time. I hadn’t known I needed to.
“This is his complete medical file,” the man continued. “He did suffer a head injury lately due to a fall in the bathroom. I would suggest restraints until he is properly trained. He’s had all of his shots and was tested at the hospital less than a week ago.”
“Is there any lasting damage from the fall?” Vinnie asked.
