Sniper

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “It sounds like there are a lot of those,” I muttered. Just then, Chance and Jackson ran head first into each other and both dropped to the floor. Everyone else continued to fight as the two of them just laid there. “Should we do something about that?”

  “Nah. That’s what Rocco’s for.”

  I watched the floor, waiting for either Jackson or Chance to get up, but they both just laid there. I was getting a little worried. It was concerning that no one else seemed to think that a man passed out on the floor was something to check on.

  “So, what kind of things do you worry about?”

  “What? You mean with injuries?” I nodded. “Bullet wounds. Mostly to the torso. Arms don’t count because it’s usually a graze. In that case, you just suck it up and move on. I mean, you saw how Jackson was still walking around and fighting and he had a knife in his foot. And the leg you only worry about if it hits your femoral artery, and that’s on the inner side of your leg. Anything else just means you walk it off.”

  “Are you serious?” She looked at me questioningly. “I mean, I kind of feel like a wuss now for being out of it because I was dehydrated.”

  “Well, that’s different. Chance was all goo goo for you, and you should have seen him snapping at everyone when we found you. Family is off limits. Nobody fucks with our family and friends. If we hurt each other, it’s no big deal.”

  “But Chance and I aren’t together. I didn’t even know his name until an hour ago.” God, that made me sound like a slut.

  “Well, obviously he cares about you more than he says because he was acting like someone had taken his wife. And I don’t think he ever acted that way with his wife.”

  “He has a wife?” I said in shock.

  “Divorced. I never knew her. It happened a long time ago, but from what I understand, she walked out the door and he didn’t try to stop her. I’m pretty sure when you love someone, you fight for them.”

  That had me thinking about Matt. Did he ever really love me? Was I just someone to warm his bed and pass the day with? Florrie was right though. I loved Payton with all my heart and I would fight until the day I died to get her back.

  Chance slowly sat up, holding his head as he groaned. He saw Jackson laying on the floor also and kicked him in the side. I gasped in shock, but Jackson sat up, rubbing his head.

  “Thanks a lot, fucker,” Jackson growled.

  “I didn’t tell you to smash your head into mine,” Chance bit back.

  “You know, none of this would have happened if Alec hadn’t smashed a chair in my face,” Jackson sneered at Alec, who was leaning over and breathing heavily.

  “Me? It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t punched me.”

  Jackson pointed at Gabe in accusation. “You were the one that shoved Chance into me in the first place.”

  “He threw a fucking knife in your foot and you’re blaming me because I shoved him?” Gabe’s shocked face made me laugh. These guys were kind of crazy. They reminded me of five year olds fighting over a toy. Only they were adult-sized.

  “I wouldn’t have thrown a knife in your foot if Gabe hadn’t kept referring to Morgan as a stripper.”

  “She is!” Gabe shouted. Chance took a step forward and I figured this was a good time for me to step in. But Florrie had different ideas. She put her hand on my arm, stopping me from moving.

  “Just wait.”

  “Would you stop fucking saying that,” Chance yelled. “She did what she had to do for her kid. I know Isa would do the exact same thing if it was Enzo or Vittoria.”

  “Dude, you need to fucking relax,” Gabe said. “I never said there was anything wrong with her stripping. I pointed out the fact that she was stripping when you got so defensive. I’m not the one that seems to have a problem with it. Maybe you need to ask yourself why it bothers you so much that someone would call her that.”

  Chance didn’t have anything to say to that and I wondered if Gabe was right. Did Chance just hate the connotation or was he actually offended that I had been stripping? As if Chance finally sensed that I was in the room, he turned and locked eyes with me. I didn’t really have anything to say. Nothing Gabe said was offensive and I really didn’t care if any of Chance’s friends thought badly of me. I knew my reasons for doing what I did, and that was all that mattered.

  “Can someone go get Rocco so I can get this knife out of my foot?” Jackson asked, breaking the tension in the room.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Would you stop holding me up? I’m not going to fall over walking into a building.” Chance had been treating me like a fragile flower since the safe house. Sure, I had been dehydrated and I still felt pretty awful because I didn’t have any energy, but I would get that back in a day or two. Besides lack of energy, the thing that was bothering me the most was my cracked lips. Every once in a while, one of the cracks would start to bleed if I wasn’t careful. It was painful, but would heal in time.

  “We should have stayed at the safe house longer. You needed to rest more.”

  I stopped in my tracks and stared at him pointedly.

  “What?”

  “This coming from a man who has a goose egg on his forehead. I’m thinking maybe it’s you that should have taken more time to rest. You could have a concussion.”

  He shrugged like it was no big deal. “I’ve had ‘em before. I’ll have ‘em again.”

  I repeated it, silently mocking him behind his back as we stepped onto the elevator. Men were such idiots. He was passed out on the floor after slamming his head into Jackson’s, but he was worried about me because I wasn’t back to the same energy level I had before. He went through a series of scans that had me rolling my eyes. I felt like I was entering the CIA.

  When the elevator doors opened and we stepped off, I eyed the chairs longingly. I would never admit that I was tired from the trip from the parking garage to here. The last thing I needed was Chance deciding to take me for tests or something, which he probably would with the way he was acting. And it was strange to me. How could he go from so unfeeling to this? What exactly had changed to cause this one-eighty?

  “Come on. Let’s get you to a chair. You look like you’re going to pass out if you don’t sit down in the next five seconds.” Chance gripped onto my elbow and I was thankful for the assistance. I did feel like I was about five seconds from just plopping down and planting my ass wherever my body landed. We walked into a conference room and Chance pushed me gently down in a chair, kneeling in front of me with concern all over his face.

  “Are you feeling okay? You look a little green.”

  “I’m fine. I think the better question is what the hell is wrong with you?”

  His eyebrows quirked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that all the sudden you’re worried about every move I make. Why? What’s changed that now you feel the need to watch over me like a hawk?”

  “I was looking out for you back at the club too. Remember? I warned you not to go to that poker game?”

  “I remember, but I also remember you throwing money at me like a whore after you fucked me.”

  He hung his head in shame and then looked back up at me, his features unreadable. “I can be an asshole, but I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong, and I was wrong about you. What you were doing in the club to get your daughter back was fucking amazing. You were risking everything for her and that just blows me away. You’re an incredibly strong woman and I’m a fucking idiot for not having seen that sooner.”

  I eyed him skeptically. “Does this mean you like me?” I teased.

  He rolled his eyes at me and stood. “Yes, I like you, alright?”

  “So, are we like boyfriend and girlfriend now? Are you going to get me a promise ring?” I needled him a little more.

  But instead of him joking back with me, his face turned serious. He ran his hand across the back of his neck and sighed. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I like you, a lot, but I can’t offer you a
nything. Ever. I don’t want to ever be married again or even make some kind of commitment to a woman again. That’s not for me anymore.”

  Okay, that was interesting to know and way more than I had intended to get into so early in the morning, but I appreciated his honesty. Though, part of me was disappointed that he seemed to care about my well-being so much, but then told me that he didn’t ever want any kind of commitment again. It killed things before they even had a chance to be anything.

  “Relax, Chance. I’m not going to get stars in my eyes and start seeing you as some knight in shining armor that’s come to sweep me off my feet. I was teasing you.”

  He eyed me skeptically before giving me a curt nod and turning away. “I’m gonna let Cap know we’re here.”

  When he left the room, I looked around at the impressive equipment. Several large screens were on the walls. There was some kind of tablet on the long table and I wondered if it was a regular tablet or some super spy gadget that set off bombs with just the touch of a button.

  “Morgan,” I jerked my head to the door when the deep voice said my name. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sebastian and I own Reed Security.”

  I stood and held out my hand to the handsome man who stood in front of me with all the airs of the man in charge, but his large hands and his muscular arms told me he was still deadly. I flicked my eyes to Chance, well aware that I had just been checking out his boss. I hadn’t meant to, but every man I came across that Chance knew was freaking hot and had enough muscles to bench press the conference room table.

  “Thank you for seeing me today.”

  “It’s no problem.” Sebastian walked around the table and grabbed the tablet off the table and turned on one of the screens. So, not a super spy tablet. “We’ve been going through your daughter’s file and we’re not finding anything new in there. I’d like you to tell me what you remember happening.”

  “It’s all in the report,” I said in confusion.

  “I know, but sometimes we remember small details when we recount a story.”

  I nodded and glanced at Chance who had taken a seat next to me. Sebastian handed Chance a device and he set it in front of me, pressing a button.

  “We’re going to record it so we can go back through it if we need to.”

  “Okay, um…” I took a deep breath and pushed all emotional thoughts aside. Falling into a pit of heartache wouldn’t help right now. “It was a Thursday. I was rushing to get ready for work because I woke up late. The power had flickered sometime during the night and my alarm didn’t go off. I was just about to leave and take Payton to daycare when I got a phone call from Carrie’s husband. Carrie is my daycare provider. She was really sick, throwing up all night, I think. He gave me the number of another woman who would possibly have some openings for the day.”

  “And her name was?” Sebastian asked.

  “Denise Sanders.”

  Sebastian nodded, his eyes intent on me as I told the story. “I called her and she told me she had room for one more child Payton’s age. She gave me a price, which was way higher than I normally paid, but I didn’t have many options. When I hesitated, she told me that she had another call coming in. I told her I would take the spot and she texted me the address. Her home was big, nice, clean. It was in a good neighborhood and the other kids seemed happy. The woman was even pretty nice, so I wasn’t nervous when I left Payton there. Besides, Carrie had recommended her, so I figured she was good.”

  “What time was that?”

  “Um…just after eight a.m. I went to work and I received a call at 10:20 from Denise. She said that they were at the playground down the road and Payton was snatched by two men in a white van. I told my boss what happened and left immediately, heading right for the police department. Denise had already talked to an officer after she got the other children back to her house. After that, it was just a long line of people that wanted to talk to me. Nothing happened after that. I didn’t receive a ransom note or a phone call. She was just gone. The police searched for the white van, but the plates were tracked to a rental company and the name on the rental was fake. Whoever it was had already wiped down the van. There were no prints.

  “The police put out an amber alert immediately after she was taken, but all they got were false leads. The police had searched through our house, talked to the neighbors, talked to all my family, friends, and colleagues. Nobody knew anything. The FBI came within two days and had set up phone taps and did their own investigations, but they couldn’t find anything more than the police had. Eventually, the tips stopped coming in and there was nothing more to investigate. The FBI stayed in contact, but every update was the same. We’re sorry, Ms. James, but we don’t have any new information on your child.”

  I laughed, though it wasn’t funny. “Every phone call killed me. Whenever I saw my contact on the caller I.D., I prayed they had something new to tell me and every time I was disappointed. After three months, the police told me they would stay in contact and they wouldn’t stop looking, but they never had any new leads either.”

  “And that’s when you started looking on your own.”

  “Yes.”

  “Who did you talk to?” Chance asked.

  “I found druggies and asked who their dealers were. When I found one of the dealers, I asked for a meet with their supplier. I never got names, just dates and times to meet.”

  “Do you know how dangerous that was?” Chance said angrily.

  “It was for my child,” I said calmly. “I wasn’t going to just give up.”

  “How did you end up with the name The Broker?” Sebastian asked.

  “When I met with the supplier, he was a little upset when he found out what I wanted. I think he was actually going to kill me, but when I told him I was searching for my child, everything changed. He told me to go to a bar, The Saw House. He said that if I talked to George, the bartender, he could put me in contact with someone that might be able to help. I found the bartender and he told me I needed to meet with The Broker. He didn’t say who he was or what he did, just that if I went to the strip club, he would find me. I was never told a real name or given a description.”

  “Why did you assume Chief knew something?” Chance asked.

  “He was always on these phone calls that sounded so mysterious. I heard names, dates, locations…I guess I figured that maybe he knew who The Broker was, that I might be able to get information from him.”

  Something passed between Chance and Sebastian, a look that had me wondering what I was missing.

  “Did you know that several girls went missing from the strip club over the past year?” Sebastian asked.

  “No, but Chance told me there were men involved in a sex trafficking ring. I just assumed that the women went on to work somewhere else. I never would have imagined that they were disappearing from the club. Wouldn’t Jeremy have done something about it?”

  “He couldn’t,” Chance said. “Not without blowing the whole investigation.”

  I stared at him in shock. I couldn’t believe that Jeremy wouldn’t have done anything. “But Jeremy always seemed like such a good guy. I can’t believe…”

  “He didn’t have a choice. They were close to getting the guy running the whole thing. If he gave away that he was working with the FBI or DOJ, whoever they were, the ring would have split up and disappeared. More women would get taken, just from another location.”

  “The night you went missing,” Sebastian leaned forward, resting his arms on the table, “the ring moved out.”

  “Was Jeremy able to get the leader?”

  “No,” he said gravely. “All the women from the strip club were taken.”

  “What?” I stared at them both in shock. All those women were gone? I shook my head, unable to believe what I was hearing. “But…that’s insane. That many people disappearing all at once would raise suspicion. Someone must have some information to go on.”

  “It happened so fast that Jeremy wasn’t able to call
for backup. There was nothing he could do to stop them. He said they were in and out in five minutes.”

  “I would have been there,” I said quietly. “If I hadn’t left with Wes, I would be God knows where now.”

  “Wes didn’t exactly do you any favors. He left you in the bottom of a well,” Chance said sharply. “You would have died if we hadn’t found you.”

  “How am I going to find this guy now? I missed my chance.”

  “Morgan, Wes is The Broker.”

  My head whipped in Chance’s direction again. “What?”

  “He’s The Broker. Storm knew that, but he never said anything because nobody ever lives when they figure that out.”

  “But he didn’t kill me. He just-”

  “He just made it so you would die a slow death,” Chance cut in. “He’s not going to help you and chances are, he has something to do with your daughter’s disappearance.”

  “You don’t know that for sure.”

  “No, I don’t, but I do know that he left you for dead. If you go see him again, he’s gonna put a bullet in your skull.”

  “He can’t just do that. He’s not invincible.” I turned to Sebastian with pleading eyes. “Tell him. Tell him that we still have a chance. He didn’t kill me.”

  “He was playing with us,” Chance bit out. “He led us right to your location, but he didn’t let us in on where you were.”

  “See?” I was desperate at this point. I would do or say anything to talk with him. “If he led you to me then he didn’t actually want me dead. He probably just wanted me away from the club.”

  “There was no guarantee we would find you. He wasn’t sparing your life. You have to stop thinking of him as the good guy that’s going to save your daughter. He had no reason to save you or get you away from the club. He was trying to rid himself of someone he considered a nuisance. He was never going to help you find Payton!”

  I slumped in my chair feeling defeated. I didn’t have any arguments left. I knew that Chance was right, but he was the only person left that might have information on my daughter. It wasn’t fair. She was only four. She didn’t deserve whatever was happening to her.