After cuddling in the backseat so long that my ass started to go numb, we decided that the best thing to do was head back to the house. There wasn’t anything I could do until I knew whether Beth took the bait or not, so the least we could do was get some sleep.
But, as Finn cranked up the car and eased back down the mountain-hill we had perched on, my cell phone rang.
“You think it’s her?” he asked.
I looked down at the restricted number calling me and I drew in a deep breath. “Yeah, that’s her.”
He peeked over at me. “How do you know?”
I turned my phone toward him. “Restricted. We used to do that as well whenever we were calling out so that we didn’t get in trouble for who we were calling.”
He nodded. “Well, go on and pick it up. See if she’ll work with you.”
So, after drawing in a deep breath, I answered the phone. “Hello?”
Beth’s voice sounded on the other end, filling me with relief. “Hi there. It’s uh, it’s Beth.”
I smiled. “Hey there. I wasn’t sure you’d call.”
She snickered. “To be frank, I wasn’t sure I would, either. But, could we meet up? Tonight?”
I pointed to the right and Finn nodded. “Of course. Are you hungry?”
“I’m always hungry.”
God, don’t I know it. “Do you know where Kinship’s Diner is?”
“That place with the yellow neon sign and the massive milkshakes?”
I smiled. “That’s the one.”
Finn took the right we needed, putting us on a path toward the diner as Beth cleared her throat.
“Yeah, I know where that is. I used to go all the time as a teenager with my friends.”
I giggled. “So, you grew up around here?”
I heard the smile in her voice. “Never wanted to leave. I love Santa Cruz, even if it has given me a life I’m not really proud of.”
My heart broke for her. “Well, we’re going to change that, okay? I’ll be at the diner in about thirty or so minutes.”
“Thank you. Thank you so, so much.”
I blinked back tears. “You don’t have to thank me for something like this. I’ll see you soon, okay?”
But, the second I hung up the phone, Finn chimed in with a question I hadn’t considered.
“You sure this isn’t a trap of some sort?”
I tucked my cellphone back into my leather crop top. “It is an awfully quick turnaround for her to be calling me.”
He white-knuckled the steering wheel. “I think you should call her back and have an honest talk with her. I don’t know, something about this just doesn’t feel right.”
And he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. But, what the hell was I going to do? Call back the restricted number? I didn’t even know where she had called me from.
“This is normally the point where I’d call in backup,” I murmured to myself.
Finn snickered. “Let me guess. Budget cuts?”
I rolled my eyes. “Isn’t it always about money, in the end?”
He groaned. “I hate that, too. There’s more to life than–.”
“Green and gold.”
He smiled at me. “Exactly. But, luckily for you, you’ve got an entire M.C. behind you that would do anything to end this shit with Chops.”
I slowly looked over at him. “You mean, call in the crew as my backup?”
He shrugged. “You’d have six tanky men surrounding the diner, waiting for something to pop off.”
“Itchy trigger fingers. Wonderful.”
“Or, you could go in blind by yourself and take your chances.”
I snickered. “What? You mean you’re not secretly Superman?”
He barked with laughter. “My abs are much better than Superman’s.”
I grinned. “Don’t I know it.”
Finn cleared his throat. “I know it’s probably against some sort of cop protocol to call in some crew to protect a scene like this.”
I sighed. “At that point, I’d risk losing my job altogether if they figured out I’d dragged you guys to a meeting like this.”
“But, what other choice do you have? Especially if this is the in you need to keep Summer and Cheyenne safe.”
And that was all I needed to hear. “Call Tanner first. Run it by him and see what he thinks, because as much as I hate the guy he’ll have the kind of head on his shoulders that I need. If he feels this is too risky, I won’t jeopardize what he feels is right and good by my sister.”
He dug around for his cell phone. “I’ll pull off up here into this parking lot and give him a call.”
And as I sat there, listening to Finn mumble into his cell phone, I drew in a deep breath.
Because something told me that tonight was about to get nuts.
“A rental car?” Tanner whispered. “Seriously?”
Finn shrugged as I sat on the back of his bike. “Hey, it kept her from nailing me.”
I leaned out from behind him. “Figuratively speaking.”
Tanner snickered. “Funny that you needed to specify that.”
I blushed and scooted back behind Finn as the rest of the guys arrived. I didn’t like how loud all of their bike engines were, but I also liked the fact that Finn had ditched the rental for his own bike. I’d never been on the back of one, so clinging to him while we rode the rest of the way toward the meeting point had been a hell of a journey.
But, forty minutes later the rental car had been dealt with, the guys had met up with us, and Finn was back where he belonged.
On his bike, with his family, and ready to rumble.
“So, what’s the plan?” Tanner asked.
The guys circled us with their bikes as all eyes fell to me. “It’s simple. I need you guys posted around the diner. I need the exits covered and as many windows as possible. I’ll go in and find Beth, and hopefully I can talk her into helping us. But, if this is an ambush, I’ll be focused on getting people out while you guys focus on taking out whoever the fuck is ambushing us.”
Porter cocked his gun before he smirked. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Brooks slid his jacket off. “Take off your leather cuts, too. We need to look as inconspicuous as possible.”
The guys all did as they were asked and stowed them away in compartments on the backs of their bikes. And after everyone was ready, we made our way down the road and into the parking lot.
Before I slid off the back of Finn’s bike.
“You sure you’re gonna be okay in there? Because I can come in a few minutes behind you and get a booth somewhere so someone can have eyes on you,” he said.
Brooks nodded. “I like that plan, actually. I don’t want you going in there blind.”
I giggled as I slid off the back of Finn’s bike. “Guys, I promise I can handle myself. Plus, I’ll make sure to move us into a booth that sits right next to a window. That way, you guys can keep tabs on me while also guarding the outside of this place.”
Archer cleared his throat. “Let her do this the way she’s comfortable. We called her for a reason.”
I pointed to him. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “Welcome.”
Cole groaned. “Well, get the fuck in there, then. We’re already fifteen minutes late putting this shit together.”
I slowly looked over at him. “I don’t know what crawled up your asshole before you got here, but pull it out. I need you guys focused. This could very well be it.”
Then, Finn pulled a gun from his hip and handed it to me. “I assume you know how to use one of these?”
Our eyes connected and I thought back to the first night I had been here. How I made him dance with the bullets from my own weapon before we ultimately made our way back to the house. A smile slowly crept across my face, causing him to smile. And when his eyes lit up, I felt my heart stop in my chest.
“You know damn good and well I know how to use this,” I said.
Finn handed the gun off to me. “Just conceal it well. We don’t want anyone spooking in there too soon. Especially if this isn’t an ambush.”
I nodded as I tucked the gun into the back hem of my skirt. I pulled a small cardigan out of my purse that I had bunched up in there just for this particular reason and wrapped it around my waist, concealing the weapon without changing anything about my outfit. Plus, the small cardigan worked. The wind was kicking up a bit and chilled me to the bone.
Then, I made my way into the diner.
It wasn’t hard to spot Beth, and I was relieved when I saw her sitting in a booth by a window. The issue was the look on her face. Our eyes connected, but she certainly didn’t smile. And believe me, if I was staring into the eyes of the person about to pull me out of this shitty lifestyle, I would’ve been smiling from ear to ear.
She looked nervous, like she was about to vomit in her own lap.
So, I slipped my guard up as I made my way toward her.
“Hey there,” I said with a smile.
I eased myself into the booth seat in front of her, but I didn’t like the way she was looking around. I looked with her, trying to figure out what in the world she was looking at. But, the more nervous she became, the more that gun seemed to press into the small of my back.
I really hope that magazine is loaded.
“Beth?” I asked.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry, sorry. I just–I don’t ever know when I’m being tailed or not. So, I look around a lot.”
I held my hand out for her. “It’s okay, I get it.”
She slipped her hand into mine. “How are you?”
I snickered. “I should be the one asking you that question.”
She sighed. “I’m as okay as I can be, but I’m really, really nervous. What if they find us?”
I shushed her softly. “Just keep the topic of conversation as neutral as possible, okay? And if something happens, I’ll make sure no harm comes to you.”
She blinked back tears. “So, uh, how does this all work?”
I stroked my thumb along the skin of her hand. “I have connections with people who can access the Witness Protection Program. It’s possible that if you give me the information I’m looking for, we can set you up with a temporary identity and put you up somewhere safe until all of this blows over and we can clean up the mess these guys have made out here in the streets.”
Nervousness poured over the poor girl’s face. “And you’re sure that’s something that can happen? I mean, if I start talking?”
I nodded. “I guarantee it.”
Her eyes started darting around again. “So, what exactly do you need from me? What kind of information?”
“Anything you can give me.”
“So… you want to know, what? What I do on a daily basis? Who I do it with? Who commands me to do it?”
I furrowed my brow. “Beth, you know exactly what I need. So, let’s talk.”
When she started looking around again, I abandoned my plan. The only thing she was doing was stalling for time, and that meant I had just walked into an ambush. I leaned back as if I were making myself comfortable and untied my cardigan from around my waist. A waitress came and placed two waters in front of us, but I shooed her away before things got worse.
Because things were definitely about to get worse.
“Beth?” I asked softly.
She jumped before her stare returned to me. “Yeah?”
I sighed. “I know what’s going on, and I know what’s about to happen.”
Her face paled. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I leaned forward, giving myself enough space to slip my gun from behind my back. “I know that the Black Flags, run by a man named Chops, are trafficking underage girls. I know that they’re using The Body Shop as their headquarters, and I know they are also abusing their dancers before turning them into sex workers. I know about the drugs they peddle, I know about the shipments to and from Santa Barbara, and I also know what they’ll do to you if they find out you’ve actually, truly talked with me.”
A tear streaked her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
I leaned toward her. “You still have a chance to fix this. But I’m telling you, Beth, what Chops might do to you is nothing compared to what you’ll experience in a maximum security prison, which is exactly where you’ll be going because you’ll be charged as an accessory to all of their crimes. Every single one of them.”
Her jaw dropped open. “No, that’s not possible. I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re doing something right now. You’re concealing information from a police officer about illegal activities. That comes with penalties that are just as harsh as those at the wheel of the crime being committed. So, what’s it going to be? Are we going to talk? Or, are you going to sit back and hope you survive the ambush you’ve just led me into?”
And that got her talking as her voice lowered to a whisper. “We don’t have much time. They were enroute fifteen minutes ago. I’d say they’re about ten or so minutes out at this point.”
I licked my lips. “All right, keep talking.”
Sweat formed on her brow. “There’s a warehouse near the port where they keep all of the young girls they ship in. They mostly come from Mexico, but there are a few they’ve pulled from places like Alaska and Hawai’i. They beat the hell out of them, Sloane. They beat them to a bloodied pulp and starve them. Dehydrate them. They do whatever it takes to brainwash these girls into submission before putting them all in a line and raping them to show them the price they’ll pay if they ever step out of line again.”
I felt sick to my stomach. “You’re doing so well. Keep going.”
Her hands trembled. “Then, once the girls are ready they get sent to specific clientele. Men and women that pay hundreds of thousands of dollars just for one girl.”
“I need that clientele list. Do you know where it is?”
She shook her head. “I don’t have the list. I never get access to it. But, Chops sure as hell does.”
“Do you know where the warehouse is? I mean, an actual address?”
She shook her head again. “No, but I can talk you through where it is. You got a way to jot this down?”
I tapped my temple with my finger. “Trust me, I’ll retain it. Now, where is this place?”
As she talked me through where to go in order to get to the warehouse, bike engines rumbled down the road. They grew closer before they pulled into the diner parking lot and Beth practically jumped out of her fucking skin. But, after she was done telling me about the warehouse, she told me something that stuck with me.
Something that I couldn’t shake.
“They watch the girls in shifts, these guys,” she whispered quickly, “and during the day they have their prospects watch other them. Those guys are usually hung over from partying so much the night before because that’s pretty much all their prospects do. And you didn’t hear this from me, but they party at their clubhouse.”
I blinked. “Do you know where that clubhouse is?”
She sighed. “Right above the warehouse where they keep the girls. It’s in a separate loft space that is accessed from a staircase you find in the cellar of the warehouse.”
I picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “You’re a fucking animal in the best way possible, thank you so much.”
She nodded. “Now, where do we go from here? I talked, so that means no jail time, right?”
I squeezed her hand. “Call me tomorrow on a number I can save into my phone so I can reach you if I need you. We can talk then about how the hell to get you out. But, for tonight? I want you to go somewhere else. Get out of town, find a random hotel with a security guard, and hunker down for the night. Can you do that for me?”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
People in the diner started screaming as gunshots rattled around in the parking lot. Beth ducked so quickly beneath the booth table that I wasn’t sure where the hell she’d gone after that. I drew my weapon and cocked it as I gazed out the window, trying to figure out where exactly those bullets had come from.
Then, gunfire rained down as if a storm of guns had just pulled up.
“Ah!”
“Help us!”
“Someone call 9-1-1!”
“Where’s my baby? Where’s my son!?”
I ducked beneath the booth and found Beth with her knees curled up to her chest. She sobbed into her knees with her entire body shaking violently, but we didn’t have the time to do this. We were sitting ducks and we had to get to a vantage point before these asshats stormed the diner and snatched both of us up.
“Beth,” I murmured.
People screamed around us as a window shattered on the other side of the diner.
“Beth!” I exclaimed.
She whipped her head up. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. They threatened everything. I-I-I have a son I gave up for adoption. They know where he is. They said they’d take him. I’m so sorry.”
I clapped my hand over her mouth. “We can talk later, but right now we have to move, so come on!”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Beth exclaimed. “Shouldn’t we call 9-1-1?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Give me five minutes.”
I slid my cell phone out of my back pocket and dialed emergency before I quickly rattled off what had kicked up to the young man on the other end of the line. Gunshots backdropped my yelling voice as I tried to get over the commotion, and when the young man finally told me that help was on the way I hung up the phone.
Beth’s eyes widened. “You’re not supposed to hang up!”
I gripped her hand. “Shut up and come on before I knock you out and drag you out of here.”
I had to separate myself from the club before the police arrive, lest they find out that I was working with some fucking crew. I tugged Beth from beneath the booth before another window shattered, and I felt the bullet whiz by my shoulder. Beth screamed out in terror as I tugged her toward the kitchen, weaving a pathway to the back emergency exit.
And when we slammed through the door, alarms went off, signaling that we were safe.
“Well, well, well,” a man said as he stepped out from the darkness of the tree behind the diner, “you must be Detective Sloane Riley.”
It didn’t take a genius to feel Beth tense against me. It didn’t take a genius to see this man’s leather jacket and clock the scars on his face. I held my head high as he walked toward us, his hands in his jacket pockets as bullets peppered the diner of innocent people.
It clicked so naturally it almost made me sick.
“And you must be Chops,” I said.
