7. Layla

It felt like Zach and I were dancing as we moved together. I fired off my gun at a man peeking around a column. It was a tough angle, but I clipped the corner of the column and was rewarded with a shout of pain over the noise in the room as he received a faceful of concrete debris. Zach leaned around me to shoot a man trying to flank us and then kissed me quickly before firing his gun at someone else. Dash and Dire were still by my side, and I glanced over at the sounds of their snarls as they ripped into a man trying to sneak between the cages. Good boys.

We pushed further into the building, and I continued to fire shots at anyone I could. I knew Danny's men were on the other side of the building. Slowly, we were herding all of Anton's men toward the back of the warehouse, where they'd be sitting ducks. My guns clicked, signaling I was out of ammo, and I swore as I ducked behind Zach. I tucked my guns into his back pockets and reached under his leather jacket to where I knew he had extra magazines stashed. I grabbed two and held them out. He ejected his clips and slid his gun onto the fresh ones I offered him in one smooth move.

"Thanks, baby," he shouted as he continued to fire while I replaced my own.

Once I was loaded, I stepped out from behind Zach. My eyes widened as I caught sight of the dagger flying at his head. I threw all my weight into Zach, knocking him sideways, and followed him to the floor. The hard landing was jarring as bullets continued to fly above us.

"Thanks," he grinned. We were in the middle of a shootout, and he was grinning like a kid visiting Disney World for the first time. I knew my grin was just as big as his. After all the planning, we were finally out here doing something, which was exhilarating. Now wasn't the time, but I couldn't resist crushing my lips to his and grinding against him. He grabbed my ass, and I could feel the heat coming from the barrel of his gun as it pressed against me. It shouldn't turn me on, but fucking hell did it.

"You two nutjobs want to save that shit for later?" Tyler yelled as he knelt beside us and fired off a few shots. "Move it, you're sitting ducks!"

Right. Focus. We scrambled toward the wall, skirting around a small stage with a stripper pole. Anton's men were trying to build a barricade with office furniture along the back wall but weren't making much progress as they continued to fall. I recognized one of the men who had kidnapped me, and a crazy laugh bubbled out of me as I put a bullet between his eyes. I glanced back to check on the progress of my other men and saw that a third of the prisoners had been released from their cages. Once we got the shooting under control, Drew's men would be able to come in and start hosing the place down with gasoline.

I caught sight of Colton and Sean moving up the middle and darted forward. I ducked as a spray of bullets was aimed toward me as I drew their fire from Colt and Sean.

"Go," Zach yelled, pointing toward a stack of boxes further up and toward the left. "I'll cover you." Moving would get me closer to my other guys, so I nodded and crawled forward. I popped off a few more shots as Zach and Tyler followed me. We were so damn close to finishing them off.

"Layla!" Sean yelled. I looked at him, and he held up a couple of flashbangs.

"Duck!" I told Zach and Tyler. I covered my head, shut my eyes, and waited to hear them go off. As soon as I did, I jumped up and led the charge ahead. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. The flashbangs had blinded them long enough for us to run up and take them out, ending the firefight.

"Everybody ok?" I asked.

"All good, Hellcat, you?" Colt asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. That was fun!" I laughed. "Ok, Drew, you guys are up. Get everything set up. The rest of us can help get the prisoners out." I holstered my guns and caught the bolt cutters that Keith tossed to me. We worked through the rest of the cages together, ushering the prisoners toward the door and into the vans as Drew's guys moved fuel barrels into place and sprayed every surface with gasoline.

"Is that everyone?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Stephan said. The last truck just pulled away."

I looked around just to make sure we hadn't missed anyone. "Ok. Good. Everyone clear out!" I yelled. We exited the warehouse, and as soon as everyone was safe, I looked at Drew. "What's your plan for lighting this baby?"

He shared a grin with Sean, who went to the trunk of a nearby car and pulled something out. I started laughing when I saw the rocket launcher.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Oh, man," Zach said, sounding jealous. I had to admit that I felt a little jealous myself. That was a tempting toy to play with.

"I'd let you do the honors," Drew told me as he hefted it to his shoulders, "but I want it too much." We stepped out of the way, and Drew took aim and fired. The rocket whistled through the air and the open door of the warehouse. Seconds later, a chain of explosions started as each fuel barrel caught. Flames engulfed the building, and I felt deeply satisfied at the sight. There was no way that Anton could ever use it for anything again.

"Ok, everyone, move out. We're done here," Colton instructed.

I loaded Dash Dire into one of the cars headed back to the house since I didn't think bloody wolves would instill a sense of safety in the prisoners. We were the last car to leave, ensuring we didn't leave anything behind.

"I assume you want to go to the church?" Colton asked me.

"I do. I'd like to check on everyone and help where we can. At the very least, assure them they are safe and that I'll take care of them," I replied. When we pulled up to the church, I didn't see any of our box trucks, which made me nervous. Did they all arrive? Were they ambushed? I followed the guys inside, sure that something terrible had gone wrong. I breathed a sigh of relief when we entered the rec room, where we had cots set up, and saw everyone.

They weren't the only ones there, however. Led by Cordy were all of my men's wives and girlfriends, wearing red shirts, who had rallied to help get everyone situated. Dr. Bailey was set up in the corner to assist the injured. Even Monika and Brandi were there to help out. Tears built in my eyes as I saw my community come together to help without being asked. I wasn't sure what we would do with the prisoners once we got them here, but it seems Stephan and Kyle had ensured a plan was in place.

"Good job, you two," I told them. "This is more than I expected."

"Thanks, boss," Kyle replied. "We knew we needed something more than just a temporary safe house. So we figured we could emulate what your shelters will be. We've even got calls out to social workers to help us get them settled into more permanent housing."

Pride filled me as I went to the small stage at one end of the room. "Hello," I said, raising my voice above the din. "I know many of you are probably confused and scared. Please know that we aren't here to hurt you. We want to help you return to your homes or find somewhere to stay if you don't have one. The volunteers in red shirts will be around to gather your information and sort out where you need to go. Food will be served shortly. If you have any injuries, please see the doctor on hand." I climbed off the stage and spotted Brandi and Monika standing off to the side.

"You did good!" Brandi said when I approached. "There are a lot more people here than I expected there to be."

"They had a larger shipment than normal," I replied. "I'm glad this was the one we hit them on."

"My guys should be setting up a perimeter around the building now," Monika said.

"You didn't have to do that, but thank you," I replied.

"Hey, we all have to do our part to help, right?" she asked. "That's the point of the Renegades. So providing protection and a visual deterrent for the prisoners is the least I can do."

"I'll be on hand to provide any legal advice needed," Brandi added.

"Thank you, both. I appreciate the hell out of you." I hugged my friends tightly before jumping behind the line with Cordy and my guys to serve food. Cordy had made a hearty beef stew, and many were coming back for seconds and thirds. I was still serving food an hour later when Brandi approached me.

"Layla, we're having an issue with one of the girls that could use your attention," she said.

I followed her toward the far corner of the room where a dirty girl who looked to be around twelve or thirteen had semi-barricaded herself. She had red hair and sad gray eyes. Behind that sadness, I saw fear and a steel determination. This girl was a fighter and had already been through far more than a girl her age should have. A woman I didn't recognize was attempting to coax her from behind her makeshift cot wall. She wasn't wearing a red shirt, so I knew she wasn't with us.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"This woman is from social services. She recognized the girl and wanted to take her back to her foster family, but the kid isn't having any of it," Brandi told me.

The girl met my eyes and momentarily let her walls down to show me her sheer terror. I gestured to the social worker questioningly, and she nodded slightly. Whatever the issue was, the social worker was involved.

"Hi, who are you?" I asked the woman. "And why are you traumatizing this child?"

"My name is Lauren Jackson. I'm a social worker for the city and Autumn is one of my charges. She's a difficult child. I'm not surprised to find her here. Autumn, stop being difficult and get over here right now," she said sternly.

"If you're her social worker, care to explain how she ended up as a human trafficking victim?" I asked. I kept my tone light and casual to avoid spooking her. I'd much prefer her to think we're on the same side.

"She ran away from her foster home again. Maybe this time, she will have learned her lesson," Lauren replied. "Autumn! This is not funny. The Beverlys have been very worried about you!"

"I'm not going back there, and you can't make me!" Autumn yelled.

"Lauren, do you mind if I speak to Autumn alone?"

"Go ahead," the woman responded, sighing in frustration. "Maybe you can get through to her."

I smiled kindly at her as I nodded at Keith, who escorted her to the other side of the room. I looked around and caught Tyler's eye, jerking my head for him to join me.

"Hi, Autumn," I said gently as I approached. "Mind if we join you back there?"

She eyed us suspiciously before shrugging.

"This is my boyfriend, Tyler," I told her when he joined us. "He's going to take some information to look into for me. Lauren Jackson is your social worker?" Autumn nodded. "And what's your name?"

"Autumn Reed," she replied.

"My name is Layla Romano. This is one of my best friends, Brandi McAdams. She's a lawyer. Can you tell me why you're afraid of Lauren and why you ran away?"

"I didn't run away!" Autumn growled. "The Beverlys sold me. That's what they do. Others were with me, but I don't know what happened to them."

"Does Lauren know this?" I asked.

Autumn nodded. "Lauren told me when she brought me there that she was glad she was finally going to be rid of me because I caused her too much trouble."

I exchanged looks with Tyler. "Do you know the Beverly's first names?" Tyler asked.

"Winston and Barbara," she replied.

Tyler nodded to me and left. He'd find out everything there was to know about Autumn, her social worker, and her foster parents. The system failed this girl, and I was going to make sure that they couldn't hurt anyone else.

"Autumn, I think I already know the answer, but do you want to go with Lauren?"

"No. Please don't make me go with her. She'll just bring me back, and they'll sell me again," Autumn begged.

"Sweet girl, I won't make you go anywhere you don't want to," I promised her.

"Umm, Layla? A word?" Brandi asked. I smiled reassuringly at Autumn and followed Brandi a short distance away.

"I don't know if that is something you can promise," Brandi whispered. "I know you want to help her, but she's a ward of the state. Even if we can arrange to reassign her to a different social worker, we don't have a say in where she goes."

"I hear what you're saying, but I really don't give a shit what the state says. I won't let her go into another shitty situation," I replied.

"You might not have a choice," Brandi replied softly.

"We'll see about that," I replied. I looked around and spotted Gavin. "Gavin," I said, calling him over.

"Boss?"

"Do you see that little girl over there?" I asked, nodding toward Autumn. "She's your responsibility now. Watch over her. She doesn't leave the building with anyone but me, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." He left to guard Autumn, and I went to find Tyler.

"Can I take her now?" Lauren asked as I walked by.

"Not yet," I replied. I continued past her, and she grabbed my arm to stop me.

"It really isn't up to you," she said quietly. "She's my responsibility."

I looked at her hand on my arm and then to her face. "Not anymore. I suggest you remove your hand before I remove it from your body."

Lauren snatched her hand back. "You can't keep her," she argued with less confidence than before.

"And you've proven you can't keep her safe," I replied. I walked away, spotting Tyler on his laptop in the corner of the room.

"Well?" I asked.

"It isn't good," he replied. "From what I can tell, Autumn isn't the first kid they've done this to. Jackson assigns problem kids to the Beverlys, and they aren't seen again. The paperwork trail is all buttoned up nicely, but there isn't any record of them that Jackson doesn't produce."

"And what about the Beverly's?" I asked.

"Their file shows they are model foster parents, but again, that is coming from Jackson. Their spending habits don't indicate that they care for children," he replied. "It looks like everything Autumn told us is true, but the real damning evidence is in their financial records. Within two weeks of a child being assigned to them, their bank account and Jackson's receive a lump sum deposit. Always the same amount."

"So they are using the foster system to funnel children to Anton," I concluded.

"It would appear so," Tyler replied.

I looked at Brandi. "Suggestions, counselor?"

Brandi sighed. "As your lawyer, I'm telling you that you need to bring your evidence to the authorities and go through the proper channels. As your friend and member of the Renegades, I say kill them painfully."

I smiled in approval. "That I can do." I looked at where I had left Lauren but didn't see her. I checked on Autumn and saw she was still behind her barricade but was chatting with Gavin. "I think Lauren took off," I announced.

"She could warn the foster parents," Tyler said.

"Looks like it's time to move. Brandi, find Monika for me and have her meet me outside."

"On it," Brandi replied.

"Ty, grab the guys. We're going to pay the Beverlys a visit."

He nodded and pulled out his phone to message them as I went to let Autumn know that I was leaving but would be back for her.

"I'm coming with you," she demanded.

"You can't, Autumn. I'm going to talk to your foster parents, and that isn't something you need to witness," I explained. "But I promise I will be back for you as soon as I'm done, and we'll figure out a safe place for you to go."

Instead of responding, Autumn bolted from behind her barricade and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Please don't leave me," she begged.

"What's going on?" Colton asked as the others joined us.

"This is Autumn. Her foster parents and social worker arranged for her to be sold to Anton. We need to have a special chat with them. Time is of the essence since the social worker bolted and might be tipping them off as we speak, but Autumn doesn't want me to leave her," I explained.

Zach knelt by Autumn's side. "Hey, Red. My name is Zach. Did they hurt you?" Autumn nodded. "Do you want to come with us and make them pay?"

"Zach!" I admonished. "What we are going to do is inappropriate for a child."

"She deserves the chance to take back her power, LG. I say we bring her with us. She doesn't have to be in the room for the worst, but she deserves to see them pay for what they've done."

"I think it will be fine," Colton agreed. "She's already seen much worse, I'm sure."

"Which is why we shouldn't add to her trauma," I argued.

"Does that mean you want to stay here then?" Sean asked. "Because with how she's clinging to you, I don't think we have many options."

"No, I'm not staying behind," I sighed. I looked down at Autumn, who looked up at me with big, pleading gray eyes. "Fine. You can come with us," I relented. "But you do everything we say, and if we tell you to leave the room, you leave the room. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Autumn replied solemnly.

I sighed. I wasn't sure this was such a good idea, but unless we physically forced Autumn to stay, which would add to her trauma differently, we didn't have another choice.

"Don't worry, Layla," Drew said as we walked outside, "we will make sure she doesn't see the worst of it."

Monika was waiting outside for me. "Brandi filled me in. What do you need from me?"

"Need a favor. Autumn's social worker took off. I think she figured out that we were onto her and her negligence. Can some of your guys stop by her place and detain her until we arrive? We're headed over to the foster parents' house to deal with them, but I don't want the social worker to slip through our fingers."

"Can we deal with her?" Monika asked.

"You mean like take her out, deal with her?" I clarified. Triple Skulls were known for their violence, so the request shouldn't surprise me.

"Exactly that," Monika confirmed.

"Fine by me. If you need anything, just let me know," I replied. We parted ways, Autumn and I joined the guys in the car.

"Do you guys kill people?" Autumn asked.

"Sometimes," Tyler answered honestly.

"Are you going to kill Ms. Jackson and my foster parents?"

"Yes," Zach replied.

"Does that upset you, Autumn?" I asked.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook her head. "No. They're bad people, and if you don't kill them, they will just hurt more people like they hurt me."

I hugged her to my side. "I'm sorry they hurt you, Autumn."

When we got to the house, I stayed in the car with Autumn until the guys secured it. I wanted to go into the house with them, but someone had to stay with Autumn, and since she was still glued to my side, that fell to me. I didn't miss Sean's satisfied expression at me not leading the charge into danger. When Tyler motioned for us to come inside, I led Autumn out of the car. When we got to the threshold, she froze.

"You don't have to come inside if you don't want to, doll," I told her as I knelt before her.

She shook her head fiercely as angry tears formed in her eyes. "No. I want to! I just don't like this place."

"You let me know when you're ready to go inside, ok? We can wait as long as you need. There's no rush."

"It looks like you were right," Colton said as he joined us by the door. "The social worker must have tipped them off. They were in the process of packing when we got here."

"I'm glad we got here before they were in the wind. Hunting them down would have been annoying," I replied.

"Umm, Layla?" Drew said from inside. "You might want to come see this."

Now what? I looked at Autumn. "Can you stay with Colton while I see what's up?"

She eyed Colton cautiously as he knelt before her. "What do you say, squirt? Wanna hang out with me until you're ready to come inside?" He ruffled her hair and flashed her a smile, and I chuckled to myself when the girl blushed.

"That would be ok," she replied.

"Good girl," I said to her. I pecked Colt on the cheek and then went to find Drew.

"Do I want to know what you're about to tell me?" I asked.

His face said I didn't. "It's not what I'm going to tell you; it's what I'm going to show you," he replied. Whatever it was had him vibrating with anger. Drew led me into the kitchen to a trap door under where the table usually sat based on the scuff marks on the wood floor. When I looked through the hole, several eyes looked back at me. "I only heard them because the baby was fussing."

Fuck. This was worse than we thought. They had six children ranging from infancy to about eleven stuffed under the floorboards of their kitchen. "If the baby hadn't fussed, we never would have known they were here," I said softly.

"The bigger question is, what were they planning on doing with them when they left?" Drew said. "Were they just going to leave them down there?"

The idea of them leaving helpless children down here to starve to death made me sick. It also made me angrier than I had ever felt before. It was utterly senseless. Why would you treat children like this? Children were innocent. "Let's go ask them, shall we?"

I stormed into the living room, passing Autumn and Colton, who still stood by the door. Colton saw the look on my face, and his eyes widened. "Autumn, maybe we should just go wait in the car? What do you think?" Colton knew that whatever I saw meant things would get bloody—more than usual.

"No, I want to stay," Autumn said. "Layla looks mad."

"That's because she is, squirt. That's the look of a woman about to shed some blood," Colt replied.

I entered the living room where Zach, Sean, and Tyler had Winston and Barbara Beverly tied to kitchen chairs in the middle.

"Hello. It looks like you were planning a trip. Where were you headed? And what exactly did you plan to do with the children under your kitchen floor?" I asked.

"What we do with them and where we go isn't your fucking business, bitch," Winston replied.

"That's where you're wrong," I said softly, holding up my hand when Zach stepped forward to punch him. "I've now made it my business."

"We were going to bring them with us," Barbara spoke up.

"I don't believe you," I replied. "You sell children to monsters. Why would I expect you to give a shit about this group of kids."

"Who told you that?" she demanded. "Whoever told you that is a liar. We love the children God blesses us with the opportunity to care for."

"Lady, you're full of shit," Zach laughed humorously.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked. "I assume you do since Lauren Jackson must have called you to let you know I might come here."

"I don't give a fuck who you are," Winston spat. "You can't hurt us because we are known community members."

"And why would I give a fuck about that?" I asked. "I just rescued all of Anton Kandicci's prisoners. Do you think I'd give a fuck about you? This is my city. I run things around here, and I promise you that anyone who bothered to look into your disappearance would be easily convinced not to with only a phone call from me."

Fear crept into his eyes, but he kept up his brave facade. "You don't scare me!"

"Liar."

I heard footsteps behind me and saw Kyle and his men entering the house.

"In here, Kyle," Drew called from the kitchen.

All conversation stopped as we waited for them to get the kids out of the house. They'd bring them back to the church where they would be in good hands.

Once they left I turned back to Winston. "Now, where were we?"

His eyes shifted behind me, and this time, genuine terror shone in his eyes. I glanced behind me and saw Autumn standing in the doorway, clutching Colt's hand. I could see how frightened she was by how tightly she squeezed his hand, but her eyes were defiant as she stared at her former caretakers unflinchingly.

"You know my new friend, Autumn, right?" I asked. "She was one of the people we rescued. And she told us that you sold her to Anton and that she wasn't the only one."

"You can't believe her," Barbara said, desperate. "She's a compulsive liar. She'll tell you anything you want to hear. The truth is she ran away from our home. She's very troubled, you understand. Her own mother hadn't wanted her."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Autumn screamed, rushing toward the woman and hitting her repeatedly.

Sean rushed forward and swept the distraught child into his arms before she could hurt herself. "Hush, love, hush. We know she's a liar," he crooned. My heart squeezed at my gentle giant.

Zach kneeled between her and Barbara. "Hey, little red," he said, waiting for her to focus on him. "Do you want to hurt them?"

Autumn looked over his shoulder at Barbara, Winston, and finally at me as if she was seeking permission.

I wasn't sure if this was such a good idea or not. By her age, I had many deadly skills under my belt. Instinctively, I wanted to shield her from this world, but I knew she had already seen far more of it than she should have. And I knew that if it were me in her position, my father would have allowed me to collect my pound of flesh however I wished.

I nodded at her, and she returned her gaze to Zach.

"Yes."

Zach pulled a knife out and handed it to her.