Chapter 12

TWELVE

Jack was lounging on the couch in jeans and a t-shirt, tablet in hand when I came out of the bedroom.

Wisely, he said nothing.

“Rhode say what was urgent?” I asked.

Jack’s lips twitched.

“Nope.”

I grabbed my phone off the bar top and requested, “When Atlee comes out see what she wants for lunch, would you?”

“Sure.”

Another twitch that pulled into a smile.

“What?”

“What? What?” he obstinately returned.

“Why are you smiling?”

“The sun’s up, it’s a beautiful day, what’s not to smile about?”

I couldn’t hold back my growl of annoyance.

“For someone who just got laid it sure didn’t improve your disposition,” he remarked. “Thought you’d come out whistling a tune.”

I’d never whistled a tune in my life.

And my disposition would’ve been better if I hadn’t lost my mind and fucked Atlee without a condom. Or if I hadn’t given into my need and demanded her to sleep with me the night before.

Back in Idaho I’d thought it had been a fluke. I’d thought that I’d been so exhausted from multiple rounds of mind-blowing sex that I’d fallen into a dreamless sleep and slept soundly. Especially that first morning when Atlee had been able to slip out on me. But after last night I knew it was just her. She calmed me, quieted the always present noise in my head. Then there was taking her bare. That was even more concerning. I’d never been so caught up in my need for a woman that I didn’t take the time to use a condom. Not since my wife, had I fucked anyone without protection. I had no desire to share the kind of intimacy that required. Yet, with Atlee I must’ve subconsciously craved it.

No woman could turn me on to the point I lost control.

But she had.

A smarter man would cut her loose. She was too young to take on my brand of baggage. Way too good for the likes of me. Twelve years later and I was still hung up on my wife’s death. I couldn’t protect Barb. What the hell made me think I could take care of Atlee? I couldn’t. I’d let her down. I couldn’t be trusted to love anyone. Especially Atlee.

Disregarding Jack’s comment was my best course of action. I’d hand-picked each member of my team, meaning I’d only hired the best. They were far from stupid; they could sniff a weakness from a mile away and exploit it.

Atlee was my weakness.

Jack would home in on it and wouldn’t stop until he’d torn my life apart trying to heal my wounds.

Never gonna happen.

I went to my missed calls and tapped the screen to connect the call and put it on speaker.

“Evasion,” Jack mumbled. “That’s textbook Wilson.”

I gritted my teeth waiting for Rhode to answer.

“Found something interesting,” Rhode cut to it. “Is Jack with you?”

“Yeah, and you’re on speaker.”

“Remember Will Evans?”

I rarely forgot the men we took down. But Will Evans has a special place in my memory. Asher and Sloane encountered the man while undercover at Club Joi, an upscale, members-only sex club in Malibu, California. The owner of the club was on the up and up. For years the club provided a safe place for its members to indulge in their wildest fantasies. The place only turned into a haven for the depraved when the owner’s son, Lorenzo took over the day-to-day operations. He was a greedy piece of shit who preyed on young women and sold them into sexual slavery. Thankfully the man was in prison and would be for the rest of his life. Will Evans was as well. But not before he’d followed Sloane back to Idaho and cornered her and some of the other women at a tree farm. Sloane had fought the man off and literally ruptured his testicles. Before Will could be processed and put in lockup he’d undergone testicular repair surgery.

“How could we forget good ol’ Will?” Jack chuckled. “Sloane unmanned the fucker.”

“One of the men Wilson captured on camera last night is Louis Evans. Will’s older brother. I called Tucker Mitchell; he now works in Georgia with Triple Canopy.”

Triple Canopy was a private security firm that also did tactical training. River Kent had trained there and knew the men who ran TC well. His sister, Shiloh, was married to one of the men who worked there.

Small world.

“Good for him. Last time we saw him he looked tired as fuck. Glad he left the DEA,” Jack put in.

“Did he have anything useful to share?” I asked.

The bedroom door slowly opened, Atlee walked out with her head tipped down, watching her feet as she made her way to the kitchen.

Damn.

I wanted to go to her and wrap her up and kiss the timidity off her beautiful face.

“He had plenty to share.” Rhode broke into my thoughts. “I emailed you his notes on the Evans brothers. Will was the frontman of their operation. Louis was the brains. After Will’s arrest he laid low. This is his first time on the prowl since everything at Club Joi went down. Shep did some digging. Louis is brokering the purchase of two women. Brunettes, over five-seven, brown eyes.”

I heard Atlee suck in a breath.

That matched her description.

“Who’s the buyer?”

“Shep doesn’t have a name yet but it looks like the women are to be delivered to Buenos Aires.”

“Anything else?” I inquired.

“Not on the case but after Jack filled me in on the meeting with Tyree and Joan I made a few calls to some people I know at the SOIB. Tyree filed a formal complaint against Catarina for insubordination, dereliction of duty, and reckless behavior. Joan is the senior member of the team, she didn’t sign off on the complaint and added her own commentary which included calling Tyree an argumentative jackass. There’s dissension there and my contact confirmed, Tyree is a jackass out to make a name for himself and he wants Catarina gone.”

“Thanks, Rhode. We’ll keep an eye out for any issues with them. Anything else?”

“That’s it for now.”

“Talk soon.”

I disconnected.

Jack was already on the move heading toward the kitchen and Atlee.

“You hungry? We’re gonna order lunch.”

“No. Thank you. I need to get home and get ready for my day. I have a client I need to see to.”

Atlee didn’t look at Jack.

He stepped closer—too damn close for my liking.

With effort I stayed where I was even though I wanted to yank my teammate back a few feet.

“Babe?”

My gut clenched hearing Jack use that soft, smooth tone with her. Not to mention I wasn’t a fan of him calling her ‘babe.’

“Hm?”

“Look at me.”

Atlee slowly tipped her eyes up.

“I’m sorry. I was teasing. I see now I shouldn’t’ve but you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.”

My muscles started to relax but bunched tight when she flashed Jack a blindingly beautiful smile.

“I was embarrassed.” Her smile fled. “Now, I’m horrified.”

Jack jerked back.

“Horrified?”

“Two tall, brown-eyed brunettes,” she muttered and shook her head. “How can they do it?”

“Do what?”

“Buy and sell humans like they’re nothing more than cattle. We all know it happens. We see it on the news and read about it but it hits differently when you know it’s happening.”

I fucking hated that Atlee was involved in this, even in the small capacity she was.

“Are you positive you can’t call in sick? This will be over in a week,” I said.

Her gaze skidded to mine and her eyes narrowed.

“I’m not calling in sick.”

Fuck.

“I want a tracker on you. And for you to carry a panic button.”

“Panic button?”

“It’s not really a button. It’ll look like an Apple watch. If you get into trouble and can’t use your phone or you’re feeling uncomfortable you press the wheel on the side and it will send a message to Rhode. He’ll notify me or Jack you need help. The watch will also be used as a tracking device if you get separated from your phone.”

“Is that—”

“It’s non-negotiable,” I bit out.

“But—”

“Two tall, brown-eyed brunettes,” I reminded her. “Martin Jackson is not human. He’s a monster and so is Eden Dunhill. Do not underestimate the woman. She’s a nasty bitch but an intelligent one. They have millions of reasons to protect their operation. They won’t hesitate to snatch you if they get a bad vibe.”

“You’re scaring me,” she whispered.

“Good. You should be scared. These people are auctioning women into a life that’s worse than death. Depending on how desirable the woman is she could sell for half a million or more. Rumor has it they have fifteen women on auction. Do the math, princess.”

“Fifteen?” She frowned.

“That we know of.”

Her white teeth came out and she worried her bottom lip.

“Okay, yeah, the tracker and panic button sounds good.”

Thank fuck.

But she still wasn’t budging calling in sick.

I wasn’t sure if I thought that was stupid or brave as fuck she was willing to do her job and pass us information. No, I knew what I thought—as the team leader of Takeback I thought she was brave. As the man who was sleeping with her and wanted to protect her I thought it was stupid.

Unfortunately, I had no say.

Short of locking her in a safehouse until this was over, which would mean I could kiss any possibility of getting to know her better out the door.

Was my need to be close to her worth risking her life?

Again, unfortunately the answer was yes.

My selfish needs knew no bounds. Another reason I had no business getting close to the woman.