Chapter 5

Gray frowned as he sat in the conference room several days later with his teammates. They were monitoring multiple situations, the most pressing being tracking down the man involved in Kaylee and Lena's kidnapping, Ivan Rogers. While the Feds had brought forth charges against him, the man had vanished. Raids had been conducted early this morning on his homes by Federal Agents and their foreign counterparts, but there was no sign of him.

The situation was far from over.

His mind drifted back to the weekend and the mysterious zip ties in Lena's driveway. Gray had gotten the name of Lena's ex several days ago from Jett, and true to her word, the asshole was locked up. Gray hadn't liked anything he'd seen in the ex's file: stalking, assault charges, domestic violence, battery.

His fists clenched.

Lena was lucky in the sense that he'd done no more than stalk her before being arrested on charges stemming from previous incidents. That asshole wouldn't get anywhere near Lena while in jail, but she'd heard something outside her home. Was she just overly wary now because of the kidnapping and imagined she heard noises outside?

Gray had thoroughly searched Lena's property the following morning, finding nothing of use. She was as aloof and brusque as always now that they were back in the office. Few people knew about the incident from the weekend, aside from his teammates. Gray knew she was still somewhat shaken up from both the newly-fired IT guy grabbing her and hearing noises in the middle of the night, but she clearly managed to hide that fear from most people.

His gaze slid to the door as Lena herself briefly breezed in, handing Jett some papers. She looked stunning as always—flushed cheeks, rosy lips, and that dark, silky hair that he'd love to run his hands through. "These are from Anna. She said you needed copies but has the baby with her right now. She didn't want to bring Brody in here while he's fussing."

The harsh lines on Jett's face briefly softened. "She's supposed to be home resting."

"I think her exact words were ‘the boss is a hard ass, and he needs this, stat,'" Lena said with a straight face.

Sam swiped a hand over his jaw, trying to muffle his laughter, but the other men's chuckles filled the room. "She's right," Luke quipped with a grin. "You are a hard ass, boss."

Jett shot him a look before thanking Lena for the papers, speaking to her briefly in a low voice. She turned, the high heels she wore showcasing her shapely legs. Her hips swayed in the pencil skirt she had on as she moved toward the door, and Gray swore his heartbeat sped up. He shouldn't be lusting after a colleague, but hell. Something about Lena just did it for him. She was sexy and smart with a slight vulnerability that called out to him.

His mind briefly drifted back to their breakfast together the other morning. After drinking coffee together in the hours before dawn, she'd cooked for him. Lena used to prepare meals for Jett all the time, so it shouldn't have surprised Gray as much as it did. The entire scene had just felt so damn domestic. Lena had pulled her long, dark hair back into a ponytail, making her appear younger than she was. She'd slipped off her long cardigan to cook, and Gray once again noted that the material of her shirt hugged her breasts perfectly, showing off their perfect swells. He'd done his best to be the perfect gentleman and not stare, but damn. They were a delicious handful, and wouldn't he have loved a sample.

Gray's eyes were glued to her ass in that slim pencil skirt as she walked out the door, before shifting back to his teammates around him. Of course, Jett had noticed him watching her.

Gray kept his own expression neutral. There was no reason to admit he'd been admiring her retreating figure. Lena was skittish. She was aloof and usually kept herself distanced from the others because of fear, not snobbery. He'd love to be the one to take care of her. Soothe her frayed nerves as he slowly undressed her, peeling away her layers of clothes and shields of defense. He'd get her to open up to him as he explored her gorgeous body. Touched her soft, satiny skin. She was the type of woman who would come alive under his touch. Wouldn't Gray love nothing more than to bury his face in her full breasts and then feast on her sweet pussy, listening to her mewls and cries as he devoured her. When she was good and ready for him, he'd thrust his cock in her slick heat, giving her what she needed. Taking what he wanted. Making her cry out his name and let go of her troubles as she surrendered to him.

His dick twitched as he clenched his fists. They had work to do, and here he was lusting after a woman he'd never have.

Jett cleared his throat as he moved to the front of the conference room. "West briefed me shortly before this meeting. As the team is already aware, Federal Agents and our foreign counterparts raided all properties owned by Ivan Rogers at oh-five-hundred local time today. He owns multiple homes, both stateside and abroad. Ivan was not among the men rounded up. The Feds are taking those found into custody as well as confiscating computers, electronics, and files."

"Why the hell didn't this happen before?" Nick asked, his expression livid. "Kaylee and Lena were kidnapped two weeks ago, and this guy Rogers has been on the wrong side of the law for years. He heads up a goddamn sex trafficking ring!"

"The charges brought forth against Rogers never stuck until now," Jett said, his gaze sharp. "He doesn't operate out of his private homes, and they couldn't obtain warrants to search the U.S. properties until late last night. Ivan typically hires lowlifes such as Cronin and Levins to do his dirty deeds. They worked out of rental homes, apartments, and the like."

"Fuck." Gray's fists clenched.

"It's unusual that Ivan involved himself in this directly," Jett said, his expression growing more serious. "According to Kaylee and Lena's statements, Ivan Rogers was the one driving the getaway car."

"Why?" Luke asked. "A guy like that heading up a huge operation must have hundreds of thugs working for him."

"It doesn't make sense," Nick agreed. "There's something very fucked up about this entire situation. Something we're missing."

"We believe Ivan was in New York because of several contacts in the city. With multiple trafficked women being temporarily held at a local home, he was here inspecting the merchandise, so to speak." Jett's voice was grim. "Driving the car when Cronin and Levins found Kaylee might've simply been a crime of opportunity for him."

"Motherfucker," Nick growled.

"All the women in the home were terrified," Sam said, anger crossing his own features.

As Gray recalled, there had been five other women in the room with Kaylee. Lena had been singled out and separated from the others. The most notorious man of them all had wanted her. Gray was thankful they'd gotten there when they did, but Ivan had still threatened Lena. Touched her. Drugged her. He felt sick thinking about the even worse things that could've happened.

"Some of those women were too scared to give statements, but at least one did. She was from a small town in upstate New York," Jett said. "She met a man online and traveled to the city to meet him. The man kidnapped and assaulted her."

"Jesus," Luke muttered.

"Kaylee said the men planned to assault them as well," Nick said, looking slightly sick at the thought. "When they were done using them, they'd be sold to the highest bidder."

"Fucking bastards," Ford said.

"Do I feel bad that Cronin and Levins are dead? Nah," Sam said, crossing his arms. "Not one bit."

"They deserved everything they got," Gray said, his voice hard.

"Ivan Rogers is extremely dangerous," Jett said, moving to his laptop and pulling up a picture on the big screen at the front of the conference room. He clicked a button, and a map appeared beside it, pinpointing the locations of Ivan's properties around the globe. "He has connections everywhere. These are his homes," Jett said. He pushed another button, and crisscrossing red lines, a messy web of trouble, appeared. "And these are the known locations his operation has trafficked women from so far. The Feds have asked for our help in locating Ivan and bringing him in. Let's get down to business."

***

An hour later, Gray's stomach was churning. "This guy's a sick fuck," Sam said, looking enraged. The men had seen a hell of a lot in their careers, but knowing innocent victims were being hurt by ruthless men never got easier. And Ivan was more twisted than most.

"I'd like to have five minutes alone with him," Nick muttered. "I'd beat him to a pulp and have him begging for mercy."

Gray's jaw ticked.

The man was pure evil. Ivan and his men had taken girls as young as thirteen and auctioned them off to foreign buyers. Some had eventually turned up dead, their bodies bloodied and bruised. Many of the victims had been lured online. Teenagers. College students. Women in their twenties and thirties. It had been a profitable scheme for Ivan, but it made Gray ill to know that Lena had experienced part of that dark, twisted world.

"Were his bank accounts frozen, boss?" Ford asked.

"Yes, the ones the Feds were aware of. It's likely he has money hidden offshore. Tracking them all will be difficult if not impossible. Given we're aiding in the search to find him, locating where the money is would be helpful. We're going to chase down other leads first."

"Do they believe he's still in the U.S.?" Luke asked.

"There's been no trace of him since the kidnapping. He wasn't inside the home when it was raided."

"Well, no shit," Gray muttered. "If I was him, I'd get the fuck out of there, too."

Jett turned toward the big screen. "While the women and girls trafficked were taken from multiple locations around the country, I'd like to focus on where they ended up. The Feds are currently reviewing his personal files and information stored on his computers, but as you know, we like to do things our own way. I've asked West to get the IT guys on Ivan's known travel. His preference is to use private jets, avoiding commercial airlines.

"Makes sense given he's trafficking women," Ford said.

"We're going to get the information on which companies and planes he used and scour the flight records. While he doesn't own a jet, he uses the same services frequently. He's also arrogant enough to book them under his own name."

"Why the hell hasn't the government looked into any of that yet?" Nick asked, looking irritated.

"The Feds move at a snail's pace," Gray muttered. "If they just raided the homes, it'll take weeks to move on this intel."

"And we're jumping ahead without them," Jett said. "We'll obtain the flight records and determine the most likely places Ivan is hiding out. If he's not in his private homes, Ivan is likely where his business is. He's still running his shitty enterprise and will need the cash with some of his assets now frozen. West is tracking the services he uses to book private jets. From there, we're going to determine what his most common travel destinations are. We'll narrow it down to determine where he most likely fled."

Sam was drumming his fingertips on the table, eyeing Jett. "We'll have to pose as buyers."

"Potentially. If he's selling women, he's going to be where the action is. Once we have city names, we'll narrow down specific locations. Ask questions."

"And then we'll grab that motherfucker," Gray said, a sudden surge of adrenaline spiking through his veins. While they'd been in the dark the past couple of weeks, the new intel on his use of private jets was proving to be timely. Ivan Rogers might be missing, but they'd determine where he was likely holed up, move in, and bring that asshole to justice once and for all.