CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

"Mamas," growled Miller. "Mamas stealing babies from other mamas and letting the traffickers know where to get them. What sort of fucked up shit is this?"

The men were seated along the harbor in Charleston, watching as tourists passed by. They'd found the hotel that the women were staying in, but they'd gone out earlier that morning and hadn't returned yet. With Code and Ace watching the lobby, they parked themselves in the midst of the food and shopping, assuming they would catch sight of them sooner or later.

Eleven women. All stay-at-home moms, wives, daughters. Their husbands made good money, but apparently not enough. They'd convinced them that their side hustle of an online clothing and jewelry business was yielding them six figures a year. One woman was even married to an attorney.

"I can't imagine any of our wives ever doing anything so horrendous," said Nine. "Erin would sooner kill these women than hear their excuses."

"Same," said Rory. "And my wife would like to do it with her bare hands."

"There," nodded Trevor. "Coming up the street like a pack of wolves. Are you seeing this shit? They're pointing out children on the street." He started to stand, but Gaspar gripped his arm.

"We'll get our chance, son."

In the harbor shopping district, old homes had been converted into boutiques, souvenir shops, and coffee stands. The women stopped in front of a little white cottage with green trim, whispering and laughing. They entered the building, and the men waited once again.

"All those kids lost," said Ian. "All those children that will never be seen again because of those women. They obviously don't know that their site is down. That will play well for us."

"We can't find those kids, but we can help others," said Alec. "It's what we do. It's what we did with our own kids. Jak, Luke, Carl, Ben, Adam, Violet, and Lucy."

"Victoria and the others," said Angel. "We've saved a lot of kids over the years. Hundreds of them."

"We've lost thousands," said Nine.

"Brother, we can't go there. Angel is right. We've saved hundreds. Let's not forget that."

"The door is opening," said Trak. He stood, then immediately sat back down, his mouth wide open. The other men all watched, thinking they were seeing things.

"What the ever-loving fuck is going on?"

"Hello, ladies," said the friendly voice. "Welcome to All Luxury."

"Hi," said one of the women. "This is an unusual boutique. I mean, we all buy luxury, of course, but it's usually only sold exclusively at the boutique brand store."

"Well, that's true," said the beautiful blonde, waving her four-carat ring in their face as they caught a look at her diamond-faced Rolex. "We have a special arrangement with the luxury brands. My friend over there is the daughter of one of the founders of a particular brand."

"Oh, really?" asked the several women, wide-eyed.

"That's right. I can't say it out loud, but her family makes this bag here," she said, pulling it from the glass case. "It usually sells for twenty-three thousand, but we're able to sell it for thirteen."

"Let me see that," said another woman. "I'm somewhat of an expert on these things. I can spot a fraud a mile away."

"I'm sure you can," smiled the gorgeous blonde. Three other women were milling about, as well as two additional saleswomen.

"It's real," she said, turning to her friends. "It's real!"

"Of course it is," she smiled. "Would you like to see the other colors? We have them all. We also have the shoes to match, as well as the other luxury brands in clothing. We only show those to our top clients from Europe."

"We can afford it!" said one of the women quickly. "I mean, there's no worries there. We can buy whatever you have."

"I can see that. It appears that you all have excellent taste. We'll put together some things for you and place them in the backroom so that you can try them on. I'll have one of the girls open some champagne for you and bring in some snacks. Please, head on back."

The women couldn't get to the backroom fast enough. The saleswoman closed the door, jamming a piece of metal beneath the bottom. The other women all stared at her, and she smiled. When they got to the front door, they locked it from outside and walked across the street.

"What in the ever-loving fuck is going on?" said Gaspar.

"We need to handle this one," said Alexandra. "You might want to cover your ears."

The explosion was so loud, so violent that windows were blown out on both sides of the street, other buildings shaking from their foundations.

"I might have overdone that," grinned Erin. "Hi, baby." She kissed Nine, and he stared at her.

"We got here yesterday after hearing everything on comms. They were pretty easy to find and had been going into only the high-end boutiques," said Lauren.

"We bought that one from the owner," said Piper. "We cleared everything out, brought in some fake stuff we found in another part of the city, and loaded up the store."

"You did this?" smirked Rory.

"We all did it," smiled Piper. "You can kill all the bad guys and occasional bad ladies when you want. But this group? This group belonged to us."

"Amen," said Lena.

"Agreed," said Grace and Faith in harmony. They giggled, hugging one another.

"I'm hungry," said Erin.

"Me too. How about some low-country seafood? Oh, I'm craving some shrimp and grits," said Piper.

"You're hungry at a time like this?" frowned Tailor.

"Yeah. This stuff takes a lot out of you," said Lena. Tailor lifted his wife off the ground, kissing her.

"I've never been more in love with you than I am right now."