Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
The instant our eyes met, he smoothed a large hand up my spine and whispered, “Baby.”
Nope.
Shouldn’t play poker.
“I’ve felt the urge to murder,” I replied. “Genuinely. I’m being serious.”
“Fuck,” he muttered.
I drew in a breath and let it out speaking. “So, this is what the police are putting together. Esad Babić went rogue from his daddy’s nefarious dealings. He decided to set up his own. He works with recruiters, like the one who located Madison online, in order to lure young women into their clutches and sell them to people like Esad. After they were…done with her—”
Hugger pulled me closer.
I skipped forward in the story.
“They thought she was unconscious and left her where she was. Madison, who seems to have made an art of hiding how strong and smart she is, pretended to be that way in the hope they’d do just what they did and she’d be able to get away. After all they did to her, Harlan, she had the presence of mind—”
I gulped.
“Di, honey, maybe we shouldn’t go over this,” Hugger murmured, now stroking my back.
“No, I need to get it out, if you’ll listen.”
“’Course I’ll listen, baby. That’s why I’m right here.”
How in this shitty, shitty world, where such hideous things happened to such good people, did Harlan “Hugger” McCain corner me in an elevator, and in doing so, become a part of my life?
I shouldn’t question it.
I should savor it.
I did that as I went back to sharing.
“As we know, her ploy worked, she grabbed Esad’s phone and got the hell out of there. A good Samaritan picked her up and took her to the nearest emergency room.”
“Right,” Hugger said.
“They’re surmising Esad found her and his phone missing, and knew his ass was in a sling, so he came clean to Daddy so Daddy could cover for him. Daddy went into action, calling Maddy on his son’s phone the next morning, giving her instructions. Tell the police it was him who did the deed. If she didn’t, he would not rest until he hunted her down and shared his displeasure. He advised Maddy she wouldn’t end that episode breathing, and she wouldn’t be the only one. He’d go after everyone she loved. Unsurprisingly, that threat worked and that was what Madison did.”
Hugger appeared confused.
This was my reaction too.
Hugger voiced his confusion.
“Why didn’t he just threaten her to keep quiet? Why would he put himself in that spot?”
“Rayne talked to me after,” I began to explain. “He said they think that the senior Babić did this because none of the DNA would come back to him. He’d be exonerated, she’d be discredited. After falsely reporting, even if she did eventually point the finger at Esad and his boys, a good defense attorney would have a field day with her on the stand. And according to Rayne, that’s one way Babić gets his giggles. Messing with the police. And if he can make them and a witness appear incompetent, all the better. So it was a twofer for ole Imran. He gets his son off, and he gets to play with the cops. Win-win for him.”
“And now?” Hugger asked.
“Now, the Feds are pursuing this network of recruiters and their buyers. I guess they’re transporting these girls everywhere. So they’ve got an arrest warrant for Esad, and from mugshots, Madison has identified the two guys that were with him, so they have warrants for them as well. And the Feds sat down with her. She couldn’t give them much, though she was very thorough with her description of the man who groomed her and was able to identify him from a photo array too. She was scared sick at the time, so she didn’t pay a lot of attention, but she did say she saw other girls there. Though she didn’t know how many, she just saw two. And between Maddy, who doesn’t know Phoenix at all but gave a description of where she was taken, and the good Samaritan, who gave a thorough report at the hospital, they’ve got a vicinity of where this place is.”
“Some good news.”
I nodded. “And there’s more. Esad’s phone was a huge get. It’s been a treasure trove for them. And if they can pull in Esad and his boys, and they can get one of them to talk, they think this is going to be huge and the pins of that organization will start toppling.”
“Okay, yeah. That’s good too.”
It was.
“They took her phone,” I noted. “Esad and his assholes took it, and her purse, so she had no identifying information. But she packed a bag before she took off on her folks, that bag remained with her, and she grabbed that too when she escaped. I get why they took her phone and purse. But I think it’s weird that they wouldn’t take her belongings from her.”