Chapter 16

Janus

“Antony, I think I should go check out the stock,” Dani murmurs to me, as soon as the auctioneer announces a short break before the second part of the auction begins.

I throw her a wolfish grin. “I think that’s a splendid idea. I’ll meet you back here when the auction continues with new drinks.”

She kisses me on the cheek, and even though I know it’s to keep our cover up, it still makes me unnecessarily happy. Perhaps Dani didn’t block out my sudden kiss from before.

“The two of you make a beautiful couple,” a male voice suddenly says.

Dani and I both break away from each other to turn and face the man who’s spoken.

He’s an older gentleman—not that I’d consider anyone who would appear at a human auction ‘gentle’—and American to boot. A younger woman to his right smiles brightly up at me, then rather falsely at Danielle.

Dani laughs lightly. “You’re too kind, sir.”

“I haven’t seen the two of you here before. First-timers?”

I nod my head. “Is it that obvious?”

“Ahh, not especially. I just haven’t seen you at any related events.”

“I’m ashamed to say that we’re ‘new money,’” Dani lies smoothly. “I just came into a large inheritance, so my partner and I really are very new to all this. I hope you’ll treat us kindly.”

The older man positively beams at Dani. “But of course! Miss…?”

“Felicity Rogers,” Dani replies, holding out her hand.

The man takes a hold of her delicate fingers and kisses her hand. I have to stop myself from bristling as I watch another man’s lips touch Dani’s skin.

“A pleasure. I’m Professor Walter Briggs, and my companion is the lovely Ivanka.”

I have to hold back my disgust. A professor. At a flesh auction.

And no surname for the partner suggests that it’s foreign and difficult for Briggs to pronounce. Such class.

“And who is your handsome partner?” Ivanka inquires in heavily accented English—I’m fairly certain she’s Eastern Ukrainian—as she stares at me keenly.

“Antony Marshall, at your service.”

I feel a hand on my arm and look to see Dani smiling up at me. “Tony, my love, those drinks?”

“Ah, of course, Felix.” I give the couple an apologetic smile. “Duty calls, I’m afraid. But I’d love to continue this conversation later.”

Walter and Ivanka both seem very happy with this, their hungry eyes on Dani and myself respectively.

“Sounds wonderful, Mr. Marshall. Miss Rogers, I look forward to getting to know you further.”

She gives the pair a radiant smile, and then we part ways.

Dani looks at me in disgust when we’re alone again. “I may as well have been prancing about naked with the way he was looking through my dress.”

I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her in close. I’m satisfied to see her face flush a little. “Clearly these monsters don’t just view the people up on stage as possessions—that viewpoint extends to anything they believe they can own.”

Dani reaches up to whisper in my ear. “Then let’s get the information we need to take these fuckers out.”

God, she’s so sexy—even when talking about human trafficking.

I push a few stray strands of hair away from her face. “Check out the stock. I’ll be back soon.”

“Careful, Tony. Be careful.”

I smile. “I know. Don’t let Professor Briggs near you whilst I’m gone, Felix.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “As if I’d let that leech touch me again. Not willingly, anyway.”

Regretfully, I leave Dani on her own as I slink off to find some kind of office or information storage room.

I do a round of the main hall, keeping my eyes on the security team. It doesn’t take me long to work out where the office is based on where security is heaviest.

I slip down the corridor and to the small office embarrassingly easily—the corrupt policemen being hired as security won’t keep their jobs for much longer once it becomes apparent that someone has procured the trafficking ring’s sensitive information.

The office has two computers. Employing some hacking skills learned from years working with Leviathan, it’s not long before I get past the passwords and access the information I need.

It’s all there.

Everything Dani will need for her exposé.

Everything to land these fuckers in prison.

Everything to free those being imprisoned and sold off as we speak.

I grin humorlessly as I download the information to a couple of USB sticks—always handy to have a backup just in case—resisting the urge to tap my foot impatiently as I watch the download status bar creeping its way to completion.

When I’ve downloaded everything from one computer, I move to the next, repeating the same inexorable waiting game while the information gets copied to the storage devices.

A creak of the door causes me to whip around.

Oh, fuck.

It’s one of the traffickers.

He tries to bite out a warning for back-up, but my hand is over his mouth before he utters a single syllable.

A quick knee to the gut and a steady arm around the man’s neck, and he’s out cold.

I sigh in relief as I silently place the unconscious man on the floor and return to the computers. The download is complete.

Thank God.

I reach out to remove the last flash drive.

“Don’t even think about it.”

The click of a gun safety being disabled causes me to turn around very, very slowly. Another of the traffickers clearly heard the ruckus.

And now, he has his gun held two feet away from me, aimed at my head.

Oh, fuck, indeed.

The man mutters some Greek obscenities—clearly not expecting me to understand.

“Such language. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, kólos?”

The man frowns, apparently not keen on being called an asshole, then takes a step towards me.

I can’t believe this will be the way I die.

I haven’t achieved anything yet.

I think of Danielle.

Then there’s a loud crack, and the man in front of me falls, sightless, to the floor.

There’s Dani, a bloodied crowbar in hand. She glances at it and drops it with a clamor.

“Did you get the information?” she asks breathlessly.

Stunned, I turn from her for a second to remove the USB, then I grab Dani’s arm, and we rush out of the office, not looking back once as we escape back into the auction hall as inconspicuously as possible.

“You are amazing, Felix,” I murmur, remembering her code name at the last second.

She flashes a smile at me. “Good thing I was worried and decided to check up on you then, Tony.”

There’s a pause as we get our breath back and wait for the adrenaline to leave our system.

“I’ll send you this information in an encrypted file as soon as I get back to my hotel room.”

Dani nods at me. “Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

I glance up at the stage, where the second part of the auction has begun.

“I couldn’t agree more.”