Chapter 2

Dani

"I don't like this." My partner, Thomas glanced over at me as I adjusted my thigh-highs one more time.

I snorted. "At least you're not having to wear tights. I can't remember the last time I had to wear something so ridiculous. You know a man made these, right?"

He glanced out the window of the car closest to him and shook his head. "Dani, I'm serious."

"Stop." I reached for the door handle. "We've done a million of these operations. Don't go soft on me now."

"I don't like it." He turned to face me and reached out. The tight grip on my arm was a little uncomfortable, but I paused in respect. "It's fucked up."

"Yeah. Especially for the little girls that get sold for sex. I'm going in to help. Be ready to bust this party up the minute you hear our code word." I tugged my arm free, got out of the cop car and walked toward a dark, damp alleyway. Excitement burned in my chest. I was made for this. For saving lives and freeing victims.

Memories blurred past my mind's eye as I smoothed down the slutty dress I wore. There was no way the bouncer wouldn't let me into the club. I looked younger than I was, and with a few winks and a slurred speech pattern, he'd think I was easy pickings.

"Hiya, handsome." I turned the corner and slipped my hand into the top of my dress, pulling a fake I.D. from my bra. "What time do you get off tonight?"

The big burly guy gave me the once-over and chuckled. "For you? Now."

I offered a toothy grin and pressed myself to the front of him. "I heard it was lady’s night."

"You heard right. Have fun, princess." He reached around and squeezed the top of my ass. "Downstairs and to the left. You take another stairway down and find what you're looking for. I'll come find you when I get off."

"Of course." I moved past him and walked down the stairs to the entrance to the club. The grumbles from the patrons waiting in line to enter were almost comical. If the nice party goers waiting in the chilled night's air had a clue as to the nefarious purpose of the dance club, they'd run away screaming.

"Or so you assume," I mumbled, talking to myself under my breath. All of my detective work had pointed to The Jade Walk Nightclub as the headquarters for the largest sex trafficking organization in all of New York. Some part of me hoped like hell I was wrong. Thomas' concern washed over me again. He had a right to be worried.

I was going in solo. There were hordes of cops waiting around the bar and on the outskirts of the building, but I would walk into the belly of the beast all by myself.

It was as it should be.

I reached for the door as my favorite memory of my older sister swept by my vision. Seventeen and laughing as she danced around with her hair in pigtails. It was the last time I saw her until she turned up dead in an alley much like the one I'd walked down moments before. Her innocence had faded at a young age, and she had always looked for trouble in the form of a bad boy. Unfortunately, her last boyfriend sold her for a profit.

"This one is for you, Sis." I reached the bottom of the second set of stairs, my heels clicking loudly.

"Say something, beauty?" The dark-skinned guy at the bottom of the stairs gave me a crooked smile.

"Nope." I smiled brightly and stumbled a little. "My boyfriend, Tanner said you guys met up here sometimes."

"We sure do." He opened the door and moved back. "Mr. King isn't in right now, but I'm sure you'll find someone else that fits your needs for the night."

"Needs?" I laughed playfully and walked past the guy as I stifled a shiver that ran down my back.

Girls. Everywhere. All ages, races, sizes. All dressed up like sluts.

And so many men.

I made my way through the sea of people and had almost reached the bar when someone grabbed my wrist roughly.

"Dani. What are you doing here?"

No one should have known my name in that shit hole. I was under cover.

"Wrong person." I turned to stare into the face of a young girl I'd rescued a few months back. Fuck. "Caroline." I pulled her close like we were best friends and wrapped my arms around her tightly. "What are you doing back here?"

"I don't know. You can't be here. They're going to know you're a cop. Get out." She pulled back, her pretty blue eyes faded. My soul ached at what she'd been through, at what might have been done to her.

"Come with me. We'll get out and then I'll come back."

"No way. They're not going to let you out of here. Not now." She shook her head as her eyes grew wide. "Tanner." She turned and walked away as I stiffened.

I'd never met Tanner King, but I'd heard a lot about him. President of the Black Hearts MC gang and the meanest mother fucker in the city. He made the mafia look like fruit flies - annoyances at best.

"What do we have here?" His voice was smooth like glass and deep. So deep.

I turned slowly and ran my hands over my hips and down the outside of my thighs. I'd done a lot of police work in the short number of years I'd been on the force, and dealt with some bastards, but never anyone like him.

"Wow," I breathed out softly. "It's you."

A hint of a smile played along the side of his mouth. "You look a little too old to be in my program. How do we know each other, Dani?"

"Sandy, but close enough." I took a bold step toward him. His dark eyes moved around my face as he reached out and gripped my arms tightly where they bent. "I'm not too old."

"Have you been in here before?" He leaned down and brushed his nose by mine. "You smell like flowers and sugar. I wonder how you taste."

I stiffened. There would never come a day where I'd get used to how violent men affected me in a way they shouldn't. It felt wrong. Vile. Off.

"You should find out," I breathed out and leaned in, pressing my lips to his in a hard kiss.

He slid his hands up my arms and pulled me in closer, deepening the kiss and turning us around the room like we were trapped in a never-ending dance.

I got a hand free and pressed a panic button on my right hip, hidden under my dress. The kiss was strong, powerful and his tongue tasted like peppermint. He was deplorable, but if put in any other situation, he'd have been every woman's wet fantasy. Big and strong, sexy and aggressive.

"Boss. The alarm!" Someone yelled.

He pulled back and smiled at me. "Dani. You bad girl, you."

"Fuck you, Tanner." I stepped back and reached for my gun.

"Not tonight, love. But I'll find you. Soon enough." He turned and jogged toward a door hidden behind a large painting. I got my gun out and followed him only to find the door locked from the other side.

Pure panic ensued around me as guys worked to drag girls out of the windows and back up the original entrance. A flood of cops joined me seconds later and took out every male in the vicinity, knocking them out and cuffing them.

I worked with a few other female cops to huddle the girls together. The sound of crying and sniffling filled the air. I had to imagine that my sister had cried a lot of tears when she was sold into slavery. The thought fueled me forward and kept me strong as we worked to process all the girls and got them into cars to send them down to the police station and then onto a protected, private shelter.

"Good work, Markum." Cop after cop stopped to pat me on the back and shake my hand. They didn't understand that finding these fuckers was a passion because the same men took away my sister, my only sibling. The fight was personal, and because it was, it made all the difference.

"Dani." Thomas, my partner, stopped in front of me. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, not feeling too steady on my feet.

"Great job. Captain wants to see you."

"Tonight?" I put my hands on my hips and gave him a look.

"Yes. He's outside near the entrance."

"Alright." I patted his chest as I walked back up the entrance and toward the front door. I ignored the glares I received from both Tanner's men and some of the girls. It was scary to think that we'd lost the king pin himself. He would be my next target, my focus until we took his ass down too.

"Dani." Captain Nelson nodded as I walked up. His salt and pepper hair was disheveled and his eyes blood shot. "Are you alright?"

"Absolutely. I'm sorry about King." I glanced to the ground and forced myself to look back up. Being a woman on the force was hard as hell. I had to make them respect me, and I did, but going head to head with them every time.

No one knew how exhausted I was.

"About King." Captain glanced around and I knew immediately that things were changing.

"Hey." I reached out and gripped his arm. "Jack. I'm fine. I'm right here. Nothing happened. This is what I do. I'm one of the detectives for sexual crimes."

"I get that." He patted my hand and pulled my fingers from his forearm. "Your father is a good friend of mine."

"No. He's your pastor. There's a difference." I forced a smile. "Don't do this."

"I have to, kiddo. He knows you. He called you by name."

"No. He doesn't know me, Jack. He heard one of the girls down there call me by name."

"Dani." He gave me a stern look. "It's not forever. It's just until things settle down. Take a few days off and then we'll move you to probation duty."

"What? No." I shook my head. "That's fucked up and you know it."

"He knows you." He reached out and gripped the side of my face. "He's a fucking monster and he's got your card. You're damn lucky I'm not putting you in protective custody. Watch out for yourself and do what I say, or I will ship you off and have you watched twenty-four-seven. You understand me?"

I bit my tongue and forced the tears burning my eyes not to fall.

"Fine," I bit out and pulled from him. My only passion in life was fucking up criminals and saving innocent girls from the horrors my sister had faced before her death. Turning, I ignored everyone that spoke to me as I walked toward my cop car. Thomas could find another ride home.

Me being pulled off sex crimes was likely his fault. He cared about me and worried too much.

It was unforgivable and done for one reason.

Because I was a woman.