Nate
All the dregs gathered weapons and headed to Riverwalk Augusta. We arrived ten minutes early, and my dreg brothers spread out near the fountain, hiding behind buildings or trees or other objects that concealed them.
I sat on a bench near the water fountain and waited, keeping my gaze alert for anyone approaching through the darkness. The once-beautiful fountain display had been shut down, probably not long after the gang wars had erupted in the city. The shallow pool beneath had since dried up. The fountain was now just a barren statue without the fantastic water displays spiraling from its jets. Dead. Like the rest of Augusta.
Finally, a man strolled casually up to the fountain. He stood around five-foot-eight or nine, with a stocky, muscular build. Dark-haired, and dark-eyed, he looked to be of Cuban or possibly Hispanic descent. His head was shaved close to his scalp.
“Heads up,” Ryan’s voice came through the mic at my ear. “Five thugs hiding in the trees to the south, waiting. They’re all armed.”
“Thanks,” I murmured back. I rose from the bench and waited as the stranger approached.
We eyed each other up and down, neither one of us speaking.
“You Nate?” he asked at last.
I jerked my head in a nod. I had to play my role to a T, pretend I was here to hook up with Alissa. “Where’s Alissa? I’m not into threesomes and I don’t do men.”
He snickered as he sized me up. “No worries. I don’t do men, either. But Alissa’s otherwise engaged, so I came to check you out. She calls you Hunky Nate, you know. Why haven’t I ever met you before? Are you one of her regulars?”
Was he implying Alissa was a prostitute? I didn’t know a thing about her, but I had never believed she was a prostitute.
She calls you Hunky Nate.
A wave of pleasure washed over me at the idea that she might find me attractive. Was he joking or did she really think I was hunky?
She might be a prostitute.
Shit. I didn’t want to believe that.
Jesus. What had I gotten myself into?
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I didn’t come here to meet her damn pimp.”
He chortled. “I’m Romeo. The new leader of the Spartans. Ever heard of me?”
“No.” Tony had killed the old leader the night we’d rescued Jacob a few weeks ago.
Romeo puffed out his chest. “Alissa’s not available for your hook-ups, anymore. I sold her to the Sureños an hour ago. So if you want to fuck her again, you’ll have to buy her from Enrique. Though if you ask me, the bitch isn’t worth it.”
For a moment, my heart stopped. He’d sold her to Vasquez? Son-of-a-bitch! I wanted to kill the arrogant prick. That meant she was likely locked up tight at Paine College. Tony had gotten in once before and freed Tracker’s woman Jessica and her sister Eliza. Would he be willing to go in again and free Alissa? It would probably take some persuasion on my part, since Tony didn’t know Alissa—hell, neither did I for that matter. But Tony was my dreg partner. He would do it if I asked him to. For me.
Just like I’d do anything for him.
“I didn’t realize the Spartans participated in the sex trade. I thought you guys were fighters.”
“Oh, we are fighters. We’re the best. But I needed Alissa to make a deal with the Sureños. So I sold her to them. Now she’s Enrique’s.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tony darting across the park and slipping behind a large tree trunk, edging closer. On the opposite side of the fountain, Noah and Logan both inched closer from behind other objects, ready to help me, if necessary. Ryan and Luke were also out there somewhere, though I couldn’t see them.
“So why did you bother even setting up a meeting if you had no intention of bringing Alissa along?” I asked.
Romeo shrugged. “I was curious about you. I wanted to see who she thought might be willing to risk his life to come rescue her.” He eyed me up and down again. “You’re a tough-looking bastard. You ever fight?”
I snorted. If he only knew…
“If Alissa’s not coming, then I’m leaving.” I started to walk away.
Romeo stepped in front of me. “Hold on.”
I halted. No one got in my way. Ever.
“Step aside, asshole. That’s a warning. We’re done here. Back away now. Leave. And I won’t kill you.”
His posture turned stiff. His gaze narrowed. “You think I’m afraid of you?”
Tony suddenly appeared right behind Romeo. “You should be.”
Romeo spun around, dropping into a fighting stance, and produced a knife that he’d had hidden somewhere at his waist.
He snickered. “Two of you? That little slut! I should have known. What a dirty, dirty girl. I’ll bet you two roughed her up real good.”
Though I didn’t know Alissa, I didn’t like him talking about her like that. Bastard. “Leave,” I told him again. “This is your last chance.”
Romeo hesitated, glancing from me to Tony and back. A long tense silence stretched. I kept my hand near the gun at my back, just in case. I wanted to kill the bastard, but if I could avoid the violence right now, I would. Saving Alissa was more important. And time was wasting. The sun would be up soon.
Romeo raised his hands and backed away. “Okay, I’m leaving now. No worries. But you two can forget about Alissa. You won’t be hooking up with her anymore. She’s long gone.” He snickered. “In fact…” he glanced at his wristwatch. “The auction is probably starting right about…now.” He smirked, then turned and strolled away, whistling as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Auction?
“Arrogant prick,” Tony muttered. “Let me kill him. I really want to kill him.”
So did I. “We don’t have time for that right now. If Enrique is selling her at an auction right now, we need to find her and get her out of there before some sick bastard buys her.” I hesitated, glancing from Romeo’s retreating back to Tony. “Will you help me?”
Tony flicked his gaze back to me. “Yeah, man. I’m in.”
“Good. I need you to sneak in and find her and free her. You’re the only one who can do it.” As The Smuggler, Tony could get into places without being detected. He was a magician, an illusionist, and an escape artist. He could make himself invisible, and he couldn’t be imprisoned for long. Tony was a modern-day Houdini who had the ability to escape from just about any situation. No locked doors could keep him in. Or out.
He turned away, his gaze following Romeo as the man disappeared into the darkness. “No problem, amigo. I’ll do it.” He pulled his gaze back to mine. “I’m in the mood for some violence. I just hope she’s worth it.”
“Thugs leaving now,” Ryan’s voice came through the mic. “All clear.”
The dregs met back at the parking lot several minutes later. I told the others the information Romeo had shared.
“You think he really sold her to Vasquez?” Ryan asked. “He could be yanking your chain.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I have to find out. Tony has agreed to go in and try to find her.”
“I want to help,” Logan spoke up. “If there are other woman, we should free them like we did last time. I can’t stomach the thought of all those women being abused and treated like slaves.” Logan was the kind-hearted one of the group, always looking out for the underdog.
The others murmured their agreement. We all knew what it was like to be abused and treated like slaves, though in our case, it hadn’t been sexual, but physical and mental abuse.
“You can all use your skills and abilities to extract information to help us locate her. But I don’t want any shooting until after Tony gets Alissa out, or she could be killed before we find her. Once she’s free, then we can worry about freeing the other women.”
Silence stretched as everyone contemplated my words.
“What’s this girl to you?” Luke asked, his gaze narrowing on me. “Do you even know her? Isn’t she a prostitute?”
Whether she was a prostitute or not, I couldn’t ignore her plight. She was still a human being.
“I don’t know her, not really,” I admitted, “but she asked for my help, and I can’t ignore that.”
Another silence stretched. They all knew me well enough to know I couldn’t ignore someone in need. I was The Healer, after all.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Tony murmured, causing everyone to focus their attention on him. “I knew from the moment you gave her your number that she was nothing but trouble. You were blown away by her looks, and you know damn well that thinking with your dick will only get you killed. You sure you want to do this?” His gaze hardened as it bored into mine.
I felt the gazes of all my dreg brothers studying me. They all wondered if I’d lost my mind. Even I was beginning to wonder why I gave a damn about a girl I didn’t even know. A girl who might well be a prostitute.
All I knew was that Alissa got to me. I didn’t know what it was about her, but I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head since the night I’d met her. Yes, she was hot. But it was more than that. I couldn’t explain it, not even to myself. There was just something about her that intrigued me and made me care.
“Yes,” I said at last. “I want to do this.” I hesitated, glancing from one face to the next. “You guys don’t have to help me. It could be extremely dangerous. I totally understand if you don’t want any part of this.”
Logan was the first to respond. “Like I said earlier, I’m in.”
“Me, too,” Noah replied. “I’m in the mood for some action.”
All the others nodded.
“We’ve got you back,” Ryan said. “Let’s do this.”