The woods and the inky darkness that can only be found away from city lights combined to provide all the cover Blue and Amber needed. They were crouched down at the edge of the woods watching the house that Daisy swore was the new pimp’s bondage lair, complete with a strung-out, full-service sex slave.
“Are you sure this is the right place, Blue? This place is creepy as hell.” And that was putting it mildly. The house had an eerie ‘Psycho’ feeling about it with its old wooden frame and broken down concrete porch. Large pillars of decaying wood did little to support the sagging porch roof. The sidewalk had chunks of cement missing and weeds were growing up through the cracks. Wild ivy clung to the side of the house. It had all the makings of a haunted house at Halloween, but this wasn’t make-believe. This house of horrors was all too real, and Amber had a feeling they hadn’t seen anything yet.
“You read my mind. But, yes, this is the right place,” Blue said confidently. “My girls know people who know people. Their intel is solid.”
“Your girls. Hmmph,” Amber sniffed indignantly before she could think better of it.
Blue swatted her behind and said sternly, “Focus. Save that jealousy for later when I’m free to respond to it properly.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and she grew still. “Well, would you looky there.”
A lamp inside the house had just been turned off. Both women watched as a thin curtain was pulled to the side and someone peeped out from behind the fabric.
Amber shuddered and lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper. “You don’t think he knows we’re out here, do you?”
“No. I haven’t seen any signs of a dog and he seems to be in there alone. It’s 3 a.m. No one’s been coming or going for at least an hour now, so he must have shut down for the night.”
“There were so many of them, Blue. I wish there had been a way for us to have gone in earlier. We could have spared her another night of misery.”
“Me, too, baby. But that would have been too risky. The bastard had a small crowd there tonight. He was all alone in the front room after his ‘guests’ arrived, so that means they must have all been in the basement at the same time.”
“Oh, my God. And she was all alone down there, at their mercy. That poor woman.”
“I know. There’s a special place in Hell for people like him. If we play this right, maybe we can help him get there. Waiting until everyone left was the right thing to do strategically. Less danger, less risk.”
“I counted six men leaving together around midnight. Looked like a group of drunks from out of town, maybe on a business trip. And this is what they do for fun. Who does that?!”
Amber was having trouble keeping her emotions in check, and Blue needed to get her back on track. “He’s probably feeling pretty paranoid if he still has Kat in there. Guilty people always look over their shoulder. So be careful.”
“I’m worried about what will happen if you kill him, Blue. If you get caught, you’ll go to jail.” Amber didn’t want to be separated from Blue and the thought of pressing her hand up to a glass partition in a prison made her chest ache. Loving someone was always a gamble, but falling in love with Blue had blindsided her. Now there was no way out – not that she wanted out. When it came to Blue, she was here to stay.
“I won’t get caught and I won’t go to prison. Trust me; Ricardo and Antonio Wayne wouldn’t allow it.”
Amber sighed. “Let me guess: they know people too.”
“She’s beautiful, sexy, and smart. It’s nice to know you care, though.”
Amber gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. “I do care. I care very much.”
“You picked one hell of a moment to get emotional on me. I fell for you the moment I first laid eyes on you.” Blue’s look was direct and matter of fact, as if falling in love was the most natural thing anyone could do. “Love at first sight, baby doll.”
Amber’s face grew hot at the endearment. Blue had made it clear how much she liked Amber’s nasty baby talk when they were fucking. She couldn’t help it; the words just came tumbling out of her mouth when Blue was working her over.
“Shhh, the front door’s opening,” Blue whispered. The women watched as the man dressed in a janitorial uniform leaned out of the door and looked first one way and then the other. It was as if he was expecting someone to jump out from behind one of the columns or pop out from around a corner.
Seeming satisfied that all was well, he reached back inside the house and worked the wall switch to turn the light off. Then he turned it back on. Then he turned it off again. Weird. Was he signaling someone?
“Why would he turn the light off twice? Wasn’t once enough?” Amber’s voice was so low that Blue almost couldn’t hear her. “You know, people with nothing to hide don’t need to look over their shoulder. Guilty people do that. Do you ever feel that way? You’ve killed for the cartel before, and you got rid of Huggy.” At Blue’s sharp glance she shrugged. “Yeah, I figured that out. But you never seem paranoid or guilty.”
“Because I’m not. The people I’ve killed had it coming.”
“Is that why you’re expanding your escort service, to get out of the cartel life? Are we gonna follow this guy?”
“Whoa, slow down girl. I never said I wanted out of the cartel. I want out of men’s beds – and I want men out of me. And I want you out of men’s beds. No, we’re not following him; not tonight anyway. We’re going in and rescuing Kat. But I have every intention of dealing with him sooner rather than later.”
“If she’s still in there.”
“Oh, she’s in there. The only question is whether she’s dead or alive.”
The small red car sputtered to life and took off down the driveway. When it was out of sight, Blue stepped out from behind the trees and gestured for Amber to follow her. As they closed in on the house, Blue touched the Glock she had tucked in the back of her pants. Whether she would kill Kat’s tormentor today was questionable. The reality of the guy meeting his maker sooner rather than later? That was a sure thing.