Page 16 of Hard Game

Four digits stare back at him.

6666.

“No fucking way. Surely they’d be pulled over for that,” Elijah says with a frown.

“I’ve got a feeling they change it all the time.” I scrutinize the photo like it’s going to give me another clue. “Otherwise, they’d have been pulled over by now.”

“Smart-asses,” Elijah mutters as we climb the stairs.

“Not that smart,” I say with a grin. “We caught them in the act of selecting their next victim.”

Elijah tugs open the door, and we’re back in the hallway, the sounds of the mall filling the air. “Speaking of which, we need to find her.”

I nod and follow him as we make our way back to where we found the cleaner initially. It’s a little busier than earlier, and there’s no sign of the cleaning cart. We split up and searched for her, meeting back on the opposite side of the mall, shaking our heads at each other.

She’s nowhere to be seen.

8

MADDOX

“The last time they were here, the ring selected their victims from places like this,” I say to Tassa, who takes a deep breath from beside me. The mall looks like every other mall, except we know last time the traffickers were here, they scoured this place for victims.

Like Tassa.

“I know it’s hard for you to be here,” I say, glancing at her. “You don’t have to be.”

“No, you’re right.” Tassa squares her shoulders. “I have to help you find them.”

I give her a sad smile before nudging her. “While also looking for love.”

She gives me a faint smile, but I can see the memories replaying in her mind. “I was shoplifting.” Tassa closes her eyes and walks around the circular atrium, her hand dragging on the railing beside her. “Regularly. Just a stupid teen crying out for help.”

I don’t interrupt her. I know all of this, but I need to hear it again while standing where they originally took her.

Well. They don’t always take. In Tassa’s case, they didn’t anyway.

“I got off on the high of getting away with it.” Tassa pauses and stills, pointing at the fountain below us. “That’s where I first met him.”

I follow her finger, my eyes narrowing like the jerk is still there.

“He complimented me at first and told me how beautiful I was.”

My stomach churns.

“You know the rest,” Tassa says with a sigh.

“So you kept coming to meet him here? Every week?” I scan the crowd below us, as thin as it is. It’s not overly busy.

“Yep. He took me for food, talked about traveling the world…”

My gaze falls on two young girls eating ice cream and gossiping. From what I can see, they’re alone. But they don’t scream ‘victims’ to me.

“What about those two?” I ask Tassa. “Would they be an option?”

Tassa follows my gaze and shakes her head. “Unlikely.”

“Why?” I probe, my brow furrowing. The girls are pretty and around the age the gang seems to target.

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