Page 87 of Kneeling to Candy

“You think there’s someone else behind the scenes pulling the strings?” Gauge asks him.

“Hard to say.” Piero rubs at his chin, musing aloud. “But if there is, he won’t be pleased with his partner giving away over half of their profits to me. No sane businessman would.”

“But this sex trafficking ring seems to be a newer business venture in the state, unlike the ones we’ve dealt with prior. Maybe Duffy is having beginner’s luck in an open market,” Chase suggests.

“Things have been running too smoothly with these traffickers,” Atlas interjects. “It’s more feasible someone else is calling the shots behind the scenes and Duffy is the frontman for the operation.”

“A fall guy,” Punk says, piggybacking off of Atlas’s comment. “Smart thing to have in place if shit goes south.”

“Let’s go into this case playing dumb for appearance’s sake, but keep our eyes and ears open for anyone who may fit the bill of being the real hotshot of the organization,” Gauge suggests.

“Agreed,” Atlas seconds, then motions for Piero to continue.

“My goal was to get this team in front of the women before they went to market. When I asked to see the ‘merchandise’ in person prior to bidding day, Duffy said no. He claims the women are held in multiple locations and it wasn’t possible unless I wanted to do a round-robin. We can’t infiltrate one holding spot without the traffickers informing the other locations they’ve been had. Our best bet is to wait until auction day and get all the women in one fell swoop.”

The crew gives a collective nod of agreement.

“I asked to see headshots of the women. Duffy said the images will be up on the web in a few hours. This will give us a list of the victims up for auction.”

“Do you have a link to the website?” Chase asks.

“Not yet,” Piero explains. “Duffy sends out a link and passcode to all potential buyers the minute the images are uploaded. I’ll forward it on to you once I have the information.”

Chase gives Piero a thumbs up.

“What about the buyers? Were you given any information about them?” Tank asks.

Piero shakes his head. “None was given. When I told Duffy I like to know who my competition is, he hesitated saying all buyers would leave satisfied. I’m thinking there are fewer buyers than captives if he guarantees all buyers will be happy. When I pressed again about the buyers, he claimed he couldn’t reveal buyers without jeopardizing his business.”

“That blows, but it makes sense. If buyers learned Duffy was releasing their names to other buyers, it wouldn’t be only his business on the line. His life would be in jeopardy, too. Did he at least tell you when the auction is happening?” Tank asks.

“A week from tomorrow.”

My eyes widen. “Eight days?!”

I turn my attention to Atlas. “You want to send Candy into the lion’s den in eight days? Prez, that’s not workable. We need to train her in self-defense, and coach her on how to behave for the part, not to mention my woman may want some time working with Brandon. This isn’t me being an overprotective ass—this is me spitting the facts.”

Candy squeezes my hand, trying to reassure me through her touch alone.

“A week is all we have,” Piero informs us. “Duffy doesn’t want to hold the women any longer than necessary, and I can’t request him to hold the auction off without making him suspicious. Any criminal would agree you need to unload the hot goods before law enforcement catches wind of it.”

“If we go in unprepared, it could blow the entire operation and put Candy in danger,” I retort heatedly, my anger slowly coming to a head.

When squeezing my hand does nothing to calm me, Candy firmly, but not harshly, turns my face to hers, cupping my cheeks. “Settle,” she commands in a quiet voice.

My nostrils flare, caught in her stare. I’m justifiably pissed with the timeline. Yet I try to relax for her, because my goddess demands it. I feel the eyes of everyone in the room on us, watching our silent showdown.

“Count to ten,” Candy orders with cool control, encouraging me with her thumb rubbing back and forth over my scruffy cheeks in a soothing motion.

Forcing myself to count in my head, my shoulders slowly drop, my anger sated for the moment.

When I have more of a handle on my temper, I face the others. Most avert their eyes. Punk cocks his head, his eyes shifting between me and Candy like he’s intrigued by our little interaction.

Atlas furrows his dark brows, looking at Candy directly. “Piero and Butch make good points, but it all comes down to one person. Now, we can teach you basic self-defense. We can coach you on how to act when you’re in the viper’s den. Brandon can be here to counsel you through the week if you request it. But it will be a lot. What do you think, Candy? Are you up for an intense week of training? Will you be confident enough with us helping you to go into this case prepared enough?”

With no hesitation, she straightens in her chair and says with all the confidence in the world, “I can do this.”

My heart squeezes with pride at how determined she is to help. Yet I can’t help feeling like I’m drowning in fear and insecurity. This is my woman. If something happens to her because of a rushed operation, I’ll never forgive myself.

---