Page 60 of Keys

“The minute I found out; I passed the information along the proper channels of both clubs.” That surprised her, which meant that Angel Girl never mentioned it.

“So, it’s for sure that my father has been involved in this shit all along?”

“It’s all just circumstantial still. If he were headed to court on charges, they wouldn’t have a case with what we know. It would be easy for him to make a judge believe he was simply adjacent to the crimes, and maybe unknowingly got girls through the ring, thinking they were just blind dates and setups. There’s no solid proof.”

“Except the fact that he kidnapped my mother.”

“There is that.” I agreed before Keys turned back to the men from the Tallahassee Chapter and filled them in on what was going down and what we were about to do. Since I already knew the plan, I spent that time torturing myself over what Keys might be thinking. Did she hate me for keeping one more thing from her? We weren’t even speaking to one another when I found out. And let’s face it, I had other things on my mind when we finally spoke again, especially after we stopped talking and she begged me to comfort her instead.

~*~

Crusher managed to rent a nondescript white panel van on the way to the lawyer’s office and instead of taking bikes, since the Tallahassee Chapter men didn’t have theirs, we all piled in the van. None of us wanted to mention the other reason the van might be necessary - for hauling injured persons or a body away from the scene.

It was quiet on the way to the secluded little house just north of the Chattahoochee River in Marietta. It took just under thirty minutes to get there and since the good Senator had his little two-bedroom cottage on the back side of the loop, farthest from all the other houses, there would be no sneaking up on him. We didn’t have an option to park further away and go it on foot.

There was another van parked in front of the house. Lights were on inside and the flickering of what looked like a television was also noticeable.

Crusher, Court, and Paul took the back door, Keys, Dane, and me took the front door while Court and Diamond posted up at opposite corners of the house to keep an eye on the windows in case anyone tried to make an escape that way.

We didn’t bother being polite and knocking. Instead, both doors were knocked in at once and within a few footsteps we were face-to-face with the Senator who held a gun to a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Keys.

“You know I’m going to kill you, right?” Keys asked in a low and deadly tone as her father simply grinned at her.

“I won’t let you take her away from me again.”

“You don’t have a choice,” she informed her father.

Sounds of a struggle could be heard from the back rooms, so it was safe to say the other guys had found others in the house.

“Drop the gun or I drop you!”

“Then you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail for killing a United States Senator.” The asshole laughed at his daughter.

“Former,” Keys corrected.

The man’s graying brows dipped low. “Hmm?”

“Former U.S. Senator,” Keys reiterated. “You aren’t shit now. You aren’t untouchable. When everyone finds out you’ve been involved in a human trafficking ring for all these years, do you think they’ll have any pity left for your corpse?”

He laughed again. “You think you can pin any of that on me? I was careful. The only person who can be tied to me, who was a part of it, is someone I set free. I saved her.” He squeezed Keys’ mother tighter. “Tell them, June.”

June shook her head as tears fell from her eyes. Her head dipped so she would no longer have to see her daughter’s face.

“Tell her!” Brian Cassidy demanded as he banged the gun that he was holding into the side of her head. “Tell your daughter that you were nothing more than a whore. I was a stupid fucker who was so captivated by your pussy when I went to test drive you, that I kept you all for myself. My Uncles were pissed, but they allowed me that one concession.”

He laughed again. “Then the stupid cunt had to go and get herself knocked up. I couldn’t just have her killed like the others though,” he admitted. “I couldn’t’ do that to my June-Bug.” His eyes glazed over as he leaned in and nuzzled into the woman’s neck. “I loved her too much by then.”

“What in the absolute fuck?” Keys hissed. I seconded her sentiment. This sick fuck just admitted that June had been one of the trafficked women, which dated the trafficking ring close to thirty years.

“Jesus!” The word slipped free as reality washed over me. These people had been getting away with snatching women up, using, selling, and trading them for that long.

“Mom?” Keys quietly asked for the confirmation I knew she didn’t want.

June finally raised her eyes back to meet her daughter’s and the shame that was there swamped her every feature as tears began to pour freely down her face. “I never wanted you to know.”

“Why would you stay with him then?”

“I didn’t have a choice in the beginning. He always threatened to take you away and sell you. As long as I cooperated, he left you alone.”

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