Page 74 of The Secrets She Keeps

“Okay, we’ll do what you want,just don’t hurt us. It wouldn’t exactly be fair, would it? Six men and everything.” Heather’s voice came through, calm. Deliberate.“We don’t want any trouble. You move your little green and white pill packages of that peach stuff out of here. Right out of Hughes Heights forever in your cute little blue van. And we’ll go the other direction, Scarface. We were just out for a walk talking about boneheaded guys. That’s all.”

Six men. Moving drugs. Green and white package, peach pills—OPJ. Out of Hughes Heights. Scarface. Smaller blue van. Heather was telling Major Crimes what she could.

“Shit. They’re two of Doc Eastman’s freaks,” another male voice said, almost too faint to hear, after the sound of footsteps on stairs or hardwood.“Colesons. Ones in the damned news.”

“That’s Steve’s slut, right there. The one Eastman wanted first before Steve knocked her up,”another voice said, fury in his tone. “And that realtor bitch that’s everywhere. Billionaire’s cousin, I think. She’s worth millions and has been screwing that cop Erickson.”

“Erickson the fucking prick Three is always bitching about ruining things for him?”

“That’s the one.”

That told them one thing. The men who had them were a part of Wilson’s crew. It wasn’t a random kidnapping for ransom. Or some crazy after Heather because of Eastman. No. They were themen Gunnar had been looking for from the very beginning. And he didn’t know who they were at all. He had been after them for years. Now, they had Powell.

They were deadly. And he didn’t know where they were.

“I told you assholes to move the damned Opal faster. Should have done it last night. Then they wouldn’t be here now,” another, more cultured voice said.

It was OPJ. That confirmed it. Heather and Powell had just stumbled right into those bastards.

“Grab the bitches, get them in the van. We have to get out of here fast. We are going to have fun with them tonight. I have been waiting to get my hands on Steve’s bitch for a long, long time,” the man said.“She’s going to pay for every fucking thing she’s ruined for years. More than four years I have wanted to make this bitch pay. And Erickson’s whore is just icing on the fucking cake.”

Then, there were sounds he would never forget. The sounds of flesh meeting flesh. The sounds of women crying out.Struggling.

The sounds of Powell screaming for help would haunt him for the rest of his life. Then she was screaming Heather’s name. Begging the men not to hurt Heather any longer. To juststop.

Gunnar wouldneverforget the look on Heather’s little sister’s face as they listened to that audio. The utter terror and despair as they heard the sounds Heather made.

He reached out. Pulled Hope close as gently as he could and just held her as she cried.

Never had he felt more useless in his life.

All of his years as a cop, all of his training, his experience, couldn’t do a damned thing to help them now. Couldn’t get him to Powell now that she needed him most.

51

It must have been hours.Heather...Heather hadn't spoken much. And she had been out of it for a good long time. Since that older one had struck her so hard. The one who had been with the man…she had seen in Wyoming. In the baseball cap; the one she had nearly ran right into.

He was a part of this. One of the ones in charge, she thought.

Powell had seen the sliver of light at the top of the door. There were windows out there. But she suspected it was dark now. They'd taken her watch, her tracking bracelet, her phone, and Heather's phone and watch, even though Heather's wasn't a smartwatch. They said they weren't taking any chances.

And the man with the scar had known what Powell’s bracelet did. Those tracking bracelets of Houghton's weren't worth the parts to make them. She had been aware of the bracelet’s limitations after what had happened to Zoey, but Scarface had just taken it right off of her and laughed. Before they’d even left Jackson Avenue.

"Some of them are leaving now," Heather said. “I figured they would.”

They were still in the closet, zip-tied to old cast iron pipes. Powell was freezing. She suspected it was shock. She felt so sick too.

"As soon as they are gone, I am going to cut you loose," Heather said firmly. Calmly. “They have to stop sometime.”

"How?"

"I have a box cutter in my pocket. I found it. Earlier. When they weren't looking."

"What do we do then?"

"There are only two of them in there now."

"How are you feeling? He hit you so hard."

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