Page 49 of Freeing Souls

“About three years ago, we ran into Sebastian. We thought he was an enemy and had planned to take him out until things took a turn. We learned he was being blackmailed to work for the traffickers. We were able to keep capturing him under the radar and we took in Bas. He became a part of our team, and we have been working tirelessly since then to take down the people behind the Black Night Ball.”

My eyes widen as I jump up from my seat and look at Bas. “What?”

He nods once. “I’m sorry to have lied to you. I couldn’t reveal who I was and what I was doing. But I was hoping you would find a way into the website with everything I taught you. We figured if you guys got in and were able to do some damage, we could pick up where you left off and completely destroy them.”

“We couldn’t just come and work with you on this because there is a lot on the line. We all discussed it and decided Bas would helpteachGrayson while getting him onto the site,” Vance says.

“What we didn’t know was I wasn’t the only tech person they have working for them. I got the site up and running and I manage the listings and updates, but they had others also monitoring it because they trust no one. Which is how they found out someone got onto it. Eyes were turning towards me, and I needed to get them off us, because we can’t be discovered. To save our asses, we gave up your club. We assumed it would be a warning just like the first one, that they would hire some random person to mess with something and hurt a few people, and then they would have me or the others send a message.”

Bas pauses before he looks at me again. “I sent the first message about the explosion, but I didn’t send the second one. I didn’t even know what they had done. We all assumed since you guys weren’t reaching out for anything, it was something like the explosion.”

“The second you told us Rage and Harley had been taken, we knew that must have been the punishment and had to tell you. We want to help get them back. We are in no way good people and have had our hands in a lot of shit, but this wasn’t okay and we won’t stand for it,” Vance tells everyone but holds Sugar’s eyes, who is vibrating with fury.

In the next second, the room explodes in anger as Ryker flies out of his seat next to me and across the table to punch Sebastian in the face and take him down to the ground. The two other guyswith Vance move towards Ryker, but Noah and Cade are there instantly, stopping them.

Vance goes toe to toe with an angry Sugar as they stay in a heated but low argument I can’t hear over Vance’s men yelling. Standing stock still with my heart pounding against my chest, I watch as Ryker beats the shit out of Bas. He doesn’t let up, and Bas has no chance to fight him off as Ryker loses himself in the dark.

“Enough!” Sugar roars, making everyone pause except for Ryker. “Noah, Cayden, get him.”

Releasing Vance’s men, they move to pull Ryker off Bas. Ryker keeps fighting in their hold, his eyes a dark abyss that sends shivers down my spine. I step in his line of sight and grasp his cheeks as he heaves for breath. “Ryker, please,” I beg, and his eyes immediately snap to mine as they soften. He breaks the boys hold on him and wraps me in his arms.

“They got them taken from us, Grayson,” he whispers hoarsely in my ear.

The guy with long blonde hair that is tied back in a man bun snarls in our direction, “Come at him again and I will fucking kill you.”

Before anyone can respond, Cade steps forward, calm as ever, and grips him by the throat, thrusting him against the wall. They are about the same height, but the guy is much bulkier than Cade. “The only reason we haven’t killed all of you for getting our people taken is because you can help us find them. Test me, and I’ll snap your fucking neck before you can even blink.”

“You don’t scare me, kid,” the man growls.

Cade smirks. “Good. That means you’ll never have your guard up around me, making you an easy target.”

“Release him, Cayden,” Sugar demands.

“We are acceptin’ all the help we can get. But after this, we are even for life. No more jobs come to us. No work throughJacksonville. You stay the fuck away from here and don’t expect any favors from us,” Sugar tells them.

Vance narrows his eyes but nods anyway. “Fine. We never meant for them to be taken, but I understand. The trust between us has always been rocky.”

“What now?” Noah asks, violently flipping his blade between his fingers, making me flinch each time that he will chop his fingers off.

“I’ll fill in Bas on everything, we will watch Oakley, and see if there is anything else we can do in the meantime,” Nerds says, gesturing towards Bas, who is wiping blood from his face.

“Vinny, go with him,” Vance says to the fourth guy, who looks sort of like Vance with the same clean shaven face, dark eyes, and hulking build.

The rest of us split off to cool down. Ryker and I go to head upstairs, but he grabs Cade and makes him come with us. When we get up to Harley’s bedroom, he shuts and locks the door.

“What?” Cade asks, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

“Be fucking present. Don’t run off when shit is a mess like this. Grayson needs us; I know this is going to hit hard for him,” Ryker snarls.

Realizing involving Bas is what got them taken has already crossed my mind, but this is the last thing I need to spiral about, so I do my best to shove it down and focus on other things. I can tear myself apart after Rage and Harley are home safe.

Sugar (Colton)

My club is falling apart around me.

Our President is missing and he made me his Vice President all those years ago. Trusting me with his heart and soul. As this club is his family. My beautifully brave niece is missing as well and I have been barely breathing properly trying to keep everything together. My men do their best, but it will never be enough.

The boys are crumbling. I barely see them smile. They all keep to themselves now. I’m not even sure they are speaking to each other. Nerds has been obsessively watching Oakley’s trackers, waiting for them to move, for a week now. The man, who we have since learned is Patrick, is a nobody who has been part of the sex trafficking ring for many, many years and we will gladly put him down when this is all over. Her phone was destroyed the day she left, but she still has her necklace tracker and the one in her arm.

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