Page 76 of Mimosa

“Yeah, Sonny, are you okay?”

“Yeah, listen, they’re taking the men to a party in Golden tonight. I don’t know where yet, but I’ll know soon. I’ll send you a text with the address. Come up with anything you can to bust that party. Anything.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. We have a federal judge on standby for this kind of thing.”

“Perfect. Okay, I need to go, but I also have a guy who’s really bad off and needs a doctor. Can you secure one with an X-ray machine somewhere on the way back to Denver from Golden?”

“Sure, we’ll find one now. Just be careful.”

“I’ll try, but this is gonna be close.”

Sonny ended the call and checked over the van before heading back inside to see all the men dressing at gunpoint. Rex stood with his rifle like he was some old west cowboy in a posse thatjust captured a bunch of bank robbers. “Put that down. The doors are locked, it’s not like they will escape.”

“Intimidation is part of it,” he whined as the rifle lowered.

“I think the shit being beat out of Chad was enough for a few days, don’t you?”

“Why you calling him that?”

“It’s his name.”

Rex scoffed, “They’re not humans. They’re slaves.”

Sonny’s disgust ripened to the point he didn’t think he could be near the man for another minute without killing him.

Walking off, he checked over the men and said, “Good. You all look good.”

None of them could look at him, and he didn’t blame them. To them, he was one of the pigs that had taken them, one that was selling their bodies, uncaring if they were hurt or killed.

In that moment, he hated himself. But he wanted to change things, at least for those men. No matter the cost to himself.

The fact that more would replace them crossed his mind. More were likely already on the way, making them expendable. There were thousands that could be replacing them, some not missed, and some that would be, but after forty-eight hours, the chances of finding a missing loved one was nearly impossible.

He had to rely on Sandy, Taran and Campbell to get the cartel. And he knew why.

Before, it was easy for him. The world was dark and twisted and he could live with that. Being in that dirt, it was easy for him. He could set himself apart from it and still do his job. Mims coming into his life had changed him. There was light in the world. There were people that were sweet, who smiled easily, who wanted the best for other people, and not just money and power for themselves.

Mims had changed him in a very short time. The guy was everything in the world that was good and pure. And Sonny knew he could never go back to that dark, filthy world.

Sonny would have to be satisfied with saving the world from the outside of the darkness.

They loaded the men in the van and Rex made sure they were tied to the walls of the van with their chained handcuffs. Sonny winced as he saw Chad’s pained expression as he tried to breathe despite the broken ribs. As he closed the back doors, Sonny nodded to him in the side mirror and called out the window, “Meet you there.”

“I sent the address to your phone.”

He’d seen it and had already sent it to Taran and Sandy.

As they took off away from the warehouse, he told the men, “Listen, I know this sucks, but it’ll be over soon.”

“Are you killing us?” One of them asked.

Chad told him, “He’s undercover.”

“Bullshit,” another said.

“I am,” Sonny confirmed. “The house where you’re going is getting busted tonight. You’ll all be taken from there and returned to your lives. You’ll be expected to return to testify, possibly, but for now, you’ll be out of this…hell.”

One of the men burst out in tears, another grunted his disbelief, but none of them said a word.

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