Page 119 of Creep

I let out a deep exhale and opened my eyes. Someone came up to my side, standing close, but I didn’t react. I told Theo not to follow me here, but the fucker was as stubborn as he was emotionless.

He hadn’t responded when I told him to stay back at the crematorium, and yet here he was.

“Are you good?” he asked softly.

“Is that why you followed me here? You think I’m going to let my emotions get the better of me?”

He didn’t answer me, but his nonanswer was enough.

I clenched my fist. Now wasn’t the time to beemotional, but fuck if my little brother didn’t manage to bring out all sorts of chaotic shit inside me. I pressed my hand against his chest when I heard footsteps coming out. We pressed ourselves against the door as the guards passed. Briggs was on full alert, and he had more people come out to protect his merchandise.

Lots of people.

Greedy, evil people weren’t hard to find. With the right price, a lot of these fuckers would turn a blind eye to their own morality, but these kinds of things took time.

So where the fuck had these pieces of shit come from?

How had Briggs managed to secure so many people to work for him?

Things weren’t adding up. We were missing something, and I fucking hated when we missed something. It left room for surprise… and not the good kind of surprise.

When the guards finally passed, Theo and I moved, pushing away from the wall and walking further into the building.

It didn't matter that Briggs had brought in more people to work for him. They were fucking useless, and we managed to get further inside the building without being detected. I couldn’t do my usual—blow this shit up and watch it burn down in flames.

There was a chance Lia could be here, and I wasn’t risking anything when it came to her.

There was also the fact that Theo wouldn’t allow it, even if I confirmed she wasn’t here. Not when he knew there were people inside who weren’t supposed to be here… people who weren’t here willingly.

I hadn’t really given much thought to the…casualtiesfrom Briggs’s business.

But Theo was all about being sympathetic. Perhaps he came with me to ensure I got them all out?

Did he not trust me?

I shook my head. Probably not now, when my head had been fucked over Lia for the last week.

We stayed behind a small indent in the wall by the locked door leading down to the basement, where I assumed they were keeping all the people.

A lone guard came by not long after, his keys already in his hand, swinging back and forth. I didn’t need to see Theo to know he was thinking the same thing I was. I waited until the guard was close enough before coming up to him and wrapping my arms around his neck. He tensed, about to scream out for help, but I had already twisted his neck, snapping the bones. His knees gave out, and he went down. I grabbed the keys from his limp hands as Theo dragged the body away to hide it in the far corner.

I opened the door and found a spiral staircase leading down. It was dimly lit with soft lamps that weren’t enough for me to see any further than a few feet ahead of me at a time.

“Let’s go,” I said when I felt Theo come up behind me.

We quickly moved down the stairs, not waiting around long enough to run into any other guards.

I didn’t know the exact amount of guards on-site, but I knew it would be enough to make it hard for us to fight them off should it come to that.

Staying hidden now was the way to go.

Down in the basement, I could hear the soft cries murmured by the women around. The light was enough for me to see women and children in cages, a small pot in the corner, probably for when they needed to go to the bathroom, and that was all.

Theo moved away from me. I stayed where I was, trying to assess the scene and think of the best way to get them out of here with only the two of us. We had to get them out. Theo would never leave without them. I knew that for a fact, which was another reason I didn’t want him to come with me.

“How many?” I asked.

“Ten total.”

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