Page 38 of Pay the Price

I was thinking, processing. Not just the past, but the present too.

“You think my dad’s still doing it,” I said. “That he’s responsible for the missing girls.”

“It makes the most sense,” Otis said.

“No, it doesn’t,” I snapped. “It doesn’tmake senseat all.”

But even as I said it, I knew he was right.

It didn’t make sense to me because I was late to the party, but the pieces fit. To anyone without a horse in the race, meaning anyone whose last name wasn’t Hammond, it was the most logical explanation for everything that had happened.

“What about the Aventine alumni?” I hated the desperation in my voice. Stupid Daisy. Stupid,naiveDaisy, who’d idolized her brother while he was plotting to sell her. “Blake was already dead when they got caught hunting those girls.”

“But your dad wasn’t,” Otis said. “Isn’t.”

“You think he was working with them?” I asked. “That he’s still doing it and just hasn’t been caught yet?”

“Those assholes at Aventine are mobsters,” Jace said. “They wouldn’t rat on a business partner.”

“You’re saying…” I took a deep breath because I felt like I was about to pass out. “You’re saying this is some kind of trafficking ring, that my dad is at the head of it.”

I was focusing on the logistics to keep myself from thinking about Blake. About why he’d wanted to hurt me.

“Your dad had Calvin kidnap you,” Otis pointed out. “Then he held you prisoner. We were scared we wouldn’t get there in time.”

There was something like anguish in his voice, and for the first time I understood that while I’d been sure my dad was just trying to teach me a lesson, they’d thought I might disappear forever.

But that meant…

“You think he was going to sellme?”

“We didn’t know. Not for sure,” Wolf said. “Is there anything you can remember from the dam? Something someone said or did that might have given you a hint about their endgame?”

I thought back to my time at the dam, the endless days in the concrete room, the rush of water from outside, the trays of food dropped off by silent, stone-faced guards.

“The food…”

“What about it?” Jace asked.

“It was… weird,” I said.

Otis scowled. “Weird how?”

“Good. Healthy. Salads and smoothies and sandwiches. But that’s my dad…” I was desperate to prove there was some other explanation, that this whole thing was just a misunderstanding. “He’s always been militant about healthy food.”

The Beasts exchanged a glance and I knew they weren’t buying it.

“I’m not an expert on trafficking,” Otis said, “but I’m guessing they’d get more for a girl in good condition.”

I felt sick.

“Fuck,” Wolf said, glaring at Otis.

“What?” Otis asked. “It’s true, right?”

Wolf swiped a hand over his face. “Just… easy.” His gaze slid to me and I knew he was trying to protect me.

But it was too late for that. If what they said was true, no amount of tiptoeing would change the truth.

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