Page 16 of Trigger's Temptation

“Don’t worry about me, Rameriz.” I bite back. “I know how to watch my back.”

Probably the wrong thing to say to him, but I don’t care anymore. I’m done with the sexual innuendos.

We find the teenager sitting on a new corner, under the street lights. He’s looking for another victim. I slowly approach him, with my weapon drawn but held down. “Don’t move,” I command. “Put your hands on your head and your belly on the ground.”

“Fuck,” the teenager grumbles. He does what I ask, and Rameriz cuffs him.

I read him his rights, and we put the boy into the back of our cruiser. Ten minutes later, we’re back at the precinct and have the boy in the interrogation room, questioning him.

Once we convinced him he was working with known traffickers, things started to fall into place, and he told us everything. The teenager, whose name is Rauel Dominga, decided to become my criminal informant. He’s a runaway without a family. When he was twelve, his mother was deported back to Mexico, and he doesn’t know who his father is. After he went into a group home and had to endure bullyingand abuse, he ran away. He’s been on the streets since he was fourteen.

My heart aches for Rauel, and I want to do everything I can to help him. He’s a lost sixteen-year-old trying to make ends meet. He informed me that a man named Josiah offered him a job to lure these women into the stash house. Told him that one day he would bring Rauel out to Los Angeles and into Josiah’s world. Giving him money, cars, homes, and everything Rauel could wish for. All he had to do was keep bringing Josiah these women and children. So that’s what Rauel did. He’d sit on the corner and lure in unsuspecting women and leave them to an unknown fate. He didn’t realize he was working for the Black Market Railroad until we showed him proof. He told us about the pipeline running from New York to California. He wasn’t supposed to know, but adults ignore children and talk.

After a while, the job became just that, a job. Josiah would give him food and clothing in return for working for him. With no questions asked and a boy who looks the way he does, Rauel had no issues finding unsuspecting women and children to bring to Josiah.

Now that I have him working with us, I know I’m one step closer to finding Allison.

Rauel and I are sitting in my unmarked police car. Ramirez went to get some snacks from the store down the street for the stakeout.

“Can I ask you something?” I ask Rauel.

“Sure.”

Hesitating, I pull up a picture of Allison from my phone. “Have you ever seen this woman before?”

I show Rauel, and the moment he looks at the photo, his eyes cast down in shame. “Yeah, Officer, I have,” Rauel confesses.

“When? How long ago?” I ask.

“About six months ago. Damien, one of Josiah’s men, brought her in on the same night I was scheduled to work. She was scared and crying, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I went out to do my job, and when I came back, she was gone. I asked about her, and all Damien said was that she went to sunshine and sandy beaches. I figured she went to Los Angeles with Josiah, and I was jealous.” Rauel shrugs his shoulders. “Now that I know what Josiah is up to, I wish I didn’t. All those women are now being sold in the Black Market Railroad, and I’m to blame. This is all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Rauel. If anything, this is Josiah’s fault. He’s the one who tricked you into believing a lie.”

Ramirez comes back before Rauel can say anything else. Once Ramirez is situated, his eyes linger on my body for a bit longer than I’d like. I’m wearing a pair of tight jeans and a hoodie with my hair pulled up in a ponytail. I’m about to open my mouth to tell him that if he doesn’t stop, I will cut out his eyeballs with a spoon, and Rauel’s phone chirps.

“It’s time,” Rauel says, dread in his tone.

“I’ll be right here with you.” I offer Rauel reassurance.

Rauel climbs out of the backseat of the car and crosses the street. He shoves his hands in his pockets and puts his head down.

“You sure do clean up nicely,” Ramirez states. I don’t look in his direction and ignore his lingering gaze. “What? Are you too good to even acknowledge me?”

“We have a job to do, Ramirez,” I state, watching Rauel. A man approaches Rauel, and he glances in my direction. The man grabs Rauel by the arm and starts dragging him into the alley. “Shit.”

I climb out of the car, and Ramirez does the same. I follow Rauel and the man down a dark alleyway. I can’t find them anywhere.

“Where did they go?” I ask.

My focus is on finding Rauel, and I don’t notice Ramirez in my personal space. He grabs my arm and slams my body against the brick building, making me drop my gun. He crowds my space, nudging my legs open with his thigh. His hot breath fans across my skin.

“I knew you liked to play hard to get, but damn, this is too far.” Ramirez gropes my breasts and licks his way up my neck.

“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to push him off.

“Taking what you keep teasing me with. You know you want this.” He presses his hardness against my thigh, and I want to vomit.

“I have never teased you, Ramirez. You’re my partner, not my lover.” I spit out. Sick of his hands grabbing areas he has no business touching, I bring my arm down and elbow him in the face, making his nose bleed.

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