Page 10 of Invincible
“Doubt there’s much room?”
“Doubt you’ve felt better,” he replied with a smirk.
Stepping out from behind Knox, Memphis stepped toward Tyler, shaking his head.“Hi, I’m Memphis Prescott.”Tyler shook hands with him, ignoring the stare off happening by the door.“I’m the brother of the idiot standing by the door.We wondered if we could speak to you for a few minutes.”
“Tyler, are you okay?I have to get to work before I’m late,” the woman said, her eyes never leaving Knox’s face.If they got much closer, Knox might need to suggest they get a room.
“Yeah, Greer.Unless my old math teacher suddenly turned into a serial killer, I should be fine.Besides, he wouldn’t win in a wrestling match anyway.”Tyler smiled at Greer as she huffed once more at Knox before walking out the door.
Leaning back into the hallway, Knox watched as she walked to the end of the hallway.
“Have a good night at work, sugar,” he said, laughing when she turned back around to flip him off.
Adjusting himself to make more room for his raging hard-on, Knox turned around to find Memphis and Tyler watching him with amused faces.
“What?Your roommate is a piece of work.So, how have you been, Tyler?”Knox asked, walking over to the couch to take a seat.
“Sure, Mr.Monroe, make yourself comfortable.”Tyler rolled her eyes, sitting down in one of the chairs across from the men.“So, what are you doing here?How did you find me?”
She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up when the two men looked at each other in silent communication.She couldn’t imagine what would possibly bring the math teacher she had for only one semester to her door fifteen years after graduation.
“You got older and hairier.”It hadn’t been hard to recognize him.Even after all that time, you rarely forgot a student teacher the size of a tank.He growled at her.Yeah, that was how she remembered him.
“We need your help looking for a container of women being smuggled into the area before being shipped out.According to our information, you still work as a welder both on the docks and out at the rigs offshore.All you would need to do is keep your ears open for any information about the shipment.”Tyler looked at Memphis while she tried to digest his words.
“According to our information?”she finally asked, turning her emerald gaze on Knox.“Who the fuck are you?What kind of information could a math teacher possibly have about a human trafficking ring?”
They didn’t scare her, she didn’t know a man alive who could outpower her.But why they had “information” on her was a mystery that she didn’t want any part of.She didn’t need mixed up in anything that wasn’t on the up-and-up.
She had a great job making an impressive living she didn’t want to jeopardize.As an independent welder, if word got around she was involved in something illegal, she would find her jobs evaporating.
“Look, I can promise you we’re the good guys in this.An FBI agent who we’ve worked with before asked us to look into the situation when girls started disappearing in Washington, DC.He was able to trace the women to the Houston shipping channel, but hasn’t been able to pinpoint where they’re going out of.”
Obviously, Memphis had been chosen to speak for them.She could understand that, Knox Monroe had always been a gruff man, but it seemed he had become worse with age.
“Why would I want to be involved in any of this?How do I trust anything you say?”She split a glare between the two men, wishing they would stop glancing at each other like there was a secret between them.“You know what, just get out.”Starting to push out of her chair, she stopped with a start when Memphis grabbed onto her arm.
“Wait.I have proof, we’re not trying to pull something over on you,” he said, flinching when she looked at where his hand was holding her.She had no problem breaking his arm if he didn’t turn her loose.He must have seen something in her eyes, because he immediately let go of her.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, reaching for a messenger bag he had brought with him.Quickly fishing some files out of it, he opened them on the coffee table.Leaning forward, Memphis pointed to a picture of a young girl in one of the files.
“This is Mia.She disappeared a week ago.The police are treating her as a runaway, but we have evidence that she’s part of the shipment.
“Each of these files is about a young woman who has disappeared over the last couple of weeks.I spoke to Mia somewhere between here and Washington, but she only had limited information to work with.She did hear them say they were heading here.”
Tyler stared at Memphis in disbelief.
“If you spoke to her, why didn’t you just save her then?”she asked.Both men looked at each other again with trepidation.It was going to drive her crazy.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, tell me what’s going on.I don’t remember you being such a pussy, Mr.Monroe.”She wanted to laugh when his eyebrows shot up in surprise.“I’m not eighteen anymore.And you came to me after all.”
“You’re right, but I need you to listen to everything I’m about to tell you before breaking me in half,” he answered.Tyler liked hearing this even less.Nothing good ever started with words like those.If it was bad enough to want to break him in half, it was worse than she thought.“Also, since I’m not your student teacher anymore, call me Knox.”
“I feel like this is going to require more than just water tonight.”Standing, Tyler walked into the small kitchen, pulling three beers out of her old fridge.
She could more than afford a better apartment than this, but she didn’t want to leave her best friend behind.The neighborhood was sketchy, but the landlord did his best to provide a safe living environment.
Setting a beer in front of each man, she slumped back down in the chair, taking a long drag on her bottle.When she set it down in front of her on the table, Knox took a deep breath before speaking.
