Page 72 of Rescuing Josiah
“No, I didn't.”
“Why are you lying? You were there. In the room they took me to. You stood there with your husband and talked about me with that disgusting doctor, like I was nothing more than a piece of meat. You did nothing to help me, even though you knew I wasn't there because I wanted to be,” the woman raged.
She’d gone from trying to talk down one unbalanced woman to another. Chelsea absolutely understood where this woman was coming from. She believed she was fighting for her life, and that Chelsea was a threat to her, as much a threat as Desiree, and the doctors and nurses. Trying to convince her otherwise could be challenging.
“We weren't here to hurt you, and we weren't here to buy an organ,” Chelsea said, keeping her voice as calm and soothing as she could manage while her heart hammered in her chest. “My name is Chelsea, and I work for a security company called Prey Security. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of us, but we’re definitely the good guys.”
In the thin beam of the flashlight, the woman didn't move. The weapon was still trained on her, and Chelsea tried to make herself look as non-threatening as possible and prayed she could do this. She didn't want to survive the head of the trafficking ring only to be taken out by one of its victims.
“The man who was my husband, his name is Josiah, and he works with Prey too. He was a SEAL for a while before coming to work for Prey. We work for the Cyber Team, and we’ve beentracking this organ trafficking ring for months. They abducted one of my colleagues and very best friend in the whole entire world, and they stole her kidney. When she managed to escape and was then rescued by a SEAL, we were determined to bring the ring down.”
Was it her imagination, or did the gun lower just a little?
“You must have escaped as well. Your hand, it looks broken,” Chelsea said, nodding at the hand hanging limply at the woman’s side. The thumb looked like it was at an awkward angle, and she wondered if the woman had broken her own hand to escape. “The trafficking ring started coming after us when we wouldn't back down from trying to shut them down. They went after my friend Isabella, and then another of my colleagues and best friends, Teresa. After that, we knew we had to do something drastic to get them to stop, so Josiah and I came undercover.”
“Undercover?”
“Pretending I was dying and needed a transplant, but I don’t, I'm healthy. We just needed a visual on Desiree Tilly, the head of the ring, the woman you just shot, then we called in our team. They’re here now. You’re safe. You're going home.”
“Y-you’re lying,” the woman stammered.
“No, I'm not. You are safe now, but I need you to lower your weapon.” When the woman still hesitated, Chelsea took a cautious step forward. “Can you tell me your name?”
The woman shook her head, but even in the thin light, Chelsea could see that her cheeks were wet with tears. With a shaking hand, the woman clung to the only thing that felt solid to her, that made her feel safe.
“Please. I swear to you that this is over. My people are already here, they probably already have the guards and everyone else involved in handcuffs. If you just put the weapon down, I’ll take you to them and show you. Please, I know I'm asking you for a lot, but I need you to trust me.”
It was working, she was sure it was. The woman’s arm wobbled a little more before dropping so the weapon pointed at the ground.
“Maple,” she whispered so softly that Chelsea almost didn't hear the sound.
“Chelsea!” Josiah’s voice shouted her name a split second later, and Maple swung around, her weapon lifted again as Josiah and several other men dressed in tactical gear rounded the corner.
“Don’t shoot,” she shouted, not sure if she was talking to Maple, Josiah, the others, or everyone all at once. “Don’t shoot.”
“Y-you said it was o-over,” Maple shouted, fear and anger warring in her tone.
“It is,” Chelsea rushed to assure the woman. “Josiah, don’t shoot. This is Maple. She’s the woman Dr. Gant introduced us to, the one in the bed.” The last thing they needed was for Josiah or one of the others to mistake Maple for Desiree or another person involved in the ring. “Maple, this is Josiah. Remember, I told you that he works with me. I told you that we called in our team to help, to end this. That’s who they are.”
“What if you're lying to me?” Maple wailed, clearly conflicted.
“Nobody here wants to hurt you, I swear to you, but you're also holding a loaded gun pointed at good men, men who have dedicated their entire lives to saving others. If they wanted to hurt you, Maple, if they wanted to kill you or disarm you, then believe me, you’d already be on the ground, either dead or in cuffs. But they don’t want to hurt you,” she pleaded, willing the woman to believe her.
“Put the weapon on the ground, Ma’am,” a voice she recognized as belonging to Navy SEAL Rocco spoke calmly, but with an air of authority. “Hands where we can see them.”
“Don’t cuff her, Rocco,” Chelsea warned. “She broke her own hand to get herself free.”
“Damn, if Rex were here, we can pretty much guarantee Maple would have clocked him,” Ace said with amusement.
“Remember I told you about Ava, Isabella, and Teresa? They all managed to get in a hit to Rex before they realized who he was,” Chelsea supplied for Maple’s benefit.
When the woman glanced over her shoulder, Chelsea gave an encouraging nod.
With slow, shaky movements, Maple set the weapon down and then held up her hands like Rocco had instructed. Immediately, the tension left the group. One of the guys stepped forward to help Maple sit down, no doubt to administer first aid.
Chelsea felt herself grow shaky as the second shot of adrenaline drained out of her system, and Josiah stepped toward her.
About to tell him it was over, that Maple had been the one to kill Desiree Tilly, she glanced at where the other woman had fallen only to gasp when the spot lay empty save for a puddle of blood.
