Page 71 of Rescuing Josiah
Desiree Tilly couldn’t be in the mansion because if she was, the guys would already have her in custody. That meant she had to be in another property on the estate because both he and Chelsea had seen her with their own eyes.
There was only one thing he could think of that would draw Chelsea out of the relative safety of the mansion and the linen closet.
“The little girl,” he murmured, his gaze landing on the maze.
“What girl?” Ace asked.
“Bridget Tilly. Chelsea would leave for the kid,” he explained. He’d told Chelsea that one day her big heart could get her into trouble, and he’d been right. Instead of being safe with him rightnow, surrounded by an entire team of SEALs, she was out there somewhere. “That doesn’t help us find her, though.”
Chelsea would absolutely have risked her safety for the little girl, but how would she know where to look for the kid? What would have made her think that the child needed her?
It was only because he was still staring out the window at the maze down below, trying to figure out what could have led Chelsea to think that Bridget needed her, that he saw it.
Light.
In the maze.
Yesterday, Chelsea had spent hours staring down at that maze, hoping for a glimpse of Bridget’s mother. If she’d been staring out the window tonight, she might have spotted the little girl looking for a safe place to hide when the shooting started.
“I know where she is,” he announced, already running for the door, desperate to get to his girl, because the head of the trafficking ring was still out there and Chelsea had gone after the woman’s daughter.
May 18th
1:35 A.M.
Chelsea waited for the burning pain.
While she’d never been shot before, that’s what she imagined it would feel like. Like someone had sent a flaming projectile searing through your flesh. Well, that basically was what was happening, the bullet might not be on fire, but its temperature after being shot simulated that same sort of heat.
Only no white-hot agony ever came.
Glancing down at herself, Chelsea didn't see any dark red blood glistening in the beam of the flashlight, and …
The flashlight.
It was now on the ground, and so was Desiree Tilly.
That made no sense. She didn't have a gun, she hadn't fired any shots, the only one with a weapon was Desiree. Had the woman shot herself?
About to take a step forward, Chelsea froze when she saw it.
Another shadowy figure.
Harsh breathing and a borderline hysterical giggle cut through the deathly silence.
“That felt really good,” a scratchy voice spoke, and the figure stepped closer into the beam of the flashlight now lying on the ground by Desiree’s presumably dead body.
With the light illuminating the other person, Chelsea sucked in a breath when she recognized them. It was the woman. The one who had been chosen as her donor. The woman they’d seen tied to the bed, with the ball gag in her mouth, shooting daggers at them with her eyes.
She had no idea how the woman had gotten free, how she’d managed to track them to the maze, or how she’d procured herself a weapon, but none of that mattered. Desiree Tilly was dead, the trafficking ring was dismantled, and it was all finally over.
Relief had her sagging, and she swayed a little as her adrenaline began to crash, already running through in her mind all the things she had to do next. Call back Bridget, but ensure the child didn't see her dead mother, that was the last image the little girl would need in her mind. Then she’d have to make her way back to the mansion and hope Josiah wasn't too angry with her for running after Bridget when she saw the girl alone out here.
“Don’t move,” the woman’s voice, a little stronger this time, a little less hysterical, ordered, and Chelsea looked over to see the weapon now pointed at her.
“It’s okay,” she soothed, “I'm not a threat to you.”
A hard, cold laugh sounded. “Sure. Of course you're not. You only came here to buy an organ. Came here to buymyorgan,” the woman hissed.
