Page 28 of Lacey's Fight

How he wished he had a weapon on him.

Since they knew they were going to be searched on arrival, there was no way they could have snuck in weapons. Of course, he could kill with his bare hands, but that wasn’t so effective when the other guy was armed with an automatic rifle.

Creeping down the steps, keeping as close to the wall as possible, when he reached the bottom, he found Lacey standing in the middle of a large open space.

Her expression was pure horror, but it took him a moment to figure out what had caused it.

When he did he felt every bit as horrified.

The space down here was large, the room probably twenty feet long by twenty feet wide. There were a couple of doors on the walls to their left and right, probably leading to more tunnels that likely lead to other rooms just like this one. In one corner of the large space was a crude medical center with an examination table, and a cabinet with instruments and bottles of medications. There was also a small kitchenette with a sink, fridge, stove, and countertop with some cupboards underneath he assumed contained food or utensils and cooking equipment.

One wall—the one opposite where the brick fence would be if they were above ground—was a series of glass doors. On the other side of each door was a small cell. Inside each cell was a person.

It was one thing to know this was a human trafficking organization and that, as such, there would of course be victims here, it was another to see it with your own eyes.

Some girls were curled up in the corners of their cages, some were lying on the mattresses inside their cells, and a couple were looking at them with abject terror. Worst of all was the cage with a row of cribs inside it.

Babies.

Some of these victims were literal infants.

Panic marred Lacey’s beautiful features. “We have to get them out,” she said, her voice borderline shrill as she ran toward the closest cell.

Ben moved quickly, blocking her path and gripping her shoulders tighter than he would have liked because it was the only way to get her not to try to dart around him. “We can’t.”

“We have to.”

“We can’t, Lacey. You know that.”

“We have to,” she repeated. Desperation bled off her and cracked a couple of the walls protecting his heart and his sanity.

“We can’t,” he repeated softly. “You know that no one who buys one of these girls is getting away. These girls will be rescued, they will be returned home to their families and their lives. They will be okay. But we can’t let them go. Not yet. After the auction this place is being raided, everyone will be arrested and the girls rescued.”

“They need to go now.” Lacey’s eyes appeared more green than brown as they shimmered with unshed tears and practically begged him to help her.

Reaching out, he brushed his knuckles across her cheek and then tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “No, sunflower. We can’t. Not yet. If we let them go now, then we tip our hand. They’ll figure out who it was, or they’ll catch us in the act, and then the auction will be called off. Who’s to say there aren’t more rooms like this with more girls in them down here?”

Lacey’s eyes widened like that thought hadn’t occurred to her yet.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Lacey pressed a hand to her stomach and one to cover her mouth.

“It’s going to be okay. We’re going to save them,” he soothed.

“I … I know what … what they’re going through,” Lacey whispered. She looked so desolate, so broken, unlike the sassy woman he’d met in the ocean that his heart broke a little.

“I know,” he murmured. Curling a hand around the back of her neck he pulled her into him, and she buried her face against his chest. “I know.”

Ben held her cradled protectively against him as she shook and cried silent tears. How did this woman manage to affect him like this?

Lacey brought out his protective side as well as his long-dormant sexual one. Between the two, he knew she had the power to crush him, destroy all that remained after Jemima’s murder.

“What’s going on?”

At the angry voice both he and Lacey jerked back to find a half dozen weapons aimed at them and an angry Amelia standing amidst the guards.

CHAPTER SEVEN

August 5th

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