Page 138 of Forbidden Wish

Her friend’s presence lowered her volume. Waking up to a room full of crooks would do nothing to aid Mila’s recovery. And as long as they were in proximity to her, she was in danger.

“Don’t worry about your friend.”

Except that’s all she could do as Swerve got nearer the head of the bed.

“She doesn’t deserve this.”

“None of us deserves this.”

That was a laugh. “What exactly have you endured?” Jagg squeezed her shoulder. “No, he’s saying—wait—” Swerve drove a needle into Mila’s IV. “What are you doing? Stop! What is that?”

He pushed in the plunger, and then the needle was out. Medical staff, doctors, nurses, she hadn’t seen any on the floor. Goons and green would scare off even the most dedicated employee.

“Something to help her sleep.”

“Hasn’t she been through enough?”

Swerve was bold enough to put the needle in the sharps box on the wall. “You wanted her to sleep,” he said. “Now she will.”

“Will she wake up again?”

Swerve’s attention went to Silvio. “That, Miss Stratford, is up to you.”

“You want me to lie. Everyone in this room knows what you did—what you do. Killing innocent women—”

“Dramatics don’t impress me,” Silvio said like they had all the time in the world. “People do what they’re told or they’re punished. It’s as simple as that. Beg, scream, cry, I don’t care. Here’s what is going to happen, you’re going to write a piece for your newspaper on the disappearances.”

“Murders.”

“Words are your choice. You’ll implicate Rodney Bryant and stress that law enforcement is looking for him. Armed and dangerous, don’t approach, call authorities. Usual drill.”

“And everything else? The videos? The torture?”

“Law enforcement has everything they need to prosecute.” He’d made sure of that. “Anything that happened to those women was perpetrated by Bryant.” So Bryan wasn’t his real name, but it was close. “He’s a sick individual who acted alone.”

“Why would I do that? Look at this woman…” She opened a hand at Mila. “This happened—”

“Bryant was at the wheel.”

Even Mila said that. “On your order. Women died. Innocent women. How many are you holding now? Did Yvonne make it out of that fire? Or will her body show up somewhere else in the next few days?”

“Don’t say I’m not a reasonable man,” Silvio said, signaling his thug with a nod.

Swerve raised the remote control to turn on the TV. “…anonymous tip earlier today.”

Cops and a crowd gathered around a car as a cuffed someone was urged toward the vehicle. To get the arrestee in, they forced him to turn to lower and…

“Langspring,” she whispered. “That’s Simon Langspring. Yvonne’s boss. You set him up to take the fall for—”

“They order them,” Swerve said, switching off the TV. “You wanted to know how the women were picked? The client selected them. Pickup was just an additional service.”

Oh, God. “Ordered them?”

It was so disgusting, so outrageous and demeaning, yet she absolutely believed it.

“Some of our top clients, loyal customers, some were invited to a platinum level service.”

Sickness roiled, flavoring the back of her throat. “The men knew them. It wasn’t anonymous or chance, they were specifically targeted. And Simon Langspring ordered Yvonne.”

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