hadn’t tried to cover his face, which gave Kiley the sinking feeling he wasn’t worried about her recognizing him for a very specific reason.
She’d come to the end of her tether. This was where the story was going to end. She’d be written up under Michael or Corbin’s heading,
Local Investigative Reporter found Murdered in Warehouse Sting Operation.
She remembered what the old reporter had told her. It verified his story. It was always the ones who were in charge of the clean-up that were the guilty ones. Those were the ones to watch, be patient, and go back and keep drilling for more information after the scandal was sanitized.
That probably also meant her other hunch had been right. The mayor was involved up to his eyebrows. Or, at best, he was somehow compromised.
“Hello, Kiley,” Officer Damien Woodhouse said, standing with his hands on his hips in front of her door. “Are they making you comfortable?”
She didn’t look at him.
“You get a little rest?”
He kept digging.
“Hmmm? You always had so much to say, so many opinions, so many theories and ideas. I enjoyed your articles in the paper, although you were a pain in the ass.”
She glared up at him. “Good.”
Reflexively, he lunged for her through the bars, but Kiley was quick to back up out of his reach.
“I tried to warn you several times, Kiley. You just wouldn’t give up. Now see what you’ve brought on yourself? On the reputation of the paper? Did you know that there’s going to be a full retraction printed tomorrow? Too bad you won’t be seeing it, though. I wrote the piece myself.”
One of the suits walked over to Woodhouse. “Can you hang for a bit? We’ve got to pick up a package. I’ll be back and we can load them up.” He glanced down at Kiley. “Finish things.”
“Sure, I’m fine. You leaving the kid?”
“You’re his ride. I guess so.”
“Okay with me. You count the inventory?”
“Sixteen.”
Kiley knew that didn’t include her, but she didn’t dwell on that. The odds had just swung in her favor slightly. She had to find a way out of the cage first. But she had a plan.
Once the door slammed shut, she put her plan into motion.
“I guess you’re too scared to let me out to go pee. Did I get that right? I should just pee all over the mattress?”
Woodhouse’s eyes flared. “I’m not afraid of you,” he sneered.
Kiley shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She began to wet herself.
“Hey! Julio!” he called to the injured guard. “I need the keys. Quick!”
Julio came running. They both fumbled with the keys, which released the door. Officer Woodhouse pulled Kiley’s hair, yanking her from the cage and sending her toward the restroom in the corner. As they neared the packing table, Kiley struggled, attempted to give him a knee to the groin, but he was quick enough to step away. Just for an instant, he lost his grip. It gave Kiley just enough time to grab the crowbar from under the shavings and swing at Woodhouse. The sharp end of the curved tip struck the officer across his cheekbones, nearly severing his nose from his face.
As he screamed, crashing to the ground, Kiley took his gun. A large pool of blood seeped from underneath his skull as his body went limp.
She had no idea how to shoot. But it was good enough to scare Julio into thinking she could.
“Unlock them all, right now, or I’ll drill you.”
The girls became agitated, whining and begging to be let out first. Julio danced around each of the cages until all but two were opened. They heard the sound of a vehicle outside, and all the freed girls ran in the opposite direction, toward a dark corner near the restroom. Kiley hoped she didn’t have to do something to make the gun operable, like slip off a safety or cock it. She vowed that if she survived this ordeal, she’d learn how to handle a gun properly.
The door opened a crack. A woman’s face peered in—someone she didn’t recognize. Kiley aimed the pistol at her, and she shouted back, “No! Don’t shoot!” in Eastern European accent, perhaps Russian.
But what happened next surprised her even more. From behind the woman stepped Carmen. The whole left side of her face was swollen and bright purple, but she was very much alive.
“Carmen!”
They ran to each other and hugged. Then Kiley turned on Julio, demanding, “Finish, until they all are released.”
“Kiley, this is Natalia. She saved my life. She used to be