Two minutes later, I heard, “Collette?”
My head turned and my eyes hit the man who acted as a middle man to sell humans.
Motherfucker.
I buried my sneer, smiled a small smile and extended my hand.
It was go time.
* * * * *
The minute I hit the warehouse, I knew I was f**ked.
This was because I was meeting the principals and amongst them was Nick Fucking Sebring.
Shit, shit, f**k.
His eyes came to me and they widened momentarily as I braced, mentally preparing to run and about to scan the environs for a makeshift weapon or cover I could use until I could get my lips to my watch and alert Creed and Hawk to the situation.
But as I thought this, I saw his face go blank. He didn’t call attention to me and stared at me like he’d never met me before when he had, numerous times. I’d been working for Knight for years and Nick used to work for him too so our paths had crossed.
Fuck, how had Creed and I not clocked this?
Fuck, f**k.
Creed said Nick didn’t keep good company but seriously, these were nasty motherfuckers and we’d been all over his ass, Creed for over a month.
Seriously. How had we not clocked this?
“I take it you’re Collette?” one of the other dudes said to me on his approach.
I took a step back, surveying him, cold shoulder. There was no rule saying I had to be a friendly flesh peddler. I also did a quick head count. With the middle man, the leader of the gang who was approaching and Nick, there were three other men.
Too many.
Fuck.
When I didn’t offer mine, he dropped his hand, my mind scrambled for some code to tell Creed and Hawk there was a possibility I’d be made and my eyes went to Nick.
“How many people need to be here for us to make this deal?” I asked, giving Creed and Hawk the information that the bad guys were fully staffed.
“That gentleman is a new recruit, he’s in training,” the dude answered and my eyes cut to him.
“If you were using this transaction for training purposes, I should have been informed.”
“From the background check we did on you, you’re aware we’re exceedingly cautious. We’ve done an equally exhaustive check on him. You have nothing to be concerned about,” he replied.
“I’m exceedingly cautious as well and I don’t like surprises,” I fired back.
He inclined his head. “That’s understandable. Would you like to terminate now?”
Shit, shit, f**k.
If I didn’t see those girls, Hawk’s entire operation was a bust or he had to follow through, maybe not get his girl but definitely get a lot of shit from the Feds and possibly f**k their operation.
I decided to call his bluff, held his eyes, lifted my chin slightly in an affirmative and replied, “Thank you for your time.”
I turned, again lifted my chin to the middle man and began to make my departure, hoping like all f**k they needed a buyer and bad. I didn’t know the market for human trafficking. It could be a buyer’s market. If my luck was bad, it could be a seller’s.