Unleashing Sin - A. M. Wilson Page 0,82

insignificantly over the speed limit.

“Keep going,” he urges. “I got a feeling about tonight.”

“Feelings, eh? You get those often?” I joke, easing us onto 8th.

“Fuck off,” he mutters.

“Pay attention, you idiots,” Richard scolds in our ears.

Shelby turns her attention back out the window, pulling a black cap lower over her brow. I threw it at her once we made it downtown and requested, as gently as I could in my heightened state, that she put it on. Those fuckers who left her for dead on my doorstep need to believe it ended that day. The last thing we need is anyone recognizing her.

“There. By that hotel.” She follows with her head as we pass by a small gathering of people, faces distorted by the inky shadows.

“I’ll circle back.”

“You got a lock on her?” Elias joins back into the conversation.

“Hold,” I tell him.

“How sure are you?” I ask Shelby, whose knee begins bouncing erratically.

“It’s the red shoes. I’d know them anywhere.”

“Could be a coincidence.” I take the next turn to circle the block again and glance at her as she sucks her pouty lower lip into her mouth and bites down.

“It could be, but I know it isn’t. Please believe me,” she whispers.

“Stay down,” I order, turning another corner. “We’ll check it out.”

She obeys, slinking down in her seat enough, so just the top of her head is visible above the window. She pulls the cap lower and aims her eyes in the direction of the pack.

I decrease speed incrementally, only one to two degrees below the limit and drive past.

“Anything?”

“It’s her,” she whispers frantically. “Send him in.”

I settle my palm on her erratic knee.

“It’s go-time, brother. Black leather miniskirt, red tube top, and bright red high heels. Turn right onto the one-way out of the garage, and it’s the hotel by the corner. You can’t miss her.”

“I’m on it,” Elias replies. “Get to the meeting point. I’ll be there in a few.”

“We’re heading to the empty lot now,” I answer.

With one little pit stop.

I circle the block again, waiting at the corner until I see Elias pull from the garage. He slows by the hotel and pulls off to the curb. I watch the target sashay to his passenger window. Just as she’s about to get it, I cut the corner and peel my way loudly down the block, shooting past at reckless speeds.

Shelby sits back up and grips her shoulder strap. “Did he get her?”

“Hang on. I’m waiting for confirmation.”

“Why’d you do that?” she asks a little breathless.

“Distraction.” Hopefully, if anyone starts asking questions, witnesses will remember the car flying by, not the one picking the woman up.

She gnaws her bottom lip. Considering the circumstances, it still makes me want to kiss her. I stow that thought away for later times. I can’t be getting rock hard during a rescue attempt, even if she is enticing no matter the circumstances.

In a handful of minutes, I pull into an empty lot behind an abandoned warehouse. Elias and I checked it out earlier this week, even going as far as contacting the realtor about buying it so we could inspect it for squatters. Everything seemed clear, so we wrote it down as a rendezvous point, although after looking around inside, I’m tempted to buy it for us. We could turn it into a shelter or a rehabilitation center for sex trafficking victims.

Those thoughts will have to wait as Elias’s voice comes back into my ear.

“Got her. On our way to you now. Ah, fuck!”

My hackles rise. “What?” I bark.

“What’s wrong?” Shelby asks beside me, straightening in her seat.

“She’s, ah, settle down! You’re okay! Shit, woman, stop,” he rants, alternating between soothing and stern. “She’s freaked out.”

“She’s freaked,” I relay to Shelby, helpless to the situation.

“Tell her you’re taking her to Chloe.” Her voice is steady, but I don’t miss the slight wobble to her chin as she pronounces that name. I tell Elias what she said.

“That helps, thanks. Few minutes.”

Tense silence engulfs the SUV as we both stare out the windshield and wait. Seconds tick past until finally, the flicker of headlights rounding the corner snaps me into alertness.

“Stay here,” I demand as gently as I can through heightened apprehension and angle out of the vehicle, palming the gun at my hip.

Elias nearly flies out of the vehicle as soon as it’s in park.

“She’s gonna run!” He shouts at me before circling around the back. I take the front and advance from the other direction as the terrified woman does exactly