Her eyes darted to Maisy at the door. “Are you a cop?”
I snorted. “Better. I’ll actually get justice for what was done to you.”
Sharp footsteps on marble flooring sounded as a woman in a power suit walked under a gold archway and into the foyer of the apartment. She was mid-fifties, I would guess, and it was only her ridiculously high heels that gave her a semblance of height.
“Bitch! What is taking so long? I—” She froze when she saw me, and I met her sea-green eyes that Maisy clearly inherited. Lorna’s perfectly manicured face frowned when she saw not onlyme, but the now ungagged woman behind me. I didn’t know if she could see Maisy or if she recognized her if she did. “Who are you?”
“Clearly not who you were expecting,” I said in lieu of an answer. I saw her hand inch towards her pocket, where I assumed the remote control for the woman’s shock collar was. I pulled my gun from the small of my back and pointed it directly at her forehead. “I wouldn’t, if I were you. Now, where is your husband and who were you expecting?”
“It’s a buy,” came from behind me. “Something happened a few months ago and now they have the girls come here to be trained before selling them. There’s six of them in the other room!”
Six? Just like Nishi and all those other women Jones had had in his basement hellhole over the years? Including the woman I loved beyond measure.
Without looking away from Maisy’s mother, I asked behind me, “And where is Donovan?”
“He was upstairs in his office the last time I saw him.”
Maisy’s mother kept her hands up to show she was unarmed. “I don’t know who you are or why you are here, but we can pay you whatever you want.”
Fucking bitch. “Good to know, butyoushould know that I’m not here for money. I’m here for blood.”
Her frown deepened. “Blood? What the hell have we ever done to you? I don’t even know you!”
“Really? You don’t recognize your future son-in-law?” I shot back at her, feigning offense. “I’m wounded.”
Lorna’s sea-green eyes widened as they shifted behind me, and I knew the moment she saw Maisy. Her mouth gaped open like a fish out of water as her cheeks pinkened just as her daughter’s did when she was flabbergasted.
Footfalls came closer to the foyer where we all stillstood. “Is that you, Arnold? How have you been, old man?” came a jovial, masculine voice.
“Carl!” Lorna shouted, but that was all she got out before I rushed forward and pistol-whipped her across her forehead.
Generally, I would never condone hitting a woman, but in this case, I was very prepared to make an exception. As his wife dropped like a bag of bricks, a very rotund man with an honest-to-god 1970s pornstache walked through the doorway. I made no move to catch her or prevent her from being harmed by her fall. Instead, I steadied my gun on the man whose shirt buttons were the true heroes of the day.
“Who is Arnold?” I asked him. “And when is he due?” I assumed soon since they thought our knock was for him.
“What the fuck are you doing in my home?” Carl demanded, trying to stand taller than his five-eight height allowed. There was a possibility he had lifts in his shoes, too. “Do you have any idea who I am?”
Before I could answer, “Dad,” came from behind me. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, but did not turn my attention away from her father.
Carl’s nostrils flared as anger crossed his features. “Maisy! What the fuck is this? Why are you here? We heard Weatherby turned state’s evidence. We’ve had to sell our entire stock because of that weasel!”
I wondered where that rumor came from. It certainly wasn’t one we started. Aloiki certainly hadn’t cared what the fallout of Jones’ disappearance was. We’d left that up to the Yonkers Chapter to deal with.
I stopped Maisy from stepping forward any further, in case her mom woke up from her impromptu nap and decided to attack our feet.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maisy glance up at me before she turned her attention back to her father. “It won’tchange anything,” Maisy said to the man, a slight quaver in her voice. “But I have to know. Ineedto know. Why did you do it? I was achild! Your child! How could you sell me off to that… That…” Maisy shook her head as she struggled. “That skinless fucktard!”
Despite where we were, I chuckled at Jones’ new nickname. Might also be a notch against my character that I loved hearing her curse. Why that was such a turn on, I had no idea.
Maisy did not allow herself to be distracted by my amusement. “Do you have any idea what he did to me? Oh, wait,” she waved behind herself. “Of course, you do—because you’re doing exactly the same thing to this poor woman. And what about the women you’re about to sell? What gives you and Mom the right to treat any of us this way?”
“You weren’t ours,” her father sneered. “Jones bought you the moment you were born.”
Keeping my gun trained on the man, I reached for Maisy. “As you said, it changes nothing. His fucked up ideologies won’t make you feel better, baby.”
Maisy turned her face away from me and her father, but not before I saw her chin start to tremble. “I knew I was nothing more than a pawn to them, but for some reason, I needed to hear it, too.”
I touched the small of her back, trailing my fingers along the delicate flesh above her khaki pants and sweater. “Take my phone out and call Aero. If others are on their way, we’re going to need assistance sooner than we intended.”