I started regretting this plan when I heard Payton yell No! Stop. Let me go in the girliest and panicked voice I had ever heard from her. I had always considered myself a protector, a man that would step up and protect those weaker than myself. So, standing by and listening to the cries of a woman I considered a teammate turned my stomach.
It wasn’t until after I listened to Payton being stuffed into a car trunk and she made some kind of joke about the asshole’s driving that I realized the screams had been a part of an act. I tried to relax and convince myself that everything would be okay soon. I would follow this car to where they were keeping my Grace, kick in the door, and stop things before either Grace or Payton were hurt any further. I just needed to keep it together for a little while longer. I was on my way towards Grace, and that is all that mattered.
My anxiety level increased when the car pulled off the highway in a relatively rural industrial area with dozens of large warehouse buildings. I increased the distance between the two cars to keep my presence secret and the car carrying Payton pulled up to the largest warehouse that was backed into the surrounding woods. I parked my car in the woods and got out to continue on foot. I quietly approached as I listened to multiple different voices yelling out to Payton through the listening device and was just able to see her being led through a door into the warehouse. There were seven men sitting on picnic tables and smoking outside of the warehouse. I looked closer through the scope of the rife and saw multiple bulges in their waste bands that looked like guns.
There was no way that I was going to get through all those men to get to Grace with three handguns and some smoke grenades. I needed my team. But they were not here so I needed to call in the next best option, Agent McDonald and the FBI. My fingers shook slightly as I dialed the number to the burner phone Payton had given McDonald. I should have made this call the second Payton had been put in the trunk of that car, but I had been worried something would interfere and I wouldn’t have found this place. But now it would take precious time for the FBI team to get here. Time where they could be hurting Grace or Payton. The phone barely had time to ring before a frantic voice answered.
“Harper? Where the fuck are you?”
“Agent McDonald. This is Liam. I have the location of where they bring the girls, but I am going to need your help to get them out safely. It looks to be a large gathering of cartel members within a warehouse,” I spoke into the phone in a forced calm.
“Liam? Where is Harper?” His voice broke on the last question and I knew he understood that we had gone through with the plan to allow the Los Zetas Cartel to kidnap Payton. I returned to the car and pulled out my laptop to get the exact coordinates of our location from the GPS tracking devices to relay to the FBI agent. McDonald started to swear under his breath and I heard a siren turn on in the background. “How the fuck could you let her do this?” McDonald asked me in a shocked voice.
“We can hash out what we did later, McDonald,” I stated in an authoritative voice. “Right now, I need to monitor the listening device Payton has for information about the compound and you need to get here with backup, so we can pull her and Grace out.” Then I hung up the phone and tried to understand what was happening inside the warehouse. It was oddly quiet, and I was worried the device wasn’t working properly when I heard I was ju-just going to break this one in Jefe being said in a hesitant voice that sounded like it was close to the listening device.
Oh no, I thought as my stomach sank. I hadn’t fully considered the very real implications of sending a pretty young woman into a human trafficking ring. I had been concerned with Payton’s safety but had not really thought she would be in there long enough for these guys to start hurting her. She had gone in there so I could find my sister. That meant that I was partially responsible for everything that happens to her inside of that warehouse. And I was just standing out here in the woods doing nothing to save her.
The next thing I heard almost drove me to my knees in guilt and disgust. Get on your fucking knees, you fucking whore. Oh, God. I was going to have to listen as Payton was… while she was... I couldn’t even think the words in my own head. It wasn’t just Payton in that warehouse. My little Gracie had been in there for over twenty-four hours now.
I brought you here bitch. I own your ass until someone else buys it. So, get on your fucking knees. In my mind’s eye, it was Grace that was being forced to her knees in a cold warehouse and when I heard a gagging sound through the listening device, I hunched over and threw up everything in my stomach. I wanted nothing more than to rip the earpiece from my head to silence the sound of the voice of the kidnapper as he forced himself on Payton, but I had sent her in there. The least I could do was to suffer along with her.
I lost track of time as I was trapped in the worst torture I could imagine. I would rather switch places with Payton than remain completely helpless while I listened to her degradement. And knowing that the same most likely happened to my sister added to my torment. I was so lost within the visuals that my brain was punishing me with that I missed the start of the conversation I was now hearing. …cost you precious time to break in a slave that you will just sell to the highest bidder. Why do their work for them? I was beyond confused but it seemed as if the guy had stopped forcing himself on Payton for the moment. The next voice I didn’t recognize and deduced that there was another man in the room with them.
The following conversation between Payton and the mystery man did nothing to increase my understanding of what occurring within the warehouse. But I did understand Payton’s calm words describing the number of men she saw within the warehouse and that she overheard that they were just received a shipment of guns. Fuck. I was outnumbered and very outgunned. Where the fuck was Agent McDonald and the FBI? I decided to scope out the back of the warehouse to look for points of entry after the listening device conveyed relative silence for a while.
I was just using my phone to take some photos of the side of the warehouse where I had spotted an exterior door when I heard Payton whisper my name. Liam. I have found Grace. I am looking at her right now. She looks a little banged up, but she is alive and without any major injuries.
"Oh Thank God," I actually whispered out loud as relief washed through me. My baby sister was alive. Gracie was alive and with Payton. And for the first time since I saw the footage of Grace being led out of the club I was able to take a full breath.
Grace? Grace Harris?.. My name is Payton Taylor and your brother sent me to find you.
Liam? Liam is here? The sound of Grace’s voice brought tears to my eyes. Payton had really done it. She had found his Grace.
Yes, Liam is here. He has been searching for you nonstop since the moment you were taken. He is just outside organizing the rescue operation.
I knew he would find me. Didn’t I tell you, Maria? My Brother is going to save us all.
Grace’s blind faith in me filled me with determination and I restarted my path around the building. I would not let her down again. Payton would keep her safe on the inside while I tore this cartel apart from the outside. They would pay for laying their hands on my baby sister.
Liam. Payton’s voice called out to me and I stopped to give her my full attention. There are nine girls here. I think we are located in the direct center of the warehouse. If you go in the door I went through you get to a large garage area. Poorly lit but had lots of cars and tools in that room. The door at the back of the garage leads into a common room with couches and chairs. There were five men in there when I went through. Walk through that room and take a left down the hallway. At the end of the first hallway, take a right and then a quick left down another hallway. At the end, there was a large metal door. This door opens into a large room where we are located. They have us locked up behind a chain-link fence with mattresses on the ground but right now there are no cartel members here. Liam, there is a man here that the others call Jefe. He and one other seem to be running things. I think he might be the leader of the entire cartel. Be careful.
The newbie was a Godsend. Not even a month out of training and she was staying calm after what that fucking asshole had done to her and giving me the information I needed to get them out safely. It was my turn now. I needed to push past my panic and fear about Grace and make sure we got those girls out.
I completed a full circle of the warehouse noting possible weaknesses in the perimeter and then quietly returned to my car. I called Agent McDonald back and told him to meet me at the first warehouse off the main road. The biggest advantage we had was surprise. I didn’t want to ruin that by tipping the cartel off to our presence when McDonald’s people started showing up. As I slowly drove the car back out to the first warehouse I listened as Payton soothed and checked Grace and the other women.
Minutes later a large black suburban skidded to a halt and McDonald jumped out of the driver’s seat. He strode purposely up to me and then proceeded to punch me in the jaw. While I was significantly larger than McDonald, the FBI packed a punch and I had to step back to retain my balance. The hit didn’t surprise me and I didn’t blame McDonald for throwing it. After listening to what had already happened to Payton inside that warehouse, I wanted to punch myself.
“You selfish bastard. You have no idea what you have done. Even if we get her out of there the psychological damage of being held by human traffickers again is going to cripple her,” McDonald hissed in a voice filled with contempt.
Again? The word rang in my ears as I tried to comprehend what McDonald was trying to tell me. Was he telling me that Payton has been held by human traffickers before?
“Again?” I finally asked out loud.
“I told you that you had no idea what she had been through.” He began pacing before me as he absently rubbed his swollen knuckles. “You said that Har- I mean Payton was rigged up with a listening device. Is she okay? What has been happening?”
What did I say here? I was afraid that if I told McDonald about what Payton had been forced to do then McDonald would go off half-cocked to try to get to her and blow our best chance. But I remembered Payton telling me that McDonald was a good FBI agent and he did need to know the details that Payton had relayed. I told him everything that had happened and all I knew about the warehouse in a detached analytical voice.
By the time I had summarized everything McDonald had stopped pacing and stood staring at the woods. “She was supposed to be safe. That was the deal. She testified and then she would get a new life where she would be safe. And now…” McDonald’s quiet musings were interrupted when a large swat truck pulled up followed by three more black suburbans. McDonald decided to leave it at that and quietly walked to greet his team. I followed, and we started hashing out the details of our plan to raid the warehouse.
About twenty minutes later I was getting restless with our lack of movement when Payton’s voice came through the listening device in a clear defiant tone.
If you want to get to her you will have to go through me.
Shit, I thought. The girls were under attack.
“We have to do this now!” I yelled at the FBI agents and started running towards the Los Zetas Cartel’s warehouse
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