Page 51 of Sentinel's Kiss

“I’ll put Ryder on a bike as soon as I hear from her.”

“No,” Sentinel said. “Send Warden.”

“Why?”

Sentinel couldn’t tell him it was because he was afraid of what they would do to Ryder if they got caught. They’d just kill Warden. They might do worse to a woman. “Because I fucking said so.”

“Fuck you.”

He deserved that. “I’ll call you in a few hours.” He hung up.

It was probably just a prostitution ring. The girls were probably high-end pros who were paid very well for their jobs.

Probably.

Leslie seemed happy enough; she definitely wasn’t being abused. So why did his gut churn? It had bothered him so much that when Ashley had gone to the ladies’ room at the restaurant, he had plotted out a route on his phone to get him to the hunting lodge using one of the game trails.

He went off road with the Jeep, parking about a mile away, so it wouldn’t attract any attention on the side of the highway. He pulled on a black ski mask that covered his face, just leaving room for his eyes and mouth. Pocketing his silencer, Sentinel put his pistol in his back holster and slipped on a pair of thin nylon gloves. He wanted to be able to pull the trigger unaided and not leave any pesky fingerprints. Plugging in his earpiece, he turned on the GPS to direct him through the woods. The moon was out, and after consulting his compass, Sentinel had a pretty good idea where to go.

As he had expected, the log cabin had lights on and music blaring. It was a busy nurses’ station tonight. He crept up to the side of the building and eased toward the window. It looked like a party was going on inside. In the quick peek he took, Sentinel saw two women servicing four men. Waiting a moment, he risked another look. One of the women was Leslie. The other was a redhead. They were both laughing. So far so good. He really didn’t give a tinker’s damn if men cheated on their wives or if women got paid for sex. As long as it was consensual, he would get back in his Jeep and spoon with Ashley until dawn.

Sentinel moved on to the next room. Through the window, he saw it was set up as an examination room. Only there was a naked woman chained to the table. He didn’t judge other people their kinks. Only this woman wasn’t laughing; in fact, she appeared to be badly bruised and was rocking back and forth. There was enough noise with the central air-conditioning and the music that Sentinel decided to risk smashing the window. Slipping on brass knuckles over his gloves, he rapped on the window once, punching straight through it.

The woman’s head swung up. He reached in to unlock the window and then forced the pane up. Her head whipped to the door and he paused, but no one came to investigate the noise. In a hunting club, if anyone came to investigate, they’d probably be armed.

Cringing, the woman turned away from him. Climbing in through the open window, Sentinel crouched on the floor, one hand on his pistol. But again, no one came to investigate.

“Don’t scream,” he said.

“What would be the point?” she said bitterly. “No one would come to help me.”

“I’ll help you. Who has the keys?”

“Jen.”

“The redhead?” That was the other woman with Leslie.

The woman nodded.

“Are you being held here against your will?” He had to make sure. She seemed eerily calm now. Tears were streaming from her eyes. This could be a kinky game.

She pulled at the chains on her arms and legs. “Three months. Three fucking months these animals had me.” She hiccupped. “I’m a nurse. I thought, what a great deal. Free room and board and a decent salary.” She laughed with a hysterical edge. “Only they didn’t want a nurse.”

Okay, it was not a BDSM fantasy. It was human trafficking. He didn’t need the Judge for this.

“Who knows you’re here?”

“No one.”

“What about your friends and family?”

She shook her head. “No one really. I guess that’s why they picked me. I was so stupid.”

“Who did this to you?”

“Please, don’t let them get me.”

“What’s your name?” Sentinel asked.