Page 30 of Her Mercenary

“Good. When I hand her off to you, take her exactly where I instructed in my email.”

“Assuming that everything goes off without a hitch, right? That you buy this missing girl from one of the most ruthless human traffickers on the planet, and then just walk right out the door with her, lickety-split.”

“It’ll go off without a hitch,” I said confidently. It had to. There was no other option.

“And then you’ll just head back to the airport, call it a day, collect your check from the government, and go find a bar somewhere and drink yourself to sleep?”

“Something like that.”

Bear glanced at Lucas before looking back at me. He lowered his voice. “I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care.”

“How many men are coming with this Conor guy?” Bear asked.

“According to Lucas, four armed guards are at the lodge now.”

“I didn’t ask how many men were at the lodge. I asked how many men Conor is bringing with him—in addition to these four armed guards.”

Truth was, I didn’t know. More than Lucas and I could handle if shit went sideways.

Reading my non-answer as answer enough, Bear blew out a long breath and sat back. After a minute, a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Good to be working with you again, bud.”

I dipped my chin, guilt twisting my stomach.

14

SAM

We were given food, water, and matching dog collars with tags. Mine read 647. I wondered if that were how many slaves had been held captive at the hands of this evil group.

We were provided baby wipes to bathe, toothpaste but no brush, and kept in our respective dog cages, aside from monitored short bathroom breaks.

I didn’t know where the children were. They had been separated while being marched out of the truck the night before.

I was surrounded by new faces, new slaves. New moans, cries, incoherent mumbling. Dead eyes.

I was pretending to sleep when the basement door opened. Instinctively, I hugged my knees to my chest, making myself appear as small and insignificant as possible. Not far from how I actually felt, come to think of it.

I listened to the footsteps descend into the room. The low hushed voices in Spanish once again. Whoever was with the guards appeared to be viewing each of the slaves, pausing at each cage as the guards relayed details of “the product.”

My heart started to pound. Were we being shown like cattle at the fair? Was someone about to buy us? Were we to be traded?

The footsteps drew closer, and a breeze from the opened door swept past.

My eyes shot open. I recognized the fresh, citrus scent.

The King.

I squeezed my eyes shut again, but this time peeked through the slits. A familiar pair of shiny black wingtips appeared in front of my cage, next to two sets of scuffed combat boots.

Ardri, I heard from one of the men.

My pulse kickstarted. He was back, the man who had visited the other location. The man I couldn’t stop thinking about.

After Capitán provided my specs to the King, there was a long pause of silence. I could feel their eyes on me. Somehow, I knew a decision was being contemplated. I waited on bated breath for the King to speak.

Finally, he did, three little words that changed the course of my life from that day forward. “Give me her.”