Page 298 of Allegiance

“We’re going to be sitting in the alley across from the first location. It’s the modeling agency near here. Do you know it?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, I do. I always wondered what it was like inside,” she said.

He didn’t buy that for a second.

Calyx had clued them in that the woman had been in there because that’s how Cruz ensnared her. He promised her a better life than hooking, and when he booked her one job, a paltry one, he had her on a contract.

He owned her.

Oh, and countless other hookers in this city that he’d ensnared.

“Well, you’ll get to see it up close and personal. We have a change of clothes for you,” he said.

She stopped him.

“I want to see the payout. Not that I don’t trust you, but…I don’t trust you.”

He lifted a finger, and Zayn made a duffle bag appear. Inside, it was packed with cash.

“Do you trust Calyx?” he asked. “You know, as a neutral party?”

She nodded.

“I do.”

Then, that was handled.

“Ms. Waters, will you hold onto this for Merla?” he inquired.

Calyx approached and took the money.

“I’ll keep it safe for her.”

He needed to get this going.

“Give her the clothing.”

Boone gave the woman a garment bag, and she got the hint.

“Do you want me to get naked here or…?” she asked, smiling.

That’s when they all heard the woman over the com.

“I’ll cut her eyes out and feed them to her via her bellybutton,” Eve said. “Test me. A hooker had best not be getting naked in front of my husband.”

Dakota laughed, and covered it with a cough.

“You can have privacy,” Jagger offered, so that the women listening wouldn’t lost their minds.

The last thing they needed was a homicide before they got this handled.

“We’ll be out in the alley,” he offered. “Just come out and tell us if they are inside. We’ll give you time to get away before we make our move.”

She agreed to that.

“Okay.”