Snake Eyes (The Masks Series Book 3) (22 page)

Caitlyn

I bolted up the stairs two at a time, only tripping once. I was out of breath by the time I made it to the top. Seeing those pitiful girls in their wretched state had injected my body with renewed vigor. I checked the time on my watch, just after three a.m. I couldn’t wait to tell Kaplan to get her ass in here right now.

Pressing the red button, I shuffled back into the ‘maintenance’ room and then eased out of that door. Checking that all was clear, I locked the door behind me and returned the key. I knew it was probably unnecessary caution, but I did it anyway.

I scurried into the pool area, looking for somewhere safe to make the call. It felt weird to think that any minute now, federal agents would be swarming in, guns at the ready. I couldn’t believe I’d found the girls so quickly. At this rate, I’d win my man back before the turkey was served.

Standing by the glass, I looked over my shoulder, up at the dark stairwell. It felt so open and exposed to make the call from there. I checked my reception; I had a few more bars, but it wasn’t full. I didn’t want anything to disrupt this call. It was the most important one I’d ever make.

As I eased around the pool, I caught a glimpse of something outside. Squinting my eyes, I padded towards it, spotting a small decking area. My eyes shot around each surface, looking for a door. It took me a minute to realize that one of the glass windows was actually a very narrow sliding door. I turned the latch and slid it open, easing out onto the small space. The fresh air was cool on my face, but it smelled good. The mountain air was so clean and inviting.

I breathed it in and contacted Kaplan.

She answered after two rings.

“Did you find anything?”

“I found the girls.”

“You what?”

“The girls. They’re here.”

“He’s keeping them in his house?”

“They’re downstairs in like a dungeon. You have to come and get them out.”

“How many?”

I licked my lip. “Eight. They said ten or twelve have already been sold.”

My quiet response was met with a heart-wrenching silence. Unnerved, I quickly filled the space, telling Kaplan what the girls had told me.

“And I think they’ll be paraded around again tomorrow night. Mendez said he has a business meeting in the evening. I can only assume he has a new set of buyers coming in. He said it was a last-minute change, which is why Quella’s been brought here instead of going to Palm Springs.”

“Okay, good. That’s good. So, we’ll move tomorrow night then.”

“What? No, you have to come and get them now.” The cool breeze kissed my skin and I shivered, rubbing my arms.

“It’s a waste if we don’t catch the buyers at the same time. Now tell me the logistics of the house.”

I clenched my jaw, hating the idea of those poor girls spending a second longer in those dank cells.

“Blondie, you still there?”

I huffed out a sigh and went on to explain exactly how I’d gotten into the room and that I had no idea what was behind the black door.

“Okay, well, I have someone trying to track down the plans for the house. Now that we know the location, we might have more luck. I’ll get the team prepped. Do you know what time the meeting is?”

“Not specifically, just in the afternoon or evening.”

“See if you can find out. We have the house surrounded on all sides, from a distance admittedly. His security is pretty damn tight, but we have been monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic. As soon as we see the buyers arrive, we’ll move in.”

It felt good to know they were close enough to monitor traffic. The isolation of this mission didn’t feel quite so debilitating. “You can’t let those girls be taken.”

“They won’t be. Trust us. Mendez and his dirty little business associates are going down tomorrow night; I can assure you of that.”

“Thank you.”

“Go get some sleep. You still have to play innocent tomorrow and I want as many details as you can get me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Hang tight, Caitlyn. In less than 24 hours, you’re going to be free.”

“Promise?”

Kaplan snickered and hung up.

I lowered the phone and ran my thumb over the large crack in the screen. I missed Eric. It was an insane time to think of him, but I couldn’t help it. Gazing up at the star-filled sky, I thought about where he might be. Hopefully tucked up in his bed, unable to sleep as he worried about me. I hated to put him through that, but I knew I was where I was supposed to be.

I was given this gift for a reason and this time around, that reason was pretty damn good.

Squeezing the phone in my hand, I slid it back into my pocket and turned back for the ‘maintenance’ room. I wanted to tell the girls what the plan was, ease their fears before they were yanked into that God-forsaken room again.

I sniffed in one last taste of fresh air before squeezing back into the pool area.

“That was an interesting late-night phone call you were making.”

I gasped, my heart exploding as a strong hand clamped around my arm and dragged me away from the pool and any chance of warning the girls.

Caitlyn

His fingers were sharp and hard, digging into my arm until I thought my muscles might pop.

“Please, Miguel,” I whispered.

He ignored me, hauling me up the stairs and throwing me into a small room off the hallway. I landed on the bed and spun around to face him.

He loomed over me, looking menacing, the glint in his eye telling me he was about to have a little fun.

That was obviously how they controlled the girls, an over-powering threat that weakened them with terror.

I couldn’t let that happen. Those girls were counting on me not to lose it.

“Who were you talking to?” he barked.

I peeled his mask free, soaking in his expression. There was no way he planned to rape me. I wasn’t his type. It was a comfort not to fear his persona, like so many girls probably did.

I shifted on the bed, hanging my feet over the edge and gripping the mattress. “I was trying to call my boyfriend.”

An explosion of pain burst across my cheek as he backhanded me.

“Ah!” I grabbed at it, the stinging pain radiating across my entire face. I hadn’t even seen it coming.

“Do not lie to me.” He crouched down, getting in my space and grabbing a fistful of my hair. I whimpered as he yanked my head up to face him. “I know how to break people.” The back of his finger whispered softly over my aching cheek. “Do not make me spoil this beautiful face.”

“You don’t think I’m beautiful.”

“Don’t I?” He shoved me back onto the bed, slipping off his jacket.

My mind scrambled for the right words. I made sure his mask stayed off as he pulled his shirt free and slowly undid his belt. I knew he was just delaying things. Making me think he was going to abuse me when he had no intention. I glanced at his beefy hands. In thinking that, there was nothing stopping him from using those hulking fists.

“Tell me what I need to know.” He leaned over me, grabbing a handful of my shirt, his silent glare threatening to rip it off.

“You’re not going to do that.”

His eyes narrowed.

So I kept going. “I mean you could, if you wanted to, but you don’t want to. You don’t find me attractive. You’re just trying to scare me with the idea that you do.”

The corner of his eye twitched, his skin paling. Pushing himself up, he yanked my shirt, bringing me with him.

“You are a good liar.”

“I’m not lying.” I swallowed. “I saw you looking at that waiter. You’re in love with him.”

His brow creased, his hand balling into a fist.

I held up my hands. “No, please, wait! No one else knows. It’s just me.” I patted my chest. “I have a gift. I see things no one else does. That’s why I had to check out that room. Your face told me. You were worried about the idea of me going in there.”

“I gave nothing away.”

“Not to any normal person, but I’m different.”

“You a witch?”

I shook my head. “I can just see...behind people’s masks. I know what they’re feeling and I can always tell if they’re lying.”

He looked skeptical.

“Like right now, you don’t know whether to believe me or not, but a small part of you can’t help it.”

I kept staring at him, ripping off layers and reading whatever I could.

“You don’t like your boss, but you stay because of that waiter. You love him. You’ll do anything to protect him.” My lips parted. “You feel guilty that he’s here. Is he a slave?”

His eyes grew wide and he let go of my shirt as if he no longer wanted to touch me.

“You’re scared. You’re scared that I can see the truth, but you don’t have to be. I won’t tell anyone. I can see that my life depends on that.”

Whipping a gun from his back pocket, he pressed it against my forehead.

My voice quaked, my words spurting out of me in a quick torrent. “I’m telling you the truth. I won’t say a word, I swear.”

“Who’s coming for the girls?”

The hard metal on my temple made me spill. “The FBI. They’ve been investigating the missing girls and one of the agents, the one I work for, suspected Mendez. Quella was my in.”

“You are too young to be an undercover agent.”

“I know. I’m not even getting paid. No one knows I’m here except her and her team.”

“Mendez will kill you.”

“Only if you tell him.” I looked up at him, trying to ignore the gun in my peripherals. “These girls should not be enslaved like this. They don’t have anyone to protect them. They’re being sold and abused. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t managed to save your love. Where would he be right now?”

Miguel blanched and pushed the gun a little harder into my skin. I kept my eyes on him, whipping off masks as fast as I could. There was that guilt again, the disgust in helping Mendez run his business, the fear at losing the man he loved.

“Please, don’t kill me. Help me. Help me with these girls.”

It was the wrong thing to say.

I should have stayed on point and kept talking about the waiter, but the words came out and I couldn’t take them back. A hard edge morphed his humanity into something dark and sinister.

“They are not my problem. If I help you, Mendez will kill me.” His fingers danced over the gun. “But if I kill you, or better yet drag you to him and reveal your treachery then he will reward me nicely.”

Money.

Miguel loved money. No, wait. He
needed
money.

A hungry, desperate spark traveled across his face and he snatched my arm, yanking me off the bed. “Come.”

I dug my heels into the floor. “No, please! I can reward you even better. I can get the money you need.”

He stopped, glaring down at me. “How do you know I need money?”

“It’s a guess. You said reward and I saw it on your face, a spark of desperation and the hope of freedom. Are you in debt?”

His eyes flashed with a warning.

“How much? I mean, who do you owe it to?”

The muscle in his jaw clenched tight. He was ashamed of his debt, like he should never have let it happen.

My mind scrambled to decipher what it could mean, my own desperation making the task a challenging one.

He humphed and continued to drag me toward the door.

“Listen, I’ve told you what I can do. I can spot lies, read emotions. Those skills can be really helpful. Like...like...in poker! I never lose! I could win you money.”

That made him flinch.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I really kick butt, because I can see what everyone is feeling about their hand, so it makes it easy to call the bluff and play smart, you know? I could—I could win you some money and you could pay off your debt.”

The shift in his expression was encouraging. My stuttering heart slowed just a little.

“Do you—do you like poker?”

His lips twitched with a smirk. “You can win at poker?”

“Every time.”

With narrowed eyes, he wrenched my arm, pulling me out of the room and down the hallway.

“I need you to prove it.” He pushed me into a large kitchen area. A wooden table sat in the corner, surrounded by staff. They were still in their white uniforms.

They all stiffened when he approached the table and yanked out a chair. It scraped against the tiles.

He plonked me down. I winced as my butt smacked into the hard wood.

“Deal her in.”

The staff all eyed each other. I gave them a quivering smile.

“Do it!”

I jerked at his shout. He pulled out some money and threw it in front of me.

“Quadruple it,” he whispered in my ear.

Picking up the twenty-dollar bills, I counted out five and felt like throwing up. “I don’t know if I can—”

He squeezed my shoulder, hard. I winced and shut up, peeking at the two cards in front of me.

It was Texas Hold ‘Em again. I memorized my cards then looked around the table. They were all really nervous having Miguel sit in and it was overtaking my ability to read their hands.

“Dude,” I muttered. “What the hell did I ever do to you?” I gave the dealer the finger and it broke the air. The men chuckled while Miguel crossed his arms, his eyes tightening with an advisory glare. I tried to ignore it and get on with proving my worth...and hopefully saving my ass.

With the tension snapped, faces began to relax and I was able to see a little better. I lost the first round intentionally, wanting the boys to think I was a little dumb. They were still confused as to why Miguel even wanted me to play, but they quickly cottoned on by the third round. Ten rounds later and I had more than quadrupled Miguel’s pot. The rest of the staff sat in stunned silence, confusion marring their tired features.

Miguel pulled me from my chair, extracting his gun at the same time.

“Not a word about her to anyone.” He aimed the gun at each poker player until their heads started bobbing erratically.

“
Si, señor
,” was muttered by all before he pulled me away.

I handed him his money. His right eyebrow arched, a smug smile pulling at his lips. I didn’t know what the hell Quella saw in this jerk.

He hauled me upstairs to my room, shoving me inside. Roughly spinning me around, he yanked the phone out of my pocket. My eyes bulged wide. He smirked at my fear, his intense glare making me shrink away from him. Unsure what to do, I slid beneath the sheets in my clothes, hoping he’d take the hint and leave.

“Tomorrow, when Quella is watching football with Rosa, you are to tell her you feel sick. Come up here to lie down. There will be a dress waiting for you. Make yourself look rich and pretty.”

Dread sucked the moisture from my mouth. “Why?” I croaked.

“Because you are going to help me pay off my debt and then make me a rich man.”

“And if I refuse?”

He shrugged. “I’ll take you to Mendez instead. You’re a little old, but I’m sure he could find a buyer for you...or kill you.”

I bit my lip and laid my head on the pillow, pulling the sheets up around my shoulder.

With a snicker, he left the room. My eyes burned as I squeezed them shut, wishing Kaplan had said she’d come tonight. Damn those stupid buyers! Why did she need them anyway!

My heart ticked inside me, like a time bomb waiting to explode. I had to get some sleep. It was after four, and I still had a harrowing day to survive before Kaplan came to save my ass. Tears slipped from my eyes. I chewed at my lip, praying I could handle whatever shit was thrown my way in the morning.