“The NSO can give them a trial and sentence them to life in prison?”
He hesitated.
“Tell me. Please?” Tears pricked her eyes. “I’ll sleep better at night. They killed Tina and Mel. They came into my home and—”
“We have a prison, baby. It’s not known, it’s not for general population, but one that only holds people who have committed crimes against New Species. Justice North is a damn smart man who negotiated some impressive deals.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Mercile was funded in part by the US. It’s not widely known but the public would be pissed if they knew where their tax dollars were being spent. Everyone involved wants to keep it that way. New Species could sue the United States and win in court the way they’ve gone after Mercile to be compensated for the years they were imprisoned. It was cheaper to settle and better for public relations to just keep it under wraps. They were given Homeland, the money to start it up, and my task team to hunt down Mercile employees who weren’t captured and to recover New Species still out there. We have found five testing facilities and there could be more. We don’t know but some New Species were given to investors.”
“Given to investors?”
He looked down. “Women, baby. The company traded money for flesh.” His gaze lifted and his mouth grimaced. “Sexual slaves. We try to find them.”
Tears fell. “Oh my God.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed her foot. “That’s what my team is mostly for. We hunt those sick bastards down who bought them and try to find out if the women are still alive.”
“Have you found any?” She hoped so.
“Some. Usually it turns out bad. I won’t lie. Justice demanded to have a task force put at his disposal with full resources to track them down and I was assigned to lead it. We can do what most law agencies can’t, don’t have as many rules as they do and that includes starting up our own prison. We take the ones we arrest there and they aren’t getting out. There’s no such thing as parole or time off for good behavior.”
“It’s at Homeland or Reservation?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s at another location and I’m not telling you where. Some of the people who used to run Homeland before New Species took control are now in charge of that facility. It’s not a resort, let me assure you. They aren’t mistreated but they sure aren’t watching cable or getting visitors.”
“New Species now get to hold the people prisoner who once kept them locked up. That seems fair.”
“No. Justice didn’t want to put any of his people in that uncomfortable situation. The prison is completely staffed by us.”
“Your team?”
“Humans.”
“They are human too, just not completely.”
“That’s true but they call us humans. It’s starting to rub off on me.” He smiled. “I’m going to sleep downstairs on the couch tonight unless you want me to sleep on the floor in here. I could.”
She was touched that he’d offer. Usually he drove her nuts but after what had happened, she didn’t really want to be alone. “You’re too old to sleep on the floor,” she joked. “You’d never get up. My couch pulls out into a king and the mattress is pretty comfy. Thanks, Dad.”
He released her and stood. “I’m just downstairs. Do you want me to leave the light on?”
Becca admitted to being tempted to do just that but she shook her head instead. He was being really sweet at the moment but she didn’t want him using her moment of weakness against her later. Her dad had a way of doing that. Before she knew it he’d be trying to talk her in to moving back into the main house.
“When is Brawn returning?” She really wanted to see him.
“He’s not.”
Shock struck, quickly chased by pain. “What? I was under the impression when I reached Homeland that they’d take his statements and afterward he’d be coming back to my house.”
Anger deepened Tim’s voice. “Tiger is in charge while Justice is on vacation and he deemed it a failure having one of their men live here. They were pretty helpful today getting you back but it’s just not safe for them to live outside those walls. It puts anyone they are with in danger.”
“It wasn’t his fault.”
“I know but I’m glad he’s not coming back. I have a meeting in the morning to go over different scenarios to get some of their guys to integrate with my team. I just have to figure out how to do it safely.”
“I’d like to talk to Brawn,” she braved, risking her father’s temper.
He paused by her door. “That’s not going to happen. I was assured that he’s done with humans. I know something happened between you, you refuse to tell me the details, but I was assured he wants nothing to do with humans ever again.” He flipped off the light and closed her door.
Tears fell. Brawn was done with humans? As in he never wanted to see her again? She remembered how he’d reacted when she’d touched his arm and yelled at Trey to get her out of there. Maybe he’d lied and he was angry at her.
It hurt. She’d fallen for him but should have remembered he didn’t want to get involved with her. He’d made it clear, yet she’d hoped. Becca turned her face into her pillow and clutched it. She missed Brawn and it tore her up a bit that it was over without even getting to say goodbye to him.
Chapter Twelve
Nine weeks later
Becca wandered around the cabin, bored and lonely. She finally settled on the couch, curled into a ball and used the arm of it for a pillow. She was due to contact her dad soon and she’d have to think up a new lie. He thought she was traveling through Europe and would be shocked if he knew she’d never left California. They kept in touch via her computer.
It was much easier to lie that way than to figure out how to route calls with her dad’s caller ID. She had friends and family who lived in France and Germany, they knew her dad was a tyrant and were sympathetic enough to send the occasional postcard his way to keep him fooled. They thought she just needed a break.
That part had been true up to a point. Her dad had driven her nuts after she’d come home and she’d needed a break from him charging into her home trying to draw her out. She’d been depressed after her kidnapping, had taken time from work and hated to admit she’d wanted to stick close to her phone in case he called.
The thought of Brawn made her sit up and clench her hands together over her thighs. She’d been sad at first when he hadn’t tried to contact her but as the weeks passed, it had turned to anger. How dare he not even check on her? It would have been polite to at least get in touch to see if she had recovered from their traumatic ordeal. The fact that he’d had sex with her made it twice as unforgivable not to make that effort. So much for being a team.
His belongings were taken away by one of her father’s men the day after she’d returned home. She’d had to deal with repairmen for two solid weeks, patching up her poor damaged house, and she’d closed the guest bedroom door after they’d left to avoid being reminded of him. It hadn’t worked though. Every single time she passed through the hallway to go to her bedroom, she caught her glance straying there.
Four weeks later she’d made a shocking discovery that had changed her life. She’d had to plot and plan, make up a bunch of lies and move to a cabin in Northern California. She’d worked quickly to make calls to set up an elaborate deception. She discovered she was good at it and believed she’d covered all her bases. Her dad would have tipped her off if he grew suspicious.
Worry struck hard and pitted inside her stomach at the thought of making a mistake. Even the memory of the dreaded phone call she’d made three weeks ago on her way to the cabin had her tense. I bought a disposable cell phone, paid cash, kept the call reasonably short and it was far from here. I even remembered to remove the battery from it and throw it in the trash in case someone tried to track the phone. She took deep breaths. You did it all right and no one knows it’s you. That calmed her a bit.