Jaden stepped back and knelt, gun cocked and ready. I mouthed, “One, two” and threw open the door. I get a split-second snapshot of chains, cameras, a ceiling mirror, whips, and saws before my eyes rest on the hairy ass pumping away between legs chained to the ceiling.
“Freeze.” I bark. Got you, you bastard.
My voice startled the man, and he jumped back, hard dick bouncing in the air. Splayed on a gurney, dark, lifeless eyes stare from beneath black curls. Terror surged through me from some external force. For once, it’s not mine. I cut my gaze to Jaden as the /perp barged into me, knocking me to the ground.
Rayne. Not again.
This time I’m certain the thought and terror came from Jaden. I leaped to my feet and into the trailer.
“I’ve got this.” I roughly push past him using my back to block all but the small brown legs and bare feet suspended in the air.
“Is it—” Jaden’s words are barely a whisper under the weight of his fear, but figuring out his shit will have to come later.
“There’s no time. Get him.” I bent over the body, checking for a pulse that doesn’t exist.
Something shifted in the air as Jaden pivoted in the direction of the fleeing man. Starlight showed his silhouette as he ran through the field. Danger and destruction replaced Jaden’s terror as he took off after him. Taking down the perp was his job and one he seemed to take a perverse pleasure in executing. Mine was to gather as much evidence as possible without contaminating the crime scene. I photographed the interior of the trailer when the first shot rings out.
“That’s it. Crawl, you bastard.” Jaden said. “Let’s see how good you are with someone your own size.” Despite the distance, his voice rings in the still night.
“How do you like it? Feel good? Like taking what isn’t yours?” There’s no hint of question in Jaden’s inflection.
The perp said something I didn’t catch. After taking a final glance at the interior of the trailer, I pocketed my phone and headed to where Jaden’s knife pistoned into what had been the perp as if he were a machine. He thinks it’s his woman. Poor fucker. Traffickers had killed his fiancé and he’d lived in virtual isolation until Rayne, one of his rescues, had captured his heart in much the same way Kat had a stranglehold on mine.
As I came up behind him, Jaden wheeled around, knife raised.
