Breaking Shadows (Darkness Falls Book 2) Read online

  “What is that saying? ‘Take a picture, it’ll last longer’?”

  Darn it. She could hear the smirk in his words and that was all it took to get her eyes to snap to his face and break the trance she had slipped into. But even though he was smirking, it didn’t quite reach his eyes. His eyes had gone dark, and his voice, while cocky, was also husky, and she was terrified he could sense, or worse yet, smell, the dampness between her legs. Was the arousal that was apparent to her, equally obvious to him? Or was he simply reacting because he was Casanova and a scantily clothed woman had nearly fallen into his lap? Worried that was the case, she fell back on the tried and true Quinn persona. Somehow managing to pull her hand away from dangerous territory, she pulled herself up to her full height.

  “Why would I want to do that? Oh, that’s right, Mr. Every-Woman’s-Wet-Dream thinks all women fall over themselves with desire around him.” Truer words had never been spoken. He sat up then, and his face was mere inches from hers.

  “If that’s how you want to play it, then prove it.”

  Before she could say anything back, his mouth was on hers, and she was melting into his arms. She put up a fight for all of two-point-two seconds, and then her mouth parted on a gasp and allowed his tongue access to her mouth where it pillaged. It wasn’t Quinn’s style to be outdone, and while she was not an accomplished kisser, she gave as good as she got. Her good hand reached toward him and ran up his chest and into his hair, tugging him closer to her, with the back of the couch between, she couldn’t get close enough to him. She only partially noted that the blanket had fallen down to pool by his knees. He deepened the kiss on a moan. The sound only encouraged her, and she rubbed her chest on his. Even with the shirt separating them, it was apparent that her nipples were hard as diamonds. His hands slipped down to the hem of her shirt and hesitated before he reached under and caressed her stomach with his fingers.

  Stomach muscles quivering from the contact, she gasped as he released her mouth and kissed his way down her neck until his mouth landed on that too-hard nipple, and he sucked it into his mouth through the shirt. Her body arched into the touch as she tried to will the couch between them away. The naughty mouth that had soaked through the shirt and taunted her nipple made its way to the other nipple, which was eager for the equal opportunity clause of the night. Those sneaky fingers were inching up the hem of her shirt when Cat jumped onto the back of the couch and scared the ever-living crap out of her. Quinn jumped backward guiltily, as if she had personally affronted the feline intruder.

  “Holy crap, Cat! You scared the bejeezus out of me.” Quinn was panting as her hand flew to her chest, and Ethan pulled away, clearly startled himself. One look at the expression on his face and the spell was broken. Stumbling, she retreated as fast as she could down the hallway with a hasty good-night as he called after her to come back, but she didn’t turn around. Once safely ensconced in his bedroom, she crumpled onto the bed ready to figuratively lick her wounds, because if she wasn’t mistaken, that was a big dose of regret on Ethan’s face, and that is exactly the opposite of what she wanted to see on the face of the first man she had ever gotten that hot and steamy with.

  Ethan wanted to kick his ass after he saw the expression on Quinn’s face. Cat had broken up one of the happiest moments of his life, sexually speaking, and while he wanted to kill the cat, he also wanted to thank her for stopping things before they went too far. Not because he didn’t want to sleep with Quinn. He was pretty sure he would walk over hot coals to do just that, but she was still healing from nearly being run over, and she wasn’t ready mentally to make love to him. She was getting there, but if he slept with her tonight, he was almost certain it would end up being a one and done because Quinn would regret it immediately after. Which is exactly the opposite of what he wanted to happen when he finally made love to her. What he wanted was to convince her that it was not a one-time deal.

  The buzzing of his phone caught his attention and gave him a much-needed reprieve from the turmoil churning through his head. Glancing down at his phone, he cursed under his breath. The text was short, and it was definitely not the kind he wanted to get in the middle of the night.

  Two girls. One boy. Missing within minutes of each other.

  What the hell was going on? He threw a quick text back at him.

  Any link to Kimora Washington? The answering text was fast and to the point.

  Unknown. Probable. Report in. ASAP.

  Ethan was already dressed in the clothes from the previous day and on his way down the hallway. Even if his captain hadn’t told him to go in, he would have. Three kids missing on the same night was not a coincidence. He would lay money down that they were taken for nefarious reasons and that they didn’t have much time before they wouldn’t be found. Regretting the fact that he had to barge in on Quinn’s privacy, especially after what had almost happened in the living room, he gently knocked on his bedroom door.

  “I don’t want to talk right now.” Her voice sounded miserable, and Ethan once again wanted to kick his own ass, but he didn’t have time for that.

  “Quinn, listen, I’m sorry; I know we need to talk, and I know now isn’t the time. Even if it was, I wouldn’t have time. I hate to disturb you, but something just came up and I have to leave. I didn’t want to leave without telling you, and I hate to—” The door swung open before he could finish his sentence. He stared at Quinn like she was his lifeline and could heal the sadness that had engulfed him at the thought of three more kids missing.

  “What’s happened?” she asked intuitively.

  “Three kids went missing tonight. We aren’t sure if it’s connected to Kimora or not, but I’m going in.” There was no use keeping any of it from her. She moved to the side and opened the door for him to enter.

  “You need your gun.” It wasn’t a question, she knew he had put it in his gun safe before they went to bed.

  With a brisk nod, he strode to the gun safe that was under the bed. He stood and turned and saw her looking at him with a lost expression on her face, and it was almost more than he could take. Without thinking about what he was doing, he took two long strides toward her and kissed her with all he had in him.

  “I want you to lock the door behind me, dead bolt, too, and do me a favor—don’t argue with me—but I want you to check the window locks for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and when I get back, we’ll have that talk.” He covered her mouth with his in desperation when she opened it to say something and continued to kiss her until she kissed him back. “Promise me.”

  “I promise. Be careful. I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”

  He pulled her in for another kiss before he finally released her. She followed him to the front door and he waited in the hallway until he heard the dead bolt click into place. Good enough. It had to be, because as much as he wanted or needed to be, he couldn’t be in two places at once, and he had to trust that she would be the smart woman he knew her to be and keep herself out of harm’s way while he was gone. His instincts were screaming at him to not leave Quinn alone, but he had a job to do first. It was more important now than ever because, while Ethan couldn’t explain the feeling buzzing along his nerves, he knew—just knew—the shit was about to hit the fan.

  The cell phone in his hand vibrated as he was getting in his car. No doubt Caleb asking where the hell he was. Ethan had sent him a text that he would pick him up in ten minutes, but he was running a couple minutes late. Good thing they lived close to each other. He sent a quick message that he would be there in five and climbed in the car. He glanced at his front window before he backed out of the driveway and saw Quinn holding Cat while she checked the lock. She waved stoically at him and pulled the curtain shut.

  Exhaustion seeped into his bones, nearly incapacitating him, but he’d done it. He’d managed to get all ten acquisitions in time for the transfer. Hopefully, things would go down smoothly, and his boss would be none the wiser about what he had to do to get the children. Of
course, he still had to get the packages to the actual rendezvous point, but once that was done, he deserved a vacation or something for his troubles. He pulled the van into the warehouse and cut the lights. Quickly exiting the vehicle, he made his way to the storage area where he had left the other four kids hog-tied and gagged. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw all four huddled together. For some reason, he had a bad feeling that they wouldn’t be there when he got back. That something or someone would figure it all out and get them out of there. Paulie laughed under his breath, just superstitions, there was no reason to worry. None at all.

  One by one, he dragged each kid to the van, but he waited to use the stun gun on them until they were in the van. He was too tired from driving around all night grabbing the other six kids and dragging their butts into the van. He couldn’t drag another four unconscious kids around, even if it wasn’t that far. It was far easier to have them conscious. Even if they were fighting him, they weren’t dead weight, and since the order was for petite children not yet through puberty, it wasn’t that hard.

  After they were all in the van, he shut the door and jogged around to the driver’s side of the van. He had rigged the door so it could only be opened from the outside, so he wasn’t worried they would be able to get out. He was more worried he would be late, and he knew from experience not to ever be late for this particular client. The one and only time he’d been late, the buyer had almost walked away, and his boss had nearly killed him in a blind rage for almost losing him his best customer. That was the only time Paulie had messed up, and he was damned certain he wasn’t going to let it happen again. He had decided a long time ago that if he was going to be late, he would just keep driving and not look back. He’d be dead either way, but at least he’d go out on his own terms.

  A quick glance at the clock on the dash had him swearing under his breath. It was going to be close, but if traffic cooperated, he would be there with about ten minutes to spare. Paulie did the sign of the cross. He knew it was wrong to pray for help in delivering these children to a monster, but he was raised in a very religious family and the habit was ingrained in him. Besides, he needed the extra help if all was going to work out like he wanted. If his mom knew what he did for a job, well, it was a good thing she was six feet under because even if she were rolling over in her grave, she wasn’t here for him to see the disappointment in her eyes, and that was a very, very good thing. In fact, it was the only thing that allowed him to sleep at night.

  Black watched the van pull out of the warehouse and disappear down the road, the lights off. Paulie wasn’t a novice and knew how to get in and out with little detection. Unfortunately for him, his luck had run out when Black went undercover. If there was one thing he was good at, it was trailing people. Undetected. He had discovered right away how to get the fastest results, and that was by following Paulie, which he’d been doing for months. It was so much easier to get to him than the head guy.

  Black had been told to infiltrate the network, find the head of the sex trafficking ring, and get in his good graces. It hadn’t taken as long as he thought it would to find out that the person in charge was Vance Duprey. It had taken much longer to work his way up the food chain and accomplish the latter part of his directive, and even though he’d begun to earn the trust of the man, he hadn’t met him face-to-face. Few people in his inner circle got to meet him. Things had begun to heat up in the operation over the last few weeks. There was a power struggle going on, and someone was trying to take a cut of the pie for themselves, which was making the big guy livid. For now, Black had been told to hold his ground and observe unless something crucial changed.

  There was no question in his mind that something crucial had changed. The timetable for this current order of children was short, as if the buyer was testing the capability of the purveyor of his goods. It made sense, since Black had been quietly working to undermine this particular operation for weeks, and part of the power struggle was a direct result of his machinations. But the tight turnaround was not a good thing for their operation. However, it was great for his operation, because it meant that mistakes were being made. Paulie had been sloppy for weeks. He had no idea what had been happening all around him. Another point for the good guys. Paulie knew his days were numbered, and it was definitely good timing for him to figure that out. It helped Black gain his trust, which was why Paulie had reached out to him.

  It was a good thing Black was good at making himself invisible. Tonight might be enough to end it all. All he needed to do was follow him until they got to the rendezvous point so he could ensure that they took down the buyer and got those kids because there was no freaking way he was letting those kids into the hands of a monster. His left hand tight on the wheel, he grabbed the burner phone and speed dialed his handler.

  “Got word of movement.” His tone was clipped. He wasn’t alone and able to talk freely. Even if he were alone, he would still be cautious. Black wasn’t the only one who was good at his job. His handler was one of the best.

  “Be ready. I have eyes on the shipment. Keep the line open. I’m not sure of the exact rendezvous point. I will get you coordinates.”

  “What’s your position?”

  “Currently traveling south on Jefferson.” He disconnected. It would have to be good enough for now; he couldn’t keep the line open forever.

  The line went dead and the man on the other end of the phone took a deep breath, hoping they would get the coordinates in time. For now, he would have to be happy with calling in Black’s location. He stressed over the phone call that they had to go in silent. They weren’t sure of the exact location, and if they all converged on Jefferson with lights and sirens, they would tip their hand before it was advisable and fuck the whole thing up. But he didn’t have to wait long until he got word by text.

  Old Dump Rd. Two miles S of CTY TRK B.

  Now it was time to call in the cavalry and hope they got there in time.

  17

  Surprisingly, all the vehicles converged at the right time, but even more surprising was that no one had come in with lights and sirens on. Even though the edict had gone out saying everyone should come in sans all the bells and whistles, messages get lost and the chance that someone would have come in hot and loud was pretty large. Ethan sighed a breath of relief. He was hoping that they were about to find Kimora and get her returned to her family. If that was the case, he was hoping she would be relatively unharmed, since she hadn’t been transferred to the third party who had requisitioned her kidnapping.

  They were supposed to stand down until they saw the exchange begin. They couldn’t take down the buyer without some indication there were actually children in the van and that the people in the other van were there to purchase them. There was no question that they had the seller. After all, how would he explain having ten minors tied up in his van? Ethan watched impatiently, waiting for the freaking buyer to get out of his car. They had been waiting for five minutes. For what, he didn’t know. Maybe the buyer suspected something was amiss or maybe he was just being a world class jerk and making the seller wait.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door to the other van opened, and a woman got out. Not a man, like Ethan would have expected for an exchange with so many bodies to control, but then the passenger door of the van opened, and the muscle got out. Apparently, there was a tag team on the buyer side, but the lone seller stood waiting. From his position and due to the pitch-black night, it was hard to make out the faces of the people on the road. But he could tell that the seller looked fidgety and with good reason. He just wanted to transfer the kids and get the hell out of Dodge. Smart man—well, not really. After all, he’d just kidnapped ten kids and not very expertly, since he was surrounded by police.

  They were at the dangerous part of the exchange. They couldn’t afford one of the officers to get jumpy and open fire, not with a van full of kids in the cross fire, but that wasn’t their only obstacle. If they waited until one of the kids wa
s taken out of the van, then it could turn into a hostage situation with a child for a shield. They had to take down the three people quickly. Once the order was issued, they would converge from all sides and take them out of the scene.

  What the hell were they doing in there? Just get out of the damn van already and take the kids. Hell, take the van they were currently in and leave. Paulie would be willing to walk the five miles to his piece of shit apartment. He could get a new van. Once he finally saw movement, he relaxed a fraction. About damn time. He got out of the van, eager to get this show on the road so he could get the hell out of there.

  “I have your order.” He knew it was a stupid statement. They knew he wouldn’t have shown up if he didn’t have the kids. Judging by the look on the female’s face, she was thinking the same thing.

  “The money will be transferred as soon as we see the product,” she said briskly, all business, as if she were talking about microwaves and not children.

  “Hurry up. We don’t have all night. The boss is in a hurry for his product,” the meathead muscle demanded.

  Paulie thought to himself, listen asshole, you’re the one delaying things, but he just nodded his head and moved to open the van. The quicker he got out of there, the better. His hand was on the door handle, and he had just opened it when a noise behind him distracted him, and he stopped mid-motion and turned to look over his shoulder in time to see first the woman, then the man’s head turn to red mist, and a fraction of a second before the bullet cleaved his head. He barely had enough time to regret his decision and to think of his mom before it was lights out for Paulie Romano.