Page 96 of Before This Ends (Before)

“It’s smart,” Clay mumbles, and I can see he’s barely holding onto the rage he’s feeling. “So fucking smart. They’re immigrants. Most people wouldn’t care they’re missing, or they would assume what the organization is saying is correct—they ran and are now living somewhere else illegally.” He shakes his head. “And their families aren’t here to ask questions or demand answers from the police.”

“Jesus.” I look back down at the papers I’m holding, at the faces of the women, all young, pretty, hopeful. None of them having a clue what they were signing up for, all of them probably sure they were working toward a better life.

“The calls going into dispatch and being rerouted?” Tucker prompts.

“Even after digging around in the emergency services system, I couldn’t find anything on them. Most likely, they are deleted immediately. My guess is from time to time, one of the women gets ahold of a phone to reach out for help.”

“And then one of Stedman’s crew steps in.” I swallow over the bile crawling up my throat. “This is bigger than just police corruption.”

“Way bigger,” Clay agrees, and I look up at Tucker.

“Who’s the weakest link in Stedman’s crew?”

“Hanson. He just got married and had a baby,” he says immediately, obviously thinking about it for a while now.

“We need to tell Axel so he can bring him in and see if he can get Hanson to flip.”

I focus back on Clay. “Can you find these women?” I lift the papers I’m still holding onto.

“I’m already working on it.” His grin is scary. “One way or another, I’m getting them out before shit hits the fan.”

“Good.” Normally, that wouldn’t be my response to him stepping in on an official case, but under these circumstances, we need his help. Without someone on the inside who’s been working undercover for a while, it’s going to be difficult for us to track down each of the women and find where they’re being kept.

After a call with Axel, in which he agrees to bring in Hanson, Tucker and I leave Clay’s place. Neither of us told Axel about Clay stepping in to find the women, nor that he would be getting them out if possible. Axel might approve us using outside resources on a case from time to time, but he would be pissed if he found out Clay would be removing possible witnesses.

I get it, but who knows what might happen to those women if they’re not found before we blow the roof off the organization. At best, they get out and are sent home. At worst, they disappear and are never heard from again. The latter is the most likely scenario when dealing with this kind of situation, a situation where the stakes are high, and people are desperate to avoid being convicted of a crime.

When I get downstairs, I lock up and shut everything down, then head into the bedroom, where Em is still sitting up with her computer.

“Everything okay?” she asks, her eyes scanning my face.

“Yeah.” I take off my shirt and walk toward the bathroom. “I’m gonna jump into the shower.”

After starting the water, I kick off my shorts and toss them toward the laundry basket, then step into the glass stall. Closing my eyes, I let the hot water pound against the top of my head and shoulders in an attempt to beat away some of the tension now coiled around my muscles.

A cold gust of air has me opening my eyes, and I watch Em step into the shower with me, glasses gone and hair down, sweeping the tips of her breasts. Shutting the door, she doesn’t say a word as she grabs the bottle of body wash, dumps some in her hands, and begins washing me from my chest down, taking her time. When her fist wraps around my now-hard cock, I grit my teeth. She leans up on her tiptoes to kiss me while pumping my shaft in her grip.

When she pulls her mouth from mine, she rinses me off, then I watch her drop to her knees in front of me and tip her head back, swirling her tongue around the head of my cock.

“Fuck,” I curse under my breath, gripping her hair in my fist.

“Bad word coin.” She smiles, looking up at me from under her lashes. I start to laugh but end up groaning when she takes me fully into her mouth, and I hit the back of her throat.

“Jesus.” I watch my cock disappear over and over between her full lips, her hand on my thigh moving to the back to pull me deeper, her other hand sliding between her legs.

“Do not fucking touch your pussy, Em,” I bite out, and her hand stills. Seeing the desperation in her eyes is almost enough to do me in. Sucking me off is turning her on, and I have never seen anything more beautiful in my fucking life.

When I know I’m about to lose it and come down her throat, I pull free of her mouth and yank her up off the floor. Lifting her off her feet, I pin her to the wall, her breathing ragged as I bury myself inside her and grip her ass with digging fingers.

The sound of the shower barely drowns out her whimpers as I fuck her hard, my teeth nipping her jaw, throat, and then I pull her breast into my mouth, sucking hard on one, then the other. Her walls start to suck me deeper, and I move my hand between us, rolling my fingers over that bundle of nerves. Letting her breast go, I take her mouth again, then groan as she comes, moaning my name against my mouth.

Lost in her, I bottom out, my legs going weak as blackness seeps into the edge of my vision. One day, I might get to the point where coming inside her doesn’t feel like an out-of-body experience, but that day is not today. Breathing heavy and heart pounding, I drop my forehead to her chest, her fingers dragging through my hair.

It takes me a couple of minutes to compose myself enough to know I won’t drop her or fall to my knees if I lose the leverage the wall is offering me. Slowly leaning back, I help her slide down my body to her feet. She clings to me as I clean her up and do the same for myself, then I get out and grab a towel to wrap her in it.

When we’re both dressed and in bed a few minutes later, I pull her into my arms, and she snuggles into me.

“Tell me something I don’t know about you,” she says, sounding half asleep.

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