Page 33 of Apple Martinis

Chapter 9

Piper

“Does anyone know where we are?” I whisper but try to ask loud enough for one of the others in here to hear me.

“Didn’t we tell you already to shut up before they hear you?” A voice says with exasperation.

“Yeah. Shut up. The rest of us don’t want what happened last time someone wouldn’t shut up to happen again.” Another says.

“What happened?” I ask, trying any way that I can to get them to talk to me.

“They took one of the little kids out of the crates and shocked her with a cattle prod until we told who was talking so much.”

My hand comes up to cover my mouth at the realization that there’s children in here as well.

“And the one who was talking? What happened to her?” I ask with trepidation.

“Don’t know for sure. All we could hear was the screaming while men were laughing.” Another voice says from somewhere behind me.

“Does anyone know where they are planning to take us?” I ask, waiting for a response.

“I think I heard one of them say somewhere South of the border but I can’t remember where exactly. Or why.” A younger girl responds and I’m certain she’s only a teenager.

“An auction.” A much younger voice that sounds as if they’ve been crying says.

“They’re going to sell us.” I state, a tear slipping down my cheek.

Rome

“I’ve got them!” Gio yells and we all move over to look over his shoulder. “They switched vehicles a few miles out and I was able to track it using camera’s that I could hack into. As far as I can tell, this is where they stopped and are still there.” He points to what looks like an old industrial building.

“It looks abandoned.” August says and I look at the place on a camera that’s somewhere across the street from it.

“That’s why they’d use it. No one would think to look where there’s no lights shining.” Skeeter says, turning to one of his men who walks back out the door. “How many men were you able to see on any of the camera’s?” He asks Gio.

“I counted three in the van. Figure there’s at least a few more inside the warehouse. There’s no way Piper is the only one they kidnapped.” Gio answers with a grimace.

“That many girls missing from one area would draw attention right?” I ask, trying to understand.

“They wouldn’t all be from the same area. They’d be spaced out throughout several counties. Traffickers like to find a central location as their base. They then assign certain counties to certain members in their organization and they have to find a certain number of women, children and sometimes even boys.”

“Fucking hell.” I close my eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Right? Fucking hell.” August murmurs, taking a seat at the table.

“This is a huge business that grows even larger every year. It’s a never ending fight.” Skeeter rubs between his eyes.

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