Page 49 of Operation: Integrity

Kelly went through a door and Viceroy sat in a thick, velvet padded chair. Everything in the room was tailored to his comfort, despite the fact that the rest of the building appeared to be falling down.

“Get over here,” Nathan said from a far corner of the room. She hadn’t even noticed he was there, though he appeared to be even more beat up than she was.

Kelly took a few steps closer but wanted to stay out of striking distance. If she had to die, she didn’t want to get beaten first. She stopped and took a deep breath. “What do you want me to tell you?”

Viceroy was on his feet in a split second and slapped her before she knew what he’d planned. Her only consolation was that her metal collar had left a long gash on the side of his hand. His blood splattered down the front of her shirt.

“Don’t you dare speak without being spoken to, garbage.” Viceroy sat back in his seat and held out his injured hand. The woman immediately came forward and tended to him.

“Now, you will tell me exactly how you escaped. Leave nothing out. If you had help, I want names.”

Kelly swallowed hard. The company that had helped her wasn’t a secret. Their mission was on their website. Telling Viceroy wouldn’t do anything because FREE International didn’t hide who they were or what theyintended to do. But would he hurt those who worked there? They’d helped her like no one else, and if her life was over anyway, why risk all the people who worked for FREE?

“I’m afraid it’s a pretty boring story. Nathan let me out of my room to visit with Jasmine as he did once a week. Instead of going to her room, I decided I was done and left.”

“You decided?” Viceroy laughed. “What compelled you to think you could grow a brain?”

Heat blazed up her neck. This was the same treatment she’d endured for years, but now she knew there was life out there, life with Sam at Wayside where they cared if she ate or took a walk. Not in the sense that she wasn’t allowed to, but in the sense that they cared where she was.

“I’ve had one for some time.” She’d just forgotten to use it.

“Perhaps it’s time to end that nonsense.” Viceroy pulled out a long black pistol and laid it on the arm of his chair. “Now that you understand that hell is your destination, why don’t you try the truth? Let’s start with that big trailer you went into right after you snuck outside?”

Hopeless.There were too many houses and no one in sight. Sam followed Zeus up a slight hill to a residential area past the first house. The neighborhood was full of the same four houses in various colors, and the same people had probably lived in them for decades.

Zeus ran up to the front door of the second house on the right, whined then sat. Sam looked at the door and had doubts. There was no way Kelly was in there, but justlike the inn, Zeus wouldn’t have gone there without having been there before.

Connor strode up the walkway. “This isn’t your typical trafficking neighborhood.” He rolled his eyes. “I think this is a bust.”

An old man opened the door behind Zeus and glanced at Sam and Connor. “Can I help you with something?”

Sam took a deep breath. “I know this is going to sound strange, but I’m looking for a missing woman. She was in this neighborhood with this dog earlier today. Is there any chance you saw her?”

The old man bit his lip, looked back into the house, then tiptoed outside. “My wife told me not to get involved because she was scared this morning.”

Sam nodded, leading him a few more steps away from the door. He didn’t want the wife to get wind that her husband was doing something she wouldn’t want him to, or they’d lose the only possible witness to whatever happened to Kelly. “Tell me what happened.”

“I was making a late breakfast. I’m retired, so I can stay in bed a little late if I want to. Well, as I was about to dig into my eggs, someone starts knocking on the door and it’s strange. Like they’re pounding, but it’s rapid like a regular knock. I got to the window and there was this girl out there. She was wearing a huge coat and backpack. She had a dog with her, just like that one.”

Sam swallowed hard, bile burning his throat. “What then?”

“I had only pulled up one of my little blinds to see what was going on as this really sharply dressed woman strode up the walk carrying a gun. I didn’t want to get in her way, but she kind of looked like the police. I thoughtmaybe the girl was under arrest. She looked homeless, but that dog looked too nice for her to be homeless. Anyway, the police or FBI lady, whoever she was, she took the girl right off my porch and the dog went running. They didn’t go after him, so I hoped the dog was okay. I see now that he is.” He rocked on his feet. “That’s all I know. Oh, and this.” He pulled something from the pocket of his robe.

Connor took a deep breath. “That’s from Wayside.” He took the knife from the man’s hand. “Did you happen to see the vehicle they got into? Was it a car, truck, van, SUV?”

“It was a limo. That’s the only thing that didn’t sit right with my theory.” The older man grinned and pulled his house coat closer around himself then looked up and down the street like someone might hear him. “I don’t know any cops or feds that ride around in limos, picking up vagrants.” He chuckled. “I guess the government has more money than even I thought.”

The old man thought this was a joke. Sam massaged the tense spot between his eyes. “She wasn’t a vagrant. She was a victim. Did you see which direction they went?”

The man’s brows dipped. “Victim?” He sucked in a huge breath. “I witnessed a kidnapping?” He clutched his chest. “My wife isn’t going to believe this.”

Connor gripped the older man’s arm. “Did you see where they went?”

He pointed down the street. “They have to turn at some point. It’s a dead end. I didn’t watch them though. I’m sorry.” He flinched. “I can’t believe it.”

Sam couldn’t believe it either. Another dead end.

Chapter Twenty-Two

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