Page 70 of Kill Me Sweetly

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the syringe. With Wes thinking I was out, I popped the top and stood as slowly and quietly as I could.

“What do you got, big guy?” Wes taunted.

Angel was stepping away from him, and Wes was following easily. I held the syringe up and while there were parts of the body that it would work faster if injected, I just wanted this guy to pass the fuck out.

He went to kick Angel, and I stabbed him right in the side, pushed the liquid in, and jumped away fast.

“What the…” He looked down at me. “What did you give me?”

“GHB. It won’t kill you.”

He spun on me. Normally GHB took fifteen to twenty minutes to take effect if ingested, which was what we’d be looking at if he’d eaten the muffin. But I’d injected him, and I had to hope it would work a hell of a lot faster.

“Shit.” Wes grabbed his side. “Why’d you do that?”

“Seriously?” I gestured to my face. “Can you not see what you did to me?”

“You really don’t understand.” He sighed. “It won’t matter what you do to me or what answers I give you. They’re big and powerful.”

“We’ve dealt with big and powerful.” Angel stepped up behind him. “That shit’s in your system, no two ways about it. You gonna fight until it takes effect?”

“I have to.”

“Four didn’t, and you don’t.”

He narrowed his gaze. “Four is weak.”

“No, you’re both strong. It’s not fair what happened to you.” I stepped closer and he lunged.

I held him to me; we couldn’t dose him again without causing him serious harm. He squirmed a bit, but there was no fight in him.

“It’s working.” I tilted my head toward the door. “Let’s get him in the car and to the house. He’ll be out in a minute.”

By the time we got Wes into the seat, he was passed out. Angel had to remove his tracker, and we hoped it was in the same spot as Four’s. In the back seat he sanitized it as best as he could and then numbed the area.

“Cross your fingers,” he said before he sliced. “Bingo.” He plucked out the tracker and tossed it out the window. I waited for Angel to stitch him, and as soon as I got the all-clear, I sped out of there.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

JJ

Penny pickedup the phone and dialed. “Please prepare the girls for company.” And hung up. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.

“These girls have been through a lot, and sudden changes to their schedules is disruptive. I’ll ask you both to limit your conversations with them.”

“Lewis and I have no intention of upsetting anyone.” I softened my voice. “But would you want to put money into an operation if you couldn’t see and talk to the workers?”

“These girls do not work. They learn and thrive.”

“Of course.” Mason held his hands out in a placating gesture. “We will not take up much of their time.”

Ten minutes later, we were in a large room. It reminded me of a ballroom, just slightly smaller. There were a few lines of chairs, and in each one sat a girl. Their ages ranged from I’d assume four to about seventeen, maybe. They were in either pink, yellow, or white dresses, hands folded on their laps, and their eyes trained on the floor. It was fucking eerie.

“Girls,” Penny announced and their heads rose in unison…Yup, totally freaky.“This is Mr. and Mr. Columbus. Theyare hoping to speak with you today. Please show respect and remember your rules.”

Rules? I met Mason’s eyes; he was obviously wondering the same thing.

Mason moved over to the right so I went to the left. There was a girl, maybe ten with bright-red pigtails and freckles. Her dress was yellow, and when she looked up at me her eyes shone like emeralds.

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