Page 80 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“But I didn’t go and then last year…” she gulped.

“Hey now. You have done nothing wrong. And you’re about to embark on a whole new life. One where you’re safe…”

“And my brother and mother too?” she asked.

I nodded, swallowing down the bile that threatened to make me sick.

“Yeah, I’m going to make sure you’re all safe.”

“Thank you, Mr. Davenport,” she said to the ground.

“You’re welcome, Maisie. But you can call me, Rhodes. Seeing as I’m going to be family when I marry your sister.”

“Maia’s my hero,” she whispered.

I smiled and dipped my head so I could look her in the eyes. “Mine too, sweetheart. Mine too.”

Zach stumbled down the hallway with a duffle bag stuffed full and a backpack.

“Good. Run out front and get into the car with your sister. I’ll help your mother,” I instructed the teens.

The kids took off toward the front of the house. The guard that was inside was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone out front or checked with his team out back.

“Mrs. Burke!” I called out as I made my way to the back of the house.

She was in her bedroom trying to open a large safe.

“What are you doing? We have to go.”

“Not without evidence. It’s the only way…”

“What are you talking about?”

“He keeps videos of the women he assaults. Including me. He beats me with a camera on and then assaults me sexually. I’ve seen him watching the tapes. They are here. In here!” She smacked the side of the large safe.

“Do you know the code?”

“I know the first three numbers are 326 but I don’t know the last two!” she cried.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll deal with him after we get you all safe,” I promised.

She shook her head. “No! I’ll never be able to breathe fresh air unless he’s behind bars or dead! We need the proof!” She kept typing in the numbers. “Think Lena, what does he love more than anything else?”

“Himself,” I grated sarcastically.

Her eyes widened. “On the phone, what letters represent the three and the two?”

“Uh, DEF and ABC.”

“And the 6?” she asked.

I did the alphabet quickly in my head and related them to the numbers on a phone. “MNO.”

“Oh my god! I’m so stupid!” She typed in the 326 and then 66. “D-A-M-O-N” she said out loud. Then the safe clicked andpopped open. Of course the number 666 would coincide with the name Damon.

Inside there was money, guns, ammo, files, and a box filled with individual flash drives, each with a woman’s name taped across it. She grabbed the box and nothing else.

“Now I’m ready to go,” she said as a gunshot blasted from somewhere outside. She spun around and went as white as a ghost. “Watch out!” she screamed.

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