Page 86 of Royal Sons MC

A sly grin split Traeger’s lips. “Don’t be jealous, brother. So, what did you want to ask Kailani? And remember, she’s mine.” The warning was aimed at Keys. Although he was smart as fuck, computers were his thing, but he tended to forget humans had feelings.

“Got it, Trigger. I will not offend your ole’ lady.” Keys saluted Traeger, clearing his throat before he continued in a respectful tone. “Ma’am, I wanted to show you some pictures and see if you’ve ever...been to the establishments. We don’t need details of what went on, just whatever you can tell us about the place itself and maybe the owners.” Keys drank from his glass, coughing as the liquid went down wrong.

“First of all, Keys? Can I call you that?” She waited for him to nod. “Good. Now, you don’t call me ma’am since I’m most assuredly not older than you. Second, I will look at whatever you have, and trust me, nothing you can throw at me will make me blush. Third, don’t get your hopes up thinking I have the knowledge you seek. Most of the time, I was taken in a blacked-out vehicle to whatever residence requested me. I wasn’t given the freedom to do as I pleased when I was there. Although I wasn’t locked in a cage, there was always a measure of security around me.” She held her hand out toward the tablet.

King looked toward Traeger, waiting for him to agree. Traeger gave a brief nod, but his jaw was clenched so tightly that King worried his friend would chip a tooth. He put his hand over the device before she could pull it to her. “Kailani, I want you to know that we will never ask of you anything we wouldn’t ask of our own women.” And that was the truth. He pictured Ayesha in this woman’s shoes. Although he hated the thought, if it saved one victim from the shit his sister had suffered, the blatant atrocities Kailani had gone through, he would allow it. He’d hate it, but he’d allow it.

“You must understand this isn’t just a game for these people. There are men and even women who do this. Human trafficking is a huge business that garners them a lot of money as well as pleasure.” She reached for the tablet again. This time, King gave it to her.

Slowly, she flipped through the images, her head moving back and forth as she looked over each one. King didn’t think she would recognize any of the homes or men until a gasp had them all leaning forward.

“Where is this?” she asked, pointing at the house they’d called the Starship Enterprise.

Keys pulled up the image on his phone. “Holy fucking shit,” he swore.

“What?” King and Duke asked at the same time.

“How have we never seen that place? It’s literally within a half hour from here to Santa Monica.” He lifted his phone, showing them what he’d found.

“Do you recognize it?” Traeger asked, his voice dangerously low.

“Traeger,” King warned.

Traeger held his hand up. The injured one with ease, showing no sign of pain. “Answer me, Kailani.”

She nodded. “Not exactly recognize the outside, but I recognize it. I...remember because it was talked about. I didn’t see it when I was taken there, but I heard those same words. The men—they all like to brag about things. He, the owner of the place, talked about the plan and took pride in calling it his version of Starship on Steroids. They joked that the drugs underground were much better than what they could get anywhere in the world.” She shivered and closed her eyes.

“We don’t need those details, baby. Can you remember anything about the layout of the place?” Traeger pulled her into his body as he spoke.

“There were several different elevators. The one we came in on was unmanned, which isn’t shocking. Can’t really have a bodyguard inside an elevator that the public might see. However, further inside, when I was taken to the lower level, that elevator had a guard outside and one inside. Now you want to talk state-of-the-art, that one leveled up. We’re talking retinal scanners and everything. I guess the guard was only there to make sure the money men weren’t harmed.” She shrugged.

“Can you remember how many levels there were?” King asked.

Kailani took a deep breath, leaning into Traeger and his rubbing hand. King had never felt jealous of other men and their show of affection with their ole’ ladies, but he wanted to find Ayesha and do some dirty damn things with her.

“I remember we came in through an underground garage. So we came up through an elevator. That one was clearly the public one. At that point, we...mingled with the guests for a couple hours. On this level.” She pointed at the image on the screen. “I remember thinking how easy it would be to take a running leap off the edge and just end it all. The only reason I didn’t was the other girl with me was frightened, and I thought I could protect her,” she spat.

King filled in the blanks, as did the other men. “When you were taken to the other elevator, I’m assuming you didn’t take any stairs from this level beforehand?” He waited until she shook her head. “So, we got two levels above this one that we see. How many levels were on the elevator, or did you see any numbers?”

“The number three was lit up, so I knew we were on level 3. The numbers on the wall were like every other elevator, with eight being the largest, but there was a B and a G.”

“Shit, so there are a possible ten levels. So the thirty thousand square feet could be a lot more.” Duke stood up. “Anyone need a refill?”

“We came in the garage, but it wasn’t huge. Maybe twenty cars could fit in there at the same time. As for the basement, I’m not sure what’s there, maybe the electrical rooms and stuff.”

“I’m going to ask you one question, and it’s a little personal. I don’t want details. I just need to know about one of the eight floors. When you were down on the first floor, was it broken up into rooms, or...” King trailed off, not knowing what to say.

She took a deep breath. “Stepping off the elevator, you’re greeted with a foyer. There, you’ll see a desk where the guest can decide what he or she wants. They can get a private room, many already set up beforehand, or they can take their toy to the open gathering, where they can do what they please. It’s a free-for-all, King. There are no rules for them down there.”

“I want to kill them all.” Traeger’s tone was guttural, yet his touch didn’t change on Kailani. King wasn’t sure how the man held such restraint.

“Did you recognize any of the others?” Keys asked.

After Kailani had gone through the other images, King was impatient about returning to Ayesha. He’d pulled up the surveillance cameras inside his house, telling himself it was just to make sure they were doing okay, but in truth, it was to reassure himself she was still there.

When they finished, Traeger asked, “Do you want Tiana to come and hang out with me and Kailani for a while?”

King raised one of his brows. “Am I that transparent?”

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