Page 18 of Echoes of Fear

“Say’s the brilliant mind who figured it out.”

I smile even though my face is on fire.

Again.

“Have you decoded the whole message?” Jax asks.

I pull up the message and show them.

My husband, Edward Thompson, is kidnapping young girls and renting them out. He’s working with the group in New York called the Celtic Cartels. I have people watching my back,and I won’t be here much longer. I’ll explain everything later. Please, tell my brother to back off and wait. You do the same, Knox. These people are itching to get to you. Don’t give them a reason to.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not stepping down on this one,” I inform the room. “Emily sent some files that I’m running through missing persons. Guys, these kids are as young as eleven years old. I know this isn’t something we typically deal with and maybe sending the information to the Phantoms would be our best bet, but something in my gut is telling me that I need to help.

I’m stuck within these walls day in and day out, and it makes me feel useless. I need to do what I can to help. None of you even need to be involved. I just wanted Taylor and his men to know that Emily was safe.”

“Is she, though?” Parker asks.

I look from Parker to Taylor and choose my words carefully. There was more to Emily’s message than what I shared.

“No lying, Pup,” Taylor warns. “It’s okay if there is something you don’t want to tell me, but don’t lie.”

Pup?I used to dream that my Daddy Dom would one day call me that. It’s always been my favorite name for submissives like myself.

I don’t want this stranger calling me Pup. That’s being saved for someone special.

But, when he said it, why did I feel my entire being relax?

“She can handle herself,” I answer. “As long as she does what they tell her to do, they leave her alone.”

“What are they having her do, Pup?” Taylor asks.

Fudge.

“Your sister looks far younger than her twenty-three years,” I answer.

“She has a baby face,” Parker smiles.

“She’s our baby sister,” Hayes says. “Blood or not, she belongs to all of us. We just want her to come home.”

I’m afraid that if Anthony and the guys find out what they’re forcing me to do, they will hate me. I already hate myself.

I internally read that message from Emily over in my head. I don’t think these men will hate her. But, then again, I don’t really know them all that well.

Taylor opens my still-sealed bottle of water and hands it to me.

“Drink,” he orders quietly.

“I hate water,” I mutter before taking a sip.

Feeling a little overwhelmed, I stand and move to the hallway. I’m still in view of everyone in the room, but I just need to remind myself that I can escape. There’s no one between me and the front door.

I’m safe.

“You’re safe, Pup,” Taylor echoes my thoughts, looking concerned.

Double fudge.

“She’s afraid that you’re going to hate her,” I admit.

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