Page 32 of Fatal Temptation

He needed to get closer.

He ran his gaze across the buildings on either side of the trafficking ring’s. He settled on the one to his left and slowly made his way down the street, crossing it to walk down the driveway that led to the side door of the building.

There were no cameras to be seen, nor any people when he looked up and down the street, so he reached for the door handle. It was locked. He wasn’t surprised.

He didn’t have any tools on him and kicking the door down wouldn’t do.

He cursed under his breath and took off toward the back of the building. He was moving into dangerous territory. While there were plenty of roads leading in and out from back there, he would be wholly exposed with only a few cars to hide behind if necessary.

He pulled a cap out of his pocket, kept there for purposes like this, and tucked it over his head, keeping his gaze low as he walked down the street.

The only access points he found were either boarded up or fenced in. It was a damned fortress.

He was close to heading back when he heard a car approaching. He dropped behind one of the parked cars, hand on his gun as he watched a blue pickup truck driving down the street, heading toward him. It stopped in front of the garage door leading into the ring’s building, two men jumping out.

He kept his hand on his gun as he watched them unlock the padlock on the garage door and push it up. One of the men turned, giving Lucas a good look at him.

It was the guy from the other location. The one who’d seen him as he was closing the back of the truck. He was certain. This was it. This was the place. They could finally take out at least one big part of the ring’s operation.

He snapped a few pictures for the warrant but stayed where he was, watching as the pickup drove inside. He damned near held his breath when he watched those men drag a woman out of the backseat. She was wearing a short skirt, her white top barely in one piece, and she looked absolutely strung out. Her black hair was matted and in a bun on top of her head.

He made sure to get pictures of her, too. He had no doubt she was likely on that ever-growing missing person’s list at the Bureau.

When the garage door was pulled back down, he got up and made his way back to his car where he called Edmunds.

The second the call was picked up, he said, “I have a location for the trafficking ring. I’m sending you the address. Meet me there with the team.”

He hung up before Edmunds could protest and texted him the address and then he sent Akio a message, too.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Akio

GETTING A, ‘you did it,’ text wasn’t on his bingo card. The only thing he’d done was tell Lucas his father’s dirty secrets. Things he’d realized he should’ve told someone?anyone?years ago. Yes, he could hide behind the fact that he didn’t know someone would take over where Kaito left off. That he was essentially in a sort of witness protection because of who he was. Whose son he was. But it didn’t lessen the guilt.

He’d seen the people Kaito took and sold. He’d looked at them and remembered being almost jealous of them. At least they’d had the fortune of not being born Kaito Yokota’s son. He’d known it was wrong to feel that way even then.

He’d been helping his father. Hell, he’d been pissed at Diesel when Kaito had taken him and Chris. He’d been so helpless and scared and seeing his brother so strong and loved? He’d wanted to hurt him. He’d seen his psychologist enough to know that he’d been in an impossible situation. He’d been abused and brainwashed by his father.

The abuse had gotten worse, and he’d fought harder, but it had no end. Even before that day, he’d known what he’d end up doing. Had known it was the only way and in the end, he’d grabbed a gun and fired it at Kaito. He’d shot him in the chest. He’d been frail to begin with, the most recent of his wounds only a few days old, and coupled with the adrenaline crash, it had been too much for his body.

He’d been in the hospital for weeks, Lucas occupying the chair next to his bed when Diesel and Chris weren’t there. Lucas’s face was the one he saw when he needed peace. When he needed something warm and tangible to hold onto. Lucas smiling down at him and cracking jokes as if he hadn’t watched him shoot his own father. As if Akio was just a person. Lucas saw him. He always had.

He jumped when his phone started buzzing in his hand. He looked down at it with a fluttering in his chest, but it wasn’t Lucas calling.

“Hey, sis.”

“Hey, you. Everything alright? Your text was kinda cryptic,” Addie said.

He barely remembered having texted her, but he knew he’d asked her a question he probably shouldn’t have because it was about his father.

“I…”

Addie understood better than most. She’d been kidnapped and held for weeks, destined for one of Kaito’s auctions. Diesel had saved her and a bunch of other little girls. She’d been stronger than him, though. She’d protected the other girls. Standing her ground whenever she could. Addie was a fighter.

He wasn’t sure how to get the words out, so he’d just said the first thing that came to mind. He knew it wouldn’t make much sense to Addie without some context.

He released a breath. “My father left a void.”

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