Page 56 of Lake's Legacy

“The detective? Good. We need him to come right away. We found the rest of the missing women.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: LAKE

We were not prepared.

Not prepared for the smell of unwashed bodies and human waste.

Not prepared for the sight of almost two dozen pregnant women strapped to beds.

Not prepared for the sounds of weeping and the prevailing cloud of despair that permeated every inch of the room.

“Where the fuck is she?” Screams a woman, pounding on our prisoner. “You mother-fucking bastard. What did you do to her?”

Hex grabs her, wrapping his arms around her even as she struggles to escape. He’s whispering, but I don’t think she’s listening. I recognize her from her picture. Dr. Marcia Carver. Olivia’s friend.

While Zip moves to help Pirate and Dixie free the women, I go to help Hex. “You’re Dr. Carver?” I ask her.

She stills, but Hex doesn’t release his grip. Probably seeing the hate-filled glare she sends at the man she attacked. “Do I know you?”

“No. But I’m a friend of Olivia Delacroix. She’s why we’ve been looking for you and Talia.”

“Talia’s dead,” Marcia says, nodding at the men. “Those fucking bastards let their hired thugs beat her to death right in front of us. We had to watch as they destroyed her.”

Abra yanks the man Marcia attacked up off the ground and punches him hard in the liver. I wince when I see he’s wearing his brass knuckles. Getting hit in the liver hurts like a bitch. The pain sucks all the oxygen out of the man’s lungs. He can’t manage a scream. Abra repeats the punishment on the second asshole.

“Who are they?” Hex asks.

“Dr. Anton Calder and Dr. John Merkel,” Marcia spits.

“You’re fucking doctors?” Hex snarls. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“They’re not doctors. They’re fucking monsters. This asshole stole my baby.” Marcia breaks loose to kick at Dr. Calder.

“That’s not how you get him to talk, sweetheart. Hit him where it hurts,” Abra says, taking off his brass knuckles and handing them to her. She stares at them before looking between Abra and the man at her feet.

A look of demonic pleasure crosses over her pretty features as she slides them on. She pulls her arm back and slams the mental prongs into Calder’s junk. I wince at the sight but can’t hold back the chuckle when his high-pitched scream echoes around the room. The other women cheer her on.

“Tell me where my baby is,” Marcia screams at the man who whimpers in pain.

Abra shakes him. “Tell her, or I’ll deliver a kick that will send your pathetic cock into your stomach.”

“Okay,” he wheezes out. “I gave him to a man who promised to take the baby out of the country. I couldn’t let them trace the kid back to me.”

Marcia collapses against Hex, who wraps his arm around her to steady her.

“Give us a name,” Hex orders.

“Mikel, something. I don’t know who he is. He worked for one of our clients.”

“Nero?” Hex asks.

The guy jerks at the mention of Hex’s dead father-in-law.

“When was the baby born?” I ask Marcia.

She shares the date, and I look at Hex. Could it be? The timing was right. So was the player, Mikel. He brought two babies and several other children onboard a ship setting sail for South America. All were destined for grim futures until the Demon Dawgs intervened and rescued the children. We returned all the children to their families except for the two babies.

“Any chance these assholes gave Mikel two babies?” Hex asked her.

---