Page 93 of Sapphire's Gem
???
“Here!” Birdie yelled at the top of her lungs. We’d arrived within thirteen minutes and met most of my sisters there. The uniforms with Cassidy didn’t look too impressed at our presence, but the extra hands were needed. We’d been looking for five minutes when Hatton appeared with several more uniformed officers and two ambulances. It had been ten minutes of frantic searching when Birdie called out.
“Where?” Hatton yelled somewhere to my right.
“Row twenty-six, line H,” Birdie shouted. “It’s locked, but someone is banging on the inside. Hurry! I need bolt cutters!”
Hayden and I hurried to where Birdie was shouting from and arrived as Cassidy snapped the chains on the container. He pulled the door open, and we all gagged at the stench.
“Shit,” Hatton gasped as we all shone our torches and lit up the first bodies. Blank, cloudy eyes, white, waxy skin confirmed they were dead. Somewhere inside, someone banged weakly repeatedly.
“Remove Heart!” I ordered Vengeance, who nodded and grabbed Heart, who looked about to pass out. Hayden sent her a look as Hatton began bellowing orders down a phone.
“Get more ambos, I need crime scene unit out here and more uniforms…” He walked away as the paramedics moved in.
The bodies were piled on top of one another, as I’d stated.
“This one is alive,” a paramedic shouted as he touched a body under two others.
“Move them out one at a time, and we’ll check them. They’re crammed in like sardines,” his partner called.
“We’ll help,” I announced.
The paramedic looked at Hatton, who nodded.
“We need all the aid we can get. Cassidy, take charge while I call in a code orange,” Hatton ordered.
I moved forward with Hatton, who stopped and grabbed something from Cassidy.
“Put this under your nose, Sapphire, you’ll need it,” he said, handing me a jar of salve. I did as he ordered and handed it to my sisters. The stench of death faded; it was still present, but the ointment blocked much of it out.
We formed a queue. Hayden, Cassidy, Sparrow, and I all moved towards the container. We’d pass the bodies to the uniforms and my sisters, who’d pass them to a paramedic. He’d check for signs of life. If there were none, they’d be placed gently to one side. Those who were alive would be handed over to the other paramedics for treatment.
The first body Hayden and I carried was of a man in his twenties. He was dead. I couldn’t look at his face, as I knew it would tear me apart. Our next was a teenager. She was gone too, and my heart broke a little. I shoved all emotions aside. There was nothing we could do for her right now, but we would get revenge for her murder.
One by one, we removed more dead than living. Stitch was outside, and I could see her propped by Dagger as she sought faint life signs and bolstered them until we could reach them. Somewhere in the night, sirens screamed, and more uniforms and ambulances arrived. We saw the fire department. Hatton had taken over again and was roaring out commands. The coroner’s office had turned up alongside the Chief of Police and the Mayor.
Hayden and I kept working, as did my sisters. Chief didn’t seem too happy to have the Harlots on site, but Hatton pointed out it had been us who’d got the tip-off and reported it. Hattonalso stated that we’d come ready to help, and he’d not slap that back. Finally, we reached the end of the container and swapped glances.
“So much death,” I muttered.
“Babe, come on,” Hayden urged, although he seemed as shellshocked as me.
Hatton met us as we exited the hellhole that had claimed so many lives. He looked older than his years, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Numbers,” Hayden said, and Hatton nodded.
“One hundred and twenty-three in total. There couldn’t have been room to stand. They’d been crammed in. Thirty-seven men, twenty children aged between three and sixteen we think, and sixty-six women. Six men survived, four children, and five women. It’s still touch and go on a couple of them,” Hatton announced.
I searched for Stitch and noted how pale she was; she appeared almost translucent. “They’ll make it.”
“Somehow I think they will,” Hatton agreed, his gaze on Stitch as her own eyes rolled up and she passed out. Dagger supported her weight.
“I need to call a prospect to pick Stitch up,” I muttered, and Hatton shook his head.
“I’ll have a uniform take her back to the club with Dagger. Their bikes will be safe here until they can be collected,” Hatton offered.
I glanced up at Hayden, who nodded.
