Page 2 of The Dragon's Dream Mate (Savage Shifters Special Ops 3)

I called later that day, when I heard about Cedric, to talk to the family. When I didn’t get an answer, I went to their house. Maria hugged me so tight and told me that Lucian had left.

My heart broke in half. I went back home and took off the ring that had been full of love and hope. I put it in my jewelry box, sat down, and cried. I cried for myself. I cried for Cedric and his parents. I cried for Lucian, and most of all, I cried for our lost future.

For several weeks, I was inconsolable. I had never imagined facing life without Lucian.

Bit by bit, I managed to pick up the broken pieces of my shattered soul. I felt as though I were cut by the jagged edges, and there were scars that would never heal.

Once I managed to become mostly whole, though, I put an impenetrable shield around me that no one could ever get through.

I dated a little, but the relationships never lasted. I refused to allow myself to love again. I refused to let anyone access to any part of me; I kept myself protected with the façade I had erected.

Finding myself lost, I went to college. I sat in on some lectures about criminal justice and one lecture about human trafficking. Something inside of me was moved, and, for once, I started to care again. The stories from the survivors and the stories from the parents who lost their children - even sisters, brothers, and friends - ignited a spark in me.

I earned my degrees in criminal justice and cyber forensics. Then, straight out of the university, I applied to the FBI. I was accepted and was sent to Quantico for training. I trained for twenty weeks, excelling in all four components of the training: academics, case exercises, firearms training, and operational skills.

Rising quickly through the ranks, due to hard work and dedication, I managed to become assigned to the department that focused on the area that first captured my attention – Human Trafficking.

The statistics were staggering. It is estimated that there are between twenty and forty million people who are enslaved in the world today due to human trafficking. Approximately fifty-two percent of those are children involved in sex trafficking.

I wanted to save every single person I could. My parents, my sister, my partners, and even my supervisors would tell me that I had to face the fact that I couldn’t save every single child.

My brain understood that. I knew that I couldn’t. But my heart told me I had to try and I was going to give it everything I had.

No one understood why I was so passionate about it. I really wasn’t sure myself.

Then, I got a phone call from my sister, Nora. My fourteen-year-old niece, Simone, had disappeared.

Nora was hyperventilating when I got to her house. Simone’s bed had not been slept in. Her bedroom window was wide open. A few of Simone’s favorite outfits were missing, as was a framed picture of her parents and me, and her hairbrush.

I asked for Simone’s computer and phone. Her phone was missing, but I got into her computer pretty quickly. Her password was Dixie, the name of her dog.

Simone had tried to hide her online activity, but she’d forgotten that Aunt Rainey could find just about anything.

What I found nearly made my heart stop. A man, with the code name Bad Boi, who claimed he was 16, had been talking to Simone for the past three months. He sent her pictures and asked for some in return. Simone sent him profile shots of her face to begin with, then of her body with clothes, and then pictures that broke my heart.

He told her that he had fallen in love with her. Simone had asked him if they could meet in person, but Bad Boi, who said his name was Brad, always had a reason why he couldn’t.

Then, two nights ago, he told her that his father had died and left him some money. Brad said that if she could sneak out and meet him, they would run away together. They could have a life that was full of fun. They would never have to worry about parents or anything else.

Nora said that Simone’s behavior had changed a lot recently. Nora said that her grades had dropped and that Simone had quit hanging out with the family. She said she had tried looking through the computer while Simone was at school but never saw anything suspicious.

That was because Nora didn’t know how to look for the deleted files.

“Nora, I recognize the online name. He works for a group of human traffickers that I have been tracing for a while. He’s been grooming Simone, and she fell for it.”

Nora broke into tears. “Rainey, you have to find her. You have to.”

My resolve hardened. I couldn’t love Simone more if she were my own daughter.

“Nora, you have my word. I will find her, or I will die trying.”

1

Rainey

Iwent to my supervisor and explained the situation.

He said, “This is the same group you’ve been chasing. You always catch the underlings but not the people behind it. What makes you think this will be different?”

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