Page 41 of Concealed

“Hang Whey… Some shit like that, I don’t know, man.”

My blood runs cold, and all my body processes slow right down in preparation for fight or flight.

“Do you mean Zhang Wei?” I ask the question carefully and pronounce the name slowly and clearly.

Chider snaps his fingers. “That’s it. Some low-level Asian pimp or some shit. I don’t know why anyone is scared of him, he’s probably about as tall as my knee.”

Zhang Wei.

He’s the leader of the California branch of the Reapers based out of Hong Kong with international ties literally everywhere. His list of sins could wrap around the planet and has everything from racketeering to murder.

The Reaper boys are notorious human traffickers, and I’m not surprised to hear their names come up. Second to the drug trade, human trafficking is the worst crime in California, and it goes hand-in-hand with pimping and gaining a position of power – not super hard to do over children.

These girls become modern-day slaves and are sexually exploited for profit.

“Have you ever seen him?” I ask.

“No. I just know he supposedly gets his panties in a knot if anyone talks to a girl he wants. One of the guys who recruit for him, the chat name he uses is Mustang’ 99. That’s all I know.”

“Chat name?”

The tingles are full-on shivers now because if he’s giving me a way for forensics to track online activity, then this conversation ishuge. We know the ring leaders are online, but we don’t know where.

“You know, how he meets some of the ladies. He goes on Chat Tok.”

Chat Tok is the biggest social media networking site in the world. Anywhere young girls go to hang out, no doubt Chider and his friends go there, too, with fake backstories and pleas to meet up with them.

“Thank you, Mr. Chider. You’ve been extremely helpful.”

“You’ll get rid of my ticket, yeah?”

“Absolutely.”

“I can’t pay no four-hundred dollar fine. And I couldn’t pay last time, so they’re gonna take my damn license away, and I need my license.”

I pass him a freshly printed business card. “Call me if you hear anything else. You never know when you’ll need another traffic violation to go away.”

“Yeah, alright, maybe.”

Jesus Christ and everything holy – I got a lead and all I need to do is talk to my soon-to-be new friends in traffic.

Chapter 10

Rebecca

WhenMatt’skeyslidinto the lock, the metallic click filled me with dread. Pretending to be asleep never worked, and appeasing him was hit or miss.

But Wyatt’s key in the door at random times of the day and night brings a smile to my face instead of driving fear into my heart.

Peace washes over me when I know that I’m not alone in the house, and I’m learning to love the tear of Velcro when he removes the tools of his trade.

I’m loading toppings onto a huge platter of nachos, but it isn’t holding my attention – all I can think about is Wyatt.

I haven’t seen him since he started night rotation because he’s been working at least part of every day, too. He’s kept in touch through texts that I’m mostly certain are flirty, and he’s officially the only guy who has ever left me handwritten notes.

Even if they just say, “Hope you have an amazing day,” in his nearly illegible scrawl, at least he’s willing to show he cares about me and make an effort.

In the silence of the empty house, I’ve had so much time to think since I’m always alone. And the longer I stay in my head, the more I realize being around Wyatt is one of my favorite things to do.

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