Page 25 of Vengeance & Sin

“She’s much more than just a skin trade from the looks of it, though. She appears to have some kind of value that makes her different from the other girls. The question here is why? Why not just sell her off? Why keep her in the rings? Why does every contract have an expiration date? I’ve been in the business a long time, and I’ve never seen anything like that.” Kratos raises his hands to rub at his temples as if these questions give him a headache, and yeah, agreed.

“She also has a rap sheet a mile long.” Kratos points out.

Spencer flips a few pages, and I see his eyebrows pull down in confusion as he reads over the information.

What else? How can there still be more on her? We’ve been in this business for a while now, and I feel like our stories are nothing to hers.

“About seven years ago, people started coming up dead.” His eyes dart over page after page of information before he drops the papers and looks up to meet Kratos's gaze.

Kratos just gives him a nod to continue.

Spencer takes a deep breath as if to settle himself before he continues.

“Twenty-two people have died in the last seven years. All of them can be traced back to illegal deals in skin.” He picks up the paper again. I feel like I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to hear what I know will be potentially life-changing information.

“Of those twenty-two people, no two deaths have been the same.” I watch as Zander fidgets, pulling his knife out and flipping it around.

I’ve never understood his constant need to move until this very moment. It’s taking everything in me not to stand up and pace back and forth.

“Some causes of death include dismembering, strangulation, poisoning, drowning, incineration, death by high fall, being buried alive…..” Spencer’s words trail off, and I can’t make myself ask if that’s all. Somehow I doubt it.

“As you can see, the range of death is quite vast, but beyond that, they were done with skill and precision, mostly. Some of these men were trained fighters. It wasn’t a lack of skill that got them killed; they were simply outmatched or outsmarted. The cops haven’t been able to place the blame on one person, and it’s my understanding that they haven’t even entertained the idea that they are all related. Most of these men have absolutely no connection. The only reason we know anything about them is from the paperwork we gathered after shutting the other traffickers down.” I just nod because it makes sense. Usually, people have a pattern or a calling card when they set out to kill more than one person, some link.

“The farther we dig into these, the more we find that they all have a hand in the skin trade; most have even purchased girls. There is never anyone around to witness the murders, not even the girls who were property at the time.” He walks up to the table and starts going through the papers, clearly looking for something specific.

After a moment, he hands Spencer a sheet. From what I can see, it appears to be a list of some sort.

“What’s that?” Zander asks before I can.

Kratos doesn’t answer. He just continues to look at the paper as if it has somehow wronged him. The look on his face is so intense that it causes the hairs on my neck to stand up.

Whatever it is, it’s not good.

“It’s a list of all the girls who have been in my care.” Jade’s voice comes from just behind Spencer’s shoulder. We all turn to look at her. Well, everyone but Kratos, who still just looks down at the paper.

“Jade.” I say her name and hope she hears the warning there. She shouldn’t be over here.

She just waves me off with a flick of her hand as if this is no big deal. But she doesn’t know Kratos, doesn’t know what we do, and despite her past and my guard that says not to trust her too quickly, all I want to do is protect her. Nobody deserves the shit she’s been through. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, and considering my line of work, that's saying something.

“Do you want answers or not?” She asks as she moves around the table and stands toe to toe with Kratos.

Finally, he pulls his eyes from the paper, although it appears to take great effort. He looks down at her and seeing how small she is beside him only makes me want to push her away more.

She shouldn’t be a part of this.

She meets Kratos' stare and doesn’t back down, the same way she did with us, with me just last night. I’m stuck once again between being in awe of her and being concerned for her fucking mental health. She either has balls of steel, or she’s really fucking dumb.

But the longer they stare each other down, the more I see it. She’s already a part of this world. Hell, she’s probably been a part of it longer than we have.

Understanding dawns on me like a slap to the face.

She won’t back down because she can’t. This is who she is because this is who she has to be.

This is how she survived.

None of us say a thing as they stand there, it couldn’t have been longer than a few minutes, but it feels like a lifetime. My brain runs through scenario after scenario of what could happen. Anything from Kratos snapping at her to her snapping at him, but I can’t for the life of me match up these murders to her. I can’t picture her hurting anyone, least of all Kratos, no matter what that file says.

Just when I start to feel like I can’t handle this for a moment longer, the craziest thing happens.

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