Page 112 of Fearless

“Let’s just hope that she’s saying something similar in a few weeks, huh?” she mutters before stalking out of the elevator.

“Shit,” JD mutters, scrubbing his hand down his face. “This is going to be messy.”

“Isn’t it always?” I ask, hating just how true those words are.

We follow Reid, Kristie, and Alana into the living area of the penthouse.

I’ve been told there are four bedrooms, but I haven’t taken the time to look at any. As far as I’m concerned, I only need one and that will be wherever Alana is.

“Which way?” Reid asks, having not paid any attention to our surroundings either.

“Master bedroom is that one,” Aubrey says.

Reid glances at Alana, his expression is hard as he tries to get a read on her.

“Go on then,” she encourages.

His lips part to argue. I get it.

She deserves the best bedroom, but the woman in his arms needs it more right now.

We move as a group into the room and Reid lays Kristie in the middle of the massive bed. The room passes me by as Alana crawls next to her sister and clasps Kristie’s hand in both of hers.

“She’s freezing,” Alana whispers, trying to frantically tug the sheets from beneath both of them.

“Here,” JD says, walking over with a blanket in his hands. Glancing behind him, I find a couch that looks out over the city beyond.

The lights from all the buildings twinkle in the dark night beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s pretty, serene. The complete opposite of what we’ve experienced tonight.

He drapes the blanket over both of them when Alana lies down beside Kristie and wraps her arm around her in the hope of keeping her warm.

“When is the doctor getting here?” Alana asks, not taking her eyes off her sister for a second.

“Any minute,” Aubrey assures her as we all loiter around the bed, watching them closely.

The silence in the room is deafening.

All I want to do is fix everything. To give Alana back her sister in full working order. But Kristie is far from that.

We all saw exactly what Alana did tonight, thanks to the camera that was pinned to the front of her dress. The thought of Kristie being made to work there every night, to be treated like that by men who think it makes them powerful, turns my stomach.

She’s just a kid. She deserves to be living her best life at college somewhere. She should be going out with friends, getting drunk, and being wild.

She shouldn’t be working for human traffickers and being forced to do whatever they want in order to feed the drug habit they’ve forced on her.

I remember Kristie as a kid. Sure, my attention was mostly on her big sister whenever we went to Kurt’s house, but she was so sweet. Such a gentle, caring soul. It’s heart-wrenching to see her like this now.

Suddenly, a loud sob rips through the air, and simultaneously, Reid, JD, and I all step forward.

“I’m going to go and wait. You guys…” Aubrey waves her hand in Alana’s direction as she finally succumbs to the events of the night.

“Dove,” JD whispers, sliding onto the bed behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist, holding her tight as she clings to Kristie.

Reid and I share a look before we also climb onto the bed, reaching for our girl in the hope that our presence, our touch, will help in some way.

I gently rub my hand up and down her arm as she sobs, her body trembling as the emotion explodes out of her.

She’s spent years waiting for this moment. Praying that the dream of finding Kristie could be a reality. She knew that the chances of finding her alive and healthy were slim. Alana has lived a life that has been shrouded by darkness; she’s more than aware of all the possibilities. I just really hoped we were going to be pleasantly surprised.

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