I try to shove him away, but he doesn’t even budge. “You mean that there’s a roomful of sex traffickers in there.”
He nods, but I continue. “And a room full of girls that need our help. This is what we’re trained to do, Bear. I can do this.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not doubting you. I know you can do it. It’s not that... Fuck, I’ll go to the room too, and we’ll let Logan and the guys come in.”
I grab on to the front of his shirt and pull him down until we’re eye level. “If you were here with Logan or Knox or Aiden, would you go up to your room and hide?”
“I’m not hiding.”
I pull him in close enough until I can feel his breath on my cheek. “No. You’re not. You’re trying to protect me. I can protect myself. If you want there to be a possibility with us when we get home, you have to trust me, you have to believe in me.”
“I do, but I can’t lose you. I won’t lose you.”
My heart does a funny pitter-patter, but I can’t even think about it now. I nod and cock my head. “Fine, then let’s go kick some ass and save some women. Then afterwards we can finish this conversation.”
10
BEAR
I want to take her back up to the room so badly. Even if I only get to hold her, that would be okay because I’d know she’s safe. But I know she’s right. I’m not the kind of man that can walk away from a woman in need, and from the looks of it, there’s quite a few that are in need tonight.
“Fine. We do this. Do you have your piece on you?”
She rolls her eyes, grabs my hand, and brings it down between her legs. I can feel her thigh holster, and fuck if my dick doesn’t get hard. She’s definitely my kind of woman.
“All right, you ready?”
She nods. “Yeah, but we should probably turn the mics back on because the guys are probably about to charge in here.”
I flip mine on, and so does she. She was right, too, because the guys are on the line arguing and stop suddenly when they hear us. “Fuck, Bear. You can’t do that shit,” Logan says.
“I know. Sorry, guys, let’s do this.”
We’re walking back into the room, and we listen to Knox go over the plan. “All we need is some surveillance. Get it on film with the women being purchased. FBI is enroute.”
“Got it.”
I grab on to Sam’s waist and do my best to relax as we weave in and out of the crowd of people. We find our way to the front and watch as men find their way to the front to make their bids.
I’m facing one way and Sam the other, doing our best to get it all on film.
An elderly woman makes an announcement that the bidding is starting, and everyone takes their seats. The first woman comes onto the stage, and it’s obvious she’s young and frightened. “Bidding starts at twenty thousand. She has all her papers. She’s fifteen and has been checked by the inhouse doctor. Her hymen is intact.”
The bidding starts, and bile rises in my throat. “Let’s end this, guys,” I say into the microphone, and as soon as I get the words out, the doors bust open and the room is flooded with FBI and all the members of the ghost team. I’m surprised when I see Nash; he doesn’t normally come on missions anymore, but I’m not going to question it. He is the boss.
Sam already has her gun drawn, and I do the same. People are trying to flee and there are people that are fighting back, but they are outnumbered as the local swat team follows in behind the FBI. There’s chaos all around us, but it’s not long before the people realize they’re had and lie down on the ground, waiting to be handcuffed.
The room is on lockdown, and Sam and I move to the back room to help with the women.
We work endlessly through the night, helping the woman get to shelters and working with transport to the local jail facilities until they are all contained.
The FBI captain walks up to us. “The largest number of arrests in one night in Miami history. Good job, men.” And then as if he’s just noticing Sam, “And lady.”
Nash talks to him while the rest of us continue packing up our gear. Someone already packed up Sam and my stuff from the room, so we’re getting on the plane tonight to head home.
“Well, we thank you. The people of Miami thank you.” The captain addresses us all again.
We all nod, and Knox, who’s closest to him, shakes his hand. “We’re just doing our job, sir.”