Bull started to bark and I told him it was all right. “I invited them over. Shhh, it’s okay, Bull,” I said.
He sat near me as I opened the peephole and looked out. My Bull was a good dog. I would know right away if the people at my door were good or not simply by the way he reacted to them. Dogs had the ability to sense the good in people, as well as the bad. If my dog didn’t like someone that I thought was all right, I listened to my dog. He had much better sense than I did.
“It’s Jackson, from the club. This is Ana’s friend Jordan and her husband, Chase. Chase is my brother, that’s how I got involved in all this. Can we come in?” the man called through the door.
I smiled at the long explanation Jackson gave for who everyone was and why they were all there. He was such a cute guy that in any other circumstances, I would have tried to flirt with him for sure. Slowly, I opened the door a crack to see how Bull would react to the group. He sniffed them and seemed calm, so I let them all in.
“He’s friendly if you’re not here to hurt me.”
“No, ma’am. We just need help finding Ana,” the man named Chase said.
Bull sniffed around the two men and then moved to the girl. He liked her a lot and instantly went to her. I couldn’t help but remember how he had been toward Ana. It was almost exactly the same. When Ana had arrived, I couldn’t keep Bull away from her. He had even tried to sleep in front of her door. I felt like he could tell she needed protecting. I wasn’t exactly sure why Bull liked Jordan so much, though; she obviously had plenty of protection in Jackson and Chase.
Bull followed Jordan for a minute as we walked over to the couches, then he moved back over to sit next to me. I was relieved that Bull liked everyone, and I felt much more comfortable talking to them about what I knew.
“Thank you for letting us come visit. I’m Jackson, by the way,” the cute, blond muscular guy from the previous night said.
“I don’t know how much help I can be. Stephano is really good at what he does. I’ve seen dozens of girls brought over here and either forced to work or sold to the highest bidder.”
“Whatever you can do is much appreciated. I haven’t seen or heard from my friend in months,” Jordan said.
I knew Jordan right away by her long, dark brown hair and sweet smile. Ana had talked about her and how worried she must be. We had tried to call Jordan to get help for Ana, but her number had been disconnected. I could see that Jordan had had much better luck in the man she chose from the website. Chase, Jordan’s husband, appeared very wealthy by the clothing he was wearing. He also
seemed to really care about her. Simply by watching their body language, I could tell he was a good guy.
“She was a nice girl; I’ll do what I can. But just talking to you puts me in danger. What questions do you have? I’ll try to answer them,” I said as I looked back and forth between Chase and Jackson.
Obviously, they had to know I was putting myself in danger by talking to them. If they had done any research at all on Stephano, then they knew he would have no problem killing someone if he thought they betrayed him.
“How long did she stay here with you?” Jackson asked.
“How do you know she stayed with me?”
“She was a nice girl, but unless you knew her well, I doubt you would put yourself at risk with Stephano. Since she only worked at the club one night, naturally, I assumed she had spent more time here with you,” Jackson said with a hint of superiority in his voice.
I could tell he was the type of man that was used to being in charge. I could also tell that he had done his research and did know how dangerous Stephano was. Right away I liked Jackson, despite his obvious need to feel superior to everyone else in the room. He had done the work ahead of time and I liked that. I also felt like he wouldn’t purposely expose me to danger and I liked that a lot, as well.
Damn, this guy is smarter than his big muscles and blond hair let on, I thought.
“They brought her to my apartment a few nights after she arrived, I think.”
“Where was she before?”
“Stephano grooms the girls. Wines and dines them and gets them to fall in love.”
I noticed Jordan looked away from me and tears started to form. She was obviously one of those sweet girls who couldn’t take care of herself well. That had been Ana’s problem, too. You couldn’t show emotion in my world. Emotions were a sign of weakness; weakness was Stephano’s chance to win. I learned a long time before that I didn’t have any use for emotions.
“How long has she been gone?” Jackson asked me.
“About a week. Stephano got a buyer who is coming over from Dubai at the end of the month. He paid Stephano to take her out of circulation.”
“So, why not just leave her here with you?”
“My apartment isn’t controlled by Stephano. When he realized she wanted to get away from him, he needed to take her back with him.”
“How did he know she wanted to get away from him?” Jackson asked.
“One night at the club, Ana just got up and walked out the back door. When Stephano’s guys dragged her back, she was pretty bruised up. She came home with me that night and I took care of her, but then they came and took her to his house.”