Deserted - Auctioned

Gray squinted and held up a hand to shield his eyes from the bright light.

A black sedan parked next to the Wagoneer, and two men stepped out.

Gray swallowed a rush of nervousness and let his eyes adjust to the dark again.

Who the hell could it be? Gray and Darius were by no means hermits; they had plenty of friends, but they knew to fucking call before making a random trip up here. And if something had gone awry with Jackie’s case, and maybe somehow the police wanted to find them, they wouldn’t arrive at this hour. Right?

Jackie hadn’t hinted at anything being amiss. Then again, he was focused on his recovery, not the case.

A flash of a memory pierced Gray’s mind, and for one second, all he saw was a screeching van and two men grabbing him. Oh God, could it be—

“Well, this place wasn’t the easiest to find,” someone drawled.

Gray sucked in a breath and narrowed his eyes.

He knew that voice.

One of the men stayed by the car while the other, the one who’d spoken, walked toward them.

The faint glow from the moon helped Gray confirm his suspicion when the guy was some twenty feet away. Checkered gingham shirt, dress pants, polished shoes, suspenders, heavily inked arms…

Kellan Ford.

It seemed Darius knew who it was too. “You’re a long way from Philly.”

Kellan smirked lazily and stuck his hands down into his pockets. “You’re a long way from everything.”

Gray could sense the tension rolling off Darius, so he put a hand on his arm, cautioning him, and faced Kellan. “What do you want?”

Kellan cocked his head and observed them, the hand on Darius’s arm. “I’m here about Jayden.”

That caused Gray to go rigid. “What about him?” he asked tightly.

There was fuck-all Kellan could do. Right? Gray and Darius had the law on their side. They had full custody, temporary as foster agreements were. Either way, Kellan could fucking watch himself.

“Wrong approach,” Kellan conceded and showed his palms. “Listen—can youse chill? I come in peace.” He paused. “We look out for the women and children in our community. Even slick little runaways like Jayden.”

Darius folded his arms over his chest. “I trust you know his status.”

Gray glanced at Kellan. Given that Jayden FaceTimed with Father O’Malley every now and then, it wouldn’t be weird for Kellan to know everything concerning the adoption.

“Of course. That’s why I’m here.” Kellan retrieved something from his pocket. “Consider this a thank-you from me and the Sons of Munster.” He extended whatever it was, and Gray took it. A USB drive. “It’s everything you need to know about Alfred Lange and his human trafficking dealings.”

Gray closed his fist around the drive and stared at Kellan.

Holy fuck.

Kellan pointed at Gray’s hand. “Lange turns sixty this fall. There’s a date and a venue already booked in Vegas, and I’m pretty sure something else is gonna go down too.”

Gray’s ears began ringing. He didn’t wanna hear another goddamn word, because he couldn’t unhear it.

Darius’s jaw ticked with tension. “I bet it wouldn’t benefit your own organization to have the Langes wiped out.”

That made Kellan grin. “I’m not gonna lie… But we’re not the ones with a personal vendetta against them.” Then he dropped the mirth. “What you do with the information is up to you. I’ve done what I came to do.” He offered a two-fingered wave before he turned around and started going back to his car. “By the way—” He turned to them briefly. “I get the appeal.” He gestured to their surroundings. “It’s very remote and secluded. You never know when you need a good place to hide.”

With that said, Kellan Ford disappeared where he came from, and Gray and Darius stood fixed in place until they couldn’t hear the car anymore.

Gray’s stomach rolled, and he drew a deep breath.

Then he extended the USB stick to Darius. “I gave you my word.” Once the drive was out of his hands, he trailed back to the cabin.

He ignored the voice in the back of his mind that screamed out in agony.

How many innocent boys and girls had lost their freedom—or their lives—to Alfred Lange?

How many had yet to travel down that path, but would…if Alfred wasn’t stopped?

Darius caught up with Gray and was in thinking mode. “I’ll give this to Willow,” he said quietly. “She can sort it out and see if there’s anything worth handing over to the Feds.”

“Okay.” Gray nodded and climbed up the steps to the porch.

Yeah, maybe the FBI could handle everything. They’d done a terrific job so far.

Seeing the boys on the couch in the living room, mesmerized by the warplanes on the TV, helped drown out some of the internal noise in Gray’s head.

“That’s the biggest ship I’ve ever seen,” Jayden swore. “See how many planes are on it?”

Justin nodded and sipped from his juice box.