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  “Okay. We’ll talk to these people and come up with a plan.”

  “Carlo, I am sorry about what I said about your relationship with your father. It was my own guilt. After I went into foster care and my father was freed from jail he married a woman with little girls. I found out through Gladys. She did the research. Those girls were trapped in the same hell I was. And I never did anything to protect them. Save them. I don’t even know what happened to them.”

  “You were young.”

  “So were you. It’s not our fault who our fathers are. It’s not Jasper’s fault either. We’ve been through too much not to help these girls. Right?”

  She turned and looked at him. "Sometimes I can hear my screams in my head. All the times I screamed all my life. I can't stop it."

  Carlo held her face in his hands. Shae cried. “I’m broken, Carlo. Really broken. My head is screwed up. I can’t help it.”

  “You don’t have to. We all nightmares.”

  “I want mine to stop.”

  He held her. She cried against his chest. “I’ll make them go away, Shae. I swear it.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The Devil's Shadow was exactly what the name said it would be. A tall, dark building at the end of hell. Just as Jasper predicted they would, the police responded to the tip of girls being held captive at the Shadow with full force. Tahvo’s men and customers were dragged out of the building and were forced to the ground. There were two entrances. One to the front and the other was to the back. The officers who tried to access the back of the building were met with gunfire.

  Spyder and three other men ran from the back of the building, and Carlo smiled. The girls couldn't be inside. Spyder’s held off the cops to allow his escape, while Spyder made his lame attempt at getting away. They hopped the fence and darted across the street nearly running to the car where Carlo and Shae waited. Instead, they jumped in a van parked two cars ahead.

  “That’s him!” Shae said.

  “Get down!” Carlo told her.

  She scooted down in the seat. Behind him were the Castillos. A Mexican gang that had loyalties to Dino, and a particular hate for the sex traders snatching girls out of their neighborhoods to take across the border. They were twelve deep, parked and waiting. He flashed his lights and then pulled out after Spyder, and the men followed. Carlo couldn’t tell if Spyder knew he was being tailed or was gunning it to get further away from the police. Either way, his gut said he had to keep up with Spyder to get to the truth.

  The men jumped on the expressway and headed south.

  “What if they go across the border? What then?” Shae asked.

  “Then we go, too,” Carlo said. Spyder, however, exited before the border crossing. Carlo was relieved. He glanced back to see the van and SUV tailing him. They remained close. The Castillo’s left some men at the Devil’s Shadow in case there were indeed other women held captive there. They agreed after the raid that Jasper would allow himself to be taken in with the people arrested and caught up in the police sweep. He'd confess to the cops who he was related to, and if the police were smart they’d make him a deal. It was suggested by the Castillos that they follow this plan. It would protect Jasper in case his father had cops on the payroll. If he walked in and turned on his father, Tahvo could likely just have him killed to keep him quiet. Tahvo didn’t need to know about his son’s involvement.

  That was the plan. But Carlo knew from experience things seldom went to plan. And that theory was proven when the back door of Spyder’s van opened and a man started shooting at them from an automatic weapon. Apparently, Spyder picked up on the fact he was being tailed.

  “Down, Shae! Stay down!” Carlo yelled as his windshield exploded, and the hood of his car was ripped with bullets. The van of the Castillos sped around them and returned fire. The gunman was hit. The van swerved and then spun on the road. At its speed, the spin turned the van on two wheels before it began to flip and roll three times. A passenger was ejected and tossed out into the street.

  Carlo braked.

  “Noooo! They can’t be dead. Carlo!” Shae screamed.

  “Stay down!” he yelled. The street was near a fenced in parking lot and shipping warehouse, with not many street lights, and even fewer cars. That was a lucky break. He jumped out the car. The Castillos were out with their guns drawn and aimed at the van. They were shouting for the driver to get out in Spanish. The door was thrown open. A bloody Spyder crawled out and was followed by another of his men. Carlo stepped over to the shouting gunman. He spoke Spanish to him. He asked that he chill and let him talk to Spyder. The man glared at Spyder and refused to lower his Uzi. Still, he nodded that he would give Carlo the chance.

  Spyder crawled across the glass. Carlo stepped on his back and stopped him. He kicked him over. Spyder spits up blood. He had a busted eye socket. But Carlo was sure he could see him out of his good eye.

  “Where are they?” Carlo asked.

  Spyder grinned with a mouth full of broken teeth. He spat up and choked on blood. Carlo removed the gun and knelt. He crouched and put the gun against Spyder’s dick. He pressed hard. “You are dying, puttana. But there are bad ways to go. I can make it last, two, maybe three hours, with your balls splattered on the street. Now where are they?”

  Spyder’s grin faded. He lifted his hand and pointed. Carlo looked up. There was a parking lot. Several shipment containers that truckers hooked up to, and drove in and out of the city. Carlo stood up and nodded. He blew off Spyder’s dick. The man howled in agony and rolled away, bleeding across the street.

  “They’re in the shipment containers. Let’s go!” he told the Castillos. Before they went, the gang killed every one of the men left alive. Carlo got back in the car.

  Shae wept.

  He had to ignore her distress. His adrenaline was pushing him to go fast and to go hard. He sped in reverse and then turned and drove through the locked fence of the warehouse. He and the gang arrived to find a total of six containers. They got out. Carlo looked around. He didn’t see any cameras, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. It was a risk they had to take. Shae was at his side. He gave her his other gun. She looked at it as if it were a grenade. “Something happens to me, you just point and fire. You understand?”

  “Yes. Yes!”

  Carlo whistled to the men and spoke in Spanish. He told them not to fire on the containers. To get them open a different way. Two of the men had crowbars. They busted the lock on the first three and found them to be empty or stacked with boxes. Carlo began to wonder if Spyder had lied. The man was definitely a liar.

  The third was the gem. It opened, and women scrambled out of the light to the back.

  One of Castillos’s men called out to the girls to come out. To not be afraid. And they slowly emerged. Shae stepped forward to help. Most of the women looked pale and battered. They freed about thirteen. Shae checked each one of them, looking for her girls. She didn’t see any of them.

  They opened the next, and the women in this one must have heard the freedom of the others. They rushed out screaming and crying. It was then that Shae recognized someone. “Delilah! Delilah!” Shae ran for the girl. The women embraced. Carlo didn’t remember a Delilah as being one of her missing girls. But Shae knew her. And then the next container freed more girls. Shae located the rest of the missing women. Including Candy. They were all beaten and starved. Sweetie was the only one who looked untouched.

  Carlo watched the reunion. Shae had found six of her friends. And she had found them in time. But the conditions of some of the women indicated they needed medical attention.

  “We need to get the girls to the hospital. We can have some Chicanas take them in. I have my boys calling for them to come. Will your woman join them?” Eduardo asked.

  Carlo wanted to object. But he couldn’t break the reunion up. He walked over to Shae. The women looked up at him.

  “How did you get here?” Carlo asked.

  “Spyder did it,” Shae answered for the gir
ls.

  Candy spoke up. She’d been beaten and starved. She was too weak to stand. “No. It was Marissa who set me up. She works for Spyder and Tahvo. She was telling them things about you Shae. She told them about your visit to Italy and la Camorra. Tahvo wanted to break you because he feared you were bringing the Italians in. They tortured us to get more information about you.”

  “They who Carlo asked?”

  “A younger guy, maybe eighteen or nineteen would come with them. I heard the men call him Jasper. He did things Shae. To the girls. A sick pervert. I think he’s Tahvo’s son.”

  “It’s true, Shae. Marissa called me and said that Tahvo had my baby. It scared me so bad I went with them. But Spyder took me and he wanted everything about where you go, and when you are alone. They wanted to know more about Carlo. I was so scared. They told me they would give me to Jasper if I didn’t do as they wanted. And then they brought me here.”

  The other girls nodded.

  Carlo shook his head. He knew Jasper wasn’t as innocent. The horror and grief on Shae’s face kept him from saying son. He wanted her to believe in the good in people. Even if they didn’t deserve it.

  “Carlo, where’s Jasper? Did he go to the police?” Shae asked.

  “I’m not sure. It’s too late to find out,” Carlo said.

  “Why didn’t they just come after me?” Shae asked.

  “They’re afraid of Carlo. They were going to use us to trap you Shae. To send a message to Carlo and the Italians to tell them to stay out of Vegas.” Sweetie said.

  Shae’s eyes stretched in shock. “I’m sorry Carlo. I should have listened to you. Jasper is out there. That means Tahvo will know what we've done. He set me up, and I fell for it.”

  “Where is Marissa?” Carlo asked.

  “Vegas I guess,” one of the girls said. “Finding more girls for that sicko to torture. Shae, Elise is dead. And so is Clara. We saw their bodies after that freak was done with them.”

  “Okay, okay.” She turned on Carlo. “The girls need medical attention, Carlo,” Shae said as she hugged Candy. “I’m going to the hospital with them.”

  Sweetie hugged him. "Thank you, Carlo. Thank you for saving my life, and for killing that bastard.”

  He nodded, a bit uncomfortable with the gratitude. He didn’t get it from victims. Shae walked over and took his hand. She kissed him. “I have to go with them, and you have to leave.”

  “That’s not a good idea, cara. I need to be with you.” He looked around the open warehouse space. How could he protect her if he wasn’t there? And now he knew there was a hit out on her—and that little creep Jasper knew her vulnerabilities.

  “I’ll be safe. They’ll protect me, us,” she nodded to the Castillos. “You can’t be near this. Okay?”

  He sighed. “I’ll go back to the house. Wait for you. They’ll bring you to me.”

  "I have the number to the house. I'll call you from the hospital." Shae smiled weakly. She then went back to her girls. When Carlo didn't move, Shae noticed. She blew him a kiss. Every time they parted, and he felt like he’d lose her, she’d blow him a kiss. And he knew, deep in his heart, that he’d see her again.

  Carlo smiled and forced himself to walk away. There was still unfinished business in Vegas. Eduardo approached him. “We need to clean up out here. We’re checking the lot for cameras. The boys will take you back. I have an auto shop that will fix up your ride, hombre. Should have it ready for you in two to three days.”

  Carlo shook the hand of Eduardo. “My girl is going to the hospital with the women. Can you bring her to me once the women are fine?”

  "Yeah. Got to speak to the women, though," Eduardo frowned. "Lay down some rules. Don't need the heat on my people or the stench of this bullshit blowing my way. Make sure they understand the story they tell. The one that leaves our names out of it."

  Carlo doubted it would work with over twenty girls. It was hard enough to get one person to tow the line. But after what these women had been through, he was hopeful they would agree. He looked back at Shae. She was going between girls and hugging each one of them. He ended one nightmare for her. He had to end them all.

  ***

  Shae didn’t arrive until midnight the next day. The last time he spoke to her she was taken to the police station. The officers didn't buy the story the women gave. Carlo was on edge. He was close to charging into the police station and bringing her out himself. But he got the call she was freed, so he waited. He heard the car when it pulled up. He was up and holding his gun when she came through the door.

  Shae came to him immediately and hugged him. She looked tired and sad, but she was unharmed. At least not physically. The person that drove her to him left. He also advised they would have the car delivered to them later tomorrow.

  “Are the girls okay?”

  "They will be," Shae said. "The police detained me. They didn't believe my story, Carlo. But they let me go when all the girls told them I had nothing to do with it. Carlo Jasper never turned himself in. He escaped. He’s out there. Him and Marissa both.”

  He lifted her chin. “You shouldn’t have been there.”

  “No. I had to do it. To protect them and you. It’s okay. They found evidence, lots of it. Carlo, you didn’t kill Spyder.”

  “What? Carlo asked?”

  “The girls wanted him to pay. He was messed up, but he was dropped off at the hospital. I don’t know if he will have a dick again, but his life is over. Spyder confessed. The police think Spyder is the Vegas Strip killer. A serial killer. He’s covering for Jasper.”

  Carlo thought he killed him. Spyder should have bled out. Sometimes it’s hard for evil to die.

  “Jasper kept trophies. And Spyder told the cops where to find them. Many of the girls don’t know who attacked them. They were blindfolded. I told my girls not to name Jasper. I don’t want them in danger. Because...” Shae wept. Carlo hugged her while she cried. He forced them to sit on the sofa so he could listen to the rest of Shae’s tale. Female genitalia mutilation happened to several of the women, castration. So much horrible stuff. “The things that kid did, Carlo. To my friends! And I fed him and believed his crap!”

  Carlo hugged her until she stopped crying. “I wouldn’t have found the girls if it weren’t for you. There were girls as young as fourteen. You saved them all for me. Thank you.”

  “We saved them, Shae. And yes I needed to do it for you. So the screaming in your head will stop. Has it stopped?”

  She shook her head no.

  “It will. Some day soon,” he vowed.

  “It’s out of your hands, Shae. It’s over either way. You did all you could,” he told her.

  “I’m tired,” she cried.

  He helped her stand. When she walked slow, too slow, he swept her up in his arms. He carried her upstairs. He undressed her and put her under the covers. He'd run her a bath later. Instead, he got in the bed with her. He held her and they laid in the dark while she cried. She shared more and more of the women's stories. He'd never wanted to avenge so many at once before. He kept his gun close. There was still Tahvo’s sick brat out there, and he knew where they were. There was also the woman Marissa, who could connect the dots for Tahvo. Shae wasn’t out of danger, not now. Tahvo needed to be dealt with. When Shae drifted to sleep, Carlo left her in bed. He went back downstairs and called Lorenzo.

  “That’s the entire story,” Carlo confessed.

  Lorenzo stayed quiet on the line. He knew his boss was angry. And if it got back to Giovanni, Carlo could be punished severely for interfering in Giovanni’s name. “I know I crossed the line by committing Giovanni to business with Dino’s family. I was desperate to help her. But this Tahvo man, and hsi fucking demon kid, he’s connected to the Turks and the Armenians. He tortured her people, Lo, because she came to Italy to visit our family. He crossed the line too. He disrespected Giovanni. And he has a hit on Shae still. She and her girls aren’t safe in Vegas. He thinks killing Shae will send a message to Giovanni.
”

  Lo chuckled. “He can suck Giovanni’s dick when we’re through with him.”

  “So you’ll help us?”

  "I'll help you. But this doesn't get back to Giovanni. You should have told me it was getting this far out of hand. It'll be costly to deal with it. And the Turks? I don't buy that they are doing business with the Armenians. It sounds to me like Tahvo rides the fence.”

  “I’ll pay the price. Name it. I just want to make sure Shae’s safe.”

  “Carlo, you belong to us, la famiglia. You had your vacation in America. Now it’s time to come home, brother. I’ll take care of your woman, but you need to make plans to return, and soon.”

  “Shae needs me,” Carlo reasoned.

  “Then bring her,” Lorenzo said.

  “It’s not that simple. She’s not going to leave her friends in distress.”

  “Not your problem. And it’s not Giovanni’s problem. Like I said. I expect you to come home.”

  “I understand.”

  “Let me call some of our Armenian friends. See how they feel about Tahvo being in love with the Turks. I’ll be in touch. Twenty-four hours.”

  The call ended. Carlo stared down at the phone. He needed more time. But time was up. He wasn’t sure how he would explain it to Shae.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Carlo cooked a meal for them. It was eggs, tomatoes, seared ham and buttered toast. Before he could plate the food, Shae was in the kitchen rubbing her eyes.

  “Morning?” she said.

  “Morning, love. Have a seat. Got a call today. My car is ready. They will be bringing it to us soon.”

  “Good. We need to head back home,” she said and sat down. “I don’t feel safe here with that Jasper kid running loose.”

  Carlo was surprised. He thought he would have a hard time convincing her to leave San Diego. She looked up at Carlo to gauge his mood. He revealed nothing. “This is my fault. I trusted Marissa. I shouldn’t have. My girls were tortured, raped, starved and beaten because of that bitch! I want to get home. I want to find her. I want to kill her, Carlo. Kill them both.”