CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Nasa sidestepped a few times, not allowing Ghost to get a clear line of sight on Dillon. Rage for not having taken steps to ensure it was safe for her to be here churned in his gut like acid.
Not wanting to upset or insult Dillon, Nasa hadn't checked to see for himself that the building was inaccessible from the outside.
He hadn't done a cursory sweep using the security cameras to keep an eye out for anything suspicious because they were in a hurry, either.
He'd said if it were him, he would have sent a woman in as a Trojan horse, so why the fuck hadn't Nasa pressed Patti just a little more about the women who'd come in after Rachel?
Why hadn't he run a search on all the faces in residence while Dillon looked for the flash drive?
If he'd pulled Duke and Tobias in to search the building like he'd wanted instead of being sympathetic to the trauma of the women seeking shelter here, they wouldn't be in this mess right now.
Or maybe Ghost would have shot them to even the odds, and this bullshit would still be going down.
His impatience and desire to please his woman might very well cost Dillon her life.
Nasa could feel her shaking behind him, but when he turned and gave Ghost his back, he didn't see fear in her eyes.
He saw an unholy fire burning there. She was pissed and doing everything she could to contain her fury.
“I'm sorry,” he said as Dillon started to empty his pockets.
She didn't look at him, shaking her head as the pile of stuff grew. “It's not your fault. I built this place to be impenetrable, and I failed.”
“There's always a way in,” Ghost told them with a note of false cheer. “Especially when there's a human element to be exploited. Someone is always desperate for something, whether it's drugs, freedom, or money.
“Or an escape from one seriously sadistic biker. I promised my girl could leave alive if she did what I asked. You would not believe what that woman was willing to do in order to get away from her old man.”
Nasa gritted his teeth as Ghost rubbed salt in their wounds, making this woman Nasa had been so ready to condemn as just another biker gang bitch, into one of the Leviathans’ victims.
“I wouldn't have thought a guy in charge of selling women and kids as sex slaves would give a shit about saving lives,” Dillon muttered nastily, carefully slipping his .45 from under his arm.
She wanted to pull the trigger, Nasa could see it in the way she gripped the butt of the gun so hard her knuckles blanched, but after a breathless moment of uncertainty, Dillon carefully set it in the sink.
“Life sure is full of surprises, isn't it, Duchess?” Ghost drawled, “Don't forget the revolver in his boot.”
Dillon looked up at him to confirm, and Nasa nodded. “Right side. There's a knife too.”
With a testy huff, Dillon crouched down and pulled up his pant leg. “You know, you keep calling me Duchess, as though you feel the need to remind me you were there, sitting on your ass for a week while I was being tortured because some asshole didn't like it that I took his punching bags away from him. I didn't forget, John.”
“I doubt anyone in the world could forget seven days of torture,” Ghost replied vaguely, as though he hadn't been involved.
“Why take Rachel to the emergency room after you beat her half to death, only to send your guys after her to get her back?” Dillon asked, diligently pulling up the other leg of his jeans to show Ghost there wasn't anything hiding in here.
“Our deal was three questions, Duchess,” Ghost practically sang.
On her knees, Dillon gave a derisive snort. “You said Nasa only got three questions. I think after everything you've put me through, I at least get one question answered.”
“You know, that's the second time you've managed to point out my failure in giving precise directions. I'm usually not so careless with my words,” Ghost told her, and Nasa held his breath, waiting for Ghost to violently punish Dillon for pointing out his failures.
“Maybe you're losing your touch,” Dillon muttered, her earlier fear completely absent from her tone.
It was one thing for Nasa to antagonize Ghost, but hearing her do it made him itch to smack her ass for being so reckless.
To Nasa's amazement, Ghost agreed. “It's possible, or maybe you're just paying attention. In my business, quality matters. A bruised, beaten, half-starved girl with a staph infection won't fetch even a fourth of the price of a healthy, unblemished one. I confess I wasn't at home when my crew got a little... overzealous after Rachel attempted to escape.
“I was told they found her hiding under my desk, and at the time, I didn't think anything of it. I was a bit preoccupied reminding my less intelligent brothers of the consequences for taking matters into their own hands without my explicit instructions.
“In her condition, Rachel was worthless, and I had neither the time nor the desire to waste resources nursing her back to health.
"One of the hang arounds drove Rachel to the ER, and I had every intention of letting that be the end of it until I discovered she found my little hidey-hole under the desk and stole what belonged to me.
“It took me some time to deduce where Rachel went, and I couldn't go fetch her myself without being seen, so I sent two men to get her back, and they made a royal mess of everything.”
“Hard to find good help these days, huh?” Dillon mercilessly commiserated.
“You have no idea,” Ghost replied blithely. “It didn't take me long to connect you to the shelter here, and I came to understand if I allowed them to continue their bumbling attempts to prove to me
