Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(40)
Dave shrugged. “Investments and luck. I met a few people on the web who taught me the stock-market version of card counting. It took a while, but once I started earning money, things snowballed. There’ve also been donations over the years.” He squeezed Raven’s hand. “Money’s not an issue. I can take care of you and David and give you everything you’ve ever wanted. I currently live in a small apartment not too far from The Pit, but I can buy a piece of land and have your dream house built.”
“I don’t need much,” Raven said softly. “The only thing I want is to be safe and for David to be able to run and play and to be free.”
“Deal,” Dave said immediately. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Can you tell me what happened? Not necessarily the details, just in general? If nothing else, even though it was a decade ago, it might help me understand more fully how the network operates and how they’re targeting women, so I can do my best to stop them.”
Mags knew the question was coming. But strangely enough, she felt as if she could share with Dave. She hadn’t talked about how she’d been taken or what had happened to her with anyone in ten years. She’d kept it all bottled inside. But after hearing the lengths to which Dave had gone to try to find her, somehow it made her feel . . . settled. He hadn’t simply shrugged and gotten on with his life while she’d been suffering.
He’d been hurting just as much as she was . . . in a different way, yes, but the agony was there all the same. She eyed the scar on his neck and shivered. He’d been lucky. The scar was deep and gnarly, and he could’ve bled out.
They were both lucky.
Mags knew some people would think she was crazy. How could she be lucky after being kidnapped and forced into the sex trade? She was alive, that was how. And she had a beautiful, innocent child as a result. That in itself was a miracle. And somehow, through a series of events she’d never understand, her husband was here right this second. She was holding his hand. And he was looking at her with as much love and respect as he’d had for her ten years ago.
In all her fantasies, she’d never thought Dave could still love her after everything that had happened to her. But here he was. Sitting next to her, still proving with every word out of his mouth that he was as devoted to her today as he’d been a decade ago.
Yes, she was lucky. She knew better than most how many women died while in captivity. They didn’t get a chance to see their families and loved ones again. They were used and abused until they just gave up.
“If you can’t, I’ll understand,” Dave said gently when the silence stretched on.
“I’d finished going to the bathroom and had just exited the restroom,” Mags said, starting her story. “A man came up to me and put his arm around my shoulders. He was strong, and even though I tried to pull away from him, I couldn’t. He said if I didn’t come with him, his partner would kill you. I was confused and scared and didn’t know what to do. Before I knew it, I’d been led out of the club and was being hustled through the casino. He walked me right through the front door of the hotel to a car and shoved me inside.
“There were three other men in there, and no matter how many times I asked what they wanted and where you were, no one would answer me. I don’t know how far we drove, but it wasn’t too far, I don’t think. I was taken to a house and a basement. They shoved me into a dog crate and locked it.”
Mags heard Dave inhale sharply, but she didn’t look at him, knowing she needed to get the whole story out. She focused on their hands clasped together instead. Seeing her husband’s large, calloused fingers curled around hers kept her grounded.
“I didn’t make it easy for them,” she recalled. “I screamed and shouted and demanded they let me go. I think they got tired of listening to me, and someone came down and shot me with some sort of dart. I don’t remember a lot of the trip out of the country, but I do recall coming to once and seeing a huge tractor trailer. They were loading me and a few other cages with other women in them into the back, behind a hidden partition. I’m assuming that’s how they got us out of the country and into Mexico.
“When I finally woke fully, I was in a bedroom, and my arms were chained to a bed. I hadn’t eaten in a very long time, and I was dehydrated, but that first night taught me what was to come.
“I don’t remember how many men came into my room that night. I thought if I stayed nonresponsive, they’d stop, not wanting to be with a woman who just lay there limply. But they didn’t.
“It seemed like hours later, but it was probably much less than that, when del Rio came into my room. It was the first time I met him. I was lying on the bed naked, scared to death and hurting. He told me that I now belonged to him, and my job was to make the men who came to see me happy. If I did, I’d eventually be allowed a bit more freedom to move around, to talk with others, to eat. If I continued to be a pain in the ass, then I’d stay chained to the bed and would only get a few scraps of food a day. Either way, I’d be forced to open my legs to whoever came to see me.”
Mags spoke faster. She could feel the tension and fury coming from her husband. She couldn’t blame him. But she had to tell him. Needed him to know what had happened to her and what he was getting into. If he decided he couldn’t handle it, she needed to know now, before she went back to the States.