Forgive Me(70)

The second room was a repeat of the first. Sex traffickers weren’t too big on hygiene, it seemed.

From the hallway, Bryce heard Graves shout, “Hey, you! Hold it right there!”

Bryce bolted out the room. He saw Graves pointing his M-4 at a young girl he recognized. Frank Dansby followed Bryce into the hall, and he too had his weapon aimed at Nadine. The girl had her hands up. Her whole body shook violently.

“That’s Nadine!” Bryce shouted. “Stand down. Nadine, you’re safe. You’re okay.”

The girl was sickly pale, and her eyes wide and wild. “Go now!” she cried.

To Bryce’s surprise, Nadine made herself big as possible by spreading out her arms and legs. Her limbs were long enough to touch the particleboard walls on either side of her. She looked to be frozen mid jumping jack. Her shout summoned two men from a doorway behind her. The guy in front was tall and lanky and had to be Ricardo. Bryce thought the one bringing up the rear looked a heck of a lot like Buggy, but it was hard to tell as he was moving so fast.

Graves held his ground to provide cover, while Bryce and Frank charged at the fleeing men.

Desperation blossomed in Nadine’s eyes as realization took hold. Big guys with big guns were coming at her and weren’t going to stop. In a panic, she threw herself to one side, which happened to be in front of Frank Dansby. This left a good-sized gap for Bryce to get by. There was a brief interlude where Frank had to untangle himself from Nadine, who was screaming incoherently.

Frank might have been slowed, but Bryce and Graves went ahead unencumbered. They were the first to reach the room into which the two men had vanished. Bryce unclipped a flash grenade from his battle belt and tossed it into the room before he entered. A loud bang followed, then a puff of white smoke.

Bryce burst into the room with his gun aimed at his zone only. He knew Graves was on his heel and would cover the area to his back. Both men soon had their guns pointed at the only person they could see. Ricardo squirmed on the floor, covering his ears.

“Don’t move! Don’t move!” Graves yelled, while pointing the gun barrel at Ricardo’s head.

It wasn’t clear if Ricardo could even hear, but at least he wasn’t reaching for a weapon. Frank entered the room and Bryce didn’t need to see Nadine to know that she was in the hallway and handcuffed. Unfortunately, the girl they had come to rescue had turned into a potential threat. It happened from time to time.

Bryce figured Nadine was suffering from some form of Stockholm syndrome, identifying with her captor more than her rescuers. The bigger problem was that two had entered the room, but only one was there and the missing guy was the one Bryce had come to retrieve.

A metal door, more like a hatch located in the middle of the floor, was open wide. Bryce peered inside. It looked very dark down there. He groaned. “Aw, crap.”

“What?” Darby said.

“I think Buggy went down in the hole.”





CHAPTER 37



Bryce shone his flashlight into the hole, while Graves secured Ricardo. The beam cut through the darkness, illuminating only a fraction of the space below. Not much height, three feet at most. It was an on-your-belly type crawl space with a dirt floor and scattered debris throughout. Unquestionably, it was a horrible place to spend a few minutes, let alone days. What these animals had done to Tasha put a new stamp on the passport of human depravity, and Bryce had seen a lot of stamps over the years.

“Hey Buggy, we know you’re down there. Come on up. Let’s make this easy, all right?” Bryce’s voice echoed.

He didn’t expect a reply. He didn’t get one.

Bryce turned to Frank Dansby. “Go get Nadine, will you.”

Frank returned a nod.

Bryce hesitated to put his head in the hole again just in case Buggy decided to take a shot. But he did it anyway and scanned the crawl space a second time with the help of his flashlight. It appeared the area below the basement was the size of the apartment building’s foundation. Buggy could be anywhere.

Frank brought Nadine into the room. Poor girl looked utterly terrified. Nothing about Frank’s manner was hostile. He was gentle with her, but her crying still bordered on hyperventilation. They’d get her medical attention soon enough.

“Is there a way out of the crawl space?” Bryce asked.

Nadine shook her head.

Bryce put a hand on her shoulder. She shrank from his touch.

“Nadine, you’re not in trouble,” he said, looking her in the eyes. “I promise. I’ll watch after you, but I’ve got to know. Is there a way out?”

Ricardo, who was handcuffed on the floor, perked up. “Shut up! Don’t say a word. You guys go screw yourselves.”

Bryce rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m trembling here, amigo. Graves, get Mr. Congeniality out of here, please. Have someone from upstairs help you. I want two guys on this P-O-S.”

Nadine let out a few shaky breaths. Graves radioed for help.

Ricardo glared at Nadine with hate in his eyes. “Puta.”

Bryce could see him getting ready to spit, so he slammed the butt end of his rifle into Ricardo’s mid-section. The only thing Ricardo spit on after that was his shoe.

“He can’t hurt you anymore, Nadine,” Bryce said while Graves dragged Ricardo out of the room.

Nadine spoke only when she felt safe to do so. “Ricardo said there’s a vent he could use to get out.”