Say the Word(121)

Comprehension came swiftly. “That’s why you helped me. You knew I could get in, with Sebastian’s help.”

“I shouldn’t have given you that dossier. If my boss found out — let’s just say this city would have one less FBI agent walking its streets come tomorrow morning. But when Fae contacted me and told me about you and your boyfriend… Things just seemed to fall into place. I gave you the information you needed, left you on a long leash, and let you run. I knew anything you saw inside could potentially help my investigation.”

“And, I suppose, if things had gone poorly for me and Bash in there, you’d be free to deny any involvement,” I said, my lips twisting in a wry smile at the thought. “Convenient.”

“It was a calculated risk.” Agent Gallagher shrugged without remorse.

Fae snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Nice of you.”

He ignored her. “What I need to know, Ms. Kincaid…” He rubbed at his stubble, a nervous habit. “Did you see anything in there — anything at all — that might tie Labyrinth to the brewery at Red Hook and the trafficking ring I suspect they’re running? Think hard — it could be something small, just a tiny detail that didn’t seem important at the time but, in retrospect—”

“What’s your name?” I interrupted his somewhat patronizing tangent.

“Excuse me?” he asked, taken aback that I’d cut him off.

“Your name. Your first name. The one your momma gave you. What is it?” I asked.

He stared at me for a moment, no doubt judging how serious I was. My resolute expression must’ve convinced him I wasn’t joking, because he finally sighed and relented. “Conor.”

“Hi, Conor. I’m Lux.” I smiled at him. “I believe you’re asking me for a favor. Where I come from, people who ask favors have to, at the very least, display a little bit of common courtesy. Especially at three in the damn morning.”

“He’s always like this,” Fae noted. “It could be three in the afternoon, he’d still be this unpleasant.”

“Ms. Montgomery, please be silent.” Conor’s jaw clenched. “I know it’s a constant struggle for you, but I’d appreciate any effort.”

Fae rolled her eyes and sighed.

“I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, Ms. Ki—” He broke off when he saw my chastising look. “Lux,” he amended. “It’s just very important that you think really hard—”

“Conor, I’m going to stop you right there, before you dig yourself into an even deeper hole.” I met his eyes with a serious look. “I can sense that this is important to you. But you don’t seem to realize how important it is to me as well.”

He opened his mouth to speak but I plowed onward.

“I’m not some dumb blonde who stumbled across this mess and thought Hey! That sounds like a neat story to investigate! I’m not doing this for fun, or for fame, or for whatever reason you’ve thought up.” I touched the silver cuff I’d forgotten to remove from my wrist when I fell into bed earlier. “A friend of mine is missing. This isn’t a game to me.”

“I’m sorry,” Conor said, his eyes softening a little.

“Downstairs, Labyrinth is everything it promises to be — a sanctuary for blue-bloods. Tea parlors, cigar rooms, and the like, but nothing of interest to you.” I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself. “Most of the people down there probably have no idea what’s going on upstairs.”

“Upstairs?”

“It’s an auction,” I told him, feeling the crushing sadness return to lay against my chest like a heavy weight, as though someone had spliced open my ribs and poured a batch of concrete inside.

His brows rose. “Excuse me?”

“They’re auctioning off the immigrant girls to the highest bidder. There’s a room, on the top floor. Ten private betting booths, facing a small round platform with a track of spotlights overhead to illuminate the space.” I swallowed roughly. “There are chains attached to the stage — ankle bindings, so the girls can’t run.”

I heard Fae gasp. Conor’s reaction was more subdued — he released a low expletive under his breath, and the skin around his eyes tightened with tension. “Could you describe it for a sketch artist? We could replicate the space…”

“No need.” I stared at him for a weighty moment. “We have pictures.”





Chapter Thirty-Two





Now


As I rode the elevator back upstairs, I thought about the conversation I’d just had with my best friend — a woman I once thought I knew everything about, from her deepest secrets right down to her favorite shade of nail polish. I knew now, I couldn’t have been more wrong about that assumption.

I’d climbed from the car clutching Agent Gallagher’s business card in one hand, feeling more than a little shell shocked at the fact that I, Lux Kincaid — sunny Georgia girl and all round believer in the good things in life — had just had a conversation with a federal agent about a secret human trafficking ring on the Upper East Side, potentially involving people who had the power to wipe me off the face of the earth with a single phone call.