Thumper by Marie James
Chapter 14
Thumper
My skin grew itchy the second Angel escorted Cara out of my office. I don’t even want to think about the conversation I had with Lauren after that. She was pissed, livid that I even had the thought in my head to tell Cara the truth. She claims it could ruin everything, but I don’t understand her reasoning.
Cara knowing that I’m not a monster wouldn’t be the end of the world, but she had a point when she claimed I only wanted to do it for selfish reasons. I couldn’t come up with a better one on the spot or for the last hour I’ve been sitting here trying to think of something that would appease Lauren enough to tell her.
I’m not surprised when my door flies open, the doorknob creating an even bigger hole than it did the last time he came in here pissed at me.
“What?” I ask in a calm, disinterested voice.
My gun is on my lap, anticipating this showdown. I saw it in his eyes when he left earlier that things were about to change. He may be on the same side, or here for reasons other than making a little money in the skin trade, but I’m not willing to die on the chance that he isn’t.
“What the fuck are you doing to them in here?” he hisses, his fingers dangerously close to the gun I know he keeps tucked in his own waistband.
“That’s no concern of yours.”
“I told you that messing with the girls compromises them for the buyers. Customers don’t like their toys being played with.”
I blink up at him, my face a mask of disregard, but my pulse is pounding in my ears.
“Once they break, there’s no chance to fix that, and you can’t be using them up.”
I have to make a quick decision, a test to see if he’s more concerned about them or about the money he could potentially lose from me doing what he suspects I’ve been doing while I’ve been alone in here with Cara and then again with Lauren today.
“I’m not going to town as you suggested to fuck some local girl when I have a basement of available pussy.”
His jaw clenches, and I fight the urge to do the same. I hate the taste of those words coming out of my mouth.
“Do you know how tight unwilling pussy is?” I swallow the bile as it inches its way up my throat.
Angel comes in closer, the width of my desk the only space between us. The look in his eyes tells me everything I need to know.
He has an agenda, and it may not be working for the FBI, but he’s not here to sell women.
“Are you fucking FBI?”
He blinks.
“CIA? Homeland Security? A special task force?”
He backs away an inch, and I’ve had enough training to know he’s about to act out to prove that he’s none of the things I suggested.
His hand goes to his waistband when I lift my own weapon from my lap and lay it on the desk between us.
I’m taking the chance that he’s not willing to kill an unarmed man, but it’s a huge risk. If he honestly believes I’m the villain I’ve showed him and the women I am, then there’s nothing stopping him from pulling the trigger.
“My name is Special Agent Javier Sosa.”
His eyes flash with surprise and a hint of disbelief.
“I’m undercover with an FBI task force with the sole purpose of getting in with Gonzalo Sevilla’s crew to take him down.”
Angel’s head tilts to the side, the gun lowering an inch before he lifts it right back into firing position. “You hurt her. In a way, I understand what you did in front of Berto, but then you had me bring her to that room, and you fucking raped her again.”
There’s anger in his voice, but he’s not raising it or getting overly agitated. The man in front of me has made up his mind that I’m as good as dead, and even more so now that I’ve confessed who I am. It’s almost as if he believes that the real pieces of shit who do this day in and day out can’t help themselves, but I had a choice and decided to be just as vile as them.
“Lola is FBI as well,” I tell him, knowing if he needs more proof to keep from putting a bullet in my head, he’s going to find out anyway. I won’t tell him her real name. That’s something she’ll have to share with him herself.
“I’m not very familiar with the operations of the FBI, but I doubt that a woman joined the FBI accepting that she was going to be raped by a colleague.”
“Can I show you something?” I keep my hands slightly elevated, waiting for him to answer. When he doesn’t, I know it’s just one more way for him to feel justified when he pulls the trigger. “Watch this video.”
“You piece of shit,” he snarls. “I watched it when it was fucking happening. It was streamed to the entire house like you were proud of what you were doing.”
“But there wasn’t sound.”
I hit a key on my keyboard and the office is filled with the sound of my hips hitting Lauren’s ass.
“You think the soundtrack to your depravity is going to help—”
“Fuck, Javi, I’ve missed you. Hard. God, fuck me harder.”
His eyes dart to the computer screen.
“It’s been too long, baby. There, fuck, right there. I’m going to come so hard.”
I look up at him and watch his face. I don’t want to see this shit. Hearing her voice, knowing I lived that experience with her does nothing for my libido.
“Tighter, grip me tight, hands around my throat.” I don’t have to look at the screen to know that my hands move from being tangled in her hair to circling her throat. My hips never stop moving.
“Did I feel like a piece of shit for singling her out when they first arrived. You bet I did. Is there any excuse for my behavior other than not wanting to end up in a puddle of blood at Berto’s feet? No. But I will tell you, and I’m not saying this in any way to degrade Lola, but she came hard on my cock outside. We’ve known each other for a long time, and she’s into that sort of shit. I didn’t come then, not that it makes any difference. I don’t rape women, Angel, and I have no idea what I would’ve done if she hadn’t been in the group that arrived. We’d probably both be dead if I had to make that same choice and she wasn’t here.”
The gun lowers, and even though it wasn’t touching me, I feel the drop in pressure on my forehead.
“This is so fucked up.”
“Beyond fucked up,” I agree as he plops down in the chair across from my desk.
He tucks his gun back into his waistband.
“I was wondering if my confession and the truth was going to calm you down or make you pull the trigger faster,” I hedge because the man still hasn’t admitted that he’s not here to sell women. “I explained why I’m here. Why don’t you do the same?”
His jaw ticks again, and I know he’s trying to decide whether he needs to lie or not.
So, I decide to give him more. “The first girl that left, Lisa? She was transported to an intake station in El Paso and returned to her family a day later. The man who picked her up was another FBI agent.”
He mulls over this information.
“I know you’ve noticed that Megan has been starving herself, and I’ve finally gotten the go-ahead to remove her as well. What happened to her—”
“Was my goddamn fault,” he hisses. “If you weren’t going to kill Juan, then I was going to do it myself. If this is an FBI operation, then why is it taking so long for these women to get released?”
“You know why.”
He nods. “The people working here aren’t the end goal.”
“And something tells me it isn’t yours either,” I say, opening the door for him to explain once again.
“I’m still going to be known as Angel, but I work for a mercenary group. I’ve been hired by a man to track down, torture, and kill the men responsible for raping and murdering his fifteen-year-old daughter. He contacted a group in New Mexico, but they don’t do retaliation.”
My throat threatens to close. “Cerberus.”
“You’ve heard of them?”
I almost open my mouth to tell him that I was a member of the team, but it’s a lie. My entire time there was a lie. “I trained with them for a while. They think I’m Javier Nolasco, sex trafficker. That story was put in place by my handler. I’m certain they’re trying to track me down to put a bullet in my head.”
“That’s bad news.”
I can’t help the chuckle that bubbles out of my throat. Leave it to a mercenary not to get emotional about a bounty put on someone’s head.
“Yeah, so about Megan. I’m going to need you to go back down to the basement, pull the women out and keep them distracted while I extract Megan. I know it’s going to upset them to notice she’s gone, but it’ll be worse to see it actually happen.”
“Why not release all of them?”
“I don’t trust anyone else in the house.”
“You shouldn’t. I still don’t know if I can trust you. Do you know how many times over the last week I’ve almost killed you in your sleep?”
“I’d have to actually be able to rest for that to happen. This is the worst fucking job I’ve been on.”
Angel continues to watch me but doesn’t commiserate my situation.
“We’re waiting because we have to verify that we aren’t sending these women back into the same situation that got them here in the first place. Every one of them lied on their paperwork, which is smart, but it makes my job harder. Megan’s brother sold her in exchange for some drug debt, but we can’t wait to move her. She’s going to end up killing herself. We managed to track down an aunt on the other side of the country that we feel she’ll be safe with. Penny’s stepdad sold her and killed her mother the next day for life insurance money, and we’re struggling to find someone we can depend on to help her.”
“Fuck,” he mutters.
“See why we can’t just send them back without doing a little research?”
He nods reluctantly.
“You didn’t mention who you were going after.”
He blinks at me, making it clear he won’t tell me what his end goal is. I’m not surprised. I just need to make sure he’s on my side.
“Lola has a buyer coming in a couple of days.”
He stiffens.
“This man is as close as I can get her to Costa Rica, and that’s her goal.”
“The government is fucking crazy. What kind of organization would put women in these types of situations?”
“Say that to her face, and she’s likely to kick you in the nuts for even insinuating that she can’t handle herself. She’s a good agent. She’ll be okay.”
“Until she isn’t,” he mutters.
“Until she isn’t,” I agree.
“Lay out the full plan for Megan.”
“I’m going to carry her out in a body bag.” He winces. “I know, but I also know there are eyes all over this house, and I wouldn’t put it past staff to sell some intel to make a little money on the side. You know as well as I do that once we move on, this house will still be used for the exact same thing. This house came with the contract with the women Gonzalo Sevilla supplies.”
“This motherfucker will be burned to the ground once we’re done.”
I give him a smile. “I think I’m going to like working with you.”