Faceless (Sinister Secrets Book 2), Candle Sutton [dar e dil novel online reading txt] 📗

Tio spit and offered a few choice words, none of which answered the question.

Dak crossed his arms and stared at them. No way was he going to get anything from Tio.

He turned to Mitch. “Is anyone else on the boat? Tell me and I’ll make sure the DA knows you cooperated.”

Mitch pressed his lips together and kept his eyes trained on the deck.

“Mitch?” Kevyn’s voice came from behind him. “Answer the question.”

Mitch’s head jerked up and his lips parted. “K-Kevyn? You made it.”

Thud, step, thud, step. It was almost painful watching her hobble across the deck in that walking boot.

“Yes. No thanks to your friend there.” She nodded at Tio. “Now tell me. Am I going to get shot when I board that cruiser?”

The idea was ridiculous. There was no way she’d make it down a rope ladder in that stupid boot.

Still, the threat seemed to work.

Mitch shook his head slowly. “No. There are–”

“Mitch! Shut up!” Tio roared.

Mitch threw a disdainful look at Tio. “Why? It’s over. Or can’t you see that?”

Tio’s jaw twitched and his muscles tensed.

“There are captives below deck. More donors.” Mitch looked at Kevyn. Only Kevyn. “No one else.”

Dak gestured for several agents to follow him, then descended the ladder while two agents covered him from above.

He landed on the deck, pulled his gun, and surveyed the area.

No sound of anything living.

The other agents boarded and the four of them swept the cabin before heading below deck.

Huddled against a wall, sat five people. They looked Asian. Or maybe Filipino. The poor lighting made it hard to tell.

What he could tell was that they were young. Maybe teens. Maybe slightly older. And terrified.

As they should be. They’d almost been killed for their organs.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Most stared at him in confusion, but one girl perked to attention. “You help us?”

“Yes. We’re here to help you get home.”

Tears burst from her eyes and she spoke quickly in a language he didn’t understand. Hope reflected in the faces of the other captives.

As Dak cut the ropes from their hands, he thanked God for a peaceful resolution.

They may not have been able to take Boggess, Andrews, or Cummings home alive, but they’d saved five lives. Probably more, when he thought about how many other people these guys might have taken.

He turned to face the agents who were with him. “Let’s get out of here.”

Twenty-Four

Kevyn sat on a crate toward the bow of the freighter, watching as the city steadily grew larger. The sun warmed her body, but couldn’t touch the chill surrounding her heart.

It was finally over.

No more OPR investigation, no more worrying about what her father was up to. She now knew. And it was far worse than she’d imagined.

“You okay?”

She started at Dak’s voice behind her. “Still processing.”

It sounded better than saying she felt numb.

He rounded the crate and settled next to her. “He’s asking to see you.”

A short laugh slipped out. “I don’t care.”

Dak’s lips tipped in a small smile. “I thought you’d say something like that, but wanted to deliver the message.”

“Do we know what he did with the bodies?” It didn’t sit well with her, not being able to return the bodies of Jason Boggess and Wes Andrews to their families.

“At this point, no.” Dak planted his hands on the crate on either side of his body and leaned forward slightly. “Tio and his goons have already lawyered up. Mitch claims he doesn’t know, that he was only recently brought in.”

Right. Like they could believe anything that liar said.

Dak glanced over at her. “We might get something from one of the other guys, or we might not ever know.”

He was right. As much as it pained her, the bodies might never be found.

“No clues on the cruiser?”

Dak shook his head. “Not so far, but we’ll know more once forensics gets hold of it.”

The cruiser, being captained by JD, had already disappeared toward the city. Part of her wished she’d traveled back to the city on that instead of the freighter, but navigating that rope ladder would have been difficult with her foot.

She was tired of the topic of her father and his criminal activities.

Maybe it was time to bring up the other issue she’d wrestled with. “You know, I prayed.”

“Really? What for?” Dak’s tone was casual, displaying mild interest.

Funny. She would have thought he’d be a lot more excited that she’d prayed. “To get away. While I was sitting in that warehouse, with my foot all messed up, I knew my options weren’t great. I also knew that you would have already been praying if it’d been you in that situation. So I thought I’d give it a try.”

“And what do you think now?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? Did she think that everything had simply worked out on its own, that Tio’s thugs had been sloppy enough to tie her hands in front of her instead of behind her, that they’d been slow enough to not be able to stop her from jumping into the water? Or did she think that God had opened an opportunity for her?

She wasn’t sure. Honestly, she felt a little too drained to process it all right now.

“I’m undecided. It could be good timing.”

“Or it could be God’s hand in your life.”

Or that. There was no doubt which option Dak thought it was. “I believe in God. I think I always have. It’s just hard to buy that He wants to be personally involved in my life.”

“He’s a personal God.” Dak rested his elbows on his knees so he could see her face. “I know it sounds crazy. The God who made everything