“So, Felipe tells me the girl has been making excellent progress. He says she’s even participated in one of his sordid parties,” Rafiq said with a smile. “He assures me the girl’s involvement did not compromise her virginity.”

Caleb swallowed all the liquid in his glass and winced as the amber liquid burned down his throat, “Yes, that’s right.” Inside his chest, his heart took up a rapid beat.

“Glad to hear it, Khoya,” Rafiq said. “Jair had his doubts, but I told him you would never betray me. Not for the sake of one girl.”

Caleb turned to scowl at Jair in open disgust, “Of course not, Rafiq. I’ll never understand why you listen to anything this pig has to say.”

Jair stood and flung his chair back, but Caleb was prepared to meet him. As Jair lunged, Caleb used his upward momentum to push the other man into the air and slam him to the ground. Caleb took advantage of Jair’s stunned state and landed a satisfying punch across his face.

“Caleb!” Rafiq admonished, “Get off of him, now!”

Caleb landed another punch and Jair lost consciousness. Caleb couldn’t stand the son of a bitch and regardless of how things turned out, he wouldn’t suffer Jair a moment longer. He reached back for the knife in his pants, determined to plant it in Jair’s chest, but then felt two sets of hands pulling him backward.

“Caleb, no!” shouted Felipe, “Control yourself in my home.”

A flat hand collided with the side of Caleb’s face and he knew instantly it had been Rafiq who slapped him. As Caleb struggled to regain his bearing, he heard a gun being cocked just before Rafiq’s foot landed on his chest, winding him.

“Jair does what I ask him to do. If you have a problem with it, you can take it up with me, Caleb. I won’t tolerate your disrespect. Apologize to Felipe, or so help me, you will walk with a limp from this night forward,” Rafiq shouted.

Behind Rafiq, Nancy was weeping. Caleb held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry! I lost control.” Rafiq’s eyes burned with anger and Caleb knew he wouldn’t hesitate to follow through on his threat.

“What the hell would possess you, Caleb?” Rafiq spat, literally.

“He’s been begging me to put a knife in him since we met, Rafiq. Do you honestly expect me to let him disrespect me? In front of you? You’ve never doubted me before. Never! And suddenly, his word means more to you than mine?” Caleb’s chest heaved beneath Rafiq’s foot.

Rafiq sighed deeply and shook his head. “I never said such a thing, Khoya.” He removed his foot from Caleb’s chest and cocked his weapon one more time to take the bullet out of the chamber. “Things are….”

“I know,” Caleb whispered. Their revenge was close at hand and Caleb had jeopardized it. Rafiq had every right to shoot Caleb where he lay. The pain in Caleb’s chest suddenly had nothing to do with being held down. He had betrayed the one person who’d never judged him for the things he’d done, for the sake of the one person who loved him in spite of the person he’d become. “I’m sorry,” Caleb said again, knowing Rafiq couldn’t yet guess how deeply his apology went.

He realized there would be no reasoning with Rafiq, no compromise over his fate or Livvie’s. There was only one option left and Caleb had always known it might come down to it all along. One of them would have to die.

***

“Celia?” the man repeated. I held the gun in my hands, but didn’t know what I meant to do. I looked toward Celia.

Her eyes were wide as saucers, but she held up her hands and kept calm, “It’s Felipe. Please, put the gun down.”

“Caleb said not to let anyone in. I think that includes Felipe,” I said. I felt faint, my world blurry at the edges as I considered shooting my way out of the room.

“Please, Kitten! Don’t be an idiot. Felipe will never let you out of here alive if you don’t put the gun away,” she pleaded.

“Tell him to go away,” I hissed.

“He’ll know something’s wrong. I would never tell him what to do,” she said.

Loud knocking and a string of Spanish came through the door, “Celia, come to the door now or I will break down the door.”

I nearly vomited in my mouth as I considered going up against Felipe. I looked to Celia and she frantically wiped tears from her eyes. “Go to the door,” I said.

“What will you do?” Celia sobbed.

“Ask him where Caleb is,” I urged.

Celia nodded and slowly crawled toward the door, “I’m in here with Kitten,” she said. Her voice seemed calm and considering her face was puffy with tears, I was impressed.

“Why is the door locked?” Felipe’s angry voice asked through the door.

“Caleb was worried,” she said. “Where is he?”

“Downstairs with Rafiq, open the door,” he said. It sounded like a command.

Celia looked toward me with a pleading expression. I weighed my options for a few seconds and decided to let Celia open the door, but there was no way I was giving up the gun. I put it on the ground next to me. “Open the door,” I said.

“Be calm, Kitten,” Celia said, “Felipe won’t hurt you unless you make him. Trust me.” She waited until I nodded and then turned the lock. She opened the door slowly and Felipe, gun in hand, stepped inside to the side of the door.

“What’s going on?” he asked Celia, but kept his eyes on me. I was still on the floor, taking cover next to the bed.

“Tell her Caleb is alright,” Celia said. She placed herself between me and Felipe.

“Why have you been crying, Celia? What happened here?” Felipe asked. His tone was deadly and calm.

“Nothing, my love. I’ve just been keeping Kitten, company. She’s scared, Felipe. Tell her Caleb is alright. She’s worried about him,” she pleaded.

“He’s fine. He and Rafiq are having a drink. He should be up here shortly. We can all wait for him,” he said, but didn’t lower his gun.

“Why didn’t he come himself?” I screeched.

“He couldn’t, not without raising suspicions. As it was, I suspected something might be happening up here. Why were you crying, Celia?” Felipe asked. His tone hinted at his anger.

“It’s just girl talk, Felipe. Please don’t make a fuss. She was terrified you were coming to hurt her and it made me think about….” Celia’s voice trailed off. Slowly, she raised her hand and caressed Felipe’s face, “Don’t you remember what it was like in the beginning?”

Felipe’s eyes turned sad. He lowered his gun and kissed Celia’s forehead. “I’m sorry she made you remember,” he whispered. “Especially when I’ve tried so hard to make you forget.”

“I have Felipe, I promise you I have,” she whispered.

Celia still stood between us and while I didn’t necessarily trust Felipe, she had proven herself a friend by remaining between me and certain death. I remembered my conversation in the dungeon with Felipe. He had taken Celia as a trophy and by his own admission had not treated her kindly. Looking at them now, it was difficult to picture a time when Felipe was cruel to Celia. Then again, I didn’t know either of them very well. Celia didn’t seem to have a clue as to how much Felipe loved her. It looked fairly obvious to me.

Felipe nodded and pulled Celia into his arms. She sobbed loudly into his chest as he stroked her hair and whispered reassuring things. Seeing them made me ache for Caleb.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “I didn’t mean to cause any problems.” It was true. I didn’t want to cause problems. The only thing I wanted was a way out for me and Caleb.

Felipe looked up at me, “Go wash up, sweet girl. You’re master should be coming back any minute and I suggest you’re ready for him when he does. You don’t have much time together.”

“What do you mean?!” I blurted.

Felipe gave me a wry smile, “I wish there was more I could do for the two of you. I’ve enjoyed watching your relationship unfold. Good luck to you, Kitten.”

As I sat, stunned and with my mouth agape, Felipe led Celia out of the room and shut the door behind him. I had surrendered my hostage. I had surrendered my guide. I had surrendered to whatever fate awaited me once the door opened.

Chapter Twenty-one

Day 10: 11pm

Matthew had had a sick feeling in his stomach for the better part of the last hour. The feeling wasn’t necessarily new; it had accompanied him many times on certain cases. The world was a sick, f**ked-up place and he dealt with it more than most, but this case was shaping up to be a nightmare he’d remember forever. Every agent had a case that haunted them. Olivia and her Caleb would be his.

Some interesting hits had turned up via facial recognition, nation-wide records searches and the Homeland Security database. Matthew, along with a few other agents had started putting the pieces together over the last five hours.

“I think Karachi makes the most sense given the intel,” Agent Williams said. She’d flown in from Virginia once the sensitive nature of the case became clearer.

“I agree. The boys at the FIA aren’t going to like what we have to say, but it looks like Muhammad Rafiq has been making use of military resources to cover-up his human trafficking ring,” Matthew said.