Chapter Thirty-three
Once outside, he led her to her own bike rather than his, and she was shocked to see the striking Harley gleaming from being freshly washed. It looked wonderful, and she couldn’t wait to take it out.
“Will you ride with me driving?” She asked him reluctantly.
“Only if I’m blind.”
“Boy-o, no one else has ever driven my bike.”
“Fine, we take mine.” He stood his ground and waited for her next move.
She walked toward his vehicle and at the last minute, swerved to hers. “The clutch sticks a bit.”
“I know. Who do you think filled the gas tank?” She shoved his arm in a joking way and muttered, “just get on.”
It wasn’t so bad riding behind Sam on her two-up seat, the one she’d used for taking Yaya with her since her grandmother couldn’t drive her own Sportster super-low anymore. In fact, she loved it. Her top-of-the-lineHarley Davidson Softail Deluxehad more power than the ones Sam rented, and they rode comfortably together.
Holding on to him, she didn’t mind that it wasn’t her in front. In her way of thinking, his macho stance on being in control was understandable. There weren’t a lot of men that she’d put up with their nonsense of ‘me man, me in charge’. But from him, she accepted his truth. The man led and others followed. Some guys were born to lead.
They arrived onKennenti – a narrow street where both sides were filled with nice-looking homes and the road with parked cars. Old-growth trees over-looked the noticeably cracked sidewalks and lent an appearance of dark tranquility. Sam pulled into a driveway opening to a narrow side street and parked.
They rang the bell at the door. Within a few minutes a huge giant with longish hair to match his bushy beard and wearing a big smile opened to them and ushered them straight through to the apartment on the main floor.
“Hey big guy.” Sam greeted the other man with a side hug and slapped his back, while Sophia watched two other people close in. Both were good-looking. Both had frames that screamed they were physically fit. And both wore huge grins at the sight of their boss.
Once he’d greeted them with affectionate hugs, they turned to her. She held out her hand to the approaching female first. “Sophia Dunne.”
“Anne Carmen, pleased to meet you, Special Agent.” Checking theslim, tallwomanwithshort,dark-blonde hair, blue eyes,and a gorgeous smileto see if there was any animosity because of her police role and seeing none, she nodded and answered, “same here.”
Then she took turns shaking hands with the other two that Anne introduced. Marc, the hulk who’d met them at the door, came forward first. His searing gaze stripped her of any pretense, and she gave back as good as she got. When his good-looking face broke into a smile of welcome, she had no choice but for hers to do the same.
Next, Anne pointed to the man known as David, and her face softened. He was a kid really, but one mostfemaleswould have felt an instant attraction to. Holy shit, what a looker. At least six-four with intense blue eyes and thick dark hair worn longer on the top.
He had a smile one could sink into, and he held her hand far longer than good etiquette demanded. He dove into her eyes as if he needed to read her, and then ensnared her under his spell. Never having had an experience quite like this before, rattled and not wanting to make a scene, she gave him a few seconds to stare his fill before she winked and turned away. His huge grin let her see him for the youngman he really was, but whoa… he could flirt with the angels and they’d fall in love.
She followed the others past a large table they’d set up as their main office area. Glancing around, she liked the look of the place. It was spacious, modern, and comfortable.
The large inviting balcony behind the full wall of windows where they’d left half-empty beer bottles to come and greet their boss was where they all headed back to. The big guy who met them at the door, Marc, offered her a drink and she accepted a Corona, as did Sam.
Once they were all seated outside, with the constant breeze cooling off the heat from the fading sun, they passed around the numerous bowls filled with chips and popcorn andjoked about their tripand how much they wanted some personal time to enjoy the city.
Samgave them a few minutes to rave about their location, the bakeryshopa minute away from the house, the local restaurant on the corner with great food and the closeness of the medieval castle. Then he shut down their enthusing andopened the real discussion. “Okay, okay. We’ll talk about time off once we get this case under control.” Becoming serious, he asked the questions Sophia wanted answers for.
“Dave, did you get all the surveillance info from John-john? The location of the house, how many are staying there and the number of guards they’veplaced around the property?”
Serious now, laptop in front of him, Dave answered, “Yeah. I’ve uploaded everything to the computer I have here. As you know, Marc and Anne did a drive-by earlier and vouched it was the right place.”
Anne added, “Just as we got there, they were loading the girls into the vans.” She opened her phone and showed the photographs she’d taken while theysurveilled the house. The pictures illustrateda majority ofyoung girls, some very young. Heart aching at seeing the proof and being able to put faces to the actualsufferers, Sophia also counted three males.
Anne broke into her visualizations, pulling her back to the balcony. “I counted fifteen and most were young, one couldn’t have been more than twelve. We followed them to three bars where they must have them working. One van left and headed up the highway to Lindos. David watched it on Google, and it stopped at a sleazy place not far from the ritzy spa hotel your cousin owns.” Anne aimed the last part of her remark toward Sophia.
Not surprised they’dlooked intoher background, Sophia thought out loud. “Could be those Russian tourists staying at Barney’s hotel want some extra services. They’d know the girls wouldn’t be allowed at Barney’s, so they’re setting them up in a place close by. Bastards!”
Anne grinned her agreement and turned to Sam while he gave orders. “When we move in, I want that place shut down and their captives freed. Not only that, I want you to look everywhere to find their personal papers. They’ll all need their passports before they can be sent back to their homes.”
“What if those documents aren’t kept in the residence? What if Manos or one of the others in charge has them at his place?”
“So far, from what we’ve been able to put together, there are three top men involved right here in Rhodes – the new mayor, the police commander, and Manos.”