Page 85 of Protecting Josie
She rejected the rest of Millie’s speech completely. Nate might’ve left, but he’d be back.
Millie’s words were meant to demoralize her, but they had the opposite effect. They’d given Josie hope. Nate was here. In Las Vegas. She needed to be ready for anything.
The feel of the gun in her back had Josie hurrying up the rest of the stairs.
“Sit there,” Millie ordered, gesturing to a pile of trash on the floor. It smelled horrible, but Josie did as she was told.
“The bitch give you any trouble?” Gen asked from her spot across the room on the couch.
“No. She’s weak. Just like we thought,” Millie answered breezily.
Josie sat completely still, not fazed at all by the older woman’s insult. She wasn’t weak. She’d proven that by surviving in Iran. All the times Nate had told her how strong she was, how impressed he was with her, echoed in her head.
“You tell her what’s going to happen?” Gen asked her mom.
“No.”
Gen grinned. “Can I? Please? I want her to know.”
“Fine. But get up and watch out the door for him to arrive.”
Josie didn’t know who “him” was, but she assumed Millie didn’t mean Nate.
Gen got up and made her way to the front door. She looked out the window beside it, then turned toward Josie.
“We sold you,” she said bluntly, a glint in her eye. “To a guy who has connections in the sex trade. He knows a guy who knows a guy who likes fresh meat. Women who haven’t been prostituted out already. Heusedto have a connection to someone in Peru, a man who took unsuspecting women from the casinos, but unfortunately, that guy’s entire operation was taken down.”
Gen laughed then. A deep sound that sent shivers downJosie’s spine. “You’re going to befucked—literally. Until you’re bleeding out of every orifice. You’ll be tied down, raped over and over. Given to anyone who wants to take a turn. And then you’ll be shoved into a shipping container and sent to China. You’ll be quite the novelty over there, and the whole process will start all over again. The rest of your life will be spent being fucked over, just like you did tous.”
It sounded overly dramatic, like Gen had watched too many thriller movies, but Josie had no doubt that whoever she was about to be sold to didn’t have plans to invite her over for tea and cookies.
“Did you hear me, bitch? You’re about to live your worst fucking nightmare.”
Josie simply stared at Genevieve. The last thing she’d do was give either of these women the satisfaction of knowing how terrified she really was. Theywantedher to be scared. Wanted her to beg for her life. For that very reason, she refused to show any emotion whatsoever.
“A thousand bucks. That’s all you’re worth. It’s more than we thought we’d get for you, though. Honestly, I would’ve given you to him for free, but Mom insisted we get some kind of compensation for our troubles. He had to make one other stop before he came here, but he’s on his way now.”
Josie felt cold inside, but she didn’t let any of the turmoil coursing through her body show on her face.
Headlights flickered through the front window as someone pulled into the driveway outside.
“He’s here!” Gen said excitedly.
Millie lifted the pistol again and pointed it at Josie. “It’s time to pay for your crimes, bitch.”
“Someone’s pulling in,” Smiley said unnecessarily from behind a car on the street, where he, Preacher, and Blink were crouching. They’d parked down the block and had been silently watching and waiting for something to happen. They didn’t have to wait long.
A black four-door sedan pulled into the driveway and the headlights immediately turned off. A large man, about six feet tall and easily three hundred pounds, got out and walked up to the front door.
Blink got a glimpse of Gen at the door as she opened it, before the man disappeared inside.
His gut rolled. Everything within him was screaming for him to run up to the house, but his training forced him to stay right where he was.
“I’m going to go look in the car. I’ll be right back,” Smiley said.
“I’m going with you,” Blink said quickly. He needed intel, and he needed it now. Whoever that man was who’d gone inside, he was up to no good. And if he was involved in Josie’s disappearance, or if there was evidence of her being in the car, now or in the past, he needed to see for himself.
“I’ll call Tex with the plate number,” Preacher said. “Go.”
