Page 45 of West (The Moral Compass 1)
In the dining room, we had some of the most influential people in the country. Not politicians, but businesspeople. Men and women who had more money than God himself. This set of people made their money honestly and cleanly, and they had been instrumental in destroying some really bad networks around the world. Their work could be classed as charity work, I suppose, but paying enough money to have ring leaders killed is not really in the charity spirit now, is it?
This group was all friends, and we had all worked together with the same objective time and time again. In total, we had taken down 126 trafficking rings. Yep, you read that right. 126 trafficking rings. Unfortunately, it’s just the tip of the iceberg, and the one we have in our sights now controls around thirty individual rings of drugs, women, or children.
To be truthfully honest, I’m not after the drug rings this time. I just want Ralph and his associates off this planet, and I want it done quick. I can’t keep Sutton and Kara locked away forever, and it won’t take that long before they find out where I have them hidden anyway. Getting in here is a different thing altogether. They would be shot on sight, but it’s still not a risk I want to take.
We all sit down and enjoy a delicious meal. Light chitchat goes around the table. Sutton and Kara are sitting in between North and I, and Sutton has started to relax and become more comfortable as the night has gone on. She even managed a laugh at some of the jokes going around. The table is cleared of all glasses and crockery, and we all rise to move into the study. Twenty people make their way, all greeting us with a nod and a smile.
As the room is now full, mother closes the doors behind her after she enters the room. The audible click sounds the locking of the doors, and a short buzz disables all electronic devices in the room. Sutton is completely stiff and her eyes damp as she stares right into my eyes.
I smile and nod. “It’s okay, don’t worry. It’s just for protection,” I whisper in her ear. She nods in understanding.
“Thank you for coming this evening ladies and gentlemen. My family and I are extremely grateful for you making it here at such short notice.” Most of the people are nodding and smiling right at me. They know what’s coming, we have been here too many times before. But never this close to my home.
“I know the last time we met I told you I was hanging up my boots. Well, unfortunately, I have another job, and it’s much more personal. It is very important that we eradicate the threat immediately.” My tone is cold and firm, but not aggressive. These people are powerful, so they don’t need to be threatened to do the right thing. They just will willingly. They all have families and have had some kind of run-in with the type of people we are dealing with. On our own we are strong, together, as a collective, we are unbeatable.
“This young lady here is my girlfriend, Sutton Smith.” Sutton’s eyes fly up to mine and I can’t help my lips rising slightly at the edges at her discomfort. I squeeze her hand gently. “You were all sent a pack this afternoon detailing the extent of the issue, so I am not going to go through it all again. If anyone wants out, please raise your hand.”
I wait a good sixty seconds before I begin again. This is normal practice. Sometimes people just have too much going on to be able to give the effort we need, and I need everyone fully engaged one-hundred percent.
“We also believe there are around twenty-four women and six young girls under the age of sixteen being held. We need to get every one of them out with zero casualties. My brother, South, has found a couple of locations where we believe they are being held, and East is working on finding Ralph and Stella as we speak. We should have more information on their whereabouts by dawn. We have two teams coming in on Wednesday, and they will confirm our information and lead on the extradition of the hostages and moving them to the safe house. Dendrobes are taking the adults, and the Birds will take the children. Is everyone in agreement?” I ask just to confirm we are all on the same page.
“Good! That’s settled, then. We will keep you informed and updated as we get information. Again, thank you all for your time and commitment. If you have anything you need to share with us, please use our normal secure channel.”
That’s it, all done in fifteen minutes. The buzzer sounds again, the door unlocks, and everyone files out, hugging and kissing as if it’s the end of a normal dinner party. Just as we want it to look.
The house empties, and Sutton leaves my hand and heads for the stairs. Never looking back, she glides upstairs and out of sight.
Shit, she is pissed at me. Well, no time like the present to get this over with.
I follow behind her up the stairs and into the bedroom where I find Sutton taking off her dress.
“You okay?” I give it a go in the hope this all blows over quickly.
“Fine,” she replies. As a guy who has been around my mother and sister, I know very well that four-letter word is the start of a war.
“Okay,” I chirp and head for the bathroom, waiting for the ticking time bomb to blow.
Five, four, three, two—
“What the fuck was all that about downstairs?”
Yep, there she goes.
“If you just give me a minute to get out of this suit, I’ll explain it all, and then we can be friends again.” I give her my 'I’m going to fuck you' smile and a wink. Maybe it was a little premature as her face literally goes scarlet, and she looks like she is seriously going to cause me some damage.
“Okay, okay. Maybe not friends but come on, Sut. I just want to be more comfortable.” I pull my shirt over my head and then drop my trousers so I am just in my tight boxers in the hope she likes what she sees and forgets how mad she is. It seems to be working. Her glare is not as intense as it was a few seconds ago.
I sit down on the bed next to where she has positioned herself. “Tonight, Sutton, was a meeting of like-minded people. Five years ago, one of my father’s business associates had two daughters, twins, who were both taken on their way home from school. They weren’t just kidnapped Sutton. There was no ransom. They were never coming home. The groups you met tonight came together to support the family. With my background, and also the talents of my brothers, we decided to help to get the girls back. It took several days and a lot of money and resources, but we got the girls out and also saved thirty-four others. They were due to be auctioned the next day. They took the twins as they were thought to be virgins and they would fetch a much higher price. And the fact that they were twins? Well, that was a huge bonus for the fucking scum. Eight months ago, I retired, as I’ve explained. My dad was all for the cause, and the importing of flowers was built as a cover so that we could move around the globe and go into small towns and cities undetected, but he worried that one day I wouldn’t come home, and Mum agreed. When Dad passed, I decided to give him his last wish. But Sutton, he wouldn’t want me to sit around and let these people get away with whatever they are doing and have planned for you and Kara.”
I took a deep breath and looked right into her eyes. The anger had gone, but fear was very much there. I can’t wait for the day I can look into those eyes again and see the carefree sparkle that was there the very first time I bumped into her.
“What was your past, West? You talk about your past as if you have told me what it is, and you always seem to skip the most important bit. What or who were you before?” she asked strongly, and I knew I couldn’t dodge it any longer. God knows and she knows I’ve tried.
“I used to be in the army, Special Forces, actually, and I served for eight years. The one thing I am most proud of though was taking part in the Winter Olympics and winning gold for Biathlon, which included rifle shooting. No one could touch me when firearms were involved. I was released at twenty-eight and worked for a semi-private security firm. I guarded dignitaries and visited royalty and took part in a few situations that I can’t discuss with you or anyone. I’m sorry but I just can’t. I am a good man, Sutton, but deep down there is a part of me that is totally ruthless and will do literally anything to protect innocent people.”
“Does that mean killing people?” she asked tentatively.
“Yes, Sutton. It does. But it’s not a choice, it’s not a decision. If they don’t give people their lives back, there is a huge chance they will lose theirs, and it is as simple as that. I would always want justice first, but sometimes there is no other option. If someone walked in here now, Sutton, and tried to kill me, you would do everything in your power to stop them right?” She nods in reply.
