Fractured Innocence (#2 IFICS) (11 page)

 Aaliyah started singing in Afrikaans. Their native tongue in South Africa. Her voice sounded sad to her own ears. The song had been Darrius’s favorite bedtime song when he was littler.
Wielie-wielie-walie,die aap sit op die balie. Tjoef-tjaf val hy af. Wielie-wielie-walie.
A silly song about a monkey sitting on a barrel. Darrius used to beg her to sing it over and over when she tucked him in bed at night. She would sell her soul to go back to that time and place again. 

Darrius’s head dropped to her shoulder, and she continued to sing in a hushed voice. It bothered her that she couldn’t reach up and touch him, but at least they were together. His breathing soon became regular and his head rolled back. She smiled and kept singing. Poor little boy probably hadn’t had a good sleep since they’d been abducted. She knew she hadn’t. Nightmares kept her up. 

They drove for hours. At least it felt like hours. Mostly in a straight line it seemed, and they were driving fast, so they were probably on a main highway. Somehow, she knew where they were going would be far worse than where they had come from. Just the thought, made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, as a chill ran down her spine. 

Eventually, the van slowed and rolled to a stop. Darrius was awake and shivering. She knew it wasn’t from the cold. He was terrified. They both were terrified. But nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to see.

“It’s going to be okay. I love you,” she whispered. 

“Right.” Darrius dropped his head.  

The doors flew open and two large men pulled them out of the van. Despite the cold, perspiration beaded on her upper lip. Desperately, she tried to fight the fear that flooded her body. 

 Aaliyah looked around trying to take in her surroundings. Huge colorful metal boxes stacked high surrounded them. She could smell the ocean and hear the waves lapping. At any other time, the sounds would have been soothing. Here, nothing was calming. They were being shoved forward. Darrius cried out and the man slapped him hard across the head. Blood flew from his mouth. 

Aaliyah went crazy. She thrashed and kicked, but the man just laughed, dragging her along on the ground. Eventually, he got sick of pulling her, so he threw her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. Her gown slipped up and the man cupped his hand on her bare bottom. His large fingers dug into her skin making her want to vomit. Frantic, she struggled against him, squirming, twisting, but it was useless against his powerful arms.

The men spoke to each other, but once again she could not understand them. Why couldn’t they just speak English? They went down several narrow walkways surrounded by the huge containers. It had to be at some kind of shipyard or something. 

Looking down at the ground made her nauseated. Her body jerked up and down over his shoulder. 

After a while, the men made a sharp left. The guy dropped her to the ground, slapped her on the bottom, before he pushed her forward over a metal grated walkway that led to a huge ship. The ship was full of the same type of containers they had passed by. 

The ship was dark, and their footsteps echoed loudly. Her legs shook with every step, and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her throat. The ground was freezing on her bare feet. Silently, she thanked Tony for allowing her to put on the flimsy gown. 

The corridors were long and narrow with low ceilings. The space was so small and confining, even though the ship itself was huge. Bigger than anything she had ever seen before.  Loud clanking and hissing sounds only freaked her out even more. 

There was nowhere to run. They were trapped like mice in a maze. She would never remember all the twists and turns they had taken. 

A chill spread through her when she noticed a large metal door looming ahead. Her steps faltered. Once the door swung open, the overpowering stench hit her immediately, causing her stomach to heave violently. It smelled like sewage or rotten food.

Aaliyah froze. Any bravado she had left evaporated. 

“Oh, shit,” she whispered. Before her stood rows and rows of cages. Filled with
humans.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away. Most of them were young, dark skinned, naked and filthy. She twisted and tried to run, but the large man just laughed and grasped her arms tighter. If she didn’t know it before, she knew it now: they were in trouble, very bad trouble. 

The man next to her pulled Darrius forward. Her brother turned to look at her, even though he couldn’t see through his swollen eyes. He didn’t even cry out. She was proud of him for being so brave, but also devastated that he had to grow up so quickly. Panic surged through her. 

With every ounce of energy, she twisted and pulled trying to get from the man’s tight grip as she watched Darrius leaving the room and going through another metal door. 

“No!” she yelled hysterically.  

The door slammed shut and Darrius was once again gone from her sight. The only sounds were a loud scraping of metal against metal.

She heard herself whimpering, pleading for him not to take her brother away, promising she would do anything he wanted her to. 

The man laughed loudly. 

He handled her casually, as if she was nothing more than an inanimate object, which made the cruelty that much harder to bear. Slowly, he untied her wrists. 

She knew she only had seconds to act. She whirled around, and with all her might, threw a punch, but before it could connect, he stepped back and grabbed her arm. He twisted it violently behind her, causing her to cry out in pain. 

“Tsk, tsk.”  He said something else, but since it was in another language, he might as well have been speaking gibberish. She groaned, as he eased her arm back down. She’d failed. Again. 

Clumsy fingers racked her back as the man tried to untie the gown while holding her in place with his other arm. The gown floated to the floor and the cool air hit her bare skin. Instinctively, she tried to cover herself, but she was pinned against him. A loud sob escaped as the man ran his free hand over her body. 

Please, no. Not again!

After a few rough grabs, his hands stopped roaming. The man pulled a key out of his pocket and opened one of the cages. Her body stiffened. She couldn’t go in there. There was no way in hell she was going to let him put her in that cage. It was already overfilled with other young girls. She threw her head back, but he had anticipated the move and just titled his head to the side. She barely hit his shoulder. 

Aaliyah’s shoulders sagged, defeated. She was no match for the large man. Consciously, she tried to control the panic as she stared into the young girls eyes. They all looked glassy and drugged. They didn’t even make a sound as she was thrown into the cage with them and fell on top of arms and legs. 

Aaliyah pushed herself up with one of her hands. Quickly, she yanked it back she had landed on something warm and sticky. 

Gross.
There was nowhere to wipe her hand. She brought her fingers to her face. Her stomach heaved when she realized what the rust-colored substance was. 

Blood. 

After what she had been through, she shouldn’t have been surprised by the sight, but it still jarred her. She glanced around at the cowering girls. None of them would meet her eyes. 

The cage was barely tall enough to stand in, but everyone was laying or sitting on the ground. The door shut with a loud clank. Seconds later, the lights went out and they were engulfed in darkness. The panic was so strong, she felt like she was going to crawl out of her skin. Aaliyah pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around herself, the cool skin of the others pressed against her thighs. She couldn’t help it as tears streamed down her face and her body shook.

So this was the merchandise.
They
were the merchandise. Of course, she’d seen occasional mention of human trafficking on the news, but she never really believed it still existed in today’s world. Not in America. Now she was living proof. 

Living in the slums of Detroit, the dangers were plentiful. But never had she imagined being abducted, raped and thrown in a cage. In the confined space, she rocked back and forth.  

Darrius. 

CHAPTER 11

Restless, Kaitlyn kicked her foot over her ankle and stared at the wood planked ceiling. Dr. Chambers would be proud. 

   Another afternoon wasting away. Tomorrow would be a week they’d been waiting for word that they were cleared to move forward. During that time, they’d kept busy with training, but she was itching to get to work.

It was as if time was standing still. Kaitlyn sent Lucas an inquiring look. “What’s that saying Quess uses about a kettle and tea while waiting?”

Lucas set down his book and turned to his side, tracing his fingers up her arm and chuckled. “I think you mean a watched pot never boils?”

She shook her head, thoughtfully. “Yeah, that’s the one. I thought that was a ridiculous phrase, but I finally understand what she means. Time really does seem to stand still when you are waiting for something.” 

“Get over here, Kate.” He raised his arm for her to mold herself to him. Warmth moved through her. She loved to hear her name on his lips. His gaze dropped to her mouth. Instead of kissing her lips, he lowered his head and pressed his lips lightly to her bare shoulder. His hands cupped her hips, drawing her in tighter. Kaitlyn let herself relax into the embrace. The moment his lips touched hers, she was lost in the sensation, a heat that only he could cause radiated through her. It was always that way with them.  A simple kiss from him made her forget everything. She couldn’t think beyond her need for Lucas. 

“I want you, Lucas,” she whispered. 

His smile turned sensual. “You got me, Kate.” 

Beneath the splayed hand she pressed firmly to his chest, she felt his heartbeat kick up a notch. It drove her crazy how responsive he was to her touch. Lucas grabbed her hand and stroked his thumb across her skin before lightly kissing each of her fingertips. His lips continued to trail down her wrist and her arm. He rolled her over and lowered his mouth, kissing her so soft and sweet, taking his time about it. 

Kaitlyn swiped her tongue over his full bottom lip before she drew it into her mouth and sucked, arching her body into his. Lucas let out a low groan of pleasure. She loved the taste of him. His taste was unique to him and not even her sensors could tell exactly what the mixture was. His tongue found hers and stroked it. She kissed him back with unabashed hunger. His touch was intoxicating. 

His lips left hers as he trailed warm kisses along her jawline, making his way to the sensitive flesh of her earlobe. She shuddered when he lightly pulled with his teeth. She would never get enough of him.

His fingers found the hem of her tank top. Her own fingers wandered beneath his T-shirt and up his back, whose muscles rippled beneath her touch. His chest rose and fell with each breath. He pulled away to tug her tank top all the way off. Kaitlyn looked up. Lucas was gazing at her so intently, his blue eyes darker than usual. 

“Jesus, you’re gorgeous.”  His voice was raw and filled with need. 

No matter how many times he’d seen her naked, he always looked as if it were the first time. One of his hands cupped her breast while his mouth grazed the other.

“Lucas,” she gasped.  His hand slid down to the vee between her legs. She dropped her knees to the side to give him better access. The tickle of his fingers through the cotton of her pants was enough to make her wither beneath his touch. He began to trail kisses and nibbles down her body, making her squirm beneath his touch. Wanting more. She groaned, her hands tangled in his hair. 

Suddenly, Kaitlyn tensed up and pushed Lucas back.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked, as Kaitlyn detangled herself from the embrace. 

“Erik.” 

“What?” Lucas said, clearly rattled. 

Lucas looked towards the closed door. Seconds later, there was a knock. Lucas groaned and fell back onto the bed. 

Kaitlyn pulled on her tank top and crossed the room to open the door. 

Erik looked Kaitlyn up and down, taking in her disheveled appearance. “Sorry to interrupt, but Harrington wants us all in the office.” 

She absently smoothed down her hair. “We’ll be right there.”

Erik turned to leave, and she closed the door behind him. She felt a little self-conscious when she realized Erik knew what she and Lucas had been doing. But they had more important things to deal with. 

Lucas was already up and straightening his clothes. She grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it over her head.

As they walked down the hall, Lucas didn’t put his hand on her lower back, or stand too close, and she appreciated his discretion, even though there was part of her that wanted him to drag her back to the bedroom to finish what they’d started. Once in a while, thoughts entered her mind that surprised her. This was one of those times. Her mind should be one hundred percent on the task ahead of them, not on Lucas’s large hands roaming her body. 

Lucas held the door open for her when they reached Harrington’s office. Erik was already seated and didn’t bother to look up when they entered the room. 

Harrington’s eyes were lit up and shining brightly. 

Before they could even lower themselves into the seats, Harrington exclaimed, “The boat has finally left the port.”

Kaitlyn felt a surge of excitement and eagerness course through her.

“We’re going to fly out the day after tomorrow.” 

“Why not now?” Kaitlyn asked, unable to mask her annoyance. 

“If they are picking up the children out at sea, we need to wait for the exchange,” Harrington explained. 

She couldn’t hide her irritation. Just the thought of the captives being locked in the cages for even one day was too long, as far as she was concerned. “For all we know, they could have been on the ship all this time and the exchange is actually to transfer the captives.” 

Harrington held out a hand, signaling her to calm down. “You can hold on for two more days. We want them on international waters where the laws are murky at best.”