Page 14 of Masked Darling
“What’s going on?” Kade asked, glancing around him and taking in the changes. The random inflatable vinylbeds scattered throughout the space didn’t belong there and immediately put him on edge.
“There’s a private event tonight,” Jagger explained, his eyes darting toward the door as if expecting trouble to burst in at any moment. “You can’t take it off.”
Kade frowned but complied, pulling the mask over his face. It pressed snugly against his skin, hiding everything but his eyes.
“Who’s coming?” Kade asked with his voice muffled now, squaring his shoulders as he took in more of the bizarre setup. When Jagger asked him to help out, it has always been during normal operating hours. They never closed the bar for events. Not once.
“It’s a gang from out of town.” Jagger’s voice dropped lower, almost conspiratorial. “They travel and do these... sex parties.” He paused to gauge Kade’s reaction before adding, “But I think they’re part of something worse—trafficking.”
Kade’s blood immediately ran cold, and a chill went down his spine as he processed Jagger’s words. Oh, so this was even worse than he originally thought.
This wasn’t just a regular private party.
This was a fuckingjob.
Great.
“Why invite them to use the bar then?” Kade pressed, gripping the edge of the bar for support because now he was stressed as hell.
Honestly, it felt like he was going to be sick.
He could handle drug runs. He could even handle the fighting, and it wasn’t like he didn’t have any blood on his hands. But things like this? Stealing and using women? That was not what he was used to.
Thank Christ.
Or, thanks for nothing because now he was.
Jagger shrugged; anxiety shone in his eyes beneath the mask. “Lure them into a false sense of security,” he said. “We’re gonna keep an eye on them. Figure out who’s really in charge. Try and see if we can separate the girls from them.”
Kade surveyed the room again, looking to see if anyone else was there. He could make out two bouncers who usually worked—Scales and Gremlin. Gremlin was significantly taller than Scales but not as crazy and got his name from his favorite Christmas movie—Gremlins. They all watched it at least once each year around the holidays. Scales got his name because he’d been burned—literally—on his first run out with the gang when he joined on his own at 18. He had let go of a stick of dynamite too slow and half his body ended up scarred, giving it the appearance of scales.
Kade never understood why he stuck around after that, but he and Jagger had talked about it once and they both believed it was to be there for Gremlin because he didn’t handle growing up in this life too well. He was the biggest and scariest of them all, but also the softest.
They would do anything for Jagger, though, as evidenced by the fact they had the same black masks on, too.
He gave them a tired wave, and they did the same back.
“You sure we should be doing this? Does Dad even know?” Kade asked warily.
“No, Dad doesn’t know, and you’re not going to tell him—not yet, at least. Look, we have to do something,” Jagger replied grimly. “Keep your head down, and don’t get involved unless I say so.”
“Where are Sadie and Camille?” Kade asked, concern seeping into his voice as he looked for them behind the bar. The last thing he wanted was for them to be caught up in this dangerous situation.
“Not here,” Jagger grunted abruptly, eyes scanning the room as he pulled his leather jacket off and placed it behind the bar, leaving him in a white shirt and black jeans. When Jagger held his hand out, Kade quickly removed his own Renegade Rebel jacket to hide it with the other one.
Now that he took a moment to process, Kade noticed that all remnants of the Renegade Rebels were hidden from the bar. Scales and Gremlin had plain black shirts on, sleeves rolled to their elbows, and all the memorabilia, like the photos and bike tags that hung proudly, were gone. “I made sure they stayed away tonight. They’re safer that way.”
Kade nodded in agreement, knowing Jagger’s fiancé and Camille were too feisty to not get into trouble here. “Good. They don’t need to be involved in this.”
“You’re right, they don’t,” Jagger agreed. “Now, listen. I found out about this gang in New York. They call themselves ‘Green Light’. I was there recently to meet with my agent about the book deal.” Jagger’s eyes never strayed from the door as he spoke, his body tense and coiled like a spring ready to snap.
For someone who hated being in this lifestyle, Jagger sure liked to get himself into his own fucking messes from time to time, that’s for sure.
“We were at a bar, discussing the book deal, when this group walked in and cleared the place out in minutes. It was like something out of a movie. And the women with them... they looked young, Kade. Too young.”
“You honestly think they’re trafficking them?” Kade asked, his jaw tight.
“I don’t know, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. So, I looked into it while I was there and discovered these fucks travel around, putting on these ‘parties’ as a front to get people to host them as regular swinger parties. There’s more to it, I’m sure but I haven’t figured it out yet. Whatever they’rereally up to, it’s not good. You know it’s bad if I’m doing this shit of my own accord, okay?”
