Read Betrayed: Keeping her in the Dark Vol. 3 Online
Authors: By: Leslie Sansom
Betrayed: Keeping her in the Dark Vol. 3 (25 page)
As we approached the car I heard a loud bang. People started screaming and even though we were outside in the back we could tell there was chaos inside. There was another loud bang and we heard men yelling for everyone to get down. The back door busted open and men wearing black and carrying guns started yelling at us.
“Get down! Get down on the ground! UNDC, get down on the ground! Put your hands out to the sides and don’t move!” The 4 of us along with the 2 men in the back room and the driver all laid down on the ground. We were handcuffed, yanked off the floor and pushed back through the house. Everyone in the house including Randall was either on the floor or being handcuffed as well. Some were already being taken outside like me, others were just laying still.
The agents were searching all the rooms. Dogs were barking, some of the rooms were filled with smoke and women were crying. It was madness.
Marcus and I were taken out the front of the house and shoved in the back of white van. The girls were taken to a different vehicle.
The police tried to ask us some questions and give us some idea of what was happening. I refused to say anything. I just sat in the back of this large van looking straight forward.
This was obviously a bust. A major bust on a sex trafficking ring. A ring I had nothing to do with but had somehow gotten myself entangled in this mess again. Once again in my life I went into something without doing the research or asking the relevant questions before hand. I was trying to do a good thing but instead I was going down with the rest of these deviants.
I leaned against the side, rested my head against the back and closed my eyes. In a way I deserved this. Karma has a way of punishing people and she was bitch slapping in the face at the moment.
All I could think about was Norah and her warnings before I left.
Chapter Twenty-one
Norah
He didn’t come home. He left the house late at night and he didn’t come home. I paced the floor all day on Sunday but he never came home. He never came home and he never called. I was crazy with fear but didn’t know what to do. Had something gone wrong? Had something gone right? Maybe he enjoyed himself too much and stayed the night?
But when the sun set on Sunday, I knew something was wrong. Liam could be a complete jackass, but I didn’t think he would do this to me on purpose. Even if he was out betraying our marriage with his new friends he would have called by now.
We had never discussed what to do if I didn’t hear from him. He didn’t tell me if I should call someone or go somewhere or just sit here and wait. He didn’t give me a time limit or tell me how long to wait for him. I didn’t know what to do.
This didn’t make sense. I sat in his big chair in the study all night long.
Whenever I fell asleep the house would make a noise and I would jerk awake.
Monday morning the house staff came to work as if nothing was wrong. I went to the window and saw both Trig and John standing outside by our cars. I still didn’t know what to do. Who do you call when your husband doesn’t come home from a sex trafficking party? I couldn’t even call him. He was instructed not to bring his cell phone for tracking reasons.
I called his office and Marcy answered. We chit chatted about her upcoming baby, but she said Liam hadn’t called in to her. I tried not to sound worried but told her if she heard from him to call me.
I didn’t want to but I called Will. He was the one who got Liam into this mess in the first place. Maybe he had some kind of idea as to what had happened. But he didn’t answer so I was transferred to his secretary. She told me that he was on vacation and would be gone until Friday. I left a message for him to call me back and hung up.
I had no one else to call. I had no one to talk to. I had no idea where the party had been located, who the people really were or any kind of detail about it. They had texted him an address but he was told to delete it as soon as he read it.
He kept me in the dark to protect me. But now who was going to protect him. There was nothing I could do but sit and wait.
Tuesday: I didn’t work and I couldn’t sleep or eat.
Wednesday: Nothing
It had been 4 days! Four days and not one word. Then I had a thought. Tom Cunningham. Liam’s lawyer. I remembered him mentioning him when we first came together. He had confided in Tom about our real situation and wanted to know how he could get rid of me without getting into trouble. I thought I had even met Tom at our wedding but there were so many people I couldn’t remember.
I ran to Liam’s study and grabbed his phone off the desk. I scanned the phone and came to Tom’s number.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Mr. Cunningham?” I asked.
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is Norah Hastings. I need your help,” I said urgently in the phone. “Liam told me that you…that you…you know about me. You know how we came together…and you can be trusted,” I waited for him to say something.
“Yes, Mrs. Hastings I know all about it. What can I do for you?” he said.
“Liam is missing!” I shouted in the phone. Over the next 8 minutes I explained to him what had happened over the last few weeks. He kept groaning every time I told him a bad decision Liam and I had made.
“Ok, Mrs. Hastings please slow down. I know most of these details already and I really shouldn’t be talking to you,” he said.
“Why? I don’t know what to do. I’m going out of my mind. I know something is wrong. Have you heard from him?”
“Well as his lawyer all I can say is not to worry. I know that is impossible right now, but please try.” He sounded so calm.
“You must know something. He must’ve called you already? Is he ok? What happened?” I begged.
“I can’t talk about it, Mrs. Hastings. But I will call you as soon as I can.”
All I could do was wait.
Liam
After 3 days of questioning and 1 day in court, I was finally released on a million dollars bail with an ankle tracking bracelet.
They knew I was guilty of something but couldn’t prove anything. The girls I had purchased hadn’t ratted me out for some unknown reason and apparently neither had my new friend Marcus. They weren’t able to get the evidence from the transactions that took place at the party as of yet and they had little information about Norah.
They couldn’t hold me on the little charges they had trumped up, so I was free to go. Free to go as long as they could track me. I was forced to turn over my passport.
An investigation was coming and I knew it. As I signed my release papers and paid my bail, I saw Tom Cunningham walk in.
“Tom?” I called to him. “I thought I would see you later in your office.”
“Your wife called me. She is panicking. Why haven’t you called her? Give her some peace, please.” We walked out front and I tried to explain everything to him.
“I couldn’t call her,” I said. “I didn’t know what I would say. She said something bad was going to happen and it did. So I didn’t know what to say,” I said again. He stopped me from walking and touched my shoulders.
“Liam, you can’t think Norah did this to you?” I didn’t answer. “You can’t be serious? Why would she turn you in?” he asked. I still didn’t answer him. I just turned and went to the car.
We pulled into my driveway and he grabbed my arm.
“I wouldn’t get comfortable. They are getting ready to execute a warrant on your house. They were finally able to get the evidence of you buying the 2 women last night and the evidence of purchasing a 3
rd
girl, 2 years ago. They are on the way now. My assistant just sent me the text,” he said.
We got out of the car and I ran inside.
“Norah!” I shouted. “Norah! Come down here!” I yelled.
“Liam!” she squealed and ran to me. She jumped on me and started kissing my face. I pulled her down.
“We don’t have time, little one. They are on the way right now.”
“Who’s on the way? What happened?” she asked. There wasn’t time to explain anything. But I had a feeling she already knew.
“I was arrested. The party was busted. I’ve been in custody for the last few days. They had to let me go because they couldn’t hold me on the little charges they had. They didn’t have proof of the major human trafficking charges. But they are on the way here now with a warrant to search the house for proof,” I held her face in my hands. She was shaking. My little one was more scared at this moment than the first time I touched her.
I wondered if it was because she was worried for me, or if she was worried because of what she had done to me.
“Evidence? Liam, what evidence?” she asked. I kissed her nose and held her close.
“You, Norah. They’re coming here for you,” I held her tighter. I pulled her away from me and looked her in the eyes. “Don’t lie to them Norah. Tell the truth. Don’t do anything to make it harder for you. You tell them what happened and I will endure the consequences,” I kissed her again.
“No.” She shook her head. “No, I won’t give you up. I won’t sell you out to save myself. We didn’t do anything wrong.” She pushed me away from her. “This isn’t happening to me. Dammit, Liam! This isn’t happening!” she shouted again. If she was acting she was doing a damn good job. Norah couldn’t hide her feelings very easily. So either she was telling the truth or she had learned to lie very well.
We could hear the cars pulling up in the driveway.
“We don’t have time. Just know that if they take you in, Tom will go with you. He will advise you, Norah. Don’t worry about me, little one.”
The doorbell rang and in they came. It was about 30 agents with the United Nations office of Drugs and crime.
After showing me and Tom the paperwork, they quickly scattered and started searching the house. The main investigator came to me.
“Mr. Hastings? I’m Agent Shaw with the UNDC. We’ve met.”
Yes he was one of the bastards that had been questioning me for the last 4 days.
“As you can see we are here to search your house and property.” He looked over at Norah and then turned his back to me. He said something in his radio but I couldn’t hear him. Another officer came in the house and gave him a piece of paper with a sketch on it. He looked back at Norah.
“Are you Norah Chandler?” he asked. She swallowed hard and looked over at me. I took her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“Nnnoo,” she stuttered out. “I’m Norah Hastings,” she said.
“Norah Hastings, huh?” he looked over at me. “You married her?” he just shook his head.
“Mrs. Hastings we need to come with us to answer a few questions,” he tried to pull her away but she didn’t move. I pulled her in my arms and gave her a hug.
“You’re my wife, Norah. They can’t change that. Remember I love you.” I kissed her mouth and she turned to the detective.
“Norah, I will be there as soon as I can,” I slowly let go of her hand. They escorted her outside and put her in a car.
I stood there and watched them drive off and there was nothing I could do about it. I had no idea what was about to happen.
I knew the questions they would ask her, but I didn’t know how she would answer them. I didn’t want her to lie. Not for me. I didn’t want her in trouble at all. She wasn’t a part of this. I started this myself. I had done this to myself. No matter what my intentions or expectations were when I went to that hotel in Paris, I still bought a woman who had been kidnapped. Whatever was coming to me, I deserved it.
The last installment of the
“Keeping her in the Dark”
series coming in 2015
Also by Leslie Sansom:
“Lost at Sea”
Book one of the Lost at Sea duet
“Stranger on Route 35”
“Sold: Keeping her in the Dark”
Vol. I
“Lost in the World”
Book two of the Lost at Sea duet
“Consumed” Keeping her in the Dark”
Vol. II
“Broken Crowne”
“Weekend in Vegas”
The first book in the Vegas novellas
New Releases coming in 2015
“Masquerade”
Follow her on twitter @lmsansom or like her on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/lesliemsanso m
For more updates on new releases
Read her blog:
thedirtygirlsbookclub.wordpress.com to find out how she feels about other dirty books
About the Author:
I don’t like talking about myself in the third person or at all. So I will keep this short and simple. I like to read dirty books, so I started writing dirty books. I am a very visual person, seeing a picture, person, or even hearing a song inspire me.
I am a proud Navy wife and mother of two children. As I follow my husband around the world I write books and two blogs, as well as try to take care of my family. I hope you enjoy what I write because I love writing it.
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