Czar rubbed his chin on the back of his hand as he studied the situation. If they aborted now, Avery would know he was under a death sentence and would scurry into the woodwork. The others waited for his decision.
We’ll stick to the plan. Reaper, the second man, you and Storm deal with. Ice, Savage, you’re still on Avery. Czar hated giving those orders.
He had promised himself that when they found a home, he would find a way to ease his Torpedo Ink family out of what they’d been doing for most of their lives—what he’d gotten them into doing. They had been shaped into killers by him in order to survive. They’d been taught how to seduce and kill by their instructors, so they were “useful” to their government—and Sorbacov—as assassins. They had been fucked up sexually by their childhood training. They had joined an MC club to take down the Swords international president. Now they hunted pedophiles. It was never-ending.
On it, Reaper said.
With Reaper, Storm acknowledged.
Ice and Savage were up, and they needed to get a single name from Avery. It would be nice if they could get more than one. Czar wanted to know the name of the Russian. He was certain he was one of the few pedophile instructors they’d left alive. He was someone who traveled back and forth from Russia, and he was highly intelligent. Czar had every confidence that they’d track him down. Their first priority had to be the collector. He was murdering families and taking innocent children to fulfill orders from his sick clients. He had to be stopped.
Czar rubbed his aching head and watched the rest of the drama unfold. The moment Savage and Ice had Avery in their custody, and Reaper and Storm indicated the stranger was taken care of, the others would go through the house looking for anything they could find that would help them find others in the large ring.
Avery flung open his front door and stepped back to wave the newcomer through.
Code says the man with Avery is named Jay Gordon. He’s affiliated with the human trafficking ring both Yeger and Kushnir were involved with. Looks to me like he wants to climb the ladder. They were slightly turned away from me, so I was only partially able to catch what they were saying. Gordon believes with a little backing from Avery he can take the lead. Absinthe delivered the information to all of them.
Czar quickly analyzed the information and added to the pool of general knowledge. Avery works for the San Francisco PD. He runs their tech department. That gives him access to where all the cops are and what kinds of operations the cops are running. He must be helping the human trafficking ring as well.
Avery walked with complete confidence through the foyer into the great room without turning on a light. The house had gone quiet. There was only the sound of the wind outside and the occasional creak of an old house settling. Jay followed close behind him, taking a moment to look around and then hurrying to catch up.
“You must love the privacy out here, man,” Jay said admiringly. “Must be nice. We could use a place like this. Set the girls up and have the men come to them.”
“Too much traffic on a road like this, sooner or later you’d be noticed. Harold can only do so much.” Avery turned into the hall. No lights were on other than one shining under the door of the room straight ahead—the master bedroom. “That’s weird. I thought they were going to meet me in the den, but it looks like they’re in the master bedroom.”
He didn’t miss a step but continued on down the hall toward his bedroom. “I only use this house on weekends. Or if I have sick days coming, or a vacation. Then it’s perfect. I can have a nice leisurely time, and no one can hear the screaming but me, just the way I like it.”
“I prefer to hear them moaning around my cock.”
Avery shook his head. “You know those teenagers you like aren’t into it, right? They’re strung out on drugs and do whatever you say because if they don’t, someone’s going to hurt them. Seriously hurt them. That’s the way it works, right?” He stopped at his bedroom door and looked at his guest over his shoulder. “Better to be honest than a hypocrite. Just own what your preference is and to hell with everyone else.”
Jay grinned at him. “You do it your way and I’ll do it mine.”
Avery laughed and opened the door, pushing through. He was halfway into the room when he smelled blood. The room was very warm with the fireplace going and the door closed. Light spilled from a fixture overhead, pouring down on the white carpet, which was inexplicably red. He took two more steps around the bed and saw David Swey lying facedown in a thick pool of his own blood.