CHAPTER 134
The pounding on the door came at three in the morning, hard and insistent enough to wake everyone in the safe house. I rolled out of bed instantly, my hand already reaching for the gun on the nightstand as my training kicked in.
"FBI! Open up!"
Through the thin walls, I could hear Harry cursing, Lucas's fingers flying over his laptop keyboard, and Jax speaking in low, urgent tones to someone on the phone. But it was the sound of Emma's terrified crying that cut through everything else.
"Back door," I called softly to the others as I pulled on clothes. "Thirty seconds."
"Negative," Harry's voice came back. "They've got the building surrounded."
I moved to the window and peered through the blinds. He was right - black SUVs on every corner, tactical teams positioned at all the exits. This wasn't a random raid. This was a coordinated operation designed to make sure none of us escaped.
"How did they find us?" Jax asked as we all converged in the living room.
Lucas looked up from his laptop, his face grim. "Someone gave them our location. The warrant was issued an hour ago, but the surveillance photos are from yesterday."
"William," I said with certainty. "He's calling in favors."
The pounding intensified. "You have thirty seconds to open this door before we breach!"
I looked around the room at the people I loved most in the world. Harry stood by the door, assault rifle in hand, ready to fight his way out even though we were outnumbered twenty to one. Jax had positioned himself between the federal agents and Emma, his protective instincts overriding everything else. Lucas was already wiping his hard drives, destroying evidence that could implicate us in crimes we'd actually committed.
And in the corner, Claire sat huddled on the couch, her eyes wide with terror at the thought of being dragged back into the system that had failed to protect her in the first place.
"We surrender," I called out, earning shocked looks from all three men.
"Skylar, what the hell..." Harry started.
"We surrender," I repeated, louder. "We're coming out unarmed!"
"You've lost your fucking mind," Harry said, but I was already moving toward the door.
"Think about it," I said quickly. "They want us alive or they would have just blown the building. Which means someone needs us for something. And the only person with that kind of federal influence is William."
"So we walk into his trap?"
"We walk into his trap and spring one of our own." I looked at each of them in turn. "Trust me."
Jax stepped forward and kissed me hard and desperate, like he thought it might be the last time. "I trust you," he said against my lips. "But if you get yourself killed, I'm going to be pissed."
I opened the door with my hands raised, stepping into the hallway to face a wall of tactical gear and automatic weapons. The federal agents were professional, efficient, and completely by the book as they zip-tied our hands and read us our rights.
But as they loaded us into separate vehicles, I caught sight of something that confirmed my suspicions. Standing across the street, partially hidden in the shadows of a doorway, was Marcus - William's assistant. He was talking on a phone, his expression satisfied as he watched us being taken away.
The drive to the federal building took twenty minutes. They separated us immediately - Emma and Claire were taken to protective custody, while Harry, Jax, Lucas and I were processed through different entrances. Standard procedure to prevent us from coordinating our stories.
What wasn't standard was the unmarked door I was led through instead of the main booking area.
The room they put me in looked like a conference room rather than an interrogation chamber. Expensive table, comfortable chairs, even a coffee service set up on a side table. I was alone for exactly fifteen minutes before the door opened and William walked in.
"Hello, Skylar," he said, settling into the chair across from me with the casual confidence of a man who owned everything in sight. "I hope they're treating you well."
"Let me guess," I said, keeping my voice level. "Charges will mysteriously disappear if I agree to work for you."
"Nothing so crude. Although I am impressed that you're already thinking strategically." He poured himself a cup of coffee, not offering me any. "The charges are quite real, I'm afraid. Conspiracy, arms trafficking, multiple homicides. The boys are looking at life in federal prison."
"And me?"
"You're looking at a choice."
He slid a folder across the table. Inside were photographs that made my blood run cold - children in cages, teenage girls chained to walls, scenes of abuse and torture that were somehow worse than anything my father had ever shown me.
"What is this?"
"The state of human trafficking after your recent intervention. When you destroyed my network, you created a power vacuum. Other organizations moved in to fill it - organizations that lack my standards for quality control."
I stared at the photos, my stomach churning. "You're lying."
"Am I? Check the timestamps. These were taken in the past forty-eight hours." He leaned forward, his expression almost gentle. "The girls you saved from my facilities? They've been recaptured. The children you thought you'd freed? They're in the hands of people who make your father look compassionate."
"Why are you showing me this?"
"Because I want you to understand the choice you're facing. Work with me, and I can shut down these amateur operations. Refuse, and they'll continue to proliferate while the men you love rot in federal prison."
I forced myself to keep looking at the photographs, even though each image felt like a knife in my chest. If what William was saying was true, then everything we'd fought for had been worse than meaningless. We'd made things worse for the very people we'd tried to save.
"What exactly are you proposing?"
"Partnership. You have skills I need, moral flexibility I require, and most importantly, the loyalty of three very dangerous men. I have resources, connections, and the ability to actually make a difference in this war."
"You want me to become your enforcer."
"I want you to become my heir."
The words hung in the air between us like a physical presence. William was offering me everything my father had tried to force on me - power, control, the ability to shape events according to my will. But he was packaging it as salvation rather than corruption.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then those boys die in prison, those children remain in hell, and you spend the rest of your life knowing you could have prevented it all."
I looked at the photographs one more time, memorizing every detail. Then I looked up at William Kane and smiled the same cold smile my father had taught me.
"When do we start?"
But even as I said the words, I was already planning his destruction. Because if William thought he could manipulate me the way he'd manipulated everyone else in his life, he was about to learn exactly how wrong he could be.
The student was about to become the master.
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