Page 89 of Broken Souls

“I might.”The lady clears her throat.“There was a woman claiming she was attacked by them, but the story never went to trial.”

“Why?”

“The official version is that there was not enough evidence.”

“And unofficial?”

“One of them is the judge’s nephew.”

“Fuck.”

“Fuck indeed. I’ll forward everything to your email. From what I’ve seen, they need to be taken down. Call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks, sweetness. I owe you.”

“You do. See ya, Hung-y.”And she hangs up.

We’re all stunned into silence.

“Can we do anything here?” Justin asks as his face pokes between the seats.

“We sure as fuck can do much less now, knowing that,” Kenneth responds as he flips through the insane amounts of text on his phone.

“Can we contact this person?”

He meets my eyes and says. “Ican’t.”

I nod, understanding what he means.

“I need to check something in the trunk.” He leaves his unlocked phone on the seat and gets out of the car.

I glance at Justin. His eyes are serious as he nods. I take the phone and scroll through the open texts. I take a picture of the women’s names and addresses, then put the phone back. After a moment, Kenneth slowly gets back into the truck, locks the phone, and places it into the back pocket of his jeans.

“Do you know what they look like?” Kenneth asks.

“Yeah.” I nod.

“I don’t.” Justin pipes in from the back seat, and Kenneth gets his phone back up and shows him two mug shots. From here I can hear Justin’s jaw clash together, and I’m sure a tooth cracked.

Right on cue, both of the fuckers walk out of the main entrance to the building, get into a brand-new luxury SUV, and drive away. Kenneth instantly starts the truck and follows them.

I’m sure they don’t expect the tail, but Bennet is careful anyway. I feel like I’m in the movies, chasing the bad guy. Adrenaline is pumping through my body, but not for the usual reasons. It’s not the anticipation of a fight but a feeling of delivering justice for my woman. Even if she may never belong to me, my heart is still hers.

We follow them to a club, where they get out of the car and rush inside. It’s a popular joint for hooking up and getting drunk. Kenneth moves the car to a strategic place, where we can see the front of the building but we are not in the spotlight. We can also see the back exit in case they slip away. I’m not sure how we will get them, but the only thing I know is they are not walking from here on their feet.

We quietly talk until we see the back door burst open an hour late. The two boys rush through it toward the dumpster behind the building. One of them is half carrying, half walking a woman who can barely stand on her feet. Her head keeps falling on his shoulder. I grind my teeth, knowing what’s happening.

Kenneth is about to get out of the truck when I stop him by grabbing his forearm.

“Wait. Stay here.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?” He’s pissed at my suggestion.

“Because you will lose your job if you do. You’re a good cop. You can make a change. Don’t risk it.” I hold his eyes. “You’ve already done enough.”

“He’s right,” Justin says as he jumps out of the vehicle. “We will let you know when you can come.”

Kenneth groans loudly. “Fuck. Fuck! Don’t do anything stupid. We can push this case if we do it right. Do you get me?”