Throwaway Jane: A Karen Pantelli Novel by Scott William Carter

Author:Scott William Carter [Carter, Scott William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flying Raven Press

17

Cradling Jane in my arms, I knelt on the floor in Robert’s office reeling from what he’d told me. We’d traveled hundreds of miles by bus, train, and stolen Winnebago, managing to avoid capture so far, only to walk right into the lion’s den in Las Vegas. The hometown of the man—a very powerful man—who wanted to find us. To kill us. The room, so spacious before, even cavernous, felt confining. The walls pressed in from all sides. The white carpet might have been soft, but it was also cold. It felt as if I were kneeling on a thin layer of goose feathers over a block of ice.

On one level, it made sense. If Jane had been part of some kind of sex trafficking operation run by Edwin’s people, then it was certainly possible he’d found her in his hometown. Risky, though. And not at all typical, from what I’d seen in my FBI days. Most sex trafficking that involved abduction usually also involved moving the victims far from their homes and families, far from anything familiar, so they felt more dependent on their captors.

Of course, it didn’t sound like Mal Edwin was your typical anything.

“I take it you know a lot about this guy?” I said.

Robert sighed. “Just about anybody who owns a business in Las Vegas knows a thing or two about Mal Edwin. He built his initial fortune as a ruthless casino magnate before he started expanding in the nineties. I have to say, Karen, I’m kind of rethinking what I said earlier, about not needing to know more about why you’re on the run.”

“If you need us to leave, I understand.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It only makes me want to help you more. The guy’s a monster—and that’s just based on what’s actually been proven. The rumors are far worse.”

“Tell me.”

Robert looked at Jane. She was no longer crying, her chest rising and falling with steady, even breaths, but I knew she wasn’t asleep. I could only see the top of her head, my chin resting on her hair, but I knew she was hearing everything.

He looked back at me, his eyes questioning. I knew what he was saying without saying it. Does she really need to hear this? Maybe there was no way to shield her from facing all the awful things that had been done to her, not if she wanted to move past them, but we didn’t need to do it all at once, either. She’d pointed us toward Mal Edwin, the real threat, and that was a start. If we were careful, I’d find out about these sisters of hers soon enough.

“You know what,” Robert said, clapping his hands together, “I bet the two of you are hungry for a good meal. What’s your favorite food, Jane? Pizza? Cheeseburger? You tell me.” When she didn’t answer, he pressed on, becoming even more energetic. “You think about it. Uber Eats is a wonderful thing, you know. I can order anything you want and have it at the door of my condo in twenty minutes.

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