Traitor: The Lost Girls, #2

Traitor

By Jason Halstead

Published by Novel Concept Publishing LLC

Copyright 2012

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All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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www.novelconceptpublishing.com

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Warren, MI 44484

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Cover art © 2012 Willsin Rowe

Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Find Jason Halstead on the web at http://www.booksbyjason.com

Dark Earth setting books:

Dark Earth (Dark Earth, book 1)

Devil’s Icebox (Dark Earth, book 2)

Soul Mates (Dark Earth, book 3)

Voices

Bound

The Lost Girls series:

The Lost Girls

Traitor

Wolfgirl

Black Widow

Guardian

Chapter 1

My phone buzzed in my pocket, distracting me from the man and woman I’d been keeping an eye on. I also dropped the top I held up to my chest. I cursed, wondering if I dared to bend over and pick it up for fear of losing my targets. I decided to risk it, they seemed preoccupied in the lingerie section of the shop.

Oh stop it, that would look great on you!

I stood up, blushing. It was a strappy tank top with a built in bra. In the past I wouldn’t have worried if it had a bra or not, but now that I had some custom knockers it seemed like it should matter. They don’t sag, I muttered, searching just long enough to find the man and woman I’d spotted earlier.

I caught Natalie rolling her eyes, but I also saw her lips twitching. I knew she was fighting an urge to smile. It felt good being around Natalie again. It had taken weeks, maybe even months, but we were acting normal again and the past was behind us. My phone buzzed again in my pocket, reminding me that somebody was intruding on my weekend.

Natalie’s gaze lingered on my chest. I was wearing a t-shirt with a Phoenix Coyotes logo on it under my denim jacket. The hockey stick was stretched diagonal across my now bountiful cleavage. It was a suggestive picture for anyone who didn’t know me better.

My eyes are up here, I pointed out. Natalie jumped, her eyes darting to mine. The color rushing to her cheeks only got darker when I winked at her.

Sorry, I just...I mean, I was admiring— she interrupted herself with a groan. No, I mean your old shirts don’t fit so well but they really show off what a great job your surgeon did.

Sweety, you’ve been staring at my new boobs almost since the day I got them, I teased.

She sighed and shook her head. Yeah, well, I’m appreciative. Mine started going south years ago.

Uh uh, I grinned wickedly. They don’t look so bad to me.

Hey eyes widened and her lips parted in an outraged gasp. It was fake and I knew it, but she had to pretend that she didn’t want me. My phone finally gave up buzzing and sent the caller to voicemail. You’ve been checking me out?

I nodded, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Every chance I get! Remember, I’m the lezzy here. Every time we go clothes shopping is almost like an all-I’m-not-allowed-to-eat-buffet.

God, you’re such a horndog!

I prefer bitch in heat, I answered smartly. The couple had moved on, leaving the store and escaping my line of sight. Now come on, we’ve got more shopping to do!

Just don’t drag me into another sex toy shop! She protested.

I grinned, wondering if I could come up with an excuse to do just that. I loved to watch her squirm. She was so cute when she was turned on and uncomfortable. If only she hadn’t spent the last thirty some years as a straight girl, I’d have been all over her. Even still there were times when I almost couldn’t control myself. Being such close friends with Natalie was a great thing, but I often lay awake at night with an empty pain in my chest.

I tossed the shirt back on the shelf and hurried out. For fun I grabbed Natalie’s hand and yanked her after me with. She had no choice to follow, but she did manage an indignant squawk. My smile faded as I entered the main concourse of the mall and had to look around. I was too damn short to see them over the heads of other people.

They went towards the movie theatres, Natalie said in a hushed voice.

I glanced at her, surprised. She pursed her lips and gave me the ‘Dummy’ look. She had many ways of looking at me. I called this one ‘Dummy’ because it was her way of asking, Do you really think I’m dumb enough to not know what you’re doing? without any words. I shrugged my shoulders and grinned.

Thanks. I pulled her hand to my lips and gave her a quick kiss, which drew another squawk from her. She looked around nervously, but I was already pulling her with me through the crowd. We turned towards the theatres and saw the crowd thin a little, but I still couldn’t spot them. I tried standing on my tip toes but that just earned a giggle from Natalie. I squeezed her hand hard in revenge.

I don’t see them, she said.

I looked around again, then on a hunch headed towards the nearest door with an ‘Employees Only’ sign on it. I studied it briefly, then twitched my eyes in the pattern that turned them from seeing things the way god intended to thermographic mode. That put everything in shades of black, blue, red, orange, yellow, and white, depending on the heat levels. It had been awkward to get used to at first when my original eyeballs had been burned up in an explosion, but the high tech replacements were better than ever.

My hunch played out, there was a fading red handprint on the door. I flipped my eyes back to normal vision mode and tried the door. It was locked. Stand back, I warned.

You can’t break down a door! she hissed.

Sure I can, I said. I pulled my badge out of my pocket and clipped it to my belt. Probable cause.

They had an argument and got over it!

Nat, let me do my job, okay? You stay out here, just in case. I didn’t see any weapons on him but I’m not putting you in harm’s way. She hadn’t heard everything they’d said. Okay, neither had I, but I’d heard enough. He’d made distinct threats to her and things he was going to make her do. Things that no woman should have to do, whether she was under duress or not.

Natalie gave me the Stubborn look but at least she nodded. The Stubborn look wasn’t her being stubborn, it was her way of saying, You’re being a stubborn bitch who won’t even consider anyone else’s opinion but your own! I might have been reading a few extra words into it, but at least that’s how it felt. Stubborn or not, there might be a girl who was about to be raped or hurt and there was no way I was going to let that happen.

I turned back to the door and gave it one last look before I raised up my boot and kicked it next to the latch. It was a hollow metal door in a metal frame and I was a scrawny looking girl that was barely tall enough for the big kid rides. The sturdy heels on my boots helped, but without them some days I barely managed to stretch past five feet tall. I look like one of the strong winds that regularly blows through the Phoenix valley could carry me away, and I know how to use that to my advantage.

The door flew open, the metal latch squealing as it bent and rubbed against the jamb. It slammed into the wall and bounced back, but I’d already stepped in and blocked it with my shoulder. I pulled my gun out from the small of my back, a .45 caliber M1911 variant that looked much too large for my hands. I had to have the grip custom made to fit, but nobody needed to know that.

What the—

Don’t move, asshole! I shouted. I moved in and kicked the door shut behind me. It bounced off the bent frame but stayed mostly shut. Back away from the girl now! Turn around and put your hands on the wall. You’re under arrest!

He lifted his hands, taking one of them out of her hair that he’d held tightly bunched in his fist. Her leather skirt was up around her hips and if she’d had any underwear on they were gone now. He backed away and revealed that he’d already penetrated her. I forced my eyes to stay locked on his, but just knowing that his penis was waving in the wind sent tremors through my stomach. I ground my teeth and forced myself to swallow down the bile.

Turn the fuck around! I snapped. He did, then amazed me by putting his hands against the wall and spreading his legs as though he knew what was next.

Please. We were just—

Shut up! I snapped. I didn’t have any restraints on me to cuff him with. I ignored the pleading tone of his voice. I’d heard it all before too many times to care. Big and tough until somebody has the guts to face them and educate them that all they are is bullies and pigs. Sweety, are you okay?

The girl turned to look at me, instead of at her attacker. She straightened and brushed her skirt back down. She nodded, then looked back at him. Miss, I’m sorry. We didn’t—

Don’t talk, honey, I said. I was trying to reassure her. I knew what she was going through. I knew how she felt it was her fault. We’ll get you some help. I know a great therapist. And this pig will get to know how it feels when he meets a queen bigger than him in prison!

We didn’t hurt nobody! The man against the wall whined. I was thankful he hadn’t pulled his pants down to violate her, he’d just unzipped and shoved it in. Otherwise the sight of his hairy ass on top of it all might have made me shoot him on principle.

We didn’t! She echoed, nodding her head in agreement. We were just out for a thrill. Role playing, you know?

Role playing? I hesitated. Role playing wasn’t just dorks playing computer games. I’d busted my share of clubs and sex rings that involved some kinky role playing perversions. Oh sure, it was fine in the privacy of your own home, but if it involved kidnapping or abuse, that’s when I got called in.

She’s got this—

Shut the hell up! I shouted at him. He did, which surprised me and gave me further pause. Most of the pricks I dealt with never stopped lying. I looked at the girl again and saw her chin quivering as she stared at him. What’s your name?

Carly.

Okay Carly, tell me what’s going on here.

We like taking risks, she blurted out. Me more than him...I talked him into it. I’ve got this rape fantasy that we act out every now and—

You’ve got what?

I know, it’s weird, but I—

Do you have any idea what being raped is like? For real, not some sick fucking fantasy? Do you know what it does to a girl? How much it hurts? How much it ruins you, inside and out? How people look at you and treat you? Do you have any fucking clue?

She stared at me, lips parted and cheeks white. My own face, I’m certain, was pure red. No...I...Uh...I mean...

No, you don’t. God willing, you never will. Nobody deserves that, even somebody as stupid as you. Get out of my sight and don’t let me ever see you again. You’re trespassing and violating public decency laws but if I waste any more time on you I’m probably going to shoot you just to improve the gene pool.

I tucked my gun back in my belt and turned away. The hallways suddenly seemed way too small for even for me. I yanked the door open and left it wide open. I could hear the man scrambling to take care of his package but, fortunately, I didn’t have to see it. Natalie was standing there, staring at me with a thousand questions evident on her face. I shook my head and marched past her and then through the small crowd of onlookers that had gathered. She turned and followed, calling out for me. I ignored her until I’d put half the mall between myself and that hallway.

What happened?

They were role playing, I snapped. Nat’s eyes widened. Yeah, stupid kids. Not just out for a thrill either, the stupid bitch has a rape fantasy.

Oh! Natalie gasped. She knew what that meant to me. She knew my history, or at least enough of it. I’d given her glimpses of the piss-poor relationship I had with my mother and she knew all about the sperm donor that was my father. That bastard had tried donating his sperm to me more than just the one time I’d been conceived. I’d gotten over that, but it didn’t mean I took the subject of rape any less seriously.

Some people—

I held my hand up. Natalie was the shrink I’d been assigned to see after an incident on the job.  We’d become friends with a weird sexual tension between us. Well, there’d been a few other tensions when it turned out her husband was cheating on her and helping kidnap and smuggle young women through the portal to the highest bidder. After I’d solved the case we’d had a falling out, but we’d gotten over that. Stuff it Doc, I’m not in the mood. I don’t care how it can be healthy to explore certain fantasies or to experiment. I’ve got plenty of my own fantasies, okay?