Dark Refuge by Kate Douglas Page A

lot better before.”
    Gabe shot a quick grin at Em. She was scowling at the woman. “I think that’s an issue you’d have to take up with my woman. I’m not sure she’s willing to share.”
    What Gabe said seemed to change Em’s mood. She smiled at him. “Your woman is fine with it as long as she gets to look, too. Touching though? That’s another matter.”
    “That’s good to know.” He was chuckling when he turned as three police officers entered the apartment.
    “Alex? Alex Aragat? What the hell are you doing here?” One of the cops stepped over Kamon, who was beginning to stir. “What the hell’s going on?”
    “Detective Bandy! Good to see you. These six young ladies have been held prisoner and forced into prostitution by the four gentlemen on the floor. We discovered that the one with four legs, standing on the big guy, was Chanku, and the only way to rescue her was to rescue all of them. We thought you might appreciate the help.”
    “I do. In fact, I’m beginning to appreciate it more all the time. Is that Russo Allende?”
    “His name’s Russo.” Alex glanced at the girls. “Anyone know if that’s his last name?”
    The blonde stepped closer. “I think that’s it. We only heard their first names. Russo, Kamon, Ralph and Jengo.”
    “That’s okay. In fact, it’s better than okay. I thought I recognized all of them. We’ve got all their last names on file. This is quite a haul, Aragat. There’s a hefty reward for Allende, and Ralph Alonzo as well. Human trafficking, drugs, counterfeiting . . . the list goes on. Need to check on the other two, but might be something coming for them as well. We’ll make sure you get it.”
    “Actually, it goes to the women.”
    “We can do that. Do you mind calling the wolf off Allende? We need to read him his rights.”
    “It’s okay, Sissy.” Gabe glanced at the policemen standing beside him. “Here. This was Ralph’s.” Gabe passed the handgun to the cop and then walked over to the wolf. “You were absolutely fantastic, Sissy, but you can go ahead and shift. The officers will take over now.”
    She stepped away from Russo and shifted. A couple of the officers and all of the girls gasped. Em handed her the bathrobe she’d left on the floor, and she quickly wrapped herself in it and walked over to stand with the other girls.
    Bandy stood there, shaking his head. “Ya know, I’ve seen you folks do that at least a dozen times, and it still blows my mind. It looks impossible.”
    Gabe laughed. “According to all the laws of physics, it is. Luckily, I’m not all that good at physics. Look, we’ve offered the young women a refuge of sorts—they can stay at our complex over in the Sunset as long as they need. We’ve got plenty of empty apartments. We think two more of them are Chanku, so we’ll want time to give them a chance with the nutrients, but the other three young women can choose to stay with us or do whatever they like. CGI will be more than happy to help them out financially so they can get started back to a normal life.”
    The paramedics had arrived and were slapping bandages on Russo’s throat, but it appeared that Kamon and Jengo were going to the hospital first. Gabe noticed the EMTs had them cuffed to the stretchers before they took them out of the apartment.
    “I don’t get it.” One of the younger police officers glanced up from cuffing Ralph. “What’s in it for you guys? Why are you willing to help? They’re just whores.”
    Em started to speak up, but Gabe was already down in the officer’s face. “You, sir, are an ass. These women were kidnapped off the street and forced into prostitution. They’ve been held against their will as sexual slaves by these lowlifes. Any one of these young women could have been someone important to you—a sister, a girlfriend, a wife. They had no choice, and no recourse but to do what these bastards told them to do, or end up dead. If that’s how you think of perfectly innocent