“I killed him. I gave him death.”
“They stole your life,” Eve said as she cautiously moved forward. “Let us help you take it back, Amara.”
“He said—he said he would have a party, and his guests would do what they wished to me.”
“It’s an initiation.” The other woman stood shivering and weeping as Roarke deactivated her collar. “He did the same to me when they first brought me here. I’m glad he’s dead. Glad he’s dead. I wish I’d had the courage.”
“It’s over now. This part’s over now,” Eve corrected, because it was never really over. “You stopped him, so this part’s over. Give me the knife, Amara, and let us help you get through the rest. You have to trust me. Please.”
She lifted her left hand, closed it over Amara’s on the handle of the knife. She could wrench it away, use her weapon on light stun. But she wanted Amara to make the choice.
“He’s finished,” Eve murmured. “Finished hurting you and all the others. You’re safe now, Amara. Let me have the knife. Let me have it so we can get you home to your family.”
When Amara let it go, Eve nodded at the uniform, held it out to him. “Let’s get that collar off you. Come over here.”
“He said—he said I was his dog. And he laughed, he laughed. I killed him. I killed him. I picked up the knife, and the pain, the pain. I didn’t care.”
“I know.”
But Amara shook her head. “No, no, no. You can’t.”
As Amara wept, Eve holstered her weapon, put arms around her. “I can,” she whispered. “I do.”
22
She had Amara and the imprisoned domestics transported, with medical supervision, to Central. And sent the three guards Lowenbaum’s team had handled back with them in another transport.
“I need to do the official on-site on the body. We’re going to need the EDD team to go over the electronics, flag for transfer.”
“Place this size?” Feeney glanced around. “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Due to Roarke’s fondness for classic vids, she knew that one, nearly laughed. “Yeah. First priority is any and all auction data. The more we know there, the wider the net.”
“We’ll get on it. I’ll pull in some of the locals to assist.”
He glanced over at Devereaux. “I’d rather see him rotting in prison for a few decades, but I can’t say justice wasn’t fucking served, and on a damn platter. You want one of the locals to give you a hand with him?”
“No, I’ve got it. When I’m done, they can bag and tag him. Then I need to head back.”
“Another long day, but this one? It’s a good one.”
She nodded and carried her field kit over to the body. For an instant, her father’s face shimmered over Devereaux’s.
Then it faded, and she got to work.
When she finished, made the arrangements, she stepped out of the dining room, gave herself a minute to wander and breathe.
She supposed the estate rivaled Roarke’s castle in size and scope. Apparently, Devereaux hadn’t gone for antiques or what she could consider cozy spaces. Everything here was hard, bright, new.
His money—or his ancestors’ money—hadn’t satisfied him, she thought. It hadn’t been enough for him to own a successful, respected business, to own precious things. He’d needed to own people.
Women and girls.
When Roarke found her, he cupped her face, kissed her lightly.
“I’m fine,” she told him.
“I see that. I didn’t have a moment to tell you the way you handled Amara showed exactly who you are. A quick stun would’ve been simpler and quicker for you.”
“She’d been hurt enough.”
“She won’t forget you. Now I’m more than pleased to tell you we’ve come across a treasure trove of data on the auction.”
“He pulled the strings there, too,” she said. “Probably set up a different arm, shell, whatever to keep from muddying things up, but he headed that up.”
“Got it in one, didn’t you?” Now Roarke angled his head. “But I see you already suspected something of the sort.”
“Power. All of it came down to power. His. I’m curious to see if Beaty had a piece of that, too. I’m thinking no, no because it’s too much power sharing, and that was his greed. But I’ll find out either way.”
“With the data here? You’ll have the dates of every transaction—through previous auctions and through Red Swan. The buyers, the victims, the price paid. All of it.”