Sworn to Protect by DiAnn Mills Read Free Book Online

said.
    No response. The two dogs had tired of following the other agents and the illegals and growled at Danika and Felipe. Were they about to be attacked by those possibly still inside the house or by angry dogs?
    “Get out of here,” Felipe said to the mangy animals, but the dogs inched closer. He stepped inside the house, and Danika trailed him, shutting the door behind her.
    The house smelled of unwashed bodies, stale cigarettes, and rancid food. Quiet. Eerie. As though trouble was a wound jack-in-the-box ready to pop.
    All around the carpenter’s bench.
    Empty bags from Burger King sat on a kitchen table. Chairs were overturned. A beer can on its side dripped its amber contents from the table to the floor. Opened soda cans with frosty sides sat on the counter.
    Felipe’s voice filled the house. “There’s no place to hide. Come out peacefully.”
    The monkey chased the weasel.
    Felipe kicked in a closed door on the left. Danika entered a room on the right where a radio blared Hispanic music.
    That’s the way the money goes.
    Bundles of marijuana and cocaine were stacked tightly in a corner beside six cases of Pampers. The diapers were used to wrap the bundles and deter the checkpoint’s K-9s.
    Pop goes the weasel!
    “Felipe, I found a stash in here,” she called, keeping her eyes on one last room and its closed door. “Looks to be at least a million dollars—maybe more.”
    He appeared in an instant. “Plenty of sleeping bags in there. Two of them are still warm.”
    “I didn’t see any women with the group that raced out of here.”
    “Neither did I.”
    She nodded at another closed door and motioned a silent message for Felipe to cover her. She turned the knob and flung open the door into a shadowed room. Two women huddled together, one holding a toddler, and another woman lay unmoving on the floor. The stench of what had gone on in this room churned her stomach. One woman’s T-shirt had been ripped from her neck to her abdomen. These women had been abused and left behind. Sobs rose like a bubbling pot.
    Compassion surfaced Danika’s sympathies. “U.S. Border Patrol. No need to be afraid.” Her gaze swept over each woman’s face. Bruises and hollow eyes met her. They were young, too young to be involved with this. A prostitution ring or an isolated incident? “Who did this to you?”
    Nothing.
    “Would you like some water?” Danika knelt at their side. “Are you hungry?”
    “Sí,” came the reply.
    “These women need medical help.” Felipe pointed to a young woman in the corner. “She’s not moving.”
    “What’s wrong with her?” Danika asked the others. “Is she sick?”
    No one responded. The women trembled; one of them started to cry. No doubt they had heard the Border Patrol were monsters, instead of people who revered human dignity more than those who had taken their money and, in this case, ravished their bodies.
    Danika swallowed the acid inching up her throat. Whoever had done this deserved to rot in jail—or worse.
    Felipe walked across the small room and felt the pulse point of the still young woman. “She’s alive.” He yanked his radio from his belt. “Need an ambulance at our location on Old Military Road. Apprehended illegal women in bad shape.”
* * *
    Jacob watched the ambulance speed away in a flurry of dust and dirt with its siren alerting all to clear the road. Three injured young women and Danika were inside the vehicle. The one in critical condition could not speak from the beating someone had given her. They looked to be about the same age as Nadine. He’d kill a man who ever attempted to hurt his daughter. And those girls’ fathers weren’t even around to protect them.
    Nadine . . . what had happened to his precious little girl? All he ever wanted was her happiness and to keep her safe from those who would break her heart. But in the last several months, she’d changed. His eldest daughter had become sullen, rude, and preferred being in her room to