There was a sense of excitement surrounding everyone in the house as Marcus and Ed filled us in on the details leading up to their first raid. Marcus contacted the police chief at the local police station to give the officers a rundown of what was going on with The Auction House, their raid locations, and what they needed from the officers as far as manpower. Marcus and Ed themselves seemed to constantly be discussing their plans with one another and their focus was nearly unshakable.

"Have Marcus and Ed eaten anything today?" I asked Roman when he got home from work.

Roman shrugged. "I rarely see them doing anything but leaning over their laptops, discussing raids with one another, or on the phone with police officers," Roman said to me. "I try not to get in their way."

Roman, Kristin, Lori, and I ate dinner together in the dining room. We had invited Marcus and Ed to join us but, of course, they were busy working and said they would grab a quick meal later. "It hadn’t occurred to me how much work they would be putting in," I said naively.

"The raid that Marcus and Ed collaborated on when they saved me was efficient," Kristin said. "Everything went down like clockwork. No one had time to hop into a van or load any of us up. The auction workers didn’t have time to warn any of the other auction locations that we were being raided so that they could pick their hubs up and move."

"What was that like?" Lori asked Kristin. "Were you afraid or were you glad to see the police?"

Kristin frowned in thought. "I think most people would assume me and the other women were happy to see the police, but we were scared," Kristin said. "We knew that what was happening to us was wrong, but we had been doing it for so long that we felt like it was a part of us and that we were contributing to the success of human trafficking."

My brow raised. "I can’t imagine you and all those girls and women who suffered could ever feel that way," I said to Kristin. "You didn’t choose to be kidnapped and sold as property, but I can imagine that this was a tactic to keep you all in check."

Kristin nodded. "They regularly told us that we were disgusting," Kristin said. "They told us that we deserved what we got because no one in the world needed us for anything but our bodies."

I noticed that Roman sat rigidly next to me and had stopped eating his food. I placed a hand on his thigh, and he met my gaze. "Are you OK?" I asked him quietly.

"This isn’t the best discussion for the dinner table," he said to me. "I’m losing my appetite to anger." I gently rubbed Roman’s thigh.

"It’s a hard truth to face," I said to him. We were all quiet and somber for a moment as each of us battled with our own thoughts. Marcus and Ed stepped into the dining room.

"Our first raid is tonight," Ed announced to us. "Don’t wait up."

"We’ll send out a couple of officers to stand in for us here while we’re gone," Marcus added.

"It would be a good idea to take a woman with you," Kristin said to Marcus and Ed, "so that the women will have someone to explain what’s going on. They’ll be afraid."

"I’m guessing you’ll be volunteering yourself for this position?" Marcus asked Kristin with a skeptical expression that hinted at the fact that he was going to tell her no.

"Do you remember the raid on the day you found me?" Kristin answered his question with a question of her own.

"Of course we remember," Ed retorted. "It was a big deal. The first human trafficking hub bust that had ever been seen in that town."

Kristin nodded. "You and the other officers swarmed the place, and we were terrified," Kristin told Marcus and Ed. "If there had been a woman there with you, like me, someone who knew what we were going through and could help us calm down and realize that you were going to take care of us we would have been more compliant."

Marcus pressed his lips together as he presumably thought back to the raid when they had found Kristin. "Better compliance would have been nice," Marcus said, "but it’s not worth the risk. We don’t need an extra person with us with so many other things that will be going on."

"The women didn’t want to go with you to safety?" I asked Marcus and Ed.

"A lot of them went into fight or flight mode," Ed said to me. "We had a hard time convincing some of them to go to the hospital and therapy. Their instincts told them to run away."

"And yet they don’t want me to go with them," Kristin said. "They’d rather do everything themselves."

Marcus crossed his arms and Ed put his hands on his hips. Both men were visibly frustrated, but it was also clear that they knew Kristin was right. "Let us get through this first raid, Kristin," Marcus said to her. "Let me and Ed see what we find and what we learn, we’ll talk it over and let you know." Kristin didn’t say anything, and her expression didn’t change. When the police officers arrived to relieve Marcus and Ed of their bodyguard duties, we bid them goodnight not knowing how long it would take for them to complete a raid or what they would find.

Time seemed to tick by slowly, even as Roman, Kristin, Lori, and I sat around the breakfast nook table for a game of Monopoly. At around eleven, Marcus and Ed returned looking disappointed and disgruntled.

"Any luck?" Roman asked them.

"I think we can guess the answer to that," I said quietly so that only Roman could hear me. "They look pissed." Roman nodded in agreement.

"We didn’t find anything," Ed said to us. They both asked for a drink and one of the staff brought them both a glass of whiskey. "We surveyed the area around the building, we went in with search warrants and searched every inch of the basement, and we checked security footage. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Will you be raiding the next location soon?" I asked them.

"Tomorrow," Marcus said. "We’ll be conducting raids at various locations for the next couple of weeks."

"Did you discuss bringing me along?" Kristin asked Marcus and Ed who exchanged glances. "You knew I would ask," she told them.

Marcus eyed her for a moment as he thought about his next words. "You’re absolutely right, Kristin," Marcus said to her. "Having someone that those women can connect with would make our jobs easier, but it’s just too dangerous." Kristin clenched her jaw, stood, and left the kitchen without a word.

Before I could make a move to go after her, Lori was already on her feet. "I’ll check on her," Lori said before she hurried from the kitchen after Kristin.

Ed shook his head. "Kristin has a good heart, but we need to do our jobs."

"Maybe someday she’ll find a safe way to help," Roman said. "She would be one hell of an advocate for those women and girls."

"Agreed," Marcus said. "We’ve got a report to submit tonight about this raid. We’ll see you two in the morning." Roman and I bid Marcus and Ed goodnight before we began to pick up the Monopoly game pieces.

"Are you afraid Kristin will run?" Roman asked me. The question caught me off guard.

"I hadn’t thought about it," I told him. "Marcus and Ed’s refusals to let her help may really upset her, but I never thought about her running away." Roman closed the lid to the Monopoly box and met my gaze.

"I just think about how she voluntarily left protective custody in Alaska," Roman said. "She deliberately got herself back involved with human trafficking; I mean how did she even know where to look?"

I shrugged. "You were right about what you said earlier," I told Roman. "She’s determined and she knows exactly what those women and girls are going through. Whether or not she would be an asset to Marcus and Ed at the expense of her safety, I don’t know, but this is between Kristin, Marcus, and Ed."

Roman extended his hand to me and I took it, walking together with him from the kitchen. "You’re right," he said to me. "There’s nothing we can do about that dynamic."

"I just hope Kristin trusts us enough to stay," I said. We arrived at the elevator and when we stepped inside, we wrapped our arms around each other and shared a sweet kiss. I thought about how upset Marcus and Ed were about their raid, but I hoped they would find something to put those people away. The Auction House was hanging over all our heads, and I was ready to leave that portion of my life behind to be fully present with my husband, with no fear that The Auction House could come between us.