23-2

"You're in Mexico?!" We exclaim in shock as we park outside the station. "Uh yeah, mom and dad's anniversary is in a few days. I have clients in Cuba and Mexico to win over so I thought I'd stop by before flying to Dallas. Why?" Me and Roman glance at each other before I speak. "You remember Liam? Charlie's ex? Well, he took her and Aria. They've taken a flight out to Mexico and landed about thirty minutes ago." "What the fuck?! Why?!" He asks angrily and I can hear traffic in the background. "He's a deranged, obsessed asshole. Only wants Charlotte and my suspicion is that he has human trafficking connections in Mexico." Roman replies with a deep frown. "Are you still good at hacking?" "If you give me some information yeah." "Good, we'll call you back in a few minutes. The police are going to run a background check on Liam before we get on a plane." I say as I watch the officers get out of their cars. "Alright, I'll talk to you guys in a bit." Judah replies before hanging up. "We need to move fast. They've already landed and we're still here Roman." I stress as we get out of the car and make our way inside. "I know." He nods with a grim expression as one of the officers leads us inside a room. Turns out Liam is clean but they did find some suspicious records of him being around members from both Santos' and Quintana's gangs in Mexico and Venezuela lately. The officers deduce that he might have recently started working for them. I text some information to Judah so he can try hacking anything. "I'll get approval from my supervisor to fly out there. Can you guys alert the Mexican police with this extra information so they can start searching?" Roman asks and the team nods in agreement. "Already communicating. They've picked up the case so we're providing all the details now." A woman responds as she types away quickly. We run out to his car and I call Judah again who picks up immediately. "He has connections to it. We're going to fly out to Mexico soon with Roman and the team after he gets the green light." "Good, we'll find them so don't worry. I've picked up on footage of his car through the city cameras, just trying to find where he's taken them." He replies as Roman starts calling his supervisor. "Judah go to the police department. Don't go off on your own, do you understand?" Roman interrupts with a stern tone. "Yeah, yeah I won't. Text me when you're boarding." He replies nonchalantly before hanging up. "Why do I get the feeling he's not going to listen?" I sigh with a glance at Roman. "He never does." *** Charlotte Davidson's P.O.V. We landed about two hours ago and Liam rented a car before driving us out to the middle of nowhere. He parks outside a house with nothing but fields of green encircling it. The only other houses I saw were miles away with the same surroundings. He grabs us and drags us inside to a room before I barely have time to look for any exits. "This is where you'll be staying. Can't have you two trying anything else." He smirks before shoving us inside and locking the door. I hold onto Aria before looking around the room. It's almost bare except for a wardrobe in the corner and no windows. Sighing in frustration I look down at Aria who's quietly staring at me. I shoot her a small smile and caress her cheek which relaxes her tense shoulders. She wraps her arms around my waist and cuddles up to me. "I'm scared mum." She whispers and I feel the back of my eyes burn. "I know. Don't worry, I'm here. I'll keep you safe." I promise and kiss the top of her head. We're distracted by the sound of Liam talking on the phone it seems since I don't hear anyone replying. I scoot up to the door and put my ear against it. Within seconds panic sets in once I hear his conversation. "Yeah I'm only giving the girl though. Six years old. Yeah...yeah she's in good condition." Liam chuckles and it makes me sick to my stomach. "Great! I'll have her to you in a few hours. See you later." I struggle to pretend that everything is fine as I make my way back to Aria. She looks up at me confused but this time I'm sure my smile looks fake. Hugging her to me I blink away the onslaught of tears as my heart races in terror. I won't let him take Aria and sell her into human trafficking. Even if it kills me. She's going to make it out. Back when I was in a relationship with Liam I could never defend myself. He was always much stronger, heavier and skilled. So, after Aria started going to school and whenever I had extra cash from tips I would go to self-defence classes just to learn. I'm hoping now that it comes into use and is successful long enough for her to get away at least. If only I had learned how to disarm someone. The threat of Liam shooting Aria is too much of a risk for me to take. If he lowers his guard enough to not carry a gun then I'll be fine. "What did you hear mum? Is he going to –" "Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise I'll get us out of this." I kiss her forehead and hug her tightly. "Once he lets his guard down I'll get us out, don't worry about a thing. Just promise me something." "What?" She frowns as she looks up at me. "If I tell you to run you do it. Don't look back, just keep running as fast as you can. Got it?" My voice wavers when her eyes widen and tears spill from her eyes. "When you get out of the house turn left, there's two more left turns before you take a right. It'll lead you into town." "You can't leave me!" She whispers back fiercely but her bottom lip quivers. "I'll tell you Theo's phone number and address. The country code to dial is plus one okay?" I start before giving her his contact details. "Find parents with children and go to them like I've always told you. Tell them everything and they'll get you back to him and grandma." "No! You can't just –" "Aria! This is just in case something goes wrong. It's a fifty-fifty chance, I will try my best to get out with you but if something happens to me you run. Do you understand?!" I whisper while my heart breaks inside for even having to say this to her. "Please I can't have anything happening to you." "Okay, I-I promise." She cries softly and hugs me tightly. "I'm sorry baby but it's just to keep you safe. I don't want to do this either and it kills me to even say this but Liam cannot take you. I will try my hardest to get out too." I whisper as tears spill down my cheeks. "I love you so much." "I love you too mum." She cries harder and I try to calm her down in case Liam hears or comes in. We take a few minutes but we eventually wipe our tears with a deep breath. She sniffles before turning to me just as her stomach growls. I smile sadly and wish I had some food to give her. Clearly Liam doesn't care if she starves. "What now?" She asks softly as she clings to me. "Now we wait until the time is right."