Page 2 of Declan

Christ, he’d known his days were limited but he thought he’d have more time.

“Yep. Zane’s my next call.”

“Good luck. And don’t worry about Autumn—she knows what she’s doing.”

That was what worried Declan. An off-the-chain Autumn could mean any number of things. Worst case, she was on a suicide mission. Best case, she’d kill Madeleine and skip home happily.

“Thanks, Tex.”

Declan disconnected the call and stared at his phone.

It was time—his day of reckoning had come.

Chapter 1

“Hi, are you Avery Nelson?” I asked a tall, red-haired woman.

“I am, and you are?”

“Autumn Brown.” The lie rolled off my tongue as I extended my hand. “I work for The Coalition of Women. We’re one of the largest grassroots women’s organizations in the U.S.”

Avery continued to stare at me expectantly. Intelligent eyes took me in and I started to wonder if Ashaki Maloof had been wrong picking a Navy lieutenant as my contact. I preferred men, they were much easier to fool—a little cleavage and a smile.

Men were simple.

Avery Nelson was going to take some coaxing.

“Recently, we’ve expanded our network and started working with international organizations. That’s why I’m here. I was hoping to catch Madeleine Strotherby, has she already been by?”

Catch. That was one way to put it.

“Ms. Brown—”

“Call me Autumn.”

Avery nodded and continued. “I hope you can understand I’m not at liberty to discuss what goes on at the clinic.”

It was too late, the Navy lieutenant had given me exactly what I’d needed. Madeleine had been by. Avery recognized the name.

“I totally understand.” I pulled my backpack off my shoulder and pulled out a check with a lot of zeroes and handed it to Avery. “This is for the clinic. As I said, The Coalition of Women is expanding, we’d like to make a donation to all the great work being done here. Education is vital.”

Avery’s gaze dropped to the check then came back to mine. “Perhaps you’d like to speak to the clinic director—”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have time. If you’d please pass that along, I’d appreciate it. And if Ms. Strotherby comes by again, if you could give her my contact information, I’d be grateful.”

“This is a lot of money,” Avery noted.

It was a lot of money, but then I had a lot to spare.

I hadn’t spent the last nine years of my life crawling in the filth of human trafficking for nothing. Every man I’d targeted had paid, both with his life and his bank account.

“We hope it will help continue all the good work you’re doing here.”

A group of Afghani women started to file into the small meeting room. Avery’s break was over—perfect timing.

“Childbirth.” I jerked my head in the direction of the pregnant women. “You’re doing wonderful work here, Avery.”

“Thanks.” The lieutenant blushed, making the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and forehead stand out.