Harley's POV

Huncho's chef was actually a 70-year-old Abuela named Consuelo. She has been cooking for over 30 years, but she recently joined the cartel to pay off her son's debts. I listen to her recount a story from her cooking journey as I sipped on the pipping hot tea she'd just brewed me. She left me alone with a plate of hot tortillas and told me to enjoy them. It helped to calm my stomach from the painful aches I was experiencing. Sir left me in the dark the entire time we've been here. I don't know why he wants me to separate from him or why he only just decided to speak to Huncho. Loud footsteps walking towards me interrupted my thoughts.

"Henry." My eyes widened. Huncho's guards were still standing to the side of the room, watching me. They looked bored, more or less. I didn't look like any type of threat. However, Henry and Emilio did. Their bodies perked up a little when Henry and Emilio walking into the big kitchen area. I hopped down from the stool onto my feet as Henry approached me.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked. I only nodded since I wasn't feeling bad in the first place. "Good." He smiled and patted my hair softly. We sat in silence for longer than necessary. "Go" Henry grunted. Emilio and him marched towards Huncho's guard, grabbing either side of their necks and twisting them till they snapped and dropped to the floor. I gasped at the gruesome view. "We gotta hurry now." Henry jogged to me, grabbing my arm.

"Why-" I stuttered. "What's going on?" I asked

"We only got a couple of minutes," Henry said, pulling me out of the kitchen and to a long hallway. "We need to search this whole place." He relayed to me as he dragged me with him through a long corridor.

"Okay-" I tried to push away my shakiness. "But what about sir-" I started. "He's alone. He even told me to hurry back."

"Don't worry about him, he can handle himself. He knows what's going on." He reassured me. I guess it was apparent that I was worried although I hoped he wouldn't acknowledge it. We kept pushing forward. So Sir knew I wasn't coming back. They've had an entire plan of their own, and I had no idea. "He trusts you, Harley. Don't overthink it." Henry stopped me. Again, I guess I was easy to read.

"So what are we doing?" I breathed out.

"Search everywhere. Open every door and search every inch of the room." He explained. "Emilio will go with you, and I'll be on the other side." He instructed. I looked up to Emilio, who offered me a comfortable smile.

"Got it." I nodded.

"Come on, princess." Emilio placed his hand on my back and guided me forward. What's up with everyone calling me princess now?

We began jiggling the knobs of every door we came across. Half of them didn't open, and the other half did but were just servant quarters or empty rooms. I think I was half expecting to open a door and find a bunch of cocaine lying on the floor. This place looked run down if you really searched closely. The maids we came across walked past us nonchalantly, not sparing us a glance. I jogged down the long dark corridors pushing decor aside, pulling back carpet and rugs, and searching under vases. Emilio stayed close behind me, searching through more intimate things like dressers, desk, closest in the rooms. We came up short. Nothing was suspicious or out of place. We were nearing the end of the hallway--in fact, we were nearing the end of the whole house. We had reached the back of the estate with nothing to report. Still, I pushed forward to the last door in the hallway. Pushing the door open, it looked like a greenhouse area. All the walls were see-through, and the room was humid--either that or the windows were tinted. I walked in slowly, admiring the isles of greenery. The room was bigger than I thought. It looked shallow from the door, but it was actually long. The floors were cement and partially damp. It looks like the greens had just been watered recently. I jogged forward, but I still kept my eyes sharp. As I was stalking ahead, I noticed faint footsteps the further I went. The tracks were a mixture of soil and water, so I could clearly tell the footprints were from a group of beefy-footed men in dress shoes. I followed the tracks towards the back of the room; the deeper I went, the darker it got. I squinted my eyes, desperately trying to follow the tracks. Eventually reaching the back of the room, I felt around the walls. There is a reason the tracks stopped here. Pressing my palms against the wall, I felt along the wall's wetness until I hit a doorknob. There was a door back here. This feels like the beginning of a criminal minds episode. Seriously, what was the worse thing that could happen? I've gone too far to turn back now. I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open with a loud creak. There were concrete steps leading down to a lower floor. How big was this fucking room? I was tired as hell. I could vaguely hear the sounds of the clacking of metal. I stopped my movements and stayed as still as possible.

I slowed my heavy breathing and planted my hands against the wall to still myself. I was frozen, trying to hear any subtle sound. Again the sounds of metal clanking together caught me. Someone was down there. My heart was beating so fast; It felt like it could fly out of my chest. I have to go down there. Removing my hands from the wall and fixing my footing, I proceeded to the first step. Luckily the stairs looked freshly built, so there was no excessive noise as I stepped down. I moved to descend to the next step when muscular arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back. A shriek left my lips while my hands clasped around the arms that captured me.

"Harley. Harley, it's me, Henry. Calm down." The voice spoke. Relief immediately washed over me like a warm blanket. He let me down to the floor, removing his arms from around my waist and turning me around.

"Fuck! Why'd you scare me like that?!" I hit his hard tensed arm. Unfortunately, that punch did more to me than to him. All he did in response was smirk and stick his tongue out.

"But, what the fuck are you doing?!" He asked, looking at me like a grew another head.

"I found a door." I pointed to the opening. "I think there is someone down there. I heard chain or something moving." I explained. 'We got to go check it out." I moved to the steps once again.

"Wait, Harley. Get behind me first. Sir will kill me if you get so much as a scratch." Henry muttered and tried pulling me behind him. I disregarded his dramatic comment and rolled my eyes.

"I'm fine," I waved him off. "You could easily get hurt, too," I asked. It didn't make much sense since we could both equally cause each other distress.

"Get behind me, please! You're so fucking stubborn!" He pulled me behind him without waiting for my response. 'Stay close." He pulled the gun from under his waistband and positioned it in front of him. We inched down the stairs little by little. My feet practically stayed on top of Henry's as we moved. The clanking was seeming to get louder as we moved further. Finally, we made it to the bottom floor. The room's lights were dimmed down, so we couldn't make out what exactly we were looking at.

"Let me find the light switch." I moved away from Henry and pushed forward to examine the walls.

"Harley, Wa-" he tried to stop me, but it was too late.

"Here it is." I flicked it on. The lights one by one spluttered on, showing a huge room...full of cages.

"Holy fuck." Henry gasped.

Each small caged cell held one or two women. Half were asleep or sat in silence staring off into nothingness. The floors were stained with water, mud, dried blood. The room was huge and occupied over 30 women. Their ankles were chained to the bars that held up the cell. That's what the clanking was. What the fuck was going on here? Mortified, I pushed forwards to examine further.

"Fuck, this is bad." Another voice boomed behind me. I jumped as I looked at the perpetrator. It was Emilio staring at the same thing I was.

"What is this?" I asked him. He must've followed us in here from our voices.

"Sex ring." Emilio stared in awe.

"No doubt about it," Henry added, and I looked at him with a horrified expression. Sex ring? Who the fuck would do something like this?

"All these women have been trafficked" I muttered to myself after a short moment of realization. Tears pricked my eyes as I glanced over everyone. Some of the women looked younger than me, some visibly older, and some visibly sick. I felt my stomach turn as I moved closer to them. I could feel stomach acid begin rising to my throat. I ran to the side of the room and puked out everything I digested today, including the tortillas I just ate.

"Fuck Harley, you alright?!" Emilio patted me on the back softly.

"I'm fine." I coughed putting my hand up.

"Here." He handed me the handkerchief from his suit pocket.

"Thanks," I muttered and wiped the spew off my mouth. "We got to help them." I stood up.

"You're right. This is fucked up." Henry gritted through his teeth. "Phone Ralph, tell him what's going on, and ask the boss what we do." He looked at Emilio.

"Got it." He nodded and raced up the steps. My eyes went back to the woman. Most of them seemed to be waking up, and I'm sure it was because of our loud echoing voices in the room. I moved closer to the cells.

"I'll go find some lock cutters," Henry said.

"Okay." I nodded. I could see the fear in their eyes when they stared at me. They watched my movements to see what I would do next. It will take years for these women to begin to get rid of the fear that's now embedded in them.

"I'm going to get you all out of here; I swear," I explained. I swept my eyes over everyone's face, making a mental note on how to release them all as fast as possible.

"I found bolt cutters." Henry jumped down the stairs two at a time.

"Good." I nodded. I rubbed my sweaty palms together.

"Guys, the boss said to get everyone out of here and to the vans. We have two minutes to make it happen before this place comes tumbling done." Emilio was out of breath by the time he made it back to Henry and me.

"Let's get to work." Henry moved to the cells nearest to us. The veins in his arms bulged out with all the strength he was using to break the thick locks off the door.

"Harley, me and you will lead them out. I found a door that leads to the side of the house." Emilio said, and I nodded. Emilio followed up by carrying the first three women out the door as I followed Henry.

"Por favor, Ayudame," a couple of women groaned out loudly once they noticed what we were doing. The desperation in their voice grew stronger every second.

A girl who looked to be my age observed me as I moved—a lump formed in my throat as I walked up to her. Henry pulled the lock off and motioned for me to assist her. She was pushed into the corner of the cell with nothing but fright in her eyes. Her body was physically trembling.

"Hi," I said softly. "What's your name?" She was clearly afraid of what I would do. She pushed herself further into the dark corner. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help." I assured her. She didn't say anything back, but her eyes softened a little.

"María." She whispered.

"That's a beautiful name. Thanks for telling me." I smiled at her. "We are trying to get everyone out. Can you come with me?" I asked her.

"I can't leave." She mumbled.

"W-why?" I asked.

"M-my Abuela." she started. "She works here too. I can't leave without her." She explained.

Shit. I doubt there was time to go back and forth. Henry was almost done cutting all the locks, and Emilio was guiding the women out rapidly. Two minutes wasn't a long time to get all these women out. Huncho was a sick bastard for this. These abused women lived in filthy conditions, and no one cared. It makes me sick to my stomach, looking at Maria shake in discomfort.

"But we do-" I started.

"No, Puedo." she shook her head. Her eyes turned glossy from the tears she was holding back. "I can't leave without her, so you can leave me behind." She looked away from me. That wasn't an option. I wasn't going to leave anyone behind. They didn't deserve any of the shit Huncho put them through.

"No, I'll get her to you." I breathed out.

"B-but how?" She asked

"What does she look like?" I asked.

"I haven't seen her in a while, but the last I saw her, she had long gray hair down to her waist. She's on the taller side, and she has blue eyes. She works as a maid here. She is working to pay off my father's debts. I left Mexico and came searching for her, but I only got so far before some men took me and I was sold to this house. I saw her once when I first got here, but I wasn't able to see her again." She explained. My heart broke as she spoke. I was trying to pay for my mother's debts, and I know what it's like to be taken against your will, but at least I was blessed enough not to be turned into a sex slave. At least I had people who somewhat cared for me. I tried to picture what she would look like in my head using the information Maria gave me; then I realized something.

"Wait, Is her name Consuelo?" I asked, referring to the woman I met earlier.

"Yes." Her eyes widened. "Did you see her?" She jumped towards me.

"Yes, I did. I know where she is." I nodded to her.

"Que dios la bendiga." She clasped on to my arm.

"Don't worry," I answered back. I was way better at understanding than speaking, so I did the best I could. Spanish class was finally paying off after four years.

"Harley, we gotta go. Our two-minute window is up." Henry announced at the door of the cell.

"Okay." I nodded and stood up, grabbing Maria's hands with me. "Get her outside. I have to go do something." I guided her to Henry.

"He's one of the good guys." I told her, "No one is going to hurt you again." I assured her. She nodded softly and moved to Henry, who offered her a small smile.

"What are you doing?" He shifted his eyes back to me. "Where are you going?" He continued.

"I made a promise to Maria. I'll be back." I patted his arm softly and slipped by him. I remember Consuelo mentioning "washing clothes or lavar ropa" before she left me in the kitchen. I knew I had to go to every washroom on the bottom floor first.

"Not happening." Henry stopped me. "The boss specifically said for you to be outside along with the girls." He said.

"Since when do I listen to him?" I asked with a chuckle.

"You're going to get me killed."Henry sighed.

"Everything will be fine," I assured him. "I'm going to get her." I looked at Maria. She nodded and pulled me into a tight hug. The appreciation and gratefulness she was feeling transferred to me through that small intimate moment.

I had to hurry before I get killed. ———————————

HI HI HIIII I hope yall enjoy this chapter. It's a longer one IM SORRY ABT THAT but hopefully, yall like it!

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