Squad 6 | COMPLETED

Chapter 47- Chloe

"I don't think you want to hear this," she said.

Cassie gave a reassuring nod. "I've been shutting people out for too long."

"My parents used to deal drugs," she said, the weight coming off her chest. "We had to move and they got into bad business. I was young, but they used me to earn money." She didn't need to say more. Cassie could read between the lines. "When I was older, I didn't want to deal too. I wanted to go to school, but they said I was too stupid to go. One morning I woke up and they and my brother were gone."

"I read your file, I know-"

"Let me finish. Please," Chloe said. "This lady from another apartment helped me and her daughter and I became friends. Her mom gave me a job, her dad helped me fix my apartment. They paid the people my parents owed so they would stop coming. I had become a part of their family."

Chloe smiled at the memories. "Irene, the girl, she helped me study and taught me English. It went on for a long time. She started high school and went to parties. I sometimes went with her and we met some guys there. One of them said he loved me and I believed it."

Cassie squeezed her hand. "They took us away at night, forced us to work in a club for them, and threatened us. One night, there was shooting and I ran away. But they caught Irene. I couldn't do anything, so I got another job and started smuggling drugs across borders."

She wiped tears away. "I got caught and that's when Ellie approached me to join Phi."

She had been carrying this secret with her and although she never denied it if it was brought up, the more people that knew about the more chance of it backfiring. And she was telling it all to a team leader, one of the people closest to the man responsible for Irene's death.

"I never would have considered it, but she promised me a chance to find Irene and I couldn't refuse that. But when I saw Snakehead before our mission in London, I knew he was behind it all."

Cassie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Diana said there had been a rumor of Snakehead leading a sex trafficking ring across Europe, but it's more than a rumor. He's the head of Okularnik."

"Head of what?"

"It was the name of the place I was in. In Polish it means cobra."

"Snakehead's tattoo-"

Chloe nodded.

Cassie rose, peeking behind the curtain and then returned to Chloe's side, lowering her voice. "Are you sure about this?"

Chloe nodded again, She let out a single sob, biting her lip.

"That dick," Cassie said. She moved closer, wrapping her hands around Chloe's neck and enveloping her in a hug. Chloe could hear quickening heartbeat and calm breaths and she clung onto Cassie's waist. "It's okay. You're strong. We'll get through this together."

#

When Chloe had calmed down and the nurse checked her vitals, she and Cassie were back to sitting in silence. The weight had been lifted off her chest now that she no longer needed to keep this from her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I need to talk to Scott," Cassie said.

"Please don't tell him you know."

"Chloe, if this is true, then I think we may have been backing up the wrong side." She got up. "I think Scott already knows something. I won't let him know you told me. But we're going to fix this. It may not bring Irene back, but it's a start."

"Thank you."

"I'll see you later. Get some rest."

"Cassie?"

She turned.

"Have you seen Diana?"

"If I were you, I'd give her some space before trying to explain. She thought she was going to lose you."

_____

Hey there!

I really hope you've enjoyed the chapter. This is a sort of turning point leading us into the endgame of the story. Things have been revealed some more. Leave below your thoughts.

How do we feel about this mini reveal? Does it change anything in terms of who you support? Who's really at fault here? Ah, complications.

I'll see you all next week.

Happy writing,

Sara