Chapter 26

                                    

                                          
Beatrice's POV
The moment the door closes behind me, Cash jumps into action. He grabs the bag I've been clutching to my chest and throws it on the floor to start sifting through it.
I step back in surprise, my back colliding with Bentley's chest as he comes up behind me. He places a hand on my arm to hold me steady as he watches with keen interest as Cash pulls out Macy's locket.
All three brothers inhale sharply.
Jack pushes forward to drop to his knees, his shaky hands reaching out to take the locket from his brother.
"It really is hers," his voice shakes, driving a knife into my heart as I watch their faces fall.
They probably think worse right now, and I don't blame them. I would too.
Cash starts digging through the bag again. "What did you find?" He asks.
I frown. "I only managed to get the locket and a receipt. Sorry, guys. There wasn't much time to look more thoroughly."
"It's fine," Bentley reassures me, burying his face into my hair. "Receiving Macy's locket was more than enough."
Cash pulls out the receipt and scans it. His eyes widen in surprise. "This..." he trails off.
"What?" Jack looks at the brittle paper anxiously. "What is it?"
Cash looks up at Bentley. "I'm familiar with them because of their presence in the city, but I think I heard you mention them when we were kids. The St. Christine Catholic Church."
I feel Bentley stiffen against me and turn to look at him. His eyes tremble as they look at the paper in Cash's hand.
"Let me see," he steps around me and goes to take the paper from Cash's hand. The more he reads what's on it, the more we see the emotions flashing behind his eyes.
"Bentley?" I ask cautiously.
"Who's the St. Catholic Church or whatever?" Jack asks.
Cash looks at us solemnly and answers. "They're a large human trafficking organization that operates as a church. Not many know this, but as a future lawyer, taking them down has always been on my bucket list. Their members are spread out within the industries, and although the cops are slowly closing in on them, it feels like they've barely scratched the surface. The church has been around for years, and from what I've heard, they were once settled into our town as well."
Jack's eyes widen in realization and he clutches the locket in his hand as if he'll suddenly lose it.
"What does the paper say?" He asks.
Bentley takes a deep breath, and I resist the urge to step up and hold him once I glimpse his red eyes. I have no idea what they're talking about, but I can see that whatever that paper is, it's useful.
His Adam's apple bobs as he explains. "The St. Christine Catholic Church was once popular in town. Their members were well respected, and they got along well with the townsfolk. They'd been in town for over twenty years before they got exposed. Four years before Macy disappeared, the church was closed down and the townsfolk ran everyone involved with the church out of town. Turns out that we had a high case of runaway girls, and one of our cops led the cases back to the church where we discovered they were kidnapping these girls to ship them to the big city for money. They were human trafficking right in front of our eyes while preaching fuck all about God."
The paper squishes as he clenches his fist, and I quickly step forward to grab his hand and take it away. I can't let him ruin it if it's something this important.