Her Daring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 5) by Caitlyn O'Leary Page B

sometimes when I throw down the food.”  Rylie closed her eyes and mentally counted to five. 
    “When was the last time you fed them?”
    “I was going to do that right before you got here.”
    “You better think real hard about the food you were going to bring.  You also better know that they’ll be coming upstairs, so don’t think you’re going to be tossing down scraps to these women like they’re animals.”
    “Wait, they can’t come upstairs.  Mr. Klein won’t like that at all.”
    “Who the fuck is Mr. Klein?” Rylie growled.
    “Don’t you know him?  He’s in charge.”
    “I’m in charge unless Albert Liu is here, are we clear...Howard?”  She waited for the man to nod.  “Huan go with him to get the food.  I want to make sure they get something decent.  I’m going down to see what in the hell you’ve done,” she said eyeing Howard.
    She put the straps of her purse and laptop bag across her body, so they rested at the small of her back, and started down the ladder.  She listened intently and was ready for the first attacker. 
    Rylie went easy on the woman, she used the flesh of her upper arm to hit the girl in her face, instead of her elbow, but still it knocked her on her ass.  She jumped off the ladder and landed in a crouch and swung around, brandishing the lit flashlight as a weapon.  Someone came up to her side, and tried to land a kick, Rylie pulled the girl’s foot up higher, causing her to fall backwards. 
    “Stop!  Nyet !  One more move and I’ll actually hurt the next person who makes a move.  Understood?”  Rylie’s voice boomed through the small area.  She shone her light across the dingy cellar, making note of the mattresses and blankets on the floor.  She saw they had put a mattress up against a corner, probably to give a semblance of privacy for the toilet area.  It was like something out of a concentration camp.
    She saw the majority of the women huddled against the far wall, but there were two who were still lying on the floor at her feet, and two standing cautiously in front of her.
    “Is good you hurt us.  We prefer to die fighting,” the woman closest to her said. 
    “What?”  It took Rylie a moment to remember her last words.  She was appalled that she had actually threatened these women when they were just trying to survive.  Then she realized she recognized the voice.
    “Ophelia, it’s me, Sylvia.”
    “You left us behind, and they kill Ursula,” Ophelia accused her.
    Some of the women against the wall started to cry.
    “We need to go upstairs.  I want you to have a good meal, and use a real bathroom.”
    “Really?  We can leave?”  Rylie didn’t recognize the voice, she flashed the light over the young girl with the others.  She remembered her, her name was Ekaterina. 
    “Yes you can go upstairs, but no you can’t leave.  You’re still prisoners.”
    “We should stay here then.  We not trust you,” the older woman next to her said.
    “I agree.  You shouldn’t trust me.  But you need good food, and you need to get out of this hell hole.  So I’m the best hope you have.  So move your asses up the ladder.”  Rylie was past the point of playing nice.  It stank, it was cold, and some of the girls were shivering.  She needed to get them food, blankets, and care.  They must have been down here for the last seventy-two hours, ever since she’d seen them in Vancouver.
    The sullen women began climbing up the ladder.  The last one to climb up was Ophelia.  Before she started, she turned to Rylie.
    “What is point, we all die anyway.”
    “You won’t.  You’ll be sold.”  God, she so wanted to tell her the truth, but it was imperative the girls believe they were going to be sold and acted accordingly.
    “They kill Ursula.  Mr. Klein take her in the middle of the night, and yesterday tell us she dead,” Ophelia said in a defeated voice.
    “I will get to the bottom of this, I promise.”
    “Mrs. Hess, we all