Rule Forty-Seven

We got home maybe an hour after Harry had left, and he was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands when we walked through the front door.

His head snapped up, green eyes troubled. “Noah, I’m so-”

I shook my head. “Don’t.”

Walking straight past him, I sat at the bench and looked over the folder again.

“You need to set up the basement, Harry,” I commented. “Liam and I are gonna go tonight and get the boys.”

“Are you sure...?”

“Utterly.” I snapped. “You’ve done enough today.”

“Don’t be so hard on him, Noah,” Liam scolded. “He didn’t mean to.”

I shrugged, not really in the mood for an argument. There things I could handle, and there were things I couldn’t handle, and right now work was my escape and both Liam and Harry knew that.

Harry stood with a sigh and opened the door to go down to the basement. “I set pretty much everything up when you two were out.”

Frowning, I walked over to him, looking past his shoulder and down the stairs.

Sure enough, three separate beds were set up, each with a pile of clothes on them, each with a towel and each with a bar of chocolate. I smiled fondly as I realised Harry had paid close attention to rule twenty-seven - making our guests feel welcome.

I nodded to Harry approvingly and met his staring eyes. “Good, that’s good.”

Harry smiled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was gonna tie some rope to the ceiling to hang some blankets down. Not a wall, but it should bring privacy.”

I nodded again. “That’ll be good, you can do that when we’re gone.”

Somehow I got a bit of shut-eye after that, and then Liam was knocking at the door telling me to get ready. We were out the door in less then ten minutes and Harry was left to his loud music and last minute things to clean.

“You know where it is?” I asked Liam as he drove up the highway in one of the vans we owned.

He nodded, smirking. “This is going to be fun.”

I rolled my eyes and a laugh erupted from my throat. “You are such a dork.”

We were at the mansion in ten minutes, a large gate securing the entrance. I raised an eyebrow at Liam as three men with semi-automatic rifles moved around our car.

When we were clear to go through, Liam creeped forwards, eyes darting everywhere.

“Relax,” I murmured. I pulled the hat lower over my eyes and breathed out steadily.

“There are guns everywhere-”

“We’ll be out of here in less than five minutes.”

“-too many people are seeing our faces-”

“There’s a reason you’re wearing contacts.”

“-and there is no way I can protect us.”

Before I could reassure him, reassure both of us, my door flew open, revealing a suited man standing there with a plastic grin on his face.

“Welcome. You must be Noah. Ian’s told me all about you.”

I climbed down from the seat, eyes darting around, checking every corner, every wall. “Can’t say I’ve had the same pleasure about you.”

The man’s eyes hardened, nose flaring. “Jack Prince.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Prince.” Liam said as he came around the van. “I’m Liam.”

“I’ve heard about you, too. You left quiet an impression on my friend, you see.”

I couldn’t help the smirk that flashed across my face. Liam obviously couldn’t control his, either.

“Now, why don’t I show you inside to your toys, I’m sure you’d be dying to meet who you’re taking for the next six months.”

Turning to face Liam, I waited until the man was well in front of us before talking. “There are four cameras on the west wall, three on the east. Five men walking around with fully loaded guns, one escape route. From what I can tell, three story house, a vast back yard that could venture into the woods.”

Liam nodded, eyes locked on Jack Prince. “Profile?”

“Rich, patriarchic. Thinks he deserves respect, doesn’t know how to earn it. Demanding, controlling. He doesn’t pull the strings, he just owns the property. Probably well known but doesn’t like disturbance.”

As I finished speaking, we slowed to a stop. The breath caught in my throat, Liam visibly stiffened.

Past the man were the three boys we were taking. They were on their knees, heads bowed, hands tied behind their backs. The blonde haired one was shaking.

“Here they are,” Prince said loudly. I flinched at the same time the youngest one did and almost teared up on the spot. “You get half of the cash now, half of it when you deliver them to Ian.”

A woman, hair tied back, dress tight, walked through the doors behind the boys with her head bowed. A suitcase was in her hands.

“Ah, Melanie,” Prince called. “Just on time. If you could give the briefcase to Noah, please.”

She walked over to me, never raising her eyes and never lifting her head. I held my hand open, but grabbed her arm before she could walk away.

“Look up at me,” I told her softly.

“Noah-”


“Shut the hell up!” I spat at Prince, eyes flaring. Turning back to the young woman in front of me I dipped my head, trying to catch her gaze. “Hey, you can look at me.”

She gingerly lifted her eyes to meet mine. In any other life, they would have been a vibrant blue. But the life had been sucked out of them, the freedom had vanished.

“Do they hurt you here?” I asked her softly.

Her eyes dropped, teeth clamping over her bottom lip. Then she nodded.

My lips pursed. I dropped her arm and turned around. Liam was standing between me and Prince, arms folded, muscles bulging. I could feel the warning waves radiating off of him. Prince had made a move forwards toward me - this had been Liam’s reaction.

“Sorry,” I lied, “she just reminded me of my little sister.”

Prince’s attitude dropped a little, but his eyes were still hard. “It takes a lot of time for me to drill respect into these men and women here. They lack discipline and obedience.”

“Obviously you do, as well,” I commented, without thinking really. “I’m sure that’s why you treat them this way.”

His jaw locked and fists clenched. “You’d know to hold your place while you’re under my roof.”

“And you’d know to respect human rights, but I guess not everyone knows,” Liam snapped.

I glanced at him anxiously. But his eyes were glued on one of the boys, the one with dark brown hair and dark eyes, and that answered any question that was about to form in my mind.

“Liam,” I muttered, my eyes locking with his. “Count the money, distract Prince.”

Liam nodded taking the case in his hands, and started a conversation up and a very displeased Jack Prince.

Kneeling down in front of the three boys, I smiled gently. “Can you three look up at me?”

The one in the middle, dark haired and blue eyed, looked up at me straight away, eyes devoid of emotion. The one Liam had been staring at was more hesitant, but still did what I asked. And the last one, the one with the shakes, didn’t do anything.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” I said calmly.

Finally his blue eyes flickered up to meet mine, tears trapped in thick eyelashes.

“What’re your names?”

The middle one frowned, blue eyes falling back to the ground. “Louis Tomlinson.”

“Zayn Malik,” the dark eyed one whispered.

And once more the scared one didn’t respond. His eyes were back on the floor, shoulders quivering.

“What’s you’re name?”

“Niall,” Louis answered for him. “His name’s Niall Horan.”

Niall hesitantly looked up at the older boy, blue eyes thankful. Louis just smiled.

“Now, you boys are gonna be just fine. We’re going to take you out to a safer place where you don’t have to worry about the douche over there, but first I need to be able to trust you. Can I do that?”

The three nodded slowly.

“Good,” I smiled. “We’re going to stand, all of us, and walk to the van, and you guys are gonna get in, and that’s the last you’re going to see of this place.”

I might’ve imagined it, but I swore I’d just seen a little smile flash across Louis’ face, and that lifted my mood substantially.

As I got up, the boys hesitantly followed suit, crowding right behind me as if they were lost puppies.

Liam’s eyes shifted from counting the money in the case to Zayn’s, and then back to mine. He turned to Prince, flicking the lid shut with his fingers. “I think that should cover it. We’re ready to leave.”

Prince looked up and I could see his eyes flare with anger and I could feel the shaking behind me start.

“I’d rather you not waste my time, Mr. Prince, if you could,” I snapped quickly. “I want today to be over, and I want to be away from you, frankly.”

“Leave through the front door, but first just let me blindfold your-”

I snorted and shook my head. “They won’t be needing anything else from you, Mr. Price.”

Turning, I stared at the boys behind me. Louis’ eyes were on the floor, hands folded behind his back, but Niall’s hand was gripping tightly onto his shirt; they were standing so close together you could barely notice it. Zayn was staring over my shoulder, his eyes probably locked onto Liam’s.

As I walked towards our car, they shuffled along behind me. I could feel the angry heat radiating from Prince’s body, met his eyes with a smirk as I walked past him.

“Liam,” I motioned to the back door. “Please open that for our guests.”