Voice For the Silent
Voice For The Silent
Amber Allure
M/M Contemporary
[Ebook] [Amazon]
Investigating and busting dog-fighting rings is what police officer Julio Herendez lives to do. Defending the innocent and vulnerable from monsters makes his day. So when he meets Paine “BB” Addison, Julio finds himself wanting to save the abused young man from the cruel world he’s also been forced to survive.
Paine exists in an environment where the weak and innocent are exploited for entertainment. The men who use him for their perverted pleasure and fight the dogs don’t care about the physical or emotional damage they inflict upon their victims, both animal and human. Paine lives from day to day, doing what he can to heal the wounds suffered by others, but unable to help or heal himself.
When Julio and Paine meet, it triggers a chain of events that rocks both their worlds to the foundations. But can they also bring justice for the silent victims?
Excerpt:
…“Dude, you’re not a drug dealer, are you?”
He didn’t dodge as Juke reached out and stroked a finger down his nose. Chuckling, Juke shook his head. “No, BB. I’m not.”
BB nodded, not sure he could speak with as dry as his mouth had suddenly gone. In all his twenty-one years, no one had ever touched him so gently. Not even his mother. Not that his mother had been around much during his life. She’d given birth to him and dumped him on his aunt and uncle before running off with her very own drug dealer.
Before BB’s mind adjusted to what had happened, Juke slipped off into the shadows, moving like the predator BB had always assumed he was. He fingered the business card Juke had handed him. He wanted to go back to the kennels, to be there when whatever went down happened, yet he doubted he’d be any help to the dogs.
All his life, he did what he had to do to keep the dogs safe, and none of it mattered. Uncle Caesar continued to fight them. The dogs continued to die, and BB’s heart continued to break. Maybe it was time to step back and try to straighten out his own fucked-up life before he did any more for the dogs.
Juke had said Queenie was all right, and, for some reason, BB trusted the man not to lie to him about that. Whoever Juke really was, he seemed to be honorable about that. Some spark of hope burned in BB and he found himself thinking maybe God had finally answered one of his prayers. Maybe the abuse would stop and the dogs would be free to be dogs, though BB knew the odds against the canines were huge.
Being raised in an environment like his wasn’t conducive to hopes and dreams. A man survived as best he could and hoped he didn’t meet a bloody end at the hands of another human. He’d done what he had and lived to see twenty-one. At one time, he’d never believed he’d grow that old.
The sun rose and BB looked down at the card. There was a phone number on it, but no name or anything else. Pulling out his phone, he flipped it open and started punching in numbers, trying not to let his fears change his mind.
He moved to the corner of the building and canvassed the parking lot before heading to his truck. He climbed in and locked the door behind him while he waited for someone to answer.
“Yeah?”
“Julio told me to call you.” BB’s voice shook a little as he spoke.
“Write down this address. I assume you’re coming right now.”
“I can’t go home. Or at least, that’s what Julio said.”
“Okay.” The man rattled off an address and had BB repeat it back to him. “Where are you at?”
BB told him, and the man grunted.
“So you’re about thirty minutes away. I’ll have things ready for you when you get here.” The man went silent for a second. “I know you have no reason to believe this, but you can trust me and Julio. Neither one of us is looking to hurt you.”
BB couldn’t say he really believed the man, yet he was willing to give it a try. Right at that moment, he wanted someplace he could wash the grime and stink of the ring and the hotel off him before sleeping for several hours.
He should be worried about his uncle, but he couldn’t dredge up any concern. Whatever happened to Uncle Caesar was the man’s own damn fault. The dogs were all BB cared about and he understood that he might not be enough to save them.
“I trust Juke, man. I’ll be there in thirty.”
“The door will be open.”
BB started the truck and drove away, praying that his life would be different soon…
