Raven didn’t take a shit without Maxine knowing about it. Still… “I find it hard to trust you.”
“I lied to you about why I was in prison. I never lied to you about anything else. Never.”
They were inching into uncomfortable territory. Killian backed down because she didn’t want to go there. What happened on the inside stayed on the inside. It wasn’t part of this world. Plus, Shannon was watching the two of them with far too much interest.
“What do you want, Rave?”
The other woman reached into the large purse on the floor beside her and withdrew a folder, which she then offered to Killian. “It’s a job offer.”
Killian hesitated. “I thought you said it was personal.”
Raven’s gaze was direct and unflinching. “It’s both.”
“I was hoping to take a vacation after this one.” She and Dash had talked about maybe driving up to Boston for a few days.
“Please.”
There was something in Raven’s voice that made her hesitate. Sighing, she took the folder and opened it. “Fill me in.”
“The photo on the left is of Dylan and Lyria Woodward. Their mother is—“
“Ilyana Woodward,” Killian interrupted, shooting her a sharp glance. “I don’t live under a rock, you know.”
Raven smiled slightly. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d care about Hollywood and celebrity.”
“I don’t, but I’ve seen a few of her movies. Everyone has.” She flipped through the pages in the file. “Incarnyx? What the fuck is that?”
“You haven’t heard of them?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I had.” She flipped through more pages. “It looks like a self-help group?”
“That’s how they sell themselves. They popped up a few years ago in LA, referring to themselves as ‘facilitators of self-empowerment.’”
Killian grimaced. “So, basically they started preying on people with fragile egos and impostor syndrome.”
Raven nodded. “Exactly. And at first they seemed to help a lot of people. Their supporter list read like a collection of Oscar and Grammy nominees.”
There was an awful lot of material in the file, all of which Killian intended to read, but before that, she needed to know the whole story. “Bottom line me here, girl.”
“Ilyana and I have been dating for six months.”
Killian’s eyebrow twitched, but she kept her expression neutral. She wasn’t jealous, but she was surprised. “Since when do you like delicate white girls?” Killian didn’t include herself in that category. She certainly wasn’t delicate, and her skin and features reflected enough of her mother’s Persian ancestry to never be mistaken for all white.
“Since I met her.” The reply came with a slight smile. “Killy, Ilyana believed these people were legit, and she started going to their retreats. She took her oldest daughter, Dylan, with her. But then Ilyana started to get a weird vibe from Shasis and Magnus, the leaders of the group.”
Killian couldn’t stifle her snort. “I know what Magnus means, but Sha-see?”
“She says she took it from a couple of different words that mean queen.”
Shannon snorted, reminding Killian of her presence—and that she ought to be careful what she said.
“Right. So, let me just give you a hand here—they’re fucked-up, right? Like, we’re talking full-on cult?”
Raven nodded. “Yeah. Ilyana thinks it’s a sex thing, but this guy, this Magnus, he’s got serious charisma. The people that follow him are convinced he’s the real deal.”
“That’ll get him laid on the regular.”
“Nothing’s gone public yet, but Ilyana’s talked to a couple of other actresses who just got out. Magnus and Shasis are like the Jay and Bey of the Kool-Aid crowd. Magnus likes slipping his dick into anything wet and willing.”
Killian studied a photo of the couple. They were a good-looking pair—they practically glowed. Sexy, too. He was blond and chiseled; she was dark and vibrant. There was something familiar about her profile.
“Oh, fuck me,” she growled.
“Recognized her, huh?”
She couldn’t believe it. “You could have led with the fact that she’s Tara fucking Washington.”
“Who’s Tara Washington?” Shannon asked, looking from Raven to Killian.
Killian’s attention stayed on Raven. “Someone we used to know.”
“Was she in prison with you?”
“Yeah,” Raven told the girl when Killian merely shook her head. “She was. You see now why I need your help.”
Tara had done a lot of things to get her ass tossed in prison, not least of which was pimping. In Killian’s books a pimp was the only thing worse than a snitch. If she had her claws into some young girls, there could be only one reason—she planned to turn them out.
“Feds onto them yet?” she asked.
Raven nodded. “You know it. And it’s only a matter of time before the FBI raids their New York compound.”
“So, what do you want me to do? Go in and get the girl?”
“Girls. Lyria’s there, too.”
Killian sat back and closed the folder. “Your woman knows how dangerous that is, right? I mean, I figure she knows it’s illegal, but there needs to be deprogramming and shit if the girls have drank the Kool-Aid.”
“Dylan is in deeper than Lyria, but both of them know something’s not right. Lyria wants to come home, but they’ve got collateral on her—pictures and video. And regardless, Ilyana says she won’t leave without her sister.”
“Of course they’ve got leverage. What’s a cult without its control?” Sighing, Killian met her former cellmate’s gaze. There was more going on than Raven had shared. “What do they have on the other one? Dylan, or whatever?”
“Same—video and photos. Plus, I think she really believes in what Magnus is selling.”
That was trouble. “If she’s in love with him, then he’s working her. What’s the FBI got on her?” When Raven blinked, Killian smiled. “That’s the real reason you came to me and not the cops, right? I’m supposed to get her out before the FBI can arrest her?”
Sighing, the other woman took a drink of coffee. “She’s been used in recruitment videos and literature. She’s even been soliciting other celebrity kids on social media. Ilyana’s afraid of criminal charges if Dylan’s there when Magnus and Shasis are arrested. The kid’s loyal to them. Even chose them over her own family.”
“That’s gotta be some sweet pipe he’s laying if she’s turned her back on her own.”
“I hear he and Shasis are a package deal, so maybe she got one of those magic coochies.”
Killian chuckled. They used to joke about some of the women inside having sexual power over others and blamed it on having voodoo between their legs. “Maybe. This is going to be a shit show either way, Rave. If the kid doesn’t want to leave, I’m looking at kidnapping, regardless of what this group has done to her. People who have been programmed don’t respond well to that.” Neither did pimps, but she didn’t give a fuck about them. These were girls who had been taken advantage of.