Read Online Emma: Part Two by Lolita Lopez - Free Book Online Page B

passes and pockets loaded with loose credits were waiting to get off base.
    "Where are they going?" Emma indicated the soldiers at the gates.
    Jack hesitated before responding. "Purgatory."
    Emma's gasp was audible even over the whir of wind rushing around the windshield and ruffling their hair. "No way! That place is disgusting!"
    Max glanced back at Emma. "You've been there?"
    "God, no!" Emma shuddered and made a face. "Girls like me don't last long in a place like that. It's nothing but whorehouses and moonshine and gambling. That's where the skin traders take women for auctions. It’s a bad, bad place for any girl."
    "Yes," Jack agreed. "We've tried to have the place deemed off-limits for the men but the higher-ups say the men have rights to alleviate their needs."
    "Have you two been there?"
    Jack didn't miss the strange tone to Emma's voice. She was either jealous or suspicious or both. "We've been there, but we kept our pants zipped. I'm not into paying for sex."
    "Me either," Max replied as he turned down the street that led to their home. "Besides, I felt certain some of those women weren't there by choice. We sent teams back—female teams—to rescue them but they refused to go."
    "It's not that simple," Emma explained. "Girls like me are sold to places like Purgatory or the rolling brothels to save their families. The money they earn on their backs goes back to their families to buy food, fuel and protection. I heard on the Chain that they started offering more money to families for their daughters when you guys opened the Outpost. Big business boom, I guess."
    Jack's gut clenched at the idea of Emma being one of those trafficked women. It sickened him that young women were put in that position. To know men he commanded and trained were waiting at the gate to go out and use them made his stomach churn. It was time to start pushing harder for better standards of conduct. The soldiers at Outpost Nine needed to be good neighbors, not Johns putting money into pimp pockets.
    "Oh!" Emma said, a lilt of surprise in her voice. "This is nice."
    Jack grinned at Max. Like most officers, they enjoyed living quarters in a subdivision-style section of the base. Their two-story home offered four bedrooms and three bathrooms with a sizeable backyard and deck. It was much nicer than the apartment style housing where most of the Outpost's inhabitants lived.
    He couldn't wait to get Emma inside the house. Jack was out of the vehicle before the garage door was fully closed. He scooped Emma out of her seat. Like an old-fashioned groom carrying his bride over the threshold, Jack carted Emma into the house, taking her through the laundry room and kitchen to the living area.
    He brushed his lips against her temple. "Welcome home, sweetheart."
    Emma's gaze swept the spacious first floor of her new home. "I like it."
    Jack wasn't fooled. He could tell she thought it was lacking in some ways. He would be the first to admit their home was rather utilitarian and no-nonsense. Emma's home, while simple, had been felt like a real home. There had been throw pillows and quilts and curtains and rugs, all of them handmade.
    "You can decorate however you'd like, Emma," Jack said, giving her a squeeze. "Once you have a chance to explore the base, you'll find a home store that sells fabric and thread and even crafts and other items from outside the wire. The human female who runs the store goes out and brings in products from places like New Town and Borden's Crossing."
    "But I don't have any money or anything to barter."
    Jack patted her ass. "You do. Max and I made deposits into your account." He touched her wrist. "You just swipe that in any store and the credits are automatically deducted."
    Emma frowned. "But I didn't earn that money."
    "Would you like to?" Max asked slyly as he dropped the box of radio parts on the couch. "I can think of hundreds of ways you can make even more."
    Emma narrowed her eyes at Max but laughed. "Depends on what you