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  Is he serious? This guy has no filter and now I’m re-thinking the ‘sex so much the sheer population of women could make a zip code’ idea. How could any woman fall for his lines of bullshit? Does he not realize how offensive he is to women in general?

  “Slim told me that Jones and Mac were going to make a move against me Tuesday or Wednesday. See what you can find out. More than likely they won’t talk to you but I’m sure you can fool them into disclosing something with your crude humor.”

  “So, no condoms?” He winks at me and walks out.

  “Does he always do that? Hide behind humor? There is a lot of sadness in his eyes that he seems to be trying to forget.” Jax stares at me like I’ve grown an extra head. What did I say that was so wrong? I guess I shouldn’t talk so I’ll go back to behaving as the other guards demanded. Casting my eyes down, I move to get off of his lap, and he lets me. Why does that hurt too?

  ∞∞∞

  For five days she has not asked me any personal questions or even seemed to be paying attention. I knew she was perceptive, but what makes me nervous is how much she has possibly read into me. She has spent no more than ten minutes in Savage’s presence and already picked up on his deep, dark secret that he hides from the rest of the world. I didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable about asking me questions; I was just stunned speechless. She scrambled away as if she thought I was mad and I let her go to save myself from having to answer. Savage has never disclosed his heartache to me in any detail, only that he lost the perfect woman. One day he described a supermodel with long tan legs, big amber eyes and a body that men would kill to possess. What he did to screw it up, I have no idea.

  Chapter Eight

  Undermine:

  *lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of, especially gradually or insidiously. *erode the base or foundation of.

  Shouting and laughing upstairs jerks my head up and my eyes off my own real life sleeping beauty. Leaving her alone to go investigate is not what I want to do while she is in this state, but a necessary evil. She has become a pro at retreating inside her head and building walls to protect her heart and mind. Only intimacy brings those walls down but now is not the time. “I’ll be right back. I’m not going far and will not leave the basement, so no one will come in here.” She doesn’t move from her curled position in the corner. If only I could be her prince charming to bring her out of her trance.

  “It’s probably because of the jackass downstairs. He whined to Sully, and now we have to go to Hartford. Shit! We shoulda taken him out when we had the chance and then we wouldn’t be going.”

  I’m pretty sure that is Mac talking.

  “Sully just wants us to go check out the towns near the crash site. We just flash a picture and ask around the small towns. Someone is bound to have seen her if she survived the crash, and if there have been no sightings, we can report back to him that she’s dead, and we can come home.

  Jones is the Peeping Tom, and if he and Mac are leaving, that only leaves twelve guys to take out; six guys for me, and six for Savage, no problem.

  “Just go pack a bag, Jones, we leave in an hour. If you hadn’t been so addicted to watching that shower video, you could have helped me plan to get rid of him before this happened.

  This little road trip of theirs probably just extended Mac and Jones life for a little while. I can only pray that the people of Hartford keep their mouths shut, so it keeps them away searching for longer. Hopefully, Derek is smart and keeps his mystery guest hidden until they give up the search. I am almost positive now that Derek has Serenity. His description of her and also the missing person’s report are almost identical. The way she appeared in the woods clinging to life does not sound like a coincidence.

  ∞∞∞

  The next three days go by in a blur, but our routine has been the same every day. Starting with breakfast served by Savage, along with perverted comments about the non-noise that is coming from our room at night. The cameras have not come on since Tuesday, and no one has given me any information as to what has changed. I can only assume that Jones is the only one smart enough to run the camera system and send live streaming to clients. Even though the first two weeks here were not ideal, at least I knew what to plan for. Jax still feeds me all my meals. I’m sure he thinks I won’t eat if he doesn’t, and maybe I wouldn’t. He still spoons me at night but has not made any moves to touch me intimately. Shouldn’t I be ecstatic with this turn of events? Why do I feel only loss? Jax has given me the only comfort since coming here, and I still have that, however, the loss of connection is what hurts the most. I have come to rely on his attention. Somehow it transports me from this place to a place where nothing else matters except the pleasure he can give me.

  I cry silently at night, every night, for my loss; my loss of family, my sister, and dad; loss of freedom and independence, loss of self and sanity. If Jax knows I cry, he doesn’t say anything, just holds me a little tighter. What game is he playing? Is this just a ploy to gain more trust, only to destroy it when he can’t or won’t set me free?

  ∞∞∞

  Shit! It’s Thursday, and we have to make our move tonight. Sully called and said he would be here tomorrow and expects the product ready to be shipped. The buyer is pissed about not receiving any more videos, but we just explained that our tech guy, Jones, is gone and no one here knows how to work live streaming. They don’t know that Savage yanked on the wires, and they snapped inside the walls, so the connection is lost permanently. By the time they figure it out, we will be long gone, and hopefully, the house will be destroyed.

  “I think the best plan of action is to sneak the women out late tonight and come back later to blow up the house. It will take too much time to take out the trash, giving us less time to get as far from here as possible.”

  “Savage, there is no way I’m leaving these bastards breathing. Even though we are taking the women, they will just get more. I refuse to allow them to be able to take more victims.”

  “Dude, I know you think you need revenge, and you will get it, but tonight is too soon to accomplish that and get the women out safe and undetected.”

  “When do you propose we take them out, Mate; because from the inside is our best option? Should I remind you that if we leave them alive, we become the hunted? Sully will stop at nothing to retrieve the women and exact his own form of revenge for double-crossing him. He is still searching for Serenity and will continue to do so until he finds her, dead or alive.” My phone ringing halts our conversation. “Jax here.”

  “Jax, I have new information on our missing product so I will not be in until late afternoon. I wanted to get there early to give your trainee a spin since the buyers requested her to be experienced, but now I won’t make it there in time. I need the James girl ready to go by 5:00 p.m. My shipping container will be picked up by 6:00 p.m, and I need her in place. Ask Slim for the tranquilizer and double the dose, so she stays knocked out until the ship arrives at its location. He also needs to hook her up with an IV and two bags of fluids for that duration. I will be there around 5:00 p.m. to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

  As I sit here listening to his unemotional instruction on how to treat a human being, I want to keep this one alive for torture. I learned a lot about torture in the Seals. My team and I were captured and for two days we were tortured, day in and day out. I was maxed out on my own pain endurance and started to lose blocks of time. One of my Seal mates, Case, was our savior on that mission, but not without his own form of damage. To this day, we don’t know how he even got out of his cell, took out five militants, and managed to find the rest of us and get us out in the condition he was in. He had been shot in the thigh and shoulder, his throat slit, barely missing his jugular, and one eye was completely swollen shut. Snake, Boomer, Jim and I were also in pretty bad shape. We all owe our lives to that man. We call him Head Case as an inside joke due to the PTSD, but he is probably more stable than the rest of us.

  “Sure thing, Boss,
we’ll be waiting. So did Mac and Jones find your missing product or just leads?” I need to know how close they are to finding Derek and Serenity so that I can warn Derek in time.

  “Apparently, she has help in evading us. They have a positive I.D. on her from a spa in Hartford, Connecticut, and they were told she is with a man named Derek Mason. People will tell you anything if you say you’re looking for your long lost sister. Hartford is only about an hour from the crash site, so I’m positive we will find her soon. I’m leaving Mac and Jones here to keep searching, and I’m coming back to take care of your product.”

  Click. “What the hell, Sav. Why would Derek take her to a spa or anywhere in public for that matter? I told him about the crash and the missing product. He’s smart enough to put two and two together. I even warned him they might send out scouts to look for her or try to find a body. Son of a bitch! He has just made this cat and mouse game a hell of a lot more complicated.”

  “What about you, Jax? You’re supposed to be screwing like rabbits and teaching her the ways of men, not protecting her delicate sensibilities. Don’t you think these men talk or report back to Sully? Word has it that she is still a virgin, and these men are pissed you were brought in to do a job that you don’t seem to be able to do. You’ve been so worried about protecting her mental and emotional state that you have put her in more physical danger. Some of the guys have even joked about coming down here to slit her throat in front of you just to make you suffer. They know your whipped, Mate. They know you want her for yourself, and they have already expressed that info to Sully. We don’t have time to get revenge. We need to load this house with sleeping gas and get the hell out.”

  I hate Troy Savage right now. Unfortunately, he’s right. What kind of human trafficking bastard caters to his women? I should have told Tori the truth from day one and let her help me make the decisions on how to proceed. I should have trusted that she was smart enough not to blow my cover, but I just did that myself. Once we leave here, there is no way I can take her home or even to Derek’s house now. We will be hunted until the opportunity arrives to take them down. The safest place for her is my vacation home in Cost Rica. Shit! She is going to think I have taken her for myself, and nothing I say will change her mind.

  “What do you suggest, Sav? That I go in there and rape her like these bastards want? That would mess her up more than anything they’ve done to her so far. She’s a twenty-one-year-old virgin with a hearts and flowers imagination about what her first time will be like. When I take that girl for the first time, it will be in my own bed.” Bloody hell! Why did I just say that? Troy will never let me live that down.

  “Now we’re talkin’, Buddy. Glad you finally came to your senses and admitted your true intentions towards her. We shoulda had a wager so I can get some more money off ya.” You pissed me off, by the way. I couldn’t even finish with the blonde the other night because you bailed. You know I can’t take ‘em on my own, they start askin’ for commitments and shit.”

  He even looks like he believes that shit coming out of his mouth. It’s not commitment he fears. His problem is the one that got away. He would have married her on the spot, but she was gone before he even got her full name. “I just have one word for ya, Mate. Livvy.”

  “Screw you, Jax! Screw you!

  Chapter Nine

  Deceive:

  *deliberately cause someone to believe something that is not true, especially for personal gain. *give someone a mistaken impression. *fail to admit to oneself that something is true.

  “Who’s up for a game of poker?”

  Savage is so loud, his voice echoes to us that are downstairs. I look to Jax, and he just shrugs his shoulders. Who does he want to play poker? Jax, me, who, the women? None of us have ever left the basement as far as I know, and I’m sure the other guards will not let us play poker like the rest of the humans; we are nothing. Why is Savage all chummy with those men? I thought he and Jax were partners. Jax doesn’t seem to like or respect any of the men so why does Savage?

  Jax’s mood today has been a little weird; he has been distant and quiet. He acts like he is trying to disconnect himself from everything here. Does that include me? What does that mean for me?

  “Love, I’m going to go play for a little bit and give you some privacy. All the men will be upstairs so you and the girls will be safe. If anything happens, though, scream loud.

  Is he serious? He is leaving us downstairs unsupervised. I want to meet the other women, but I’m not sure if I should ask. I think there are three others, but I don’t know where their rooms are. Slim told Jax that the redhead was in the next room over so I will start there first.

  I wait five minutes after he leaves to open my door and listen. I can hear the men laughing and shouting crude remarks to egg each other on. Most of it is coming from Savage, telling the men it’s just a little wager.

  “Slim, bring over the whiskey and shot glasses, also the Long Island Ice Tea pitcher.”

  Oh shit! Drunk men, especially these drunk men, with captive women in the house, is not a good combination. I’m pretty sure that is what happened to the redhead next door. I hope to God that Jax and Savage can handle them when things get out of control.

  I move quickly to the room next to mine and knock lightly. Of course, I don’t expect an answer as I slowly open the door to poke my head in. The redhead is staring at me in shock.

  “Oh my God, you can’t be in here. They will punish me even though you are the one who ventured out. I was beaten badly when I tried to meet the other women, and I have just recently recovered. I won’t survive another beating, please leave, please.”

  “It’s okay, all the men are playing cards, and Jax told me that he and Savage would keep them upstairs so we would be safe. I have heard you over the last few weeks and knew there were others like me, held against their will. Do you know how many women are here?”

  “There were six, and now only four. I think one was shipped out, and another died in a car crash. I’m Maria and Tina is across the hall. I didn’t meet the others because their rooms are on the other side of the living room. I only made it to Tina’s room before I was caught, so I never tried it again. I know the guard who trains you is Jax, right? He keeps telling us that things are going to be okay. Do you know what he is talking about? How can anything here ever be okay?”

  I wince at her confirmation of my sister’s death. “I am Victoria, and I don’t know anything about their plans either. He tells me the same thing and asks me to trust him, that we will be safe soon. I get mixed signals from him, so I’m not sure what to believe.” The shouting upstairs is getting louder, and I see Maria wince and huddle on her cushion. I see that she has blankets and sheets too, and the pet bowls have been removed from here also. “I will come back if I can, but they are getting loud, and I don’t want to get caught.”

  “Thank you for coming in here. Jax saved me, you know. I was ready to give up, and he brought me hope. Savage has been very nice too.”

  I have felt like that too, only to have my hopes dashed, but I don’t say that. I shut her door and move across the hall to open another door. Tina is asleep, so I close the door and rush back to my room.

  ∞∞∞

  “I win, losers, so everyone take a shot.”

  “Fug, Savage, thas fur ina row, ya dity cheeet. Wus in da wissy any.....I fuc up.”

  Shit! There goes Sam, as his head hits the table. That makes eight down four to go. “Slim, your deal.”

  “Hell, Jax. I can’t see cards to huva far shot. I already loss fify bucks.”

  “Jus deeeel, ya panz....assss kissr.” Slurs Tony.

  “One more round and then we’ll call it a night.” I glance at Savage, and he nods, letting me know that will do it. He smuggled in roofies and laced the whiskey and Long Island Tea with it. I hoped it was enough to kill them, but Savage said he didn’t have enough for that kind of outcome. I look over, and the one they call Bone topples out of his chair and hits the floor.
Three to go.

  We are into the game only three presses, and the guys are drinking on their own absentmindedly. This won’t even take a full game. “The last round did it, Mate.” We stand shoulder to shoulder surrounded by twelve unconscious jackasses. Slim was the last to fall, but he didn’t drink as much as the others.

  “Dude, it’s midnight, and we gotta get the ladies out and come back to blow this taco stand. I say we make Molotov cocktails out of the rest of the alcohol and burn this place to the ground.”

  That’s the smartest thing Savage has said all night. I rush upstairs to search drawers for clothes that will cover the women. Everything smells like smoke and body odor so Savage and I will have to give them ours. Once I reach the basement, Savage is one step ahead of me and bringing out Maria and Tina dressed in his sweats and t-shirts. They look so scared, but Savage is trying to assure them we are taking them to freedom.

  “Meet you at the dock.”

  He whispers as I pass him and head to my room to get Tori.

  ∞∞∞

  “Love....Wake up, Tori; we have to leave now.

  What the hell is he talking about? I open my eyes to see Jax standing there with his duffel by his feet, holding out boxers for me.

  “Leave the t-shirt on and wear these too; tie them in a knot to make them smaller.”

  His shirt goes past my ass, but I am not going to argue over more clothes. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! Is this really happening? He grabs my hand and runs through the living room to another hall, dragging me behind him. He wakes up a girl named Amber, tosses her clothes and tells her to hurry. Where are the other guards? Where the hell is he taking us? Anywhere away from here is better than here so I keep quiet. Hopefully, he will tell us soon.

  As we top the stairs, I see all the bodies lying on the floor and some laying half on the table. Did he kill them all? We rush out the door before I can ask and run down a sloped lawn. I smell the ocean and hear the water lapping at the shore the further from the house we get. Turning around to get a look at the house to burn it into my memory, I stumble and drop to a knee.