by Ruby Vincent
The knob gave way easily. I peered down a staircase. The soft glow of fluorescent lights peered back.
“Waitin’ for an invitation, honey?”
I jerked. Two women in high heels and frilly pink and blue sheer lingerie stood behind me. The music so loud I hadn’t noticed their arrival.
The dim light played with my mind, making their big hairstyles into living beings consuming their scalp. Heavy makeup caked their face and caused a waxiness that warped in the darkness.
“Wide-eyed little doe,” one said. “You must be new.”
“Uh. Yeah.”
“Figures,” the other scoffed. “Move.”
She shoved me none-too-gently out of the way, clomping down the stairs. I stumbled in my shoes, ankle giving way. The other woman caught me.
“Careful. Don’t bruise the fruit before it goes on the stand.” She righted me and continued on. “Better get moving,” she called. “Corbin doesn’t like it when we’re late.”
Her warning didn’t instill the urgency she intended. I paused, steeling myself.
It’s simple. I stand on a platform, whisk off with Bryan Acker, fashion him a special drink, and do what I need to do.
What Cash said chilled me, but he was right. If the Kings took the fire station, they wouldn’t let me skip out the door while they handled their beef with the boys. While I’m attached to the Merchants, their threat is my threat.
The guard let another pair inside, giving the final push to pick up my feet. The low emanating light grew closer, falling on my blue toes, my shaved legs, my exposed stomach, and my jangly bodice. It revealed me as it did the room.
I halted on the bottom step, lips twitching.
This is not what I expected.
Cash said the Kings were pulling in north of a quarter mill every week. If they were, you wouldn’t know it from this place.
Losing the battle, my twitchy lips curled into a grimace.
The dim glow wasn’t mood-setting. It was the result of half the lightbulbs burning out. It looked like an attempt had been made to replace a pair, but the janitor lost interest halfway through and let the plastic case hanging off the fixture. A man swilled his beer, lazily ducked the obstruction, and took his seat at the table.
Despite Cash’s info that the games had been moved elsewhere, poker tables were full, and as old and grimy as the room they sat in.
Stains turned the green felt brown. The leather lining the tables was ripped—a few cuts deliberate—and spilling white cotton. A dank, heavy cloud of smoke hung in the air. Pungent from unwashed bodies and—
A sweaty, topless man leaned over and spit on the floor.
—the general aura of not giving a shit.
Where the fuck am I?
Swallowing hard, I stepped to the side, clinging to the wall. Until a proper look at the concrete showed red stains eerily similar to blood. I shot off, skin crawling.
Relax, Adeline. Just do what you came here to do.
I swept a closer look around and noticed I was receiving a few in return. I was standing there in a glittery bra and thong. It wasn’t surprising.
One door leading into this room that has a single door opposite, and on my left, it spills into a hallway.
I glanced down the long tunnel of stained concrete. The light flickered overhead, plunging it in and out of darkness, but allowing me just enough to see it branched around a corner.
My next stop was that hallway. First, the door.
Cash needs to know what’s an exit and what’s a broom closet. Only one way to find out.
I hugged close to the wall without touching it. My heels carried me as quickly as they were able and my gaze pointed straight ahead. This did me no good.
Wolf whistles went up in the fetid air.
“I’d buy a night of that.”
“Yeah, girl. Don’t be shy. Take it off.”
“Damn. How much are you?”
A hand swung out and smacked my ass.
“More than you can afford,” I hissed. “Keep your hands to yourself or I’ll take a hammer to you filthy pigs and see if there’s really money inside.”
They laughed raucously, crowing about feisty treats and teaching mouthy sluts a lesson.
The banged-up brown metal door loomed straight ahead. I closed on the knob and drew it open. A figure moved in the corner of my eye and slammed on the metal, ripping the handle out of my grasp.
“Can I help you?” One of the men who’d been playing poker got between me and the door and shoved me back with his girth alone. “Did Corbin ask for you?”
“No.” Guard number two. Steps away from his post but keeps an eye on it just fine. “I was looking for the auction.”
“It’s down that hallway, sweetheart,” he said, pointing over my head. “This is Corbin’s office.”
“Got it. Sorry.”
I returned the way I came, collecting disgusting, graphic catcalls. Captain prepared me for a lifetime of this, and if I had my pepper spray, I’d be making them do the screaming.
It was a mistake to come down here alone and unarmed. Something’s not right.
This seedy crack den was not the picture Cash painted of high-priced escorts and wealthy clients. Why would a slicked-back congressman or diamond-dusted heiress sully themselves in a place like this when a phone call could bring the party to the penthouse doorstep?
Rounding the end of the hallway got me two more doors. One with an eschew bathroom sign and the other blocked by my two new friends. They passed a cigarette back and forth like the dark little hole we were stuck in didn’t reek enough.
“There she is,” the friendly woman called. “Thought you made a run for it.”
“Give me a minute.” I poked my head in the bathroom, confirming it didn’t hold another way out. “I’ve gotta ditch the heels first.”
She cackled. “I’m Tandy. This is Pearl. What’s your name?”
In the proper light, their hair was bigger, makeup cake-ier, and the reasons obvious. Concealer worked hard to cover the dark shadows under their eyes. Bright lipstick reddened peeling and cracked mouths. There was a subtle two tones in their hair that said most of it wasn’t theirs.
“I’m Serenity.” I stuck out my hand. Tandy shook. Pearl looked at it like she just saw me wipe my ass without toilet paper. “Nice to meet you guys.”
“Nice to meet you,” Pearl mocked. “Where do you think you are, bitch? Book club?”
She flicked the cigarette at my feet and stormed through the door. Tandy rolled her eyes at her back.
“Ignore her. She’s pissed because her old man made her sign up. They need the money.”
“I can’t blame her,” I muttered. “I didn’t think it would be... like this. No offense.”
She rolled her head. “You’re not offending me. I’ve been in cozier crack dens. This place is a dump.” Tandy pulled another cigarette and lighter from her bra. “Want?”
“No, thanks. I don’t understand. I thought the Pleasure Center Part Two catered to rich bidders. Can’t the Kings afford to operate out of nicer digs?”
Tandy gave me a long look, stretching the silence past comfort. “You really don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into. Part two is under new management, sweetie. It caters to a very different clientele.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll find out.” Tandy stepped aside. “Go on.”
Hesitating for only another second, I went inside.
My heels sank in the carpet. Another wall met me but it didn’t reach the ceiling. What did come through the ceiling was pounding house music from Paradise. Soundproofing was skipped in this part of the basement.
I wandered left and stepped out from the partition. Two dozen faces swung to me. One of them a guard standing at the foot of the stage. He moved in my direction.
A hand yanked me back.
“Wrong way,” Tandy said. “We wait over here.”
I let myself be dragged. The opposite direction of th
at silent, watchful group seemed like the right way to go.
The other end of the partition opened up to the back of the stage. Men and women loitered around picking through a clothes rack or huddling in front of two vanity mirrors. Heavy drapes dropped down from the ceiling and fell over the steps to the stage.
That is Serenity’s way up the auction block.
I noticed something behind a group of men.
And this is another way out.
Behind the stage, another short hallway hid a door. This one didn’t need to be checked. A burned-out exit sign hung from the ceiling.
Two exits. Three guards. Secrecy and the Kings’ reputation must be their best main walls of protection.
I backed out and headed for the door out.
“Don’t bother.” Pearl’s snarl slid in my ear. “Once your name is on the list, Corbin will get his money either from these dickless cunts, or from you.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just going to the bathroom.”
“Play someone else, bitch.” She got in my face, blowing stale alcohol breath up my nose. “You’re running off with your fucking tail between your legs. I don’t know your manager, but he’s one cold bastard for throwing you to the sharks on what must be your first night. I can smell virgin on you.”
“Wow.” I laughed. “I have no idea how, but I really pissed you off.”
“Yeah, you have.”
“That’s enough, Pearl,” Tandy said.
I sidestepped them both and left. Footsteps followed me out.
“Wait, girl.” Tandy pulled me up short outside the door. “Whoever fooled you into coming here won’t like that we scared you off. Neither will Corbin. Pearl wasn’t lying about that. Get him his money, and then never piss him off again that he sends you back here.”
My stomach flipped. Tandy assumed I got on the bad side of my pimp. I had come out here for the bathroom, but they had me questioning how big a mistake it would be to go back in that room. What went on on the other side of that door that two steely, hardened escorts classed it a punishment?
I’m not finding out. I turned my back and walked off.
“Seren— No. You know what? Go on, girl.” She clapped. “Good for you. You don’t have to take his shit.”
I rounded the corner and slammed into someone. She stumbled, bumping into the girl behind, and crumpled in heels too high for her.
I gazed down at her—frozen to the spot. Her makeup was garish. Hoop earrings gold and expensive. Curls piled on her head. White halter dress tight and short.
None of that disguised the fact this girl couldn’t be older than twelve.
A mass shove through the group and snatched her up. “What did I say?!” He backhanded her across the face, ripping out a scream.
From me.
The young girl made no sound. Her trembling lips were pressed together tight.
“Walk, sit, keep your fucking mouths shut!” He threw the girl away from him. “Who else can’t get it right?”
Silently, the girls reformed their line. They continued shuffling with the girl in white limping behind the rest.
Children. Every single one of them. From thirteen to eight years old.
I watched them go, body wracked with tremors so fierce only the wall held me up. I clutched my stomach. My nails slid through the sweat from my slick palms, burrowing piercing grooves in my skin.
One by one, the girls walked past Tandy whose downcast gaze avoided them and their brutish escort. The auction room enclosed them—door shutting with a bang that reverberated in my soul.
I pitched forward and vomited. Spewing on the floor and down the wall.
Sinking to my knees, I hugged myself as I retched and retched until there was nothing left.
“Serenity.” Tandy’s soft whisper broke through. “If you can leave this place, go.
“Please, just go.”
SMALL, SQUARE EYES too close together. A piggish nose that sniffed or twitched every five seconds. He was big on top. Beefy arms and rippling abs burst out of his wife-beater. Compared to the twig-like legs contained in ripped jeans.
I couldn’t stop looking at him. Not at the bruised knuckles he flexed at the silent girls. The yellow crown riding his shoulder. Or the gun tucked in his waistband.
Tandy told me to leave. She flashed me surprise when I returned from the bathroom—makeup gone, face dripping, and heading in the wrong direction. She told me not to get any ideas. I wouldn’t walk out of there at all if I did something stupid.
I heard what she said. It didn’t matter.
There was no hope of leaving after seeing those girls.
“Welcome, everyone.” Speaker feedback ripped through the room. “We will begin momentarily.”
The man and the girls stood across an invisible divide. The escorts stood on one side, the King on the other, and six girls huddled behind him in the corner. Everyone looked or angled away from them, pretending they weren’t there.
Except me.
Corbin’s man snatched a girl from the huddle, and an iron grip clamped my wrist. The small bones ground in agony. Tears filled my eyes in time with hers. My head lolled, snapping back and forth in his jerking, shaking hold.
“Shut up,” he barked.
“Shut up!” The slap twisted my neck. Pain blossomed in my cheek—as real and stinging as the first time, and the times after that.
“Stop,” Pearl hissed in my ear. “Don’t do it.”
The King raised his hand to hit her. I surged forward.
Pearl nearly dislocated my shoulder yanking me back and throwing me against the vanity. The banger whirled around, but Pearl and the others were already moving in front of me, shielding me from view.
I breached the haze, gasping. My chest heaved like I’d been held underwater to be ripped up for my last blessed breath of air. The phantom hands slapping, punching, grabbing, and tearing at me dissipated. Blurred vision cleared on the people surrounding me.
“You can’t,” said a guy in tight jeans and a tank top. “We know. Trust us, we know. But you can’t.”
“That gun ain’t for show,” Tandy said under her breath. “I’ve seen him use it. Those kids bring in a lot of money for Corbin. More than the rest of us ever will. He’ll have you killed, girl, and who is that going to help?”
I swallowed around needles.
I wasn’t thinking, but there was no time to think. I had to do something.
I felt for a phone that wasn’t there. Why did they send me in here alone? I had nothing. Two pills and an SD card for a man who liked racially ambiguous, brownish-redheads. All around us was a den of monsters. What did I have to stop them?
The auctioneer sliced through the chatter. “All right, let’s begin. Bidders, you know the rules. Special lots are up first. We have six special items up for auction tonight.”
Bile rose in my throat, burning and screaming to come out.
“Payment is to be remanded immediately upon the end of the auction,” he said. “Let’s begin with Special Item Number One.”
Through the bodies, the King grabbed a nonresistant girl around the neck and marched her up the stairs.
“The only thing you can do,” Tandy whispered, “is never piss that man off again. Do not give him reason to send you back here.”
I didn’t piss off any man. This was a simple job. A den of luxury. Adults that knew the score and what they wanted. A night that ended with glasses of wine. It was not supposed to be this.
Or was it? Cash appeared out of nowhere and told me to get in the car. He never wanted me around and made no secret of—
I cut the thought off at the knees. As it went through my head, I knew it couldn’t be true. Cash wasn’t that kind of man.
A killer? Yes.
Ruthless? Yes.
A sneaking, lowlife piece of trash that would sell me to a demented pervert in an orderly line behind children?
No.
I couldn’t say why I knew he wasn’t the
last. I just did.
This wasn’t on Cash. Corbin refused to let Candy near these auctions for reasons now blindingly obvious. She didn’t know about this, so she couldn’t warn Cash—who couldn’t warn me.
We walked into a situation we did not understand, beneath the nose of a man we underestimated.
No. We overestimated Corbin. We didn’t think he could be this heart-shreddingly vile. This soulless.
“We’ll start the bidding at ten thousand. Do I have—? Ten thousand to bidder twenty-four. Do I have fifteen? Fifteen to bidder ninety-one.”
Our gaze locked through the crush of people. Her eyes bled a thousand pleas—that girl in the white dress.
We didn’t know, but now I do. I won’t leave without you. I promise.
“Sold.”
Another girl was taken up to the block.
Breathing slow, I willed my mind to clear. Running headfirst at him was never going to work. Especially if Pearl and the others get in my way.
Our eyes were locked, holding through the music, pounding, and shuffling. It was because of that I saw the moment they hardened.
She bolted and I shot up. Shoving Pearl aside, I caught her by the shoulders, stopping her as Corbin’s man lifted his head from his phone.
“Of course, sweetie,” I said loudly. “I’ve got something to put on that.”
“What the fuck are you doing?!”
I smiled at him. “I’ve got the perfect shade of blush to cover the mark on her cheek. You know Corbin doesn’t like the goods going out bruised.”
His snarl twitched. “Corbin?”
“Yeah. I’m Candy’s friend.” The words were dropping from my lips too fast for me to stop them. The tiny little wisp of a girl shook in my hands. Her skin freezing to the touch. “Didn’t they tell you I’d be here?”
“Candy?” He looked me up and down, brows furrowing. “Corbin’s girl?”
I nodded. “Let me fix up her cheek.”
He moved as I did, reaching for her. “No, she’s fine. Leave it.”
“Dude, for real?” I pushed past Pearl and Tandy, picked up the blush, and shook it at him. “It’s just a bit of pink powder. Relax.”
My confidence must have thrown him because he didn’t stop me kneeling in front of her and sweeping the brush over her cheek.
