by Imani King
“…I’m sorry, Jensen. Forget what I just said. I’m angry and having a difficult time coming to terms with this. Just…summon the crew and get us seaworthy. We’re going home early.”
I knew, judging by his silhouette, that he was glowering at me. But all my anger was fizzling out, being pushed away by a tide of impenetrable sadness. It was rushing across my thoughts, blocking everything out as I stared at my chief mate – a man whom I entrusted with my life, and had just threatened to abandon halfway across the world from home.
“Aye,” he finally answered, turning to leave.
For the second time in as many days, I sank down, utterly miserable and uncomfortably alone, in the wake of my beautiful Sierra.
26
Sierra
* * *
Once I had realized I could make exposure with the Cannes Film Festival useful on Discreet Companions, all that I had to do was log back into my profile to bump it up the ranks. But I hadn’t expected to be the #1 most visited profile on the site – and this only made what I had to do even easier.
I suddenly had my pick of the most affluent upscale gentlemen in the country. As a non-premium member, my inbox capped off at 100 messages from separate accounts – and the box was completely full.
It seemed like everybody with the coin to spend wanted a piece of me – and it took me two hours to go through all of the responses. Straight-up solicitations for sex, offers for companionship, and some weird suggestions for role-playing filled my brimming inbox.
I had never had this much attention before.
It was incredibly empowering.
There were plenty of younger men, but the primary bulk of messages came from older, distinguished types with – at bare minimum – salt-and-peppering around the edges of their hair. It wasn’t just old white guys, either – there was a diversity of ethnicity I wasn’t expecting.
Hell, they weren’t even all men – a small handful of older women were requesting my time, one of which was promising to make my experience “something to remember.”
I catalogued up the responses, printing off a number of screenshots, and bundled everything together with my notes. Mama wasn’t home – after all, I was back earlier than originally intended – and I could afford to spread out across my room for a while.
Over the next few days, I negotiated with a few of the members. It was amusing to me that asking a high rate upfront worked to make me only that much more attractive – as if it were solidifying my worth to them. None of them came across as particularly malevolent, but very pushy…and out of the five or six that I focused in on, I only cut off contact with two of them out of fear. There was discussion of some dangerous interests... Temporary enslavement, control, and role playing that bordered on the illegal… I wasn’t going any deeper into this investigation without some kind of protection, but I knew that in-person meetings would need to happen. The chat transcripts alone would make one hell of a news story, if I could put names to faces... Unfortunately, most of the users on the site weren’t quite as open about who they really were as Blaine was.
To improve my understanding of the high-class dating scene, I even thought about taking Sophia up on her offer and contacting her. After all, she was the only person in the world that seemed to know what I had been through with Blaine…but I decided to not bother her after all. When this is all done, maybe I’ll grab some coffee with her or something, I thought to myself. That’d be nice.
With my notes together I marched back to PBN and rode the elevator up to Kenneth’s floor. The receptionist didn’t recognize me at first, but soon contacted him over the phone and had me wait a couple of minutes in one of the chairs.
My eyes glanced around the reception area. It seemed so strange that this old, worn room had meant the world to me just a few weeks before. So much had changed. Back then, I didn’t know the kind of world I was about to walk into – and I was naïve to how these opportunities had crossed my life.
Including this “internship.”
Kenneth’s door opened, and he greeted me with some surprise. “Welcome back, Sierra. I imagine you have something good for me.”
“I think I just might,” I smiled warmly as he invited me in. “I thought I’d touch base with you first, though.”
“By all means. Here, come take a seat…”
“I’ve gotta say, this is some interesting stuff,” Kenneth murmured as he examined my file. “You’ve picked up quite a bit of insider information here. Some of this… What you’ve discovered… It could be dangerous.”
He pulled his pair of reading glasses free, pressing his elbow down to the desk. His eyes were locked onto mine, gazing deep into me.
“Barely anything on Blaine Winguard, I’m noticing.”
I shook my head. “Consider that classified, but anything pertinent is in there.”
“Classified?”
“I have my reasons.”
Kenneth stroked his forehead for a moment. “I don’t think you’re really in a position to negotiate on that...” He glanced back up, he peered at my eyes again.
“That’s my condition. Nothing about Blaine. I’ll continue investigating the site, but I’m leaving him out of it.”
Kenneth looked
“But I’m going to go out on a limb here…you didn’t come here to show me this, did you?”
“No, not really,” I answered.
“I see. As expected with your recent press exposure, you’ve come to leverage the terms of our arrangement. Tell me, Sierra, what are you really here for?”
“I want a lot less than you think,” I answered, crossing my arms. “I’m willing to continue working for you, even off the books, but I need more than you gave me. I’m high profile now. There are some dangerous people out there with a lot of money, and it feels like everyone on this site wants to say they’ve hired me.”
“Go on,” he replied.
“I need protection. Use some resources to hire someone to bodyguard me. If I’m going to do this properly – I’ll need to dig in deep. I need to meet more of these people in person. I want someone who ensure that I’m never really in any danger.”
“That’s not unreasonable,” he replied, “but I don’t know how we’re going to do it. Follow along with my train of thought here. Say we hire you a bodyguard. Sure. That makes sense, maybe someone on the up-and-up thinks you’re a nice girl who needs a little protection…”
The words stung. If only you knew.
“…But if this site is doing the things that we fear they do, than none – none – of the criminals are going to come anywhere near you. Why would they? If they’re up to something, they’ll take one look at your guy and call it all off.”
“So, I document the ones who change their mind.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid that’s not gonna fly. People are allowed to change their mind, and the best you could possibly hope for is circumstantial. It won’t hold up, and it’ll make you – and by association, us – look like total chumps.”
“Then we don’t do a bodyguard,” I replied. “But I need someone. Somebody to shadow me, someone who can ensure that I come out of every place I go.”
“You want a stalker.”
“Yes. But a good one. A quiet one. Someone who knows how to stay under the radar.”
Kenneth sighed, holding his forehead in his hands. But I knew that I had the upper ground here, and that even he could see that.
“Look, I’m not trying to complicate things, but I have an opportunity to get to the top here. I’m sitting on a huge shortcut here. If there is any illegal activity going on, I’m probably going to be able to find it, just like that.”
“We don’t have the resources to hire someone to protect you,” Kenneth explained. “But what I can do pull you free from this, if that’s what you want. You’ve already done a lot of work. You’ve shown real grit. I say, you’ve earned a place here in the office. We’re just not going to be able to tackle this particular story.”
“That’s not good enough,” I told him. “I’ve chased this down. I’ve spent most of a month abroad. Hell, I’ve even met the guy who owns the site! I’m going to call him tomorrow… He wants to talk.”
Kenneth looked up from the files. “You what?”
“He’s a man named Raleigh Bartlesby. He approached me while I was in Cannes.”
Kenneth’s face trembled. “Raleigh…Sir Raleigh Bartlesby? No. That does it. I’m pulling you from this immediately. I can’t risk putting you in any more danger than I have. If I had even the slightest idea that he was involved…”
“I…don’t understand.”
“Raleigh is dangerous, Sierra. Very dangerous. But he’s also untouchable. We haven’t been able to prove a damned thing about him...”
“Then this could be your opportunity,” I explained patiently. “He’s reached out to me – he doesn’t know I suspect anything. I can try and get something out of him–”
“No, Sierra. You need to steer clear of him. Don’t log back into that site. Don’t even consider it. You’re off the story. Report back tomorrow morning, and we can put you back into internship duties. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” I grumbled, rising from my chair.
If Blaine hadn’t been trying to steer my life, I might have listened to him. But I was done with being told what I could and couldn’t do…and I was ready to make my own mistakes. Nothing either of them could have said would have made an ounce of difference, because I understood what I had to do. Kenneth just wasn’t listening to me.
Stepping out onto the street, I flicked the business card in my hand. Sir Raleigh Bartlesby’s address was stamped on it…and it wasn’t too terribly far. To hell with calling him. Interns don’t get Pulitzers.
Pulling up the directions on my phone, I started to walk.
27
Sierra
* * *
Two hours later, I was seated in front of Sir Raleigh Bartlesby in his office. After the pair of dangerous-looking men had let me in, Raleigh had greeted me personally. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise as he locked the door after me.
His office was smaller than Blaine’s, and far less regal. A single, large window stood in the back, with a window washer diligently performing his duties on a suspended scaffold. None of the lights were on, and with the limited natural light, the room was cloaked in considerable darkness. Within the shadows I could see bookcases, lined with dusty old hardcovers.
“Welcome to my office, Miss Simmons,” Raleigh told me, beaming widely. “Although I must say that I’m quite surprised to have you nearby again. I was going to wait another two weeks before reaching back out to you.”
“There was a bit of a last-second change,” I answered him dispassionately. “Took a plane back.”
“Then, you saw Blaine for what he really is,” he observed. “Let me be the first to offer my sympathies. I’m sorry that it came to that.”
“These things happen.”
“Indeed…on another topic, you have caused quite a stir in my domain,” Raleigh chuckled to himself as he strolled by the edge of the desk, finally sitting on the edge to look down upon me. “You’re the talk of the town. Everyone seems to want some of you.”
“I guess I can’t help it,” I chuckled. “National coverage will do that for a girl.”
“Yes, quite…” he remarked coolly. “Perhaps one of these days you might actually take someone up on one of their offers… Besides that… It’s odd, wouldn’t you say?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve taken the liberty of looking into a few things, and I noticed something peculiar…you see, Blaine Winguard joined my community, not very long after you. He also never messaged anyone besides you, and then never logged back in after your very few messages with one another…it’s almost as if he joined just to be close to you…”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” I replied quietly.
“Miss Simmons, I do not believe in coincidences. Blaine Winguard was after you specifically, implying that you are somewhat important to him.”
“That might be the case, but I’d doubt it. I’m just some woman he came across…nobody particularly special. He’s impulsive, in case you haven’t seen the tabloids. Blaine’s perfectly the type to just decide to go for the first woman he sees that he likes.”
“I disagree,” Raleigh replied. “And I disagree so intently that I have a bit of an…offer for you.”
“An offer?”
“Yes,” he continued. “I’ve been trying to reach Mister Winguard for some time, and I believe you might be able to offer me just the opportunity to do so. I can offer you a vast sum of money for your cooperation… Do you care to indulge an old man for a few minutes?”
An overwhelming sense of danger overcame me.
“…I think that it’s time I left,” I responded, preparing to rise up from my chair.
Raleigh’s walking rod shot across, the tip held right beside my throat. I couldn’t help letting out a slight gasp of surprise and horror and immediately froze in place.
“No, Miss Simmons, I disagree. I think that you are going to stay right here with me for a while… You have no idea what a bargaining chip you truly are.”
I swallowed my mounting terror. “What kind of bargaining chip do you want?”
“When I saw you last, I told you that it is my business to know powerful people. Blaine Winguard is one such person,” Raleigh explained patiently. “I seek their weaknesses and force them to serve my purposes. My eye has been on Mister Winguard for some time. I had been hoping to leverage him through his associate, Miss Pains, but it appears that a far better pawn has fallen into my hands…”
“Sophia Pains?”
“None other than.”
“So he was right, then. Sophia was lying, just to try and drive us apart? But why? Just to work for you?”
Raleigh chuckled. “Sophia performed her role admirably. Once I approached her with the intent of undermining Mister Winguard, she was all too willing to comply…and I wouldn’t have guessed that she could continue to be as useful as she has. That’s your reward for keeping your tools sharp and well-used, I suppose…”
“And what do you want to make Blaine do?”
“I require an ample slice of his fortune for my own devices. My operation requires a lot of funding, and Blaine would be a fantastic partner. With enough push, and the right incentive, my coffers will be ready to take my true line of business international…”
“What operation? What business?”
Raleigh smiled to himself. “A business you’re about to become intimately familiar with if you don’t help me reach out to Blaine… Some of my wealthier clients require a bit more subservience than women are freely willing to offer…”
“Human trafficking…” I whispered.
“You’re a bright girl. I might just keep you for myself.”
I thought to myself quickly.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree. I walked out on Blaine. He isn’t going to want to see me. It’s not like I can just call him.”
Raleigh paused, twirling his goatee. “Oh, I don’t believe that for one moment. You could call him, couldn’t you? Why yes…that would save us both a lot of trouble, wouldn’t it?” He whispered, pressing the tip of the cane harder against my throat.
“Okay,” I whispered, “but I’m going to need to reach for my phone…”
Raleigh whirled the cane away from beside my throat, and I reached into my purse. I didn’t want to get him mixed up in this…but I didn’t know what else to do. There was nowhere to run.
Blaine didn’t pick up on the first try. I redialed him, and then…
“Sierra.”
He sounded weary, tired. Sluggish, even.
“Blaine, I’m in a bit of trouble. I’m going to give you an address. Can you come here?”
“Trouble? What did you do?”
I looked up to see Raleigh pointing the end of his can
e in my direction again, only now I noticed the hollow tip, and the rifling cuts along the dark interior. It was some kind of firearm.
“Tell him where you are,” Raleigh whispered menacingly.
“I’m at Discreet Connections, their downtown office,” I said fearfully, not moving a muscle as Raleigh stepped around and grabbed the phone from my hands.
He pressed it to his ear and smiled. “Come alone, Mr. Winguard.”
I shuddered as he hung up, throwing my cell back into my lap. “Turn it off and put it away,” he said, even as the phone began to ring. I glanced down and saw it was Blaine. “Do it now.”
I held the power button, watching the screen flash black as I dropped the device into my purse.
“I had a feeling you might do well at following direct orders… You know, my associates in Turkey and Slovakia pay top dollar for nubile young women such as yourself.”
“You won’t get away with this…”
“Oh, now you disappoint me. You should already understand that I hold all the cards, Miss Simmons,” Raleigh tsk-tsked. “Have you not been paying attention to anything that I’ve said?”
I shuddered with anger.
“I’ve been listening. You make it your business to know powerful people.”
“Quite right,” Raleigh chuckled. “Police commissioners, FBI agents, Senators and businessmen alike. I know all sorts of powerful people – people who will ensure that I remain safe and sound. Your little boyfriend is about to be one of the people I know…”
“You’re despicable,” I spat out. “You’re a monster.”
“And you’re unoriginal. The amount of times I have heard that in my life…”
“You’ll be discovered, found out. And when you are, you’re going to go down in flames.”
“Oh, I certainly think not,” Raleigh chuckled as he stepped up to me, his hand gently stroking my cheek. I recoiled at his touch, and he merely laughed. “You see, when Blaine arrives, I’m going to blackmail him by threatening to kill you. And if he fails to comply… I’m going to go through with my little threat.”
