by Sedona Venez
Ram had grown suspicious when Lexis refused to introduce Jeff to him, so Ram had driven to her college—Massachusetts Institute of Technology—only to find out from her friends that Lexis had dropped out and vanished with Jeff.
After a background check, we’d found out Jeff was some budding yuppie pimp who had a track record for ensnaring pretty young college freshmen women into a life of sex trafficking.
It had been hell trying to find any information on the location of Lexis because the human trafficking world was dirty and secretive. One tip after another had led to dead ends, which had frustrated us and pissed us off.
Every time we’d gotten close to finding Lexis, Jeff would transport her across state lines, leaving no trace. The last hot lead we’d gotten was that she’d been traded to a trafficker in San Diego.
After months of attempting to infiltrate the seedy traffickers’ world, playing games of subterfuge while trying to find Lexis, we’d finally gotten a solid clue from Sarah, one of the girls Lexis had worked with who had escaped Jeff’s clutches. She had given us one name—Ben Vargos—that ultimately led to Jeff and Bigsby.
After we’d kidnapped and interrogated Ben—who was also among the human traffickers cleaning his money through Pomtonic International and pumping a hell of a lot of money into UF-Star—he had given up information on his connection to Bigsby and who Bigsby was working with to get women… Jeff Barolo.
Ram ran his hand over his hair. “I swear, if Jeff killed my sister, I’ll—”
“Don’t even fucking think it,” I barked.
We both knew the odds of Lexis being alive were slim, but I was still optimistic. We had done some more digging into her disappearance and unearthed info that corroborated our current belief. Lexis had not dropped out of college or run away. From all the dots we’d connected, she’d probably thought she was going on a weekend getaway with her “perfect” boyfriend, Jeff, and then got trapped in the world of sex trafficking.
“She’s been missing for almost a year,” Ram grumbled with bleak eyes.
It was hard as hell to watch my levelheaded friend slowly become emotionally unhinged with each passing day Lexis remained trapped in that horrid world.
“Even if she’s still alive, she won’t be the same Lexis she was before she got abducted by that piece of shit.”
It was grim but true. We both knew that the old Lexis—who was always happy and cheery with an I believe there are more good people than bad perspective—would no longer exist. There was no way that she’d come back from whatever hell she was currently experiencing without some emotional and mental scars.
We’d heard all the dark things that happened to the women Jeff had lured from their normal lives and made into sex slaves. Many of the victims weren’t just runaways or kids who’d been abandoned. Lots of them had come from what would be considered good families and had been coerced and trapped by clever predators like Jeff.
My eyes narrowed as I just remembered Sarah’s horrific tale of her life with Jeff…
Sarah was nineteen when she had been approached by an older man—Jeff—who promised he would change her life forever. It’d started as a whirlwind romance. The pair had bumped into each other time and again around Brooklyn. She’d proclaimed that it’d felt like a series of coincidences. He’d called it fate. It was neither of the two. It was part of the game. Then things between them had progressed quickly. He’d met her family, and the two had made plans to go on a trip to California. It hadn’t been until they were there that Jeff’s intentions became clear.
“I met Jeff the same way all of us did, including Lexis—at a party. I didn’t realize I had been marked. We all had,” Sarah revealed to us. “He even met my mother.”
She confided that the change had happened quickly and dramatically. “One morning after we arrived in California, Jeff shoved a pair of heels and a tiny black dress into my hands and told me to ‘get to work.’ I thought he was joking, but I was wrong. He took my clothes, my shoes, my keys, my phone,” Sarah recounted. “He explained that he was actually a pimp, and this was how escorts were made.”
His plans for her were detailed and disturbing. He took her directly to a wealthy client’s house and forced her to have sex. It would not be her last client.
“Jeff kept all of us off the streets. We only had sex with people he knew. It was like all these rich, perverted men knew each other… like it was some dirty sex club.”
During that time, Sarah explained she hadn’t tried to escape because Jeff had threatened her and terrified her. “He swore his clients were rich and powerful and would think nothing of going after my family. I believed him because the client homes he’d brought us to were so huge and fancy. It was like shit you only saw on a reality television show.”
Ram and I realized then that the fact that Sarah and all of Jeff’s girls, including Lexis, were kept off the streets was what made it almost impossible for us to track Lexis down.
Sarah reported that she’d spent eight months being moved from state to state—essentially, she was on tour—servicing clients at their homes or parties to have sex. It was at one of those client parties that she’d met Lexis.
“Lexis was lucky,” Sarah whispered. “She didn’t have to work the parties like the rest of Jeff’s girls. It was as if Jeff was showing her off to his customers like some trophy. I’d heard several clients making offers to Jeff to fuck her, but he’d just tell them that she was his. But I knew better. Jeff was trying to get the best offer he could for Lexis.”
“Did you talk to her?” Ram asked.
“Yes”—Sarah fidgeted nervously—“but she was high.”
Ram hissed, “Lexis doesn’t do drugs.”
“But Jeff does,” Sarah replied. “And he would force us to take drugs all the time. He suggested it made us less uptight and more fun around the clients.” For Sarah, sleeping with those men was like a death sentence, and she finally worked up the nerve to escape. “I waited until the client was almost asleep and told him I was going to go outside and smoke a cigarette. And then I ran for my life.”
I snapped back to the present.
“We’re getting closer to finding Lexis—alive,” I told Ram. “The sooner we find her, the better, bro.”
“Stop bullshitting me, Core,” he hissed. “I know what animals like Jeff and Bigsby are capable of doing to women they view as prey.”
“Yes, but we’ve still got to hope for something good to come out of this clusterfuck.”
Ram huffed out a breath of air. “Lexis and I had a big argument before she disappeared. I ordered her to come back to New York, and she told me that it was her life and for me to fuck off. I’m not going to lie; her defiant attitude pissed me off. So I shouted some shit to her that I’m not too proud of… but dammit, it was time for tough love.”
“So now you’re blaming yourself because she trusted that fucker Jeff?”
The only one responsible for this mess was Jeff. He’d manipulated Lexis into putting her trust in a man who didn’t deserve it or her.
An image of Sin’s smiling face flashed into my mind, and the irony and similarity of the Lexis and Jeff situation chilled me to the bone.
Didn’t I do a very similar thing to Sin by making her believe she could trust me? When my intention from the very start was to use her just to get to Bigsby?
There was a heaviness in my body.
I didn’t deserve Sin’s trust, and I damn sure didn’t deserve her. But I was a greedy man who wanted more than I was entitled to.
Ram’s voice broke into my thoughts. “Yes, I spoiled her too much and sheltered her from the realities of life because I wanted to make up for the rough way we had grown up. If I’d just told her straight up that she didn’t know shit about love or men, then maybe she wouldn’t have hooked up with a predator. It’s my fault she chose Jeff over me. I fucking pushed her too hard, and maybe she’s dead because of me.” His eyes took on a steely glint.
“Ram, you know I have your b
ack, no matter what, bro.”
Ram roughly blew out a breath before nodding.
I continued. “So let’s not jump to any conclusions when the answers are right behind this damn door.”
Adrenaline pumped through my veins as we stood before the door.
What we were about to do would be brutal, but we had to get Lexis back, and there was nothing I wasn’t willing to do to accomplish that.
My mind slipped into the dark and lethal place, and the ugly monster that I kept caged came out to play. He didn’t give a shit about anyone or anything but his prey—Jeff.
Grinding my teeth, I grabbed the doorknob, yanking open the door before stepping into the damp-smelling cell.
My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness as we strode in. Ram closed the door with a decisive click.
I nodded curtly to Max and Rocco, my enforcers, before my eyes locked on the man in his early thirties—according to our intel—who was lashed to the metal chair sitting between Max and Rocco and was surrounded by buckets, a stack of towels, a bottle of pink solution, and a watering can resting on the floor.
Jeff’s body was wet, stark naked, and shivering.
His eyes widened at the sight of Ram and me. “What the hell is going on now?” he squawked and then warily eyed me.
My nostrils flared slightly before I responded, “Hello, Jeff.”
“Who are you?” he furtively glanced around.
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare.” I fixed him with a cold stare.
“Do you know who I am?” Jeff stuttered while trying unsuccessfully to move his legs that were spread eagle and bound to the chair
“Dead,” I replied, “if you say another damn word without my say-so. I’ll kill you right here.”
Jeff glanced around, and I could see the sheer fear in his eyes.
The room was silent, except for the low whir of the air conditioner. Ram moved toward the table smack dab in the middle of the room.
“Meet Ram.” I jabbed a finger in Ram’s direction. “Lexis’s brother.”
Jeff’s face turned ashen.
“And I’m going to break you in half,” Ram hissed while snatching up a pair of black latex gloves and impatiently snapping them on. “If I don’t get my baby sister back… alive.”
Jeff bucked against the rope binding him to the chair. “Untie me!” he shrilled.
Max growled, slapping him on the back of his head. “I will snap your damn neck. Shut the fuck up.”
Ram sneered but remained eerily silent as he moved to sit on the edge of the table.
Jeff’s face contorted with pain. “What the fuck is this shit about?” he squeaked while watching me move unhurriedly toward the narrow table.
I ignored him while taking off my leather jacket, folding it, and then laying it over the table ever so carefully. I cracked my knuckles before slipping on a pair of black latex gloves.
“All I was doing was visiting a friend when these two men”—his eyes darted toward Max and Rocco—“kidnapped me, brought me here, stripped me naked, and started torturing the shit out of me.”
My eyes were cold, my voice flat. “And they’re the nice ones. Me?” I shrugged. “Not so much.”
“Come on, man. This is totally fucked up,” Jeff screamed. “And illegal.” He struggled uselessly against the rope.
Rocco snorted. “Ain’t this some crazy shit? You’re a sex trafficker complaining about us doing something illegal. Men like you should be buried alive.”
“So Sinthia Michaels is your friend?” I asked with a sharp tone.
“Yes.” Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.
I arched a brow. “Do you really want to lie to me?”
“She’s a friend of a friend,” Jeff stuttered. “And I was picking up something from her house.”
I cracked my knuckles. “Now we can do this the hard way or—”
“The easy way?” Jeff croaked.
“No.” I shook my head. “I was going to say the harder way. And if you interrupt me again, I’m going to knock out your damn teeth.”
Jeff gulped.
I smiled coldly as I rolled up my sleeves, displaying my tattooed forearms. “I’m not going to lie to you. There’s no way you’re going to get through my interrogation without a lot of blood spilled—yours—because I happen to hate lowlife motherfuckers who deal in human trafficking.”
“This is bullshit!” Jeff’s panic was distinct. “I don’t do that shit. I swear.”
“You lying fuck.” Ram stormed up to Jeff and punched him in the face. He grunted in pain. “You pimped out my sister.”
Jeff spit out blood along with a couple of teeth before screaming, “I didn’t. Not Lexis. She’s mine. Bigsby wanted me to, but I didn’t. I swear.”
“She’s yours?” Ram roared. “My sister is not your damn property. She fucking trusted your ass, and you treated her like a whore.”
Jeff’s lips and chin wobbled before he mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
I eyed Jeff. “This is how it’s going down. I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want straight answers.” My voice was harsh. “Where’s Lexis?”
“If I tell you, Bigsby will kill me.” Jeff’s body trembled.
“And if you don’t tell me, I’ll kill you. So it sounds like you’re in a real fucked-up predicament. But the difference between Bigsby and me is I’ll make sure you stay alive for five long, agonizing days until you beg me to end your life.” I smiled coldly. “Your choice.”
“Fuck you,” he spit.
My voice dropped to a lethal, low whisper. “No. Fuck you.”
I nodded to Rocco and Max. They yanked the chair Jeff was sitting on all the way back so it dangled precariously on its back legs. Picking up the damp towels from the floor, I slapped them onto Jeff’s inclined head before pouring water over his scalp. The damp cloth was not essential but was a bonus multiplier of the torture. I continued pouring water over his face, and Jeff struggled and inhaled. In turn, the inhalation brought the damp towels tight against his nostrils as if a huge, wet paw had clamped over his face. His legs, chest, and arms twitched involuntarily. The inhaled water was an instant, life-threatening situation; even the smallest amount of liquid in the larynx and trachea was an immediate, hardwired hotline directly to the panic portion of the brain that death was imminent.
He struggled, but not as much as before. I nodded to Max and Rocco, and they righted Jeff’s chair. I yanked off the soaking, stifling layers. His head lolled back, and he was barely coherent.
“I know your lungs are burning.” I stepped back, drying my hand on a clean black towel. “I can see the panic in your eyes. You want this to end, and I promise I will end it. Just tell me what I want to know. Where’s Lexis?”
He coughed. “She’s in Connecticut with the other girls. And if you keep me alive, I’ll take you to her.” He looked around with uneasy eyes.
Ram snapped, “Either tell us where she’s at or we’ll do to you like they castrate the bulls.” He held up the metal forceps. “We’ll put a rubber band around your balls, cutting off the blood circulation until they fall off like rotten grapes. Your choice, Jeff.”
Ram squeezed the castrater as if testing out the device. Jeff looked on with disbelief.
“Okay, okay.” He stammered out a Greenwich, Connecticut, street address.
Ram quickly entered the information into his cell and then glanced over at me. “I just sent Kevin the info to check it out.” He then stared at Jeff. “And if it isn’t correct, this shit is going to get real nasty.”
It didn’t take long for Ram’s cell to beep with an incoming text. He tapped the screen and reported, “He’s heading over to the address right now. He’ll brief us once he gets there.”
I twirled a chair around, and I sat in front of Jeff. “See how easy this shit can be? Now let’s move on, shall we?” I leaned forward. “Let’s talk about Sinthia Michaels. Why did Bigsby send you to break into her house to steal the ledger?”
; “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jeff stuttered.
“You don’t?” My voice dropped to a threatening whisper.
I nodded. Rocco yanked the chair back. Max slapped the damp towels over Jeff’s face and then started pouring water over him. Jeff struggled, but Max didn’t relent. Jeff thrashed more frantically until Rocco righted the chair. Max whipped off the towels, and Jeff gasped for air.
“Why does Bigsby want the ledger?” I yelled.
“I don’t know anything!” Jeff screamed.
Ram walked over to him and punched him in the face. Jeff whimpered as blood trickled down his cheek.
“Jeff,” I started, “come on, man. I thought we had an understanding that you were going to tell the truth.”
Jeff silently looked at me.
I continued. “How about this? I’ll tell you what we know, and we’ll start all over again.”
Jeff nodded while nervously licking his lips.
“Good,” I grunted and fixed him with a cold stare. “How we hear it, the reason we had such a hard time finding you is because you’re being protected by Bigsby. We know you’re now his errand boy. You recruit the women for him, and he pimps them out to his rich friends. We hear there’s a huge demand from his rolling-in-it friends to fuck fresh, untrained women any way and anywhere they want.”
Jeff nodded. “Yes… to everything.”
“See how easy that was?” I replied. “Moving on… Bigsby sent you to Sin’s house to break in and get the ledger, which you did. But you also did a little more than that, didn’t you? You trashed her house.”
“What?” Jeff squeaked. “No.” He shook his head in denial. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, man. Yes, I broke in and stole the ledger, but I left the house exactly how I found it. Trashed.” His Adam’s apple bobbed.
Max’s body tensed. “You lying piece of shit!”
He stalked toward Jeff before hitting him hard across the head. I watched with disinterest.
