Seth finished his wine, but instantly rejected a line of coke when Jackson offered. “Are you fucking kidding? I puke like a cat after this shit.”
Domenico let out a laugh. “Damn right. He can’t handle anything stronger than wine. Must be something in his blood.”
Jackson smiled at them in the rearview mirror as he drove through a tunnel of trees.
Seth shrugged. “Besides, I don’t know about you, Mr. Jackson, but I don’t want to wake up next to some kind of butterface tomorrow.”
Jackson chuckled. “That is quite right,” he said as they drove into a clearing where they could see several block-like buildings on the background of the dark trees. Lights shone in some of the windows, and there was even a group of umbrellas open in an area with small tables.
“You have a bar here?” asked Domenico, surprised.
Jackson nodded. “Our associates need to let off some steam somewhere, and we’d rather keep them on the premises. Besides, it’s always nicer for the guests who end up staying longer.”
“Do you have good rooms? How much for the night?” Seth asked and leaned forward toward Jackson. His bulky body worked in his favor. No one needed to know Seth was a big teddy bear most of the time.
Jackson slowly parked in a row of identical cars and unbuckled his seat belt. “It’s complimentary, if you’d like to stay. Are you not happy with your current accommodation?”
Domenico sighed. “We can’t stay, as much as we’d like to. There’s urgent business we have to attend in Jersey, and we need to catch the flight early in the morning.”
Seth groaned, as if Dom was the boring one out of the two of them. “Can’t win. Maybe next time.”
“If we’re happy with your services, that is,” added Dom, and Jackson was quick to assure him that he probably would find what he was looking for. They exited the car and walked down a tidy walkway framed by small LED lights, all the way to the biggest building, which had a modern front with large windows in the second floor.
The cheerful music coming from the bar made Domenico sick to his stomach, but he did an obligatory double take at a young woman serving cocktails completely naked.
Seth’s dark gaze lingered as well, but Dom was pretty sure it was because he was assessing if the girl was here by choice and quickly coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t when a red-faced man pulled her close and slid his fingers between her thighs. Seth’s nostrils flared, but that was it. If someone was paying close attention to them, it could have been interpreted as interest or arousal.
They entered through smooth glass doors, which Dom could imagine were cleaned by sex slaves during their “time off,” and entered a lobby with tasteful landscape pictures.
“It’s quite late. Most guests come during the day,” Jackson explained, as if not wanting Domenico and Seth to think there wasn’t much demand for the product he was selling.
“That’s understandable,” said Domenico. “It was a last-minute decision to come here.”
“We’re looking for a girl with a few particular features, to gift to someone who made us very happy in business.” Seth put his hands in his pockets. “So he feels appreciated.”
Jackson nodded as he led them to the elevator. Why they had an elevator in a building with only two stories, Domenico had no idea, but he walked inside anyway. “You’re not looking for anything yourself?”
Domenico looked at Seth and shrugged. “Depends on what you have. I could be tempted to come back if I see the right arguments.”
Seth waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve got special taste when it comes to this kind of thing. I doubt you’d have what I want. But who knows.” Every time Seth spoke, Domenico was more relieved. He could actually keep a façade when he wanted to, which meant it had to be a choice that he didn’t usually act this way at home. Even when they argued, and he claimed he wanted to be left alone, he never manipulated Dom into truly believing that. Domenico was relieved to see that, and as strange as it was, it only made him appreciate Seth more. He didn’t want to live with someone who wore a mask in front of him when all Dom wanted was the possibility to be sincere with that one person.
On the second floor, Jackson led them to an office with a wall lined with concrete blocks and a translucent bar that glowed dark purple. Jackson sat down behind a massive desk made of dark wood and indicated two chairs of luxurious leather for Domenico and Seth to sit in. The light was discreet and pleasant on the eye, and Domenico knew that their opponents were not only business-minded, but they also probably had clients with deep pockets.
Seth leaned his elbows on the desk and sat closer. “The girl we want to get should have a diastema. You know, a gap between her front teeth. Our business partner goes for these skinny chicks with thigh gaps. Like those anorexic models, but short. Blondes mostly. Young, but not girls anymore.”
Jackson gestured to a collection of bottles on the coffee table in front of them, and Domenico got himself some juice, as it was in the only unopened container. One could never be cautious enough about drugs.
“What’s the age range you want, approximately?” asked Jackson, typing something on the keyboard.
Domenico shrugged and purposefully gave a wider window. “Between fifteen and twenty-five, depending on her looks.” He quieted down Seth’s staged protest with a gesture and went on, “Some girls just keep looking like they’re barely legal, and it’s not like he’s gonna keep her around for a long time.”
Jackson walked up to a shelf with identical leather-bound catalogs. He pulled one out, and when he did, Domenico noticed the one behind it had ‘Losses’ written on the front. Jackson sat back behind the desk and pushed the catalog their way. “See if anything catches your eye here. I’d recommend the pages marked blue.”
Domenico discreetly scanned the room for cameras, but as far as he could see, there were none. No wonder, it was a business aimed at people who wouldn’t want their privacy compromised in any way. That was the reason why their files were on paper, and they probably only kept digitized records written in code. It wasn’t the first time Domenico had encountered this kind of practice, but it only confirmed his suspicions that this was a high-profile operation, possibly with more locations across the country.
He opened the folder, leaning toward Seth so that he too could look inside, and they were faced with rows of pictures, nine on every page, of blank faces and haunted eyes.
Seth pouted and leaned back in the chair. They had discussed that in a situation of this kind, it would be preferable if Seth got Dom a chance to be alone in an office with the computer, or whatever they actually encountered, but Dom’s gut still clenched at the thought of separating in a place like this.
“Can we leave the bore here to look through all this and go see the real thing? I have an eye for this stuff, but you don’t get the vibe of the girl in a photo.”
Jackson looked between them, and Domenico made a show of rolling his eyes. “Be my guest. I’d rather take care of this myself.”
Jackson switched off the computer and slowly got to his feet. “I don’t want to leave Mr. Adler alone for too long, but I suppose I could show you the girls we keep on call tonight. They are the prime stock, but we haven’t yet catalogued them properly.”
That meant they were new additions to the stable, but that only worked to Domenico’s advantage. He hoped the Losses catalogue would actually reveal something about Jo’s fate, or he and Seth wouldn’t be able to leave here in peace. As sorry as he was about what was going on in this place, his prime goal was to get Seth to safety. The bikers could deal with this shit once he showed them proof.
Seth patted Domenico’s shoulder. “Yep, sounds like a job for me. It’s tough, but someone’s gotta do it.”
“Have fun and don’t get anyone pregnant or her owner will sue your ass,” chuckled Domenico, even though he didn’t find this joke even a bit funny. Jackson apparently did, and he hid his mouth behind his hand as he walked Seth out of the room. Each of their footsteps
resonated down Domenico’s back, and the moment the door closed, Domenico dropped the folder and went for the open cabinet, reaching for the catalogue he had spotted earlier.
He browsed through it quickly, with his heart drumming, but page after page, Jo was nowhere to be seen. From the name of the catalog, and the black Xs on each of the photos, he could safely assume these girls were dead, but he sneered even more when he passed the halfway mark and discovered the remaining pages were filled with photos of boys and young men. He cursed and wondered how he could access a full list. He was no computer specialist, so even knowing the codes written on every single photo, he wouldn’t be able to hack into the database, which he was pretty sure was offline anyway, just in case. Domenico knew people who could do this for him, but there was no way he could reach out to them now, as they knew his true identity. It was a lost cause.
Each photo was a person, either dead, or shipped off, or hidden away against their will. What surprised him was the number of people who were at best average looking, but he supposed everyone had their taste, and they weren’t to be reasoned with.
He made it through half of the catalogues containing women when there was a distinct noise outside, and his blood froze. He pushed the folder in its place and jumped back on the chair so rapidly he hit himself on the arm. But the pain was worth it when Jackson walked in without noticing anything. Dom congratulated Seth in his mind for making some noise as they approached, but most of all, he congratulated Seth for still being alive. As afraid as he was for Seth, it was high time to put some trust in him when needed. Dom might not ever let him become a free-range boyfriend, but he could let him graze freely once in a while, just to satisfy his instincts.
“Did you find one he’d like?” Seth asked with a grim expression. “All of the ones downstairs are too curvy.”
Domenico sighed. “To be completely honest, none of these caught my eye. Do you have more? I didn’t want to invite myself to look through anything else without your permission,” Dom said, waving the folder in the air.
Jackson shook his head. “These are in the right age range and available now. This isn’t Walmart,” he grumbled.
Domenico exhaled. “Well, my associate told me you have everything.”
“We could make sure you get the girl that suits your needs, but that takes time. If it can wait, just leave a description, and we will contact you on the same number when we find her,” said Jackson.
Seth nodded but looked at Dom, waiting for his decision.
Domenico chewed on his lip, but eventually shook his head. “We need her sooner than a week from now, but I’d love to come back and maybe find a little something for myself in the future. Should I contact you beforehand when I want to stay over?”
Jackson got up, though he didn’t seem very pleased with how it went. “Yes, a day’s notice will be enough.”
Seth got up as well. “Hate leaving empty-handed.”
“We will stay in touch,” said Dom, squeezing Jackson’ hand. “I might need a regular helping of girls for my own business, so I would be interested in talking about that another time.”
That seemed to lift the clouds from Jackson’s forehead, and he nodded. “We could definitely talk about this in the future.”
They walked out and headed for the elevator, but a man in a suit stopped them and whispered something to Jackson.
“We will have to take the stairs. Excuse the inconvenience,” Jackson said with a polite smile.
Domenico didn’t comment on the ease with which pretty much everyone should be able to take one flight of stairs and followed, asking Jackson about his watch, just to leave more pleasant memories behind. They walked all the way to the end of the corridor and down a set of very average-looking stairs, only to emerge on the first floor.
Domenico tried hard not to be disappointed with the outcome of this experiment. True, he wouldn’t call it finished before they exited the gates, as they could still be gunned down at this point, but there was no way for him to see more photos. He didn’t even have any idea how far back the Losses folder went. Maybe it was created every three months, with the old one being moved into the archives or destroyed.
He wondered what his next course of action should be. The Coffin Nails wanted him to get proof of what had happened to their girl, and he had none. Getting away with Seth was out of the question, as none of them knew the area well enough, and if the whole club banded against them nationwide, their life could become very difficult. And then there was Mark. As much as Domenico had tried to keep the kid away, he had still crawled under Dom’s skin, and it didn’t feel right to abandon him at Jed’s mercy.
A female scream tore Dom right out of his calculating thoughts, and Seth turned his head as well. It came from a corridor leading downstairs, but then two men emerged, carrying a wooden box with holes into the elevator. They went back for another one and stacked it on top. The scream came again, and the box rattled slightly.
Jackson sighed. “Excuse the disruption, the other elevator keeps breaking down, and transports need to be made with this one instead.”
Seth got a bit tense, and Dom worried that the horrors were making him crack. “They’re girls right? You haven’t showed me those.”
Jackson frowned. “They’re… damaged.”
Domenico’s stomach turned into ice. “What do you mean?”
Jackson shrugged. “You could say they’re... returns, in a way.”
Domenico quickly shot Seth a glance and grinned. “That’s interesting. How do you utilize them? Can we see?”
Jackson pursed his lips. “Maybe. If you insist. They’re really not much to look at. Though… One of them does have a gap in her teeth, but I doubt your client would want her. There’s no way to clean up the mess.” He turned around and headed for the open elevator.
Dom and Seth followed, and despite the neutral expression, Dom was happy Seth was naturally so tan, because he was turning slightly pale.
The workers, two bull-like men whom no one would want to meet after dark, gave Jackson an expectant look. He walked up to them and looked at the boxes, one of which was twitching as the girl thrashed inside. It was making even Domenico deeply uncomfortable to look at, and yet the three men in front of him didn’t seem moved in the slightest. “Which one has the girl with rabbit teeth?” asked Jackson.
One of the workers, a bald giant in a red shirt indicated a still box on the side. “She’s in her calm phase today,” he said, chewing on gum.
Jackson knelt next to it and pulled out a tiny flashlight. There was a movable flap on the upper part of the box, right over the tip of a red arrow drawn over a sign that read This way up. He opened it with a small latch and looked inside.
“That’s her,” he said, moving away and presenting the flashlight to Domenico and Seth.
Dom took it first, in case he needed to discourage Seth from looking. He crouched and shone the light inside, but the girl didn’t even look his way.
She didn’t need to. It was her. The girl they were looking for.
Dom was so shocked he just stared. Not because of the bruises on her collarbones and neck, her sorry state, her hair unevenly cut off to shoulder length, or the fact that one of her arms ended below her elbow on an ugly-looking stump. He was shocked that she was alive at all. In his experience, a girl lost wasn’t easy to find after a month, not to mention after a few more than that. There had to be a reason why they didn’t move her from here. Too risky with the Coffin Nails around, looking for her? Could taking her have been a mistake in the first place?
“Can you open it so I can see her teeth better?” Dom asked, and the goon in red groaned but reached for the hinges when Jackson nodded.
Domenico got up, hoping his face didn’t color too much from the excitement and joy that they could possibly at least come out of this doing something good. He shot Seth a glance full of warning and then smiled. He prayed to God for Seth not to lose composure now. “This one might be right up your alley, actuall
y.”
“Oh, yeah?” Seth came closer, and Dom raised the girl’s chin up slightly as soon as the lid was off the box. She didn’t react to the light or to the touch, staring blankly at the wall across the corridor.
Seth licked his lips and leaned down with his eyes wide.
“Her?” Jackson frowned. “Not very modelesque, if you ask me. She’s short. Don’t even get me started on the rest of her.”
“No, no!” Seth said excitedly, and Dom was increasingly worried that the moment was getting the best of Seth. “This one won’t be for him. She’s for me. I’m into… stumps.” He swallowed, watching the girl as if he was hypnotized.
Seth’s choice of words was slightly odd, so Domenico let out a barking laugh and slapped him on the shoulder. “Nailed it. She looks like the bitches on those drawings you have in your office. Equally thin too.”
Seth groaned and kicked him slightly, putting on a show. “Ah, shut up. She’s perfect. I can never find one who has it all. Look at those ribs,” he whispered, pushing Jo back, only to move his fingertips over her purplish side, feeling up every protruding bone.
Dom looked up at Jackson and didn’t dare exhale deeply, but he could see it. Jackson was buying it and already calculating how much more he could charge for Seth’s excitement.
“Can you... package her somehow? Make her seem like she’s sleeping, in case she starts losing it on the way?” asked Domenico, knowing this would be a buyer’s primary concern.
Seth kept staring at the girl without even blinking, but it worked with the act.
“Sure, absolutely. We will sedate her for you, but you have to take her yourself,” Jackson said. “How will you be paying? She is very special, after all.”
Domenico burst out laughing. “Why, you take credit cards?”
“We charge for luxurious vacation package,” said Jackson calmly.
Seth shook his head and pulled out a wallet pre-packed with Coffin Nail money. “I’ll just pay cash.”
Guns n' Boys: Swamp Blood (Book 3) (gay dark mafia erotic romance) Page 27
