by Claire Adams
“Our information so far is that he’s been drugging her up and keeping her for himself while he waits for a high roller that is coming in soon. My thought was to try and bid higher for her and just take her off his hands.”
“No, sorry, Jackson, that won’t work. He’s likely got someone who he’s been working with before and he’s not going to piss that guy off for a little extra cash. International buyers sometimes purchase dozens of girls each month. But if he’s saving a special girl, it is likely that the buy has already decided he wants Ana for his wife.”
“His wife?” Jordan said as she jumped into the conversation.
“Well, probably one of many. I’d have to find out who the buyer is. But either way, it’s not going to work to try and buy her. What other plans are on the table?”
“We thought about breaking into Stephano’s house and taking her when he was gone,” I added.
The problem was my plan to break into Stephano’s house was a horrible one and I knew it. I really didn’t have any other good ideas and needed the input of PJ and Nate.
“What kind of security does he have?” Nate asked as he stared at PJ.
Nate was a ladies’ man for sure. He had no problem filling his ladies with wine and a good time and then moving on to the next woman who threw herself at him. That was the big difference between Nate and I. I didn’t sleep with every woman who threw herself at me.
“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think he has any electronic security systems.”
“Oh, well, that’s just bad legwork, Jackson. He’s got to have something,” Nate said condescendingly.
“Actually, most people in the drug world and human trafficking don’t need electronic security systems. They use the lack of systems as a way to lure their enemies into their home. The person is killed on sight and either disposed of or turned over to authorities, if need be. It is ruled as a defensive measure, so they usually have video monitoring inside the house to prove that part of their defense,” PJ said as she addressed us all.
I could tell that her knowledge of security and confidence about the matter was a bit of a surprise to everyone in the room. But Roxanne and Jordan seemed the most surprised. They probably thought I had asked PJ to come help us simply because she was beautiful. But the truth was I knew PJ was really good at her job and I felt confident that she would be able to get our group onto the right path.
“So, what do you think? How would you suggest getting her out?” Jordan asked.
Jordan bounced her leg constantly as she sat in the chair in the corner of the room. I could tell she was horribly worried about her friend, and I hated that she didn’t have any final answers yet.
“Have you thought about trying to sell a girl?” PJ asked as she looked at Jordan and then back to me.
“What do you mean? Like bring another girl over and sell her? No, I couldn’t do that.”
“No, I mean like put a girl undercover so you had someone on the inside who could alert you and help you get Ana out,” PJ continued and she kept looking at Jordan.
“Absolutely not, I will not allow it,” Chase blurted out.
I could tell that he had caught on to what PJ was suggesting much quicker than Jordan had. He stood up and stood right in front of Jordan so we couldn’t even see her anymore. There was no doubt in my mind that Chase was not going to let Jordan go in undercover.
“I could do it,” Jordan said as she leaned around Chase.
“No, that’s the end of that. The answer is no.”
“Chase, if it means getting her out, I could do it.”
“Actually, I think it would be better if we had someone with a little more street training. How about you, Roxanne? Does Stephano know you?”
I worried that PJ was going to try and suggest that Roxanne worked for Stephano like she had said on the phone. My gut was tight as I observed the conversation and waited to hear what Roxanne responded with.
“Oh, yes, he knows me very well. I could probably get in the house, but the last time I was around him, he had me strangled. I only lived because Jackson was there. I don’t think I could go into his house alone,” Roxanne said as she lifted her neck and exposed her bruise. She had been hiding it well with makeup, but when her neck was lifted, you could see the outline of the bruising.
“I’ll do it,” Nate volunteered as he raised his hand. “I’ll be Olga, a fat and unattractive woman from the Czech Republic.”
Again, he had the whole group of us laughing as we imagined him in a dress and presenting himself to Stephano to be sold. It was a horrible image that I couldn’t get out of my head.
“I think Stephano is going to want someone a little more petite,” I told him.
“I could try. I mean, he likes me, he just didn’t like that he thought I was sleeping with Jackson,” Roxanne said as she looked at me and then at Chase.
I looked over at Chase and then quickly looked away. I knew exactly what he was thinking – even Stephano thought I was taking advantage of Roxanne. But I wasn’t taking advantage of her, I hadn’t don’t anything she didn’t want to do. We were both adults and we could decide for ourselves if we wanted to have naked fun or not. No one else was going to make that decision.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” PJ said as she talked with Roxanne. “Stephano will kill you if he thinks you’re trying to play him. What would be the cover story for going over there?”
“No, she’s not going,” I blurted out.
Chase smiled at me and how I had become so protective so quickly of Roxanne. It was very reminiscent of what he had just done with Jordan and I knew that, but there was no way in hell I was going to allow Roxanne to go to Stephano’s house.
“To be clear, Jackson doesn’t get to decide this. What do you think would be a good cover story? Do you think it is possible for me to help?” Roxanne asked.
No way, there was no way Roxanne was trying to put herself back into danger with Stephano. She had almost been killed the last time. I watched silently though as the two women talked because I knew enough about women to know that me telling Roxanne she couldn’t do something was a really easy way to push her into doing it.
I had to wonder if she was just doing this because of the money, though. I knew that $250,000 was a lot and to Roxanne, it meant a new start to her life. But I had already told her I would make sure she the full amount. Either Chase would pay her or I would give her the money out of my own accounts.
Just because I was a knuckle-dragging ex-military man didn’t mean I was poor. I had plenty of cash. Not as much as Chase, that was for sure, but Chase took over our father’s corporation and had access to infinite money, while all of the other brothers still held regular jobs. Well, not exactly “regular” jobs. But we all worked in some form or another. Chase, on the other hand, had been moved into the CEO position and had hardly been home enough to even run the company. Although, I was pretty sure running a company could be done while away, but I wasn’t willing to give him the benefit of the doubt just yet.
“You could go to Stephano, tell him you wanted his help starting your own dance club or something like that. Maybe say you could bring more girls in and manage the place. Does he trust you? Do you dance for him now?” PJ asked.
Nate, Chase, and I sat back and listened for a moment while the two women talked. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of either one of them and I suspected it was about the same problem that both Chase and Nate were having.
“I’m the top girl at his Feather Kitty Club. He does have another club in South Beach, but it’s a dive and he doesn’t put any of his good girls there. I like that idea, I think it could work.”
“Could one of you guys draw up a business plan? Just something basic that talked about a strip club and some numbers. It doesn’t need to be too legit, just good enough to get Roxanne in the door. It’s all right if Stephano thinks the business plan is horrible.”
“Why? Because I look like the kind of person who isn’t smart enough to
put a business plan together for a strip club?” Roxanne said as her attitude flared up.
“I’m sorry, no, that was a bad generalization. I apologize, Roxanne.”
“Will a hair salon do for a business idea?” Roxanne asked.
“Sure, if you think he would be interested.”
“Well, he knows that I have wanted to start my own salon and was saving up my money. I actually have a business plan on my Google Docs drive, if we could find a place to print it out.”
I was impressed. Roxanne was serious about starting her own salon. I knew I had certainly underestimated her when I first met her, and I could see PJ and Nate as they realized they had also underestimated Roxanne.
“There will be no need to print it off, Roxanne. I’m with Jackson on this one. We can’t have you going in there. PJ, she was almost killed only a couple days ago. I don’t think it would be safe. I don’t see any logical reason that she would decide to ask Stephano to go into business with her after he had her almost killed.”
I shook my head in agreement with Chase and was grateful he had stood up for what he knew I was thinking.
PJ pondered what Chase had said and then sat down in a chair next to me. She seemed defeated by the realization that we weren’t going to be able to send Roxanne into Stephano’s house to help us.
“Okay, hear me out,” Nate started as he stood up and addressed our group. “I’ll go get us some semi-automatic guns. We will approach his house by water and come up slowly. We will start shooting everyone we see until we come across the girl. Bam, problem solved.”
“Really? You don’t think that the police will be there within thirty seconds? Star Island is one of the richest neighborhoods in town. They probably have police officers sitting within eyesight of the island at all times,” I said as I laughed at Nate’s plan.
We all sat quietly as we let our minds think through potential ideas.
The silence was hard, and I looked over at Roxanne as we tried to think about new plans. Finally, I moved over to sit next to her. Not for any particular reason, only because I really liked being next to her.
“What if Nate…sold me to Stephano?” PJ asked with a smile on her face.
She seemed pretty proud of herself for her plan. It was unusual, that was for sure. But she also worked for the CIA, so I knew it wouldn’t get her boss’ approval anytime soon.
“We don’t have a week to wait for approval,” I added.
“No approval. I have full authority to take on projects I deem necessary. I won’t be able to get a team down here, but if Nate could sell me to Stephano, I could get Ana out from the inside.”
“I like it,” Nate added.
“I don’t know; what if they kill you?” I added.
“I’ll go in prepared. They aren’t going to search a poor starving girl from Russia. They won’t see me as a threat, at all.”
“I could do your makeup to make you look sick,” Jordan said as she finally appeared to feel useful. “We could talk about some of the things Stephano said on his profile. I think I still have the one where he called himself Gordon.”
“So, basically, I just tell him I want to sell you?” Nate asked.
“No, maybe say you ordered me online and I’ve been acting up and not listening. You don’t want to deal with me anymore. I’ll pretend not to speak English, or maybe just a little. Before we know it, they will have me in the room with Ana and I can plan our escape. I’ll bring a small pistol and knife with me.”
“I like this plan,” Jordan said as color rushed back into her face.
Actually, I liked the plan as well. PJ was much better equipped to fight off the bad guys than Jordan or Roxanne were. Plus, it wouldn’t take much to make her look like a young Russian girl.
“Well, let’s get started then,” PJ said as she made her way to the door. “Jordan, come with me to my room. Roxanne, you come, too. I have questions for you.”
Chapter Fourteen
ROXANNE
PJ was starting to grow on me. I did think it was pretty suspicious that Jackson found the most beautiful woman in the CIA to come and work with us. But it looked like that plan was starting to be a good one. She would make a great decoy to send into Stephano’s world and I was a little happy that it was going to be her instead of me.
I wanted to help get Ana back, but I didn’t want to risk my life.
“So, why is the CIA involved in these cases?” I asked as the three of us made it to PJ’s room.
“It’s a long story, but basically, the women are coming from hundreds of different countries and sometimes bringing weapons and drugs in with them. We work very closely with the DEA and the FBI.”
I paused for a long time as I tried to wrap my brain around what she said. It seemed odd to me that so many agencies were involved, yet it was so easy for women to be bought and sold. I wanted to ask more questions, but I figured I should play nice with her. She was a federal agent, after all.
“Thanks for explaining that. I feel like all those initials are hard to keep track of, but basically, everyone is working together to try to keep the women safe?”
“Yep,” PJ said and then focused her attention on Jordan. “Do you have a picture of your friend?”
Jordan pulled a picture of Ana out of her purse and I gasped when I saw her. She looked so beautiful in that picture, nothing like how she had looked when I had known her.
“What?” Jordan said.
“She doesn’t look like that now. She has lost a lot of weight. Her skin is really pale and she has dark circles under her eyes. I suspect she’s probably only about one hundred pounds by now and she’s tall, so it looks like she’s a skeleton. She still had some curves on her when she was at my house, but if she’s still not eating well, then I’d bet she’s even thinner.”
“Yeah, I guess I don’t have any recent pictures,” Jordan said as tears started.
“It’s all right. That picture was very helpful.”
“Should we get started on your makeup?” I said to try and change the subject a little. “We might need to test out a few different things to get you looking just right.”
“Sure,” PJ said. “What can you tell me about Stephano?”
I wanted to tell PJ everything I knew about Stephano, but I realized that it wasn’t actually as much as I thought. Sure, I had dealt with him a lot over the years, but I didn’t know all that much about him personally. He kept most of that stuff quiet and didn’t let people get very close to him. I did the best I could and told PJ what I thought she needed to know.
“Well, he likes a woman who is submissive. I’m not sure just how far you’re willing to take this acting job, but the more you are willing to give, the more he will like you. I’d bet even a kiss and a little rubbing of his pants would do just fine.”
I really didn’t know how much description I should go into for PJ. I didn’t know her well enough to know if it would offend her. But to win Stephano over, she was going to have to be a bit more sexual than a typical CIA agent. She was going to need to flirt with him and use her body to her advantage. A woman’s body was a powerful thing around a man like him.
“Is he going to want me to give him sex right away or will I be able to pretend to be shy?”
“Interesting point. I bet you could pretend to be a virgin. That would get him really excited and he would be extra sweet to you. That would be your best bet for sure.”
“Who else do you think he will have there, Roxanne? Are we talking one personal security guard or dozens of them?”
“I’m not really sure.”
It was the truth. I had no idea what Stephano had going on at his house lately. In the recent months before Chase, Jordan, and Jackson had come to town, I had been avoiding Stephano a lot. My independence was important, and I didn’t want to go to any of his parties or even talk to him if I could avoid it.
“Do you think he has more girls than just Ana there?” PJ asked as Jordan started to do her makeup.
&n
bsp; Jordan first took all of PJ’s makeup off and I saw that she looked plenty young enough to pretend to be a virgin. There was no way Stephano would even question it. Her flawless skin and dainty figure was going to fit right in with the girls who he normally had sent to him.
PJ was short, probably only 5’5”, and she was very thin. Her frame was very muscular, though, and that was going to be hard to hide. We would have to put her in a long sleeved shirt or something to hide the definition in her arms.
“He’ll have more girls there, but I’m not sure how many. It just depends on if he’s had some new arrivals in or not and if he’s breaking them in himself or not.”
I felt Jordan’s body tense up when I started to talk about the grooming process that Stephano put the girls through. Unfortunately, it was really important for PJ to understand as much as possible about Stephano before she put herself at risk, so I couldn’t stop talking to her just because Jordan was going to be upset by what I said.
“Is he sleeping with them all? Beating them? Treating them well?”
“I’m not sure. At first, he seemed to be treating Ana really well. Except he had groomed her before he put her up on stage to dance. I think he likes Ana and wanted to keep her around, but after the buyer saw her, it was over and he stopped being nice to her.”
“Groomed?” Jordan asked as she sat down on the bed. “Do you think he’s forcing Ana to sleep with him?
I wasn’t someone who normally cared about other people's emotions. Most of my life, it had always been about me and what would make me feel better. But at that moment, I told a lie. A little white lie that would help put Jordan at ease.
“If he were trying to sell Ana for big money to an overseas buyer, he wouldn’t sleep with her. He’d make the buyer pay extra by telling him she was a virgin,” I said as I looked at PJ.
I could tell that PJ knew I was lying. We both knew very well that a guy like Stephano was probably sleeping with Ana and didn’t care at all how pure she was before he sold her. But of course, he would still tell the buyer that she was a virgin.
