by Miller, Tim
When he pulled into the loading dock and parked the truck, a man came out to him. He didn’t recognize the guy. He was short and Mexican and wearing a heavy metal t-shirt. The man approached Tony and handed him an envelope.
“What’s this?” Tony asked.
“Your money.” The man answered.
“So that’s it? Now what?”
“Now go home. Be here next Friday same time.” The man said as he walked off.
Tony opened the envelope and flipped through the huge stack of bills. At least they kept to their word. Twenty thousand cash, just like that. That was more than half of his yearly pay at his last job. If he could just put out of his mind the fact that he was transporting little girls into sexual slavery, this might not be a bad job after all.
He stuffed the envelope into his pocket and headed to his car. Kim was waiting up for him when he got home. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to tell her.
“Where the hell have you been?” She asked.
“I told you. I was working.”
“Until after one in the morning? You’ve never worked this late. You left early this morning. You work in a call center. Where were you really?”
“I’m serious. They didn’t have me in my usual area. They had me riding with claims adjusters helping out there. They are short on adjusters.”
“So they’re going to make you an adjuster now?”
It seemed like a good enough story, so he just went with it.
“Well, yeah. I wasn’t sure until after today but yeah. I’m going to be an auto adjuster,” he said.
“Is that like a promotion?”
“There’s…a little bit of a raise that goes with it, you could say.”
“Oh my god! That’s great!” She jumped up and hugged him tight. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I just wanted to make sure I got it first. No point in getting you all excited for nothing.”
“Oh babe, how much is the raise? Do you know yet?”
“Not sure yet. I think it’s around eight or ten percent.”
“That’s huge! Wow. This will really help us out. I’m so proud of you!”
“Thank you.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just tired. I need to get to bed.”
“Of course. Get some sleep. I’ll be in in a few.”
He went into the bedroom, and into the master bathroom. He closed and locked the door as he looked at himself in the mirror. For most of his life, he’d looked younger than his age. Looking at himself now, he was looking older. He could pass as fifty-five if he wanted to. He took out the envelope and stared at the cash. This is what his life had come down to. He could be wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, but all he had to do was help in wrecking the lives of innocent children and their families.
Then there was his other choice, refuse to do it and risk the safety of himself and his family. He could contact the FBI. Maybe they’d put them in witness protection. That wouldn’t work, though. They’d have to cut off all contact with all their friends and family. No way would he agree to that. Not to mention that would mean telling Kim what he was doing. She’d completely lose it. No. The best course of action for now was to do his job, and make his money. Maybe after a few months they could just slip away. He’d think of something.
He stood onto the toilet and unscrewed the bottom screws in the vent above the toilet. Lifting the vent screen, he took the envelope and placed it inside the metal box inside with the rest of the cash. Once the box was closed, he closed the screen and replaced the screws. It wasn’t the best hiding spot, but it would do for now.
After climbing back down, he went into the bedroom and got ready for bed. Kim came in as he was climbing under the sheets.
“So, you think with this raise we can finally decorate Taylor’s room?” She asked.
“Oh, I don’t see why not.”
“Great. It’s so dull looking now. It needs some color. I thought maybe we can give it like a Disney theme or something.”
“I’m sure she’d love that,” he said.
“She missed you today. I did too.”
“I missed both of you too. You think she still wants to go to the zoo tomorrow?”
“I’m sure she’d love to.”
“Great. I think we got enough money to go and do some things.”
“This is so exciting!” She said as she kissed him. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. I’m just glad we’ll finally have some breathing room.”
She grabbed him and hugged him tight. As he returned her embrace, he kept his eyes open. When they were closed, all he saw was the men with guns kicking and hitting him as he lay on the ground. He wondered if every trip would be that way.
Chapter 8
Slade was sitting in his office when someone knocked at his doorway. It was Domingo.
“Hey Dom. What’s up?”
“I got something you should know,” Domingo said.
“What’s that?”
“Don’t ask me how, but the feds have traced the truck back to Ramos.”
Slade stood and leaned over the desk.
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“How the fuck did they figure that out?” Slade asked.
“I don’t know. Unless we have a snitch. That’s the only way. That truck was clean.”
“Yeah I know. Fuck me. I’ve vetted everyone at that warehouse. Goddammit. Have them clear it out. Get rid of the cages, any clothing belonging to any of the girls, anything. Get all of it out of there, now. You know when they are coming?”
“Could be any time. My guy at DPS said they are pretty fired up about it.”
“Shit. Get down there, make sure the place is clean. I’ll let the boss know.” Slade instructed. Domingo nodded and headed out.
Fuck.
Slade picked up the phone and called his boss.
“Yeah?” The boss said.
“Hey boss. Sorry to bug you. I have some info for you.” Slade explained about the warrant and raid. The boss was unusually quiet as he explained. He hated that. At least show some anger. When he was dead silent, no telling what was going through the man’s head.
“Ok,” the boss finally said. “You have them follow protocol?”
“Yes sir. As we speak.”
“We need to find this snitch,” the boss said. “Any ideas who it is?”
“Not at the moment. Only a few people knew about Spider. So I’ll start with them.”
“Good. Once you find them, bring them to me,” the boss said.
“Sir?”
“Bring the snitch to me when you find him. I will deal with him personally.”
This was interesting. He usually stayed hands off most of these things.
“No problem sir. I will do that.”
“Good. Get it done. I will wait for your call,” the boss said and hung up.
Shit. Slade hung up and looked out his window. He’d have to wait until after the raid to dig much further. What else could go wrong this week? At least the new driver seemed to be working out. Luis and his crew had really scared the shit out of him on his trial run.
He had a few hours to kill so he stepped out of his office and into the back room that was attached. There was a small bed, a couch and TV. It was set up for late nights of work, or if home wasn’t safe.
Today there was a girl tied to the bed with a piece of tape over her mouth. One of the advantages to being a boss, he could occasionally take a free sample. Though his boss wasn’t aware of this, which was a good thing. Slade knew not to risk pissing off the big guy, but some things were just too good to pass up. Like the little piece right before him.
This one was a sixteen-year-old one of his guys had picked up in the Midwest. She looked like your stereotypical farm girl. Big doe eyes, blonde hair in a ponytail and not a clue in the world as to what she was in for. He walked over and ripped the tape off her mouth.
“Don’t scream,�
�� he ordered, “or I will punch you so hard, you’ll choke on your own teeth.”
The girl nodded as tears ran down her cheeks.
“Why are you doing this to me? What do you want?” She asked. “Please let me go. I won’t tell anyone anything. I promise.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. As far as why I’m doing this, there really is no reason. Because I enjoy it. Because you are beautiful and I like to destroy beauty. I won’t bullshit you. What I’m about to do is going to hurt. It will hurt bad.”
The girl began sobbing quietly. It was almost too cute.
“Please don’t hurt me. Please?”
“Shhh. It’s ok.” He wiped the tears from her cheek and brushed her hair from her face. “The good thing is, there won’t be a long, painful recovery. You’ll die when I’m finished with you and the suffering will be over.”
He took out the butterfly knife from his pocket and cut her clothes off her, throwing them to the floor. Taking the blade, he ran it up and down her body, not pressing hard enough to break any skin. Something about her soft, pale skin and the way she trembled at his touch made him incredibly excited. He was impressed she had yet to scream. Usually they started screaming as soon as they saw the knife.
“Are you ready?” He asked.
“No. Please. Don’t.”
He cut down the side of her cheek, just enough to draw blood. She pinched her eyes shut and cried as he did the same on the other side of her face. From there he took the knife and ran it across her breasts, watching how her nipples got hard at the tip of the knife’s blade. She tried to squirm away, but she was bound too tight.
He ran the blade along her stomach, drawing a line of blood all the way to her waist. She let out a cry as the blade cut the surface of her skin. He held the blade for a moment while watching her face. Her blue eyes were wide as tears streaked her face. Suddenly he inserted the knife into her pussy and thrust it fist deep. Finally, the girl screamed.
Chapter 9
Tony sat in the coffee shop sipping his foam latte and reading his Kindle. Kim thought he was still working at United P and C, but for the last four days he’d been hanging out here. He wasn’t sure how long he could or should keep up the act, but for now it didn’t matter. He took another sip as he flipped through the book. He’d never read this author before, some slash and gash horror writer with nothing but gore. Tony had never been into such books but for some reason found this one interesting.
Once he finished his drink, he read for another hour and then decided to head out. As he stood, his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket and placed it to his ear.
“Hey, it’s Jose.”
“Yes, Jose. Everything ok?” Tony said.
“Not really. I need you here now. Need you to make an emergency run.”
“What? My next run isn’t until tomorrow.”
“Not now it isn’t. We have a load that has to go out tonight. So get your ass down here. The truck will be ready when you get here.”
“But—” Tony began but Jose had already hung up.
Fuck. He stood outside the coffee shop and kicked the wall. A woman and her teenage daughter glared at him as they walked by. He awkwardly nodded to them as he headed to his car and climbed inside.
“Fuck!” He screamed. How would he explain this to Kim? Being gone all night? Nothing he could do. These guys owned him. He drove to Ramos Medical and just like Jose said, the truck was loaded and waiting for him. Jose was standing by the truck as he arrived.
“Here it is, my man. All ready to go, paperwork is in order. You’ll get paid double for this run.”
“Double?”
“Yeah, you’ll get forty grand for this one for the inconvenience.”
“Wow. Ok.”
“Is that a problem?” Jose asked.
“No, I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“Good. Now get going.”
Tony climbed in the truck, started it and pulled out of the main gate. He was on the highway within a few minutes. Traffic was unusually backed up. Probably due to an accident ahead or something. After almost forty minutes in stop and go traffic, he was finally on the road and leaving the city. When he was about ten miles south of town, flashing lights appeared in his mirror. Shit.
He pulled over, hoping beyond hope that the police car would go around him. Maybe he was on his way to another call. That didn’t happen. The police car stopped directly behind him. Fuck! Tony took a deep breath and examined himself in the mirror. Beads of sweat were already forming on his forehead. He wiped it off with his sleeve and took another deep breath. Keep cool. Just play it cool, it will all be fine.
He rolled down the window as the officer stepped up to the vehicle.
“Good evening officer. What seems to be the problem?”
“Hello sir. License and registration please.” The officer said. As Tony leaned in the glove box he saw a second officer in the other rearview mirror on the opposite side of the truck. He handed the officer the paperwork. The officer examined his license.
“This is you? Anthony Ray?”
“Yes sir. Tony is what I go by.”
“Step out of the truck for me Anthony.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Did I fuckin’ stutter? Step. Out. Of. The. Fucking. Truck.”
Tony climbed out of the truck, his throat dry as he tried not to visibly shake. He had no idea why this cop had this attitude, but it was scaring the shit out of him. He’d never had anything more than a parking ticket. Getting caught with a truck full of kidnapped girls, he’d go away for life.
“I don’t understand officer. What seems to be the problem?” Tony asked as he noticed both officers were Bexar County deputies.
“Open the truck.” The cop said.
“Excuse me? Don’t you need a warrant for that?” Tony asked, but the other officer walked up to him and shot him with the Taser. His legs buckled under him as he fell to the ground, striking his head on a rock as the current went through him. He couldn’t move for over a minute as both officers stood over him.
“Now let’s try this again,” the tall officer said. “Open the fucking truck.”
Chapter 10
Slade stood there admiring his handiwork. His naked body was covered in blood, her blood. Her body had been mutilated beyond all recognition. He systematically managed to cut her to pieces a little at a time. His sexual appetites were not something that could be fulfilled through normal channels. That was a big part of why he was in this business, the endless supply of girls.
This time he tried something new, he cut out her heart and fucked it, even ejaculated inside it. He’d fucked women’s organs before. He hoped to do it while it was still beating, but that just wasn’t possible. It was still fun though. That was the last thing he did. Other pleasures of his involved peeling her face off, cutting off her breasts and performing his own version of a hysterectomy.
He opened the closet nearby and took out several towels, cleaning himself off as much as possible. After he dressed, he went back into his office and picked up the phone.
“Hey, send some guys in here to clean up my break room. Yeah, it’s a big mess, so make sure they bring everything. I have to head out.” He hung up the phone and headed out.
Within a few minutes he arrived at Ramos Medical. Jose was sitting in his office looking as if he’d seen a ghost.
“So how’d it go?” Slade asked.
“The raid went fine. Everything was gone. I sent the new guy on a run with the girls. The feds were here and tore the place apart, but found nothing.”
“Good. I’m kind of curious. How would they even know to look here? I mean, our truck was clean, no way should they have been able to trace it here.”
“I don’t know. They got lucky I guess.”
“Got lucky. That’s possible. The problem is, cops don’t get lucky like this. I think someone tipped them off.”
“Oh yeah?” Jose began shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “Who you think
would do that?”
“I don’t know. Someone with working knowledge of our operation. Someone who knows what trucks are used for what shipments. I’m starting to think them finding Spider’s truck wasn’t an accident either.”
“Yeah? That sounds pretty fucked up man. I hope you find the snitch,” Jose said.
“Well, I think I may have.”
Jose jumped out of his chair and raced for the door. Slade grabbed him and threw him back in the chair, but not before slamming his face against the desk. Jose let out a scream as Slade dug in Jose’s pockets, pulling out two cell phones.
“So what is the second cell phone for?”
“That’s um, my personal one! The other one is work.”
Slade took the base of the phone and hit Jose on the side of the head. Jose screamed again.
“Ow! Fuck, man!”
“Try again,” Slade ordered.
“I’m serious! I don’t like to use my work phone for personal use.”
“So why were you trying to run off?”
“Look man. I wouldn’t rat on you or anyone. I’m no rat!”
Slade took out his butterfly knife and thrust it into the back of Jose’s hand. Jose screamed even louder this time as blood oozed from his hand.
“Tell me, or I’ll fucking skin you alive and feed you your own flesh.”
“Shit! Ok! Ok! They busted me on a drug charge. I was at a party and had an eight ball on me. I was looking at big time. So I made a deal. But they wanted everything, not just the operation, but you and the boss.”
“You don’t know who that is,” Slade said.
“Yeah, I know. They were hoping to find something today leading them to him. Spider’s truck, they did find by accident, but used that as smoke for the warrant today. So as to cover my ass. For whatever that was worth.”
“You worthless piece of shit. You know the rules! Don’t do any stupid shit that will get you pinched! Now you’ve put this whole thing in jeopardy. What about that new guy, Tommy or whatever.”
“Tony.”
“Yeah. You sent him on a run. Is he gonna run into any surprises?” Slade asked.
Jose looked away and mumbled something.
