“Of course, they are tight on security and don’t like to take chances on new people. They are stricter than the mafia. Having another man vouch for someone isn’t good enough for them. Like I said, I have been with them for 2 years and still haven’t met him.” He nodded his head to the side.
“But with you, I think I have an in. I gave him your name and an estimated date of your purchase. He said he would get back to me. Well he just got back to me and we have been invited to a dinner tomorrow night.” I guess sex traffickers keep paperwork on all the people they sell. That would probably please the group of men that also made purchases that night in Paris.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.
“Meet Amir, rub shoulders, talk about your purchase,” I interrupted him again.
“My purchase as you keep referring to, is my wife, Norah, and I do not wish to discuss her with a man that was probably responsible for having her kidnapped in the first place.”
“Well you are going to have to get over it,” he held his hand up. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. But you purchasing your wife is the reason you are here. Buying her from Salam’s auction is how we are getting access to him. So I suggest you swallow your pride and understand that this is serious. They are going to ask you things you don’t want to talk about, they are going to refer to your wife as a whore, and they may even ask if you are willing to sell her for a nice new piece of ass.”
I could feel my heart racing. I didn’t know if I was prepared for Norah to be referred to as a whore. I wasn’t sure I would be able to hold my temper in check. Asking if I wanted to sell my wife was not only rude but it pissed me off just hearing him say the words. But I knew he was right. I couldn’t be sentimental over this. It was a job.
“Look, if it makes you feel better, just lie.” He held up his hand again. “I mean lie about your relationship, not the buying process. Don’t make it personal.” I understood what he was saying so I nodded.
“We’re hoping that if you can impress Amir, that he will take you to meet Salam and the auction. Did you get the phone?” he asked. I nodded and took it out of my pocket.
“Ok. Good. Don’t take your own phone with you. Only use this phone. The first contact is the agents that will be listening to everything. If you have to call them, they will answer like it is a bread shop. You give them this password,” he passed me a piece of paper with numbers on it, “and then they will talk to you.”
“The second contact is me. Don’t call anyone else from this phone.” He leaned down to the briefcase and then handed me something that looked like a credit card.
“This is a tracking device. Put it in your wallet and it will monitor your vital signs as well as track you. If they ask you to go anywhere else the agents want to know where you are going in case something happens. I will pick you up from your hotel.” Then he took something out of his pocket. It was a little black box with a man’s ring inside.
“Lastly,” he held it out to me. “Make sure you are wearing this.” I took the ring from him.
“What does it do?” I asked.
It’s the listening device we need to record your conversations. They may ask you to change your clothes, or take off your belt and shoes. This is simple. If they scan you, and they will, it won’t be detected. To them it is just your wedding ring. He stood up.
“Your job is to just be yourself. Try not to act like this is life or death, but just a mere stop in your life, and you just want to thank them. Be confident, entitled, and even arrogant.” I stood up too. We shook hands. “Don’t worry, this is going to be easy,” he smiled.
Confidence, entitlement and arrogance was something I was very good at, because I was all of those things. But somehow ‘easy’ wasn’t how I would describe this dinner.
It was a few nights later when we found ourselves riding an elevator to the 33rd floor. The only sound was the noise of Nasun’s shoes. They made a squeaking noise as he moved his weight from foot to foot.
“Could you please stand still?” I said gruffly. He looked over at me.
“Am I making you nervous?” he asked with a stupid grin on his face.
“No,” I snapped. “You are annoying the fuck out of me.” I adjusted my tie to loosen my collar a bit. It felt snug, like I was swallowing with a noose around my neck.
The elevator opened to a small parlor room. A butler dressed in a tuxedo with tails was standing next to a coat closet. He nodded and politely greeted us both. He asked if we had anything to check and we both declined.
He held out an electronic device that looked like a calculator and a tablet combined. Nasun held out his hand and the screen lit up as it scanned his palm and finger prints. He then punched in a code on the number keys and three long beeps were heard. The butler nodded and opened the door to the apartment. As he started through it, I tried to follow close behind.
“Excuse me, sir,” the butler said quietly as he put his hand on my shoulder. Nasun turned back to see that he was now asking for my palm print on his little device. He started to say something but we were interrupted.
“Hawthorne please, don’t be rude to my guests,” a deep voice said. The three of us looked up and saw a very debonair gentlemen, about 6 feet tall with deep brown skin and black hair standing in the double doorway. He was wearing a light brown three piece suit complete with a gold pocket watch hanging from the vest.
“Ah, Mr. Amir,” Nasun said as they shook hands. “Allow me to introduce,” but Mr. Amir stepped forward and took my hand in his before Nasun could finish.
“Mr. Hastings,” he said as he waved the butler away. We walked through the doors and they closed behind us. “It is very nice to finally meet you. It isn’t often that we ever get to meet and converse with a former client. Everyone is always so eager to make a purchase and then run back into hiding,” he smiled. “Understandably,” he added.
His teeth were white. I prided myself on good dental hygiene as well, but his teeth seemed abnormally white. Perfectly white, as if he bleached them every day.
“Well I’m not usually one to come out of hiding myself, Mr. Amir. But I have been very pleased with the outcome of our last business transaction two years ago and I wanted to thank you personally.”
It repulsed me to refer to Norah as a business transaction, but it had to be done. Tonight I had to talk about my wife like she was a piece of furniture. I tried to put myself in the mindset that buying Norah was just like buying one of the companies in my business. For this charade to work, Norah had to be reduced to another part of my mergers and acquisitions.
“Please,” he gestured toward the hallway.
We walked down the long hallway entering a large dining room. There was a large dining room table with enough seating for at least 16 people. There were several little groups of men standing all around chatting quietly.
They all stopped talking when we entered the room.
“Gentlemen,” Amir announced and held out his hands welcoming them to gather around him. “Please, let me introduce you to Mr. Liam Hastings, he is a new friend of ours,” he paused and held his hand out to Nasun, “and you all know Mr. Bendi.”
A bell rang and another butler in a tuxedo with tails announced that dinner was ready. The other men began taking their seats. Amir asked me and Nasun to join him at the end of the table.
Waiters started moving around the table like they were gliding on the tops of clouds. They brought us bread, and shrimp cocktails and then filled our glasses with wine and white liquor.
The conversations were about normal things. They talked about real estate, stock markets and bank statements. They discussed birthday parties for their children, school events and even family vacations. They spoke as if this was a completely normal dinner party. As if all of these men at this table hadn’t done horrible things, including myself.
I talked about ‘Nantucket Oil’, a small oil company my group had just acquired. I talked about my recent travels to Venice and Belgium for busin
ess.
We were served lamb chops with rosemary and mint sauce, escargot with a rich herb butter, quiche lorriane and as a main course, beef bourguignon that tasted as if Julia Child herself was in the kitchen.
Just before dessert we were given a sterling silver chalet with a scoop of lime sorbet to cleanse our palate. Part of me was amazed at how civilized it all was, the other part expected nothing less.
It was a fine meal. Despite my company, the food was some of the most delicious cuisine I had ever tasted.
When our chalets were taken away I was speaking with a man sitting at my left who was in the process of planning his daughter’s Quinceanera, a celebration in the Latino community for a girl’s 15th birthday. Her dress was being made by a very prominent American designer.
For a short time I actually forgot where I was and what I was there to accomplish. Then Amir asked me a question that brought me back to reality.
“Mr. Hastings, I’ve been told you recently got married. Is that true?” he asked. Have you ever been asked a question by someone so arrogant and full of themselves, with such confidence that you know, they already know the answer? Besides Detective Shaw it had never happened to me, but I know it when I hear it. Usually I am the one asking the questions I already know the answers too. He asked, but he knew, so I didn’t lie.
“Yes it is, but I don’t know if I still can say recently. Although it feels like yesterday, it was over nine months ago.” I took a sip of my wine. A few of the men at the table started to laugh. Including Amir.
“Nine months, did you say?” he laughed. “Well that means that you’re still wearing training wheels, doesn’t it,” he laughed again. They all laughed. I smiled even though I didn’t find it funny at all.
“Tell me something,” he said, again like he was about to ask me something he already knew the answer to. “If you have only been married for nine months, why do you need my services again so soon? Mr. Bendi tells me you are in the market for another girl. Please, I have been married for 17 years, don’t tell me the novelty of marriage has already worn off in just nine months?” he laughed again. He took a long sip of his wine but his eyes never left mine. He expected an answer and I knew it better be good. If I wanted to be invited to the auction and even be in the presence of Rashad Salam, my answer better be a good one.
“Well sir, I’m sure you know new girls are so much fun to play with and break in. Once you have them trained you start to get that feeling again. That itch deep down that tells you, you ache for the battle, you yearn for the struggle, and you need to dominate,” I smiled and looked around the room at the other men watching me.
“Am I right?” I asked the group. They all gave their affirmative answers.
“Is it true you married your slave?” he asked me. The room fell quiet and again it became serious. I felt a slight bump under the table from Nasun. He told me to lie about this part. He told me to not admit to marrying Norah. But again I couldn’t lie. This man wasn’t stupid and he already knew I had indeed married her.
“Yes I did,” I was blunt and I held his gaze. I wasn’t going to let him think I was scared of him. Not for one second.
“You married the girl you bought from me two years ago, is that right?” he clarified. Again I agreed.
“Yes.” The room was so quiet all I could hear was my own heart beating in my eardrums.
“She must have been quite a girl,” he said.
“Yes. She is very special.” It was the truth. I felt another bump under the table.
“Who knows, maybe I had her myself?” I could feel the collar around my neck tightening. “I sample so much of the merchandise it would be hard to remember. But I do remember having a few girls taken in Paris about two years ago that I wanted to keep for myself.” He paused hoping to get a rise out of me. I didn’t give him the satisfaction.
“I really don’t know,” I shrugged. I really did know. Norah was a virgin when I bought her. I paid a lot of money be her first and only. He seemed to know I was lying about that. I could see the look on his face. But he didn’t call me on it.
“Well I’m very glad you were so pleased with your purchase, Mr. Hastings. And even more pleased that you have returned,” he paused and gazed around the room. “I value loyalty.”
He interlocked his fingers together and leaned on his elbows. It wasn’t the words that he said, but it was how he said it. Like again he knew something I didn’t know.
“Loyalty is worth more than money in my business, Mr. Hastings. Loyalty will make or break a relationship.” He stood up and walked to a small bar cart in the middle of the room. He poured himself what looked like brandy in a very large glass, then he slowly turned towards the table again.
“Do you like scotch, Mr. Hastings?” he was talking to me like he and I were the only people in the room. It was scotch not brandy. I never could identify liquor when it is kept in a crystal decanter.
“Yes I do.”
“Have you ever had 60 year old scotch?” he swished his glass around then held out a glass for me. I smelt it first and then took a sip.
“Now that is delicious,” I said. And it was. Usually scotch is aged for 12 to 25 years. The scotch I keep in my home was aged for about 30 years. This was the most magnificent tasting scotch that had ever graced my lips.
“Come with me out on the balcony, Mr. Hastings,” he gestured. “I think you and I are going to be very good friends. We walked toward the double doors at the other end of the room. They slowly opened and two very large men were standing on the other side. I swished my scotch around in my glass and followed him out of the room.
Chapter Five
Norah
“I can’t just sit around and do nothing!” I shouted. I moved papers around on my desk and knocked over a bottle of water. “Shit!” I shouted again. “Maybe if my desk was a little more organized I could find something!”
Kelly went to the sink and grabbed the roll of paper towels and started mopping up the water.
“Well you aren’t sitting around doing nothing, you’re trying to plan a fundraiser,” she said.
“Yes, which is so important right now! My husband is being entertained by human traffickers, while also trying to turn evidence over to the United Nations or the FBI or whoever wants these guys, and I’m trying to plan a dinner for 350 guests that are paying $1500 a seat to eat chicken and rice!” I sat down and ran my hands over my face.
“Norah, you can’t do anything about that now. This is his thing. He is a big boy. Worrying about him is just going to make things worse. Try to focus on work. He would want you to focus on work and not worry about him.” She grabbed a handful of papers off my desk and sat down in the chair to organize them.
“This isn’t even the worst part,” I went on like I hadn’t heard what she had just said. “The worst part is when this is over, it still isn’t over! He is going to come back here,….if he makes it back here, and then go right into his revenge plot for Nick. He won’t miss a beat. He will go right from one dangerous situation into another.” I started tapping my pen on the side of the desk. Kelly gave me an annoying look.
I didn’t want him in harms way, but I understood why he had to do this. Meeting with these dangerous men in Paris would finally put behind us the issue of him buying me. Maybe when this was all over, since the government officials would forgive him, he could find a way to forgive himself.
But the Nick situation wasn’t something I understood. I mean, I understood his cave man need to get revenge but it wasn’t necessary.
“I just wish this whole thing was over. I wish he could let it go. I wish there was something I could do to help while he was gone, so he didn’t have to deal with this,” I paused and leaned up.
“Oh no. I don’t like that look,” Kelly said.
“Wait,” I held up my hand.
“No. No waiting, Norah,” Kelly said and stood up. I stood up too.
“I can do something,” I said.
“I don’t like
the way you say that,” she said.
“I can do something,” I repeated.
“No. No you can’t do anything. You should wait for him to get back and handle this together,” she paused. I started walking around my desk.
“I can do this without him. I can handle Nick myself,” I stopped in front of her.
“Ah, no. That isn’t a good idea at all. You want to handle the situation with a guy that kidnapped you? That isn’t a good idea at all!” She raised her voice a little.
“Nick won’t hurt me. He wants me. I can control him.”
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“This is a good idea,” I said.
“This is a horrible idea,” she replied. “But I have a feeling I am going to spend the next few weeks helping you get it done. Aren’t I?”
“That’s the spirit!” I shook her and smiled. “Ok, I need to find out where he’s hiding. He has to be around here somewhere. Call Liam’s office and get me a current list of his board members,” she nodded and walked out.
I jumped on my computer and started searching for any local sex clubs or places I thought Nick would hang out. He just purchased a new girl and he would want to show her off. I found a few clubs I thought he might like but not specific sex clubs.
Kelly came back in and handed me a list of the board members at Liam’s company. Of course Nick’s name was on it and it gave a local address and phone number. But I couldn’t’ just walk up to his house and ring the bell. I would have to be smoother than that.
I had Kelly hunt down any information she could find in New York and Florida about Nick Meyers. Those were two places I remembered being with him. I couldn’t remember what kind of business Liam had told me he was in.
“It might be construction or architecture or maybe lumber. I don’t know. Something with wood is all I remember.”
“Why is his business important?” she asked.
“Because, if I can find a business, maybe I can get his schedule or hangouts or where he likes to have dinner, from his secretary.”
Surrender: Keeping Her in the Dark Vol. 4 Page 6
