by M T Stone
“Nothing. I’m just focused on putting together a string of record breaking shows.”
“Don’t play dumb with me. Neither you nor Suzanne are any good at it.”
“Suzanne? I thought that you were fussing about Raven and me again.”
He shook his head and gestured for me to enter his office. “Any idiot can see that you two have something going on, but that’s not what this is about.”
“Ok, what’s up then?” I sat back and waited for him to elaborate because I was clueless.
“Victoria Love has disappeared,” he announced, focusing intently on my reaction.
“I’m sorry?”
“You don’t have any idea how or why this happened?” He shifted nervously in his chair.
“I don’t have a fucking clue,” I replied, completely bewildered. “The last time I heard her name was when you told me she was working on a new project.”
“Have you been in touch with Renegade?”
“No, I tried to get him to come back and help us out, but he blew me off.”
“So you don’t have anything to do with whatever is going on with either of them?” He stood up and began to pace nervously.
“No. Are you saying that Renegade has something to do with Victoria’s disappearance?”
“I don’t know. One of my guys gave me a description of a guy who was hanging around outside the warehouse. It sounded a lot like Renegade,” he replied with a crack in his voice.
“I’ll give Renegade a call if you want,” I offered, pulling out my phone.
“Don’t bother, I’ve already tried and the line has been cancelled.” He cupped his hands and slid them down over his face. “I’m sure Suzanne knows what’s going on. See if you can get anything out of her.”
“She wouldn’t tell you anything?”
“No.” He shook his head and gazed at the floor. “She’s a bad liar, too. I can tell she knows more than what she’s admitting.”
“I will. I’ll try to casually bring it up the next time I run into her,” I assured, rising to offer a handshake.
“Thanks, Gunner. You and Sapphire are the only two that I can really trust anymore,” he said, placing his other hand on top of mine. “Since Renegade left, Sable has been a little weird, and Blaze… well, he’s always lived in his own little world.”
“He’s had a tough road, but I think right now he’s really focused on what we are doing here,” I tried to reassure him. “I can guarantee you that both Raven and I are totally committed as well.”
“I’m glad because it’s a few more years until the statute of limitations runs out on that insider trading charge,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“Have you ever heard that old saying that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar?” I stood there silently glaring into his eyes.
“Yeah, that kind of bullshit never worked for me.” He dropped my hand and hastily retreated to his office chair.
“I’m just saying… you don’t have to be such an asshole.” I leaned forward on his desk.
“A tiger doesn’t change his stripes. That adage is just as old as the other bullshit phrase.” He looked down and began shuffling some papers. “We’re done here.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to joining you and Raven for those last two levels next week,” he added, twisting the knife a bit.
“I’ll bet you are.” Asshole. My blood pressure instantly rose once again. Instead of risking any further confrontation, I turned and headed for the door.
~~~
Raven
Looking at my watch, I saw it was only 9:40 pm. I was still in full makeup and had one of my cool new dresses on. Hannah is with Mom, so I want to do something dammit!
“Would you drop me off at 23rd and Church, Toby?”
“Yes Ma’am,” he replied in his normal somber tone.
I gave Amber a quick call to make sure that she was around.
“Yeah, Blade has been blowing off my calls since our last session so come on up. I’ve got a big bottle of wine open.”
“I’ll be there in a bit, but get dressed. We should go do something.”
“Ugh, do we have to?”
“Get dressed hun. I’ll be there in five.” I hung up, not giving her a chance to argue.
I checked myself in the mirror. This makeup is amazing. It still looks good even after being tied up and tortured. I have to find out what brand Jasmine uses. After Toby dropped me off at the corner, I made my way down the old cobble stone street to Amber’s apartment building.
“Do we really have to go out? Holy shit, you look amazing! I can’t go out with you looking like this!” was my greeting when she answered the door.
“Throw on your wig and that cute purple dress of yours. I’ll help you with your makeup,” I asserted.
“How much does Jasmine charge? I should have her make me over,” Amber replied, studying my nose and face.
“Two hundred. You’re creeping me out a little here.”
“I’m just amazed by how small your nose looks.” She continued to study my face from all angles. “You’re real nose is just as big as mine.”
“That’s the magic of what she does. Colored contacts, blended makeup and temporary hair color. She can make you look completely different.”
“Fuck… I should’ve done that before I started shooting the live scenes.” She gave me a weird look. “I already had a guy recognize me after last Saturday’s show!”
“Oh my god! That had to be totally creepy.”
“Yeah, no shit. I was like… get away from me, dude. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She flailed her hands in front of her. “Can we just stay here and finish that big bottle of wine?”
“Ok. I’ll sacrifice my free night just for you. Where is your little munchkin?”
“She’s having a sleepover at her friend Mandy’s down the hall.” She pointed three or four doors down. “That’s the other reason I don’t want to leave. The odds are pretty good that she’ll get scared later on and want to come home.”
“I was the same way,” I admitted. “Isn’t it crazy the things we are scared of when we are little?”
“Yeah, now look at us.” Amber threw her arms up in the air, giving me her best superstar imitation. “We’re freakin’ porn stars!”
“Shhh! You probably don’t want your neighbors knowing your business.”
“Oh fuck them! You better grab a wine glass and catch up. I’ve already got a pretty good buzz going here.”
On the way to retrieve a glass, I pulled out my phone and sent Gunner a quick text.
Me: Hey stud. I’m at Amber’s and we are about to tackle a big bottle of wine. Talk tomorrow?
Gunner: Knock yourself out, you deserve it! Call you in the am.
Gunner
After exchanging texts with Raven, I felt that familiar emptiness settling in. I had never missed anyone the way I missed her after each scene. I thought about the lie I had told her mother. I wish we actually were enjoying a nice bottle of wine in Napa right now. I’m going to have to lay down the law with Carter once I’m out of my contract.
Feeling uneasy, I decided to go for a drive to kill some time. I should see if Suzanne is back at the dungeon, I thought as soon as I got back on the highway. I was growing increasingly curious about what type of information Carter had been fishing for, as well as the connection between Renegade and Victoria Love.
Since it was Friday night, the dungeon was still busy. Sapphire had a young woman screaming in one room, while Blade was finishing up a level one scene with one of the random young starlets in another. I’m glad that I didn’t have to shoot another scene after Raven and I finished. My heart definitely wouldn’t have been in it. I headed toward Suzanne’s office after seeing the lights were still on back there. I stopped at the door when I saw that she was talking with the cop. She must be doing an exit interview. I wonder if he still likes Sapphire. Shit, she noticed me.
She leapt from her chair and came over to the door. “Get in here,” she ordered halting my retreat from the scene.
“What’s going on?”
“J.O., this is Gunner,” she said introducing me.
“I’m familiar with your work.” He smiled.
“After tonight, I’m familiar with yours as well,” I countered.
“That’s not all he was up to,” Suzanne said sternly while glaring at J.O.
“She’s quite a bloodhound. I told her that she should have been an investigator,” J.O. quipped.
“I can smell a cop from a mile away. Once I had your address, it wasn’t hard to confirm,” she replied, giving him a disconcerted look.
“Okay, I have no idea what’s going on, but after you left the mansion I got interrogated by Carter. Something about Victoria Love disappearing and Renegade being involved?”
“You might as well tell him what you’ve been sharing with me,” Suzanne told J.O. “We can trust you right?”
“Of course, you and I just talked about being on the same side,” I replied, anxious to know what was going on.
“Victoria Love was a member of the witness protection program. The feds kept her under wraps until after her ex-boyfriend was put away for life,” he stated. “After that, she was looking for a fresh start so…”
“So they sent her here to shoot porn?” I couldn’t help pointing out the irony.
“It was apparently something she wanted to do out of curiosity. They had kept her safe and set her up with a new identity; she was simply returning a favor,” he explained.
“And how are you involved?” I asked, not really getting the connection.
“He’s with the Marshall’s office,” Suzanne interjected. “He’s been living just down the road from us for the past couple of months.”
“Yeah, I know that part. He’s the one who picked up Raven last Friday. She paid for his session tonight with Sapphire,” I replied, reiterating everything I knew about the situation.
“I wanted to see first-hand how this place was being run and whether or not we could use it to nail Mr. Randolph,” he said with a subtle smirk. “Unfortunately, it seems to be pretty clean.”
“I’ve been explaining how everything works here. I didn’t want the feds dismantling all my hard work just to get back at Dad,” she countered.
“Mr. Randolph is the primary target of the whole investigation. Miss Love went in with the intent of cozying up to him. Due to her age, we thought that maybe she could lead us to where the sex slaves were being sent,” he explained. “We got lucky and he took the bait.”
“So that’s his other project? Selling girls as sex slaves?”
“It appears so. Renegade contacted us a few weeks back, with a tip that there were several girls being held in a warehouse somewhere near Tecate, Mexico. Victoria agreed to help us pinpoint the location.”
“So she’s okay?”
“One of our agents, posing as a rich middle-east businessman, bought Victoria from one of Carter’s partners.” He nodded. “When the real buyer showed up a few hours later, however, all hell broke loose.”
“And Renegade?”
“He seems to be hell-bent on helping us put away Mr. Randolph.”
“So am I,” Suzanne chimed in.
“That guy sure knows how to make enemies.” J.O. chuckled.
“So why does Carter think that Renegade had something to do with Victoria’s rescue?”
“The feds told Renegade to stay away from the warehouse, but obviously he didn’t listen,” J.O. replied.
“He never could listen,” I confirmed. “He’s always trying to live up to his nickname.”
“Whoa, we’re done here,” Suzanne, said after glancing at her iPad. “Dad just left the mansion.” Holy shit, she must be tracking him.
“All right, thanks for your help and we will definitely pursue your case as well,” J.O. told her before leaving her office.
“I don’t even want to know.” I smiled at Suzanne.
“Yeah, you already know too much.”
“Your dad threatened me tonight. He said the statute of limitations doesn’t run out for three more years on my insider trading charge.”
“He loves to threaten everyone. Look where it got him with Renegade.” She smiled. “I want you, Raven, Blade, Sapphire, and Amber to keep doing exactly what you have been doing. It’s business as usual, okay?”
“Not another word.”
A chill went down my spine as I left the dungeon that night. This time, however, it was on Carter’s behalf. He’s not going to fare well in prison. I thought about how he had rescued me from my fate and the price I had paid in return. I felt a twinge of guilt for not helping him, but then I started thinking about how he had treated Raven. She is a fantastic woman and he has treated her like shit. It’s time for him to pay for his sins.
Chapter 7
Raven
Since Amber didn’t want to go out, I asked her if I could take a quick shower. It always felt good to get rid of all of the hair dye and makeup. Even though I was always impressed with Jasmine’s skills, I never liked how the makeup felt on my face. It only took a little shampoo and a handful of face wash for the old me to resurface.
“That’s the most amazing transformation I’ve ever seen.” Amber shook her head in disbelief when I returned. “I definitely want to use her for our future shoots.”
“Blade won’t let you change your hair color will he?”
“I just want to make it a deeper red,” she replied, looking in the mirror. “The main thing I want is a smaller nose, like the one she does for you.”
“I think most women want a smaller nose.”
“And smaller feet and bigger boobs.” Amber laughed.
“The nice thing about having a completely different look is that when I take it off, it feels like an instant transformation back to the real me.”
“Like an actor playing a part.”
“Exactly! I can see how they get sucked into a role.”
“And fall in love with their co-stars.” She smiled knowingly.
“I know. I’m so screwed… the last few minutes of our scene tonight just melted me.”
“It was totally obvious that he was feeling the same way, too,” she replied with a hint of jealousy. “I thought he was going to say the L word.”
“What? When?”
“Right before he made you orgasm at the end.” She smirked again. “You looked like you were in a coma or something.”
“You were watching?” That is so freaky.
“Of course. I had the place to myself, so I poured a glass of wine and watched your show,” she replied nonchalantly. “It definitely beats reality TV.”
“Too bad the name Naked and Afraid is already taken!” We both laughed and took a long sip of wine. “You really think he was going to say it?”
“Definitely!” She insisted. “Pull up the video and see for yourself.”
“Gunner told me not to watch video of myself. He said that it would freak me out and I would get self-conscious.”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t even seem like I’m watching you with all that makeup on. Although your voice always kind of freaks me out.” She giggled.
“Have you watched your own videos?”
“Yeah, I have really long legs and feet. The camera accentuates my nose, too.” She shook her head and sighed.
“That’s all that bothered you?”
“Well, my boobs are too small and my ass is a little saggy… but what else is new?” She got up to grab the wine bottle.
“I think I’ll wait until we are done shooting level ten. That way if I get freaked out, at least I’ll be off the hook with Carter.” I reasoned.
“Oh you look cuter than hell,” she scoffed, filling my glass to the top. “I only wish I had your body.”
“You pretty much do except for that fair skin of yours.” I poked her in the arm.
“Yeah, if only I coul
d tan.” She sprawled out on the couch. “Then all would be right with the world.”
Her dramatic pose made me laugh. “I don’t think all will ever be right in either of our worlds.”
“Whatever! You and Gunner will run off, get married and raise half a dozen kids,” she speculated. “Meanwhile an FBI agent will find me cut up into small pieces somewhere after Blade goes off the deep end.”
