Buying Her

Chapter 1 - Rhett

Chapter 1 - Rhett

“All the doors are secure,” I reported back to the auction manager.

“Great work, Rhett. Now get to the entrance and keep an eye on the doorman. Just look over his shoulder. Make sure we only let people in who are properly vetted. If anyone shows up with an outstanding debt, you know what to do,” the disembodied voice said in my earpiece.

“Yes, sir.” Anyone with an outstanding debt was turned over to me. They had the option to pay up or to let me show them why I had been hired as the muscle.

It was the last auction of the year, the one right before Christmas. The creeps in attendance were going to be buying themselves Christmas presents tonight. There were rumors that some members of one of the rag-tag street gangs were going to try to disrupt the auction. I had to pay extra close attention to every detail to make sure this auction went off without a hitch.

“Listen, be a little more vigilant than usual tonight, Rhett,” the manager told me.

“Has anyone said anything? Has anyone seen anything?” I asked him.

“No, not yet, just keep an eye out. I can feel it. Something’s not right,” he told me.

“Got it. Anything happens, I’ll handle it.”

That was my job. I was the hired muscle. I acted as security for these auctions. I made sure any outstanding debts were handled and kept anyone who wasn’t supposed to be there from getting in. It was disgusting work, but I owed my life to Vlad, the man behind the auctions, the Russian crime boss who had saved my life years ago in an alleyway after a shoot-out left me bleeding on the cold, wet pavement.

“Everybody is in place. We can start letting guests in,” the manager said over the earpiece.

I opened the door and nodded at the doorman to let him know it was show time. He stood behind a podium with a clipboard containing the list of every permitted guest. The list also had the names of members with outstanding debts that had to be settled before they came in. I always wished some of those guys would show up. At least then my job would have been a little fun.

I continued to listen to the voices coming across the earpiece in case anything threw up a red flag, but most of it was just random chatter.

“Have you guys seen the redhead in there? Man, she’s hot. Make sure everyone gets a chance to look at her.”

“We’re moving her up right now.”

“Guys, I’m willing to bet this auction brings in more money than any other auction we’ve had this year. Look at the girls we’ve got.”

“Yeah, I saw the redhead. Who is she?”

“Can we get an ID on the redhead?”

Normally, I didn’t care to see the girls who were auctioned off. I didn’t want anything to do with that end of the business. They were sold as s*x slaves – yes, sold. It wasn’t a date auction or a s*x auction like some of the others I’d heard about. Vlad’s big thing was human trafficking. The girls who found their way into his auctions were sold as property. It was despicable, but it paid well. It was easily the best paying gig in the city, and it was usually fairly quiet job. Vlad’s reputation was his bouncer. I was just insurance, just in case someone forgot who Vlad was.

I was getting curious about the redhead they kept talking about, though. She seemed to have everyone’s attention. Usually, the organizers treated all the girls as if they were fairly unremarkable. They didn’t make a fuss about one or the other of them, not the way they were over her.

I pushed my curiosity back and stood behind the guy checking guests in. I didn’t make it my business to know any names. I just knew Vlad and a couple of the men in his inner circle. They were the only ones who really mattered. The less I knew about everyone else, the better off I was. It was bad enough I was there at all. I didn’t want to get roped in. As long as I didn’t know too much, I felt like I could distance myself just enough to justify being there.

I watched as the guests arrived in dark suits. The city’s elite. I was paid not to recognize them from outside the auctions. Each sleazy little s**t stopped at the podium and let the doorman check him off. A couple of them arrived with women on their arms, shopping for a new toy as a couple. I didn’t even want to know what they were planning on doing to the girl they purchased.

They were all dressed to the nines, like they were attending a ball or a prestigious charity event. No charity benefitted from these auctions. This money went right into the pockets of all involved, even mine.

“Guests are arriving. Has anyone seen Vlad?” a voice asked over the earpiece. I turned my attention away from the arriving guests and listened as the organizers talked back and forth, looking for the Russian.

“We found him,” Alexander said. Alexander was a whiny little man, but somehow he was the second in command around here. The story was that he was so ruthless he made his boss look like Mr. Rogers. It was hard to believe from his whiny voice, and even harder to believe when he showed up in person. Then again, his boss wasn’t the most physically imposing man either.

So far, everything was going smoothly and according to plan, which was great for the last auction of the year. I used the money I made from the auctions to help out my brothers in the Marauders MC. I made sure everyone got a little something from the MC to show our appreciation, but I also helped a few guys make sure their kids had a good Christmas. Not everyone did as well as I did for myself. Some of the guys were really struggling.

This year, my plan was to keep a little extra cash for myself and disappear after handling Christmas at the clubhouse. I was going to take a few weeks off to myself and return in time to work the auction at the end of January. I felt like I deserved it.

Then, things started to go wrong. The tone of the voices in my ear changed from curiosity to panic. As I listened, I tried to keep an eye on the suits coming in. I knew a diversion when I heard one, and causing a commotion in the gallery was a sure-fire way to distract everyone involved with the auction.

“She’s spitting at the guests,” someone shouted.

“I’ve got it,” Alexander said.

I could hear a woman screaming. I figured it was the redhead they’d been talking about. I had never heard any of the girls scream like that. A few cried when they were bought and carried away, but most were resolved to their fate. They understood what was going on and why they were there. The screams that came over the earpiece were those of someone who had no idea what was going on or who didn’t want to be part of it. Or both.

“Make sure Vlad is out of the way,” another person said.

“Get the guests back.”

“Are we sure those restraints are going to hold?”

“Man, she’s a fighter. If we can get her to calm down, she’ll probably fetch a good price after this.”

“Get me the f**k out of here!” That last voice was hers. It pierced through all the other voices and rang out in my ear, causing the earpiece to crackle and pop.

I ripped it out of my ear violently as the cracks and pops started to turn into feedback. Judging by some of the looks I was getting, I wondered if anyone around me had heard her.

I went into damage control mode.

“Keep everyone else in here,” I told our doorman quietly before turning to everyone standing in the doorway.

“Listen, I apologize, but there have been some technical difficulties. The organizers have asked that we don’t let anyone else in until the guests who are already in can be seated for bidding. We’ll be ready to let a few more people in momentarily,” I told the arriving guests. I had been around long enough to know how to make up believable stories when things went wrong. I certainly didn’t want to tell them that one of the girl was losing her s**t and trying to attack anyone who got close to her.

At the same time, as I was making up my little white lie, I realized we had, in fact, pulled in more people than usual. It was a pretty packed out auction so far. I hoped they had plenty of girls for everyone. No one liked to go home empty handed from one of these events. Then again, more girls meant more competition, which meant higher bids.

I stepped back behind the podium and put my earpiece back in to check on how things were going when there was suddenly a hand on my arm. I turned and looked to find little Alexander standing next to me. He was short and wide, the kind of guy others picked on when they didn’t know what he was capable of doing.

“Rhett, we need your help with this girl,” he said, pulling me.

My stomach turned to ice. I didn’t want anything to do with the girls. “What girl, the redhead?” I asked.

“That’s the one. Come on.” He led me down the hall to the room where they were holding the girls.

The rest of the warehouse was dimly lit, but the room where they girls were held was bright. I could see each of them clearly. The guests in their dark suits huddled around the door at the other end of the room. I caught a glimpse of Vlad as a couple of guys rushed him out. He was tall and gangly, wiry. Just like his second in command, he didn’t look like one of the most ruthless crime bosses in the city. He looked like he should have been hanging out at the gym ogling the women in their workout clothes.

The way the auction worked was they allowed the guests to come in and look at the women tied to boards that stood upright to provide the best possible view. Then, after everyone had a chance to peruse the selection, bidding would start. They could have bought small houses and pumped money into poor neighborhoods for what they spend on these young women.

It appalled me the way they were lined up like cattle. They were tied up naked, completely exposed to the men – and in some cases, women – who were there to bid on them. No one ever talked about what happened to them after the auction, but there had only ever been a couple of women who found their way back to be auctioned off again. Most of them were never seen or heard from after being sold off.

“That’s her right there,” Alexander said, pointing out the redhead. She was strapped to a board right in front, like she was the catch of the day or something.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked. I had never worked with the women. I didn’t want to work with the women. I didn’t want anything to do with the damn auction. I just wanted to hang out by the door and make sure no one needed to be punted out.

“I don’t care what you do, just calm her down,” the little man snapped.

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