Tackling Her Obsession with the Tight End

Chapter 16: Masquerade Hell

Sarah

I grip my purse as I follow Paul through the building. He opens the door to an office I've never seen. "We'll need the website ready to go for online bidders. It should look very elegant, this is going to be a billion dollar night and they don't need to think we are some back door warehouse low rent operators."

I nod slowly. "I've already designed the graphics and then the products will be showcased on the video in the middle. A box beneath it will discreetly show the current bid and a countdown timer. Do you want soft music as ambiance?" I shove the vomit in my throat back as I describe this. It's disgusting and weird but the last time he'd hit me because there was no music for ambiance and he felt it was all cheap.

"Yes, something very mellow that won't interfere." I give a curt nod. I take a quiet deep breath before I ask for the next part. "I'll need to upload it directly to the server otherwise you won't have access to it or your father if I use my own laptop. It will need to be on the main central server to allow for international voting like you asked."

I hold up the small flash drive and see him stare at it with narrowed eyes. "Are you up to any tricks, Sarah?"

"No. I can plug into my laptop and show you first. But remember what Alec said about international voting being used. I had to figure out how to make it work so everyone sees it in real time. It needs to be on the main server." I don't miss the man in the shadows nodding his head.

"She is correct Paul. She can't run that off the restricted connection you've given her." He steps into the light and I recognize Alec Foreman, their old head of design and IT. He retired when they forced me into this saying he wanted to be around as a consultant and that my designs were better. He was somewhat normal and would sit next to me learning my tricks. I didn't like him but he was better than Paul breathing over my shoulder. He saved me a few times from Paul's wrath.

"Fine. I will log you in. Do you need to do this closer to tonight's event?" I shake my head. It's ten in the morning and hell begins at eight tonight.

"No, it can be set up with the placeholder screen with a countdown. It will kick over at the set time to the active site." My palms are sweating. He logs in before rising from his desk and indicating his empty chair. I move over and plug the drive in. As it begins to upload, I see his eyes on the screen. It loads and I enter the commands I need. Needing ten minutes for it to finish, I ask him if he wants to preview it. "I can open the demo mode to show you exactly how it will look when it begins."

"Yes. I need to make sure you didn't screw something up." He sneers but it doesn't affect me. I slowly move to the other screen and begin walking him through it. I finish and see I only wasted five minutes. I'm about to mention needing to tweak something when Alec steps over. "I would like to see it. Do you mind going through it again?" His eyes stare at me and I nod reopening the demo. He asks a lot of questions before complimenting me on the design elements. I had to basically take a crash course in basic software design and computer programming after Paul force hired me into this "job." I remove the flash drive as Paul answers his cell phone and Alec leaves. Swiftly I switch it out with the dummy one in my purse. It will pull up my program but do nothing else. I set it next to the laptop.

Maggie to her credit hadn’t questioned my virus request much. I did follow my request with my work thief story so I hope she attributed it to go hand in hand.

“Go home Sarah. You should have your attire for tonight. Embarrass me and your family will be burying you tomorrow. Be here at six.”

My heart pounds as I leave the office. I take slow, measured breaths as I chant act normal, don’t run in my head. Every minute ticks by with my anxiety ebbing away. I’m driving toward the compound gate holding my breath. I stop watching the guard talking to someone. My heart sinks when he holds his hand up to me. He walks toward my door motioning for me to roll the window down. They know…I’m going to die.

My hands are trembling as I press the button.

“Paul wants to know if you’re going straight home.”

“I have to pick up my dress from the tailor shop but I have to grab my shoes from home first for a fitting.” I manage to keep my voice steady.

He relays that before nodding. “Go then.”

I drive out of the gate until I finally stop at a red light. My head sags back against the headrest as all my other muscles finally loosen up. I want to cry with relief but I don’t have time for that. At home, I collapse on my bed for five minutes after I begin the first copy of the drive.

Once I finish the copies, I shove a pair of shoes in my large tote bag along with the brown envelopes. I head for the tailor shop where my dress really is. I wasn’t wearing the flimsy dress Paul had sent to me. Instead, I bought something similar that fit better. Right next door to the tailor is amazingly, a shipping store. Paul’s men are all too busy to be wasted following me I guess, since I’ve not spotted any watchful tails. Ducking into the shipping store, I keep my head on a swivel for any of them. When I finally get home with my dress, I want to celebrate but know it’s way too early. I have to make it through this auction. Quentin wouldn’t tell me when the FBI will end it.

At ten minutes to six, I follow two other women into the huge open room decorated like a fancy ballroom. We all match in black satin dresses with black beaded masks. A stage has been built to showcase the women being sold. My stomach is in knots and I’ve eaten nothing all day knowing it won’t stay down. Those women have to be out of their mind terrified. At least they should be rescued tonight. I close my eyes praying that this all goes to plan and we are all saved.

“I don’t have to tell you how big of a night this is. Or what will happen if mistakes are made. You ladies will dance with our buyers and be ready to field inquiries for what they express interest in purchasing.” I stare up at the elder Chadwick, Keith. He is Paul plus twenty-five years. With the same black hair and light brown eyes rounding out identical facial features, there’s no mistaking their family ties. He wears a tuxedo with a simple black eye mask. More instructions are droned out over the next hour. Then the folders are passed to us. Fifty pages with photos and stats…I shudder with disgust looking down at them. “Your references to refer back to ladies.” Keith adds before warning us the first guests are arriving.

I take my place off to the side after placing my folder with the others hidden away. Different men arrive and ask us to dance. A few have questions. Thankfully most of them want to drink. The last one I danced with had a familiar voice. I think he might be a mayor in a nearby town. Hopefully he’s caught and exposed.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. I think it’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for.” Keith and Paul stand on stage in their tuxedos smiling at their audience of depraved buyers. "Online bidding should be ready also. Our first three though, are exclusively for our in-house guests." Paul waves his arms and the curtain opens showing three.....girls. I stare at them in horror, wondering if they are even eighteen yet. They wear white dresses with red lipstick and their hair has been left long with curled ends. They look close to tears but also a little dazed. I wouldn't be surprised if they were drugged slightly for compliance.

"All our ladies tonight are certified pure. Our first beauty, Kristina, is seventeen and originally from Kiev. Her biggest dream was to become a nurse. Which could still be achieved gentlemen...." My skin crawls at the chuckles and leers in the crowd. "Bidding begins at one hundred thousand." I stand numbly by as these men bid for a girl young enough to be their daughter. Buying a human being....

"SOLD for seven hundred thousand dollars! Congratulations sir. If you will pass your token to the lady with the silver tray, she will hold it until time for payment."

By the time they've finished with the exclusive in person depravity, they make an announcement to open the online bidding. I watch and pick Quentin out as he bids and wins a few of the auctions. He does it so easily.

Somehow, I make it through the entire two-hour event without screaming. I crave a shower with a new set of eyeballs and a machine to erase the entire memory of tonight. As Paul mentions it is time to settle all accounts, I can sense the shift in the room. A bubble of anticipation seems to begin spreading. Some with the thought they are going to have their purchases, terror on the part of the girls auctioned off, and a mixture of relief and guilt among all the women next to me. We are all victims just in a different way.

Large white envelopes are being passed around to the men who participated and won. Their receipts....like buying a damn necklace. Every one of them deserves to be castrated. Paul mentioned they would require advance p*****t methods before they would be allowed to even bid.

Paul's men begin leading girls out to the stage ready to be collected as I hear them Paul thanking everyone for attending. "If you'll hold out your tokens, we will deliver your winnings to you."

As he says that, men around the room open their jackets and I spot what are probably guns being drawn with Quentin announcing loudly "Thank you gentlemen for coming. You're all under arrest for human trafficking and a litany of other items I'll list off." Agents swarm in grabbing and cuffing men all over the room. The surreal knowledge this could be their end spreads through me. I might truly be free. I watch Donovan be one of the first they incapacitate along with a few other hired guns. Smart of Quentin....but then I hear a gun go off and see one person hit the floor. Quentin screams for everyone to get down.

I find him first. Tate stands across from me, his gun aimed right for one of the agents. Right as he is about to fire, one of the attendees snarls and takes off running for the exit. He shoves aside one of the girls in his escape attempt as an agent tackles him to the ground. She's only five feet in front of me. Tate's aim turns to an agent directly to my left, but that girl will be in the crossfire.

"Look out!" I shout at her. The young girl spins toward him, seeing the gun and freezing where she stands. She's still caught in the sights of the gun Tate holds. On the other side, Quentin shouts out orders for him to stand down while he aims his own gun at him. Quentin screams at us to get down. I watch something flash in Tate's eyes and he turns the gun my way. He mouths one word to me 'traitor' as I shake my head at him. "Her death is on you." He shouts and hurries to aim at the girl again.

"NO!" I shout. The world falls away and I hear nothing as I run toward her. She's way too young to be here. I slam into her as I hear both guns fire. The sound is deafening to me as it manages to penetrate the fog of silence adrenaline had created.

Searing pain races through my chest and I feel my body arch trying to escape it. But then it slices through my upper shoulder. I scream with agony as I collide with the floor. But I realize no sound was leaving my mouth as another sound pierces my ears. The girl begins screaming hysterically, her face looming in my hazy vision. I vaguely register her hands pressing on my chest. "Noooooo. Help her! She's bleeding. She saved ME! HELP HER!"

I focus on her big brown eyes. Tears are pouring from them. I want to ask her name, but I feel dizzy and like I could throw up. "SARAH!" I see Quentin's blue eyes move into view. "Hold on Sarah. You've been shot."

That explains the pain, I think as the room begins to blur and the edges become black.