Page 128 of Bad Enough

Loki chimed in, “I take it you’re familiar with them?”

“Only by name. Our man has connections to Hemeda’s sister.”

“I assume they’re close connections,” Loki surmised.

“Very. Anything else you can tell us?”

They watched as Loki glanced quickly off-camera. He gave off an air of being in charge, but the glance looked as if he were seeking permission to divulge information. TB knew a beta in a pack when he saw one.

He must have received permission to give them another breadcrumb. “Rumor has it that a supplier is using the port of Sallum for an expansion pipeline for moving merchandise. Everything from Egyptian artifacts to designer knockoffs, drugs to slaves. We believe that location is where the bookkeeping is, and maybe some other inconsequential things. We didn’t see evidence of any product being moved through there. That would require much higher security and would stand out to both local law officials and the general public.”

Midas asked, “Does this have to do with something called ‘Salieri’?”

Loki didn’t flinch or look off screen, but his nostrils gave the slightest of flares. “Where did you hear that name?”

“Gendry gave up the name just before we set him free.”

“You let him go?” Loki asked.

“Hell, I did,” TB grunted. “I set him free from his body.”

Waters cut straight to the point. “How does Gendry fit into this, and why would he have held onto these women until he had access to Flame?”

Again, Loki’s eye was drawn off camera and TB wondered who was directing the conversation. It could be Gilgamesh, but he was willing to bet it was Medusa.

“The supply chain we’ve been following is trying to expand. Your man, Gendry, became a new contractor for the supply chain. He came in at a very low and very local level. He was being fast-tracked through the chain’s system for the past two years.

“Ten years ago, he was moving drugs for another organization, one based in New York City. He’d made quite a name for himself there, but then just as quickly as he rose in the cartel’s ranks, he began to fall out of favor. Fell in love with the lifestyle a little too much, including the product, and started to become unreliable. He was cut loose six years ago when over ten million in drug funds disappeared. Word was he’d managed to cover his losses, and then something went wrong and the money couldn’t be paid back. How he wasn’t killed for that, I’ve no idea. I’m wondering if Sylvan Jones doesn’t figure into that somehow since she’s the common denominator between his two jobs.”

TB turned to Waters. “That matches up with what Flame told us. She thought she was being used to cover his debt. But ten million? That’s high for a single girl.”

“She worth that to you?” Waters snarked.

TB rolled his eyes. “Worth any price to me, but to some guy just out to buy a toy to play with? Too high. I worked the skin trade a time or two as part of my contractor business. Nothing I ever collected even came close to that price.”

“He’s right, Waters,” Loki confirmed. “Ten million for a single girl in 2016? Way too high, no matter who she was. A million, maybe two, if she was virgin and ticked a bunch of other specific boxes for someone. There was something about your girl that the buyer wanted. Fast forward and someone is after her again, through the same seller?”

“This isn’t just any supply chain anymore, gentlemen,” God interrupted. “This is something bigger. Something far worse than simple trafficking for labor and sex slaves.”

Loki nodded. “As I mentioned earlier, the location under the club looked as if it was going to be used for a shipping point. We’ve seen others, but not ones nearly this sophisticated. This looked new and in the early stages of set up. There weren’t nearly enough sarcophagi for it to be an established point of sale. Slime bucket that he was, Gendry’s instincts were good, which is probably part of why he was on the fast-track.

“The location is pretty sweet. Easy access to all the main freeways, highways, a small airstrip, and the docks. Not to mention, it’s within easy driving of the California border in a pinch. Plus, the location itself is a good hunting ground, but only if used wisely. Too many people go missing directly from there, it would be noticed. However, moving product through that area would have been easy as there are a lot of trendy clubs and businesses in the area. Dressed the part properly, a procurer would be difficult to spot.

“As to why he was holding onto the girls, Gendry needed to test the auction service as well as the supply line. He had a very specific order with an open-ended shipping date: Sylvan Jones. He was also asked to provide proof that the digital system and its pipeline could move multiple persons through it undetected. So, while he waited for the perfect opportunity, he collected a few other samples of his work to run the test. Then your BDSM giant shows up unexpectedly, and his timeline gets all thrown to shit. Gendry was forced to improvise.

“You’ve stumbled into something we’ve been tracking through its growth for years. Place an order through a buyer, guaranteed shipping, warehouses of supplies to be shipped internationally. Welcome to the funhouse, gentlemen.” Someone offscreen slid Loki a piece of paper. After glancing at it, he looked up and said, “I have to sign off as we’re about to go dark. If you need a helping hand in the future, you know how to find us.”

The telescreen went dark.

“Wow. They definitely went dark,” Midas said.

“What do you mean?” Waters asked.

“I mean, they’re nowhere. Usually, I can back channel and see where they are. But I can’t see anything. It’s like they never were on our server.”

“We record everything, though.”

“Yeah, well…” Midas clicked a few keys, and static appeared on the screen. “Ghosts in the machine. No recording exists.”

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