Page 74 of Blackmailed to the Altar

“Guess we have our work cut out for us.”

I sighed and figured it was going to be a long night.

After getting settledat one of the famiglia’s safehouses, we got to work. It was hours before I’d found something, and the sun was creeping over the horizon.

“I found something,” I said.

Daniele joined me, and looked over my shoulder at the computer screen. I pointed at the dots. “This was around the time Dr. Mya received that incoming call. I traced it’s location to this property.”

“Let’s check it out.” Daniele got ready to move.

“Maybe we should freshen up and get coffee first.” I motioned to our wrinkled clothing.

We headed to the bedrooms, and I changed my clothes. I grabbed a thermos in the kitchen, and filled it almost to the brim with coffee. Much like my personality, I liked it black.

We headed out to the Suffolk area. On a dirt country back road was where the signal came from. We drove about three miles down it until it came to a fork.

“Left or right?” Daniele asked, pointing at the road.

“It doesn’t matter, since it’s a large circle from the looks of it on the aerial map.” I showed Daniele my computer.

He turned, and kept driving, ‘til we saw a huge barn in the middle of the field. There was nothing else for miles. No cars, and no signs of movement.

“Let’s check it out.” Daniele parked on the side of the dirt road.

We got out of his van and grabbed our weapons. Daniele and I jogged to the building. He motioned for me to go around one side while he took the other. I nodded, and we split up.

“Clear,” I whispered, when I reached the back of the building.

“It’s a huge fucking barn,” Daniele whispered back.

“Let’s check out what’s inside.” A feeling of foreboding took over my body.

If Nina Torres were in this barn, she might not be alive. There was a small back exit, and we took that, rather than using the big doors in the front. If there was someone in the building, we didn’t want to let them know of our presence.

We cleared each room slowly, until we reached the main area. This was no barn for animals, judging by the cuffs attached to the metal cages.

“Auction house?” Daniele mused.

“No doubt about it,” I confirmed.

“Think they have any surveillance?” Daniele walked to a small room off in the corner.

“I hope so,” I said, and I heard Daniele call out.

“Bingo!”

I headed toward him to a small security room. There were monitors all over the wall. They must’ve had eyes on everyone. I tried hacking into it, but the data kept saying it was corrupted.

I went down a rabbit hole, accessing and overriding every firewall in the system. I found one file that wasn’t corrupted, but it wasn’t in its entirety.

“I think this is from the night in question.” I got Daniele’s attention as I motioned toward the screen.

I clicked play, and saw the barn was filled with chairs. A ton of people wore masks as they were seated. Their red robes were bright in the dim lighting. An auctioneer was pointing to a cage that held a naked woman, covered in whip marks.

“Sold!” he cried over the loud jeering of the crowd.

This must be what was happening in the background of that phone call. I was about to click out of the film when a set of braids caught my attention. Her dark skin was on display, as the auctioneer ripped off her tattered bodycon dress.

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