Page 108 of Rex

“What do you need help with?” I ask.

“The boss will explain that soon enough. Here’s some water,” he says while setting a bottle of water on the table.

I stare at him, wondering how he thinks I can drink it with my hands tied. When he doesn’t say anything further or move to release my hands, I speak.

“Is it fucking magical water?” I ask sarcastically. “I can’t drink it without my hands unless it’s somehow going to fly over here on its own.”

A fist connects with my jaw, and my head snaps back. Pain rolls through me, but I refuse to let it show. I smile and spit out a mouthful of blood near his feet.

“Like I said. Pain will become your best friend if you don’t cooperate with us. You could have asked nicely but chose the harder route,” Carrot Top states in a flat voice.

He gives the other guy, little Eddie, a nod, and Eddie snaps to attention and moves to my side. He unties one of my hands and then hurries out of reach. I stretch my arm forward, grab the water, then struggle to get it open with only one hand. I manage then to drink half the bottle. I set it back on the table and use my free hand to wipe my mouth free of blood and water.

“Boss will be here shortly. She’s not going to be happy that you’ve been roughed up, but it couldn’t be helped. The two guys that brought you here are upstairs patching up the injuries you gave them. They’re hoping to get another shot at you, so don’t give them reason to come down here,” Carrot Top explains.

“Need to piss,” I reply.

“Piss yourself,” Eddie shouts, then does the weird smile thing again.

“Go get a bucket,” Carrot orders, and Eddie frowns but heads upstairs.

“He takes orders well,” I state.

“He’s been well trained. He’s been a pet for several years and knows it’s easier to do as he’s told. Consequences are painful if he doesn’t,” Carrot Top says with a smirk.

“Who’s your boss?” I ask even though I know the answer.

“You’ll find out when you need to.”

Eddie returns and sets the bucket next to my feet. Looking at Carrot Top, I arch an eyebrow.

“We’ll untie you long enough to piss, but if you put up a fight, you’ll be hurting worse the next time you wake up,” Carrot Top says with another nod at Eddie.

Thankfully, my bladder doesn’t get shy with company. Though I have to admit, I didn’t like the fact that Eddie watched way too closely to me pissing. Odd little fucker.

The following day, I’m not sure what time it is, the boss shows up. I’m still tied to the chair, and the only thing I’ve had was that half bottle of water yesterday. I’m hungry, thirsty, and hurting when a beautiful woman walks gracefully down the stairs and stops in front of me. Savi Foster in the flesh.

I’m surprised that she’s here in person. She’s been a ghost for so long, I only found a few older pictures of her. She’s aged very little since then, but I guess the money you make off of other people’s misery helps keep a person youthful.

“Hello. I want to make you a business offer. You have a skill set that’s hard to come by, and my organization is in need of someone like you,” Savi says in a melodic voice.

I remain silent.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” she says while waving her hand around, indicating the room. “I didn’t want it to go down this way. I wanted to sit down with you in a civilized manner, but time constraints have changed things up.”

I continue staring at her without speaking.

“What would it cost my organization to hire you? Have you work exclusively for us. There will be times you have to travel, but you would do it in luxury,” she asks casually like this is a normal type of interview.

“What kind of work would I be doing?” I ask.

“Setting up auctions on the black web would be just one of your duties. Covering our tracks and keeping the organization hidden from agencies that would like to interfere with us would be another. Web and computer things to make our lives easier and cut down on the chances of getting found by law enforcement or unhappy clients. Your duties would vary, but all would make an impact on our success. You would share in that success. We need someone who can track our clients’ money sources and hide ours. We need absolute anonymity, and we’ve heard you’rethe one that can provide that,” Savi explains while leaning a hip against the table.

I listen closely to everything they’ve said, and I don’t believe they’re aware that I’ve been tracking them for a while now. She’s right about one thing—they need someone better than whoever they have if they want to stay under the radar. Finding information on her was difficult but not impossible. Hiring people like Gary and Dave, with a history of trafficking, was not smart. Someone is either careless or not as smart as they should be for this type of an organization.

“Who does this type of work for you now?” I ask.

“Why do you ask?” she returns.

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