Page 148 of Stabby Little

"My sweet boy… you never would've made it as a stripper."

"My girlfriend says I have a terrific body. Cougars would pay top dollar to see my dick."

"Yeah, right."

"I spend lots of time in the gym training for football. I could use my body to pay off my debt."

"No." Linda tilts Miles's chin up. "Michael wants your friend. This is the perfect trade-off."

"How do you know Michael won't demand more?"

"He's been searching for Ollie since he escaped his warehouse basement. He'll be thrilled."

Miles goes silent. "How do you know Ollie was in Michael's basement, Mom?"

I can't take it anymore. The rage barreling through me is too intense to bear.

I snap my eyes open and stare at my former friend's mom. "I want to know, too, Linda. How did you know I was in Michael's warehouse?"

Linda walks over to me. "Since the first fucking day."

Miles gasps behind her. "What do you mean?"

Linda whips around. "I made the call."

"You're lying."

"Grant was more affectionate with Ollie than my own son." Linda rips her mask off and throws it on the ground. "Miles didn't deserve that."

"I can't believe you did that," Miles growls.

"I thought Grant's obsession would die down." Linda stares dead into my eyes. "But it didn't. It grew stronger. I feared you two were closer than you should've been."

"What do you mean?" I demand.

"You know exactly what I mean," Linda sneers. "Grown men shouldn't care so much about boys who aren't their sons. I made the call when Grant was in the shower. I knew you were coming over to play with Miles. Michael was looking for more boys for his black market adoption ring. You had a shitty home life with a nasty father. I knew you'd be in a better place than your own home. The best part? You wouldn't steal my husband."

Rage pulses behind my temples. "You told Michael to take me?"

"Relax. He pampered you. All the boys involved in his black market adoption ring were treated like little princes. He told me so himself. I never understood it—I thought you were little shits who deserved to be beaten—but you had a better life in Michael's warehouse than you ever would've in the real world. Don't deny it."

My jaw tumbles to my feet. "Michael's a human trafficker. How could you be so fucking stupid?"

Linda narrows her eyes. "He runs the largest underground adoption ring in the country. He provides sons to wealthy families in need."

"He provides boys for disgusting criminals to abuse!" My fingers curl into fists. "You have no idea how much abuse I suffered. How many men raped me every single fucking day. You destroyed my life, you fucking bitch."

Miles marches up to me. "Don't speak to my mother that way. Everyone knows you had it better than me. Mom told Dad's bosses to rough you up, but they wouldn't listen to her. They said you were too valuable and would make a wealthy family very happy someday."

"You're monsters."

A crack of lightning shoots outside. Thunder shakes the ground and sends tiny plaster particles crashing to the floor.

The sound of tires screeching on pavement reaches my ears. A door slams shut as footsteps hurry up the walkway, then enter the house.

A moment later, the door to the cramped room swings open and a man in a ski mask walks in.

Miles runs up to him. "It took you long enough—"

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