Page 51 of Fear and Desire

The women were staring at him with fear. None of them had seen a single gun up to this point.

“Ladies, I need you to listen to me. Please, trust me. Trust Master 1. I can’t say any more right now. Just… trust us.” He didn’t wait for an answer, but pulled the first woman along, and this time her feet came loose. The other women followed, confused looks on their faces as they walked out the door. They hesitated at the sight of the driveway and dirt road filled with vehicles. Large men leaned against SUVs and limousines, eying each other warily, but as the group of naked women caught their attention, they stopped staring at each other and turned to leer.

They entered the renovated barn through a side door and paused behind a curtain that separated the group from the crowd on the other side.

Dan met them there. Josh looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Dan shook his head imperceptibly.

DeLeo hadn’t shown yet.

Where was he?

Laura:

Laura and Claire weren’t sure how long they’d sat in the stifling room. They could hear some of the activity outside the door. There had been an occasional voice, along with some scuffling as heavy objects were dragged across the floor. The voices got more numerous as the building filled up. They held each other’s hands tight, sure that the raid was going to start at any moment.

Instead, the voices quieted, and Dan started to speak. They couldn’t make out his words, but it sounded like the auction had started. They looked at each other, unsure what it meant.

The grating sound of a key in the lock of the outer door startled them. It sprang open. Marco stood in the doorway, grinning his gap-toothed grin, and holding a gun pointed straight at them.

“Onyourfeet.Now!”

Laura and Claire scrambled to stand.

“We’re going to take a short walk back to the other building. There’s someone who wants to meet you two.” He slid into the room and motioned for them to precede him out the door. They grabbed hands and stumbled out into the bright sunshine. The door they’d just come through was on the backside of the barn and was just a few feet from the rear door to the main building, so they were back inside within seconds. Marco came after them, taking a brief look around outside before shutting the door.

He waved them down the hall and directed them into the room with the bondage equipment. Claire shoved Marco and tried to bolt, but he recovered and punched her so hard in the stomach she fell to her hands and knees, gasping. Laura dropped next to her, glaring hatred at the man.

“Next time you try anything, I’ll shoot you,” he warned. “Now get up.” As Laura helped Claire stand up on shaky legs, the door opened again. A large weathered man in a white linen suit and a panama hat with a gaudy striped ribbon walked in, followed by two even bigger men dressed in dark suits. He walked over to the two trembling women and stood still, gazing at Laura, then flicked his eyes to one bodyguard.

“Strip them.”

Laura was unresisting as the guard yanked up her newly acquired shirt and pulled it over her head. He shoved the bottoms down into a puddle at her feet and left them there as he moved to Claire. In less than a minute, both women stood bare before him. Though she’d been naked for weeks, somehow this stripping was more of a violation than if she’d been naked already.

DeLeo’s gaze traveled from her face down, lingering on her breasts, then down more, stopping again, this time to fixate on her bare mound. He smiled a predatory smile.

“Oh, yes. A worthy trophy, indeed.”

His gaze shifted to Claire’s frightened eyes. He gave her the same all-over assessment and shrugged dismissively. “Nice.”

He cleared his throat. “Pardon me for my lack of manners. I’m Victor DeLeo. I am the man who owns all of this–” he swept his hands around the room “–and who will leave a little early from this lovely gathering, with the two of you.”

Laura stumbled backwards. “No,” she begged. “Please, no, please, let us go…” her voice trailed off.

“My dear nephew Marco seems to think there are some games going on here. I’m not exactly sure what kind, but I no longer trust the man I have in charge, and I have no intention of waiting around to find out. The time for games is done. Don’t worry; I’m not going to kill you. You’re both going to come with me, just as I’d planned, and I’m going to keepyou”—he smirked at Laura—“locked up and available for my use whenever I please. And I might just share you with a few business associates from time to time.” He nodded toward Marco, who leered at her.

“Andyou”—he addressed Claire—“I’ll sell to someone very discreet and very isolated, for a lot of money. What happens to you after that, I don’t really care.”

Claire’s legs gave out and Laura scrambled to support her. “Leave her, please. She’s not part of this. Just leave her out of this.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “She issomuch a part of this! It was sweet, watching that man pull you into his arms and hold you tight on the camera, just like little lovebirds!” His voice dripped sarcasm. “I couldn’t possibly ignore that, which is why I’m taking both of you. But I stayed away from the little party that’s being thrown today, just in case. I only risked coming here through the escape tunnel to pick you both up. And take care of one thing before we leave.”

He turned to Laura. “Did Dan tell you the good news? I had a set of branding irons prepared just for you.”

29

Josh:

TheroomJoshhadleft the women in was going to be hot since the window wouldn’t open, so he grabbed more cold bottled water and headed for the locked door. He slipped the ill-fitting bluetooth headpiece out of his aching ear for just a minute and flicked the mute switch on as he shoved it into his pocket. He didn’t want to clutter the channel with any conversation he might have with the two women.

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