Page 111 of Spooked

But although my heart swelled at Brax’s generosity, his offer did nothing to calm my nerves.

“What if it turns into a frenzy? What if someone outbids you at the last minute? And the end of the auction is three days away—anything could happen to her in that time.”

Alexa clicked on the seller’s profile. His name was Casa Nova. That meant “new house” in Spanish, didn’t it? Or was it a play on the name Casanova? There were no personal details, just a close-up of a collar and tie for a profile picture, and a proclamation that he was the world’s best supplier of hot women, all tastes catered to, message with requests.

“Casa Nova has good feedback,” she said. “Mostly five stars. Oh, this asshole docked a point because the woman’s breasts weren’t as big as they looked in the pictures.”

That was when the true extent of the situation hit me.Meera wasn’t the only girl this had happened to.

“How many?” To my own ears, my voice sounded hollow. “How many others are on that site?”

“Right now?”Click, click, click.“Six more.”

Mostly five stars.The seller had 293 ratings. Did each one of those represent a woman who’d been sold? A life that had been stolen? Who held an auction for a freakingperson?

“Why haven’t the police stopped this?”

Alexa’s avatar shrugged. “Either they can’t find Casa Nova, or they don’t know it’s happening.”

“How can they not know? It’s right there on the internet.”

“That’s the beauty of Amber Road—it’s invite only. Buyers have to be sponsored by an existing user.”

“So how did you get access?”

“I know people, and sometimes I buy stuff there.”

“Youbuy stuff?” I turned away, incredulous, and at least Brax seemed as shocked as I felt.

“Databases and access codes, not bloody people,” she said. “Brax, don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Brax asked, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

“All judgey and holier-than-thou. It’s not as if you haven’t benefitted from my purchases in the past.”

“What about the other women?” I fought the tears that threatened to fall as I glanced at the screen again. “If we manage to buy Meera back, what happens to them?”

Silence.

“Well?”

Finally, Brax spoke. “Once we have Meera, we can go to the police. With her statement and any additional information she can provide, they’ll have to investigate the matter.”

“And meanwhile, those other girls could end up anywhere.”

“Indi, I hate the state of affairs as much as you do, but we don’t have any other leads. Meera could be anywhere. At least this way, we’ll be able to save her.”

The clock was ticking; he didn’t need to tell me that. But I hated the idea that six other women would suffer a worse fate than Meera’s. Alexa brought them up on screen.Greta, Rebecca, Karine, Nicola, Elin, Annalise.But those names weren’t real. Meera had been called Juliet.

“Save her by giving them what they want? Money? So they can carry on taking even more women and selling them off like cattle?”

“We won’t give up. We’ll keep pushing the police, and I can hire a team of investigators.”

Which might provide a long-term solution, but these women, the ones here in front of me, would go through untold anguish first. Karine, with her teary smile. Elin, a petite girl who couldn’t have been more than twenty. Annalise, with the bruise peeking out from under the bra she’d been photographed in.

“There must be another way.”

“If there was—”

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