Page 13 of Mex

“Fuck,” Jayme growls, but he knows just as well as I do ... He’s going to take me there, and he’s not going to stay.

I need to do this.

Even if the very thought terrifies me.

Marek will never know how terrified I am of him.

Not ever.

But believe me, I’m fucking petrified of that man.

His heart is as black as stone and as cold as ice.

His soul ... well ... there are simply no words for that.

4

Staring up at the largetent, I swallow.

Coming here is a stark reminder of the worst things that life holds. I’m numb to it, but that doesn’t mean when I walk through those tent openings, I’m not holding my breath and praying for my life.

From the outside, it almost resembles a circus tent. In a sense, that’s what it is. At least, that’s the cover they use. I wouldn’t call it a cover in the full sense, because they’re actually the biggest traveling act in the United States – the problem is, what goes on behind closed doors is a scene from your worst damned nightmares. Marek is a monster, and his men? They’re just as evil.

They snatch girls from the street and force them to work, learning the ropes and creating a new act for their little show. When that act gets old, those girls disappear, never to be seen again. They find a new bunch, and so it goes. That’s just scratching the surface. The lengths they go to to make those girls the best are what my deepest, most haunted fears are created from. People on the outside don’t know, or maybe they do and they would just never dare touch the man leading this show.

I’m certain he is more powerful than any law enforcement around, hell, the guy probably has something on all of them. People tend to stay away from him, very few have tried to take him down. I’m certain the biker club wants to do just that, and they know that I work alongside him, but they’ll never get me to spill. Not even for a second. My life is worth far more than that, and, honestly, if they cared about their own lives they would stay away, too.

I’m doing them a favor.

Reaching the large tent, I come face to face with two very big, very terrifying men. Dark sunglasses cover their eyes, but they don’t even try to hide the guns hanging from their belts. The public do not come in here, unless a show is on, but the men outside the main gate know who I am so they let me in. These guys are always different, though, so it can take a little more convincing to have them let me through. You don’t just walk in here, there is no way in hell you’d get away with it. It’s high on security and surveillance.

I don’t get the chance to open my mouth before the man to my left reaches out and opens the tent, just enough for me to be able to squeeze in. He didn’t even ask questions; I should be relieved, but that only lets me know that Marek knows I’m here and he wants me in there immediately. I don’t thank the man; I just step through the opening and into the large tent. Tipping my head back, I take it in.

It's huge in here, with all sorts of contraptions hanging from the roof. These women do acts that are out of this world, swinging from heights like that. It is unique, though, and unlike any other traveling shows. This one is dangerous – they take their acts to the edge of insanity, the kind of danger that has your toes curling if you’re in the audience. Lives simply do not matter to Marek, and he’s willing to put them at risk to have the audience so shocked that they won’t ever stop talking.

That’s how he makes it.

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