The Auction (18 page)

Tori took a deep breath.
“Well the main person was a woman named Zee. She seemed to be in charge of everything. Everyone who worked there
took
orders from her. She also punished me whenever she felt I was out of line.”

Foster’s jaw tightened but he typed away at his keyboard. “What else? I’m just taking down what you say so I don’t forget anything.”

Tori nodded in understanding. “There was Shia. She was the girl who basically the go between. She would groom me and relay any order Zee didn’t give me directly. She brought my meals and told me what to expect. She was just a child really, only fifteen years old. Apparently, some of the women these people took were pregnant. When the women come to term, they deliver the babies and sell the mothers off. Shia was one of those children. The organization raises the girls to be servants and sometimes they sell them off too. The boys they sell as children, around the age of eight.”

“Disgusting,” Aya whispered, sh
aking her head as she listened i
n.

“Zee always had two guards with her,” Tori continued. “One she referred to as
Bronte
and the other
Xander
.
There was also another man name Dino who would be with her occasionally but I didn’t see him often.
”

“I’ve met Dino. He was there on the night of the sale. Anything else?”

She bit her lower lip and shut her eyes as she remembered being in those cold white rooms. “Everything around me was always bright. After I was given my meals in the morning I would sit in a sensory deprivation room until I thought I’d go crazy. Then I was escorted to a room where I
was made to sit
in front of a screen and given what Zee calls instruction time. It was basically a video of everything that was expected of me when I was given to my new master. I had to watch the same footage three times a day, every day until I could recite it word for word. It was torture in and of itself. Once when I
fell
asleep
during instruction time
, Zee had me strapped to a wall. Her guards doused me a bucket of water and she proceeded to electrocute me with this wand. It was horrible.” Tori began to shake as she remembered screaming for mercy while that evil bitch watched her without blinking an eye.

Aya placed her
arm
around Tori’s shoulders for comfort.

Foster stopped typing and eyed her solemnly. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Tori shrugged with a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“I beg to differ about that, but are there any other people you remember interacting with. Anyone else mentioned?”

“Those were the only four people I ever saw. I couldn’t even tell you where we were located. There were no windows and I was only ever in three rooms. I didn’t even see the other women there but I know they were around according to Shia. I believe they each had their own attendant. Oh, and they never referred to me by name. They called me Rose. According to Shia all the women who went on the block were given flower names. I don’t know how significant that
is
or not but I once asked Zee why. Maybe she was feeling generous that day because she was never forthcoming with information, but she said it was what the boss preferred.”

Foster seemed to be mulling over Tori’s statements before he spoke again. “So there was a mention of someone else in charge. Hmmm. And he was never mentioned by name?”

“No. He was just the boss.”

“I know this part may be painful for you but how did you come to be at the auction? You mentioned being in The Run again and I can only assume it was one of the times when I didn’t participate, but
is the man who tagged you
the one who sold you off?”

She nodded as tears burned her eyes, and she remembered that evil asshole who seemed to get off from torturing her and the other girls there. Tori wondered if the other women in his house had met the same fate as
her
. “I was with that sadistic bastard for months and I never thought he would let me go, at least not a
live. And then one night he said
to me that it will be our last night together. I experienced the most pain I’d ever endured in my life that night. I passed out afterwards. The next thing I remember is waking up in this big white room.”

“Who was he?” Foster’s tone had taken on an aggressive edge. His chest heaved up and down and he looked as if he wanted to commit murder.

“I only ever knew him as Mr. X. Even his friends called him X. And before you ask, his friends were always referred to by letter names. They always used some kind of code with names. I wish I could tell you more about him. His features were pretty nondescript except for this nasty mole on his right cheek. It was the size of a thumb and it was hairy. He called it his beauty mark but I always noticed it because that’s usually the type of blemish a person with his money would have had lasered off. He seemed quite proud of it.”

Tori noticed
Foster’s sudden change in demeanor
. All color had drained from his face.

“Foster, are you okay?” Aya asked.

“Uh, yeah. Thank you, Victoria. Your in
formation has been helpful. I’
ll be in touch.” He signed off before she could say another word.

Tori looked at Aya. “What was that about?”

“I don’t know but here’s hoping you he found your information useful.”

<><><><><>

A cold sweat broke out along his skin. It couldn’t possibly be. Once he ended the call between him and Victoria, he contacted Dare.

“Any news?” Dare asked without preamble when his image popped up.

“I know that it’s been shut down, but do you still keep records from The Run?”

“Yes, why?”

“Because I believe I’ve finally found the son of a bitch behind the trafficking.”

Chapter Nineteen

Foster looked over the transactions from The Run from the last two years which had been provided to him from Dare’s assistant Ronald.

“Have you found what you were looking for yet?” Dare asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Not yet, but I think I’m going to narrow it down to the days I know I didn’t participate as a patron in The Run.”

“You were in quite a few of them. It’s kind of odd you wouldn
’t be at the one this guy was
in. Most of the patrons were returning clients according to Ronald.”

“Exactly. Not to sound paranoid, but it almost seems like he was avoiding me on purpose.”

“If that were the case, the question remains, how would he know which ones you’d participate in and which ones you didn’t? Do you think he might have paid someone on the inside to get that info?”

“I thought about it.” He moved his finger around the holographic screen. “Remove all dates with
Foster Graham,
”
Foster said to the computer.

The words and numbers on the screen began to scramble and several lines disappeared and everything was rearranged until only six lines remained. He tapped the first line under the patron’s tab and a list of names unfolded, revealing thirty-five patrons. As Foster scrolled down the list, he came across the name he was looking for. He then went to line two. Again that name popped up. It appeared again on the next line and the subsequent ones. “Got him. That son of bitch. Why didn’t I see this before? I should have seen the clues but I’ve been so single-minded.”

“What, Foster?”

“It was Winthrop all along.”

“Winthrop?” Dare frowned. “As in Eli II?”

“Yes, him.”

Dare widened his eyes in apparent surprise.
“No one has seen him in years. It’s like he dropped off the face of the planet even though I know the Winthrop property never went up for sale after Eli Winthrop the First died. There was a rumor that that the Winthrops experienced some financial problems after they sold their interest in the bank. I haven’t thought about him in years. I remembered we used to associate with Eli
III. He disappeared one day. I heard he was shipped off to a school overseas. Are you sure it’s Winthrop? He’s always struck me as a mousy guy.”

“It all fits now. He was at the auction on the night I was there. It struck me as odd that he would be there
as well
. Like you said, word was out that the Winthrops were broke, but in order to be in a place like the auction one would have to have significant wealth and some connections to the underground. I was quick to write him off because I didn’t see him as a threat. But then I spoke with Victoria. She told me about a Mr. X. He was the man who had tagged her the second time she volunteered for The Run. It wasn’t until she described a mole on the side of his face with significant amount on hair on it did I make the connection.”

“The Winthrop curse,” Dare whispered.

Exactly. The birthmark on the side Eli II’s face was apparently hereditary because his father had it as well as his son. Foster and Dare used to tease Eli III for it, but their childhood friend didn’t seem to mind. Eli III seemed to think of it as something of a family crest. Foster and Dare had called it The Curse.

Foster nodded. “As much as I’ve participated in The Run, don’t you think it’s odd that every single time Winthrop participated I wasn’t there? Not only did it seem like he was avoiding me he might have had me watched.”

“But I never saw him at the games either.”

“You let Ronald run it for you. You were hardly ever there. There was less risk of running into you than me. But I think this specifically has to do with me. I’m beginning to think there may be some hard feelings about the dissolution of my grandfather’s partnership with his father. Maybe he feels cheated out of his cut. His words had been very cryptic to me when I spoke to him at the Auction. Shit!” Foster exclaimed now that he saw everything so clearly.

Dare frowned. “What?”

“That
mysterious
message he gave me about being i
n his territory. Fuck, that bastard was hiding in plain sight all along. All this time I was chasing all these leads that were getting me nowhere and it was fucking him. Shit, I bet he was the one who’s been leaving me those calls. He attacked my banks; he’s the one who nearly had me thrown in prison. And he threatened me all those months ago.”

Foster hopped out of his seat, raging mad. Winthrop had cost him more than he could ever know. Money, time and inconvenience aside, Winthrop had cost him Victoria. Had he not gotten that threat a while back, he and Victoria would still be together. But he’d done what he thought best for the sake of her safety.

He pounded his fist into his palm and roared with frustration. This had never been about the auction but some vendetta in the mi
nd of a madman. He wouldn’t
put it past that asshole that he had set his sights on Victoria out of spite to somehow hurt him. When he got his hands on that man, Foster would hurt him in ways that he’d never done with anyone else.

“You mean you were getting threats before all this started?”

“Yes. It was only one threat but it worried me enough to take precautionary measures.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to get you involved, and frankly I wondered if it’s my penance for what I did in the past. All those people I tortured and beat up were bound to come back to haunt me. I’m just surprised that you’re still willing to associate with me after I told you what I did.”

“Like I said before, I’ve done some pretty fucked up things myself. It’s not like I have that much room to talk.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never carved your name into someone’s chest with a laser.”

“Shit, man, that’s hardcore. Look, I’m not judging you. I know what it’s like to be under the influence of someone with a strong personality. Even though I hated my father’s guts, a part of me always wanted his app
roval. So I get that you did those
things because you looked up to your grandfather.”

Foster snorted. “Yeah, but I started to like it too much. I’ve avoided going back
to those ways,
up until now. I thought Myers would be my last victim but apparently I have one more.”

“Winthrop?”

“Yeah. It’s time for a little payback.”

<><><><><>

Tori wasn’t sure what to make of how her call had ended with Foster. He’d ended it so abruptly she wondered what she’d said to make him sign off so suddenly. “That call was strange, wasn’t it?” Tori mused out loud.

“You’re still thinking about that?” Aya asked looking up from her holopad. They had settled in the living room by the fireplace after dinner. Aya had refused to let Tori leave the table until she’d eaten a decent portion.

“Yeah. I didn’t think anything I told him would be that helpful but maybe he’s found a clue.”

“Maybe. You’ll just have to trust that he’s working as hard as he can to get Macy back.”

“Yeah,” Tori replied more to herself than to Aya.

“Dare!” Aya jumped up from her seat. “What are you two doing here?”

Tori had been so deep in thought she didn’t hear anyone enter the room. She turned around to see Dare with Foster trailing behind.

Dare nodded in Tori’s direction but stalked toward Aya with purpose. He grabbed the petite woman by the arm and proceeded to drag her out of the room. To Tori’s surprise she went with him without protest or a backward glance. With Dare and Aya gone, she was left alone with Foster.

Foster’s
lips were tilted in a half-grin. “My friend is not one to waste time when there’s something he wants.”

The way Dare had dragged Aya out of the room left no doubt in Tori’s mind exactly what he’d taken her out of the room for. “Well, we have been here for a few days,” she said a bit uneasily. She wasn’t sure how to
behave
around him. There was a time when they could tease and joke with one another but not anymore.

“So did you two come by with news?”

“Yes and no.”

“Which is it?”

“As you’ve already seen, Dare was eager to see his woman. And I wanted to tell you about what I learned.”

“What?” Her heart began to pound. “Are you any closer to finding my sister?”

“I don’t know, I do know who’s behind the auction so at least now we can find out how to gain access to finding Macy.”

“Who is it?”

“Your Mr. X turns out to be an old acquaintance of
my
family.”

She gasped. “You know him?”

“Not well, but his father and my grandfather were once business partners. After the partnership dissolved we didn’t hear from them again. In fact seeing him at the auction was the first time I’ve seen him since I was a kid. I wrote him off as insignificant because of how little pull he had in our circles. I was so single-minded that I didn’t stop to ask myself why someone like him would be in a place like that, particularly someone who wasn’t supposed to have the wealth it took to get into the auction in the first place. When you mentioned that birthmark on his face, something clicked.”

“You figured that all out because of a birthmark?”

“Yes. It’s very distinctive, isn’t it?”

Tori shuddered as she thought of all the time
s
that thing had been close enough for her to touch. “It was a disgusting hairy mess.”

Foster nodded. “He had a son with the exact same mole. Dare and I used to tease him about it but apparently it was hereditary. That’s why it came together. Look, Victoria, would you mind having a seat?”

“Why?”

Foster hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure of himself. Victoria wasn’t sure if she’d like what he had to say next. “Because I think after everything you’ve been through, you deserve the truth and it’s time you finally heard it.”

He seemed sincere enough but she couldn’t tell if this was some kind of trick. With Foster she never knew. “Why can’t you tell me while I stand?”

“Because it’s a long story. Look, I know I haven’t given you much reason to trust me but please, could you take a seat?” He gestured toward the couch.

Tori let out a labored sigh as she complied. “Okay, I’m sitting. What is it you have to tell me?”

“Around the time I started digging into the trafficking organization that funneled women into the auction is about the same time I began to receive threats. I started getting anonymous calls and all of a sudden my businesses, finances, and reputation, were under attack. I believed at first it was because of my snooping, but it was more than that. I realized it was personal. They were trying to destroy me in a way in which I could never recover. I believe the person behind all my mysterious calls was the same person who’d threatened me a couple years ago. That person was the reason I made you leave.”

Tori shook her head vigorously. He didn’t get to twist the truth to suit his needs. He was playing with her heart again, to
bend
her to his will. But she refused to play this time. “You made me leave because you got tired of me. You said so yourself. What do you think you’re trying to accomplish with this revisionist history?”

“I told you what I wanted you to believe.
I was purposely cruel
. I did it so you would move on with your life and forget about me. Sure it would hurt at first but then as you healed, you could find someone worthy of you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to believe me but it is the truth. Someone had set one of my banks on fire. The security in my building was impeccable so I realized it had to be someone on the inside. Once I found out the culprit, that person decided to take their own life than to tell me who paid them off. It was then I realized how dangerous the mastermind behind it had to be. I wasn’t worried so much for myself as I was for you. If they were attacking my businesses it wouldn’t be long before they tried to get me through my heart.
That person hinted that that he was watching us.
”

“What are you trying to say, Foster? Don’t tell me you actually had feelings for me, because the way you pushed me aside was not how someone shows they care.”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you, Victoria. I fell for you hard, almost from the moment I saw you. There you were in a room full of women who all seemed to have every ounce of spirit zapped out of them while you stood there with your head held high. You looked at each and every patron in the eye daring them to steal your dignity. You were a queen among peasants, a beacon shinning in the darkness. And I wanted that light. Needed it. I had to have you at all costs. I rationalized to myself that if I didn’t claim you someone else would. So I took you and for a while I believed that we could have something special. I thought maybe you were starting to feel a little for me too. And I intended to tell you and make it real, but then the bank burning happened. And I felt my past coming back to haunt me. I didn’t want you in the crossfire so I let you go. If you believe nothing else I say believe that because I loved you. I still do and after all I’ve been through, and all I put you through, I owed this explanation to you.”