Chapter 5

Wes backed Meg’s car into my driveway. As soon as he stopped I went into the house, turned off the alarm and opened the garage door. Wes backed up until the trunk and back doors of the car were in the garage. They unloaded the money and their backpacks. Lee pulled Meg out of the car and tossed her over his shoulder. I followed him into the kitchen and waited until he dropped her into a chair. He looked at her for a minute and asked, “If I take that tape off your mouth will you keep your mouth shut?”

She nodded, a lot more listlessly than I would have expected. Lee tore the tape off and I got her a glass of water. I had to put a straw in the glass since her hands are still tied behind her. While she sipped her water she looked at me so piteously. It almost broke my heart until I reminded myself what they’ve done to me and, worse yet, what they planned for my future.

Perry and his men didn’t show up until about twenty minutes later. They didn’t look like men who just killed three men; three very evil men. But they do seem a lot quieter than normal. I stood up and greeted them when they entered the kitchen. I wasn’t sure what the appropriate thing to say is at a time like that. I ended up saying, “I’m sorry. I wish you didn’t have to do something like that for me.”

Perry shrugged and replied, “It’s never easy. But all I had to do was think about what they’ve done to you and to those other women and...” He shrugged again and asked the three men who stayed behind with him, “Anyone want a drink?”

I interjected, “I’ll get them. What do you guys want?”

Perry smiled and said, “Sit down. We aren’t used to being waited on.”

Perry invited everyone into the large dining room. He asked Lee to give Meg another dose of the drug and bring her in, too.”

As soon as everyone was seated, Perry started asking Meg about the farmhouse. He quickly got the directions to it, the layout of the house and an idea of who they might find out there. Meg said that in her experience, except for the girls and the couple who are in charge there has only ever been one other man to keep the girls in line and to handle the occasional drunk who might be unhappy about something and want to cause some trouble. And no, she has never seen anybody out there carry a weapon though it’s possible the guard/bouncer could have one.

No one spoke for a minute or two. Everyone seems to be thinking ... well, everyone but me. I’m just watching. Then, as though there had just been a conversation on the subject, Steve suggested, “Kasey and me?”

Perry answered, “That’s what I was thinking. Let’s find out a little more about the studio first.”

He turned to me and said, “Take a look at her. What do you think?”

I know what he’s asking. I looked into Meg’s eyes and saw the mostly blank look I’ve been seeing in my own eyes since she treated me to a pitcher of Bloody Marys. I said, “I’m no expert, of course. But I think she’s under. That’s what my eyes looked like until you guys got here. God! That seems like a week ago! It was just yesterday!”

Perry turned his attention to Meg. “Meg. Tell me about the studio. How many people are normally there? Do any of them have weapons?”

His questions seemed to require a lot more thought than you’d expect. But eventually she said, “You saw the place. You know the layout. Carter keeps a gun under the counter out front. I don’t know of any others. Unless they’re making a movie, and there isn’t one scheduled until the day after tomorrow, Carter and Tim are usually the only people there unless there’s a customer. That’s unusual, though. In the last year or so Carter has started referring most walk-in customers to other studios. He’s making so much money with ... with his other business, real customers just get in the way. Oh! And Doc sometimes drops in and they just talk or look at some of the movies they’ve made.”

Perry and Steve looked at each other for a minute or two and then Perry said, “I think you should take a couple more guys just in case. It doesn’t sound like I’ll need them all.”

Steve looked at Kasey and said, “What do you think, somebody to watch the back just in case?”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

Perry asked, “Any volunteers?”

The guys all looked around at each other, shrugged and Cal said, “Doesn’t matter to us. I’ll go unless someone else wants to. Oh, and someone needs to check out the area around the studio for surveillance cameras.”

Perry nodded and said, “Yeah. I was going to send Kasey. He has a knack for that sort of thing. But lately he’s been having trouble being in two places at the same time.”

“Kasey, I guess it’s getting a little late to make a special trip to look for cameras. You go with Steve and Cal. Take our vehicle. Lee, I want you to stay here, just in case. Keep an eye on Meg but check out the perimeter now and then, too. I’m not expecting any problems but I’ll feel better if one of us is here.”

Perry grabbed the bag containing the drug so they could count on getting honest answers from Carter and Tim. When he was ready he said, “Dave, Ken, Wes, you’re with me. We’ll take Meg’s car. If anyone runs into trouble give me a call. Okay everyone, get your gear and let’s go play Army.”

The guys all cleared out in less time than it would take to tell about it. All of a sudden there was almost total silence. It felt weird to be left behind waiting anxiously for the guys to return. The funny thing is it’s only me. Meg is zonked on Dragon’s Breath and Lee seems perfectly relaxed. I’m nervous as hell!

I offered to make Lee something to eat but he smiled, shook his head and explained, “No distractions.”

He got up and said, “Keep an eye on her but don’t talk to her. I’m going to look around a little.”

For the next forty-five minutes I sat across the table from Meg, just staring at her but not thinking about her at all. I can’t help worrying about the guys. I’d feel terrible if anything happened to any of them.

Lee finally returned and joined me at the dining room table. As soon as he sat down I exclaimed, “How the hell can you stand it?!! I can’t stop thinking about them, worrying about them! I couldn’t live like this!”

He chuckled and said, “Those seven men are the most capable men I know, or have ever known. The stupidest thing we’ve ever done was make that god damn movie. We knew better but, I don’t know. It isn’t really an excuse but I guess coming home from a war zone and trying to unwind from ... well you don’t want to hear about that. I don’t even think it was about being horny and having an opportunity to have sex with a beautiful woman and even get paid for it! That was exciting, of course. But ... I don’t know. We did a terrible thing that day. I’m pretty sure we learned our lesson. But you paid one hell of a price for the lesson we had to learn.”

I smiled and said, “I’m so glad it was you guys. Think about what was going to happen to me. And think of all the young women they would have destroyed after they used me up.”

“Don’t misunderstand, Jenna. I think what we’re doing now is one of the most worthwhile missions we’ve undertaken, and we’ve had some extremely important missions. But I’d feel better about it if we hadn’t started it out with a gang rape. That really bothers all of us ... well, all of us but Paul and Kevin. When our leaves are up I think they’re gonna have to find another team that will have them, if they can once word about them starts getting around. I guess we all thought we were better men than it turns out we are.”

Before I could think of something to say to absolve him of the misplaced guilt he and the rest of them are feeling, Lee looked at his watch and stood up. He said, “I think I’ll take another look around.”

“I wish I could go with you. Sitting around waiting and worrying is driving me fucking crazy!”

He nodded and said, “Yeah. Waiting is always the hardest part.”

It was just over half an hour later we heard a car backing up to the garage. Lee checked to make sure it’s our guys and I opened the garage door for Perry and the men who went with him to the studio. They jumped out and unloaded a trunk load of crap and a surprising amount from the back seat as well. There are some DVDs but most of what they brought back is boxes of documents. While they worked I asked, “Is everyone alright? I’ve been worried sick about you guys.”

Perry said, “We’re all fine and I heard from Steve. They’re on the way back with eight very emotional young women, two more bales of money and a couple boxes of records they didn’t have time to look through.”

I waited until they were finished unloading and asked what I could get for everyone. Now that the job is done they all want beer. I also took orders for pizza and ordered a truckload. Before calling for the pizza I went through Meg’s wallet. I was about to use one of her charge cards to pay for the pizza. Luckily, Perry saw me and shook his head. I rolled my eyes when I realized how dumb that would be and whispered, “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

He smiled and said, “That’s okay. You’re new at this.”

Fifteen minutes later Steve, Kasey and Cal and the eight girls arrived. The girls kind of freaked out when they saw Meg. It took a while to calm them down. It helped that Meg is still hogtied.

I took charge of the young women. They’re all very pretty and very sexy and very, very grateful for being rescued. I did what I could to calm them down and assure them we are going to put their lives back together, at least as much as possible. I let them and the men know that a truckload of pizza is on the way and asked if there’s anything I can do for anyone before it arrives. They all had pretty much the same response. They really want to help consume some of that beer I’ve been giving out and get used to the idea they’re finally free. I got them each a beer and Perry suggested we move the party back into the large dining room for an informal debriefing.

I asked if I could talk one of the guys into going for more beer since I’m too young to buy it. Before anyone could volunteer, Meg quietly offered, “I have some. It appears I won’t be needing it.”

That send a cold chill down my spine! She obviously knows what has happened to her partners in crime and she knows she can’t be left alive, not that she deserves to survive this mess she was largely responsible for creating. Even so, hearing the fatalism in her tired sounding voice is creepy as hell.

Two of the guys went to Meg’s house. Before they left, Perry told them to disable her alarm and make sure there aren’t any cameras recording in or near the house. If there are, destroy any recordings. The men returned twenty minutes later and reported the alarm system has been disabled and that there were no cameras inside or out. They assumed that since Meg often brought her victims home with her she wouldn’t want a video record of her comings and goings.

They brought with them a case and a half of beer. I don’t think that’s going to be enough but it’s a start. By the time they returned with the beer the pizza arrived. We served ourselves and then moved into the dining room. Kasey was nice enough to carry Meg in and drop her in a chair against the wall.

Conversation pretty much came to a stop while everyone ate. The girls ate more than anyone else. They’ve been deprived of real food but especially pizza since they were enslaved.

I convinced the guys to untie Meg. She’s resigned to her fate and obviously has no intention of trying to escape. I had to force her to eat but I can’t help it. I still feel sorry for her and I hate that!

After we wolfed down the pizza, Perry started questioning the women. He asked how long they were enslaved but more importantly the circumstances which made them all seem like safe targets, women whose sudden disappearance wouldn’t raise much of an alarm. He stressed that he doesn’t want to pry but their answers to his questions could affect our future plans.

Their backgrounds are all along lines similar to my own, making them ideal candidates for enslavement and eventual disappearance. In all eight cases these were women whose lives were in flux with no close friends or relatives who might raise an alarm.

Before he turned the subject to the events of today he pointed out that some violence has occurred and suggested if that made them uncomfortable they are free to adjourn to another room.

All eight agreed that they’ve been through too much to be thin skinned and they’re dying to know what happened, how they were suddenly set free out of the blue and by whom.

Perry looked even more uncomfortable now than he did when he was asking the women those personal questions. He looked around at his men as if they were able to communicate telepathically, and sometimes I almost think they have that power. After several long moments he said, “I can’t tell you too much about us. I guess that doesn’t sound fair but I’m afraid it’s necessary. Except for Jenna here, my friends and I are all in the military. We are a part of a special operations team but that’s all I can tell you. We have just returned from an overseas assignment a couple days ago and are on a thirty-day leave.

“Unwittingly, we did a terrible thing a couple of days ago. Not long after walking off the plane we were offered an opportunity to take part in the making of a pornographic movie. Our judgment was obviously impaired because we jumped at the chance. It sounded like an exciting little adventure and even better because it was an adventure in which no one would be shooting at us. We were not aware that the woman playing the female lead in the movie was not a willing participant or that she was being drugged. We were told the exact opposite. We didn’t learn the truth until much later that evening.

“I won’t bore you with the mechanics, but we were able to track Meg down thanks mostly to one of the men’s photographic memory and his annoying habit of noticing license plates. A little detective work led us to Jenna. I came to her home and expressed our extreme remorse and offered to make amends by making the situation go away. That’s what we’ve been doing today. That’s how we found out about you ladies.

“You should know that it’s unlikely we were able to dispose of all records relating to you. It seems to be a part of their MO so I’m assuming you also made movies and that the DVDs are out there if the cops know what to look for. It’s possible, therefore, that you may be contacted by detectives. Seven men and one woman died today. People from law enforcement are going to have questions about that and about the large cache of snuff movies we left for them to find at an adult bookstore.

“If those people from law enforcement should contact you, and if you can do so without getting in trouble, we would appreciate it if you’d tell them as little as possible about us. Don’t lie, though. You don’t want to get in trouble. If you can be as vague as possible, however, that would be greatly appreciated. If the people we work for find out about the movie we made or, even worse, about the unauthorized and extremely illegal operation we have undertaken, I can promise you they won’t be amused.”

“My friends and I are now going to go over today’s events. It’s a routine exercise we perform after every action. It’s aimed at making certain we haven’t overlooked anything and learning from any mistakes if there were any. If you wish to listen you may. If you find what you hear disturbing, please feel free to leave the room.”

Starting with Perry, each man in turn outlined what he saw and what he did today in amazing detail. It was disturbing at times. I experienced conflicting reactions listening to them tell, in such a businesslike manner, of killing the three men at the book store, the two men at the studio and the guard and the couple in charge of operating the whorehouse.

I don’t doubt for a moment all eight of the people who were killed today deserved what they got and probably a whole hell of a lot more. The people they killed were all involved in a criminal operation which prospered by enslaving, raping and killing innocent young women. But if you listened closely you could hear that killing those people affected each of them, especially killing the woman.

It isn’t like the people they killed today were armed and shooting back. This wasn’t a series of fire fights; they were executions. That’s probably a large part of why it bothers them as much as it does. They tried not to let their true feelings show. But I saw the signs of remorse when they returned from their various assignments today. I hear it in their voices even now.

After all the men gave their reports there was a long, thick silence in the room. It was several minutes before one of the women said, “They’re all dead? We’re really free? I don’t know about the others, but I give you my word no one will ever hear about you men from me. Allow me to add, as unlikely as it is, if any of you ever need anything from me you need only make it known to me. I ... we owe you our lives. I don’t have the words to tell you how grateful I am. I can only promise to make every effort to live the rest of my life in a manner of which you eight wonderful men would approve. I’m going to be a much better person because of you.”

I had to smile. Perry and his entire team have turned dark, dark red.

The other seven women who were all just rescued from Carter’s whorehouse didn’t say anything, but they nodded and it’s obvious from even a casual glance at their eyes they feel the same way. I understand completely and my experience wasn’t nearly as intense as theirs; not yet anyway. It was about to become intense. I was supposed to spend this entire day at the book store servicing as many men as Gordo could talk into renting my body for any kind of sex they desire. I was saved just in time.

Perry smiled and thanked her for her praise but insisted he and his men were not blameless. They took part in a terrible crime. Before anyone could argue the point with him, and I intended to, he went on to say, “There’s something we haven’t brought up yet. We confiscated a great deal of cash from the book store and from the place they were holding you ladies. We don’t know how much money is involved. It’s in bales about the size of a bale of hay and they’re heavy as hell. Counting it is going to take a while. My men and I don’t want any of that money. We intend to divide it up between you. It will be important that you are discreet. You will have to limit the size of your cash deposits and cash purchases until you settle down, get jobs and can prove you aren’t drug dealers or bank robbers.”

The young woman who seems to have become the spokesperson for the eight freed slaves asked, “Why not? Why don’t you want some of the money? If anyone earned some of that money it’s you!”

Perry shook his head and replied, “We are well paid by our employer and while I can’t say there has never been a bad apple in our organization who succumbed to temptation, in general we pride ourselves on our principles. We don’t do what we do for money. One of the guys wanted to burn the money when we found it but by then we had learned of your existence and it seemed to us that you should be reimbursed in some small way for what you were put through. It’ll be a start at putting your lives back together.”

One of the girls who hasn’t said a word except to answer Perry’s questions nodded toward Meg and asked, “What about her? What are you going to do with her?”

Before Perry could respond, without lifting her vacant stare from the spot on the floor at which she’s been staring since we came into the dining room, in that fatalistic tone of voice I find so disturbing said, “They’ve only been keeping me around so that I can provide them with information about Carter’s organization. They have to kill me. They can’t let me go. But that’s okay. I certainly deserve it.”

It makes me furious that I find myself feeling sorry for that horrible human being!! I notice, however, Perry and most of his men are also uncomfortable with what they know they’ll have to do to Meg.

I find myself trying to think of some reasonable alternative to killing her even though she’s primarily responsible for everything that has happened to me in the last few days. The eight women from the whorehouse, however, don’t share our reluctance.

The woman who asked the question looked at Perry. The look of discomfort on his face made any words unnecessary. In a calm, steady tone of voice dripping with hate she said, “The eight of us have been locked up together in that fucking whorehouse, some of us for more than two years. I sometimes feel like I must have had sex with nearly every man on that big-ass Army base on the other side of town.

“We’ve had time to talk; to compare our stories. All but one of us was “recruited” by Meg. We have been raped anywhere from three or four to more than a dozen times a day, seven days a week. We’ve been forced to make disgusting movies with hordes of men, with each other, and even with animals. If you’re having a problem doing it, I’ll be happy to put a bullet in the bitch’s head. I don’t doubt any one of us would do it and count it as one of our happiest memories.”

I glanced at Meg. She didn’t even look up. I don’t doubt that if I’d been through what these women have I’d feel the same way. There are not a lot of women in this country or anywhere else in the world who can be said to be as eagerly and enthusiastically evil as Meg. She certainly delighted in every nasty thing she had a part in doing to me in the short time she had that power over me.

There followed a long, uncomfortable silence. I finally broke it by suggesting we break out another round of beers and adjourn to the living room while I try to figure out where everyone is going to sleep.

The woman who has been doing most of the talking for the group said, “For the most part we’ve been sleeping on the hardwood floor for as long we were guests of Carter. Any soft carpet or piece of padded furniture will be fine for us.”

Another of the women asked, “What about Meg’s house?” She has four or five bedrooms.”

Perry shook his head and responded, “Not a good idea. We want to avoid spreading our DNA over there.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Don’t feel bad. We had to be taught to think like criminals. As for sleeping arrangements, our little gang has been sleeping on the floor for a lot longer than you young ladies. It’s part of the job. I think we can put half of you in the upstairs bedrooms, two in the living room and two in the home theater down in the basement. My gang can sack out on the floor anywhere. We’re going to be rotating a watch all night anyway, just in case it turns out we missed anyone who might care about Carter and his misfits.”