Chapter 39

WEEK 1 Day 3

"You did a splendid job of getting the faces of Jelks and Arch in that video," Carlette remarked as I removed the tape from the machine. "Don't forget, we need a copy of every tape you make."

I moved my chair back and opened the door at my feet. I removed the tape, labeled it, and slipped it into an envelope. In the lower left corner of the envelope I wrote the number corresponding to the number on the cartridge. I placed a new tape on the bottom machine and closed the door. Carlette stepped back and I walked to the back and placed the envelope in a cubby hole. I explained my system briefly.

"That bottom machine automatically copies what is played on the top machine so if you view a tape it's automatically copied and you must remember to change the tape on the bottom machine. The number I wrote on the envelope is the cartridge number followed by the number of the day of the year. That's the minimum you and Dawson told me I needed," I remarked placing my hand on her shoulder.

"Ooohhh," Carlette moaned loudly causing me to remove my hand quickly.

"I'm sorry, what's wrong with your shoulder?" I asked.

"I must have bumped it because it's sore," she remarked.

"Let me have a look," I said and reached for the robe and pulled down, baring her shoulder.

"NO," she shouted but it was too late.

I expected to see a small bruise instead I saw a long red mark disappearing under her robe.

"What is that?" I exclaimed and pulled the robe lower, baring more of her back.

I caught a brief glance of several red marks across her back before she quickly pulled on the robe covering her body. She gave me a hard look and quickly stepped out of the van, rushing to the mansion. I closed the doors hiding the monitoring equipment and secured the van. I could visualize the marks on her back as I walked to our room. She was sitting at the dressing table when I entered our room.

"I didn't want you to see that," she said twisting her body in my direction.

"What happened?" I inquired.

"I guess its better that I tell you now because you'll find out anyway. After you went upstairs last night with Jasmine, Jelks and his son, Eli took Carol and me to his room. You were correct; he's not a very nice man. His briefcase is not the normal briefcase you'd expect, his is filled with punishment toys and he enjoys using them," Carlette said staring at me.

"Let me see your back, I tried to warn you. That's the reason I didn't want you along because I saw what he was capable of doing. The Tomlinson's and I had a front row seat and we saw how brutal he can be," I stated as I walked behind her and pulled the robe over her shoulders, baring her back.

"Oh shit, we need to get something on this. That bastard, that mother fucking bastard, I can't wait to get him," I said through clenched teeth.

Carlette opened the drawer, passed me a tube of ointment and said, "Carol put this on me earlier."

"Come over to the bed and lie down," I remarked tossing my robe on the dressing stool.

I walked behind her wearing only skivvies. She stopped at the bed and turned. When she saw my skivvies she slipped the robe from her shoulders and tossed it on the floor. She was wearing panties, brief but not that brief. Brief or not, she was sexy as hell. I looked at her small breasts briefly and then motioned her to the bed.

"Did he do anything, I mean harm Carol tonight?"

"Not if you don't consider a cane striking your breasts while he's fucking you in the pussy, or marking your back as he reams your ass," she said sarcastically.

I looked at the marks on Carlette's back and I pictured her position when he struck her. I concluded, from the angle of the marks, he struck her as she was sucking his cock. I applied the ointment as gently as possible although she flinched several times. I knew it was painful.

"I don't believe you will be wearing that new bikini for several days," I remarked.

"Will there be scars?" she asked flinching although my touch was light.

"There's definitely going to be one, possibly two. How badly was Carol marked?"

"Much worse than mine, but I believe she enjoyed him marking her. It appeared that way to me," Carlette said.

"That could be because -- if you recall, Brad said she was kinky in more ways than one. He didn't elaborate and the only thing we know about her is she likes younger boys, or young men."

"Are you finally joining the team or was that a mistake? Did you mean to say "the only thing we know" or was it a slip of the tongue?" she asked raising her head to look at me and smiled as our eyes met.

I returned her smile and pressed on the back of her arms, forcing her to lie flat. I finished applying the ointment, capped the tube and doused the lights before carefully slipping into the bed.

Carlette mumbled goodnight and two minutes later she was sound asleep. Although tired, I couldn't sleep. My mind was running amuck and I had not a smidgen of control. I felt I was being tossed side to side on a roller coaster careening down a hill out of control. The previous seventy-two hours of my life appeared as a nightmare, a horrible nightmare. The threat of jail loomed over me although the threat lessened in past hours due to the fact Carlette placed her self in a pejorative position. I felt since she was now intimately and personally involved the leeway she promised leaned in my favor. Although I held the punishment she received in disfavor it softened the blow from one of the walls I found myself thrown against roughly.

I had one other good feeling about the evening. I wasn't positive how knowledgeable Carol Tomlinson was about the drugs but I was certain she wouldn't withhold the slightest tidbit of information. If looks were lethal Eli would be lying a coffin. Eli's loud remark bellowed across the room to Jelks drew that deadly look from Carol.

"Jasmine would be more amiable and demonstrative of her knowledge if she were in a private setting,"

Eli made that remark a minute after he asked Carol why her daughters did not join the afternoon festivities. He didn't accept Carol's mumbled reply, staring at her hard for almost a minute before he shouted across the room. I could see he gripped Carol's hand, and from my position her hand appeared deformed. It was hard to see clearly with his hand covering hers. He turned in my direction and stared at me several long seconds without speaking. Although I hate to admit it, at the time my legs felt as though they were formed from a bowl of Jell-O, that's how wobbly I felt. I flinched when he spoke.

"Why don't you go upstairs with them? I'm sure this caring mother would like a reminder of just how well her family entertains guests. Take your time and don't miss anything, and I mean anything, if you catch my drift," Eli remarked as his head turned and his eyes bore into Carol's.

"Please, not my daughter. Do what you like with me, but please, she's only fourteen, please!"

I could only see a portion of his face but I could see he enjoyed her pleading. His head turned in Jasmine's direction and I saw the smile forming on his face.

"It appears you have taught her well," Eli said twisting Carol where she could see her daughter and the short cattle baron from Arizona. "I'd say she knows what she wants, did you teach her that?"

I looked in the same direction. I couldn't believe a girl her age was capable but she appeared to be grinding her mons against his knee. Arch was standing beside her and his hand was squeezing her ass. The back of her skirt was raised and his hand was inside her panties.

"Please, don't let them do that to her, she's just a child. If you insist let them take me upstairs," Carol pleaded as tears rolled across her cheeks.

"I can't do that, I want you by my side," Eli said roughly sliding his hand under Carol's skirt.

"Please, you can't, not here," Carol said making a futile attempt at pushing his hand from beneath her skirt.

"I'll do whatever makes me happy, with you -- and your daughters," Eli added after brushing her hands aside and his rough handling of her pussy brought her to her toes.

"When I leave you'll understand the next time I ask for something I expect it. We didn't see your daughters yesterday and I made my desires known. But don't worry, we have two days, we'll see plenty of them. We'll see quite a bit of you as well."

"Please, don't do this to my family," Carol pleaded when Eli finally removed his hand from her crotch.

"Hey, Bruno's a family man! He likes nothing better than getting families together. He'll be here tomorrow and I'll wager he'll be happy to see you in a family gathering," Eli said laughing loud enough to where he drew everyone's attention.

I didn't think of it at the time I heard Eli threatening Carol but as I lay in the darkness I recalled Ida making a similar comment. I vaguely remember Ida telling me she was stripped and passed from man-to-man twenty-four hours. Eli told Carol the same, but he added her daughters would be in much greater demand. Eli wasn't Ida's tormentor but his words were as threatening. The last thoughts I remembered before drifting into dreamland were about him. He was filled with contempt for all, and his ego putrid. In my judgment he stood out as the most despicable person any human I had or would have the displeasure to meet.

Week 23

"Wake-up sleepyhead, I've some good news for you," I heard Carlette say softly as I clung to the bed.

I don't know how long she had been bouncing the bed but I gripped the mattress firmly afraid of bouncing in the floor. I also didn't know how long I had slept but I had worked thirty six hours without a break. I assumed it was important because I told her I didn't want to be awakened, that I would wake on my own. I opened my eyes and before they focused I saw three of her. I placed my feet on the floor but it was three or four minutes before I was fully awake. I didn't know what day of the week it was, but knew too well we hadn't had one day to lay around and swim, sleep all day, or just do nothing in over three weeks. I was dog-tired, exhausted. We were either on the road criss-crossing the US, setting up, or filming. Any free time I had was devoted to copying video tape.

"Your coffee sir and I'll let your head clear before I give you the news," she said as she walked across the room and eased into the recliner.

I drank the coffee staring at her all the while. When I finished it she jumped up quickly and refilled it, sitting beside me on the bed this time.

"Okay, out with it. You are in much too good a mood today therefore we must have done something right," I remarked.

"I am and I couldn't be more excited. I spoke to Dawson this afternoon and he's excited. He's also grateful as hell to you because our eight-man team is doubling, and he's to be in charge. The tapes you send him are invaluable the agency has finally admitted. They've gathered an excessive amount of information from them making it impossible for our team to work it expeditiously."

"I don't understand because we haven't seen anyone with drugs, and I thought that's what was important," I remarked.

"I realize you don't understand but the agents on my team have been able to take the information you gave them, and assembling it, have a good knowledge of drug distribution. Although we don't know the method of movement they've been able to establish valuable distribution points. Now you understand why I urged you to ask more questions whenever possible and relate to every word meticulously when you record, being specific as possible. I know I've bitched about that stupid report I have to make but that's the job. Dawson gave me an atta-boy for my reports and your detailed enclosures. I told him to put it in the form of money. He said he would," Carlette replied with a smile as she rubbed her thumb across her fingers as though she were counting money.

"I'm glad one of us is getting money," I remarked.

"Oh yes! There's more good news, give me your receipts and we're going to get reimbursed," she said cheerfully.

"We're going to get reimbursed, you've been getting reimbursed all the while," I said sarcastically.

"Okay, that was a figure of speech; you're going to get reimbursed. That is almost as close as being on the payroll."

"And just how am I supposed to fill out all those forms that suddenly appear?" I inquired.

"Just give them to be and I'll send them in with my reports certifying them. The money will be deposited into your checking account using a pseudo identity," she said. "I've got another bit of good news before I give you the bad."

"I knew there had to be some bad news somewhere, I just hope it's not my mother or sister," I said.

"The good news is they've acquired a high-speed tape duplicating machine. It's in Houston; rather that's where the technician is presently. It's going to be shipped to him and he'll install it for us," she remarked with a smile.

"But we're in Yuma, is there no agent that can do it here? I'm getting tired of driving across Texas, six or eight times in five months is enough for anyone. Then again I guess you'll want to fly and meet me there, Joke or Juke must be some guy."

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Don't look surprised, for an agent in the government you don't cover your tracks well," I remarked with a smile and worked my tongue similar to eating pussy.

"What..."

"I know about him, I have known about him from the first time we were in Houston," I said and she couldn't speak for a moment after she saw the shit eating grin on my face. "You left the card on the bed the day you received it. I didn't mean to be nosy but I picked it up and read it. It pissed me off at the time but then I realized I would've done the same thing if possible."

"Why did it piss you off?" she asked.

"Because, I had to make that drive from Houston to Central California alone, just as I did from LA to Houston when you flew ahead of me. That pissed off phase is over, I thought about it later and realized you needed time of your own to let your hair down, or rather your panties. I know how rough it's been on you, and even when I think about it with a clear head, it's incomprehensible. I know you've had many opportunities to get laid but declined each one. I don't blame you one bit because they were all a bunch of pricks. I've been fortunate and had plenty of sex, but of course you know that because you filmed the majority of it. I know it's different for women, but for the male species, a pussy is a pussy. When I look at it that way it's easy to say I don't mind, you need the time alone, and I need the time alone."