Chapter 20

"Your aunt is Andrea Beaumont?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, why?" replied Vickie.

The two lay in bed, naked, taking a short respite between sexual marathons. Donnie Seward was a senior computer program analyst whose company did business with Andrea's.

"How do you feel about her?" he asked.

"Well, I know she's very competitive."

"Ruthless might be a better word."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've seen her operate. First she does you favors, gets you indebted to her, then comes the squeeze. She makes it all sound so reasonable, but before long you're diverting funds and robbing portfolios because you feel you owe it to her."

"Is that what she did to you?" asked Vickie beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Tried to. She got a friend of mine fired and blackballed from Wall street for trying to repay one of her favors."

A slight shiver ran up Vickie's spine.

"She's been very nice to me."

"Just watch yourself Vickie. You're a very sweet girl. Don't let her get you in her debt, because before long, she'll be asking you to sell yourself out to repay her."

Too late for that, thought Vickie.

He looked at Vickie for a long moment as if weighing how much she could be trusted. Donnie was from Chicago, single, and in town for the weekend to update some programming for his company branch office. Vickie had dinner with him on Friday and the two had hardly been apart since, Vickie staying in his hotel room overnight on both Friday and Saturday night. They awakened this morning planning on visiting the park, but instead, one sexual feast after another found them still in bed at two-thirty in the afternoon.

"Vickie, can I trust you?"

"About what?"

"I have to admit, I had an ulterior motive in our going out to dinner on Friday."

"I certainly hope so," she smiled.

"No, I mean another reason. Look, my sister, Cindy, is missing. She came to new York about eight months ago and then disappeared."

"I'm sorry Donnie, but what's that got to do with trusting me?"

"I think your aunt is involved somehow."

"What? Look, Aunt Andrea is forceful and she doesn't apologize for going after what she wants, but... "

"Forceful? Vickie the woman absolutely delights in destroying people just for fun. When she is out to get you, there are no lengths to which she will not go. I can't prove it yet, but I know she's involved in some really shady dealings. I got wind about a month ago that she's into some kind of slave trade."

"What? Oh come on now Donnie. She helped me free a girl from some pimps and get her back to her parents."

"And just what was in it for her? I can't believe she would ever do anything purely for humanitarian reasons."

"Well, I guess she did get something in return, but..."

"Sounds like Andrea all right. Be careful Vickie, she can talk an Eskimo into buying an ice maker.

I guess she already has, thought the girl.

"All I'm asking is that you keep your eyes and ears open," he said.

"You're asking me to spy on her?"

"Not spy, exactly, just see what you can find out."

"I don't know Donnie, after all she is my aunt and besides, I don't even live with her anymore. I have my own apartment now."

"OK, OK, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in an untenable situation. It's just that every direction I've turned, I've run into a stone wall and the police have told me that the longer Cindy is missing, the less the chances of finding her."

"Look, I want to help. I'll... I'll see what I can find out."

"Be careful Vickie, I don't want you to get caught up in this. I've got a sister missing. I don't want you added to the list."

"I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can. You surely know how to take care of me!"

She smiled and rolled back into his arms.

"Let's see if I can take care of this!" she laughed, taking his erection in her hand and guiding it to her nest.

They spent the next four hours in bed before Donnie had to prepare for his flight back to Chicago.

As Vickie entered her own apartment and fixed herself a cup of coffee, doubts began to surface as she looked at the photo of Donnie' s sister he had given her along with his phone number in Chicago. Now confused, Vickie could still not bring herself to believe that Andrea would engage in anything illegal, especially something as heinous as slavery, but she had noticed that Andrea always seemed to get what she wanted. Manipulative? Yes, Vickie had to agree with Donnie on that point, but..."

Well, she decided, she would try to see if there was anything to Donnie's other allegations.