by Maggie Cole
My eyes locked with Mike’s. Panic gripped my body. I tried to scream, but he quickly grabbed me and pressed something over my mouth and nose. I tried to get out of his grasp, but I wasn’t strong enough.
The last thing I remember was him saying, “It’s time to teach you a lesson.”
* * *
Everything was pitch black, I fell in and out of consciousness and could feel that I was moving. My head hurt, and my lungs felt like I inhaled a bottle of bleach. Disoriented, I tried to get up, but I could hardly move. Something was over my mouth so that I couldn’t talk.
Mike’s face came into my mind as I tried to remember what happened. The bathroom incident flooded back. “It’s time to show you a lesson,” flew into my mind before I lost consciousness again.
Whatever I was being transported in hit a bump, and my head hit the ground, which woke me up again. I opened my eyes and saw stars.
Jack. I need to get a hold of Jack, I thought. Jack's face came into my mind. His eyes, smile, and dimples. Thoughts of fucking Jack under the stars on his rooftop and him saying, “You’re so delicious, Maddie.” I tried to say his name, but something was stuffed in my mouth and prevented me. I lost consciousness again.
When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see anything. I think I laid on cement. It was smooth and cold and smelled fresh like it had just been poured. I tried to move my head, and I winced. A moan stifled in my throat because of whatever was stuck in my mouth.
I needed some water. My mouth was dry. My body trembled from the cold of the ground. I tried to move my arms and slowly realized that both my hands and ankles were tied with a thick rope.
Dizziness and nausea overpowered me, as I tried to sit up. I lost consciousness again.
The next time I woke, I was in a bed. The sun was shining in through the window, and I thought I must have dreamed it all because my eyes registered that I was in my own bedroom. Disoriented and groggy, I closed my eyes again, as my head continued to pound.
Do I have a hangover? I tried to remember if I drank the night before but couldn’t remember. Is Jack with me?
I slowly opened my eyes again and realized I was tied to my bedposts. My arms were stretched out, along with my legs, and I laid in bed in the outfit I wore when I showed Jack my apartment: fishnet tights, a red garter, and a bra.
Why does Jack have me tied up like this? It didn’t feel like the silk of Jack’s ties. My wrists and ankles hurt and felt raw. I realized I was tied up with rope—something Jack never tied me up with in the past.
I tried to tell Jack it hurt, but I couldn’t speak and realized once more that my mouth was stuffed with something.
Why does Jack have something in my mouth?
That’s when I knew I wasn’t with Jack. My skin grew clammy; the hairs on my neck stood up. I opened my eyes, turned my head, and saw Mike. He sat in my chair and tapped his fingers together.
Hoping it was a nightmare, I closed my eyes, then opened them again and realized it wasn’t.
Mike stood up and walked over to me, stared at me with crazed eyes, then took his fingers, and roughly put them on my breast.
His sinister laugh echoed in my ears as he put his fingers on my trembling lips, and I wiggled my body and tried to escape.
“It seems you didn’t appreciate how well I treated you, Madeline,” he sneered at me in a sinister voice.
I tried to speak.
“What’s that? Do you have something you want to say?”
Scared, I stopped, not sure what to do. To my surprise, he removed my gag and pulled the wadded cloth out of my mouth. I started to cough.
Mike laughed deeper. He got close to my face and whispered, “Smile for the camera.”
Camera?
“Oh, Maddie dear, you should have been grateful for what I gave you. All you had to do was sit there and be your dumb self. I gave you the world, and you spit it back in my face. All those men that wanted you, I kept from you so you would be mine. But now…” he started to laugh, “...now I want you to smile at everyone watching.” He pointed to a camera attached to my ceiling, with a green light that blinked.
Horror filled me. I rapidly blinked, tried to hold back my tears, as my heart beat so hard I was sure he could hear it.
“What? Nothing to say?” Mike hissed in my ear. The stale odor of his body filled my nostrils and sent a new wave of nausea throughout me.
I turned my head to avoid looking at him. I quickly learned that it was the wrong thing to do.
He roughly jammed his fingers in my crotch. I cried out in pain as he stuck four fingers up me, and jabbed me, over and over. “Mike, please, stop,” I cried out, not able to hold back the tears that fell on the bed.
He took his fingers out and put them up to my face. “Suck it.”
I shook my head.
He pinched my cheeks to open my mouth and shoved his fingers in, then yelled at me to suck it. I shut my eyes, trembled, and almost bit him, but I was afraid it would provoke him more.
“Open your eyes, you bitch,” he shouted at me.
Painfully, I opened them.
“We have guests, Maddie.” He pointed to the camera. “People are bidding on you right now.”
People are bidding on me?
New panic surged through me. I grabbed hard onto the ropes my wrists were tied to and tried to get out of the restraints, but all it did was dig them further into my already raw skin.
My outburst excited him. “That’s it, fight, you dumb whore!”
I stopped moving. My insides quivered, and I wondered what he would do to me next.
Grabbing a bottle of whiskey on my nightstand, Mike downed a big swig and then put it in my mouth. He told me to drink and made me drink several ounces.
While I gagged, he yelled at me that I better not throw up.
My cough finally stopped. “Mike, what do you want from me?”
He laughed again, loud and crazy. “Why don’t I show you?”
He walked over to my desk and grabbed my open laptop.
“Have you ever heard of the black net, Maddie?” He put the laptop on my chest, so the screen was in my face.
My eyes went wide.
Mike put his face right next to mine, his breath full of whiskey. A huge smile grew on his lips, “The black net is where I get to auction you off. I’m going to give our bidders a show. Whatever they pay me to do to you, I’ll do. After that, I’ll sell you off to the highest bidder. Don’t worry. I’ll let them have their way with you too.”
My eyes grew wider. I tried to yank my hands and legs free and lifted my head off the bed, but I was trapped. Mike just sat there and laughed, then pointed out to me how my bidding numbers skyrocketed from my outburst.
“The people I deal with, they like a fighter. I didn’t think you had it in you, Maddie. I wish I would have known you were a fighter all those years I was with you.” Mike trailed his finger on my jawline.
I glared at him.
“We could have had a lot more fun,” he whispered.
An ocean of tears appeared, “Mike, please, let me go.”
“I told you that you were mine. You disobeyed me, Maddie. I was so good to you all those years. It’s time to give me what is mine.”
More tears fell.
He walked right in front of the camera, spread out his arms, and yelled, “Start the bidding! Highest bidders get the first choice of how I take her! You have four hours to bid. The show starts at exactly six p.m.!” He walked out of the room.
My body convulsed in fear, tears streamed down my face. I tried not to look at the computer screen as numbers started to go up with all kinds of foul things to do to me.
I needed to escape. But I didn’t see how.
23
Jack
“What do you mean you still don’t know where she is? You’re the God damn FBI,” I screamed at Agents Piper and Creedie.
Tom walked over and put his hand on me. “Let’s take a walk, Jack. You have to calm down. This won’t help find Maddie.”
It was a little over twenty-four hours since Maddie walked into the bathroom, and I felt crazy. We knew from the security footage it was Michael. It was clear he wheeled her out in the janitor bin. We also knew what van he drove, but after that, they vanished.
I looked at Tom. “It’s been too long, Tom. He could have done anything to her by now.”
“Jack, we’re going to find her. I need you to stay in the game with me.” He patted me on the back.
I nodded. As scared as I was, I knew he was right.
My penthouse turned into an FBI war zone. Agents were everywhere on computers and phones. I hadn’t slept all night, nor had Tom, Collin, Liv, or Meg, who were all over at my place.
Liv and Meg walked in and brought a fresh set of coffee for everyone.
“Any news?” Meg looked at Collin.
Collin shook his head. I saw Meg’s eyes drop.
Panic, anger, and fear were all I had felt since about 4 p.m. the day before when the girls realized that no one had seen Maddie since their lunch. How Michael passed the office building security was an issue in itself, but how he managed to get Maddie alone and out of the building seemed nearly impossible. But he had.
“We think we have something,” one of the agents who worked on the black net called out.
We all raced over to see what he pointed to on his computer.
“What is that?” I stared at a countdown clock.
“There seems to be an auction going on. The deadline is six tonight, and the woman has Maddie’s features listed. We are trying to get into the auction room right now.”
“Why can’t you get in it?” Liv put her arms across her chest.
Piper spoke up.”These things are like clubs. You have to have secret codes and passwords to get in, so people like us can’t.”
Meg quietly asked Collin, “What does he mean by auction?”
My stomach flipped at the thought of my precious Maddie being auctioned off. Flashbacks of the night in Tampa, where I witnessed Michael and Jim’s auction, raced into my mind.
“We’re running out of time. Once this auction ends, she will disappear forever. You know that.” I slammed my fist on the table Creedie worked at.
Creedie looked up. “Jack, I need your head here. This isn’t helping. Think of where he might have taken her to.”
“You don’t think that’s all I’ve been thinking of?” I spat out.
Liv put her hand on me. I spun. “Jack,” she softly looked at my eyes.
Completely losing it, I started sobbing as Liv pulled me into her arms.
I cannot not lose her. She is my life. What is that bastard doing to her?
“This auction has the characteristics of Michael Duponte,” the agent said and snapped me out of it. “We don’t have the right password yet to enter.”
As I paced the room, Collin came up to me. “Jack, what was the password for the auction Michael and Jim took you to?”
“Meatpacking,”
“Try meatpacking,” Collin told the agent.
He shook his head. “That’s not working.”
Collin burrowed his eyebrows. "He used meatpacking before, why?”
“That’s where he and Maddie lived.”
Collin snapped his fingers. “Try Chelsea,” he told the agent.
The agent entered Chelsea. “Something is happening.”
The computer flashed, and doors opened. A picture of Maddie on a bed, in fishnet tights, a red garter and bra, popped up. My gut flipped, as I remembered Maddie when she greeted me in that outfit at her apartment.
The picture switched to the rules. A man’s voice started to read off the rules. Nausea passed through me as I listened. It was a two-part auction—one for Michael to violate Maddie, and one to own Maddie after. Fifteen minutes later, the rules were all read, and the window finally opened.
Maddie laid on a bed, in the outfit in the original picture, her hands, and ankles tied with ropes. Then, Michael walked up to her and roughly stabbed his fingers in her as she screamed and cried out. My heart shattered into millions of pieces.
“I’m going to kill that bastard.”
Placing his body on hers, he made her suck his fingers.
My stomach flipped as I watched the footage with helplessness, rage, and fear running through me at lightning speed. My body turned clammy, and the room was silent as everyone watched in horror.
Michael proceeded to show Maddie how she was up for auction. I watched the numbers on the agent's computer fly up, with bids already in the seven-figure range for Maddie to have the vilest of things done to her.
Nausea rippled through me again, and I had to turn away. I put my hands through my hair. "Where is this at? Can't you trace the location?"
The agent shook his head. “It’s too locked up, and it’s zoomed in on Maddie, so we don’t have any clues about the room. It could be anywhere.”
I became fixated on the screen. My poor Maddie laid there terrified and helpless.
I needed to figure out where she was, but the video didn’t give me any clues.
Regardless, I had this nagging feeling that I was missing something. I peered closer at the screen. All you could see was Maddie, the ropes around her ankles and wrists tied to something.
Think, Jack.
“They think they found the van,” an agent called out. I ran over to the computer screen in front of him.
“I know where that is.” Hope grew inside me. “I own that building.”
“That’s your new center for human trafficking, isn’t it?” Tom looked at me.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
24
Maddie
My mind was racing as I tried to avoid the countdown clock on the computer, or reading the bids that popped up so fast on the screen it made my head spin. But I could see the bids were now up to $2 million.
I closed my eyes and tried to think of what would make Mike come to his senses. The problem was, he lost his senses and sold his soul, maybe even before I met him.
The bid was now $2.3 million, and I saw the words ‘plastic over face.’ It was more of a reaction maybe, but I moved my hips to the side of the computer with all my force, and the computer screen slid off the bed, crashed on the floor, and banged loudly.
Mike ran into the room. He saw the laptop on the floor and laughed. “What’s wrong, Maddie? Don’t you want to know what people want to see me do to you?”
“You’re sick,” I hissed. I was angry now. “A worthless piece of shit you’ve become.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Mike came up and slapped me across the face, hard. I yelled out in pain as blood started to drip out of my nose. I could feel the warm blood dripping off my face.
“You have anything else to say?” Mike sneered, as I whimpered in pain. I shook my head. Fresh tears mixed in with my pool of blood.
Mike picked up the laptop. He walked up to the camera, and laughed hysterically, “Oh, you all liked that, huh? Tell you what, once we hit $3 million I’ll give you a little mini-show.”
My insides shook harder. My mind raced to Jack. Did he know I was missing? Surely he would be searching for me?
Jack, please find me.
“You guys are frisky tonight! That was quick!” Mike exclaimed, and my gut dropped further, as I didn’t know what was in store for me.
Mike went into the bathroom. I laid there, scared of what he planned next for me. My heart raced in fear, and I tried to figure out how to get out of there but wasn’t sure how. I tried to move my limbs again, but there was no use. It cut further into my skin, and my wrist started to bleed from the ropes.
Mike came out of my bathroom, a washcloth in his hand.
I stared at him, not sure what he was up to. He started to clean the blood from my nose. “People are paying good money for you. You’re a dirty whore, but you don’t have to look like one.”
“Six years, how can you do this to me?” I blurted out.
He became enraged. “Six years and you
disrespect me!” He jumped on top of me so I was underneath him. His body completely laid on top of mine, and his hard-on grew through his anger.
I tried to move my body. “Get off me,” I yelled.
He laughed. “Tell me,” he seethed, “does Jack play with your breasts like this?” He squeezed my breasts hard.
I froze. How does he know about Jack and me?
“Ah, you didn’t know I knew, did you? You cheating whore,” he slapped me on the other side of the cheek.
“Mike, please!” I sobbed as I felt his dick get harder, right next to my crotch.
He took the washcloth, wiped away the new blood, then started to move my bra strap off me. I tried to get away from him again, but I was stuck.
His hands roughly grabbed my breasts. I winced, but he laughed again and sneered, “I think we should give Jack a show, shouldn’t we?”
My head jerked in confusion.
Jack can see me? Why isn’t he rescuing me?
He leaped off me, picked up the laptop, and started to type something. I heard a phone ring. Then, I heard Jack’s voice.
“Dupont, you piece of shit, where is she?” Jack’s voice demanded to know, as my heart soared at the sound of his voice.
Mike’s smile widened. “Why, Jack, is that any way to greet an old friend?”
“Jack,” I cried.
“Maddie!” Jack’s distraught voice filled the air.
Mike laughed. “I thought you might want to watch a bit, eh? For old times’ sake?” He put the computer on my desk, where I could see Jack’s face.
“Jack, help me,” I sobbed, as a new, never-ending supply of tears streamed down my face.
“Maddie.” His face was a wall of pain and fear.
Mike came over to me, grabbed my bra, and ripped it off me. It hurt and tore into my back when he ripped it.
“You piece of shit,” Jack yelled through the computer.
He came over to me and bit my breast. I cried out in pain. Blood started to form on my breast. “Why are you doing this to me?” I sobbed.
“Dupont! Stop! What do you want? I’ll give you anything, just leave her alone!” Jack cried out through the computer.