by Nana Malone
I nodded. “You are both right. It’s exactly what these women reported. From the notes from Interpol that my mother had, the women said they recognized the colognes that their fathers used, and they noted manicured hands and nails. They also noted not only obvious masquerade masks, but also patterns of speech, upper-class British, some foreign accents, French, German, Italian, American. But the American accents, once again, were more cultured, colloquial. What it looks like we have is a sex trafficking ring.”
Ariel tapped the top of her laptop impatiently. “Those masks, they mean something, right? I mean, let’s not pretend that we don’t know secret societies exist. This sounds like the kind of bullshit that bored billionaires get up to.”
I swallowed hard. “It has crossed my mind. And the man with the burn, he might well be associated with them.” I kept it to myself that Ben had admitted the man with the burn worked for the Van Linsted family and might be associated with the Elite. I couldn’t tell them about the pit in my stomach. The worry that Ben and his friends were even adjacently tied to people who could be involved in that kind of thing.
Ariel nodded. “All right, there are hundreds of secret societies. All with men with the capabilities of doing this kind of thing. I’ll start running an analysis, the locations the girls were taken from and the associates of their parents, and see if I can cross-reference—“
Telly jumped in immediately. “Oh, I see where you’re going. Cross-reference personal acquaintances, organizations that might be a part of this circle. There are so many Templar associations too. All kinds of things that rich and powerful men do. How about you take the up-and-up organizations, and I’ll dig into the more underground ones. Mafia, the ones in the shadows. It will be faster with both of us working.”
Ariel gave her a broad smile. “You betcha. Why don’t we work on that and reconvene in two days, right Jessa?”
Jessa nodded. “Yeah, sounds good. In the meantime, I’m going to see if there’s another missing link. And these girls are seemingly random, but I want to press my contacts and see if these girls knew each other in any way, maybe met afterward, or if they were ever at any parties together.”
Penny nodded. “That’s a good plan. I’ll work with you on that.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
Jessa gave me a smile. “You’re supposed to finish the book. You now know why Caroline got involved, so you have your motivation. You know that it’s some kind of sex ring. We’re going to help you connect the dots. You focus on what happened to her when she started to connect the dots. Finish the story. You know she vanished. But why, and who was she after? We’re going to help you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I have her motivation, the catalyst that pushed her into this. I can write.”
She smiled. “Yeah, you can. These women, they have such an ally in you. I’m really proud to say I know you.”
I flushed and tried not to look down at my feet. “This is my mother’s crusade. I just followed her research.”
Jessa shook her head. “No, you didn’t just follow her research. You dug in. People want this information to be silenced. You’re exposing them. What you’re doing is brave.”
“I wish I felt brave and not absolutely batshit crazy.”
“Well, the best things we do in life are often absolutely batshit crazy.”
“You know what? You have a point.”
Thirty minutes later, after we’d cleaned up and said our goodbyes, Telly sat next to me as we were driven back to Ben’s. “Do you want to tell me what’s up?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Why?”
She sighed and then rolled her eyes. “Sweetie, just like you can tell when something is wrong with me, I can tell something is wrong with you. Spill.”
“What if the Elite, the people that Ben is associated with…” I let my voice trail. I couldn’t even say the words.
Telly took my hand. “Stop it. The way that man is going to move heaven and earth to keep you safe screams that he’s a good person. His organization might be fucked up. Hey, who knows, maybe they do have a secret sex ring. But if you think for a second him and Bridge are part of it, go with your gut. What does your gut tell you?”
“My gut knows he’s not involved.”
“Go with that then and talk to him. That East guy though, I don’t know if he can be trusted.”
I started to argue. “East is the last one I would think would be involved.”
“Yeah, whatever. He’s a shady dick though.”
“Oh boy, do you have a new nemesis?”
“Yes, I do. He’s like the perfect nemesis. Like so good-looking, and on the one hand a really good guy, but deep down he thinks he’s a better hacker than I am, just because he has a dick.”
I laughed. “I know, how dare he?”
“Right?”
“I guess you’re right. I will talk to Ben.”
“Yes, just ask him, because obviously, he probably has the same set of questions. He knows the man that took you. He was there when you interviewed Missy. He’s probably putting two and two together. It’s not something easy for him. So instead of you making assumptions and trying to hide, just talk to him. What’s the worst that could happen?”
I knew what the worst that could happen would be, but I knew Ben. He wasn’t involved in any of this. And he was already trying to dismantle the Elite for what they’d done to his friend. But the people in the Elite, outside of Ben, East, Bridge and Drew, were they capable of this?
You’ll never know unless you talk to him.
11
Ben
Livy tossed on the bed again, punched her pillow, rolled over, sighed, and then flipped over again.
“Okay, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I’m fine. I just can’t sleep.”
I pushed myself up to my elbows and then rolled on my side to face her. “Talk to me.”
“Nothing.”
“Didn’t we just talk about this? We were going to be honest.”
“Yeah, but you still keep things from me.”
“Ask me anything; I won’t keep it from you. I thought we were okay.”
“I don’t know.”
The ball of nerves in my gut tightened, and I could feel needles of worry pricking my insides. “Look, we’ll just keep talking it through until we’re good.”
“I’m making a lot of progress with the book.”
“That’s good news.”
“Is it?” Her brows furrowed as the moonlight streamed into the bedroom. I could still see her beautiful dark eyes.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
She sighed and rolled onto her back. “Ben, I’m going to ask you a question, and I’m going to need a straight answer from you.”
“Okay.” I didn’t know where this was going, but I could feel tendrils of dread furling around me like whispers of smoke. “Just talk to me, Liv. I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me.”
“The photos, the research, it’s definitely pointing at a sex trafficking ring.”
The knot in my gut uncoiled almost too quickly, making the bile rise. “Fucking Christ, we suspected that. How big a ring?”
“I’m not sure yet, but from the research what we can guess is that they took Sadie by accident. But afterward, their pattern of abductions was more deliberate. More intentional.”
“What do you mean?”
“These rich girls were taken from their rich fathers for the express intent to deflower virgins.”
I wanted to be sick. I pushed to a sitting position and dragged in deep breaths of air. “That’s horrible.”
“Yeah. These rich men are strategically taking these women, playing power games with their fathers and the girls themselves.”
“Ask me what you want to ask me, Liv.” I knew what she was going to ask. Hell, if I were her, I’d ask.
“The Elite, do they do things like this?”
“You need to be more direct in your question, Liv. You’re as
king if I have ever done anything like this.”
It was her turn to sit up. “No. I’m not. As angry as I get at you for your secrets and the things you don’t tell me, I do know you. Hell, I even know your friends. You would never. It’s not who you are. Are you an overbearing dickhead on occasion? Yeah. Often, actually, but this… This is not you.”
Relief flooded my veins. “Okay, so you want to know if other members of the Elite are capable of this?”
“Well, yeah. Or have you seen anything like it?”
“Liv, there’s no way I would let something like this fly. But—“
“But what?”
“There are initiation ceremonies. There are always girls there. But the girls are for the new recruits. And my understanding is that they are hookers.”
“Hookers?” Her tone took a slight turn as she narrowed her gaze at me.
“Hey, before you get your knickers in a twist, remember that Toby died on my initiation night. My best mate had just died, so I was never around the women.”
“Oh, right.”
“But every initiation night, there are women readily available. It’s part of the joy for the new recruits. When members celebrate a birthday or a giant milestone, there are always women. But to my knowledge, these women are of legal age, well compensated, refined, and well educated, but they’re hookers for sure.”
“Are they? Because Ben, these girls are just as you described, beautiful, educated, refined.”
“And young. Too young.”
“But otherwise, they’re just the kind of women that work during initiations.”
I shook my head. “No, you don’t understand. The initiations are a celebration. No one is pointing a gun at your head and making you sleep with someone. The women are mostly there as window dressing, to entertain you. And hey, there are some brothers that I’m sure enjoy the company of these women. But to my knowledge, it’s consensual. It’s not like that.”
She frowned and chewed her bottom lip. “It’s something else then. There is something going on because some of the parties the girls were describing men in masks were taking turns deflowering them.”
I cursed under my breath. “Jesus Christ. That’s really fucked up. We do nothing like that. But that’s not to say that there aren’t societies that possibly do. I don’t know. But because we were part of the Pops, our initiations are all about rebirth and how to grow and gain power, that kind of shit. The women aren’t part of that.”
“But let’s just say that if there were members of the Elite who would do something like that, who would they be?”
My brow furrowed. “Well, nothing would happen without Marcus Van Linsted’s knowledge. The Director Prime is the most powerful man in the world. There’s no way they could pull that off without him.”
She met my gaze. “Is he capable?”
I didn’t even have to think about it. “Absolutely.”
“You said it yourself; the man with the burn has worked for the Van Linsteds before.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I remember him at some events. Birthdays, things like that, when something went wrong or someone got too wasted or was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was called in to fix it. He made some of it look accidental, made sure the right people got to the hospital or home. Bought people off, that kind of thing.”
“Wow, so no one ever had to take responsibility for anything?”
“Well, there’s a culture of that being one of the perks of being Elite.”
“So, are you telling me that none of this could happen without Marcus Van Linsted knowing?”
“Why are you so focused on the Elite right now?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I have to start thinking about the Elite since we know Evan Zolov is connected both to the Van Linsteds and at least one of the abducted women.”
I took her hand and tugged her close. “I already want to burn that place down. I want to burn the Elite to the ground. I have no ties. My only brothers in this are East, Bridge, and Drew. Everything else can burn. If we strengthen that connection and can prove it, they’re done.”
“You really would, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes. I want to see the Van Linsted’s fall for Toby’s death alone. But if they, or any other Elite members are involved in something like this, the whole thing needs to burn, and I will personally see to it.”
“You really will, won’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s the right thing to do.”
“You know I love you, right?”
A smile tugged at my lips. “Yes. Mostly, you love my big dick, but you know, we’re working up to it.”
She giggled then turned serious again. “I don’t know how you’ve dealt with all the secrets and lies people tell. How have you managed?”
“I don’t know. I’d been on the verge of not being able to do it for a long time. I’ve been looking for a way out. A way to leave. And then, well, I met you. I don’t want anything to do with this, with the Elite. If I could walk away tomorrow, I’d be happy. But they have to pay for Toby. The Van Linsteds need to take fucking responsibility for once in their lives. And if they are responsible for these women, there won’t be a single member standing when I’m done with them. That’s a promise.”
“And I’ll be standing right there next to you, holding a torch.”
I pulled her close then, plastering her body into mine, ignoring the automatic twitch to hold her tighter, sink into her, try and dull the anger with sexual oblivion. But I wasn’t going to do that. I let the anger flow through my body. If Olivia was right about this, I was going to tear the whole thing to the ground. And I didn’t care if I tumbled down with it.
The Elite was going to end.
Ben
When I knocked on East’s door the next morning, all it took was a long glance from me and he knew it was bad news. “You know, just once, I’d like for you to come see me and not look like the world is about to end.”
“What? This is my cheery face. Don’t I look happy?”
“No. You look like you’re about to drop the bomb on me that I was born into a murder-for-hire family or something.”
“You might not be far off.”
He narrowed his gaze. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I have a request for you, but I need you to hear me out before you say anything.”
He sat back, crossing his arms as he sank low into his chair. “More bizarre than looking up random photos of your father and some woman and an Albanian human trafficker?”
“Yeah, that was weird, but this is pretty damn near close. You know those girls, yeah? The ones that are at our initiations?”
East looked at me curiously. “Yeah, what about them?”
“Did you ever talk to yours?”
“Mine hung dutifully by my side as I drank myself into oblivion on initiation night. I didn’t know the next day was going to include training. It was sort of miserable, but that night well, it was even more miserable. Toby had died. The last thing I had on my mind was shagging some chick the Elite dangled in front of me. Hell, I didn’t want to be there. Of course, I couldn’t leave. If we left, that was it,” East said.
“And Drew managed to convince me that if I left, Toby’s death was all for nothing.” Maybe I’d let myself be convinced.
East rubbed his jaw. “He had a point though. We’ll be able to avenge him because we stayed.”
“Yeah. I’m wondering about that now, though. Maybe we should have just walked out and never looked back,” I muttered.
“You know if you had walked out, I would have walked with you.”
A smile hit the corner of my lips, but that was it. “Now I know. The three of us would have made it anyway. The only thing I think about was what would have happened if we hadn’t accepted the call.”
East shrugged. “We would have ended up in the same place. I’m sure of it. Maybe not as quickly, but the same place nonetheless.”
“Admittedly, I think about it more now than
I probably did then. Our whole initiation was tainted with guilt and worry and anger.”
He shook his head. “We didn’t even get a moment to grieve him.”
“So yeah, that girl, did you and her…”
East gave me a cheeky grin. “Mate, if you’re looking for a tell all about that night, Bridge is the one you should be talking to. I’m a good boy, I am.”
“Feed that lie to someone who hasn’t been there for your hacker antics.”
“I am a good boy. I may have gotten into a few scrapes, but by and large, I kept my nose clean. It’s Bridge who has a history with women.”
He was right. Bridge’s history was sordid. Before we met him in secondary school, there had been some older girl he’d been fooling around with. Rumor was she got pregnant, or at least that’s what she told Bridge, hoping to get his father’s money out of it. She’d been sorely mistaken. All she’d managed was a few hundred quid that Bridge had scraped together to help her get vitamins and such. It hadn’t taken long to realize that she wasn’t pregnant. After that was when he came to Eton and then there had been tales told of his prowess. The thing was, I rarely ever saw him acting up, going wild. Once or twice, maybe. And then soon after, he hooked up with Mina. And that was that.
“So, here’s the thing. Olivia has a theory that her whole book investigation leads to a complicated sex trafficking ring with two different objectives. On the one hand, they’re taking young girls, teenagers. Usually girls who are looking for a better life, looking for some adventure, women no one would miss. But on the other hand, there is this whole other type of woman that a certain kind of man wants.”
The muscle on East’s jaw ticked. “Go on.”
I gave him the rundown of what Olivia told me, how the girls were found, the deflowering of the virgins, all of it.
As I spoke, East’s jaw just kept ticking. “Fucking hell, abusing assholes.”