by T. K. Leigh
A wide grin crossed Alexander’s face. He turned his attention to the tall, well-built older man sitting by his side. “Martin, call Senator Murphy’s office. I’ve already been informed that he’s in town right now. Alert his secretary that a very wealthy businessman would like a meeting with him to discuss a potential ten figure donation to his re-election campaign, but that the offer is rather time-specific and we need a meeting this afternoon. Do we still have the office building that we used for the brokerage firm take-down?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Perfect. Arrange the meeting to occur there.” Alexander turned back to Cam. “We’ll get in. And we’ll use that scumbag of a senator to help us.” He winked, a mischievous grin crossing his face.
“You’re having way too much fun with all of this.”
Alexander stood up from the table, several of his team members following closely behind. “Maybe. I just like being able to help out a friend. And I really want to fuck with that senator after what he did to your girl.”
“Thanks, Alex,” Cam said. “For helping. I had no one else to turn to with this.”
“You bet. I owe you after everything you’ve done for me and Olivia. I’m just glad to see you’ve finally found a girl. I swear to you that I’m going to get her back, but I need you to be patient while we plan the extraction. Okay?”
“I’ll try. I won’t like it, but I’ll try. All I can think is that every minute that we wait…”
“Don’t think about it. It’ll eat you up inside if you do. That was the first thing I learned when I was on extraction teams with the SEALs. I had to stop thinking about what was happening to the hostages every minute that we waited. I’ll tell you this much. If we don’t ensure that we have all the intel about what’s going on, the result will be far worse, especially for your Jolene. The best thing we can do is give this Falconi prick a false sense of security. You stay here. We don’t want to arouse the senator’s suspicions yet.”
Cam nodded. “Okay. I trust you. Just bring her back to me.”
“I will.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
THE TABLES HAVE TURNED
“SENATOR MURPHY,” ALEXANDER SAID, standing up from a desk. He extended his hand to the senator, shaking it with a firm grip. “Wonderful to finally meet you.”
“You as well, Mr. Fusco,” he replied, trying to place where he had seen the tall, muscular man. “Although, I’d be lying if I said I had heard of your company before my secretary informed me that you wanted to make a substantial contribution to my campaign. I thought I knew all the big players here in Chicago.” He looked around the extravagant office, rather impressed by his surroundings.
“Well, apparently, you overlooked me. But I’d like to rectify that situation right now. Let’s have a chat, shall we?” Alexander beamed his brilliant smile at the snake-like politician.
“Yes. Let’s.”
Alexander gestured to the chair in front of his desk for the senator to take a seat, nodding to Martin.
“Well, I do have a confession to make, David. Can I call you David?”
He eyed him skeptically, but if he was planning to make as large a contribution as he said he was, he didn’t give a fuck what he called him, so long as the check cleared. “Of course, Mr. Fusco.”
“I apologize again. That’s not my real name.”
Alarm bells began sounding in David’s head.
“Truth be told, I’m a friend of a friend of a woman you beat within an inch of her life a few weeks ago. To be perfectly blunt, I can put up with a lot of shit, and I have, but one thing that makes me so angry,” Alexander said calmly, “is a man who abuses a woman.”
David stood up, attempting to flee the room. Martin and several other strong men formed a line in front of the closed door, preventing him from leaving.
“The choice is yours, senator!” Alexander called out from behind the desk. “You can talk to me, or you can try to fight your way out. But, just so you know, those men over there used to work Special Forces. You don’t stand a fucking chance. If you want to walk out of this room with your spine intact, you might want to sit back down and listen to what I have to say.”
“You won’t get away with this!” he exclaimed nervously. “I’m a U.S. Senator, for crying out loud!”
A sly grin crossed Alexander’s face. “Yeah. About that. You won’t be a senator for much longer, so let’s not worry about that too much.” He opened a file and tossed an official-looking document across the desk.
David took a few cautious steps toward him and his eyes settled on the court papers in front of him.
“That is an official indictment from the State of Florida,” Alexander began, hoping that he couldn’t tell that the papers were fake and drawn up hastily. “You think you have powerful friends? Well, so do I. That little piece of paper will be signed by a judge tomorrow,” he lied. “And that right there…” He pointed to the file. “That’s your name. And you see all those charges? Well, the American people hate a criminal. But what they really hate is someone who deceived them and made them look like fools. So you can minimize the damage to your reputation right now. We will go on record saying that your guilt overwhelmed you and you wanted to do the right thing and save the girl…”
“Girl?” David asked. “What do you mean?”
“That little video you released? Well, the wrong people were able to find her because of it, because of you, and now she’s gone. And a good friend of mine is very upset over it. You fuck with a friend of mine, you fuck with me. But I’m willing to control my anger because, and here’s the real kicker… To help the girl, we need your help. So for once in your miserable excuse of an existence, we need you to do the right thing.”
“What do you possibly think you could say that will make me want to help? I’m untouchable. No one will believe a word that you or that whore will say. Not after my little pre-emptive strike.”
“You see, that’s the thing about you politicians,” Alexander retorted. He raised himself off his chair and strode over to where David sat cowering in fear, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. “You’re sloppy. You blow your wad prematurely. You should have paid more people off because that little actress you hired to do a voice over that you said was for a campaign reenactment? Well, she was more than willing to come forward once she learned about what you did.” He took a step closer, leaning into the senator. “That’s the thing about e-mail, isn’t it? You can delete it all you want, but nothing’s ever gone. It’s all out there somewhere, just waiting for the right person to find it.” He grinned when he noticed the senator begin to shake in apprehension. “And I have the right people working for me.” Crossing his arms in front of his body, he pulled back and sat on the corner of the desk.
The formerly confident politician had suddenly changed into a complete coward, his true self finally showing through.
“So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to get me into Falconi’s little poker room, understand?”
“Or what?” he asked, finding his last bit of nerve.
“Your choice. We go public with your little fetish here and let the American people see the real video that we’ve been able to authenticate by experts who aren’t receiving kickbacks from you or any of your buddies. By the way, those kickbacks? You’re very sloppy for a politician. We were able to trace all those illegal donations rather easily. So help us out and we’ll let the American people know what a hero you were in all of this. Or that indictment in front of you gets signed by a judge. From what I understand, prison is no place for a disgraced politician who beats women. So, if I were you, I would choose very wisely.”
David scanned the man’s face, wondering if there was any way he would be able to get out of it. His shoulders slumping, he knew it was impossible. He wasn’t cut out for prison.
“Fine,” he said dejectedly. “Let’s go to his hotel.”
~~~~~~~~~~
JOLENE OPENED HER EYES, completely disoriented, the familiar sound of Je
ff Buckley’s voice echoing through the room. Taking in her surroundings through her heavy eyelids, she knew where she was. She was back with him. She tried to move, to run, but her body was dead weight. It was useless.
“Ah, you’re finally awake,” a malicious voice crooned.
Her chin quivered when she heard the one voice she never wanted to hear for the rest of her life. A tear slid down her cheek, and she hated herself for showing emotion so easily. She didn’t want to give him the pleasure of seeing her fear.
“Don’t cry, princess. You’re home. And if you ever run again, I’ll kill you just like I had your mother killed…both of them.”
Her eyes flung wide open in shock.
“Oh, Daddy never told you? Your real mother was a whore, just like you. She tried to run from me so she had to be dealt with. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt right now. Get your rest. Once your bruises are gone, you’ll be back to work. I know you’re looking forward to it. I sure am.”
She closed her eyes just as she felt a cold finger slide down her cheek.
“But first, I need to retrain you to make sure that you remember what is expected of you.”
Jolene fought back the scream that wanted to come out of her mouth when she felt him between her legs. She slowly tried to return to her dark place where she could forget it all and pretend that none of it mattered.
~~~~~~~~~~
CAM SAT IN THE conference room of Alexander’s office building, peering down at the bustling city streets below. It was eating him up inside that he had to wait. He had no control over anything. All decisions were being made by Alexander and, while he trusted him, it didn’t make it any easier to sit idly by while someone else held Jolene’s fate in his hands.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he heard the door open. He raced up to Alexander as he entered the room with the same people that had been present earlier.
“Did it work?” he asked excitedly. “What’s the next step? Shouldn’t we get to the hotel?”
“Relax, Cam,” Alexander said calmly. “This entire plan rests on no one knowing what’s going on. It’s the only way we’ll be able to get Jolene and, possibly, everyone else out safely.”
“Let’s go now!” Cam shouted, his agitation showing. “Why are we sitting here waiting when she could be…?”
“I told you. Don’t even think about it,” Alexander soothed. “I have a reservation starting Friday night at the hotel.”
“Friday?!” Cam exclaimed. “That’s five days from now!”
“I understand your frustration, Cam. I absolutely do. Like I said, I need to gather as much intel on that hotel as possible. I have people in place who are doing just that as we speak. Friday, I’ll check in. I had a nice little heart-to-heart with that scumbag, David, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to convince Falconi that he should extend me an invite to his poker room. I plan on bidding on Jolene.”
“I’m coming with you,” Cam declared.
“No,” Alexander responded firmly. “You will stay off-site. I can’t risk you being there. You’re too attached and invested. I will get her out, I swear to you, but you need to trust me to do what I do best. Jolene’s life depends on this going down without a hitch. You saved my Olivia’s life. Now let me repay the favor. Please.”
“Exactly, Alex. How would you have felt if you couldn’t be there for your girl when her life was in danger? I’m begging you. Just let me be there. I can help. Please.”
Alexander sighed, shaking his head. What he was about to agree to went against everything he had ever been trained but, over the years, Cam had proven himself to be trustworthy.
“If I agree to let you come, you will need to follow my instructions to the letter. One step out of line could mean life or death. If you fail to follow orders, I don’t care that you’re my friend, I will break your legs so you can’t step out of line again. Got it?”
Cam simply stood there, his mouth agape for several long moments while he processed Alexander’s words.
“Yeah. Got it,” he agreed, swallowing hard.
“Good.” The two friends shared a look before Alexander broke his gaze. “Martin,” he barked, everyone in the room jumping. “Get the soon-to-be ex-senator and bring him in here.”
“Sir,” he nodded before retreating into the hallway and bringing David out, zip-ties around his wrists.
Cam’s eyes settled on him, his demeanor exuding the same exact arrogance as the day he first saw him sitting on the couch of his beach house as if he owned it. He had never been a violent man and only once before in his life did he want to make someone suffer, but he could no longer control his anger.
“You fucking monster!” he yelled, rushing toward the man who had nearly killed Jolene, attempting to wrap his hands around his neck.
“Enough!” Alexander pulled him off of David and threw him across the room before stalking over to him and pressing his foot on his throat. “You’re a good friend, Cam. I don’t want to hurt you, but if it’s the only way I can ensure that this operation goes off smoothly, I will. If you can’t sit here calmly without trying to kill him, you can leave. Now, do you want to stay here and help Jolene, or do you want to be left out with no knowledge of what’s going on?”
“I’ll stay,” he croaked out. “I’ll be good. Promise.”
“Okay. Good. Remember… One toe out of line and I will make sure you can’t walk without crutches. Got it?”
Cam nodded.
Alexander smiled, taking the pressure off his throat and walking back to the table, having a seat. Cam followed closely behind, glaring at the senator with venom in his eyes, controlling his rage so that he would know what was going on. He had to keep reminding himself that the only reason he wasn’t strangling David at that moment was to save Jolene.
Alexander turned his attention to the large screen of the table in front of them. “Now, these are the blueprints of the hotel on file with the city planning board,” he said, looking at David. “Where’s the poker room?”
He remained silent, not wanting to offer any more help than he was already giving them.
“Do I need to remind you that you’re surrounded by a room full of trained killers that would take great pleasure in snapping the neck of someone who thinks that they can use and abuse women?”
David turned his eyes away. “Top floor.”
“Good.” Alexander swiped through the prints on the screen and found the penthouse floor, examining the layout. “What’s the access like?”
“It’s keycard only,” David replied. “The top five floors are. If you’re staying in one of the suites, you have a keycard that will grant you access to four of the top five. To get the keycard to the top, Mr. Falconi has to give you that himself. You have to be invited into his poker room.”
Alexander nodded and Cam could see the wheels turning in his head. “What type of security is in place on the top floor?” he asked.
He shrugged. “The usual. He’s got a few guards that patrol the hallway to make sure that no one gets out.”
Alexander returned his attention to the screen, scanning the drawings. “So, there looks to be about ten large suites. How many guards patrol the hallway?”
“It varies. Every time I was there, the most I had seen was two.”
“Good. That’s doable.”
“That’s just the hallway patrol, though,” David said. “The poker room and Mr. Falconi’s suite will have two additional guards each.”
“Interior or exterior?”
“Poker room will have two interior. Mr. Falconi’s suite will have two exterior. He prefers the privacy.”
“Maybe we should just tell the police what’s going on,” Cam said, suddenly nervous about everything.
“Cam, you said it yourself. If this guy finds out that someone’s called the cops, who he appears to pay off for their discretion, these girls’ lives are at risk. We need to get them out safe and unharmed. I know what I’m doing. The cops, even if they do w
ant to form a SWAT team, will have to deal with all the bureaucratic bullshit that I don’t have to.”
David looked at him. “What are you going to do?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. All you need to do is play your part, don’t get out of line, and make sure you can get me an invite to the poker room.”
He shook his head. “Falconi only likes people with a lot of money.”
Cam laughed. “Yeah. I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
Alexander grinned in response. “I’ve got that covered.”
David looked between the two friends.
“Believe me. Just tell Falconi that your old friend, Alexander Burnham, is in town for a few meetings and needs some entertainment while he’s away from home.”
“Shit!” David exclaimed. “I knew you looked familiar. But you run a security company. Don’t you think he’ll get suspicious?”
“See, that’s the thing about security companies. We work both sides. Just get me in the poker room and I’ll take it from there.”
“He may realize something’s going on if I don’t bid on any of the girls. I always…” He trailed off.
“You always what?”
“I always bid on Jolene.”
“Make your regular bids. I’ll outbid you.”
“He may not accept it. He can be particular about who he gives her to.”
“Well then, please enlighten me. What does it take to make sure this sick fuck accepts my bid?”
David scanned the room, his voice shaking. “When you get there, he’ll ask you what your type is. Jolene will have blonde hair and blue eyes. And she’s tall. Say that’s what you’re interested in and he may send her over. But, then, don’t appear too eager. Stay calm. There will probably be about twenty men there, but there’s only about eight girls. Stay aloof. Eye the girl up and down. Then make him an offer that’s too good for him to pass up. That’s what always worked for me.”
Cam’s face flamed in anger as he listened to David. He stood up, his fists clenched as he hovered over him. Before he knew what was happening, he swung back, ready to punch him.