Page 67 of Matrix

“Brown hair. Short. Chin length if you’ve got it. Petite.”

“Eyes?”

“Blue. They always look extra innocent when they’re that color.” I want to throw up, but I have to be a revolting pig to play the part.

“I think I know just the girl,” the man says.

“We’re rather picky. The three of us like to share our girls. We have the same tastes, but sometimes we can’t agree on just one.”

“It becomes considerably more expensive if I have to send extra, especially if they’re not chosen.”

“You take corporate credit cards, don’t you?” I ask, using the magic words that have opened many doors in the past.

“Of course, sir.”

“Good. Then charge the company for five. Whatever we don’t want, we’ll keep regardless. We can make them watch.”

“We’ll be sending them with security. For their protection, of course.”

Yeah, right. They have armed guards to make sure their captives don’t try to escape.

“You’ll be discrete?” I ask in a perturbed tone. “The hotel assured me we could use service elevators to bring our guests up. Are you familiar with The Canal? The friend who recommended you has stayed there before.”

“We’re very well acquainted with that property. We just need your room number.”

“The penthouse,” I say in a snotty tone as if it should have been obvious.

“Excellent. We’ll put a temporary hold on the card today. The girls will be delivered tomorrow night by eight p.m. They will be leaving promptly at sunrise the following morning. You can mark them any way you like; however, if you hurt them in any permanent way, we’ll have to charge you the lifetime purchase price.”

“How much is that?” I ask.

“One million dollars.”

“So, if I wanted to keep my favorite, it would only cost me a million?”

“Yes.”

“That’s something to consider.” I turn around to face the guys at the conference table. They’re all looking at each other. I don’t know if any of them has that much lying around, but it would be helpful.

“Until tomorrow.” The man ends the call.

I check to be sure it’s disconnected before I shove it in my cut. “We have just under twenty-four hours. If we do this right, we can rescue all five girls. He did mention a million-dollar buy-out option. None of you happen to have that much extra pocket change lying around, right?”

Everyone shakes their head.

“We’d love it if it were that easy, but it’s not. Since you’re taking Angela back to Montana, that leaves four more girls if we rescue all of them. We can handle that easily,” Vapor says.

“You’ll find homes for them?” I ask.

“Another chapter contacted us last week looking for placement for several kids. We wanted to make a swap but didn’t have anyone in mind. These girls will be perfect. The farther away we can get them from their abusers, the better. Montana would be ideal, but I don’t want there to be any connection between Lulu’s and your club. Blackstone can’t catch even a whiff of your involvement in this.”

“You know our doors are always open if you need a place to hide victims,” Scar says.

“Same goes for us,” Vapor says. “Now, let’s get into how we want this to play out.”

“Here’s what I’m thinking …” As I run through several options for rescuing the girls, I keep thinking about Daisy. She’s going to be so excited when she finds out what’s happening. However, I have to make sure she’s not too anxious. This cartel is smart. They were strong enough to get rid of the cartel that owned New Orleans before them. They won’t be easy foes.

After discussing the plan and all possible contingencies, Vapor adjourns Church. He and his crew plan to be our eyes and ears outside the hotel. The UV Montana crew will be inside, either hiding in the penthouse or hanging out in the emergency exit stairwell. As long as the cartel doesn’t send more than a few guys to protect the girls, we should be able to pull this off without a hitch. It almost seems too easy, which makes me nervous.