Page 10 of Deliverance

"No," Ricardo said, low.

"Then, where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere better than where the rest of them are going."

I swallowed. Was any place better than being back at my apartment with Steven? Was any place better than living the life I wanted to live?

Ricardo pulled me away from the others. "How did this happen?"

I looked up into his dark brown eyes as he still held my upper arm. "What do you mean, how? You know how."

"No, I don't."

"How don't you?" I continued to whisper.

"Because I don't. Tell me how this happened."

"The taxi."

At that moment, the woman ordered us outside. Ricardo led me through the metal door, the bright sunlight blinding me as we walked out into the humid June air. The light breeze did nothing to cool me off even though it was cooler outside than it was inside the steel warehouse.

"Just do what they say," Ricardo whispered into my ear. "I'll figure out a way to come get you."

I barely nodded as he pushed me into a limo.A limo?I looked around at the leather seats and shiny wood paneling as I sat in the rear-facing seat next to two other women. Bottles of water sat in a bucket of ice, and I shivered as the air conditioning blew cold air on my bare arms.

The fancy woman slid into the limo with the man who wasn't Ricardo. "Good choices," he said.

"They'll be better once they're cleaned up," she replied, looking over each of us. The four of us were about the same age, and we were all attractive, which led me to believe that wherever we were going wasn't going to be better, as Ricardo had told me.

"You're all lucky. The four of you just won the lottery," the guy stated.

How was any of this lucky?

He chuckled. "Don't be shy. We're going to become acquainted very quickly."

"What do you want from us?" one of the ladies finally asked in a whisper.

"To make us money, of course." The man lit a cigar. He cracked his window slightly to let the smoke escape.

"Doing what?" the same lady questioned.

The guy and woman looked at each other with a grin before he said, "Whatever we fucking want you to do."

The limo drove into the city and stopped at one of the high-rises not far from where I taught on the Upper East Side. "Now, we're going to go upstairs. None of you are to speak or try to escape because if you do, I won't hesitate to bring you back and sell you to the highest bidder. Do I make myself clear?" the man threatened.

"Yes, sir," the four of us muttered.

The fancy lady opened the door. When I slid out, Ricardo was there. He must have come in another car. Why wasn't he doing anything to save me as he'd promised?

We were led inside the building, and a doorman nodded to us as though he'd seen us all before. As though it was normal for four women, who hadn't showered in days, to walk through the expensive lobby.Maybe it was.

After the woman used a keycard in the wall, an elevator descended. Ricardo and another guy got into the lift with the six of us, and the lady pressed the only button on the elevator panel. It started to rise, coming to a stop at what seemed to be the top of the building.

When we walked out, it felt like I was hallucinating again because we stepped into an opulent apartment. I knew in my gut that it was too good to be true. I wasn't kidnapped to live the high life.

I had been takenandchosen to work at an upscale whorehouse.

Chapter Five