Page 42 of Doxed

It always amazes me how arrogant some men can become once they gain a bit of power.

I mean, the vetting process to invite me to literal human auctions was nonexistent.

All I had to do was sell them someone. Which, you know, admittedly was a mistake, but still.

The location I stole Briar from has temporarily shut down for “renovations” as they’re claiming, but I'm sure it’s because a girl went missing and they have to investigate it.

But since that location is down, they've been so accommodating as to connect me with their other locations.

I won't lie. When I saw that email, my stomach knotted up. I underestimated how large this operation was, but it works in our favor. We still have time to find the rest of the girls that were taken.

So after I made Briar and me lunch and she said she wanted to take a walk around the property, I made my way into my office to scour the newsletters from the remaining three locations for the club girls.

We’re working against time now. All of them could have been killed or sold off by now, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but hopefully I can find some to show Briar I meant it when I apologized.

The monitor in the corner shows Briar walking into the house from the gym and a moment later I hear her footsteps down the long hallway.

She walks past my office, glancing in on her way, and then halts. She turns and faces my office, looking at it strangely. “You’ve never left this door open.” She takes a tentative step in, like the room is going to go up if she enters.

“I didn’t want to hide anything from you anymore,” I answer, continuing to scroll through the girls in the first newsletter.

And I’m rewarded. I guess. “Oh, speaking of.” I push away from my desk, rolling to the back wall.

“Come here.” I motion her over and spin around.

I kneel on the floor, and my fingers find the hidden seam in the carpet.

I pull it back and open the trapdoor. “This office is soundproof and fireproof, but if you ever need to get out, this tunnel leads to a spot in the forest just outside of my helicopter hangar.” Her eyes widen as she looks at me with horror.

“I’ll get your prints added to the scanner for my office, if you want. ”

“Let’s hold off on that for now. Do you really think all that is necessary?” She gestures around the room and at the tunnel.

I shrug and climb into my chair, rolling back to my desk. “You never know. I know a lot of bad shit about a lot of powerful people. But anyway.” I move on from that. “Turns out the people I sold you to have three other places they hold girls and I found some of your coworkers at the first one.”

“You did?!” She rushes to look over my shoulder. Her long hair swings forward and brushes against my shoulder. Fuck, she smells so good. Like syrupy, boozy mangos.

“How many were working the night they came and took everyone?” I ask, slowly scrolling back through the pictures so she can see them all.

“Twelve, including me.” I feel one hand take hold of the back of my chair, her fingers grazing my back, and the other resting on the desk in front of us. “There’s only four girls here.” Her voice sounds dejected.

“Well, this is only one of the other locations, so maybe the others are at the remaining houses.” I try to encourage her. I place my hand on top of hers to comfort her, but she quickly pulls it out from under mine.

“Well, then let’s see the other websites.” She motions at the screen.

“Okay.” I nod and open the second newsletter.

Three girls are on the next newsletter, and none on the final one.

She sighs, walking away. “So where’s Reyna, Charlotte, Serena, and Mia?” Spinning around in my chair, I purse my lips, waiting to see if she actually wants me to answer her. Her eyes bore into mine. “Dead?” she asks, her voice filled with panic and despair.

“Or bought or escaped,” I add.

“But there’s no way for us to know for sure?” Briar crosses her arms, and I really don’t want to let her down, but to be honest, only four girls missing who were sold into sex trafficking are great odds. I don't think she wants to hear that, though.

“I can try to track them; bank records, their socials, stuff like that. But if they’re living off the grid or under a new name, then I won't be able to find them.”

Briar presses her hands to her face and sighs. “Okay. I’m gonna go for a walk again. Clear my head.”

“Can I come?” I ask, hurriedly.

Briar stops in her tracks. “You want to come? Why?” She crosses her arms and eyes me.

I shrug. “I don’t know, to talk. To let you get to know me.”

“Okay.” She nods.

It’s an overcast day so the woods are breezy and gray.

We walk in silence for a while. The only sounds are the snapping of twigs under our shoes and the occasional bird chirping from their nests in the trees.

“So what do you do when you’re not spying on people or selling them?

” she asks, full of sass, but I guess it’s deserved.

“I like to cook, I also enjoy gaming. I collect rare Pokemon cards.” I list off some of my hobbies. “But I also like to just relax and enjoy the home I built for myself.”

“Wait what?” she asks, chuckling.

I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. “I relax?”

She shakes her head, rolling her eyes. “Pokemon cards? How old are you?”

“Whoa, whoa.” I hold up my hands in defense. “They’re worth over twenty thousand dollars.”

“Men,” Briar laughs. “Fine. What were your plans for the future? Live in a fortress forever?”

“Well,” I start awkwardly. “You know what my plans were.” I glance at her again, but her eyes are forward as we trudge along. “But now I'd like to live a life that my parents would be proud of. Do more good in the world, maybe…” I trail off, letting it end there.

“Maybe what?” she asks meekly.

I stop, grabbing her arm to stop her as well. “Maybe fall in love. My parents were each other’s world and I think they’d want that for me, too.”

Licking her lips, her gaze turns to the soft ground. “I’m sure they would. But you’d have to let more people in to achieve that.”

“I just did.” I beg her with my eyes to look at me, but she doesn't.

Pulling her wrist out of my grasp, she starts walking again. “Let’s go back. I want to take a nap before dinner.”

I walk with her back to the house with regret and anger hanging over me like a storm cloud. I hate myself for what I did to Briar, and I’ll never forgive myself if I pushed her too far.

After dinner, I head back to my office to finish up a quick job for a client, making sure to leave the door open. It’s difficult for me, even when I was alone, I still closed the door.

Sitting in my chair, I move my mouse to get my screens to wake up, but before I can get back to my assignment, I notice a new email.

“Briar!” I shout. “Briar, come here!”

She runs into my office. “What?” she gasps, panting.

I hold up my hand, waving her over. She comes behind me and looks at my screen. “Want to go to Miami?”