Page 7 of Never Lost

“All accounted for?”

“As far as I know.”

Or maybe they were dead and their bodies were dumped out in the desert. Or maybe Langer had no way of knowing either way.

“If you care so much, why don’t you just buy slaves and then buy their freedom?”

“I have. Quite a few, over the years. But that’s just working within the system. It’s fueling the machine, not disrupting it. I had to find another way.”

“What about the hot tub?” I suddenly remembered. “The champagne? What about Lemaya? Who disappeared mysteriously after the tour today, by the way.”

“Disappeared?” he asked, somewhat alarmed. “I don’t know anything about that.”

Probably true but not reassuring.

“She’s completely infatuated with you, you know.” I paused. “And she’s not the first, is she?”

Langer rolled his eyes, confirming what I needed to know. “She’s an adult, like the others I’ve had over, and she came therewillingly. And you can’t argue that I don’t treat them like royalty when they’re with me, which is something they deserve after everything they’ve been through.”

“Must be nice,” I remarked. “A bunch of willing young fucktoys you can call up day or night.”

“Hey, let’s put it this way: I haven’t had any complaints.”

“You’re a real knight in shining armor, Max.”

He smirked. “I’ve always thought so.”

“I don’t know how all this works, but you’d think at the very least you could get them to sign, like, a release agreement or something.”

“They can’t. They’re slaves.”

“Fuck, you’re right.” I sighed. “But wasn’t one of them born free?”

He raised his eyebrows—alarmed, but only slightly. “What gave you that idea?”

Maeve. Maeve gave me that idea. But then again, Maeve also didn’t speak English, and as he said, there was a chance that the language barrier had caused her to misconstrue the situation, or even misconstrue several situations.

“And no one else has access to the girls? It’s just you and Resi?” I asked, thinking of the note in Corey’s desk drawer with the two passcodes, which seemed to give him access to the house at any hour.

“I don’t control who has access to them. Resi does. You can always ask her.”

“Oh, right. Except that, as any idiot should have noticed—except for you, apparently—she doesn’t like me. Or maybe she likes me too much. Either way, it hasn’t exactly been conducive to a collegial work environment.”

“Believe me, I noticed,” he said dryly. “And I talked to her about it.”

“Talkedto her about it?!” I exclaimed. “Come on, man. Are youtryingto make the situation worse?”

He thought for a second. “Okay, point taken. But you know, youcantell her to get fucked. She’s supposed to be mine to deal with, not yours.”

“Noted,” I said, though I’d already tried that. But now that I knew she didn’t have Maeve anymore… but what about Lemaya? My head was frankly tired of swimming in all the possibilities. Actually, I realized I’d been holding my breath, and I was the one always telling people not to do that. I knocked back the rest of the wine in my glass and turned to my drinking companion. “This atmosphere is better than our first ‘date,’ I’ll give you that.”

Langer smirked. “Yeah, you’re not covered in pig shit.”

“Fuck you.”

But we both laughed as we started back down the hill. Outside the Porsche, Langer hit the button to unlock the doors, but when he approached the car, he didn’t head immediately for the driver’s side. My heart immediately sped up, responding to some elemental male connection with steel, rubber, and octane.

“Anyway, here’s what I know you really don’t want to hear,” Langer said, “which is why I’m yet again going for the extremely responsible technique of plying you with alcohol and a fast car. But I need you to please, for the love of God, stop all the poking around you’ve been doing.”