Disclaimer and Notes
* * *
Esmeraude typed the advertisement on her website, along with a picture of the new girl. This Angela was a pretty young thing with blonde hair and big, innocent blue eyes. Of course, her clothing had to go: they were rather unflattering. So Esmeraude had taken the girl shopping, and had bought her new clothing that suited her far better, and...maximized her assets. She had insisted on keeping the tacky little teddy-bear necklace and mood ring that she had on, saying that the first had been a present from her mother, and the second, she'd had since she was 17. Esmeraude permitted her to keep them. They did give her an added hint of girlish appeal, which could very well be used to fetch a higher price. Esmeraude smiled thinly. This was all too easy. And now, she had another one. Who had no connections or abilities to defend herself.
Soon, bids started rolling in. $1000, $2500, $3000, $4000, $5500,$6000, $7000, $7500...she was about to accept the offer of $10000 when all of the sudden, a new offer came in. The biggest offer she'd ever seen! Some man, by the name of Ken Knightley, put in a bid for a walloping $50000! This Knightley fellow seemed rather arrogant, and stated bluntly that he liked blondes. Then, gave out an address to a penthouse, and Esmeraude grinned as she accepted his offer. Now, she had to go and fetch the newest chit. She strode up the marble stairs of her mansion, high heels clicking.
Mina was sitting in her new room, exploring the surroundings. The room was nice enough, with lace curtains on the narrow windows and a snowy white canopied bed. But Mina's trained eyes noted that the windows were too narrow to escape from, and that the Tiffany light hanging from the ceiling was actually a hidden camera. 'Hmm...too bad I don't have Amy's supercomputer with me. Although by no means an expert with computers, she knew enough to be able to disable a camera. But there was no microphone, so she could converse with Kevin via earpiece with no problems. In fact, at the very moment, his voice came into her ear. "I've just made the bid. It's been accepted. You'll be over here tonight."
"Gotcha." She whispered. "Nice room. Cam in the light." She said laconically. Then, there came to her sharp ears the sound of footsteps. "Someone's coming. I'll see you later." At that moment, a knock came on her door, and Mina cheerfully called out, "Come in!"
Esmeraude stepped into the room to see her newest girl standing by the window. Mina smiled at her and said in a honey-sweet voice, "This room is so lovely! I can't thank you enough, Estrellita."
Esmeraude smiled back at her, and purred, "My pleasure, and I have good news for you. One of my other girls is sick today, and she can't make it to her appointment. I called the man, a Mr. Knightley, and he said that he wouldn't mind it if you went instead. He lives in a penthouse, and pays a lot. Isn't that great?"
"Wonderful!" Mina said. Inwardly, she was gagging. Esmeraude smiled at the naive girl in front of her, and made her way out of the room. "I'll have one of my men drive you there after dinner." She called over her shoulder.
~ ~ ~
Mina was silent as the silent, leering lug of a man drove her to Raye's penthouse building. She was dressed in a white linen dress that came to midthigh. She had inspected it carefully, and sure enough, there was a tiny microphone on one of the buttons. But no cameras. She would change out of the damned thing as soon as she got to Raye's.
The thug led her up, and shook hands with Kevin. And in that handshake, a check and a package of roofies exchanged hands. Kevin steadfastly kept his face stony, and kept down the urge to grievously injure the bastard, who was part of the operation that wanted to use his Mina (since when did he start to think of her as HIS Mina?!) in the worst way imaginable. Mina smiled cheerfully up at him and called out, "Hello, sir, I am Angela Minton."
He merely gave her a curt nod, and ushered her in, shutting the door in the face of the ugly, hook-nosed, leering bastard who had escorted her in. He was about to say her name when she clapped a slender hand over his mouth. She pointed to a button on her dress, and he understood. It was bugged. She nodded at him, then walked into Raye's bedroom. Moments later, she emerged, dressed in a black turtle-necked dress that was slightly short on her: She was 5'9" as opposed to Raye's 5'6.5". Her luscious long legs gleamed like marble columns under the hem.
"Okay, right now, I know that there's a cam in my room. And that the windows are too narrow for escape. I haven't met any of the girls yet, but I daresay after I go back, 'defiled', I will meet them soon enough. How many roofies did they give you?"
"Two."
"Right. We have three hours or so. Supposedly, right now, I'm unconscious and you're fucking me." She gave him a grin. "Disgusting, eh?"
Kevin nodded. "This bitch......it's really hard to believe that there are people this heartless in the world. Do you comprehend what would be happening to you right now if, well, I was not me and you weren't you?"
Mina nodded soberly. "I'm well aware." Suddenly, the cool, chipper agent vanished, and she found herself in tears. "I haven't met those girls yet. B-but I.......I can just imagine....w-what.........they've been d-damned to an eternal hell......" She sobbed. "Kevin, I used to run a youth group in L.A. when I was 15. Before I went off to college. Many of my closest childhood friends were friendless girls with nowhere to go...it--it's just... those girls at Esmeraude's could be Robin, or Lindsey, or Jennifer...or any of them....I---I'm sorry......" She tried unsuccessfully to stop crying.
Then, Kevin did something that surprised them both. He strode over to her, and took her into his arms. His large hands stroked gently down her back, smoothing down her silky golden hair, and he let her cry into his shirtfront. This time, it was him who kissed her on the top of her golden head. "Then, Mina, we'll get rid of Esmeraude. For Robin, for Lindsey, for Jennifer, and for those girls that she's cruelly exploited. We'll do this together. I'm with you every step of the way."
Mina snuggled into his warm, broad chest. She changed her mind. He was not a lump of granite after all. No lump of granite could be this warm. Or this nice to her. She tilted her head back to gaze into his storm-gray eyes. "You're awfully sweet, Kunzy."
He laughed at that. "Tell anyone and I'll kill you." He joked. She giggled at that, then gasped as his hands came up to cup her face, thumbs gently brushing away the drying tearstains. Silver met cerulean as their eyes locked. "You're an amazingly brave woman, Angel." And she had a feeling that he was not calling her last name this time.
Taking that chance, she raised her arms slightly, and let her slim fingers brush the ends of his silvery locks. "Thank you." She whispered, and slowly let her eyes drift shut, eyelashes looking like golden fans on her rosy cheeks.
A moment of silence, and then, she felt his lips brush hers lightly. It was a tentative kiss at first, but Mina felt a warmth surge through her body from top to toe. She moaned slightly, and suddenly, the kiss was no longer light and hesitant, but deep, hungry, and passionate. That kiss was followed by another, and another, and another...Finally, it was Kevin who broke apart.
"We'll pursue this further after we're done with the case." He said firmly. Mina nodded. They kissed one last time, this time, chastely, and then, went back to business. They discussed how to crack the case, and when to next meet, Mina sitting snugly against Kevin's shoulder.
* * *
Back to WRITINGS
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter
