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IT WAS BRIAN’S TURN to watch the girls. This was the part of the job that he despised. He could pass some time by having fun with any of the girls, but screwing an unconscious girl didn’t get a rise out of him. The girls were kept in a drugged stupor to keep them controllable.
Brian had no problems killing someone who owed his Boss money, but this new business venture still didn’t sit too well with him. He did as instructed as he prized his life. If he kept building up the Boss’s trust in him, he would continue making rank in the Family. If all went well, one day soon he would be the underboss, or better the cleaner.
As he made his rounds, he checked in on the girls once more. He had a strong suspicion his Boss’s voodoo priestess was using some of that black magic she did on these girls. They looked just like the slaves utilized in the sweat shops. Hell, Brian wasn’t even sure if turning those that couldn’t pay into zombies was better than killing them. They just stared out into space and took the orders the voodoo priestess gave them. She had complete control over them, or so she said. They still had to make sure they kept them shackled, so they didn’t wander off. He let one go free by accident, and before he knew it, the blasted thing had walked off. It took forever to find the damn thing and then when he did, it lunged for him. No matter how hard he struck the thing, it didn’t register that he should feel pain.
Once Brian made his rounds, he met his Boss back at the small office and told him goodbye. Brian watched as his Boss and bodyguards left for the night. His new bodyguard was built like a damn linebacker. The man had muscles on his muscles. He wondered if he took steroids to give him that much mass. When age caught up with him, he would be in trouble. All that muscle would more than likely turn to fat.
After they had left, he made sure everything was locked up and turned on some music. The warehouse was soon filled with the sounds of a current popular pop song. While the beat of the music pulsed through him, he pulled out his cocaine. Normally, he didn’t like to take drugs while working, but sitting here watching these zombified girls was hardly work.
He shook out a line of cocaine on the back of his hand and inhaled it. He closed his eyes and felt his body relax as the drugs entered his system. Even the music seemed to flow through his blood. He kicked his feet up on the desk and let the drug induced feeling take over his body.
He had to rub his eyes to make sure what he was seeing wasn’t a figment of his imagination.
***
ALEXIS WATCHED AS DOMINIC and his goons left the warehouse. Being careful to stay in the shadows, she worked her way to the door. While Dominic showered last night, she’d swiped his key chain. She doubted he would even notice it missing as he had someone else open doors for him, usually Brian. After trying a few keys, she finally unlocked the door and peered inside.
What she saw there was beyond her worst fears. She was frozen in fear at the sight in front of her. How could the man she loved do this? The man she loved was better than this. She never imagined he was capable of something this cruel.
Alexis was horrified. In front of her were young girls, some barely teenagers. They were caged like animals, arms and legs shackled. They looked as if they were drugged, no one moved. A blanket was thrown on the floor for them to lie on and nothing else.
What would possess Dominic to do something like this? He was raised to respect women, not to demoralize them. A noise from the corner caught her attention. Out of the shadows appeared Brian, Dominic’s right hand man. She swallowed down her fear, unsure of what he would do to her.
Without thinking, she backed up and found herself against the door. Using more force than he needed, Brian grabbed her and drug her over to his corner office.
He demanded, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Does Dominic know that you are here?” She watched in horror as he picked up his phone, “No, of course he doesn’t. You know curiosity killed the cat.”
The whole time he was talking, he waved his gun around. He removed some duct tape from his desk and restrained her.
Once Alexis was restrained to the chair, he called Dominic, “Boss we have a slight problem at the warehouse. You need to head over here again.”
Dominic let out a deep sigh. “We don’t have a problem with badges do we?”
“Mais non, Boss. Badges I can handle. I would never bring you in the middle of that. This is something that you will want to handle as you see fit.”
Dominic informed him, “I will be there shortly.”
A shiver ran through Alexis as Brian glared at her. There was pure evil in his eyes, “Your husband is on his way. You better get your story straight.”
When Dominic entered the warehouse, Alexis had hot tears running down her face. He smiled and grabbed her chin. He forced her to look into his eyes. There was so much rage and hate there. It was an expression that she’d never seen from him before. One that she couldn’t imagine even the most heartless and cold criminal making. She had no idea what he was capable of. As the tears continued to flow and blur her vision, her body convulsed in fear. Nausea welled up in her stomach and moved up her throat. She feared that he would kill her.
Dominic suddenly stopped pacing and looked directly at Alexis. He could see the fear in her eyes. He asked her, “Why? Why did you have to come here? Now that you have seen what is going on, something will have to be done. You can’t be trusted to keep this quiet.”
Alexis looked up at him with tears glittering in her eyes, “Why? Why must you do this?”
Out of the shadows stepped Bianca. Alexis stared at her in utter disbelief, “Now, Alexis surely you must know about Dominic’s business dealings?”
Alexis shook her head, “No, Dominic couldn’t be involved in this.” She looked at Dominic with denial written on her face, “Did she talk you into this? Dominic this isn’t you?”
Bianca stepped closer to Alexis, “Oh, but my pet, this is Dominic. There are things that you don’t know about your husband that would turn your stomach.”
Alexis watched in horror as Bianca put her arms around Dominic and kissed him with raw passion. Alexis looked at Dominic, “What is going on here Dominic?”
Dominic pushed Bianca out of the way, “Alexis, you have to understand that this is just business. I never meant for you to find out about any of this, but now that you have, I can’t let you tell anyone either.”
Dominic looked over at Bianca, “I want this to be quick and painless, do you understand me. No voodoo curses and no suffering.” Dominic looked over at Brian, “Make sure she doesn’t suffer. I can’t bear to watch this.”
***
BRIAN SAW THIS AS AN opportune moment. This would have him making rank in the family. He could see himself sitting at the right hand of the Boss. And if something unfortunate should happen to him, then Brian would be the one to take over. Especially, now that the wife would be taken care of before she could give him any heirs. Dominic may think he was indestructible, but he was messing with fire when he played with his voodoo priestess. If she found out what he did behind her back, then she would put some kind of voodoo curse on him.
Alexis started to scream at the top of her lungs, “You don’t have to do this Dominic. I promise I won’t say a word.”
As Bianca moved closer to her, Alexis spat in her face, “My parents will wonder where I am. I will be missed.”
Dominic turned back to Alexis with a venomous look, “Your parents know better than to question me, or they will suffer the same fate. Your dad has worked with my Family for years now. Why do you think our marriage was arranged? Your dad had no male heirs and wanted to combine forces with the St. Germaines.”
Bianca glared down at Alexis with triumph clearly showing in her eyes, “Don’t worry cher. At least you won’t suffer the same fate as the others that crossed Dominic.”
“What... What do you mean?”
“There are worse things than death; you can be the walking dead.”
Alexis tried to hide the tremble in her voice, “Walking dead?”
“I have a potion that has you walking the earth where you are not quite alive, but not dead either.”
Bianca stepped closer to Alexis and brushed the tears off of her face, “But then again, you have such a pretty bone structure that maybe we can use you in some of our potions. Some are killed and boiled down to the bone. Then I take their bones and pulverize them to sell. We make a small fortune off of the voodoo items. People pay a lot for something they think will give them magical powers.”
Bianca pointed to the girls in the cage, “Count yourself lucky that you won’t be joining these girls. They will be sold.”
“What do you mean sold?”
Bianca let out a maniacal laugh, “We sell girls worldwide. Thanks to the internet and the right connections no one will ever know what happened to them. The younger girls fetch a pretty penny too.”
***
ALEXIS WAS RIGID WITH fear at the various things they could do to her and none pleasant. Her heart went out to these girls held captive. When they killed Alexis, her torture would be over, but theirs would be just beginning. That was if they killed her, she was still unsure of what her fate would be.
***
GUY MAYON COULD SMELL the adrenaline in the air as the SWAT van drove to the warehouse. It took some convincing for his friend, Detective Mike Bailey, to grant him permission to attend the raid. Mike handpicked those who would be included in the raid. There was a lot riding on this, and it could prove to be fatal for all involved if the information fell into the wrong hands.
Everyone was decked out in full body armor. Guy hoped that the warehouse was minimally guarded and that the armor and weapons were overkill. No one was briefed on the full scope of the raid until they were in the van. If Alexis was correct, then Dominic had friends in very high places and they would let him know about the raid immediately.
As the van stopped and the doors opened, Guy took in several deep breaths and readied himself. He stepped in place at the end of the line of officers as they moved out. The windows were too high to see what was on the inside.
There were no cars parked near the warehouse and by the look of it, the warehouse appeared to be vacant.
The SWAT team split into two groups. The first group headed towards the front of the warehouse while the second group headed to the loading dock in the back. The leader of Guy’s group used a small mirror to check the front of the warehouse. He signaled that they were clear to move in.
***
BIANCA AND BRIAN BOTH heard the proximity alarm go off. She exclaimed to Brian, “Grab my hand. We must get out of here now.” Using her transposing spell, they departed the warehouse just as the doors were blasted open.
Alexis couldn’t believe her eyes. The two vanished into thin air.