MATTEO (book 2)

45. MATTEO

Oleg and I were waiting to be seated. This whole thing is happening in an underground section of a casino in the middle of fucking nowhere.

There's some agents already hiding out on the top of the building.

There is also some very powerful people i've noticed from the news here. Mayors, celebrities sheriffs. But no one bats an eye at each other, in their mind, we're all here for the same thing.

"Hey, did you end up finding Snow?"

"No. I think she may have planned an escape and used you to do it." He looks at his watch. "It's fine though. I'll buy another girl today. Are you buying today?"

"If I find one that I like." I lie.

"They'll be someone."

A masked man leads us to our seats. Oleg takes the couch, I take the armchair. "They bring the girls out on the stage. Highest bidder."

"How much do they usually go for?"

"Depends on who they are. When I bought Neves, she was $6 million. Her father was a rich businessman in Brazil, money means they'll be able to find her so they charge extra." He shrugs. "We can negotiate prices when we see them though."

He did his research.

Did he know Xena?

My pulse starts to race at that.

The hall was large, there was multiple screens at the back for those who couldn't see that far up front, and to make a bet, you pressed the red button and typed your price.

"What happens to the girls that aren't bought?"

"Sold together in bundles for a discounted price, or killed, organs used for the organ trafficking." He shrugs.

I nod my head, talking my fingers off the table.

I drank yesterday, and today I'm going through the withdrawal stages again. Bad timing. If I fuck this up, not only can I die, but all these women and children and men are dying too.

And Oleg gets away.

The lights dim and a small masked man with a voice changer on starts speaking the rules.

No fights.

No arguing.

No trading.

Then they introduce the first girl.

I wait for a while, until everyone is settled and a few people have been auctioned. I look around, everyone was paying attention to the screens or whoever was on stage.

Everyone was quiet.

I press the button on my sleeve, looking right at the girl on stage. She was a child, for fucks sake, and so many people were pressing their buttons.

I felt sick to my stomach.

Five minutes later, a ring of gunshots sequence and then the crossfire starts.

I take my gun out if it's holster and drop it.

My hands are so shaky.

Oleg protects me though.

I pick it up.

The FBI announce themselves and all exits were completely covered.

My heart is racing.

I lift up someone's drink sitting at their table and down in, just to calm myself. I can't fuck this up.

There's going to be a lot of collateral.