Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
When her captor stepped back, Zara steadied herself on the pipes running the length of the building. As soon as he was clear, his accomplice threw the bucket of water over her.
Zara turned by reflex to deflect the cascade from the front of her body. Icy, cold water hit her back with enough force to push her forward. A gasp escaped from her mouth before she began shivering. The warehouse or wherever they were holding her wasn’t heated. The now-drenched clothing made her shiver as the chill seemed to seep into her bones.
“Get another one. We’ll do her front, too. The buyers might as well see all her assets,” the captor declared.
“No. Please! I’ll catch pneumonia,” Zara pleaded as his lackey headed back out of the room to follow his orders.
“You won’t before I get money for you. Then I don’t care what happens to you. Think of it this way, maybe you won’t last too long. I know some women beg to die every day. We could be doing you a favor.”
With her mind boggled by this statement, tears gathered in Zara’s eyes. The slap of another bucket of frigid water against her face and body washed away the last of her hope. He was right. She could see how death was an escape from the horror that awaited.
“But who knows?” he continued. “Maybe your buyer will be a kind, considerate man. Or he could use a bull whip on you until skin can’t grow on your back.”
Something about this man wanting to scare her fueled her resistance. She could tell he expected her to beg for mercy. Stiffening her spine, she refused to let him see her fear.
“Oh, you still have some fire? Good. That usually raises the price.”
The man approached once again. Quickly fastening what looked like a choke leash around her throat, he lifted up and forward, forcing her to move the way he wanted or cut off her oxygen supply. He cut the restraints from her waist, dragged Zara out of the room, and attached her leash to a dangling chain that hung from a beam in the larger room.
Noticing the numerous TV screens, she tried to hide her face while glaring at each man. I see you. I’m going to make sure you pay.
“A quarter of a million dollars,” bid a voice, harsh with excitement.
“A quarter of a million is paltry for this prize.” Her captor grabbed the back of Zara’s hair and tugged her face fully up. A fraction of a second passed, and then a new voice with a foreign accent she didn’t recognize bid, “Five hundred thousand dollars.”
“How many times have you been fucked?” the man demanded, pulling her hair until tears streamed down her face.
“A hundred,” she lied.
“See gentlemen? She’s barely broken in. By the time you and your guests are finished with her, she’ll know exactly how to please a man.”
Shock made her freeze in place. Being raped by one man was bad enough. Her captor thought they would share her with others?
“Let us see her body,” one man demanded. “Those wet clothes could hide a myriad of skin diseases and deformities.”
“Mr. U, I am known for the integrity of my wares. Would you like to restate that?” her captor bristled.
“This is against the law. You can’t just buy and sell me. I have rights,” Zara blurted.
“What rights do you have? Let me see your passport. We’ll be sure to follow your home country’s laws,” her captor mocked.
“It’s…it’s back at Danger Bluff.”
“An illegal alien in New Zealand. The laws are very strict here.”
“I’ll take my chances with the law,” Zara stated firmly.
“Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” a voice called, and Zara watched one of the images switch to an official law enforcement logo on the wall.
He worked for the very people she hoped would intervene.
Her bravado crashed around her, and Zara covered her face with her hands. She didn’t want to see their reaction as the man flipped open a knife and sliced up the back of her shirt. He yanked it down her arms, pulling her hands from her face and exposing her from the waist up.
“One million dollars.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“We should get to have her,” the captor’s accomplice asserted as he led her back to the room where they’d held Zara first.
“We don’t mess with the merchandise,” her captor snarled.
Zara could tell the second in command didn’t agree with that answer. He shoved her through the doorway and refastened her hands to the pipe. When he tried to cop a feel, Zara squirmed and even tried to bite him.
Immediately, the man drew a hand back to strike her. “Not on the face,” the other captor warned from the doorway. “If you drop her value, the difference comes out of your cut, not mine.”
The man’s palm stopped inches from her face. The gust of wind made her cringe away. “Yeah. Not worth it. She’ll be torn and battered in a couple of days. Maybe we can convince them to let us know before they drop her in the ocean.”