Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (132 page)

“You
can have mine,” she dug in her bag beside the sink and handed
it over, “it's half charged and you can take all the pictures
you want.” Elena also announced that she had to go into town,
“or we won't be eating tonight.” It was dramatic, in
typical Elena style, since all she needed was fresh bread to serve
with the pasta that she had planned for their meal.

Morgan
perked up at the thought of shopping. “Can I go?” Her
eyes went back and forth between Anthony and Elena. Anthony put his
hand on her back as he moved closer.

“Of
course, just hurry back because a bitch is hungry.” Morgan's
mouth opened wide, then within seconds, she was doubled over in
laughter.

The
last thirty minutes of their drive back, Morgan had texted Angel a
few times and sent him some pictures. She read a few of his replies,
only because they made her laugh, and Anthony had obviously caught on
to all things, Angel.

“And
you can send a bitch some pictures...on my phone.” Elena nodded
towards the little phone in Morgan's hand, and grabbed her bag.
“Let's go!”

Anthony
tried to grab Elena's phone from Morgan's hand, pretending to leave
her stranded without the means of photo taking, but Morgan quickly
shoved it in her shirt, behind her bra strap. “Oh no, it's
officially locked down. Everyone knows that what goes in the bra is
as safe as Fort Knox.” Anthony put his hands up and
surrendered, it was true, the bra was a safe zone. Until she
returned, then all bets were off.

“Fine,
I give. I'll even take your phone upstairs and charge it for you.”
Morgan stood on her toes to kiss him in thanks, and Anthony was good
to his word and took her phone directly upstairs as soon as she was
gone.

*****

Carlos
was back in his hiding place, not ten feet from the front gate. He
had spent the five short minutes since returning to secure a room for
the next few days. A room, he laughed to himself, that Morgan would
never leave. He had just ended his call to the hotel when movement
caught his eye. Morgan and a woman were leaving, and her client was
nowhere to be seen. It was perfect, and his hand rubbed his weary leg
to remind himself of what Morgan owed him. “Soon. Very soon.”
He started his car, and slowly...pulled out behind them as they made
their way from the house.

*****

“That's
one of his homes,” Elena pointed out the window to a
three-story, bright white mansion on their left. Morgan knew what she
meant, and awed at the beautiful home as they drove by. Anthony
started as a real estate agent, nearly twenty years prior. He
followed in his father's footsteps, but as the city grew, so did
Anthony's business.

After
eight years, he opened up his own company, and over the following
five years, he went from selling condos and small homes, to mansions
on the coast. It took many years of dedication and hard work, but he
saved up enough for another business; he bought the company that
built the multimillion dollar homes. He continued building and
selling, working his way to the top. His work ethic was something
Morgan could deeply respect and his pride showed in everything he
did. He had a hand in over half of the properites that lined the
coast in that city, and there was something special about driving
past them knowing he made that possible.

“I
couldn't imagine...” Morgan trailed off, as the house
disappeared from sight.
Butlers, landscapers, pillars.
The
home was gorgeous, but she wouldn't want it if she had the money.
Now
Anthony's house...I'd take that all day.
She smiled to herself as
she thought of the view from his balcony.
Can't see that in Ohio.
“He never did tell me how he met you and Rudy.”

Morgan
looked over to Elena, and watched as her lips moved slowly into a
knowing smile. “I applied for an office position for Sameul
back in the eighties. Eighty-six, I think.” Elena smiled at
Morgan quickly, then looked back toward the road. Samuel was
Anthony's father, that much Morgan knew. “And his words
exactly,
you don't belong in an office.
” She mocked a
man's voice, with a thick Spanish accent, and Morgan giggled quietly.
“That day, he took me to his home, and offered me a job. The
rest is history.” Morgan was still giggling. “Believe it
or not, young lady, I used to be quite the cat's meow. I think that's
the only reason I was hired.”

“Oh,
hush! You're beautiful!” Morgan could picture Elena in her
youth, and knew the woman was a heartbreaker.

“Now
you're pushing it.” Elena laughed too, then continued with her
story. She explained that when Samuel moved to Argentina to retire,
she hadn't wanted to move with him. Samuel had begged her to go, but
she stayed behind. “So, Anthony asked me to work for him. I
love the whole family, they're the only family I have outside of my
mother. Even Rudy.”

“Wait,
I thought you said you were...well...” Morgan put her fingers
up, making quotations in the air, 'the best in the business'.”
Meaning, call girl business.

“Yes,
I wasn't lying.” Elena gave Morgan a look that told her it was
the truth. “I did that until I was twenty-nine. Not at the
scale you're on. Just...locally.”

“Wow.
That's so cool!” Again, Morgan was being unprofessional, but
she didn't care. “Did Rudy work for Samuel too?” Morgan
snapped a picture of a colorful store, and reminded herself to send
it to Angel later.

“Rudy...no.
No. He's...a whole other story.” For the rest of their trip,
Elena told a story of the old man who had been homeless, and how
Anthony had given him a chance. Rudy had worked as a
landscaper/housekeeper for a wealthy family for ten years, and when
his hearing started to go, they replaced him with a younger man. The
family, as Morgan was told, was heartless, and they told Rudy to
leave with less than a day's notice, and nothing to help him get on
his way.

His
payment for working for the family had been allowing him to live in
their home. They would make sure he had food and clothing, and in
return, their home was clean and their yard was perfect. When they
would send him shopping, sometimes they told him to keep the change,
and for years, he saved up what he collected. When he was fired, he
had nothing but a little suitcase of clothing and the small stash of
money he'd saved.

“There
was a hellacious storm about a week after he was fired, it went on
for nearly three days.” Elena pulled into a parking spot in
front of the grocery store, and turned off the car. She rolled down
the window and reached across Morgan to open the glove compartment.
“Hand me those, please?” Morgan laughed as she passed
Elena a pack of cigarettes, knowing the woman was doing it behind
Anthony's back. “He hates when I smoke, so I look forward to
running errands.” She winked at Morgan and lit her little
treat.

“I
won't tell.” Morgan rolled down her own window, and took a
picture of the sunset that was beginning to turn the sky orange.

“Anyway,”
Elena took her first drag, “Rudy needed to take shelter, and
spent all of his money on a room the first night of the storm. The
second night, that's when we found him. Anthony has a big heart,
bigger than he cares for people to know. He gave Rudy a place to stay
for the night, and well, like me, the rest is history. The power went
out that night, and after hearing Rudy's story, Anthony made him part
of the family.”

The
whole story made Morgan feel connected to them all, especially Rudy
and Elena. She too had no family, but was taken in by all the people
that she loved. Morgan's heart was full, and her mind clear as she
stepped out of the car with Elena. “Oh!” Morgan saw a
small jewelry store three doors down from the bakery, and immediately
knew that she wasn't going to be helping Elena with her baked goods
choices. Elena took another drag as she nodded towards the other
store.

“Go
ahead, I'll meet you down there when I'm done. Morgan nodded as
well, and laughed at Elena who had walked to the side of the door and
leaned against the building. She was determined to finish her smoke
before shopping.

Morgan
weaved and ducked through the massive parade of shoppers, local and
tourist, until she finally made it to the sidewalk outside of the
jewelry store.
I should get Angel another charm for his chain. I
wish I had Tanner's watch, it needs cleaned. Maybe I could find
Finlay a... “
What the hell?!” Morgan's face was
covered by something foul and rough as her body instantly felt heavy.
Her eyes closed right as Carlos lifted her from her feet, and limped
his body and hers back to his car.

“Too
much drink, I'm afraid.” The very few people that noticed,
laughed at the poor drunk girl, and one man even helped Carlos open
the back door. “Thank you.” Morgan was slid across the
back seat, and Carlos shook the man's hand before walking around the
car and leaving with his prize.

Fifteen
minutes later, Elena left the bakery and dropped her two small bags
into the back seat. Morgan, she assumed, was still shopping. “Just
one more.” Elena decided to grab another smoke, which she could
enjoy and would allow Morgan a little more time in the jewelry shop.
She lit the long thin cigarette and leaned against her car. It had
been more than a day since she had indulged her habit, and she
planned to get the most of her alone time.

*****

Morgan's
lifeless body was dropped hard on the filthy wooden floor. The small
shed, once used for a make shift cock fighting ring, still reaked of
blood and waste that the poor creatures had left behind over many
years of torture. It was exactly what Carlos had wanted, and one look
at the stripper district told him that the owner of most of the
establishments was most likely someone that he could do business
with. The call he made earlier, to secure a room, had turned out
perfectly for his plans with Morgan. In a sense, the owner and Carlos
spoke the same language, and had nearly the exact same taste in
entertainment.

Carlos
had no intentions of staying in the shed, his room was on the third
floor of the main building, but the accommodations would suit his
little whore. He used his phone to light the ten by ten shack, and
manuevered his leg enough to lean over and remove most of Morgan's
clothes. Her bag, pants, tank top, and shoes were wadded up in his
arms. “One last thing.” Carlos wanted Morgan to suffer,
to feel terror, but he also wanted to humiliate her as much as
possible. He took the nearly black cloth that he'd found on the
street out of his pocket, and poured a large amount of chloroform on
the rag once again. He was careful not to breathe as he tossed it a
few feet from her head. He would keep her unconscious until the
following morning, because for that night, Carlos intended to
celebrate. “You belong to me now, dog. Stay.” He spoke
without inhaling, and limped from the shed, putting a new lock
through the handle.

Chapter
Twelve

Elena
walked down every aisle of the market, then went outside and back to
the jewelry store. Three times, she had made the same round, and
three times, Morgan was still nowhere to be found. She couldn't
figure out where Morgan had gone off to, but one thing she knew was
that it was going to be very dark soon and she had to find her.

Panic
started to course through the woman's body, as the worst possible
scenarios began to swarm her mind. “It's okay,” she told
herself. “Maybe she lost track of time.” Elena knew that
wasn't likely, but it helped ease her mind nonetheless. She didn't
know Morgan well, but she knew Morgan was strong and if anything
happened, she would be okay. Elena quickly climbed back into the car
as the sun vanished beyond the horizon, and made it home in record
time.

Since
Morgan had her phone, Elena's only option was to call her from
Morgan's charging phone. She ran up the stairs as quickly as her legs
would carry her, and into Anthony's bedroom. “Where is it?
Where is it?” She walked to the side of the bed, then the
other. “Shit.” Elena scanned the room quickly, “yes!”
There is was, on top of a short stand in the corner. Elena pulled it
from the charger and typed in her own phone number.

“What's
going on?” Anthony stepped out of the bathroom, wearing only a
towel around his waist, and drying his head off with a smaller towel.
Seeing Elena in his bedroom wasn't uncommon, but seeing her huddled
in a corner holding Morgan's phone like a precious stone was another
thing. He quickly crossed the room as Elena brought the phone up to
her ear, and put a finger in the air for him to be quiet.