19. Nineteen

Carlos

The hidden underground hotel floor is surrounded by men I've never seen before. All dressed practically the same way, making sure everyone else knows the amount of money they're willing to spend in this place and just how important they are. Only here, they are just like everyone else in the room. Being charged top dollar for something stolen—human beings who never belonged to anyone to begin with. Men like Ivan and Santana don't see us as people any more than they see those boys they took as people. When their eyes are on us, they only see one thing, dollar signs.

I glance around as men enter booths which surround the staged area. There's a number on my pass that leads me to the back corner. My heart speeds faster in my chest the longer it takes me to spot Mr. Williams. Last time I'd checked he was supposed to be at the auction, but so far, he is nowhere to be found.

"Stick to the plan," I mutter to myself. I enter the booth, taking a seat in the brown leather chair.

A small screen sits in front of me and there's a small window, allowing me to see the dark stage. The screen blinks blue a few times before showing me the same view I see above except closer and clearer. Bright lights shine on the stage and a man's voice comes on from above.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Welcome to the Belton Hotel auction. We are happy to have you all here, but are sad to inform you that one of our delivery trucks unfortunately has not made it which only leaves us with a very limited selection. We apologize deeply for the inconvenience and will be lowering the starting bids as a way to show you how much we appreciate your understanding. The auction will begin in a few minutes and may all the luck be on your side. Even with the small shortage, I think everyone here today will be very happy with the available selection tonight."

Slightly leaning my ear toward the back curtain, I hear a gentleman yelling outside my booth, demanding all his money back and a free stay at the mansion next year. More shouting happens and it's soon drowned out by the loud countdown. "The auction begins in one...two...three…" By the time the lady above gets to ten, a loud siren goes off and the room is back to being quiet.

The screen lights up when the first boy steps on stage with his head facing downward. I don't have much to go on except the descriptions Joey had given me. At this point, I may be taking ten boys home with the same descriptions.

The woman on the speaker gives his description, age, and labels him as 100% pure. The boy stares up and his eyes are focused on the camera. They sparkle green and his cheeks are sprinkled with freckles. When the hood is fully pulled from his body, his fire red hair is revealed under the bright lighting. Someone hits the button on the first offer and I hit it next after realizing how much the boy"s appearance matches one of Joey's friends. I get outbid a few times and finally the words sold are being yelled over the speaker when I put in the last bid. I sigh in relief, sinking back in my chair. They can't all be this easy, can they?

Two girls come on next and then a few more boys that don't fit any of the descriptions I was given. One blond, blue-eyed seventeen year old boy fluent in English and Spanish enters the stage with a long pink scar on his cheek. I quickly hit the button, outbidding a few different men.

Before I can hit the button again, I'm being dragged out of the booth by the back of my coat. "I think you're done bidding for the day, Mr. Masters, or is that even your real name?" The man known as the Gatekeeper has a few new gashes on his face and a black eye.

Someone was clearly punished for the merchandise shortage and now he is trying to find someone else to take the blame. "I'm not sure what this is about, but if I were you, I'd remove your filthy hands from my coat. Don't think this incident won't go unpunished." I grunt in annoyance when the woman above says the words sold. They are firm and loud in the speaker. "You just cost me a boy and it may cost you your life now." I pull out my gun, aiming it at his head and a few men surround me, pulling out their weapons. He pulls the gun from my hand and shoves me to the ground. It's not the only weapon on me and he's too stupid to check me for more.

"What the hell is going on here? This kind of behavior isn"t welcome in my establishment." Ivan stands behind me with lips formed into a snarl.

"This man"s an imposter. He doesn"t belong here," the Gatekeeper says, speaking with clenched teeth.

Ivan walks closer with his eyes narrowing in on me. "I"ll be the judge of that." He moves closer, pressing the tip of his leather black boot on my shoulder. "Is this true? Are you not really who you say you are?"

It"s my word against his and I know scarface has more friends here than I do. I don"t have a single ally here. No one would stand up for me or vouch for me. "My name is Brian Masters and I"m here for the same reason as everyone else. I expect to be treated the same as well, especially with all the money I have willingly dropped in your hands over the last few days."

Ivan"s eyes drift between me and the Gatekeeper. He runs a hand through his hair and lifts his foot off of me, leaning over to offer me his hand. "Then you have my deepest apologies. I"m sorry for my friend here. This isn"t the first time he"s tried to sabotage my auction and sales."

"You can"t be serious. Not one man here knows who this Brian Masters is. No one has ever heard of the guy and he"s untraceable," the guy with the scar exclaims.

"It"s because he isn"t Brian Masters," someone else says from behind us. The auction still continues and most men are too busy in their booths to pay us any mind. Surely worse things happen at places like this. When the other man steps into view, I don"t recognize him at first. After a while I realize who he is. The man with the red bandana. The one who'd invited me down to the brunch where I purchased Trenton. "Before Mr. Williams went missing, he phoned me down in the lobby letting me know what information his men had found on the man lying in front of us. This man is believed to be Carlos Castaneda, a very successful hitman. I"m not sure why he"s here, but I doubt it"s the same reason as everyone else. Ever since this man showed up, things have gone amiss and now one of our top guests has gone missing."

"Is this true? This time think very carefully about your next answer. It will be what determines whether you live or die tonight."

At this point, I"m not sure it matters whether I"m honest or not. They will kill me either way, but it won"t be after they tarnish my real name in Florida. "I"m Brian Masters. Choose to believe whatever you"d like."

"He"s a fucking liar," the man with the bandana yells again.

Ivan clicks his tongue, smiling down at me. "And that"s your final answer?"

"It is," I say with my hand pressed tightly on my gun.

"Why don"t I believe you? Did you have something to do with the interception of the delivery truck?"

"No, that has nothing to do with me. Surely there are plenty of other men who could be easily blamed for that. Men who have more of a reason to sabotage your business than I do. Maybe someone who doesn"t think they"re getting a fair share." My gaze shifts to the Gatekeeper. "Honestly I think this is nothing more than an attempt to pull attention away from someone else."

"If that"s true then what would Mr. Williams have to gain by all this?" the man with the red bandana asks.

I release a soft sigh. "Wasn"t it obvious the other night how angry he was that I'd interfered with his purchase. The boy he wanted got snatched up by someone else. He would have done the same thing to any other man."

"I still say he"s lying," the man with the bandana says.

"I guess we"ll just have to hold him in our special room until Mr. Williams shows up to tell us his side of the story, won"t we?" Ivan says with a grin. "Hopefully during that time there will be no more interruptions. These types of scenes are bad for business and I take pride in how I do things around here. I won"t let some mystery man come in here fucking it all up. Get him to the back room."

Loud gun shots have everyone spinning around where they stand. "What the fuck was that?" One of the other guards asks.

"I don"t know, but how about you and Daniel go check it out," Ivan orders. "You take Mr. Masters to the back room," he says to the man with the red bandana. The man grabs me under my right arm, tugging me upward. "Come on asshole, you heard the boss. It"s off to the backroom for you." Another man grabs my gun from my hand after patting me down. "You won"t need this where you"re going. Maybe you"ll get it back, or maybe we will use it to end your pathetic life."

I get shoved to the back of the dark room toward the long wall that leads us to a short hallway. We pass one closed door and he leads me to the one at the end. He pulls out a key and when he presses it to the door, it pushes open. "What the fuck. You stay here, don"t try anything. Keep your gun on him, Nicolas." The other man nods, shoving his gun into my neck. The man with the bandana walks further into the dark, smoky room. His steps are slow and careful. I don"t take my eyes off of him until he disappears into the thick white smoke. There"s a sharp scream that has the man next to me swallowing hard. "Nathaniel? Is everything alright in there?"

Nathaniel doesn"t answer and the room grows still. We are only met with silence and more smoke. I chuckle beside him, shaking my head. "Things don"t seem to be going your way today, do they?"

His face hardens when he looks at me and jams the gun hard in my neck. "Shut up and don"t move." He walks closer to the smoke with his gun no longer pointed at me. He gets on a walkie-talkie, asking for backup and no one responds. I laugh louder. "I think something may be wrong. I don"t think your friends are around to help you out and you probably shouldn"t go in there."

"Nathaniel," he shouts again, paying me no mind. He is only met with more silence. "Answer me if you"re there."

"It"s hard to answer when you"re dead," someone says behind the smoke.

"Who said that? Stay back whoever you are." He gets on his walkie-talkie again, asking for Benito and Jameson to meet him in the back room. The person behind the smoke clicks his tongue loudly and I can tell he"s moved closer. If I'm not mistaken, I would have guessed he"s standing right in front of the other man with nothing separating them, but a thick layer of gray smoke. "You can keep calling your friends all you want, but they won"t be coming."

Something hits the guard in the neck and he grabs at it after dropping his gun. He yanks out the knife, and begins choking on his own blood. His body convulses as he makes a few gurgling sounds and then another knife goes into his chest making his body go rigid before crashing to the ground. The smoke begins to clear as the man steps closer and my heart beats faster in my chest when my gaze lands on those same mesmerizing eyes that leave my throat going dry.

"Miss me?" That cheeky grin nearly has me choking on my words. Justo donde te dejé," Isaiah says, licking his lips, drawing my gaze more to them.

"Didn"t I tell you to stay put?"

"Aren"t you glad I rarely ever listen?" he says, cocking his head to the side.

I huff out a laugh. "As much as I want to pull your stubborn ass into a giant kiss right now, not only do I think your husband won"t approve, but I also don"t think we have the time."

Isaiah smiles wider. "They do say timing is everything and you can always ask him yourself." He winks, glancing behind me.

I spin around and Joey wears a wicked grin of his own with a knife pressed tightly into another guard"s neck. He has on the same shirt from earlier with a pair of black pants that hang loosely off his slender hips with a bit of white lace peeking out. "I guess you can say I don"t like to listen either."