Chapter 31 Asch #2
“Thanks.” Blaze takes the tablet and sits down on the couch, tapping away. “Wow, we’ve got more girls than I thought.”
My stomach lurches.
“Yes. We’ve been expanding operations. There’s been growing demand.” Pamela smiles at Blaze. “Your father has brought in a lot of good leads.”
I can’t believe I ever thought he stuck to legitimate sex work. I should’ve known better. Why hadn’t I?
It’s hard to play stoic, but I remind myself that I’m here as a bodyguard. Staff. I don’t have opinions on what’s going on. All I care about is making sure that Blaze is safe, and that’s a role I can fall into because it’s familiar.
“Hmm. She looks okay. Who’s she?” Blaze taps on a picture, and a full profile shows up.
The girl is labeled as ‘Sarah,’ but I immediately recognize her.
Samantha. Pandora’s roommate. She doesn’t look as haughty in this photo as in the one picture Pandora had shown us. The makeup is completely different, and her hair is styled similarly to the first woman we’d seen.
Her eyes are red in the photo.
How long has she been here now? A month? I wonder if she still cries or if she’s learned to put on some sort of front.
Blaze’s finger traces over a number underneath the photo. The room number.
203.
Second floor, then, and my eyes flick to the elevator. I don’t like the idea of being potentially trapped inside it in case anything goes wrong, but taking the stairs would be suspicious.
“I want to try her.” Blaze taps back out into the main menu, this carousel of pictures of women. “And… yeah, I like the look of Mary here too.”
Pam nods. “All right. Let’s see if we can find one to your exacting tastes.”
I wonder if Blaze ever has sampled the merchandise.
I don’t see why he would have had to. Women have always thrown themselves at him. But then, I doubt most of the men who visit this place really need to visit.
Pam takes us up the elevator and to the second floor.
Under my breath, I start whispering, “Two-oh-one, two-oh-two, two-oh-three.”
Hopefully Pandora will get the hint.
“This one was… Sam? No, Sarah. Fuck, all the S names sound the same,” Blaze says with a derisive laugh. “Have you considered renaming them to something more interesting? Like Cherry or Margarita or whatever?”
I see another look of annoyance cross Pam’s features, but she smiles at him. “Then we’d give the impression that we’re a bit lower class. Or that this is a strip club.”
The surroundings, with the warm blues and immaculate carpets, certainly don’t give any indication that it’s a lower class… establishment. I glance around, expecting to see more guards, but it seems like they don’t keep this place under heavy security.
With people, at least.
I don’t doubt for a moment that the entire place is monitored with cameras and other security devices.
Maybe not the rooms themselves, but everywhere else has to be under guard somehow.
“All right.” Blaze swipes his card at the door, but it doesn’t beep.
“That one can only get you out, not in,” Pam explains. She swipes her own card and pushes the door open for us. “Go ahead.”
Like when we’d entered the other rooms, my paranoia surges, and I want to keep the door open while Blaze goes inside. But I don’t want anyone to hear what we say to Samantha, either, so I step inside and scan my surroundings.
It’s the same sort of generic hotel setting, but unlike the last girl, Samantha is lying down on her back already, and she doesn’t even look in our direction.
Blaze checks to make sure the door is closed, then glances around the room. Checking for cameras, I assume, but I don’t see any obvious ones.
“Hey, pretty,” Blaze says to Samantha. He goes to sit down next to her.
She flinches away from him, but then her eyes narrow as she recognizes Blaze — and me.
I’m relieved to see there’s light in them, but it doesn’t stop her from saying, “How may I serve you… sir?”
The question makes my stomach roil, even more so than it had with the others because this feels more personal somehow. Maybe it’s that she’s on the periphery of Pandora’s life, or maybe it’s something else. I’m not sure of what it is, but I know I don’t like it.
“You been here long?” Blaze asks.
Samantha reaches for the hem of her see-through nightie, but Blaze wraps his arm around her wrist to stop her. “Sir?” she asks, her voice holding an edge of wariness. She licks her lips, then says slowly, “I don’t know.”
“You remind me of somebody.” Blaze keeps his hand on her wrist. “She’s a brunette though. Kind of boisterous. Has a thing for snakes. Do you like snakes?”
“No, sir,” she says, shaking her head. She swallows hard. “May I serve you?” she asks, and the wariness has turned into borderline desperation. “I’m new, but I’ll do my best to make you feel good.”
“Yeah. You can stay quiet for a little while.” Blaze reaches up to his ear.
He’s removing his earpiece, I realize, and placing it inside Samantha’s ear.
“The girl I’m thinking of is very chatty,” Blaze says. “But you’re better off keeping your mouth shut.”
Pandora growls loud enough for the mic to pic up. “Oh fuck off, Blaze. Don’t say that to her! And I’m not that chatty. I’m acceptable levels of chatty.”
“Pandora?” Samantha whispers, her voice barely audible. The mic picks up on that, too.
“Are you listening, Samantha?” River asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “I think she’s what we’re looking for, Mr. Bouchard.”
“Oh! You can hear me!” Pandora exclaims. “Well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to rescue you. Blaze and Asch are going to distract the security while River and I sneak in. Room 203? Yeah. Just hang tight and don’t freak out. Freaking out would be really bad.”
I’d expected Samantha to look at us with suspicion, but instead there’s a fragile sort of hope in her expression. She nods, and I clear my throat.
It’s tricky to think of what to say that wouldn’t be strange to an outsider, but I’m aware that even if this room isn’t bugged, it could cause serious problems if we’re not careful.
I nod to Blaze, trying to signal that Pandora has spoken to her and that we’re ready for the next stage of this. Having an open discussion with Samantha would’ve been better, but… beggars can’t be choosers, after all.
“She’s the one? Are you kidding?” Blaze pats Samantha’s jaw. “Nah. She’s cute enough but I want to see my options. With how much I’m paying, I want the best.” He winks at Samantha. “No offense.”
Samantha’s eyes flick back to Blaze, like she’s trying to figure out what kind of game he’s playing, and she bites her bottom lip.
Blaze gets up, and I gesture toward her ear to remind him to take the earpiece back. He shakes his head slightly, though, and I realize he plans to leave it in her ear. I don’t know if it’s the best idea, but if he’s making the call, he has to have a good reason.
“Onto the next then?” I say.
“Yeah.” Blaze waves to Samantha.
I unlock the door for us. Pam is waiting outside, tapping on her phone. I see her expression of dismay when we emerge, but she quickly pastes on a smile. “Done so fast?”
Blaze shrugs. “Nah. I changed my mind. I think blonde was the wrong idea. You have any brunettes?”
“Am I your type, Blaze?” Pandora asks, but it’s not like Blaze can hear her anymore.
If it wasn’t for my restlessness, the way I’m not sure how this whole mission is going to go, I might’ve wanted to laugh.
Instead, I watch as Pam offers the tablet back to Blaze so we can look through even more girls.
It’s going to be a long afternoon.