CHAPTER TEN
“This is home at least for a while,” said Joey walking into the cabin. It was about as remote as they could get it, hidden deep in the woods of North Carolina with six-inches of snow surrounding them.
He walked from room to room, testing for cameras and listening devices, but happy when they discovered it was clean. He lit the fire, turned up the heat and unloaded the truck.
After breakfast, they stopped at a large major store chain that had everything from tires to tortillas. He bought Marissa several warm articles of clothing, grooming supplies, shampoo, make-up, all of it. He filled his own bag and then they went to the grocery side of the store.
Unclear of how long they would be there, he made certain they had enough food for at least two weeks. He hoped it would be sooner but there was no telling. As they walked through the grocery aisles, he received the text about the colonel.
“Damn,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?” she asked in a panicked voice.
“My colonel. He knew the men that were blackmailing you. He was in on this. My dad, your dad, and the others figured it out and he’s been arrested. Did you know that the men that had you were part of a major crime family?”
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “You can’t be serious.”
“Afraid so, babe. They’re creating a plan now, or at least they’re going to show up at the club and let a plan unfold,” he smirked.
“Joey, this isn’t funny,” she said putting the cereal into the basket. He grabbed two more boxes and she stared at him.
“What? I like cereal for a late-night snack,” he smiled.
Marissa frowned at him, shaking her head.
“Marissa, they know what they’re doing. We’re going to have to let this play out.
We know that this family is a large crime family on the east coast but I’m going to bet there’s someone much bigger above them.
Someone wanted you. They wanted your talents as a chemist and were prepared to force you to work for them. That’s not some crime boss.”
“This is like a bad dream. How could I have let my idiot roommates do this to me? I was fine on my own, working hard at school. I had a few friends but I should have just kept my head down.”
“How did you meet these roommates?” he asked.
“My other roommates switched schools. Duke is expensive and they weren’t keeping up their grades so they transferred to a state school.
I couldn’t afford the rent on the apartment I had.
It was close to school, brand new, and more expensive than most of the places around the area.
I was fortunate that the other two were able to pay. ”
“And the new roommates…”
“Trina and Daphne. They said they went to Duke but then I found out that they weren’t students there. But they had the money for rent. Every month, on time, the first of the month. There were no issues at all.”
He put several cans of soup and ramen noodles in the basket and she added pasta and pasta sauce.
“How did they approach you?” he asked.
“One weekend they said they were going out on this boat and they wanted me to join them. It was hot, almost summer and I hadn’t spent any time at the pool or lake, let alone the ocean. I said no several times before I said yes.”
“Then what? You went out on the boat and then what?” he asked.
“They were nice. The food was good. I stayed away from alcohol. I don’t drink much. I made sure it was bottled waters or soda, never leaving it open.”
“Good girl,” he smirked.
“I did learn a few things from my father,” she smiled. “Anyway, it was a large boat, probably more of a yacht. We danced, had fun and no one pressured me into anything.”
“When did that change?”
“The third time. They always played cards at some point during the day. I wasn’t interested. I stayed away even when Trina and Daphne tried to get me to join. I preferred just lying in the sun.
“Then it was as if they wouldn’t take no for an answer. Suddenly they were demanding that I play at least a few hands. I told them I didn’t have a lot of cash on me, so they said they’d play for pennies.”
“Let me guess. You won,” he frowned.
“Several times. Not a lot of money but it was fun. The next weekend it was the same but now they wanted it to be a minimum of five dollars. Then it was ten, twenty, and eventually a hundred. I didn’t want to play anymore.”
“Did they force you?”
“Absolutely. The man that seemed in charge of it all, Tomas Giamanco, said that if I didn’t play, I’d be swimming back to shore. We were a couple of miles out.”
“They knew what they were doing,” said Joey. They put several more items in the basket, then strode toward the front, using the self-checkout line. When the bags were placed in the truck, he headed toward the cabin.
“What happened after you played that hand? The one where he threatened you.”
“I lost. It was like eight grand but I pulled the money from my college fund and paid it. I told Trina and Daphne I wasn’t going again and to stay away from me. The next weekend three men knocked on the door for them, just like always. Except this time, they refused to let me stay in the apartment.
“I thought about screaming but it was clear they were carrying weapons. They told me I had no choice, that Mr. Giamanco was demanding my attendance. Then I knew.”
“Knew what?”
“I knew something was wrong beyond the obvious.
There was a man on the boat asking me questions about what I was studying, what was the paper I was working on, that sort of thing.
He even put several formulas in front of me to test my knowledge.
When I answered them, he nodded at Mr. Giamanco.
When we got back to shore, they said I owed them almost three-hundred thousand dollars and they were going to get their money from me.
“I was so stupid. I should have called someone, anyone to help me.
I was scared and felt trapped. They took my phone, destroyed it, and then told me I had to work at the club.
I refused and they let me leave. I packed my bags, booked a commercial flight to go home, and got all the way to the airport before they blocked me from entering.
“There were police everywhere but they said if I screamed, Daphne and Trina were dead. I know now that they were part of it, although I haven’t seen either one of them in weeks.”
“Marissa, I have to ask this. Did they force you to do anything beyond strip?”
“No,” she said swallowing and looking away. “Stripping was bad enough. They made me do certain poses, bending over, spreading my legs, that kind of thing but I wasn’t required to have sex with anyone. Some of the girls are forced to do that.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you didn’t have to do that.”
It took nearly two hours to get back to the cabin. After everything was put away, Joey made a call to the others to tell them everything that Marissa had told him. It matched everything they knew so far.
“What now?” he asked Christopher.
“Stay tuned. We’re about to go to a club.”