Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (133 page)

“Answer.
Answer it,” she pleaded. It went to voicemail and Elena left a
message. “Morgan, this is Elena. I'm worried about you, call me
back as soon as you get this. Please.”

“What?
What's going on Elle?” It was a name he rarely called her, but
it came from his lips without thinking. “Where's Morgan?”

“I...I
don't know. When we got there, I went into the grocery store, she
went to the jewelry store. When I was done, I went to the car and
waited.” Elena typed in her number again, and called once more.
As the phone was ringing, she continued to explain. “But she
never came out of the jewelry store. I went in and I looked, and I
went back in the grocery store, making sure she hadn't tried to find
me...”

Anthony
knew as well as Elena that Morgan wouldn't just leave, especially
without all of her things. He also knew that the grocery store with
the bakery Elena liked to frequent was in the not-so-nice part of
town, and that's the part that worried him the most. “Did you
check the other stores?”

“Yes,”
Elena told him. She had gone into the restaurant between the two
stores, and even the pet store across the street. Aside from those
places, everything else had almost cleared out for the evening.

“Keep
trying to call, I'm going to go look. Maybe...maybe you just missed
her.” Anthony hoped the same thing Elena did. “I bet
she's outside, looking for the car right now.” He nearly ran to
the dresser, pulling out the first pair of shorts and shirt he found,
and went back in the bathroom to change.

For
the third time, Elena listened to her own voicemail greeting.
“Nothing. She's not answering.” Anthony's heart began to
race, horrible thoughts raced through his mind, but he managed to
smile at Elena as they left the bedroom.

“We'll
find her.” They were both running by the time they got to the
front of the house, and to Anthony's car. He was pulling out of the
circle driveway before Elena had completely shut the door.

“Yeah...,
she held her hand to her chest after strapping in, “we'll find
her.”

Close
to the airport, Carlos had just slipped a twenty dollar bill into the
G string of a new dancer. She walked behind him, dancing against his
back as her eyes searched his hands for more money. Carlos smiled at
feeling her gaze, and shook his head as he laughed. All women were
the same, and that gave him that much more confidence in what he
would do to Morgan.

With
no warning, Carlos left the bar and walked the thirty feet to the
shed directly behind the strip club. Morgan deserved just a bit of
attention before he chose a girl to celebrate the night with. He
quickly unlocked the door and closed it behind him. Once again, with
his cell phone, he used the light to guide him. He immediately saw
her face was against the floor, covered in her hair. She was on her
stomach, arms stretched out above her head, and her legs straight
down. He laughed again at how easy it would have been to end it right
then, but knowing that she would wake up in terror was enough to make
him wait. “Soon, whore. Soon.”

The
sound of his dirt covered tan dress shoe hitting the side of Morgan's
face that had been against the floor, echoed slightly within the
shed. Dust and dried animal feces billowed around them, and Carlos
covered his face with his hand. Morgan's head snapped toward him,
then back down. Once more, he swiftly kicked her, that time in the
side. His adrenaline began to pump through his thin body, and a
frenzy of rage took hold of the laughing demented man. He kicked her
everywhere, her head, legs, arms, sides, and even stepped down with
almost all of his weight onto her back. Morgan never moved as he
battered her body that continued to lie on the floor. It was only
when her blood could be seen on his dress pants that he finally
stopped. He wiped the sweat from his face, his body heaving to catch
his breath, and the laughter was gone. Arousal had taken its place,
and fortunately for Morgan, he had no desire right then for her.

Less
than five miles away, Elena and Anthony were on the seach for Morgan.
The jewelry store was closed for the evening, and the only thing open
right then was the market. Their hopes of finding Morgan waiting for
them was diminished when the sidewalk proved to be empty, but there
was still hope she was inside the store.

“She's
not in there,” Anthony returned after a few minutes. “They
haven't even seen her.” He walked to the front of the car, and
looked long and hard in both directions. No sign of the beautiful
woman.

“Let's
drive down the street, I'll call Rudy and see if she's gone back to
the house.” Elena climbed back in the car first, and Anthony
was again driving before she had her seatbelt on. On the third ring,
Rudy answered the phone, and just as they expected, Morgan wasn't at
the house. “We'll find her, just keep driving.”

After
another ten minutes of searching, Elena made a suggestion. “Let's
call the police, they know...” She couldn't finish her
sentence. The police knew the first spots to look for missing women.

“Elena,”
Anthony shook his head and sighed loudly as he pulled into a nearly
vacant gas station. “We can't call the police. She's American.
Their laws are different, and we would both get into trouble. I don't
care about me, it's her that I don't want to see anything happen to.”

Elena's
brows came together for a brief moment before reality hit her.
“Right.” If it came down to it, they would
have
to
call the police, but until it was time for that last resort, he
wasn't about to have Morgan get in trouble for prostitution.

“Call
her friend, Angel.” Anthony gripped the steering wheel tightly,
as a horrible headache began to creep its way to his temples. “He
might know something we don't.”

Elena
nodded silently, and grabbed Morgan's phone from her purse, then
found the name of her best friend. Angel answered quickly, in his
usual manner. “You decided to come up for some mothafuckin' air
from up under the Tan Man? I know his fine ass is still in Coastal
Rinka.” If Morgan had been the one on the line, she would have
reminded him that she took her client early and wasn't
up under
Tanner at the moment. Elena didn't have time to try to
understand, instead, she tried to tell him the news.

“Morgan
has told us about you, we know you're her best friend and...”
Elena didn't get all of her words out.

“Hold
the fuck up. Who is
we
and why do you have my Stick's
mothafuckin' phone? Wait!” Angel quickly put PoPo back on his
perch and sat down on the edge of his bed. It sounded like bad news
was about to be dropped on him, and he mentally prepared himself
before he continued. “Where is she? Is she okay? Who has my
girl? Tell me she's alive!” It was the best he could do.

“Listen,
please.” Elena knew Angel was highstrung, and Morgan had joked
about how hard it was to communicate with him at times, especially
when he was worked up. He shut his mouth and Elena went on. “My
name is Elena and I...”
“I know who the fuck you
are,” Angel blurted. “Sorry.” It was a small
offering, but in Angel's world, it was a lot to give. He did,
however, remember that Morgan mentioned Elena and how nice she was,
as well as the run down about Anthony. Angel just refused to allow
too much information to cloud his
brain waves
as he attempted
to understand what was going on.

“I
don't know where Morgan is.” Elena looked over to Anthony as
she spoke. “We're hoping you might know something.” After
another outburst from Angel demanding details, Elena explained how
Morgan had gone missing and their efforts to find her. Angel had no
idea where she would be, but he knew what he was going to do. Nearly
hypervenhilating, he mananged to ask for Anthony's address and phone
number.

“I'm
going to make some calls,” Angel stood and paced the small area
of his room in front of his bed. “Your asses lost my Stick and
can't find her, you need some mothafuckin' help.” He didn't
care what he sounded like, all he knew was that it was their fault
that Morgan was missing, and he didn't trust that they would find
her. “I don't even want to know why you have her mothafuckin'
phone.” Angel didn't wait for a reply, he ended the call and
ran his hand through his hair. That was a move that was almost never
done, but he wasn't minding the curls at the moment, all he cared
about was finding exactly the right person that would never stop
until he found Morgan. “Your ass better answer.” Angel
called the only person that he felt could help, and the wheels of
Operation Rescue Stick were beginning to turn. “Mothafuckin'
voice fuckin' mail! Hurry up!” He started to speak several
times as he waited for the message to end. “Stick has been
stolen! She's gone! I'll send the address of her man toy in a text if
I can get my mothafuckin' fingers to stop shaking! Come here and help
me, I'm on the next flight out of here. And I hope you heard a
bitch... Morgan is gone! Get to her client's house, and help a bitch
find her!” Angel ended the call, and immediatelty grabbed his
bag from his small closet.

“And
what's all this about?” Gio casually leaned against the door
frame to Angel's room and waited to see what his assistant thought he
was doing with the one piece of luggage. Angel stopped and held his
hand against his mouth, but left just enough room for his lips to
speak.

“My
Stick,” his voice cracked and Gio's brows came together as he
stepped inside the room. “She's gone. Someone took her, I know.
And they don't know where she is. I have to go find her. I have to
save my Sticky Buns. I have to...,” he broke down completely
and Gio went to his side, putting one hand on his back. Angel turned
instantly and wrapped his arms around Gio's neck. “She's gone,
G. What am I gonna do if I can't find her? She could be hurt, or...,”

“It's
okay, we'll find her.” Gio relaxed his arms and put them around
Angel, patting him on the back. “Stop crying, it's alright.
Here,” he pulled away and took his wallet from his pocket,
“here's a card. Use as much as you need. I'll get you to the
airport, okay?” Angel nodded and wiped his tears. “I have
a meeting tomorrow, you know I can't get out of it or I would. After
that, I'll fly there and help you. Alright?” Again, Angel
nodded.

Twenty
minutes later, Angel and his bag were waiting at the airport for the
next flight to Costa Rica. He would only have to wait about an hour
for the flight, and that would put him in San Jose at around five in
the morning. “I'm on my way, Stick.”

*****

“Get
off me, whore.” Carlos pushed the sleeping woman off of his
chest, and she fell to the floor in a loud thump.

“Jesus
Christ! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Cat, as she had
introduced herself, quickly stood and grabbed for her clothing as
Carlos sat up. The woman had spent the last two hours in Carlos'
room, doing everything he wanted. There was a promise of a good
payout, but the damage he had done to her wasn't worth the days of
work she would miss because of it. Bruises on her arms from holding
her to the bed, bruises on her ribs from flipping her to her back,
bruises on her thighs from his fingers digging into them. She was
used to men like Carlos, and unfortunately, she simply accepted it
for what it was. “I just want my money.”
Fucking
psycho.
She pulled her top over her head, and pulled each heel on
quickly. “Now.”

Carlos
smiled, and nodded slowly.
I'd love to throw you in that fucking
shed.
He knew too many people had seen him, and he knew
someone
would have seen her go to his room.
You've come this far, play
it safe.
He threw a roll of money toward the door, forcing her to
retrieve it like a dog. “Get the fuck out of here.”

“Gladly.”
Cat grabbed the money quickly and left, slamming the door behind her.

Carlos
reached for his bottle of whiskey, and his bottle of pain pills, and
made the cocktail he had grown so accustomed to. His leg was hurting
bad after driving all day, and when he had kicked Morgan with it.
“You'll pay for that, bitch.”

His
leg throbbed madly as he moved to the side of the bed and set it on
the ground, and he decided, she was going to pay for it right then.
Carlos grabbed his shirt from the floor and buttoned it quickly, and
nearly fell as he reached for his pants. The most frustrated he
became with his pain, the more excited he got about giving the same
treatment to the pretty girl in the shed.