Chapter 14
Zantar glared down at the shorter, dirtier man stepping through the doors to the conference room. He looked smug and overly confident.
“What is your relationship to Faye Lafayette?” Zantar demanded, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at the disgusting man from across the table.
The other man stopped, startled by the abrupt question. The smug expression was still there, but his gaze wasn’t nearly as confident. “Faye is my step sister,” Scott explained. His lips curled into a sniveling expression. “Pretty girl. Not too bright though. She was working as a maid, but I suspect that she’s supplemented her income in…” his smile turned even slimier as he paused, “other ways.”
The man set the Green Mining contracts down on the table, and Zantar suspected that the slimy man thought that the topic of Faye was closed. Buffoon!
“First of all, she’s not a girl. You will refer to her as a woman or a lady. Nothing else is appropriate.” Zantar growled, then paused as he watched the short, pudgy man’s eyes widened.
The guy blinked and the smug expression dissipated. “Yes. Yes, of course. I didn’t mean to insult her. I know that you and she were…” a smarmy smile curled the corners of his mouth. “Well, you two were friends, right?”
Zantar slowly moved around the polished wood table, restraining himself from lifting the chairs and throwing them at the asshole. He hadn’t seen Faye in three days! Three days during which not even his guards could find a trace of her! Zantar was livid that Faye had warned him against signing an agreement with this mysterious “Green Mining” company, then left before offering any other explanation. The only story that Zantar could come up with was that this man, her step brother, had threatened her in some way.
“Faye is more than just a friend to me,” Zantar explained, his voice lowering to barely above a whisper. “What did you say to her?”
Scott pulled back, noticing a strange vibe. This meeting was supposed to be about this ass signing a contract with the shell company that old man Neville had created. Green Mining wasn’t actually a business entity, it was merely a cover title that allowed Neville to shift funding around, hiding the illegal activities that the old bastard was doing around the world. On the surface, Green Mining was clean, Scott knew. It had this ridiculous web site that told the world how the workers used only environmentally safe mining methods that were cleaner for the world, safer for the workers, and cost more than other processes. The site even went so far as to say that twenty percent of the profits went to the community in which the company mined.
It was all bogus. The workers were paid, but because most of them were illegal workers from other countries, Neville paid them cash to avoid tax issues. Furthermore, those wages weren’t even half of the minimum wage for whatever country Neville was pilfering.
In this particular case, Scott needed the Sheik of Citran to sign the contracts that would allow them to mine one area, allowing them to covertly dig tunnels in Citran that would connect the previously excavated mines in Skyla and Silar, and eventually even Minar. The countries bordered each other, but once these tunnels were finished, Neville could mine resources from one country and take them out in another country through these underground tunnels. Scott suspected that the tunnels would be used for other purposes, possibly drug trafficking or even human traffickers, but what did he care as long as he got paid?
Once Scott presented this contract to the old man, Neville had promised Scott a massive payout. This contract was the lynch pin that would make all of the other efforts easier!
“Faye is a lovely g…uh…woman,” Scott replied, his mind trying to sift through the odd undercurrents of this meeting. Why was this bastard so worried about Faye? Hell, if the guy wanted a woman, there were plenty out there who would do.
“She’s gone!” the man snapped.
Scott recognized the lethal menace in this man’s voice and finally understood the issue. Faye was gone? Hmmm…that was a smart move on her part!
However, this was Scott’s specialty, he thought and smiled, relieved that the problem was so easily resolved. “Look, if you’re looking for a replacement, I know of this brothel where the owner allows the customers to do whatever they want.” His smile widened as the Sheik’s interest sharpened. “It’s true!” he laughed. “The things this owner said I could do to the women…hell, I didn’t even know some of those things were possible!”
“And the women enjoy these…activities?” the Sheik replied.
Scott was thinking about the last time he’d visited the brothel and the crazy few hours he’d enjoyed. His mind blurred for several seconds in remembered lust, otherwise he might have recognized the newly dangerous tone in the other man’s voice. He chuckled, shaking his head at the insane memories. “The girls are so doped up, I don’t think that any of them are even aware of what the customers are doing to them!” Scott explained, laughing as he shook his head. “It’s actually a brilliant place.”
“You have enjoyed the…entertainment…of these girls?” Sheik al Abbous asked, his voice now silky soft.
“Hell yes!” Scott laughed. He pulled a pen out of his jacket pocket and clicked the end. “How about if we sign these contracts and then we can go have some fun to celebrate. Let’s get this business over with, then I’ll take you there. You’re going to love it! My treat!”
Scott watched as the man sat down on the edge of the table. “Tell me what…experiments you’ve enjoyed at this brothel. Which of these girls have you patronized so far?”
Scott chuckled, then sat down next to the man, feeling a camaraderie now that they were discussing his specialty; namely, women. This “sheik” dude wasn’t nearly as intimidating as everyone thought. The guy was just like any other guy with a healthy dick. He wanted the pleasure that a decadent society could offer, and Scott was one who had sampled a great many lovely decadent flavors from this particular buffet.
“There’s this one chick who…”
Scott regaled Zantar with tales of his exploits in this particular place that he called a brothel. It didn’t sound like a brothel. It sounded like a prison where women were drugged and trafficked for pathetic men who didn’t like their women sentient.
Zantar shifted in order to ensure that the hidden cameras got a good view of Scott Roland’s confessions. Zantar had only wanted to get information that might help him find Faye. It had been too long since she’d walked out of the penthouse in Skyla with Faye on his arm. He missed her with every breath he took! He looked for her whenever he left the palace, praying that she’d somehow come to Citran and would come back into his life. But knowing that his hopes were unrealistic, that something had scared her and it was probably this man, Zantar had ordered his guards to find her and bring her to him. He’d keep her safe. If she didn’t want to be with him, then he’d ensure her safety somewhere else, but he had to know that Faye was alive and safe. He had to!
She loved him. Damn her, why had she said those things and then left him? Why had she disappeared from his life? Didn’t she know that he would protect her? With his own life if necessary!
He had to find her. His guards had some good leads, but so far, she’d kept ahead of their efforts. Every time they thought that perhaps they’d caught up with her, she slipped away again.
Zantar didn’t do or say anything to halt this parasite’s confession. The things that this man confessed to were illegal in so many ways! Zantar lifted an eyebrow at some of the things Scott Roland said. Zantar was disgusted, but Roland mistook that expression as encouragement and went into more details, laughing at his demented exploits!
After several more stories, Zantar lifted a hand, stopping him. “Enough,” he finally said, interrupting Roland’s sick stories. “That should be enough.” He turned and looked down at the contract. “Is this a copy of what you emailed to my assistant yesterday?”
“Yep!” Roland replied, standing as well and bracing his hands on the top of the table. “It’s all there. Green Mining is just looking for rights to use this road,” he explained, flipping the pages to show a map. “We’re trying to transport supplies from this agricultural area to the production lines here,” he said, pointing to the area near the mountains where Zantar and his neighbors had discovered what was really happening. It wasn’t just road usage, Zantar mentally corrected.
“What’s happening with the villages here in Skyla?” Zantar asked, pointing to the map. “I heard that one entire village collapsed for some mysterious reason.”