Tormented

Sort of. Would a good Samaritan make her wear a chastity belt for hours? But given that she didn’t have to be under Jake’s thumb anymore, she would credit Ben as a good Samaritan.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I lucked out. But the challenge is going to be getting any of the women to go on record with their experiences. We had to sign these crazy-long nondisclosure agreements, and they didn’t give us enough time to read everything, especially the fine print.”

“So what’s your

plan?”

“I gotta go back to the cabin, finish out the week, and try to get to know these women as best I can.”

“When are you going back?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe tonight. Ben hasn’t said.”

“You hear anything about his meeting?”

She hesitated, but answered, “It’s with Dawson Chang, head of the Asian Pacific Community Alliance.”

“You did a story on Dawson.”

“I did a profile on Carlos De Reyes, a protege of Dawson’s.”

“Anything else?”

“No, I—shouldn’t we focus on the Scarlet Auction?”

“You seemed pretty interested in the Lee family when you first called me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think there’s anything there after all, whereas I know for sure the Scarlet Auction is messed up.”

“Well, don’t be too hasty. I could use a good scoop before the owners’ meeting, and I’ll take it from wherever.”

She remembered he had suggested the possibility the ownership would shut down the paper.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll try my best.”

Looking down into her mug, she saw that she had drunk most of the tea without realizing it. Great. She had managed to go through the whole morning without needing to go. How much longer could she last?

“I better jet to make it to the Chamber of Commerce luncheon,” said Sam as he got up. “Keep me posted.”

After he left, she contemplated what she’d told him. She no longer felt keen about digging into Ben’s family, but if there was anything illegal going on, then that truth ought to come out. In any case, she doubted what she had told Sam would amount to anything.

She stood up to leave, but Wong had appeared.

“Mr. Lee is on his way here.”

CHAPTER SIX

Ben whirled Kimani’s pen over the top of his hand as he sat in the passenger seat of his Porsche, with Bataar driving, and took a call from Stephens, who managed special projects for him. Stephens had access to computer hackers and had sent Ben a copy of the contract Jake had signed with the Scarlet Auction.

Jake was right that any selling, lending or granting of his purchase to a third party required authorization from the Scarlet Auction.

To Ben’s surprise, Jake hadn’t responded to his text yet about Kimani. If Ben didn’t have to worry about Jason, he would spend the rest of the week in the Bay Area and have Kimani all to himself. He wondered how she had gotten along with the chastity belt. She had probably cursed him a good deal.

“Bataar had me do background on Jake Whitehurst,” Stephens said. “You want more done on him?”

“No,” Ben answered. “You get anything else on Kimani Taylor?”

“I could pull her high school transcript,” Stephens joked, because he had looked into her undergraduate and graduate school grades. “I stopped looking into her when Bataar put in his request. You want financials? I’ve got her FICO score and shit like that. She pays off her credit card every month.”