Playing Their Parts

Either Yarrow liked to keep bringing in fresh talent, or he couldn’t get a female who was willing to put up with the rough treatment The Beast dished out more than once. Stone was inclined to think it was the latter explanation rather than the former. What female would want to be used and abused so roughly? The thought of it still made him angry and ill.

Finally, they came to the last witness on their list. Stone hoped she might be able to tell them something the others hadn’t or couldn’t.

Unfortunately, it was not to be.

“No, he never told me where he lived or where he stayed.”

The small human female they were talking to was the one from “the rape scene” as Cassandra had called it, which they had viewed on the confiscated laptop. She looked tiny and fragile to Stone—much too small to withstand the harsh treatment The Beast had dealt her.

There were still dark bracelets on her bird-thin wrists—bruises the bastard had made while holding her down. And when she looked up at Stone, he could see the fear and distrust in her shadowed eyes. It twisted his heart to know that she was looking at him that way because he was a Kindred—because of what that bastard The Beast, who she also thought was Kindred—had done to her.

“Can you tell us where you met him, Leela?” Cassandra asked gently. They were sitting in the girl’s domicile—an apartment in a building on the outskirts of Ybor City.

At least they had been invited in, Stone mused, but that was probably because Cassandra was so good at showing compassion with victims who had been brutalized as this female had been. If he had been there by himself, she probably wouldn’t even have opened the door.

“I…I met him at the Velvet Noose. He hangs out there a lot, I think.” Leela’s voice was low and she was looking down at her hands. “His manager, a guy called Mr. Yarrow, came over and asked if I wanted to earn some extra money.”

“And you said yes?” Cassandra made it a gentle question, with no judgment in it.

“Well, I mean…look at this place.” Leela nodded at the tiny, cramped apartment. The couch they were sitting on was sagging—Stone had been worried that it might not support his weight. The table in front of the couch was made up of stacked milk crates with an old wooden door balanced on them to form the tabletop and the coffee they had been offered was served in chipped, mismatched cups.

Clearly the girl, Leela, was living on the edge of poverty. It was obvious why the offer to make some extra money would have been enticing to her.

“Did Frank Yarrow tell you he was hiring you to do porn?” Cassandra asked her.

“Yes, but he made it sound like it would be classy—almost like an art film,” Leela said. “I’m a scholarship student but my scholarship only covers tuition,” she went on, speaking mainly to Cassandra while she kept a wary eye on Stone. “I can’t afford to live on campus and my car is always breaking down. I’m living on instant Ramen half the time and starving the other half. And The Beast seemed so friendly and personable. I even thought…” She swallowed hard. “I even found him attractive. I’ve always liked Beast Kindred the best. Or I did before…before I worked with him.”

“We saw what he did to you, Leela,” Cassandra said softly. “I take it that wasn’t the kind of scene Yarrow promised you’d be doing?”

“No.” Leela looked down at her hands again. “No, it wasn’t. He…he hurt me.” When she looked up again, there were tears in her big hazel eyes. “What he did to me, he…he tore me…down there.” She nodded to the place between her legs, which were crossed tightly, as though to defend herself.

“I’m so, so sorry.” Cassandra reached out and stroked the girl’s arm gently. “Have you been able to see a doctor?”

Leela shook her head.

“Can’t afford to—I don’t have any insurance. I guess I could go to the clinic on campus but they’d think that…that somebody raped me.” She swallowed hard, as though forcing the words out. “And then they’d want to know who did it. And then I’d have to admit to doing porn and I’d probably lose my scholarship.”

“What about your parents?” Cassandra asked. “Could they loan you the money?”

“They’re…we’re not speaking right now.” Leela swiped at her cheeks. “Not since I moved out of the house to go to college when they didn’t want me to.”

“A free clinic then,” Cassandra offered. “I’m sure we could get you an appointment.”

“Again, I don’t want anybody thinking I was…was raped.” Leela swallowed hard. “They’d want to do a rape kit on me and talk to the police.”

“You’re already talking to the police,” Cassandra pointed out gently.