Page 71 of To Curse A Knight

How fortunate for me that I was dead.

I signed onto the dark web to see if there was an update. A new file awaited me with several encrypted videos from the same source. I opened one, unprepared for its contents.

Three women, one looking barely older than a child, were cuffed in metal bondage straps in a dark room. The footage was dark and grainy, but the space resembled our questioning rooms in the basement of Club 7.

Two men stood behind them, brutally sodomizing their bodies as the women screamed out in anguish. The child-like woman sobbed as she watched, tears falling down her face in buckets.

This was not fulfilling a fantasy. It was brutal ownership in the most violent of ways, meant to tear down a human being to assert one’s own puny idea of power.

Visceral rage raced through my veins and into my heart, its beat erratic and ferocious in my chest. Rape and assault were not the foundations of Club 7, or any of the other clubs. This abomination must be stopped.

Mi Reinawas leading the Board of Directors in an emergency meeting since her company had signed agreements with Alvarez International.Rojowas cleaning out his desk at the office, and Kellan was meeting with his brothers to disband the rest of the men loyal to Alvarez’s operations.

I was alone.

My gaze flitted back to the message on my screen, sent yesterday. Whoever had sent it left no trace of their identity. Perhaps I could use our resident hacker to identify the source.

That would take time, though, a luxury I could not afford. I’d made a commitment on my honor to the employees of Club 7; no harm would come to them at the hands of someone within its walls; that included the wandering eyes and hands of management.

Leaving now was a weighty risk; weekdays were quieter at the club, and I could enter via the back entrance to hide my arrival. Provided the electronic key pad remained the same, I could slip in, verify the truth, and come up with a plan to save the women before burning the building to the ground.

I had to considerMi Reina’s fury for putting myself in harm’s way. But did my life have more value than the people in my care?

I had to ascribe to her beliefs—we were more fortunate than most, with our wealth and influence, but our fortune at birth did not dictate our value above others.

She would understand after her rage subsided and she’d made me pay my penance in blood. It was a risk I was willing to take to ease the weight of my conscience.

I could not leave the condo myself. I had no vehicle here, or access to any of Hillary’s which lay dormant in the garage.

I would have to phone a friend for my errand. ‘Friend’ was surely a loose term, but the only person I could think of who would entertain such an idea without deterring me from my mission. A skilled arsonist accompaniment would also be an asset.

Reluctantly, I textedRojo.

Aaron Rodriguez:I am in need of your assistance, Caperocita Roja.

Lauchlan O’Donnell:King Strippy! What can I do for ya?

Aaron Rodriguez:Please come pick me up.

Lauchlan O’Donnell:Am I going to get a reason, or did the Robot just run out of juice?

Aaron Rodriguez:I will call Kellan.

Lauchlan O’Donnell:Just putting ya on, King Roboto. I’ll see ya soon.

Lauchlan O’Donnell:She’s gonna kill you.

I looked at my clothing and my brow wrinkled in distaste. After years of wearing fine tailored suits and Italian shoes, I was now a casual clothes man. I had never shownup to any of our clubs in anything but my best clothing; I would stand out like the sorest of thumbs.

Lauchlan had a collection of suits still hanging in the closet in the bedroom he’d vacated since I’d moved in; perhaps he had something I could wear.

I rifled through the racks of suit jackets and pants, finding a charcoal gray suit similar enough to my previous collection to pass for the day. I was taller and slightly broader, but not by enough that anyone should notice. I borrowed a freshly starched dress shirt and put on the ensemble as I impatiently waited for him to arrive.

The longer time passed, the more unsettled about this decision I became, but I had a duty to fulfill. If the demons that spawned me were indeed abusing their power in the most egregious ways, it was up to me to right their wrongs in whatever way I could.

Lauchlan texted me when he arrived, directing me to the private parking garage level that only housed Hillary’s many cars. He met me with an infuriating smirk, but the guarded stare in his eyes showed he was troubled.

“Are you sure about this?” he questioned as I lowered myself into his ridiculously low muscle car. “Blondie’s likely to kill us both, yeh know.”

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