Page 13 of Guardian
Jaw clenched, I throw out one more lure to see what it gets me.
Ravi: Do you really think this will work?
Brennan: You think I’d be putting in this kind of time if I didn’t?You said you wanted to make big money fast.This is the way to do it.Just putting out teasers for the auction, we’ve already got enough interested parties to fill a concert hall.Nothing brings the perverts out of the woodwork like wafting a virgin who’s kink curious right under their noses.It’s better than waving a red flag at a bull.
My fist tightens so hard my short nails dig into my skin.A virgin.Interested parties.A million dollars.This has got to be a sick joke.
Rereading the text, my brain snags on the word “auction.”Is this kid really stupid enough to try to sell his virginity to the highest bidder?Is that what the hell this is about?
If it were anybody else, I’d dismiss it as ridiculous.But it’s Ravi, and he’s got his father’s charming but terrifying combination of fantasy thinking and impulsivity.This is the exact sort of mess he’d wander into simply because he spotted something shiny.
One of these days his wandering will get him killed.It already almost has.
Nothing much scares me anymore.I’ve seen and done too much twisted shit.I’m not afraid of the monsters because I am the monster.The thought of Ravi doing something this dangerous fills me with icy terror.
Bringing myself under control, I send the one response that I know for sure Ravi would have to Brennan’s last message.
Ravi: Bullfighting is animal abuse
Brennan: Ha.Fucking bleeding heart.You’re a goddamn unicorn, you know that?Let’s meet up tomorrow so we can hammer out details.
I send a thumbs-up before exiting out of the message thread and then deleting it entirely.Ravi won’t be meeting with Brennan, but I will.This lowlife’s got his hooks too far into my ward.It’s my job to get them out.
A subtle throat clear from my phone’s speaker reminds me my employee is still on the other end.
“Sal.”
“Yeah, boss?”
“You hear any chatter about an upcoming auction at Shadow?Something about someone auctioning off their virginity?”
The thought of a bunch of slavering old men with older money waving their fists full of cash, all for the opportunity to be the person to destroy a nineteen-year-old twink?While he’s being paraded around like livestock?No fucking way.Makes me sick.
“Uh, sure, boss.You’ve always got us keeping feelers out for possible trafficking shit, so that was an immediate red flag.Only this time it didn’t sound like the product was unwilling.”
“He’s not a product.He’s a fucking human being.”
Sal’s quiet for a second.“We know, boss.You know how it can be in this business.Apologies.”
Right.Detachment.Dehumanizing.Gallows humor.It’s all common in our line of work when you see the things we’ve seen.
“Understood, Sal.Just trying to keep some perspective.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I need anything further you guys can dig up on that auction.Anything.”
“Absolutely.I’ll pass it off to Bev.No doubt there’s something online somewhere.If there is, she’ll find it, sir.”
“Much appreciated, Sal.”
“No problem, boss.Anything else?”
While he talks, I do a quick pass, carefully but thoroughly tossing Ravi’s room.He’s mostly been staying in the dorms since the school year started, but he’s left a lot here.And I brought more of his belongings here a couple of weeks ago after his impulsivity landed him in the hospital.
As I rifle through drawers and flip through notebooks and sketchbooks for any other sign of what else he might be up to, I get a notification that Ravi has arrived at a destination in the East End.I know the place.Some shitty apartment complex where the landlord is known to take payment in cash, among other things.It’s the sort of place people live when they don’t want anyone to ask too many questions.
Dammit, Ravi.
