Page 130 of Out for Blood
My eyes move between the photographs.
“It’s two.”
Tyler points to the man in the suit.
“This one handles the recruitments, finances, buyers, auctions, transportation. Everything business-related.”
Then he points to the doctor.
“And this is the surgeon.”
Every single nerve in my body stretches like a drawn bowstring.
“The surgeon?”
Tyler’s shoulders go rigid.
“He performs procedures on the victims.”
The atmosphere grows heavy with unspoken meaning.
“What kind of procedures?” I ask warily.
For a moment Tyler hesitates and doesn’t answer me. He looks like he would rather do anything else before opening another folder. Then he double-clicks it.
Nothing could have prepared me for what was inside. Unofficial medical records, surgical notes and photographs taken before and after the procedures or surgeries. Each file is worse than the last.
Acid burns the back of my throat, and I have to clamp my mouth shut to keep from vomiting all over the keyboard.
“What the fuck is this?”
The words emerge a little more than a breath.
“They recruit women through a fake modeling agency.”
Tyler’s voice is flat and controlled in a way that means he’s furious.
“They target aspiring models. Social media influencers. College students. All women.”
Photographs flash across the screen.
Advertisements populate the screen along with casting calls and model searches.
The ads sell hope to these island girls, dream jobs, fame, and a way off the island to somewhere bigger with more opportunities.
Dreams that lead directly into a trap.
“They invite them to a fake office they rent out for a small period of time and make it look legitimate for professional headshots.”
I already know how this plays out, and a toxic blend of helplessness and fury blazes through my veins.
“So, when they show up…” My voice abandons me before I can finish.
Tyler acknowledges the statement with a subtle tilt of his head.
“They are erased from the lives they once knew.”
I examine the images, landing on face after face, women who believed they had been given a chance at a brighter life.
