Sam should have been wet and cold, but there was something to be said for modern outdoor clothing. The wool and rubber ponchos his grandfather had worn in Korea were a distant memory. Now, despite the fact that he was on the ground beneath a fir while a steady drizzle fell on him, he was comfortable. These were the sort of idle thoughts that the bear-like man had to keep his mind occupied. He shifted and moved the spotting scope a little to check on the guard station. Right on schedule, they changed shifts. He made a note on his pad and relaxed a little.
It had been a productive and boring few months since he had left Roy in Arizona. He had made his way north into Canada, tracking down the people who had employed Sergei. Tracking down the people to whom he and Mark had sold slaves, slaves that wound up dead in snuff films. He was haunted by what he had been a part of and was now trying to redeem himself somewhat by shutting the whole operation down. A few fatalities would ease his conscience a little, too.
What he quickly realized was that he was in over his head. There were a couple of components to this network that were only loosely linked, he did not feel that he had to take all of them out, but the "The Studio" was a must. There was the marijuana growing operation in the mountains, well-camouflaged greenhouses and well-armed hippies and rednecks standing guard. That was Jake's operation. He might be able to leave them, or at least they were lower on his priority list. Mark had sent most of his slaves there and then Jake would resell them elsewhere. A few wound up back in the states as legitimate Association slaves, some as unaccounted or grey slaves in Canada. Others, not many, but some, were traded to the The Studio. He thought that if he took out The Studio, Jake would take his business to better markets. He'd like to sit down and have a talk with the young man about that, but not until he was sure he would get out of that conversation alive.
Then there were smugglers on the Pacific coast. They were shippers and while they handled a few of the slaves that disappeared overseas, Sam put them at the bottom of his list. They did not just do slaves, most of their business was in other things, mostly drugs and weapons. Sam and Mark, before Hunter had splattered his head in Sam's truck, had used them in shipping arms in and out of North America. Besides, they were useful. Sam was never quite sure when he would need them, so taking them out might not be the best idea.
That mostly left The Studio. They were the kind of people that made Sam's skin crawl. It was not just the snuff films, these were people who lived off of human misery and death. They dealt in illegal immigrants, mostly selling them for forced labor somewhere. They were involved in black market organ and tissue deals. Sam had seen a truck load of Asians arrive, get taken for a medical exam and only two thirds come back from the exam. They did contract killings, kidnapping for ransom and had a hand in the hard drug trade, too.
They needed to go down, but Sam could not do it on his own. He had counted no less than twenty armed guards around the place at any given time. They ranged from the basic flunky type to a few that Sam recognized as Special Forces trained mercenaries. One man with limited supplies was not going to be able to shut this down. He needed help, good help. He needed Hunter and his crew.
He crawled back though the undergrowth. He would have to go to Las Vegas and try to enlist their help. Las Vegas, where Elaine was, too. He had tried not to think about her too much, the loss was still acute. But there were times, many times, when the night was dark and cold and he was all alone that it was inevitable. He remembered what it felt like to have her, to possess her for that short time back at his ranch, to have her completely in his power. The feel of her pussy around his cock, the sound of her yells when he fucked her ass, the pleading look in her blue eyes. It would hurt him to see her without being able to have her, but he had to shut down The Studio and he needed help and he couldn't get that help if he was trying to steal Elaine.
Sam made it back to his camp and booted up the satellite phone. While it downloaded a week's worth of information, he prepared an MRE. They weren't bad, about the same as canned food, but he was looking forward to a real steak and a baked potato, with butter and sour cream. There wasn't too much off the phone, but the one from Amanda caught his eye. He read it while he ate. Fifteen minutes later he was breaking camp and getting ready to head south.
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Elaine knelt on the table. Hunter had her ready for a friendly gangbang tonight. He was having some friends, and people who had helped him and Roy out in their battle with Mark and Sam, over to reward them for their work. Elaine was to be that reward. Hunter had prepared her for the evening, after using her a few times himself. She was naked, except for her restraints. Her wrists were cuffed in front of her, her ankles cuffed beneath her. She wore a thin leather collar to which was attached a leash that hung between her small, firm breasts. At the moment the leash was entangled in a delicate silver chain that hung between the two nipple clamps and every time she shifted positions the leash tugged the clamps. It gave her more incentive to hold still. She was blindfolded and gagged with a red ball gag. Her back had a series of fresh red welts across it, courtesy of Hunter's riding crop. On her upper right butt cheek was a brand, a small r, which her owner had burned into her flesh. The final touch was a blue butt plug in her ass, keeping her ready for the pleasure of the men later.
Elaine had been kneeling for a while, she really had no idea how long, but it seemed like a long time. She was aching to be fucked; the waiting was a physical pain. She finally came to the conclusion that Hunter had stepped out, but might be back at any time so she stayed in position. It wasn't like she could move much anyway; Hunter had her well restrained. When she heard the door open again, she assumed it was Hunter returning. She was wrong.
Syd opened the door. Bill had him staking out Hunter's place ever since the older man had left the Association bar. Syd was under strict instructions to do nothing until he heard from Bill. Bill messaged him saying the plan was a go and to proceed using his best discretion. Syd had been prepared to wait all night, but decided to take advantage of Hunter heading out for a beer. Syd called 911 and said that the bar was being robbed to buy a little extra time. Syd had a master key. Hunter had not updated his locks in many years, and getting the door open was easy. As he had suspected, Hunter had not set any of the alarms. Syd was in quickly and found what he was after.
Syd smiled as he saw her. She was already bound, gagged and blindfolded. This was going to make his job a lot easier. "Damn," he whistled out loud, "that is a hell of a gift wrapping."
When Elaine heard Syd she realized that something was wrong. A wave of fear shot through her. She could not imagine being in a more vulnerable, exposed and helpless position. She tried to stand, though she had no real idea what she was going to do if she did, there was certainly no way she was going to get uncuffed or be able to run. It did not matter anyway. Strong hands grabbed her and while she squirmed, she was quickly overpowered. She screamed for help, but only muffled noises made it past the ball gag.
"You're sexy when you fight," Syd said and put a hand in her collar. "But we don't have time for that now." He tightened his grip and Elaine began choking. "Settle down now and make this easy for me and I won't make it too hard for you." Elaine tried kicking again, but Syd held the chain between her ankles and she was starting to black out. She went limp and surrendered. "Good girl," Syd purred and let go of the collar. If that had not worked, Syd had a loaded syringe in a case in his pocket. He could have used that on her, she would sleep nicely, but he wanted her to experience all of this. His hand stroked down her back to cup her ass. He would have some fun with her later when they were safely away from Hunter.
Syd had a big, hard sided suitcase that he brought in. He lifted Elaine, taking the chance to grope her as much as possible, and put her inside in a fetal position. Elaine went limp and let him move her; she knew it was futile to fight. These sorts of suitcases were common in the slave trade, sometimes Syd would look at people wheeling one of these around and wonder if there was a beautiful woman inside.
