Chapter 13           In the Spider's Web

Jerry drove the SUV holding the gun with one hand. I was too frightened to think about anything let alone grabbing at it or jumping out. He screeched the tires into the warehouse where another guy with a gun opened my door. A black Cuban, he pulled me out and pushed me roughly against the side of the SUV frisking me. I hate coincidence but at that moment my cell phone rang.

            “Give it to me, carefully,” he said.

            I did and he opened it. It must have been Karen and he answered. “No, m’am, no person with that name here.” He closed the cover laughing. “Stupid bitch. She asked for Hilton Christopher. Is that you, asshole?”

            I nodded.

            “Come on, Hilton Christopher, we’ll look after you.”

            He pushed me into a small closet and locked the door. Light from under the door allowed me to see movie cameras and computer equipment sharing the small space. The situation struck me as ironic. I’m inside for Christ’s sake, what do I do now? I was in deep trouble and hadn’t even found Tracy. Outside were voices that I could hear clearly.

            “The Boss says were goin’ to clear out now. No more movies. Bring the girls and the prick to the airport, we’re goin’ to Mexico. Juan, you clean up here and get rid of the equipment. We’ll meet you in Calexico. I’m goin’ with the director and the Boss on the plane. We’ll take the tapes and the cameras just to make the director happy. He can finish taping there.”

            Jerry was giving the orders to the Cuban and a couple of other guys I hadn’t seen. Scraping sounds came through and then the door opened. The Cuban grabbed me, pinned my arms behind my back and tied my wrists. Tracy and Susanne appeared through another door and blinked in the light. She saw me.

            “Hilton, what are you doing here?” Her eyes were wide in surprise.

            “I came to find you.” The Cuban jerked my arms toward the SUV.

            “Oh, shit, I’m so sorry.” She came to me but another guy grabbed her and tied her arms, then did the same to Susanne.

            “Get in the car,” he snorted. “If you do as you’re told you might live a little longer.”

            They loaded the back of the SUV with cameras and other stuff. Tracy kissed my cheek.

            “You are a dear fool, my love. These men are scum.” Her lips were cold but felt good.

            “I can see that. They’re taking us to Mexico.”

            Susanne gasped. “Oh, no, for fuck sake no.”

            “What did she mean by that?”

            Tracy sobbed. “They don’t bring people back from Mexico.”

            “What do you mean, Tracy? What are you and Susanne doing here?”

            “We’re in movies.”

            “What kind of movies?” I was beginning to think something I didn’t want consider.

            “Adult movies.” She looked at me with tears forming in her frightened green eyes.

            “No, don’t say that, please. You’re kidding.”

            “I wish I was.” Two tears rolled down her cheeks. Susanne sat still, her skin pale.

            We didn’t say anything more as the SUV moved out of the warehouse. It was dark but the rain had stopped and we quickly drove the short distance to the airport. I couldn’t see much of what was happening until they opened the door and told us to move. We were beside a business jet. They pushed us inside and strapped us in the soft leather seats. Our hands were tied together on our laps. The big man I had seen last night came aboard along with Jerry and another man, I didn’t recognize, turned and leered at the women.

            “Hello girls, we’re going to make a special movie.” I heard Susanne and Tracy sob. They were white with fear.

            “What’s going on,” I whispered to Tracy.

            “They’re going to kill us.” I barely heard her over the jet engines.

            The plane turned, rolled down the runway to the takeoff ramp and then we were off. Tracy’s words rang through my head. “Kill us!” Why? What had we done to them?

            I leaned to Tracy. “Why?”

            “They’re drug traffickers and don’t keep witnesses. Oh, Hilton, I wish you’d stayed home safe in Toronto. You shouldn’t have come for me. I’m just a stupid porn star.”

            “Tracy, I had to come. I love you, remember!” I didn’t want to say more but had to. “Your mother is dead. Did you know?”

            She gasped. “Oh, no, please no! They killed her, didn’t they? The bastards.” She cried.

            I looked at Susanne and I had never seen a look of desperation and such deep fear. Maybe she had an idea of what they planned for her, I didn’t know. From time to time the other man turned and smirked at us. His face was pure evil.

            After a few minutes I whispered, “I’m okay with you as a porn star. You’re the wonderful woman, I love you.”

            “I wanted to be your porn star. That’s why we ran away to Aspen and asked you to take us to Toronto.”

            Mind wandered as I realized that I would have had the greatest personal porn star ever. I shook my head. This was not the time to think like that.

            The flight continued until well after sunrise. I had no idea where we were but I felt the aircraft slow and begin a shallow decent. It seemed to take a long time but suddenly the wheels bumped as we touched ground. The plane rolled for a short while and stopped. The guys in front got up, opened the door, Jerry unbuckled us and told us to get into a truck that had come to the plane. The sun burned the white ground of what looked like a private airstrip on a salt flat. They unloaded the rest of the plane and we drove away as the jet engines roared and the plane was gone. It couldn’t have been on the ground for more than three minutes.

            “Welcome to La Puerta, Mexico,” Jerry yelled back to us. “Last stop for you three.”

            He seemed to enjoy tormenting prisoners. I suspect that as a child he tortured insect and kittens. The truck stopped at a large barn. We were pushed inside and taken to a small room. I had a quick look around saw several benches where women weighed white powder from packages into small bags. It didn’t take a genius to realize they were cutting and packaging cocaine. Several well-armed men watched over the work. They leered at Susanne and Tracy as we were pushed through the work area. There was a small movie set in a corner of the barn.

            The evil looking man, whom I learned was the director, came into the room. “Welcome ladies. I’m sorry we couldn’t finish our work in LA. We’ll do it now, if you please. You can watch if you like.” He nodded to me. “In fact I think you had better watch so we can be sure Miss Tracy performs well.” The threat was not subtle.

            The big man appeared. “How long is this going to take? We have work to do today and don’t need distractions.”

            “We’ll be finished by noon, in plenty of time for the other scenes.”

            I won’t describe what they did except to say that Tracy and Susanne performed a number of acts on themselves and then on Jerry. One of the Mexican guards stood in for the Cuban who had been left in LA but he wasn’t able to hold himself and made a mess on Susanne. The director called cut to let the girls clean up before starting again with another man. These guys were so excited that they were useless and delayed the shoot for over an hour. Finally, El Jefe, for that’s what they called the big guy, called a stop and said it was time to get on with what we were there for.

            While being pushed to our cell I heard the director describe the scenes he planned for us. My mind went numb. I couldn’t imagine a person could be so evil and I prayed the girls didn’t hear it. El Jefe said nothing as his jaw tightened.

            The girls dressed and hugged. They were shaking nervously, crying silently. I didn’t dare tell them what I had heard of the director’s plans as my heart raced. I silently prayed that Karen had called Sergeant Tollery but if she did could he help us?

In fact she did call him when she heard Juan’s voice on her phone. The Sergeant was surprised by the information she gave him, sketchy as it was, and realized he was dealing with more than a homicide.

            He called the FBI who posted a bulletin that an individual wanted in connection with a murder was missing under unusual circumstances in the LA area. They included my description to be followed with a picture Karen would email within the hour.

The FBI office in Calexico received a report that the Learjet had landed at the Mexicali airport without the passengers that were observed boarding in Burbank. Agent Brock Sullivan called his superior in Los Angeles requesting permission to investigate what had happened to the passengers. He learned that the Border Patrol suspected a landing strip existed somewhere on the salt flats in the area of La Puerta and that the plane had touched down to discharge the passengers. They believed the airstrip was also used to unload cocaine flown in from Columbia.

            Agent Sullivan and Agent Burns were instructed to cross into Mexico and take the armoured Lincoln Navigator kept in Mexicali for covert missions by the Border Patrol and scout the La Puerta sector for suspicious activity. They were advised that the FBI Director would approach the President to seek approval from the Mexican President for a raid on a suspicious target, if located. A surveillance satellite was to pass over the target area in four hours and it would detect the suspected airstrip. An action plan would be developed based on information about the target area.

            Two Agents crossed into Mexico at noon and drove to the garage where the Lincoln was stored. The Chief of Mexican Border Patrol observed their entry and assigned a man to report their activities. He knew that Mexican authorities had noticed the unusual flight pattern of a certain Learjet and were seeking information. He suspected a link but didn’t trust the local Policia to investigate what he suspected was a drug smuggling operation. He had been frustrated in the past because some local cops had been bribed to inform about pending raids. He decided to give the Americans a free hand for the moment.

I had no idea that help might be on the way but I knew that time was not one our side. A key rattled in the door of our cell and it opened to the director and El Jefe. They looked at us coldly and took Susanne by the arm.

            “Come with us, miss.” The director seemed almost polite. His face was calm but his eyes gleamed with evil intent. El Jefe displayed no emotion. Susanne shrank into a corner but a quick jerk brought her to her feet and she stumbled into the studio. They slammed the door and locked it.

            I found a crack between along the frame and could see a portion of the studio. Tracy was too frightened to look and she collapsed on her heels in a corner whimpering. It was the best thing she could have done.

            Susanne played her last scene with calm dignity. I wondered if she was so frightened that her mind shut down. I hoped so. She was taken to a couch under the bright studio lights and reflecting umbrellas were carefully placed around to ensure no shadows would darken camera angles. Two cameras were used, one on a tripod and one handheld for close views. They removed her clothes and oiled her body giving the skin a healthy sheen, her face was powdered, her cheeks highlighted with rouge. She resisted slightly but had given up her fight and lay quietly on the couch as the film crew worked around her. I wanted to shout but my mouth was dry.

            The director called “roll”.

            Jerry had been prepared, his body oiled. Already excited, his engorged cock looked enormous. He casually approached the recumbent Susanne and kissed her lips. She responded reflexively, if she were to die it would be with dignity. He spread her legs and pushed himself inside her. It hurt, she winced, he didn’t notice. The camera rolled, the workers crowded around. Cocaine packaging stopped as the women joined, several in tears.

            Jerry abused Susanne until the director had sufficient footage, he signalled with his hand across his throat for the final sequence. Jerry stuffed his thick cock into her throat and pushed deeply against her windpipe. Susanne’s eyes widened and her chest heaved as she struggled for air, then he backed off. She gasped filling her lungs like a drowning person reaching the surface and then he repeated the thrust holding it longer and squeezing her nose. The muscles in her chest jerked as she fought for life but he held her until she started to slump when he released her again. Her chest rose as it sucked air. He smiled as the camera panned back.

            The director wanted it finished and motioned him to strangle her neck as he kissed her goodbye. The camera moved in close to her beautiful face, the kiss, her dark eyes bulged, her mouth gasped, she fought and twisted but he held. Two minutes passed, her face relaxed and she was still.

            “Cut,” called the director. “That was perfect Jerry. Much better than the last time.”

            Jerry was panting. His face flushed with excitement. “Thanks, I’m learning.”

            Susanne’s body lay on the couch, her flesh still pink, legs apart. The director offered it to the guards. Two skinny dark young men, so stimulated by what they had seen, each mounted her. The director captured the desecration on tape while the Mexican women vomited or crossed their hearts in prayer.

            He turned to El Jefe. “This will be worth a fortune.”

            “You are a depraved son of a bitch”, he snarled. “Get her out of here. We’ve still got to get rid of the other two. I think I’ll shoot them.”

            “No Boss. I have a better idea for her, something different. It’ll only take an hour, not long as soon as I prepare the set.”

I collapsed and cried like I had never cried before. Tracy put her arms around me and kissed tears from my eyes. Why should she feel sorry for me? I appreciated her touch just the same.

“Is Susanne dead?” She had become calm.

I nodded. I couldn’t speak with the thought of dieing in front of those cameras and drooling slack jawed idiots. Susanne had struggled but died with grace. I wouldn’t and imaging what they would do to Tracy was overwhelming. I held her tight.

“Hilton, you can’t let them do it to me. Kill me before they come back. Please, hurry. Please.”

She pulled my hands to her throat. I tightened my fingers over the sweet skin I had kissed with such pleasure just a week ago. I had never killed anything except once years ago when a raccoon raided our garbage. My hands shook. I couldn’t do it. I had too. I loved her. I kissed her cheek. Our tears mixed together.

“Please hurry Hilton, they’re coming.”

The key scraped on the lock as I tightened my grip.

            There had been no noise in the building during the taping but without warning the rattle of engines came through the thin walls. Vehicles screeched to a stop outside and my heart leapt. Was it a rescue? My hands went limp.

Chapter 14

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