Forty Acres: A Thriller (17 page)

CHAPTER 45

W
here would be the best place to hide a surveillance camera?
Martin wondered as he sat up in bed, his back against the headboard, pretending to watch television. Martin didn’t recognize the sitcom that was playing, but the scene of a family squabbling at the dinner table made him long to be back home in the normal world, not trapped in some depraved alternate reality constructed and ruled over by a wealthy madman.

Affluent black men keeping white slaves to avenge their forefathers. How could this be going on now? And not in some backward third-world country, but here, in the United States? At least he assumed they were still in the United States. In truth he really had no idea where they had taken him. He’d slept through most of the flight—how naive he’d been to believe that the tequila had rendered him unconscious. He’d been drugged, of course. The entire situation seemed too insane to be true. Martin felt as if he were trapped in an episode of one of his favorite shows,
The Twilight Zone
. But Forty Acres wasn’t fantasy, it was very real, and Martin was now determined to put a stop to it.

Martin knew what he had to do. He’d play along. He’d use the opportunity to gather as much information as possible about Forty Acres, then get back to civilization and blow the whistle to whatever government agency handled this sort of madness. But playing along would not be easy. Martin was now certain that, from the moment he entered Forty Acres, every little thing he did was being scrutinized.

When Martin had finally gotten back to his room, finally gotten away from all those scrutinizing eyes, it took everything he had to conceal the fear and horror he felt. But he had to hold his feelings inside. Even inside his room, alone, Martin could not let the hot bile of anxiety that churned in his gut rise up because he remembered that skinny valet’s face. He remembered trying to tip the valet for carrying his bags and how the kid’s nervous eyes scanned the room. Now Martin understood why. The valet knew that there were cameras in the room and that he was probably being watched.

But where were these cameras?

Martin looked up occasionally from the television to steal a glance around the room, but so far he had failed to spot anything that suggested a hiding place for a camera. This did not ease Martin’s suspicions, though. From what he knew about spy cameras, the very best ones were so tiny that they could be concealed almost anywhere, even inside everyday household items such as wall clocks, radios, lamps, even smoke alarms. The problem was that there was no way for Martin to closely examine the room’s furnishings without giving away the fact that he was searching for a camera. If his search was noticed, they’d realize he was just pretending to be a true believer, and then he’d be a problem that had to be dealt with. Most likely, just like Donald Jackson, he’d have a fatal accident. Or perhaps, to avoid using the same cover story, they’d tell the police that Martin wandered off and disappeared in the woods. Maybe they’d be more creative and claim a grizzly bear mauled Martin to death and dragged him off in the middle of the night. Whatever lie they concocted, Martin was certain of one thing: if Dr. Kasim and the other men suspected even for a second that Martin planned to betray them, they would murder him and use all their wealth and influence to conceal their crime and protect their secret.

After a few more furtive glances around the room, Martin decided that the safer strategy would be to assume that the cameras were there and adjust his behavior accordingly.

He would not search for anything here, not yet.

*   *   *

Martin stood beneath the showerhead and let the gentle spray pelt his weary face. The warm water soothed him as it rolled and trickled over his body, making everything seem a little easier.
Just keep up the act
, Martin kept telling himself.
All you have to do is keep up the act.
Just get through the initiation tomorrow night, whatever that was, then keep up the performance for just another two days. How hard could that be?

Of course, that was the question that haunted him. Could he really fool them for three more days? And, even more troubling—could he fool Carver? Martin could still see him staring at him after the toast. Studying him with those cagey eyes. If Carver really suspected something, why didn’t he just come out and say it? Maybe Carver was secretly meeting with the others at that very moment. Convincing them that Martin could not be trusted and had to be eliminated. Maybe they were already plotting his murder.

Martin shook his head under the water, as if he could rinse away the toxic thoughts that were filling his skull. He could not let fear cripple him. To survive he needed to remain clearheaded and alert. Maybe fatigue was causing him to miss some solution. Sleep, that’s what he needed. Just sleep.

Martin reached for the knob to shut off the water. But suddenly he froze. Beneath the quiet roar of the shower he could just make out a disturbing sound. The sound of someone entering his room.

CHAPTER 46

D
ripping wet and wrapped in a towel, Martin exited the bathroom and found Carver smiling in the open door. “Now I see why you didn’t hear my knock.”

Carver’s intrusion and the annoying smirk on his face made Martin, for a moment, forget his bigger worries. “So you just decided to let yourself in?”

“Sorry, Grey. The door wasn’t locked. Besides, I had a good reason.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“I brought you a gift.” Still smiling, Carver stepped away from the open door, allowing a beautiful young woman to enter the room.

“Good evening, Mr. Grey.”

For an instant Martin did not recognize the girl. Instead of the maid’s uniform that Martin had last seen her in, she now wore a simple, pretty blue dress. Her strawberry-blond hair, no longer tied back, flowed in waves over her shoulders. It was Alice, the frightened server who had dropped his pie. Martin found it hard to believe that this was the same girl. Alice’s beauty was obvious before, but now she appeared almost angelic. “Hello,” Martin finally managed to get out.

“From the fuss you made over her at dinner, it’s obvious you like her,” Carver said. “Well, here she is. All yours.”

Martin was unable to stifle his surprise. “Mine?”

Carver laughed, apparently tickled by the new guy’s naïveté. “One of my favorite perks of Forty Acres—beautiful women.”

Martin met Alice’s gaze. She put on a pleasant smile, but the sadness in her eyes was unmistakable. Martin felt an urge to punch Carver. But he couldn’t. Not yet. In some ways, he was as much a captive to this scene as Alice.

“What’s wrong? You do like women, don’t you, Grey?”

“Yes. Of course. It’s just—” Martin pulled Carver aside and whispered. “Look, I love my wife, okay?”

Carver laughed. “So do I. Hell, we all do. What’s that got to do with anything? Relax. What happens behind these walls, stays behind these walls.” Carver’s features darkened. “You don’t really have a problem with this, do you?”

Martin remembered the role that he was playing. He was now the willing participant in an inhumane crime; for him to pause at the mere act of infidelity would seem inconsistent and raise suspicion. For all Martin knew, Alice’s being delivered to his bed was part of their initiation. A test of his resolve. To show any hesitancy or weakness now could cause Dr. Kasim and the others to question his commitment.

“If this bothers you, just say so,” Carver said, a suspicious glint in his eyes. “It’s no big deal, really.”

Martin did his best to appear lustful as he turned and looked Alice up and down. He undressed her with his eyes. “No, I’m fine,” he said to Carver. “She truly is quite beautiful.”

But Carver wasn’t sold so easily. “You sure, Grey? I mean, if this isn’t your thing, I can just take her back to my room. I got a girl waiting already, but there’s always room for one more.”

Martin returned Carver’s gaze. “Here’s a better idea. Why don’t you get the hell out of here so I can unwrap my gift?”

Carver grinned. “All right, Grey. Calm down. I’m going. And listen. No need to worry about STDs or birth control or any of that. All the pretty ones are tested regularly and fixed. As Dr. Kasim likes to say, no mutts allowed.” He cocked his head to Alice. “Ain’t that right, sweetheart?”

Alice stared at the floor, nodding. “Yes, master.”

Martin found Carver’s callousness disgusting. He tried to keep any hint of emotion from his voice. “That’s good to know. I guess the doctor has thought of everything.”

“You know it,” Carver said. He stole a final admiring glance at Alice. “She’s amazing, trust me.” Carver winked at Martin as he strolled out.

Martin locked the door and fastened the chain. By the time he turned back around, Alice had moved. She now stood beside the bed, facing him. She managed to brighten her smile a bit, but that core of sadness was still indelible. “Do you like my dress? I picked it just for you, master.”

That word struck Martin like a slap. He could hardly look at her. He couldn’t bear the thought that he was partly to blame for the sad smile she wore. That she saw him like she saw the other men, a depraved captor who could do whatever he pleased with her body. Martin wanted desperately to explain to Alice that he wasn’t like them. He wanted to give her hope, a promise to bring help. Instead, all he could do was put on a show for the cameras. “I like the dress very much,” he said. “I’d like it even better if you’d take it off.”

“Yes, master.”

With her beautiful eyes fixed on him, Alice reached up and unclasped the dress. The garment billowed to her ankles and Alice stood naked before him. Her pert teacup breasts were well proportioned to her small, curvy figure.

Martin drew a sharp breath at the sight of her perfect body, a genuine reaction that caught him off guard. It astonished Martin that the vileness of the situation failed to diminish the sudden lust he felt or the stirring beneath his towel, but Alice was so amazingly beautiful.

Martin watched as Alice pulled back the top bedcover and slipped gracefully beneath crisp white sheets. Then she lay there, with her head propped up, smiling at him. Beneath the sheets, with her nipples pouting against the fabric, the hills and valleys of her luscious form were somehow even more alluring. “Are you coming to bed now, master?”

After a moment, Martin pulled off his towel and slid into the bed.

CHAPTER 47

C
an you brighten it a bit? The picture looks like crap,” Carver said.

Carver and Oscar were standing inside a cramped and dimly lit video surveillance room, peering over the shoulder of a security guard who sat before a bank of three LCD monitors. Each monitor displayed a different angle of the same darkened bedroom. The first monitor showed an overhead view, the second an eye-level view, and the third a fish-eyed low angle. Barely visible on each screen was the dark and grainy image of a couple beneath the bed sheets engaged in intercourse. The guard, a bespectacled young black man, fiddled with the various switches and knobs on a control panel to no avail. The images on the three monitors were still irritatingly dark. Carver groaned. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Sorry. Give me just one more second.” The guard tweaked a few more knobs and finally the video on all three screens became a fraction brighter. Martin’s and Alice’s tensed faces were now faintly distinguishable, their two thrusting bodies a scant bit more defined. The guard looked back at Carver and frowned. “Unfortunately, sir, with the lights out in the room, this is the best that I can do.”

Carver waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. Spare me.”

“I really am sorry, sir, but the only way we could get a better picture is with night-vision cameras.”

“Then why the hell don’t you have night-vision cameras?”

Before the frazzled man could respond, Oscar intervened, laying a firm hand on the guard’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Sam. We can see more than enough. How long have you been monitoring Mr. Grey?”

“Ever since he returned to his room, sir. Just like you wanted.”

“Have you noticed any unusual behavior?”

Sam shook his head. “No, sir. He watched some television for a little while, then jumped in the shower. That’s it. If you ask me, I think Mr. Grey is adjusting just fine.”

Carver snorted dismissively, then noticed that Oscar was staring hard at him. The man appeared to be pissed about something, but Carver had no idea why. Carver liked Oscar for the most part. He appreciated Oscar’s no-nonsense attitude, and he respected the fact that Oscar could keep a place like Forty Acres running like clockwork. What he didn’t like about Oscar were those cold, titanium eyes. Especially when Oscar had them trained on him. “Something wrong?” Carver asked.

“We’re done here, Mr. Lewis.” Oscar moved to the door and pushed it open. “Let’s let Sam get back to work.”

“Go ahead if you have to. I want to stick around and watch Grey a little while longer.”

“Not possible. The doctor would be displeased to know that I allowed you in here at all. Now please, after you.” Oscar gestured to the open doorway.

Judging by the stone carving that Oscar called a face, Carver knew there was no point arguing. The two men exited the surveillance room and Carver paused just outside the door. They were standing inside a storage room in the cellar of the house. Neat racks of food and other supplies lined the stone walls. The unmarked door to the surveillance room was tucked inconspicuously between two shelving units. “I just hope that kid knows what he’s doing,” Carver said to Oscar. “Grey needs to be watched very closely.”

“And he will be, Mr. Lewis. But quite honestly, from what we’ve just observed, I believe your suspicions are . . . unwarranted.”

“It’s not a damn suspicion. It’s more than that.”

“Really? Please explain.”

Carver frowned. He prided himself on his uncanny ability to read a man’s character cold. All his life he had possessed a keen intuition that he had come to trust completely. It was that intuition—a sort of nervous tingling in his gut—that helped him to steer clear of dishonest brokers and bad deals and ultimately to accumulate his large fortune in the real estate game. Very recently Carver had felt the stirrings of his internal alarm once again. It was the day that he first met Martin Grey. He had read about Grey in the newspaper. The black civil rights attorney with his white partner. The article said they were not only partners but good friends. Jesus. That fact alone made Carver’s gut tight. He tried to tell Solomon and the others that there was something off about Martin Grey, but they paid little attention. Damon vouched for Martin completely, and the others took an instant liking to the young lawyer. Of course, Carver could understand why. Martin was smart, strong-willed, and, with his activist background, appeared to be a perfect candidate for their private club. And that’s exactly why Carver did not protest Martin’s candidacy too strenuously—because on the surface, despite his white shadow, Martin
did
appear to be a good fit. Carver’s intuition was strong, but it wasn’t infallible. He supposed that maybe he was wrong this time. Maybe Grey was truly as perfect as he appeared, and in the future they’d grow to be tighter than brothers.

Maybe. But then there was that moment in the library that changed everything. The moment when Grey finally broke down before Dr. Kasim’s truth. On the surface Martin’s tearful submission appeared believable, but it was at that instant that Carver’s belly spoke up once again—only this time it was far more insistent. What Carver felt wasn’t the usual fleeting tingling sensation. It was as if an abyss had opened up inside him. What was making him react so strongly? Was Martin’s breakdown just an act? Was Martin just playing a role until he could get back to the world and expose their secret? Carver couldn’t be certain, at least not yet, but he did know one thing for damn sure. Martin Grey could not be trusted. He could feel it in his gut, literally. Of course, this gut feeling wouldn’t be enough to convince Dr. Kasim and the others that Grey was a threat that needed to be eliminated. Carver needed real proof.

“It’s hard to explain,” Carver said. “I just know that something’s not right about that guy. You know what’s at stake here. We can’t risk even the smallest doubt.”

“I agree completely. That is why Dr. Kasim always insists on an initiation. I think you will agree that if Mr. Grey completes tomorrow night’s ceremony, his loyalty will be unquestionable.”

A smile creased Carver’s face. Oscar was right. The ceremony was an extreme test, to say the least. Carver couldn’t imagine how anyone, including Grey, could get through it unless he was truly committed to Dr. Kasim’s philosophy. But still, Carver had an idea. A way that he could up the ante on Grey’s big night and leave zero room for doubt. As Carver unconsciously ran a hand over his fit midsection, he thought,
Maybe then my gut will leave me alone
.