The Virgin Master (38 page)

The returning plunge was greased hell. Jeremy didn’t care at all anymore how he was perceived. He sobbed and struggled as the huge Russian pounded
             
his nearly three hundred pound body into him so hard that he moved Jeremy’s body along the concrete, skinning his knees and shins, until his face pressed hard into the wire front of his cage.
He prayed for it to stop.

****
*

Sean
took a chance that Jeremy’s visitors were so occupied that they wouldn’t notice and
cracked the door
. He
discovered that he had come down the stairwell leading out into the detention corridor adjacent to Jeremy’s cage. Through the crack he had a clear view of
Yagudin
viciously raping Jeremy,
             
wringing muffled screams out of the gagged slave.

Blood glistened in the halogen lighting as it trickled down the backs of Jeremy’s thighs.
Yagudin
pushed one last time into his unwilling victim and moaned ecstatically as he filled Jeremy up. Sean noted the guard. Jeremy had been wary of this guard from the beginning.

Sean had not taken his concern or this case seriously enough and Jeremy was paying the price. Evan would lose his mind if he learned that Jeremy had been raped like this. He twitched wondering what kept internal security, much less the police. He watched as Frank moved into position behind Jeremy and lowered his trousers, cock already eagerly rampant.

Suddenly someone tapped Sean’s shoulder and he jumped, nearly leaping through the doorway. He guessed he had gone soft during his time away from the FBI. Certainly his level of awareness had dropped more than a couple of notches. Catching himself, Sean quietly eased his body back and allowed the door to shut silently. He looked up the stairs at the fully armed six man SWAT team arrayed to move in.

“Special Agent Murrow?” The lead man asked in a whisper. “Lieutenant Abruzzi.”

“Retired. Glad to see you, lieutenant. The big man is
Yagudin
. The other man, currently using the slave is Frank Owens, whose real name is Alexei
Pleshenko
. Alexei has no record as of yet, but should at
l
east be a person of interest. The other man is a guard they suborned to assist them.”

“They broke in here just to fuck a slave?”

“It’s a long story. I don’t have time to get into it now, but believe me I will give you all the details once this goes down. Try not to hurt the slave. He’s valued at way over a million dollars and is a huge asset to James Enterprises.”

“Can’t make any promises.”

Sean cursed inwardly and pressed himself to the wall to get out of the way of the squad. Wishing he didn’t have to, he called Evan, as the strike force flowed smoothly into the detention corridor.

Evan had recovered himself enough to go back to his apartment. He felt no use in sitting in his office unable to either work or mourn. When “Sean” lit up on his phone he felt some hope. Maybe Sean finally had a hearing date.

“Sean?”

“Evan. Listen. Don’t talk, just listen. Frank suborned a guard and brought a Russian mafia enforcer down here to Jeremy’s cell. I got here in time to call the police and the FBI. I
an
positively ID the enforcer as Boris
Yagudin
. SWAT is here now, trying to take him down.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Evan’s heart skittered and thumped. He found himself already on his feet heading toward the door. “They raped Jeremy, didn’t they? Frank finally got what he wanted. Do I need to call Tom?”

Oddly, now that the worst was actually happening, Evan calmed down. He could take some action here. “Sean, do I need to call Tom?”

“’
Fraid
so.”

“I’m coming down there. Since they’ve proved they can’t protect my property I want to insist that he be returned to me pending any hearing. Since Frank did this, surely they can see that the reports were based on malice. Sean, can we get anything good out of this?”

“Working on it.”

Sean returned to watching through the door.
Boris had a large knife to Jeremy’s throat and Frank hid behind Boris. The guard had already been shot and was down, either dead or bleeding out. Sean opened the door and stepped through, hoping that the sight of a familiar face would help
reassure
Jeremy.

Boris taunted the elite police arrayed around him. “Why don’t you shoot? Hmmm? This is just toy, right? Slave? You shoot through him and then you can get to me. So, why don’t
             
you shoot?”

Chapter Twenty-
Three

Lieutenant Abruzzi, obviously listening to instructions through his head set, frowned. The entire team had brought their weapons to bear on the triad in the cage. Electricity and anxiety thrummed through the atmosphere. Boris sliced Jeremy’s throat just enough to bring blood.

“Since you won’t shoot the toy while we’re in the cage, I have to assume that you won’t shoot him as we leave. Frank, be so kind as to get the keys and open the door.”

Sean caught Jeremy’s eye. Jeremy’s jaw flexed and suddenly he was slave no longer, but pissed off, heavily muscled man. Sean spoke directly to Jeremy, not caring about protocol in the moment.

“Jeremy, Evan’s on his way down here. Your apartment is so close he’ll be here in about five minutes. Don’t make him find a corpse. Don’t try anything stupid, please.”

Jeremy laughed. “It looks like I’m going to die here one way or another, Murrow. I’m not going to let these bastards use me for a shield. I’m not going to be used as a tool to hurt Evan. If I have to die anyway
,
it will be when I say.”

Jeremy suddenly leaned into the knife, cutting his own throat. Sean gasped and Boris exclaimed and tried to pull his hand back. Jeremy had the better angle and could use both hands to restrain Boris, keeping the knife blade at the level he wanted, Jeremy strove to slice his jugular or carotid artery, while, ironically, Boris fought to stop him.

“Jeremy, stop
!
Don’t make me have to tell Evan about
             
this.
He’ll be here any minute.”

Evan
flew
into the room. “Tell Evan about what?”

Then he saw. He clamped down hard with his battered self- control and searched to find anger rather than fear. Eyes blazing, Evan shook off Sean’s attempts to restrain him and dove for the cage. A SWAT team member caught him around the waist and swung him back out of the field of fire.

“Jeremy. Stop. I’m here. Just be still. Tom’s on his way.” Finding a smile somewhere, Evan tried to connect to the submissive in Jeremy. “Without you, Tom’s income will be cut in half
. We
can’t have that. Jeremy, come on. You don’t need to die. I
need
you at work and at home. Just let the man’s arm go so he can drop the knife. Please.”

Jeremy raised his eyes to Evan’s. “I’m not going to let them try to use me to get to you anymore.” Evan tried with all his might to let his love and regard for Jeremy show in his eyes. Sean sighed and hoped neither of the men would make any more statements like that one.

Steve Hubbard walked up behind Evan, taking in the scene and trying to make sense of what he saw. Jeremy had stopped actively trying to cut his own throat, but blood still poured from the deep cut he managed to make from his throat down his chest. Steve also noted the blood on his thighs and pooling around his feet. Evan
held up one finger to Hubbard to indicate that he would be with him shortly and finished his call to a very worried Tom. Three FBI agents joined the party. There were so many law enforcement officers in the corridor that it seemed like a bus at rush hour.

Sean walked up to the FBI agents and introduced himself. The lead agent, Diana Pilsner felt sorely puzzled.

“Just shoot through the slave. Arrest
Yagudin
. We all go home.”

Evan lunged for her and Sean caught him.

“The slave is valued at well over a million dollars.  This is Evan James, his master.
Jeremy serves Evan at home, but more importantly he occupies a position congruent with Vice President in Charge of Acquisitions for James Enterprises.  His skill with due diligence and financial analysis has enabled James to triple their profits. He is responsible for more than a hundred million in profits this last quarter alone. Between the two of them, James and Jeremy drive profit for the entire company.”

Pilsner blinked. “Then why is he in here?”

“It’s a long story. Short version
…
the thin blond man
             
cowering behind
Yagudin
is Frank Owens, real name Alexei
Pleshenko
.”

“
Ah.Yuri’s
nephew. Go on.”

“Frank
and his daughter filed “inappropriate
emotional attachment” complaints with Slave Regulation to take Jeremy out of the office and minimize Evan’s effectiveness in order to drive stock prices down. James Enterprises has customs immunity for cargo deliveries. The Russians want those licenses to run drugs. This whole thing was another step in taking Evan and Allen out of their own company and letting
Pleshenko
take over.”

Pilsner nodded. “So, he’s too valuable to kill.”

“Additionally, I’m pretty sure that
Yagudin
is wearing a vest.”

Evan’s rage and fear reached
the edge
of spontaneous combustion. He held
eye contact with Jeremy
trying to help him stay calm. No
trace of slave behavior remained in Jeremy’s demeanor. Evan turned to Hubbard.

“I’m holding Slave Regulation responsible for this, Hubbard. Where is internal security? I know this area is kept under surveillance
. H
ave they all been bought off?”

Hubbard flushed and dropped his eyes. “Cost cutting.
Harve
there,” Hubbard waved vaguely at the corpse of Hungry- Eyes, “was the only guard on duty tonight. Hell, we’ve never ever needed security for this kind of thing before.”

“My attorney informed your superiors that this case was unusual. No precautions were taken at all. I demand to be able to take him home with me pending the hearing. My building is much more secure than this. Jeremy is privy to business and trade secrets worth a fortune, in addition to his other talents. I can’t have him compromised.”

Hubbard bit his lip. “I can’t let you take him with you. It violates protocol.”

“Does it violate protocol to allow him to be raped and a
bused while you’re holding him?"

Hubbard felt the angry heat from Evan’s eyes like a physical blow. “I’m sorry this happened.”

“Not as sorry as you’re going to be if you don’t get him out of there.”

Diana Pilsner stepped toward the cage. “This is ridiculous.”

She drew her gun and fired twice. The bullets went straight through Jeremy’s thighs and into
Yagudin’s
legs. Evan cried out as Jeremy fell, bleeding from four wounds, now.
Yagudin
fell slowly to the floor as well. He drew back his knife to stab Jeremy, and Pilsner fired a third time sending the knife spinning away.

Yagudin
laughed as the SWAT team swarmed the cage, taking him down and arresting Frank. Tom elbowed his way in to get to Jeremy. Evan turned his back, knowing that if he gave in to his
urgent need to go to his lover there would be no doubt in anybody’s mind how deeply he felt for the man. Instead, he walked over to where Sean and Steve Hubbard were engaged in a heated conversation.