***

Hudson would have liked to question Jackie for a bit, but it looked like the loyal servant was anything but that. He said that he’d been twenty-four when doing the kind of work Jasper was doing, which meant that he was over twenty-five now, at least. However, he looked younger than that, and Hudson had his doubts that Jackie was telling the truth about everything. Still, he seemed to be a bit of an airhead and someone who bragged a great deal, so maybe he had a few truths about the place he could reveal, whether he wanted to or not.

It worked for him to be left alone with the ‘models’, whatever that work entailed. The room he found himself in was decorated in red, just like the hallway, and there was a small raised dais in the middle of it, appointed with a stripping pole.

The curtains behind the dais shifted for a moment, and then he heard some muffled voices emerging from there. “Hey,” he called out loud, “anybody home?”

The curtains parted and a young man stepped onto the dais. He was completely naked, but that wasn’t the part the made Hudson raise an eyebrow in question. There were red welts on his abdomen, crisscrossing it, and they looked pretty fresh.

“You the photographer?” he asked, one hand on his hip. He had a dark cruel smile on his face that made a terrible contrast with what seemed to be his young age.

“What’s your name?” Hudson asked while taking in the slender body, the short blond hair and the blue eyes that were trying to pin him down with a cold stare.

A roll of the eyes, and then the cruel smirk was back. “Call me Angel.”

Hudson shrugged and took out his phone. It would have to do for lack of better equipment. Watkins had left instructions for him to send the pics over once he was done.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Angel scolded him. “Aren’t you supposed to be artistic and shit?” He marched back behind the curtains and came out with a box, which he dropped in front of Hudson. “For the record, I’m really flexible, so get to work already.”

The contents of the box shouldn’t have surprised him. He picked up a long rope and stared for a moment at the young man, who might have looked like an angel some time ago but now appeared to be more of the fallen kind. It appeared that his choice was appreciated, and a slender arm pointed at the ceiling. A system of pulleys hung there and Hudson wondered if he were supposed to provide some particular skills in getting the rope around it. Angel snorted, too astute for his own good, and knelt on the floor, where he fiddled with something on the side of the dais. The system began descending, and Hudson wasted no more time. To show that he knew how to be in charge, he pushed Angel on his back and then turned him. He had readied himself for something like this, so his moves were precise as he pushed and pulled the rope around the slender members until the attractive body was stretched in impossible angles. “Too tight?” he asked in a voice rough enough to let the other know that he really didn’t care, or worse, that he’d be pleased to hear the confirmation only to deny any demand for mercy.

Angel was the wrong name for the young man. Hudson didn’t wither under the disdainful glance his charge threw over one shoulder. “This isn’t my first rodeo, outlander,” he said with the same sardonic smirk from before.

“Outlander? Really? You should get more creative with your insults.” Hudson linked the ends of the rope to the pulley and let his hands wander over the entire setup, Angel included, to check for any safety hazards.

“It’s what you are,” the young man said and blinked lazily. “And didn’t I tell you? I’m an angel.”

Hudson pushed the button himself and watched as Angel was being hiked up into the air. Then, he reached for his phone. “Say cheese,” he said as he raised his arm.

Even the way he laughed made Angel sound like a cynical bastard. “Screw you. I’d rather play dead.”

Hudson felt the now familiar snake coiling tightly in his gut. And Angel made faces at him from above, sticking his tongue out and letting it loll to the side, while his eyes rolled in his head. Then, he suddenly flashed a knowing look at him. “Fuck me, you should see your face.”

Hudson frowned. “Good thing you’re pretty. ‘Cause you have one shitty personality, man.”

“Thank you,” came the bright reply.

“Now, show me you’re here to actually sell something, not goof around.” His pointed jibe reached its mark, because Angel’s face suddenly turned serious. “I thought so. Now let me do my job.”

***

Someone bumped into him from behind, and Otis turned to see a man in his thirties flashing a smile at him. “New here?” he yelled over the noise.

Otis didn’t have the time to reply because Jackie slung one arm over his shoulder and pulled him back. “Hey, this guy,” he said pointing at him but talking to the stranger, “doesn’t go on dates.”

The stranger seemed undaunted. He leaned forward to touch Otis, but Jackie was quick to pull him back even more. “Who says anything about dating?”

“Take a hint, man. If he’s going to hook up with someone tonight, that lucky asshole’s gonna be me.”

“Possessive much?” the stranger said with a smirk, but it didn’t look like he wanted to continue the conversation.

Otis stared after him for a bit and then turned toward Jackie, who was looking at him from up close. “I don’t hook up,” he said primly.

Jackie grinned, making his face look even more like a boy’s. “I thought so. That means I still have a chance, right?”

Otis didn’t know what to say. Jackie was nice, but to hook up with him… meant doing that kind of thing, and he was pretty sure that Hudson wouldn’t approve and just shake his head at him, disappointed.

“I need to check on something for a bit,” Jackie said and patted his shoulders. “I’ll take you and Missy back to the bar so that Utah can keep his eyes on you.”

“Do we need someone to do that?” Otis inquired politely. The club was packed by now, and Utah seemed to be over his head by what he could tell even from a distance.

“Someone might want to steal you,” Jackie said promptly. “And you’re here with me. I can’t allow that.”

Otis laughed. He wasn’t an object to be stolen. “People get kidnapped, not stolen,” he explained, when he realized that Jackie didn’t get what the source of his amusement was.

“Ah,” Jackie said and his eyes grew big. “You like to tell things how they are, don’t you, Otis? Damn, just another thing to like about you. Anyway, let’s get you back to the bar. I promise I’ll be quick.”

***

Hudson pointed at the welts on Angel’s abdomen. Their little session was over, and it appeared that it was just one model for him to take pictures of, for the time being. That was his ticket in, or not. Sink or swim. “How did those get there?”

Angel touched his skin slowly, caressing each red line and looking down. “I like it rough. Don’t tell me that comes as some big surprise to you?”

“Is that why you’re here? To get your rocks off?” Hudson asked and used his phone to send Watkins the pics. Soon, he’d know if he just got himself hired into this shady place.

“Among other things.” Angel rolled on his back on the dais and rubbed his arms to get the blood flowing again. “The pay’s good, too.”

“And? What’s next?”

“What do you mean?”

“After you graduate,” Hudson said.

“Graduate? Ah, you’ve been talking to that twit Jackie. He doesn’t know shit about what’s going on here.” Angel put on an expression of superiority, and Hudson felt tempted to learn more.

“I don’t know. He seemed to know what he was talking about,” he said with a shrug.

Angel rolled to one side again and stared at him. It was strange not to even think that there was a naked attractive body so close to him. He didn’t think of the young man that way, and wasn’t that wrong of him? At what point had he stopped thinking of them as real people, and started seeing them as nothing but pawns on a chess board?

Or maybe there was something else. A part of him felt repulsed by what these young men were doing with their bodies. It wasn’t the fact that they were selling themselves, or that some of them truly were into hardcore sexual practices. It was something fetid in the air, something he was probably only imagining, but his gut told him was there. If this lead proved not to be the one for the human trafficking ring, he’d be surprised. In his career so far, he didn’t recall ever being surprised more than once or twice.

The door opened brusquely and Jackie made his entrance, his gait cocksure and his playful smirk directed at Angel. “Hey, babe,” he drawled. “How’s it hanging?” And then, to him. “Mr. Vegas, do you still need time with our top earner?”

Angel ignored him and pushed himself up, only to disappear behind the curtain without a word.

Jackie seemed completely unbothered about having been flipped like that. “These celebrities, right?” he said and shrugged. “I think he’s still pissed I haven’t taken him out to that new French restaurant, what’s it called?” He snapped his fingers and looked at Hudson for help.

“I’m done here,” Hudson said shortly.

“Okay, okay, then I’ll escort you out. And I hope Mr. Watkins will hire you. It’s always nice to have new faces around.”

“Is that right?” Hudson asked with a crooked smile.

Jackie seemed completely oblivious to his lack of enthusiasm. “Yeah, I mean, it’s exciting to see how business is done and all that. I want to put some money aside and start a thing of my own. Maybe not like that,” he pointed vaguely at the system of pulleys from which the rope still hung. “I’d do some really crazy vanilla shit. I mean, like with a bit of spice, a bit of romance,” he said, moving his hips as if he was dancing. “I’m telling you, in a couple of years, all this extreme stuff is going to be totally boring. And then, what will people want?” He opened his arms wide. “They’ll want the vanilla stuff. ‘Cause that’s how the wheel turns.”

Hudson just nodded. He doubted Jackie was looking for business advice, seeing how he appeared to have everything figured out as far as his future endeavors would look.

Jackie was about to add something, when his phone pinged. He looked at it with a serious expression on his face and then offered Hudson a strained smile. “Hey, man, I’m just going to take you out to the club in front, and then I gotta dash. Some late night errand. What can you do, right?”

“No problem, man. I can find my way. You can go.”

Jackie rubbed his neck for a moment. “I’ll still take you out front. House rules.”

That was understandable. No matter how much of an airhead Jackie appeared to be, a few rules had been drilled into him. So, exploring the dark side of Twinlight wouldn’t happen tonight. For now, Hudson believed he had some leads.

***