Dangerous Pursuit (OSI Dark Ops #3)

CHAPTER TEN

“Did you run into any difficulties?” Rafael held his cell phone to his ear with his shoulder as he signed some paperwork.

“No, sir,” Lorenzo said. “Our man at the pier made sure we had access to the shipping container, and we loaded the shipment into the truck without any problems. I made sure no one was tailing us when we transported them to the marina and onto the boat.”

“Good.” He set his pen down and handed the papers to his secretary. “Regina, make sure the courier delivers them before end of business today.”

“Yes, sir.” She left his office and quietly shut the door behind her.

Those were the last of the documents for the properties he was purchasing. Once they were filed, he would be expected to make the final payment to his lenders by the end of the week. That gave him only four days to cover the debt .

It would be close, but assuming there were no glitches, he should be able to pull it off.

“Did you check the merchandise?” Per his agreement with the four buyers, each of the girls would undergo a full medical examination.

All twenty-nine of them must be in good condition—no illness or signs of physical abuse. There were five girls under the age of eighteen who must all be virgins. If any of them were not, the buyers had the option to either lower the price or reject them outright. Virgins were a high-value commodity, and losing even one of them would be a huge loss.

A loss he couldn’t afford.

“The nineteen-year-old didn’t make it through the trip,” Lorenzo said.

Rafael did a quick mental calculation to account for the lost sale. He’d padded the purchase price for this type of loss, so he should still be able to cover the final payment. But he couldn’t afford to lose one more.

“Other than being a bit skinny, the rest of them appear to be in pretty decent shape so far.” Lorenzo had done this enough that Rafael trusted his judgment. “We’ll get some food in them, and I’ll give them something to make sure they sleep tonight.”

“No! No drugs.” He couldn’t risk the buyer’s opting to include a drug test during the medical exams .

“Yes, sir.” Lorenzo spoke over a child crying in the background.

“The buyers and their entourage will be landing in an hour.” As part of their deal, Rafael would foot the bill to put them all up in one of the nicest hotels in Palomino, including dinner and drinks at the hotel’s five-star restaurant.

“They are each traveling with a representative, as well as personal protection, yes?” Lorenzo asked.

“Yes.” Which meant he had to rent five limousines instead of two. “The cars must be waiting at the entrance to the hotel the day after tomorrow at precisely four o’clock in the afternoon. We will drive to the marina with the buyer’s representatives, and once on board, they will be served drinks and enjoy a leisurely cruise down the river.”

“The buyers aren’t coming?” Lorenzo asked.

“No, they have opted to remain at the hotel.” They had others do their dirty work for them. And trudging from the dock to the place where the girls were being held would definitely qualify as dirty work. “They have given their representatives full authority to make decisions on their behalf. As such, it is of the upmost importance that we take very good care of them.”

“It’s all arranged, and when we arrive, Bastien will be there and ready to begin the examinations.” Lorenzo’s cousin was their on-call doctor .

Bastien barely made it through medical school, and with no other job prospects, he’d jumped at the chance to work for the Trianos. The hours were decent, and the pay was excellent.

“I will remain on the yacht until the examinations are done.” Rafael detested the jungle and, like his buyers, had no interest in making the mile-long trek through the jungle.

“Yes, sir,” Lorenzo said. “I’ll take care of everything.”

“Good. All must go smoothly.” Or else Rafael could end up at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea.