AN: I am trying to walk the line between keeping this a good story but without horrifically graphic details. In order to do that, it has to be creepy. This chapter is CREEPY; its uncomfortable but does not have any sexual assault IN THIS CHAPTER. It begins to shed a bit of light on the control these people have and what JJ is fighting against. It will only get worse.
In all his years of running this operation, Eric had never had to utilize two guards for one girl. It never happened; the men were trained to keep the merchandise under control at all times. With the guard, the drugs, the fear- it had never occurred to Eric that one day, one of his girls would require two guards.
But tonight, everything had been flipped on its head. Eric stood in front of one of his head guards, Marcus Wood, and watched as the blood from his nose slowed from gushing to a trickle.
"Damn bitch." Marcus swore, wiping away more blood. Eric didn't anything but continued to stare at the 6'5, 300 pound, former NFL linebacker.
Eric shook his head. "She's the size of a stick, what the hell happened?"
"Hell do I know!" Marcus growled, "I was getting that restraint out of the closet and came back to put her in it and she's out of the cuffs…" Marcus shook his head, and spit blood onto the floor. He was outraged, emasculated and embarrassed. "Next thing I know she's headed for the door; I grab her around the waist and am taking her to the ground when she throws her head back…"
Eric stared at his guard, not only was his nose broken, he also had a black eye and a busted lip. "She did all that with one head butt?"
"She knew what she was doing;" Marcus glared. "She knew exactly what I was about to do and how to get out of it!"
Eric shook his head, disappointed in his guard. "Can you handle her, or do I need to get someone else?"
Marcus' head shot up and he stepped closer to his boss. "Oh I can handle her; but it's you who won't let me mark her up!"
"You want to get paid don't you? They don't buy if she's bruised." Eric retorted. "Steven was able to get her restrained; he'll handle her from now on." He turned to leave when Marcus stopped him.
"I want her, I will deal with her. She will learn she isn't in charge, we've only had a few hours…"
Eric stared at his guard, before walking away. He would need to think on it; after all, the girl already knew she could overpower him. And Eric was his biggest, strongest, most experienced guard he had. So, his decision was made- whoever this girl was, she would have at least two guards on her at all times. And he knew that neither one of them would be Marcus.
He quickly sent a text to a friend, someone with experience, power and resources. Someone who could handle her; but that raised another question to Eric. Who was she? He walked back to the room she was being held in and stood at the door way next to his second guard in command, Steven.
"She's still, for now." Steven explained, only briefly taking his eyes off the woman in the room.
"Did she fight you?" Eric asked.
Steven smiled and rolled up his sleeves; Eric whistled when he saw the bite mark on his guard's arm. "She drew blood; it's why she has that gag now." He laughed again. "Not sure why you picked this one boss, but she is a handful!"
Eric nodded, he had to agree. But he liked a challenge, he would just have to go about this one more aggressively.
"Have we searched her for any weapons?" Eric asked, taking a step into the room.
"I haven't, her clothes are in the other room. Not sure if anyone has searched them." Steven walked step in step with his boss as they approached JJ. Eric's eyes went wide as he saw how restricted her movement was, in fact, she couldn't move at all. "Wanted to make sure she understood she wasn't going anywhere."
She was blindfolded, gagged, and was forced on her knees; another guard, Matthew, stood, pressing down on her shoulders, applying pressure and reminding the woman that he was there. But the rope was what caught Eric's attention, "Where the hell did you learn to do that?" He asked, impressed. The purple rope wrapped around the woman's ankles, up and around her knees and then crisscrossed up and around her entire body, immobilizing her. Her hands were pinned and cuffed behind her as more rope held her arms tightly to her body.
"Scouts." Steven replied with a small grin.
"Some scout troop." Eric muttered before walking to stand in front of his most recent catch. He reached over and removed the blindfold, smiling when he saw her look up at him. He carefully knelt before her and pressed a sharp knife to her chin, forcing her to look up and in his eyes.
JJ froze when she heard more footsteps approaching, she concentrated on regulating her breathing. And then the blindfold was removed and a sharp tip was pushed into her throat; she had no choice but to look up.
"You are trouble, aren't you." The voice hissed, twisting the knife, cutting her just slightly. JJ blinked but did not break eye contact. "Already drew blood on two of my guards; what else do you have planned?"
JJ said nothing, but continued to stare at him. Her mind no longer foggy, was able to take in more details. She was able to make out his hair color, eye color, weight, height, the scar under his eye and she was able to do it in less than a few seconds. But what caught her eye was the tattoo he had on his arm; it clicked somewhere in the back of her mind, she had seen it before.
Eric had seen and followed her eyeline to his tattoo. "What, you want one?" He lowered the knife and started tracing the shape on her arm, laughing when she tried to pull back and away. This time, she couldn't. "No, no. No moving." He whispered and pulled JJ closer to him; laughing at her attempt at a struggle.
"Get off me." JJ spit at him, still attempting to pull away.
Eric pulled her closer, grabbing her hard enough by the arm that JJ nearly gasped in pain. "This is my show, not yours. Get it?" He shook her hard, feeling how light she was. "I call the shots and what I want done to you is what happens. Now, if you try and bite again or try and hit again- we can use more methods to keep you under control. Do you understand?"
JJ did not answer, but instead pulled away from him. "No, I do not." She said, whimpering as the knife twisted more into her arm. "I will not just comply with you…" She refused to allow any tears to fall, refused to show any fear. "You need to let me go."
"Go? Go where?" Eric found himself enjoying the back and forth with her; she was definitely someone he could charge a lot of money for, and he had no doubt in his mind that he would get it.
"Let me walk out of here; I can get you what you want." JJ tried, doing everything to not reveal she was FBI.
Eric smirked, "Oh yes, baby, we know you can; you'll be bringing us the money in just a few more minutes. We just need to get you a bit more cleaned up." He nodded to Steven who suddenly reached behind and hoisted JJ to her feet. He grabbed her by the waist when she swayed, the ropes preventing her from having normal balance. "Get her showered…" Eric ordered Steven.
Steven nodded and tried to pull JJ away but was met with the woman refusing to walk. "I am an FBI agent; my team will already be looking for me. You do not want them to find you; let me go." JJ tried again and instantly her heart dropped a bit when Eric smiled.
"I know sweetheart, you already told us. Now, go get in the shower."
And with that, JJ had no choice as both guards lifted her off the ground and began taking her to the back of the house.
