Elaine at the Party

"Dammit, Red," Elaine scolded, "I told you that you were on the list."

Amanda shrugged. "Maybe I wanted to get fired. Besides, with you leaving there's not much reason to stay here anyway."

"You can stay with me in Prescott," Elaine said, trying not to sound too needy.

"No, I need to go explore," Amanda said. She looked around, made sure no one was looking then gave Elaine a long, last kiss. Before either could say anything else, Amanda jumped in the Toyota and drove off.

Elaine went back inside and cried. This was not how she had expected things to end with Amanda. But maybe Amanda would still come and see her in Prescott, assuming she was anywhere near there.

Tears ran down Amanda's cheeks as drove out of the park. This was why she had to leave, she was getting attached, too attached. She needed to clear her head. Beside her, on the passenger seat, sat the papers that would have enslaved Elaine. It would have been so easy to get her to sign them. But, they sat there, unsigned and useless.

---

Mack was visiting old friends south of Elko, Nevada before he headed back to duty. His old family friend Mark was something of a feudal baron in rural Nevada. He owned interests in most of the businesses in town and had other, less legitimate, interests as well. Mack did work for him sometimes when he was not on active duty, but this was a social call.

They sat in Mark's office with Mark's right hand man Sam and drank whiskey. The windows were open and the sage brush scented night air wafted in.

"Amanda had a new one you might like," Mack said. "Nice body, innocent eyes. Cute butt, too."

"I'm always kind of wary about dealing with her," Mark said.

"Bad experiences?" Mack asked.

"No, she has always delivered quality merchandise," Mark answered.

"She's a little, unreliable," Sam added.

Mack looked questioningly at his two friends.

"Amanda tends to make things up as she goes," Sam said.

"She tends to rely on luck and others to bail her out when things go wrong," Mark added.

"The vultures are usually circling around her somewhere," Sam said with a chuckle.

"But she's a roper, right?" Mack asked.

"Right," both men answered together.

"It seems to me that you get a leash on her, you have a useful asset," Mack stated.

"Maybe," Mark said. "And I certainly have considered it. I think it comes down to timing. You have to be there when she runs out of luck and chances and resources but before she does anything stupid that screws her up so much that she cannot be useful or takes someone else important out with her."

"We've got an eye on her," Sam said. "If the right opportunity comes around, we'll get her. The problem is we cannot be too harsh with her."

"Why's that?" Mack asked and swirled his glass then drained the rest of the whiskey.

"She knows some things about us and our business that we would rather not have generally known," Sam said and poured himself another.

Mack knew enough not to ask any other questions along that line and changed subjects.

"Tell me about this Arsenic Wells deal," he said and took the bottle from Sam.

"I wish you hadn't got called back to duty," Mark said. "We could use you on this one. Officially, it is an arms deal."

"But what is it really?" Mack asked.

"An assassination," Sam said coldly. Mack was again reminded that few men in this world scared him, but Sam was one.

"I don't think I need to know any more about this one either," Mack said.

There was a wariness in Sam's eyes that made Mack nervous. Sam did not trust him, that much was clear. Maybe he feared Mack would usurp his role at Mark's side or maybe Sam was just a little better judge of character than Mark.

"Probably not at the moment," Mark agreed. "When you get back, we'll get you in on the action."

The door opened and a man stuck his head in.

"The plane's landing, Boss," he said.

The sound of a propeller plane was loud in the valley.

"Come on, Mack," Mark said. "Why don't you give us a hand?"

"Sure," Mack said, avoiding Sam's gaze. "What do you need?"

"Stand by me, hold a gun and look menacing," Mark answered and handed him a tactical shotgun from the gun rack.

"Do you really think this is wise?" Sam asked.

"Mack's like family, he's fine" Mark said in a tone that said the discussion was over.

They walked out into the cool high desert night. The plane was touching down on the airstrip on the ranch and they walked the few hundred yards to the near end. An old white cargo van was already waiting with three of Mark's ranch hands standing next to it with assault rifles in their hands.

Mack instantly knew that whatever going on here was not legal. He was on alert and quickly checked the chamber on his shotgun and was relieved to see it was loaded. He did a quick scan of his surroundings, but saw nothing to arouse his suspicions. Mark was not one to take unnecessary chances and everything seemed under control. What did arouse his curiosity was that Mark usually had someone else do his dirty work for him; he liked a few layers between himself and anything that could land him in jail. The fact that he was doing this himself told Mack something, he just could not figure out what. He also realized he had no idea what was going on.

The twin engine propeller plane, Mack's training quickly identified it as an older Beechcraft King Air, taxied to where the van was and cut the engines. The night was still for a few moments then the rear door of the plane opened. Two men jumped down with submachine guns in hand and tried to look menacing. Mack noted that while all the low-level guys were trying to look like badasses, Mark and Sam (who actually were badasses) looked relaxed and amused. He tried to follow their lead.

Two tall, lanky Slavic looking men, one light haired and one dark, came down the short stairway, trying to stretch their legs as they did. Mack did not recognize either of them, but he would have guessed Serbian mob if he had to.

"Istvan, Darko," Mark said warmly. "Welcome back to Nevada."

"Who he?" the blonde one said and pointed his chin at Mack.

"A friend," Sam said. "And that's all you need to know."

The attitude of the two mobsters told Mack that they were afraid of Sam and would not press the issue.

"Would you like to check out the merchandise?" Mark asked.

"Yes," the blonde one said. He handed a small jar to Sam. "And here is a sample of ours."

The two Slavs and Mark walked to the van. Mack was going to follow but Sam put a hand in front of him. Mack stayed put.

As soon as Sam opened the jar; the dank, pungent smell of very good marijuana hit Mack. Sam held the jar under his nose, took a deep whiff, smiled and passed it to Mack. Mack did the same. He was impressed.

"Top of the line," Sam said. "Rich potheads pay through the nose for this shit. Not schwag from your 'cousin's friend who knows a guy'. This is the gourmet herb and specially prepared."

"How much are they delivering?" Mack asked.

"A lot," Sam answered.

Mark looked at Sam and Sam nodded. Mark opened the door to the van. Mack could not see what was inside the van, but the two Slavs looked pleased. The blonde Slav motioned to his guards and they began unloading duffles off the plane. Pretty soon there was a small pyramid of black bags by the plane. Mack had seen more than a few drug deals before, mostly heroin and opium when he was "in Asia". He began doing some calculating and realized that there was a lot of pot in the bags, depending on how it was packed, up to hundred pounds.

There was a commotion as one of Mark's ranch hands pulled something out of the van. Mack saw that it was someone, not something. A long, leggy blonde, naked except for a collar and handcuffs, was pulled struggling from the van. Mack realized quickly it was a slave. Her eyes were wide and she was not going easily.

"She looks scared," Mack said quietly to Sam.

"She'd be more scared if she knew what was going to happen to her," Sam answered.

"Prostitution?"

"No."

There was a touch of regret and bitterness in Sam's voice that startled Mack. If Sam did not like what was going on, what was going to happen to her? Sam's reputation with women was pretty brutal, what could upset him? Mack realized he didn't care about the girl, but was concerned about what Sam would do, and any potential blowback from the trade.

The two Slavs quickly tired of her fighting and hit her with a stun gun. She jerked as the electricity hit her then went limp.

"She has spirit," the dark haired one said. "I like that."

The comment brought a round of laughter from everyone. Everyone except Sam, that was.

The girl was carried to the plane and the bags loaded in the van. Without any more fuss, the plane fired the engines and the men headed back to the ranch house.

Mack left the next day to return to active duty. He thought about the girl from the party now and then and the girl from Mark's ranch. Mostly, he worried about killing and not being killed, and that was enough.

---

Amanda was not happy. It had been close to a year since she left Elaine and the Grand Canyon and things had not gone according to plan. Well, nothing had really gone according to plan since she had met Elaine. Her initial plan had been to enslave Elaine, sell her and use the proceeds to fund her real estate speculation. It should have only taken a few weeks or months. But Amanda stayed for a year. She was too fond of Elaine and was willing to admit that fond was not strong enough of a word. Elaine was intoxicating, addicting. There was another word that might describe her feelings for Elaine, but she was not about to say it or even think it.

So, she had changed strategies, and changed her view of her future. Her next idea had been to leave Elaine alone. She knew that Elaine was a natural slave, and that Elaine would probably be much happier and fulfilled as a slave and leaving her alone was cruel, but that did not matter to Amanda. Only Amanda mattered to Amanda. She had left Elaine alone, borrowed money for her real estate speculation, and intended to get rich off the profits. After that, she would enslave Elaine, keep the new slave for her own and live happily ever after.

There were problems with that plan. Amanda did not exactly have sterling credit. In the normal world, she tended to be indifferent to paying back her debts. Based on her talent on finding slaves, she could borrow money, but from rather unsavory people. Which is what she did. She told herself that if things went sour, Elaine was still there. Elaine was not going to make any big changes on her own and she would still be in Prescott when Amanda needed her. She was waiting to be harvested at Amanda's convenience.

But now, the real estate market was crashing and the unsavory people she had borrowed the money from had sold her debt to even more unsavory people, including Frank Goller. He wanted his money or he wanted Elaine and he was starting to apply the kind of pressure Amanda could not ignore.

--

Roy was sitting in the office of his new house. The big building had begun as a vanity project by a former casino owner's son who had met an unfortunate end. It was a strange building up against the mountains in a housing development that was starting to see signs of the housing slowdown. He stared at the screen, after typing in all the information, he had he had begun to search. Roy was good with technology, and quickly found what he was seeking.

"Elaine Galway," he said aloud.

He had found her, now he had to get her.

--

Elaine was lonely. Leaving a low paying job at the lodge to do full time freelance graphic design had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now, she was just lonely. At least in her job she had had to interact with people on a regular basis. She did not always like every person, but she liked enough of them, had some good acquaintances and even a few people she would have called friends.

She was by herself. The only regular human interactions she had were with clerks in stores. The plan had been that Amanda would still come and see her on a regular basis, and there was promise of more nights like the one in Las Vegas. But, Amanda was gone, off to explore somewhere and with her, Elaine's tenuous contact to the world of sex parties. She had no idea of even where to start looking for one.

Elaine was tempted to be angry with Amanda; if she hadn't failed that drug test, she might still be working up there and just a few hours away. However, Elaine knew better. She knew that Amanda would not have stayed there much after Elaine left, the redhead had been clear that the only reason she had stayed around as long as she did was to be with Elaine. And Elaine knew, she knew deep in her soul, that she should never place too much faith or hope in Amanda, that Amanda was not stable enough to support another person emotionally for very long.

It had been wonderful, a beautiful, fulfilling, adventurous chapter in her life. But, that chapter was over. Elaine had briefly tasted sexual fulfillment and deep physical and emotional intimacy with another person. At least she had that, if only for a brief moment. Now, it was back to her usual lonely, unfulfilling life. She did not like it, but that was life.

It had been a long year since she had left the Canyon and Amanda had left her. Elaine settled in on the couch with a bottle of wine and a picked a video on Netflix. She decided to check her e-mail; she was expecting a few nibbles on new contracts now that she had finished most of her existing ones.

"Holy shit," Elaine said.

There was an e-mail from Amanda. It looked like her life might get interesting again after all.