Two days later, he sat in the brightly lit breakfast area. His packed duffel bag sat at his feet and he flipped through the local news feeds while working his way through a bagel. The computer translated the local stories into English for him but he just flipped through the advertisements and articles about another attempt to decorate the districts.
He came up to the hunting reports. Idly, he flipped through the pictures of dozens of men and just as many women. It was a weekly report instead of daily and David was starkly reminded that many people became slaves every day, more so than he wanted to think about.
His tapping stopped as he saw two familiar faces in the report. One was Lauren, with a terrified look on her face and a bruise on her face. The other was the Latino man David saw with her. Both of them were bought two days before, just after midnight.
A sick feeling filled his stomach and the bagel dropped from his fingers. He stared at Lauren's face and felt the feeling growing. Horrified, he flipped through the rest of the reports, but didn't see any more faces.
As soon as he hit the last page, he pulled up the municipal computers. Tapping in Deborah's name, he did a search for his former teacher. Nothing abnormal, but there were too many privacy guards to prevent him from finding her. He tried Lauren's name, but as soon as someone bought her, she became property. No more records, no more reports. She could be dead for all he knew. He noted the name of the owner but couldn't find anything more. He tried Olivia as a final chance, hoping that he could help in some manner.
It came up and his blood turned to ice.
“Pending property sale, Platinum Sands Hotel.”
David shoved the seat back and grabbed his bag. He marched up the front counter. There were two people in front of him, but he shoved his way to the front, ignoring the protests. The concierge looked him with surprise. “Can I help you?”
“Can I speak with the manager?” David said curtly, “Now!”
“Of course,” came the careful response. The man behind the desk ran a bell, then pointed David toward a door. David left the counter to stand by the door. After a few anxious minutes, the door opened and a man stood in the opening. He looked at David, obviously appraising him.
“May I help you, señor?”
“Yes, this girl,” David brandished the computer, “what happened to her? Why are you selling her!?”
Other guests looked up with surprise and the manager looked embarrassed. He stepped back and motioned for David to sit down inside the office. David entered the room, letting the manager close the door behind him, but didn't sit. The manager circled around his desk and sat down. As soon as his ass settled in the chair, David slapped the computer down on the desk.
“Why?”
“I'm sorry, señor, but we have very clear laws in Tijuana. We are required by law to do this.”
“I'm not asking you to break the laws, I just want to know why.”
The manager pushed papers from his desk and tapped the surface. Computer terminals came up and he navigated through the Spanish menus. David waited impatiently as the man worked the computer, then Olivia's face came up on the screen. Holding his breath, David peered at the screen.
The manager read for a moment, longer than he needed, then he spoke calmly. “The girl's mother, you see, she has her credit revoked by the national accounting system. And, as per our laws, with expenses over a million dollars, company policy is allowed to require payment in full.”
“And did she?”
“We could not find her. According to our security systems, she left two days ago in the middle of the night. Only her possessions were left behind.”
“And Olivia?” David felt himself growing tense.
The manager spoke carefully, “As I said, her possessions were left behind but insufficient value to cover the bill. We asked the remaining occupant to pay the arrears, since she was residing there, but she didn't have sufficient dollars either. Nor was her credit acceptable to pay for the services she used.”
“So you sold her?”
“Company policy.”
“Just like that? Didn't she have a chance to find another creditor? She could have called me.”
The manager winced, “Si, señor, she tried for better part of an hour. Then, she said she gave herself up and we exercised our option.”
“You sold her,” David said with a sigh.
“Si, señor.”
“I want to buy her. How much?”
The manager looked sad, “I'm sorry, señor, it is too late. We've already contracted her out to a third party processor.”
David cursed the efficiency of computers. He struggled with his senses, watching the manager as the man discretely reached over to a panic button. David calmed down and closed his eyes. He planned his next actions and used a trick from Victor, his benefactor. His eyes snapped open and he fixed his gaze on the manager.
“Who did you sell her to?”
The man shook with fear. “Tijuana Slave Market, they have a large sale—”
David didn't wait. He grabbed his bag and surged to his feet. The manager hit the button, but David was already out the door and flipping open his phone. A moment later, Carlos Riaz answered the other end.
“This is the best—”
“Carlos, this is David. I need a favor and I need a ride, now.”
Carlos answered in a deadpanned voice, “Si, señor, at the hotel?”
“Yes, please hurry.”