King of Paine: Sample Page 3
A muffled shriek from inside the room silenced him. Frank exhaled a rush of air, fighting back panic. Brenner was supposed to be alone, waiting for a thirteen-year old—a fictional online character created by the Cyber agents, who had engaged the pedophile in a RealTime chat earlier that morning. They had allowed Brenner to seduce the young girl into meeting him at the Four Seasons to pick up a Jonas Brothers ticket and play a little “show and touch,” but he must have made backup plans.
Reyes dipped the master key in and out of the entry slot, then smashed the door inward. “He’s got a real chica in there!” he rasped, as the bolt cutter snipped the chain.
A rush of emotion propelled Frank forward as Reyes and Carlisle charged into a long foyer, but Woodbridge blocked his way with a stiff arm. He heard Reyes shout in his thick Spanish accent, “FBI! Step away from the girl!”
And then another man’s panicked voice, “It’s not what you think!”
Frank broke his trainer’s hold and rushed into the foyer, past the marble and brass bathroom, choking back the fear of what might lie around the corner. No way Jo would ever hurt a kid, no matter how bitter she’d become.
His jaw dropped when he saw the situation inside. Jessica Carlisle sat on the king-sized bed draping a white sheet over a raven-haired girl’s kneeling body, her hands still bound to the headboard with furry black cuffs. The girl’s shoulders heaved as Carlisle removed a blindfold and ball gag from her face. A camcorder on a tripod stood by the side of the bed. White lingerie lay scattered on the gold carpet.
In the sitting area, Reyes lashed real handcuffs on a man naked except for a black leather hood with eye and mouth openings. Frank shivered as the BDSM fetish mask triggered an eerie memory of Jolynn on a Mexican beach.