"Look at the screen Z just got hooked up."
The four men gathered around the thirty-two inch monitor as the picture of a naked, red-headed woman hanging from an elaborate display of ropes came into focus. She was writhing in pain and the cameraman made sure to capture the running mascara on her face.
Cam continued his report. "This is just one of six different interactive Internet sites run out of the 'Strictly Disciplined' warehouse you've been staking out. This channel specializes in bondage and what they call diabolical restraints. There's another focused on anal domination, another for group orgies, and my personal favorite, staged abductions with non-con elements. The most controversial with the lowest subscription numbers is all watersports, and I'm trying not to be totally grossed out by the fact that the most popular site is for staged incest fantasies. Mommy/son, Daddy/daughter, brother/sister."
Dylan was animated. "Thank fuck. We've got him."
Cameron corrected him. "We don't have shit. The sessions are often live. The recording studios are set up in the warehouse, and every session begins with the actors in the scene recording their consent to participate live. They end every session the same way, with a narrator interviewing the players involved to find out their favorite part of the scene or what they didn't enjoy. I've been able to match at least a dozen on-screen talents with surveillance photos you took Dylan; proving these women and even some submissive men are willingly driving themselves to and from the warehouse to work just like they would if they worked at Wal-Mart."
"That's such bullshit! He has to be blackmailing them." Dylan's emotions were running hot.
Lukus tried to settle him down. "Will you sit down and let Cam finish? I'd like to hear more."
"As best I can tell, he has another half-dozen or so 1-800 phone-sex numbers being run from inside, too. He has enough bandwidth and phone lines going into the building to run a small city. They're using top-of-the-line encryption and security firewalls, which I, of course, was able to circumvent, thank-you-very-much. He's making a shit-load of money and even if he's paying the sex-workers top dollar, he's had these sites up for years. Subscriptions are through the roof. I haven't found his offshore accounts yet, but I know he has them. The cash-flow through the Strictly Disciplined accounts is incredible," Cam told them.
Derek jumped in next. "I think that sounds like our best angle, don't you? The websites themselves feel like a dead-end."
"Are you nuts? They're hurting those women!" Dylan protested.
"Those women are willing sex workers."
The men spent the next thirty minutes reviewing much of the same surveillance footage, doing their best to convince Dylan to proceed the right way. As much as Lukus hated to admit it, part of him wanted to just march in there like young Parker, but there was too much riding on this.
Dylan's off-hand question caught Lukus's attention. "Why the hell are you guys so hot to take down Davenport anyway? Don't get me wrong, he needs to be neutralized, but I still don't get it."
Derek and Z turned to Lukus, letting him decide how much to share. Lukus decided it made no sense to keep anything from Dylan any longer.
"Davenport used to date my best friend Markus's wife, Brianna. More like preyed on her. He hurt Bri, just like you fear he's hurting some of the women you've seen him with. When she broke it off with Jake, he threatened her and her best friend. He recently turned up in Chicago trying to nudge his way back into their lives, and his threats are escalating. Both women have gotten text messages, with pictures from years ago of Brianna in all kinds of painful and compromising positions. We've learned that Davenport records everything for use in blackmail later. The prick has even been bold enough to send us video footage of Brianna and her best friend going about their daily lives as if to tell their men that it's impossible to protect them. If Davenport wants to get to them, he thinks he can."
"Well, shit. So your best friend hired you?" Dylan asked.
"No, kid. I hired me. Brianna's best friend is my fiancée, Tiffany." Lukus let that sink in for a minute before continuing. "I know you think you have some skin in this game now, but trust me when I say no one has more to lose than Markus and I do. The woman I love more than anything else in this world... her life is in danger!"
For once, Dylan seemed to back down.
"So, yes, we all know he loves hurting women, but we also know he has power and money. We need him behind bars and that means we play it by the book, got it?"
Dylan answered with a reluctant, "Got it."
"Okay, that's it for now. I need to make a couple calls. You guys know what to do next."
They hung up with Cameron. Z and Dylan took off to interview a few witnesses Cameron had tracked down who used to work for Davenport. They were hoping to find someone who might have proof they could use against the bastard.
Left alone, Lukus and Derek sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the feed of the poor young woman hanging from a hook by her arms, while her legs were pulled up wide and secured with layers of ropes wrapped around her bent thighs and shins. They had thankfully turned the volume down so they couldn't hear her screams as the on-screen Dom used a flogger to punish her exposed pussy.
Lukus asked the question hanging in the air. "How is what we do every night at The Pit any different from what's being shown on these websites?"
Derek let out the breath he'd been holding. "It's not. That's why the websites are a dead end. We aren't here because Davenport runs a sex business, Lukus. We're here because on the side, he likes to terrorize innocent and
