“I really don’t know. But what would you want with Neal—assuming he were alive?”

“Oh, he’s alive, all right. He called me in jail.”

The room suddenly felt off kilter like one of those haunted houses where everything is on a slant and water appears to flow uphill. “You talked to him?”

“No, but he left a message. It could only have been him. He told me he’d be the first to ring the bell.”

“Ring what bell?”

He smiled, a distant look in his eyes. “I have to admire him in a way. I’d do the same thing myself in his place.”

“What did he do?” I couldn’t follow what he was talking about.

Crystal took a deep drag on his cigarette, crushed the butt out in the ashtray on the table in front of him, then waved his hand in the air as though dismissing my question.

“I have you now, and he’ll come for you.” He slid forward on his seat and looked me up and down. “Yes. That will be his downfall. He’s a fucking romantic.” He rocked his head back and laughed.

Neal had robbed me and given me no hints as to his whereabouts. I didn’t want to tell Crystal, but I felt certain I was useless to him as bait. Neal Garrett was not the man I thought he was.

He glanced at the watch on his wrist. “Zeke! Are they ready?”

The big man hurried into the bedroom where Eddie had disappeared earlier. His head appeared back out the door. “Just about ready, Mr. Crystal.”

“Good. Put her away. We’ll use her later.”

Cesar came into the living room and motioned for me to stand. I was trying to be cooperative, biding my time, looking for my opportunity. It hadn’t come yet. But I knew I’d better figure it out before they decided to “use” me later.

Cesar grabbed my upper arm, and we started down the hall. Crystal called out, “Cesar, if Garrett doesn’t show up, you’ll take care of it for me?”

“Sure thing, boss.” He tightened his grip on my arm and pulled me closer to him. He spoke right into my ear. “I’ll make her sweat.” He stopped at the first bedroom door. It stood ajar. I could feel a soft heat flowing out the door.

Inside the room was a massive array of electronic equipment. Zeke was sitting in a swivel chair and watching a video on one of three monitors above a computer keyboard. The ponytailed guy, Eddie, sat at another computer working his fingers swiftly across the keyboard, intent on a large screen filled with images on a graphics grid. It looked like a Web page with buttons down the left side of the screen. He typed in text, then moved the text box to another location on the page.

Cesar pushed me through the door. “Mr. Crystal wants her to sit for a while,” he said, gesturing with his head toward the end of the hall.

Cesar walked around me and sat on a couch. There was nothing between me and the door. If I could just get outside the house, I’d be able to outrun these musclebound weight-lifter freaks. I inched closer to the door.

“Come on in and catch the show. Recognize anybody?” Cesar asked, leering and pointing to the monitor.

On the screen was a video showing a young girl standing, naked but for the leather thongs that bound her wrists, suspending her arms high over her head, and the gag that covered her mouth. Her terrified eyes were looking back over her shoulder at the man behind her the same ponytailed man who was sitting right there. Her auburn curls fell forward to cover her eyes when he pushed her.

It was as though suddenly all the fight and grit and nerve had just been sucked out of me. I looked away and bit my tongue.

“We all enjoyed that one,” Cesar said.

My mind was a blur of images. Ely in my lifeguard tower at work, laughing in the back of B.J.’s truck.

“Eddie was just warming her up. We all got a chance at her. Zeke was just gonna get his kicks and get her to talk to him, tell us what you two knew about Garrett. But she didn’t scream or nothing, so I took over. Ain’t fun unless they got some fight in ’em. Bitch just kept staring at me.”

Eddie walked over and stood behind Zeke, smiling as he watched the monitor. “This shit’s priceless, man.”

Cesar stood and joined the other men around the video monitor. “The look in her eyes. Look.” Cesar pointed to the screen as the camera zoomed in on her face. His fat fingers clawed at the glass over her eyes. “Fuckin’ terrified. I’m gettin’ hard again just watchin’ her.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to look.

“Want ’em to fast-forward to the snuff?” His guttural voice made the question hurt more. “This time it’s real, and we got it on tape—tell me that ain’t gonna stiffen a few peckers.”

I heard the sound of the machine speeding up and then a downward whine as it resumed the normal speed.

“There he is,” Zeke said. “Man just kind of lost it, and there we were, cameras rolling. Now Eddie here’s just gonna change the face and . . .”

Cesar grabbed my arm in one hand, my chin in the other and forced my face to within inches of the monitor. I hadn’t wanted to look, but when he’d grabbed me, I couldn’t help it, I’d opened my eyes.

“Man doesn’t know his own strength,” Zeke said.

“Shut up. You talk too much, man,” Eddie said.

I pressed my eyes shut, but not before I saw the close- up on Ely’s face, her eyes bulging out of the tearstained skin, a brown hand wrapped around her throat.

“Fuck you. It’s not like she’s gonna tell anybody.” Cesar laughed. “Lady Captain here just might get her own chance to be a pom star tonight.”

“Hey, asshole, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do with her” Eddie said. “You morons don’t understand, I got real work to do here. I got to get this shit back up. Boss isn’t making money when the page is down.”

It was as though it wasn’t really happening, like I had left my own body somehow and I was hovering above this scene, seeing it from a distance, and we were all mannequins dancing around a little stage.

“Look at her,” he said, forcing me back to the present, squeezing my face harder, his fingernails digging into my skin. “Your turn’s coming,” the deep voice whispered, spraying my ear with his spit.

I struggled, trying to break free from his grasp, trying to get away from those images on that screen. One arm pulled free, and I squirmed my head out of his grasp. He grabbed my ponytail before I could get out the door and yanked back so hard I fell to the floor.

“You’re a strong bitch. We’re gonna have some fun.”

Eddie spun around in his computer chair. “Would you get the fuck outta here? How the hell am I supposed to work?”

Zeke stood, saying, “Let’s put her away. Chewy’ll keep an eye on her till we’re ready for her. Come on, boy.”

Cesar hauled me to my feet by my hair and then dragged me down past another bedroom, empty, but lit with huge bright lights, to the last door at the end of the hall. He shoved me into the room and opened the door to a walk-in closet. He pulled me close to him and put his face less than an inch from mine. He smelled of Doritos and beer, and when he spoke, I could feel the moist heat of his breath on my skin.

“You’d really get off on it, wouldn’t you, bitch?” He wrapped his free hand around my throat and began to squeeze. “You like this shit, admit it to yourself. I could make you scream good. You just think of every bad thing you ever done—I’ll make you hurt for every one.” His fingers constricted, and all air stopped. Blackness started closing in like when I’d stayed down on a dive too long. “Your friend, she was a bad little piece. She got me in the balls on the beach that night.” He sounded far away when he laughed. “Had to make her pay for that.” His hand released its grip, and I sucked in air.

“That makes you a man, Cesar? Having sex with a child?”

“Shut up, cunt.”

“You’re a freak. You’re nothing but garbage.”

“You think I give a fuck about you or that other piece of pussy, Sunshine, or whatever the hell her name is? There’s always gonna be more where she came from. They want me to fuck ’em.” He grabbed at his crotch. “They want a piece of this.”