Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Debra sat up high in her chair as her buddies followed her direction—moving around the room and providing the proof of life and presence that would sell the lie that they died here in the explosion with the rest of us.
“Welcome, brothers and sisters,” Debra began. “It’s taken a long time. Months for some, decades for the faithful, but at long last, we’ve finally done it. We’ve cracked the Merchants’ famed security and put them where they belonged”—she detached the webcam and turned it around—“in chains.”
“Now,” Yumi took over, leaning over Debra’s chair. “I know we promised the entire family, and that promise will be kept. With these ten neutralized, it won’t take long to track down the final two siblings, and the daughter of Liam Hunt. As soon as we have them in hand, they’ll also be put up for sale. But for now, we won’t let this opportunity pass to offer you the main set.”
“The original leaders of the Merchants,” Jillian announced, “the children chosen to lead their criminal empire after they stepped down, and the Rat King.”
“Let’s not waste any more time,” Natalya chimed in. “We begin with Adeline Redgrave, daughter of notorious gangster and fixer, Oscar Redgrave. Oscar and his gang, The Lords, were the original creators of the ledger. Adeline was its final owner. Her knowledge of the Cinco underground spans her generation, and the one before. As such, the minimum bid to own her is twenty million dollars.
“Brothers and sisters, enter your bid in denominations of millions,” she said, popping my brows to my hairline. “Meaning, the only acceptable rising bid from the base price is twenty-one million and higher.”
Debra leaned forward and fixed the camera directly on a curled-lip, glowering Adeline. “Begin.”
Debra tapped a button, which popped a huge five-minute timer on the screen that was big enough for me to see. The rest of what was going on was hard to make out. It kind of looked like she was in an old-fashioned chat room with no faces, no real names, no locations, and no trace. All there was to see were usernames floating through cyberspace.
She frowned. “Everyone, you can begin placing your bids. The auction has begun.”
Behind her, Yumi and Jillian were moving around uselessly, pretending to have a conversation. They paused their charade to peer over her shoulder.
“If you accept the opening bid, simply type accept,” Debra said. “Twenty million dollars for the underground queen of Cinco City herself. You can keep her or ransom her. Either way, we’re practically giving this old bitch away.”
More seconds passed with Debra’s forehead crumpling further and further, fashioning deeper grooves between her temples.
“Why is no one bidding?” Natalya hissed.
“Shh!” Debra snapped back. In a louder tone, she said, “Twenty million might be a bit high. Just this once, we’ll lower the starting bid to seventeen million dollars. That’s seventeen million dollars for Adeline Redgrave—the architect of the Night of Tears, and many more tragedies since.”
I could see the clock ticking down, but I wasn’t seeing a flurry of activity on her screen. Going by the confusion on all of their faces, neither were they.
Debra tapped a button on the laptop. I guessed mute. “Yumi, you did call and confirm the new time, yes?”
“Of course, Deb,” Yumi cried. “Everyone confirmed twice over. Maybe there’s something wrong with the feed. Or the audio.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the feed,” Jillian gritted. “I checked everything twice over. Maybe the bid is still too high.”
“We can’t come down again,” Natalya argued. “The minimum bid is the bid. End of. I bet they’re just waiting until the last second to rush their bids in. That’s what everyone does.”
“Good point,” Debra agreed. “We’ve got little more than two minutes. We’ll get our money.”
One minute left.
“All right, this is a good time to start getting your bids in.”
Thirty seconds left.
“Don’t let a smart strategy become a losing strategy.” Debra forced a laugh. “Waiting until the last second can be risky, so let’s start throwing in those bids.”
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...
I counted down the seconds right along with Debra, Natalya, and the rest.
Frozen smiles plastered over shocked and confused faces.
No one bid a cent, did they? Not one lousy cent.
Debra spun the camera around, then smashed the mute button. What the fuck?! was written all over her face. “What the hell just happened? Why did no one bid?”
“I— I—uh—” Jillian stumbled all over herself. “Maybe— Maybe the real problem is that no one wants some washed-up, geriatric queenpin,” she burst out. “Adeline and her concubines have been out of the game for years. We should’ve started the bidding with Hunt.” Jillian shot behind Liam. “This man owns half of Leighbridge. Tell them that control of him, means control of all of his businesses. And to ensure that control, we’ll throw the daughter in for free.”