Dark Vengeance by Kristi Belcamino (libby ebook reader .txt) 📗

He paused. “But you don’t want to be a stray dog in Padang.”

My eyes widened. I didn’t even want to know what would happen there, but, apparently, he was going to tell me.

“Dogs are stolen out of fenced yards there. It’s awful, but there is a black-market dog-meat trade,” Asahi said.

“I thought that was just a terrible rumor or stereotype of Indonesia?” I said.

“I just read an article discussing the extent of the trade, and they estimate one million dogs are killed in Indonesia each year.”

“That’s awful.” I said and leaned over to scratch Dylan behind the ears.

“That’s why I have deadbolts on my doors.”

“What?”

“We had a break- in two years ago, and four dogs were taken. After that, I installed the deadbolts.”

“That’s awful.”

He nodded. “I count that as one of the worst days in my life,” he said. “How do you tell four people their dogs were taken?”

I reached into my bag and got more bills. I placed them on the exam table. “Can you please get this money to the organization for me?”

He looked at the money. I could see him struggling, and finally he simply sighed.

I crouched down again and nuzzled my face into Dylan’s head. “You be a good boy.”

Asahi held the door open for me.

“Thank you,” he said, gesturing to the money on the exam table.

“I’d like to do more,” I said. “As soon as I get to a bank, I will.”

Asahi was about to close the door when I spoke.

“I’m on the island looking for Rose, Dylan’s owner. She was kidnapped.”

He didn’t seem surprised. “I did not know her, but I did hear she was taken.”

I frowned at his use of past-tense.

“Can you tell me about X? Nobody wants to talk about him for some reason. It’s like talking about Voldemort in Harry Potter or something.”

Asahi shot me a grim smile, then with a slight shake of his head, he closed his door.

What the fuck?

7

X was in the bath. The bubbles were up to his neck, and he was sipping his coffee, idly scrubbing his genitalia when his phone rang.

“I’m busy,” he said in an annoyed voice. His voice echoed in the room. But his curiosity got the best of him and he glanced over at the phone’s screen.

The number was blocked. He snatched up the phone with a soapy hand.

“What now?” He was trying to be brave, put on a show of bravado that he didn’t really feel.

The voice on the other end was disguised with a voice changer. It was speaking Mandarin. It told him today was the day he must make his move. Up until now, he’d only received emails. He listened to the voice. With the voice changer, it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.

At those words, X couldn’t help but glance over at the locked door. Beyond it was a bedroom.

Sighing loudly, he gave a tight smile even though nobody else could see it.

“The money better be in my account this morning or we’re not going anywhere. I can think of all sorts of uses for what you want.”

He hung up before the voice on the other end could answer.

“Bastard,” he said.

Sinking back into the bubbles, he began to fondle himself again.

But he remained limp and small. He was only in his thirties. He wasn’t sure what was going on. He tried imagining his latest conquest. She was a pretty little thing. As long as he kept her high and promised her more drugs, she would do anything he wanted. The problem was that living overseas the past few years had made even the most depraved sex acts blasé for him.

He was almost more turned on by a simple fuck missionary style than any of the outrageous things he used to force his partners to do.

He didn’t want to admit that the new girl didn’t really do it for him.

Too feisty when the drugs wore off and too much like a wet fish when she was sedated.

He wanted a girl who was excited about him and not just appeasing him for more drugs.

Once upon a time, he didn’t have to convince anyone to feel that way.

Was it only a few short years ago when he was able to charm and woo women with the best of them? He’d grown lazy. The sex was too easy in Indonesia. Everything under the sun had a price, and he had the money to pay it.

As he idly stroked his penis, which felt silky because of the expensive bath oils he poured into the sunken tub, X thought of his life ten years ago. He’d been poor, living in a studio apartment and eating rice and beans for dinner.

At the time, he was still Joseph. X hadn’t been born yet. He was there, under the surface, but he hadn’t been fully formed and was just getting ready to emerge into the world.

Mrs. Samantha Jackson had been his salvation. She had changed his life.

He saw her walking her expensive little fucking lap dog every day in the park.

Sitting on his usual bench with a baggy coat on and his wool stocking cap pulled low, he blended into the scenery. The first time he’d seen her, she’d glanced over and immediately dismissed him with his overgrown beard and dirty clothes.

But he’d noticed something about her immediately. Like she had with him, she ignored most people, keeping her snooty nose up in the air and her chin just above the fur collar of her coat. However, if a fit young man ran by, he saw her eyes flit up and down the man’s body and watched her cheeks redden.

He’d never seen a woman so fucking horny. If even looking at a young man made her blush, then this was one woman who hadn’t had any sex for a long time. He knew just how to help her.

After observing her surreptitiously for about two weeks, he knew what time she’d be walking Fido through the park. He also knew what