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Chapter 1
Ginger
Linda Webber
Age: 52
Morality: innocent
Occupation: schoolteacher
City: New Jersey
Thomas Barlett
Age: 28
Morality: not innocent
Occupation: drug dealer
City: Venice Beach
Ben Wyatt
Age: 34
Morality: outwardly innocent
Occupation: computer hacker and student
City: Toronto
I scrollthrough the day’s submissions while gripping a latte in my perfectly manicured fingers. As I review the last few weeks’ data, I notice the innocent human acquisitions seem to be drawing more interest, and therefore increasing auction prices. I make a note to contact the acquisition team about these. The clientele love a little something different, and the innocent tend to gain the highest price tags.
Whether it’s for vengeance, a killer in need of a victim, or basic slave and sex trade human trafficking, we’ve got it all. Humans of all shapes and sizes, ready for sale. Innocent, guilty, and everything in between.
I think about my most recent personal favorite, the one-legged Brazilian woman. I made almost a hundred thousand dollars for her because she was an outward innocent who lured men in. Apparently, a brother of one of her victims hadn’t liked that too much, so he’d hired my company to help him out.
Jobs weren’t all personal, though. Some just needed that outlet and thrill but didn’t have the time to hunt for themselves. There were even bargain shoppers, usually fledgling killers who didn’t care much who it was as long as they had a body to stab.
Whatever the reason, CASH-ULTY has bodies to supply.
I smile to myself and clickaccepton each of the new entries. Putting my phone away, I straighten my skirt and head to the meeting room.
* * *
“As you can see,we are at an all-time high in not only the number of submissions we are receiving but also in overall sale prices. Our Newark facility is almost at capacity, but New Mexico still has plenty of room for further development should these trends continue.” I point to the graphs behind me.
“This is a comparison of our submissions by innocence. As you'll see, the demand for the innocent is increasing as is their price tag. We have the opportunity to increase not only our profits but our overall numbers if we capitalize on this now. We need to have the acquisition team to pick up more targets who are low on the innocence scale. At the same time, interest in specialized targets is starting to increase. We’re known for being clean and efficient, and for taking a lot of freelancers off the market. Because of this and the fact that we consistently recognize and meet the needs of our clients, CASH-ULTY is set to do an additional ninety-three percent profit this year alone.”
Around the table, several people nod their heads along with my presentation. There are eight men in total, six in the room with me and two more on screens, attending from other locations. As the only woman in the room, some may think I’d be worried. But not me. Not one of these rich and powerful men would ever dare cross me.
I know I don’t look like the person people expect to be heading an operation like X719, an internatonal human trafficking organization nicknamed ‘CASH-ULTY’. At 5’2 with fiery red hair to match my name, I spent years building my reputation to this point. While those who meet me for the first time may question why this little, thirty-two-year-old woman is in charge of the largest underground trafficking network in North America, those who do know me know how ruthless I can be.
* * *
By the timethe meeting is over, there’s fresh coffee waiting for me.
