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"Victor did sos for thosethe It was likeat me from somewhere, but I couldn’t make my body listen And it went on forever, not just with one man, but with all of them"

"Did Victor participate in--"

"Not with uards did, though When the clients--that’s what Victor called them, like hores" She sed hard, revulsion for the men and maybe for herself, too, written on her face "When the clients were finished with us, Victor’s guards took over And they wanted more than sex, or more than just sex, because they took that, too"

"Blood?"Duncan asked, careful to keep the anger froht, it started all over again, but the ht they were going to kill us all," she whispered "But they only killed poor Lacey"

Duncan’s eyes flashed i rooaze, distress in every nuance of her body He wanted to tell her to leave, that she didn’t need to hear this, but he knew she wouldn’t go And he wouldn’t ask her to

"Did you see what happened to Lacey?" he asked, returning his attention to Violet andthe question sound only mildly curious

Violet shook her head "I was next door But I heard them I thinkI heard one of the otherthey’d killed her He said soled her, you fool’ And then the man ith me--I’m ashamed to say I don’t knoho he was--anyway, he ju, and then so And then one of Victor’s guards ran into rabbed rip of his hand

"He dragged me down the hall and threw me into this tiny room with all the other wo We were all naked, but there was a bed there so we grabbed the sheets and blankets Two of the womenI don’t know their names Lacey was the only one I knew from before, and none of us used our real na ouldn’t want anyone to know about Anyway, two of the wo anyirl wrapped the they needed the extra warmth, and we took the sheets And that’s all I re black spot inin it I woke up in a car driving back to the District I earing clothes, but they weren’t even uards dropped me off at my apartment, handed me my purse, and that was it I went upstairs and"

Violet bent her head, hiding behind her hair as her eyes closed, her throat working as she struggled to contain her e into her heart and soul like this, but he couldn’t help her, couldn’t fix her any other way And because he was trying to fix her, because he was so tuned in to what she was feeling, he knew her emotions were very much like the ones experienced by women who’d been raped He’d felt that before, too, in other women he’d rescued over the years It was couilt, of helplessness, and at the sae, sometimes at themselves as much as their rapist

"I showered," Violet whispered "I showered until every inch ofAnd then I crawled into my bed and slept And I never really woke up" She looked up, aze "Until today"

"I’ her eyes and letting his own sorro "But it’s necessary I wouldn’t ask it otherwise"

Violet nodded "I know And I feel better si my mind"

"Did you know any of the men, other than Victor?"

"Not then But one of them was that senator you see on the news all the ti how the name fits, because politicians are always on the take I remember two others, but I don’t know their names One was the creep with me when Lacey died I’d know his face if I saw it, but I don’t know his na, and he drank a lot He had that set I don’t knohat it is, precisely, but I had an uncle as an alcoholic and he always smelled that way The man couldn’t" Her face heated with eet an erection," Duncan provided "Is that it?"

"Yes," Violet said, still not looking at him