When yet another curveball puts Andy and Lex's relationship into serious jeopardy, the stakes become higher than they've ever been, forcing the couple to fight not only for their love but also for their lives.
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Life see...
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Instead of starting with an interview opening, like the one before where consent was given and the deal was struck, this one started right into the action, as the camera filmed a young woman already tied up in an upright position, with her arms and legs spread. She wasn't naked, but the outfit she was wearing disturbed me greatly. She had a maid's uniform on. The very same I'd worn every single day I'd worked at Becker's penthouse. Lex noticed the same thing instantly, and he sent me a troubled glance.
On the screen, the woman started talking, addressing the man behind the camera, but the sound was off so we couldn't make out her words. I reacted first, turning it on again, and her pleading words filled the surrounding office, chilling me to the bones. She was begging whoever was filming to let her go, promising she wouldn't tell anyone about any of this.
"What is she saying?" Lex asked, reminding me she was speaking Spanish.
I translated it for him, having a hard time understanding her fully because of her sobs and Colombian accent. The video cut, and it picked up to a later stage, with a few people in the room with her. Among them, I recognized Becker, as well as Senator Parker. Adding to those two, I counted seven men and a woman. All of them were dressed stylishly, in suits for the men and an elegant red cocktail dress for the woman.
Now that the angle was wider and the lighting better, I recognized the room. It was a large ballroom in Becker's penthouse, the kind where one could host private events and receptions. The very one we'd been tasked to clean from floor to ceiling for his party last Saturday.
The poor woman was still tied in the middle of it, to some sort of reinforced frame, begging the people in the room to set her free. When Becker came closer, she called him by name, trying to appeal to his better nature. "I think... I think this might be Ana-Lucía's friend," I told Lex. "The one she told us about, the one Becker was interested in and who disappeared months ago."
"Really?"
"Yes, she's the right age, and she comes from Colombia as well. And she seems to know him. The timing matches too. Lex, what the fuck are they about to do to her?"
He paused the video, removed his glasses, and passed a nervous hand over his tense face. "I don't know. Fuck... I hoped we'd find messed up things in there, but this is too much."
"Maybe it's like you said. Maybe it's like the Lola thing, but worse."
"I might not understand what she's saying, but the way she begs sounds very convincing."
"Maybe it's one of these consensual non-consent agreements?" I tried. I refused to believe there could be evil as terrible as this in this world. One that would let a poor, helpless, nineteen years old woman get abused so atrociously by a bunch of rich assholes.
"Okay, if that's the case, there should be a disclaimer kind of thing, like he did for Lola, right?" Lex pointed out, which made a lot of sense. "He wouldn't risk having it unrecorded, in case any of this ever came out."
