Enslaved [Freedom Be Damned 1] (Siren Publishing M?nage Amour) by Berengaria Brown

dear. Just colds and sore throats that make talking for eight hours too hard. Everyone seems to be better inside twenty-four hours, so it’s nothing to worry about, dear.”
    “Please tell Sarah I hope she feels better soon.”
    Mrs. Treeby nodded, and Aurelia felt herself to have been dismissed. Poor Sarah. And poor Damien. He’ll be exhausted if he’s helping out for shifts with sick people as well as doing his usual job. Surely there’s someone else who could work instead of him? She thought for a long time then remembered seeing another man talking to Mrs. Treeby. Maybe he and Damien were sharing the extra work. He was likely Damien’s counterpart with the other shift. But still, a third person was really needed if the workers kept getting ill.
    I hope our team doesn’t catch it, too.
     
    * * * *
     
     
    “What did the ‘I’m-not-a-hacker’ say?” asked Merrick. He’d been stuck in a business meeting at work and unable to go with Trevellyan and Vaughan to the IT professional’s report-back meeting.
    “He looked at Trevellyan with huge, innocent blue eyes, told us we’d be amazed at what information was freely available on the Internet, said anything published online was considered to be in the public domain, then handed over Aurelia’s bank statements and his bill,” said Vaughan.
    “As far as I’m concerned, it was money well spent. There’s no way I could have gotten that information, and it shows clearly that her bank account is being slowly and steadily drained. Money is being taken out, but nothing is being paid into it,” said Trevellyan.
    “Nothing?”
    “Not a cent.”
    “Well, what’s coming out of it? Isn’t everything supposed to be provided there at the call center?” asked Merrick.
    “That’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Aurelia’s belongings are all in storage. That storage fee should be the only bill she needs to pay, yet there are several other fees coming out of her balance every month.”
    “So now what do we do?” asked Vaughan.
    “I’ve asked Mr. Innocent, whose name is Thomas but who likes to be called Mas, to track down who’s draining her account. But I really think we’re going to have to break her out of there. At least long enough to explain to her she’s not yet been paid.”
    “Not being paid in six months would kind of indicate they aren’t going to pay her at all. I mean, why pay in bulk at the end of the contract. Why not pay as they promised, monthly?”
    “Unless the company has liquidity problems?” suggested Vaughan.
    “In which case, it’d be good to get her out of there, anyway. Hell, we can pay her rent while she does a course or something to help her get a decent job,” said Trevellyan.
    “Yeah, I’m on board with that. But first, how are we going to break her out? What if she doesn’t believe us, doesn’t want to come?” Merrick felt a pain beginning in his chest. Aurelia was Trevellyan’s cousin, not his, but he could feel his partner’s anguish, and it pierced him, too. And what about their brand-new relationship with Evelyn? He wanted her so much, and he knew the others did, too. One day of her company, one night with her in their bed, had just whetted his appetite for a whole lot more. He wanted all of her. But how could that be if this thing with Aurelia was about to explode in their faces?
    Dammit! The timing here sucked! Except…If Aurelia hadn’t been a worry, they’d never have met Evelyn. Oh hell. They needed to think this whole thing through. Could Evelyn help them break Aurelia out? Could they demand she be freed legally due to arrears of salary?
    “We need an attorney,” Merrick said abruptly.
    “Say what?”
    “We need to know if Aurelia’s contract is automatically invalid because she hasn’t been paid.”
    “Ya know, I don’t think bad guys work like that. I vote we break her out, get her away, then worry about any legalities,” said Vaughan.
    “Makes sense to me. I’d hate for anything to