Read Online SEIZED Part 1: New Adult Romantic Suspense (Seize Me Romance Fiction Series) by JC Coulton - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: JC Coulton
Tags: Contemporary Romance, Crime Fiction, Women's Fiction, New Adult and College Romance Cop Thriller, Action and Adventure Romance Fiction, Human Trafficking Romance, Police Officers, Suspense Action Fiction
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her through most of what I know and suspect about Jessup Lee and his organization.
“Lee grew up in a wealthy family, but his mother was distant, and his father was involved in cocaine production and distribution in New York City. It was all under the disguise of a large, legitimate import and export company. His father was a famously enigmatic man with huge expectations. He kept the family very separate from his business,” I explain. “They were based in Iowa, while he took frequent trips into the city. Jessup was the only boy to carry on the family business, with one sister, and under pressure to be something big from an early age. His mother was largely absent over the years. She was committed for long periods of time during his childhood. Joseph, Jessup’s father, may have married her to solidify a family alliance but they’re still together. She often appears heavily medicated in public, and never leaves the home unless they are together.
“Jessup’s deep in organized crime. His main power is the allegiance his men have toward him. Not one of them has folded or given him up in the last twenty years. He treats them well, sets them up for life, but expects them to do all the work. He’s simply an investor with a ring of agents making money for him, but he offers stability to criminal endeavor. This could be why he’s so successful. It’s certainly why he’s able to keep up such a front.
“The man has several legitimate businesses. The nightclub is one of them, but he also has a painting firm and a stationary supply company. He pays his taxes, he dines with the governor, and he lines the right pockets with the right amount to make sure his crew gets access to the same opportunities as the mob. This makes the Italians crazy, of course, and for years we expected they would take care of him, but they won’t. The Lee family has been connected for generations. The Italians may not like him, but they put up with him. He’s part of the landscape just as his father was. Jessup has no record at all. He’s squeaky clean, and that’s what makes it so frustrating. He’s mastered the art of illusion.”
She’s still listening, and says nothing when I pause, so I continue.
“Ten years ago, when the family’s import business fell through in Jakarta, Jessup and his crew switched industries. To them, it was the thing to do. Prostitution became a more profitable option with fewer penalties and maintenance costs. At first, they ran high-class brothels and escort services. He used the same methods to secure girls, decent working conditions and stability. He was smart, employing all female staff to manage the girls. They were made to feel like it was a family environment. There were kitchens and doctors on site. If the girls had a problem, the establishment would solve it for them. They were making him money, and as far as the authorities were concerned, he ran boarding houses and nanny services. Everyone knew what was going on, but Jessup had the Midas touch with the people he needed to, so everything was ignored.
“Then, Internet escort services cut his profits in half, and this is what likely drove him to get into the trafficking game. He began to select and acquire women for his clients’ special needs. The services were as endless as the appetites of the customers. Girls were taken from the street and used in elaborate games tailored distinctly and often brutally to the men who were willing to pay for them.
“The demand for youth across the city became a fucking feeding frenzy. That’s what started this last run of abductions and kidnappings. No one has ever been able to pin it on the Jessup crew, but he’s suspected in the disappearance of over one hundred young girls and boys. Some as young as ten or eleven years old. All pale and slim, all taken from the streets surrounding their schools. Some of the bodies are discovered. Some aren’t. So many parents, so much pain.”
I stop there. Carrie is looking
“Lee grew up in a wealthy family, but his mother was distant, and his father was involved in cocaine production and distribution in New York City. It was all under the disguise of a large, legitimate import and export company. His father was a famously enigmatic man with huge expectations. He kept the family very separate from his business,” I explain. “They were based in Iowa, while he took frequent trips into the city. Jessup was the only boy to carry on the family business, with one sister, and under pressure to be something big from an early age. His mother was largely absent over the years. She was committed for long periods of time during his childhood. Joseph, Jessup’s father, may have married her to solidify a family alliance but they’re still together. She often appears heavily medicated in public, and never leaves the home unless they are together.
“Jessup’s deep in organized crime. His main power is the allegiance his men have toward him. Not one of them has folded or given him up in the last twenty years. He treats them well, sets them up for life, but expects them to do all the work. He’s simply an investor with a ring of agents making money for him, but he offers stability to criminal endeavor. This could be why he’s so successful. It’s certainly why he’s able to keep up such a front.
“The man has several legitimate businesses. The nightclub is one of them, but he also has a painting firm and a stationary supply company. He pays his taxes, he dines with the governor, and he lines the right pockets with the right amount to make sure his crew gets access to the same opportunities as the mob. This makes the Italians crazy, of course, and for years we expected they would take care of him, but they won’t. The Lee family has been connected for generations. The Italians may not like him, but they put up with him. He’s part of the landscape just as his father was. Jessup has no record at all. He’s squeaky clean, and that’s what makes it so frustrating. He’s mastered the art of illusion.”
She’s still listening, and says nothing when I pause, so I continue.
“Ten years ago, when the family’s import business fell through in Jakarta, Jessup and his crew switched industries. To them, it was the thing to do. Prostitution became a more profitable option with fewer penalties and maintenance costs. At first, they ran high-class brothels and escort services. He used the same methods to secure girls, decent working conditions and stability. He was smart, employing all female staff to manage the girls. They were made to feel like it was a family environment. There were kitchens and doctors on site. If the girls had a problem, the establishment would solve it for them. They were making him money, and as far as the authorities were concerned, he ran boarding houses and nanny services. Everyone knew what was going on, but Jessup had the Midas touch with the people he needed to, so everything was ignored.
“Then, Internet escort services cut his profits in half, and this is what likely drove him to get into the trafficking game. He began to select and acquire women for his clients’ special needs. The services were as endless as the appetites of the customers. Girls were taken from the street and used in elaborate games tailored distinctly and often brutally to the men who were willing to pay for them.
“The demand for youth across the city became a fucking feeding frenzy. That’s what started this last run of abductions and kidnappings. No one has ever been able to pin it on the Jessup crew, but he’s suspected in the disappearance of over one hundred young girls and boys. Some as young as ten or eleven years old. All pale and slim, all taken from the streets surrounding their schools. Some of the bodies are discovered. Some aren’t. So many parents, so much pain.”
I stop there. Carrie is looking
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