Jessa James - Uncover

I looked at the pile of research material on my desk. “Hell’s bells, Penny. You’re so behind.” I tried not to make a habit to talk to myself, but old habits die hard and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. In college, I had always been able to churn out a great paper in about an hour. It had prepared me for the rigors of working at a magazine, but I was still finding myself buried under pile after pile of research and investigative materials.

I scooted the stack aside, turned to my computer and checked my email. I had no idea what Lauren might want to speak to me about. Checking my due dates on my calendar I saw that I didn’t have anything due to turn in for another week. That was pretty odd for me as I usually had a deadline for the blog every other day or so. But recently Lauren had asked me to shift my attention to the print mag and I had been working from that angle for a few weeks now. It was more in-depth, less click bait, no more trying to beat the top entertainment channels to a story. While that was still going on with the writers in our online office, my focus was now on the more serious storytelling that took some time.

“We want a Pulitzer? It’s going to be from the print edition,” Lauren had said when we had the conversation about shifting my focus.

I knew she was right. If we wanted more recognition our focus was going to have to be on what we were sending to print. It didn’t matter that it all went online the same day. And I had to admit to myself that I was looking forward to seeing my byline in a glossy.

I didn’t have high hopes for a Pulitzer. Expose was prestigious, but it was still a gossip magazine. We had been responsible for breaking several major stories over the years, however, there was still a bit of a reputation with the magazine. We were hard-hitting. We would get in wherever we had to in order to get the story we were looking for.

I waited nine minutes instead of ten before I walked down the hall to knock on Lauren’s door.

“Come in,” she said. I could tell she was still on the phone by the way she answered, but she hung up almost as soon as I opened the door. It was a flip phone, one I had never seen her use before, and it was noticeably ancient compared to the phones most people were using these days.

“New phone?” I asked as I took a seat opposite her.

“Burner,” she said with a half-smile.

That caught my attention. “You must have something then.”

Lauren leaned forward and rested her chin in her palm. “I most definitely do.”

She pushed a file toward me and I could feel my eyes widen before I had the wherewithal to stop myself. I had so much on my plate already, what on earth could this be about. I opened up the folder and was greeted with the logo for an exclusive gentlemen’s club—Club V.

“I want you to find out why I can’t get in,” Lauren said with a laugh.

I glanced up at her. “I’m going to guess it’s because you aren’t a gentleman.”

She tucked a strand of her blonde bob behind her ear. “You’re right about that. But also you should know it’s not just an exclusive gentlemen’s club, nor is it a match-making service, or any of the other fresh coats of paint they might try to put on the place. Nope, that’s not what Club V is about.”

I thumbed through the pages in the folder and looked for anything eye-catching that might tell me what was really going on there.

“Drug front? Money laundering? Embezzlement?” I had no clue based on what I was looking at.

“You can’t tell me you haven’t heard of it? I’m surprised. You’re exactly the sort of woman they might approach.”

I looked at her, bewildered. “What is this place?”

Lauren leaned in closer with a grin. “It is the most exclusive sex club in the U.S. They have locations in almost every major city. It’s open sex, BDSM, swapping…you name it, Club V caters to it. They have got a billion dollar business on their hands and the client list is impossible to get your hands on, though there are rumors floating around about who has been seen entering and leaving the building. They value the privacy of their members above all else—well, aside from possibly saving their own skin when the feds finally come around to stop what they’re doing.”

I frowned as I stopped going through the pages, looking up to meet Lauren’s eyes. “What are they doing that the feds would get involved with? Consenting adults can do whatever they want. I mean, as long as it isn’t prostitution in a place where it’s illegal.”

“Bingo!” Lauren cackled. “There’s a rumor going around that these fellows have an auction block where—you will not believe it—they auction off virgins to the highest bidder. I’m not certain if it’s true like I said it’s a rumor that is floating around and I want to know what’s behind it. Where there is smoke there is fire and I have a feeling things are pretty hot inside of Club V.”

My eyes went wide again. I had heard of a lot in my time at the magazine. The rich and famous were always into weird stuff and often it was borderline illegal, but outside of really terrifying kidnapping films, I had never heard of anyone actually auctioning virgins.

“You can’t be serious?”

Lauren nodded. “I am. And I was also serious about saying they won’t let me in. I’ve applied for a membership half a dozen times. They know where I work and they do an extensive background check on all their members. I’ve made it so far to an office in Manhattan where I had a meeting with someone who vets prospective members, but nothing further than that. There’s a location here in New York, their first, and people are aware of that, but you can’t even try to get close enough to photograph the entrance. It’s deliberately darkened around the club and you would have to know where it was located exactly to ever make your way inside. Security is all around and they make sure to scare off anyone who tries to take photos. I suspect they’ve got an in with the local police as well because they keep the place pretty clear of anyone who isn’t supposed to be there.”

“Jesus,” I uttered under my breath. “So where do I come in on all of this?”

“Well, I considered getting you to apply as a member, but I realized it would take far too long from application to approval for this story to get to press. That and they would do a check on your salary and I’m afraid what we pay you here isn’t enough to get your foot in the door, not unless you plan to go work there.”

I shook my head. “That’s not happening.”

“Indeed not. So, I called in a few favors and got you some credentials from a magazine that they will be happy to allow access. You see, they’re trying to do a little housekeeping right now. They want all the right words making their way into the public about them. Rumors about the auctioning have been swirling around the place for some time now and it’s looking like there is a little federal heat on the place. They want to double-down on the gentlemen’s club angle. These credentials will get you in without a problem and we’ve already set up the interview with the founder of the club.”

It didn’t surprise me that Lauren had been able to work her magic on what sounded like a very extensive operation, but I still had a hard time believing that she was picking me to go in for what was bound to be a very difficult assignment, especially when she knew the pile of things that were on my desk and how much I had to turn in within the next month.

I flipped through the pages again, checking out the list of contacts for the New York location. For some reason, one of them stood out to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“You’re perfect for this assignment, Penny. You’re young, beautiful, and exactly the kind of woman these guys go for. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a pass or told you more than he intended in the interview.”