As soon as it was announced that bidding was starting, the names of each girl appeared on the screen along with a number that correlated to a number located on the front of the chair they were sitting in.

Almost immediately, the numbers next to the names started increasing. I wasn’t going to bid on Hannah just yet. I was going to sit back and watch what happened as far as the interest she was generating.

I could feel a lump beginning to develop in my throat when I realized the numbers next to her name were increasing far faster than those of her counterparts. There was indeed going to be a bidding war, which was exactly what I was hoping to avoid. Sure, I could go pretty high, but who knew what the bank accounts of the other bidders looked like?

Biding my time, I watched the auction time clock counting down while her bid price only continued to go up. With more than a half-hour to go, the bid was already 140 Bitcoin, which was just over a million dollars. Every few seconds, the number would increase.

I was determined to wait until there was just under 30 seconds to go in the auction before I made my move. It made me nervous because anything could go wrong and cause my bid not to be counted, but I wanted to avoid a bidding war at all cost. I figured by bidding with such limited time left, it might not allow the others enough time to analyze whether or not they wanted to counter me.

As soon as the timer showed 30-seconds, I made my move, entering a bid for 320 bitcoin, which was just a bit under $2.2 million. It was a big jump in price, but still gave me a cushion in case anyone came behind me and I needed to bid one more time. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and before I knew it, my screen was flashing that I was a winner.

I smiled to myself, knowing that several of the creeps in the rooms around me were probably cussing me, but when I looked up, I was brought back to reality. I may have been able to save Hannah, but there were still nine other women about to embark on their own nightmare journey. Nine other women that may or may not be saved whenever the FBI decided to finally rescue the girls from their new lives as sex slaves.

The screen on the computer changed automatically to a secure Bitcoin wallet, where I input the payment information. Once that was finalized, a screen appeared telling me to return to my vehicle and wait for delivery.

I hesitated for a moment, realizing that it was quite possible that I could walk out to my car and these people could lock the doors behind everyone, keeping the girls and our money. In all honesty, that would have been a brilliant plan. What were any of the bidders going to do? Call the cops and tell them that they just had their money stolen at an auction selling girls to slavery?

Before I turned to leave, I saw the masked men return to the room and remove the girls one by one. When Hannah was the last one in the room, they handcuffed her hands behind her back and placed a black hood over her head before leading her away. Within five minutes, they were delivering her to my vehicle, handing me the handcuff key and thanking me for my business through the most disgusting smirk I’ve ever seen in my life.

Biting my tongue to avoid saying the wrong thing, I took Hannah by the arm and guided her into the backseat of the car. I toyed with the idea of removing her hood and cuffs, but I thought it was best to leave them in place until we got to our destination. Even though I bought her to protect her, I also bought her so I could have her to myself and the last thing I needed was for her to pay attention to where we were going and running off the first chance she got.

I wasn’t taking her back to my place. As a matter of fact, I was only going to go back to my place one more time to collect some of my things because there was a damn good chance that as soon as the FBI found out about what I did, they’d come looking for me and my apartment would be the first place they went. Instead, I was going to take her to a house I purchased for cash years ago when I was looking for a place to practice shooting my guns.

The house was perfect for both keeping her safe and giving me all the privacy I needed for her. It was located on 120 acres of wooded land with no other properties around for miles. Even more important, it was a fortress. There was no getting in, and more importantly, no getting out unless that’s what I wanted.

I wasn’t going to quit my job as a contractor for the FBI. I was going to go to work as normal and file my reports as to what I witnessed at the auction. How the FBI was ever going to find these people were beyond me. They ran a tight ship and never gave any indication as to who they were.

After buckling her in, I got in and left the parking lot as quickly as possible. I drove in the wrong direction, taking many turns down side streets until I was satisfied that I wasn’t being followed. Eventually, I made my way to the highway and made my way to the house where Hannah and I would get to know one another.

“Try not to be afraid,” I told her. “I’m not like most of the creeps who were probably bidding on you back there. Have some faith in me and you’ll come out of this okay.”

She started to laugh.