Crude

The world of crude; oil, that is, and all that that implies, with its sharp contrast between wealth and poverty, the elite and the working poor, has lured the cardinals and the criminals to its wells and rigs for decades. When a young woman enters the inner circle of a ruthless oil conglomerate where the ‘old boys’ rule is strictly enforced, she is privy to shocking secrets of forced labor, murder, sex crimes, and more. When she tries to leave, she is hunted down like a rabid animal, and fears that she has unwittingly become part of one of the sex rings she has heard far too much about, for there is only one way out of the ruthless world of crude – in a pine box. Excerpt: With as much force as he could, he pulled Natalie by the ankles to where he wanted her and he forced her legs apart, holding her by the thighs with his hands made strong from nights of digging his secretive tunnel. He looked up at her eyes that were half closed. “You ready for me, woman?” The harsh words were unfamiliar to Natalie and she tried not to show fear. Kent did not go slowly. He never did when he wanted something. Into the depths of her being he plunged, as if trying to hurt this woman, but he could not hurt her. Natalie wanted to feel pain. Kent’s aggression grew like a wildfire as he drew the woman toward him, scraping her tender flesh along the sheets until she could feel the burning sensation. “Open your eyes!” he demanded. Natalie’s eyes were those of a deer caught in headlights as she stared into the possessed eyes of the man she knew only as Kent. She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Her body was worn out and she lay flat, closing her eyes, when she felt the full weight of Kent on top of her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, not out of love, but to keep the woman from escaping while he slept.