Texas Black

“Texas, we’re here,” the naked redhead next to him said.

“Uh huh,” Texas said, finishing the article in the paper he was reading.

The taxicab driver had pulled into the parking space in front of the Grand Symphony Hotel in the grand city of Bluewater Creek. When he finished the article in the paper, he folded it up and nodded his head to Vivian, his naked servant. She immediately got out of the taxi, getting several wolf whistles from men and complaints from women-- and opened up his door.

“Go inside and get us checked in. Send out a bell boy for my bags,” Texas told her.

“Sure. Be right back,” she said.

Texas turned to settle up with the driver and on top of the layer of bills he placed in the driver’s hand, he set two photographs on top. The driver looked at him puzzled and Texas held up a one hundred dollar bill.

“The fella’s name is Jeremy Miller and the girl is Mary Blots. They’ve escaped police custody before they could be captured. If you can lead me to them, I’ll give you this hundred,” Texas told him.

The driver studied the photographs carefully. When it came to Jeremy, he squinted his eyes slightly as he studied the face. Nodding his head, he pointed to Jeremy’s photograph.

“I’ve seen him. He plays in the house band at The Bogota. I think I might have seen her there but there are too many red heads to be sure,” the driver told him.

“Thank you very much. Meet me out front of this hotel tomorrow at nine am. If I have both of them in custody, I’ll give you this hundred,” Texas told him.

“What did they do?” the driver asked.

“They broke into Jeremy Miller’s ex-wife’s house, assaulted her, tied her up and then kidnapped their two year old daughter. They were scheduled to be captured the next day but they escaped. With this added on, they’ve been sentenced to two years of servitude,” Texas told him.

“What a horrible punishment. No clothes, no possessions, no rights for two whole years,” the driver said, shaking his head.

“It’s the new world, my friend. I guess it beats sitting in a prison cell for a few years. Just wait until they find out who they’ll be in service to,” Texas said.

“Who? Not his ex-wife!” the driver said, howling with laughter.

Texas grinned and gave the driver a knowing wink. Texas had the pleasure of being present in the committee chambers when it was decided that Trisha Miller would become the legal owners of both Jeremy and Mary for the next two years. He had two fusion cartridges in his bag with their names on it and once the fusion cartridge entered their bloodstream, they would find themselves unable to disobey an order.

“I have to ask before I let you go… what is the deal with the redhead?” the driver asked.

“Her name is Brianna. She is a special case. She killed her husband and his mistress in a motel down south. You know gets you a life of servitude. She was about to be hauled up to some work farm with the other lifers when I was struck with a moment of compassion. I asked the judge if she’d consider me taking the girl. My reputation speaks for itself and the judge cleared it. It took me two years to rehabilitate her. Hell, it took me one of those years before I’d sleep with both eyes closed,” Texas told him.

“Your reputation? Who are you?” the driver asked. “I mean, I know you are a captor, you make the injections but are you someone special?”

“Texas Black. I hold the record for bringing in the most runaways. I have yet to let one get away from me,” Texas said with a grin.

“Texas Black! Forget the hundred dollars! I’ll help you for free,” the driver said. “My name is Frank Brooks. It will be my honor to help you.”

“In that case, why don’t you pick me up at seven o’clock tonight,” Texas said, as he offered his hand.

“Seven o’clock,” Frank confirmed.

Texas turned in time to see a bellboy coming out of the hotel. Texas pointed to the trunk and waited as the bellboy removed his bags. He followed the bellboy into the hotel and headed inside to find a surprise waiting for him.