Heaven Or Hell: A Story of Human Trafficking

By Jim Daddio

Alex Hammershan is a well-known businessman living the good life in South Florida. To keep pace with the competition, Alex is forced to smuggle in underage teenage girls from the poverty-stricken areas of Eastern Europe. The girls are weak, poor and homeless and are willing to come to the US to escape the horror they face day to day. What they don't know is if it's going to be "Heaven or Hell."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wings ePress, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781597054621

Book preview

One

ALEX HAMMERSHAN SAT quietly in his penthouse waiting for the phone to ring. He was nervous. More nervous than he wanted to be. His New York contact, a man he knew only as Orbi, was to call him with information concerning two young Russian Lolitas Alex had already paid for. Alex had stumbled onto a smuggling ring which brought in young girls from Eastern Europe. He needed these girls to keep his escort business fresh. The girls he had already brought to Miami were very young and lovely to look at.

Alex paced around the room. The wait was killing him. He had always been calm; a cool operator. He’d worked hard to establish himself as a mover and shaker in the South Florida area. Especially around Ft. Lauderdale and North Miami Beach. He had purposely stayed away from the South Beach scene. He knew some of the boys who worked the area and didn’t have the desire to invade their territory.

When Alex first arrived in Fort Lauderdale from Boston in the mid eighties, he was a tall, dark, good-looking man in his late thirties. His curly hair, full mustache and broad shoulders made the ladies look his way. He enjoyed the attention and began to spend his nights in the most popular clubs in the area. He had a wide smile and an upbeat attitude. He soon established a reputation as the man you wanted to be seen with. Alex knew when and where to spread the money around. If the bar had a champagne room, Alex would be there, and only the best looking women in the bar would be sitting at his table.

It didn’t take long for his wife to get the message that Alex wasn’t interested in being a husband or father. She took their daughter and moved back to Boston. She got a divorce and re-married soon after. Three months later Alex’s father died suddenly and left Alex enough money he could now be the man he wanted to be. He loved the fast action and night life South Florida offered.

It was during this time the Drug Enforcement Agency gave Broward County a grant to fight the influx of drugs into the South Florida area. The DEA assigned several top agents to work hand in hand with the Sheriff’s Department. The Federal Government wanted results and wanted them quickly. They knew top businessmen were floating cash and laundering millions of dollars in support of the drug trade. The team of agents and members of the Sheriff’s office targeted several of these men. One was Alex Hammershan. The DEA was convinced he had to be involved. He was seen every night with his entourage working the crowd in the hottest nightclubs in town.

Agent Brady Sheldon was convinced Hammershan was moving money and drugs. This was the man he wanted to go after. He went undercover and soon worked his way into the group. Alex took a liking to Brady with his all-American looks and style and welcomed him as a friend. It wasn’t long before Brady found out what kind of man Alex was. He didn’t smoke, only drank a glass or two of wine and never used drugs or tolerated drug use in his presence. Brady understood Alex liked the nightlife, liked the ladies and liked to be the center of attraction. But Brady had taken too long and had spent too much money and time with Alex. His boss was pressuring him for results. For the three months he had infiltrated Alex’s entourage there had been little talk of drugs and no open drug usage. It was time. Brady had to force the action.

One evening, while sitting on the deck of Alex’s penthouse apartment in North Miami Beach, Brady made his first move. Alex, I got to run this past you. I have these friends in Chicago. They got tons of cash and want to make a move.

What kind of move? Alex asked.

They want to score. They’ve been waiting for the right time and now they believe they can move some cocaine. They got cash, and they got buyers. All they need is the stuff.

Dangerous stuff, Brady, cocaine. I’ve seen too many good people wasted with that shit.

I know. But this is just a business deal, Alex. They got three hundred large. We make the connection and pick up twenty-five grand each.

First, I don’t need the cash and second, wouldn’t begin to know where to start. You should know by now, I don’t use drugs or let any of my ladies do drugs around here. Hell, I don’t even like it when they sneak off and do shit. But I can’t control everything. Alex laughed loudly, But I try.

Brady couldn’t give up. His superiors kept pushing him to make an arrest, and Alex was all he had. He was the one who convinced his superiors Alex was worth going after. He persisted. He had to get Alex to give him something.

After several weeks and a few more attempts, Brady met Alex at Club Max, a new bar celebrating its grand opening in Fort Lauderdale. Of course, Alex was the center of attention with four young ladies surrounding him as he held court in the corner of the crowded bar.

The owner, Josh Silver came over. Well, what do you think, Alex? Top shelf or what?

A gold mine, Josh. And as long as I come in, the place will do just fine. They laughed. Just kidding. You’ve done a great job with this place. You’ll do a big business here.

Later in the evening, Brady whispered, "Alex, it’s hard for me to believe with all these people you know, you can’t get me a contact. Truth is, I’m out of cash and I can’t keep staying at your place. It’s not my style. A few investments I’ve made have gone bad, man. I need the cash and time is running out. These people are about to take the money somewhere else. I can’t afford to pass this up. Too fucking much cash out there. Remember, twenty-five large apiece. You got to make a connection with someone."

Alex breathed deeply. He liked Brady and wanted to help him. Earlier he recognized one of the bartenders and knew he could give him a name.

Brady, listen. This is a one-time deal. After this, don’t mention it again. I like you and want to help. But after this, it’s over with the drug talk. Tell your contacts this is the first and last deal. Get it?

Alex walked over to the bartender and whispered in his ear. A few days later Alex and Brady drove to a small, dingy hotel on the border between Dade and Broward Counties. Alex had been mailed a key to room two hundred. When they walked into the room they saw two men, both dark and heavy-built sitting on a single bed. Alex figured them to be Cubans.

Nobody said a word as one of the men opened the case and picked up a large bag filled with a white substance. Brady moved quickly and made a small cut in the bag. He pulled something out of his pocket and slid the white powder from the blade to the paper in his hand. It turned a deep pink and Brady smiled. The deal was done. He nodded toward Alex.

What happened during the next few minutes would be etched in Alex’s mind forever. Brady stepped back and opened his suit case. The two men looked in and began counting the money. Alex couldn’t see Brady as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and touched a few buttons. Within seconds the door busted open and people starting screaming. Alex stood paralyzed. One of the men threw the suitcase in the air and charged past Alex, pushing him down. He grabbed a chair, smashed it through a small window and dove onto the pavement. The other man pulled a gun from his pocket and pointed it at Brady.

Four uniformed officers, dressed in full SWAT team gear, yelled at the man. The man shook as he screamed out in Spanish, ready to pull the trigger. The officer opened fire and the man immediately fell backward dead as a wave of bullets penetrated his chest and face.

Alex crawled under a round table while shaking in fear. It a few minutes time, one man was dead, one escaped in a flurry of gunshots and Alex was arrested for possession and sale of a controlled substance.

For the next several months Alex kept a low profile. He had trusted and then had been betrayed by Brady. His lawyer tried to carry the entrapment story to the judge, but he wouldn’t listen. The deal was simple. Alex would give them a name and he could walk. Alex refused. The DEA needed an arrest. They needed the publicity. And who better than the well known man about town, Alex Hammershan?

The local law enforcement officers knew Alex was not the man they wanted. They all knew Alex had been set up. But they also knew they could do nothing about it.

Alex pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to three to five years in the Polk Correctional Institution, a minimum-security prison. It didn’t take long for Alex to figure out why they called the prison the ‘Country Club.’ Alex soon became a celebrity. He brought a few of his girls to a small hotel outside the gate and they treated the guards to hours of endless pleasures. He gave tennis lessons, cooked for several notable inmates and in eighteen months he was out on parole and back in South Florida. Alex was a convicted felon and could no longer vote. Alex knew he had to play by the rules or be sent to Raiford, a maximum security prison for murders and rapists. He wanted no part of Raiford.

Two

Alex returned to South Florida, bought a penthouse in North Miami Beach and got back in the escort business. It wasn’t long before he was the toast of the town again. And it didn’t hurt when an anonymous benefactor dropped a cool fifty grand into a bank in the Cayman Islands for taking the rap.

But things had changed over the past few years. Alex’s escort business was beginning to fall apart. He noticed a change in the women. The younger girls were no longer interested in his kind of action. The fast talking bullshitters with their gold chains and cocaine parties had died out. The type of girls he liked to have as escorts wanted young men with the new fashionable drugs like Ecstasy and PCP and Black Ice. That wasn’t Alex’s style. He found himself using women who were older, with fake breasts and multiple tattoos. Women with sad eyes and drug problems. It wasn’t until he arranged a date for one of his girls with a Russian diplomat things began to change. After the date, the elderly man asked to meet Alex.

Alex, the man said softly, with a heavy accent. I have idea for you. You have good reputation. I see you at many functions and people in high places sit with you and talk. You are well known and respected. I have a contact can arrange to bring in very lovely young girls from Eastern Europe who will work for you and make you rich man. I tell you, Alex, these little Lolitas will be very happy to be in America and will be at your command.

Alex was thrilled at the idea. Alex had started a porno web site and had purchased hundreds of pictures and from illegal web sites and knew how young and beautiful the girls were.

Alex agreed to bring in one of the girls. He was totally blown away with her. She was eighteen, tall and sexy. She couldn’t speak English, but knew immediately what her job was. She soon became his top producer and Alex ordered two more. They were younger, with firm little bodies. And now he was waiting for two more. They were costing him ten thousand apiece, but he didn’t care. He was making thousands a week off each girl.

Finally the phone rang. The harsh ringing sound caused Alex to flinch. He grabbed the phone. The deep voice said, I have your delivery.

Good. The same as before.

Better.

Orbi one of the last girls was very young. I don’t know how old she is, but...

The man interrupted, You are crazy to think your phone is safe. What is this question about girls? I know nothing about that. I have your delivery of two very fine European Art treasures.

Yeah, right. Just give me the delivery information.

Miami International. United. Flight Three-sixty one. Arrive five PM.

Okay, but...

The phone went dead.

Alex used the same routine. He sent one of his flunkies to the airport with a sign with a large yellow smiley face; something the girls could easily recognize.

LATER THAT AFTERNOON, Alex’s phone rang again. It was the kid he had sent to the airport calling from his cell phone.

Alex, two in hand. Both fuckin’ beautiful. Jesus, where does this guy find these babes?

That good, hey?

The best, only one thing. Both are very young. I mean, very young. I bet neither is over sixteen. But fuckin’ hot. Young and fuckin’ hot. Think maybe I can get a header in the limo? Huh, Alex, maybe?

Just get them here. God...

Alex flipped his cell phone on the bed. He mumbled under his breath, Shit. Girls are getting younger. He looked up to see one of the girls standing in the doorway. Her name was Andrea. She too, was from one of the new Russian States. She said with strong accent, New girls coming in?

Two, both young. Real young.

Young girls want to get out. They will do anything to escape the rape and torture

Alex understood what she meant.

I know, and I feel sorry for them. But, I have to be careful. Too young and I can get my ass in lot of trouble.

Andrea watch over them. Make sure they do right things. Alex good man. Take care of us. We take care of you. New girls will be good. Now, we have show to do. I will be with Mishka. She is with cameraman now. You come to witness.

Alex stood up and followed her to one of the bedrooms he had set up for a live show to be aired on the Internet. It was Alex’s newest venture and the money was coming in faster than he knew what to do with it. Now he had something else to worry about; laundering money.

One of Alex’s web sites, www. restlessteens.com, was the hottest porno site on the net receiving thousands of hits a day. It offered everything from x-rated photos of all kinds, live shows, hidden video cameras, live chat rooms with the girls and anything else he could put out there. Alex loved his new venture. He was untouchable. The deal was simple. He bought space on a high-powered computer server somewhere in Moscow. Law enforcement hadn’t found a way to trace his web site and find the servers. He offered monthly service to customers who wanted porn. Even if they used a credit card it was protected. And even if the cards were traced, the cards were billed to a company in New Jersey specializing in European Antiques.

Alex watched as the two girls did their show for the camera. He didn’t even have to go to his computer. He knew there were thousands of nut cases out there watching and jerking off. All he had to worry about was the girls were getting younger and could be a problem. A very big problem. Three of them he brought had left him for rich and powerful men who paid him handsomely. Now he was down to two, with two more coming. He hoped they were as hot as his friend said they were.

Three

Josh Silver had turned fifty. He didn’t feel bad. As a matter of fact it’s the best he felt in years. He just finished a wonderful sexual marathon with two lovely and sexy girls. As near as he could figure, both were under twenty. The girls were a birthday gift from a close friend, Alex Hammershan.

Josh smiled as he watched the two girls standing naked at the bottom of his bed. He still couldn’t believe what had happened over the past five hours. He couldn’t remember the last time he had so many orgasms. He got off four times and felt like he could go again. I’m getting my camera, he told the girls. I got to take a few pictures. Jesus, I got to have something to remember this.

He walked over to his dresser and took out a camera from the top drawer and aimed it at the two girls.

One of them said, How’s this? She reached over and put her hands on the other girl’s breasts. Josh gulped and began snapping the pictures.

The other girl purred, And this? She bent down and began kissing the other girl below her stomach. Josh kept pushing the button.

The tall redhead looked over. She laughed, Like this, huh Josh? You’re pecker’s startin’ to rise up again.

Josh smiled and walked closer, still taking pictures. One of the girls laughed and said, Goddamn, you must have something going on. Fucking dick is getting’ hard again. You sure you’re fifty? With that she grabbed his hard-on and yanked it into her mouth. Josh looked down and snapped another picture. He wasn’t sure if this was the first porno he had taken of himself. He didn’t care. All he knew he was about to climax one more time... and he loved it.

THE PHONE RANG, WAKING Josh. He fumbled for the portable hand-set, and mumbled, Hey.

Josh, Alex here. Man, heard you got the full treatment. Heard you never went soft. Viagra, huh?

Josh shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. He said softly, Thanks for the gift. You’re the best, Alex. Where do you find these ladies?

They’re all over. It takes a special way of bringing them around. I got this gift, you know.

Yeah, and a penthouse and a Jag convertible.

Toys, my friend. Just toys. It’s the way I articulate captures them.

One of them spoke with an accent I couldn’t recognize. Where’s she from?

One of those new Russian states. Hell, I don’t know.

She was fucking fantastic.

Only the best for you. You’ve been a good friend for years. You stuck with me during that bullshit drug deal that was a bullshit set-up.

Well, all I got to say, is it was some wild ride. Hey, coming by the club?

Maybe later this week. I’ll keep in touch, see ya’.

Josh said good-bye and looked at the clock. It was past six PM. He had to get ready to go to his club.

Four

Ihad hit rock bottom ...again. Art Decco, known as America’s number one private investigator, has crawled under the earth, alone and broke. I didn’t have a reason. Truth was, I didn’t need one. My ex finance, Ophilla Hallover, better known as Philly, thought she knew. She called my behavior childish. She said I couldn’t handle the publicity. She was right. Maybe not about me acting like a child, but for sure I couldn’t handle the onslaught of media attention I did not want or deserve. So what if the press continued to make a hero out of me. So what if the media went into a frenzy when the news broke Danielle ‘Dani’ Augusta had escaped the threat of death made by her drug dealing, wife murdering father. Art Decco, already a name the press like to banter around, had found and rescued her when her crazed father and his hired gun followed her to Las Vegas. So what?

It was news, all right. Worldwide coverage. The reasons were simple; Dani Augusta was the most recognized and adored teenage model in the world; a worldwide phenomenon. The story went this way. Dani ran after she overhead a conversation between her father and her brother. Dear old dad was buying drugs and her brother was distributing them. She also thought she overheard him say he killed their mother. Soon after, he hired me to find her, claiming she went into hiding to escape the media rush. Something she had done before. Only this time, Dani didn’t tell her father where she was. He convinced me he was genuinely concerned for her safety.

I bought into his story and tracked her to