Notel

A weary family checks into a motel.

The Notel Cartel is a family consortium for human trafficking. They abduct women for prostitution, harvest their men for body parts, and sell their kids. For many of their victims, trouble starts at the local inn, the Notel Motel.

You’ve heard of the ’no-tell motel’ where cheaters go to have fun. It’s like in Las Vegas, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. What happens at the Notel, stays at the Notel. That’s because guests check-in, but they don’t check-out.

The corrupt county sheriff Bubba Notel heads up the family cartel. The profits are lucrative.

Excerpt: ＂We’ve been on the road all day, honey. I’m beat. We’re in the middle of nowhere, low on gas.＂

＂You want me to drive, sweetie?＂

＂Hell no. You wrecked our last car.＂

＂How about me, Daddy? I got my learner’s permit.＂

＂Not just now, Mary Lou. It’s dark out, maybe in the morning.＂

＂Oh look, Dermot. There’s a place up ahead, the Notel Motel. Rooms ＄9.99. Free cable TV, pool, spa, steam room.＂

＂Sounds too good to be true. Something’s gotta be wrong with it. Why else would the sign say Vacancy, and there are no cars at all in the parking lot?＂

＂Daddy, the place looks kinda dark and dreary, but it’s got a gas pump with a car wash, and they serve food too. Sign says no gas 100 miles.＂

＂Okay, next stop the Notel Motel.＂

＂Good evening, folks. I’m Betty Bates. This is my husband Master.＂

＂Master Bates? Seriously?＂ said Mary Lou with her usual tone of teen rebellion and rudeness. ＂Hey, I can’t get a cell signal.＂

＂No tower here, sweetie. It’s part of the appeal.＂A collection of out-of-state license plates adorned the back wall.

＂It’s the three of us, plus two young ones in the car. We’ll need two rooms.＂

＂You can have rooms 1 and 2. Everything here is cash only.＂It had to be because that way there was no proof the visitors were ever there.* * *

＂There a problem?＂

＂Yes, there’s a problem! My younger children were kidnapped, my older daughter is hanging by her wrists in the motel room. I’m calling the sheriff!＂

＂No phone.＂

＂I’ll drive!＂ He turned around to notice his automobile missing. ＂Where’s my damn car?＂- - -

＂That’s my license plate!＂

＂Yeah, I know. It’s all that’s left of your car. Cousin Elroy has a chop-shop, kept the parts. Another cousin has a junkyard. The remnants of your automobile are scheduled to go into the cruncher this afternoon, then will be sold for scrap metal.＂

＂I guess I was wrong. Things did get worse.＂

＂You’ll be sold for parts, too, Dermot.＂

＂What are you talking about?＂

＂Kidneys, heart, couple hundred grand each. - - -

It’s the newest thing, subliminal audio. Years ago there was subliminal visual, pictures of people enjoying popcorn at the outdoor movies, micro-burst clippings so brief no one noticed them. The conscious human mind couldn’t detect them, but sales of popcorn soared. It became a popular marketing gimmick for everything, but too popular and soon illegal. This product broadcasts audio on a frequency too high for anything other than the subconscious mind to perceive. You make a verbal suggestion, similar to hypnosis, repeat it a few times, and it soon becomes the other person’s idea.