“Stop! Nyet! One more move and I’ll actually hurt the next person who makes a move. Understood?” Rylie’s voice boomed through the small area. She shone her light across the dingy cellar, making note of the mattresses and blankets on the floor. She saw they had put a mattress up against a corner, probably to give a semblance of privacy for the toilet area. It was like something out of a concentration camp.
She saw the majority of the women huddled against the far wall, but there were two who were still lying on the floor at her feet, and two standing cautiously in front of her.
“Is good you hurt us. We prefer to die fighting,” the woman closest to her said.
“What?” It took Rylie a moment to remember her last words. She was appalled that she had actually threatened these women when they were just trying to survive. Then she realized she recognized the voice.
“Ophelia, it’s me, Sylvia.”
“You left us behind, and they kill Ursula,” Ophelia accused her.
Some of the women against the wall started to cry.
“We need to go upstairs. I want you to have a good meal, and use a real bathroom.”
“Really? We can leave?” Rylie didn’t recognize the voice, she flashed the light over the young girl with the others. She remembered her, her name was Ekaterina.
“Yes you can go upstairs, but no you can’t leave. You’re still prisoners.”
“We should stay here then. We not trust you,” the older woman next to her said.
“I agree. You shouldn’t trust me. But you need good food, and you need to get out of this hell hole. So I’m the best hope you have. So move your asses up the ladder.” Rylie was past the point of playing nice. It stank, it was cold, and some of the girls were shivering. She needed to get them food, blankets, and care. They must have been down here for the last seventy-two hours, ever since she’d seen them in Vancouver.
The sullen women began climbing up the ladder. The last one to climb up was Ophelia. Before she started, she turned to Rylie.
“What is point, we all die anyway.”
“You won’t. You’ll be sold.” God, she so wanted to tell her the truth, but it was imperative the girls believe they were going to be sold and acted accordingly.
“They kill Ursula. Mr. Klein take her in the middle of the night, and yesterday tell us she dead,” Ophelia said in a defeated voice.
“I will get to the bottom of this, I promise.”
“Mrs. Hess, we all die. You bad too.” Rylie couldn’t disagree.
“I’m the best thing you’ve got right now. I’m going to keep you alive and make sure you have the best care possible so I can make as much money as possible. I want you looking pretty, Ophelia. Does that sound like I want you to die?” Rylie watched as the girl considered her words.
“No,” she eventually said.
“Right. I want you alive, happy, and making the buyers happy. You keep those men smiling, and you will live a very long life.”
“Why do they buy women? I not understand.”
“They’re too ugly to get women on their own. They can only buy them. They will want to keep you happy,” Rylie lied. She knew many of these men, and some women were absolute monsters. She wanted those people to be caught and prosecuted as much as she wanted Albert Liu to go behind bars.
“Mr. Klein is a bad man.”
“I will take care of Mr. Klein. He is not the boss. I am the boss.” Rylie pointed the flashlight up the ladder. “Now up you go.” Rylie watched as Huan pulled Ophelia through the barn floor. Then she took one long last look around the hovel where the girls had been staying. They would not be back, not on her watch.
Rylie listened carefully and found it odd there was only silence above her. Something was wrong. So be it. She shifted her laptop bag around, and quietly disconnected the straps. The extra gaudy jeweled clasp on the top of the bag she’d had specially designed. Quickly she unscrewed the decorative bolt on the right side of the clasp, and that bolt proved to be the bottom of a lethally sharp stiletto that she slid out of a secret compartment. It never hurt for a girl to have a little back up.
She dropped the flashlight to the ground, put her laptop case and purse back around to her back, and slipped her knife into her boot. She climbed up the ladder, and a man was squatting at the top, waiting for her. All of the women were once again huddled against a far wall in fear. All of their courage gone.
He was amazingly handsome, and he smiled genially as he held a gun in front of his face as she climbed the rest of the way out of the cellar.
“Ms. Hessman, I presume?”
“Can I assume you’re Mr. Klein?” Rylie asked.
“I wasn’t told you would be coming,” the man said.
“I just found out three hours ago. Imagine my surprise that this hell hole exists. Liu wants his product in the best condition possible for the auction,” Rylie’s voice scathing. The man walked up to her, and before she could even blink in reaction, backhanded her across her face. Fuck, he was fast.
Rylie wiped her lip with the back of her hand, her hip hurting as bad as her face. She’d landed on her purse. Thank God her laptop was well padded. He stood over her, the gun pointed at her face.
“You will speak to me with respect.”
“I give respect where respect is due. You’re a piece of shit.” Rylie kicked outwards into his ankle and felt a satisfying crunch. Thank God, she also heard the gun hitting the floor as it fell into the hole. He dropped to one knee as she scrambled to get up. He grabbed her purse strap and jerked her backwards.
“Respect has to be earned, and I’ve just earned it,” he whispered into her ear. She struggled to get her hand down to her boot.
“Liu will not be happy.” Rylie tried to reason with the psychopath.
“But I will. I like keeping myself entertained.” He twisted the purse strap once, then twice then a third time, so it was now strangling her. “You are so much more fun to play with than these girls.” He twisted the strap one more time. Rylie tried to stick the fingers of one hand between the leather strap and her neck to relieve the pressure. With her other hand, she was finally able to feel the ball tip of her knife, she slid it out of her boot.
He twisted the strap even tighter, she thrust the knife backwards, Klein grunted, as the oxygen flow was completely cut off, and things started to fade to black.
“I brought the food,” Howard said. It was the last thing Rylie heard.
Chapter Seven
At least Darius didn’t have to deal with Brandon at dinner. Liu was a slave trader, and very likely a murderer, but Brandon was a slimy asshole who just grated on Darius’ last nerve. Having to spend time pretending to make conversation with him was just cruel and unusual punishment, with Liu it was different. Talking to Albert was like playing chess. He was always trying to acquire more information about Sylvia. Darius enjoyed the mind games. It felt like he was doing a sort of mental training.
Finally, after all the questions about Sylvia’s background, he started asking things that were easier for Darius to answer.
“So tell me more about the night you and Sylvia met, was it love at first sight?”
Darius thought back to the night in Houston, when Clint, Lydia, and Drake had met up with the lovely Rylie Jones at a posh hotel bar. Rylie had been pretending to be Sylvia, she had been wearing the fuck-me heels and coming onto Drake.
“I was definitely infatuated. She is hell on wheels, or should I say heels.”
Albert laughed. “I have found that many short women like wearing tall shoes. Sylvia has alpha traits, but then, so do you. How did that work out between the two of you?”
“My associate loved that aspect of her personality.” Not! He remembered Drake acting like a scared virgin because of her advances. She had certainly been playing full-on man-eater that night.
“I found that when you treat her a certain way, the tiger purrs like a kitten.” All it took was a foot rub, Darius remembered fondly.
“You se
em to be well matched. What are your plans for the future?”
“We’re taking it day by day.” Now it was getting creepy, he needed to shut this shit down. He didn’t want to be talking about Rylie anymore. Talking to this asshole about Sylvia was acceptable.
“Tell me about Brandon,” Darius asked, turning the tables. “Was it love at first sight?”
“I think we’re done for the afternoon. I will see you at dinner.” Albert stubbed out his cigarette. Ah, so sad. Darius had to work hard not to grin.
“I thought I might go out and explore the island a little bit. Go on a hike. Is there any place, in particular, you suggest I see?” Darius asked.
“I’ll let the security people know you will be outside. We have motion detectors, so you will likely trip them, and I don’t want you mistaken for an intruder.”
“How many security people do you have?”
“I really don’t like to disclose that kind of information,” Albert said as he got up from the table. “Rest assured, you’ll be well cared for, and nobody will accost you.”
Darius hadn’t thought it would be that easy, but he had to try asking. He went back to his room and made sure the audio jammer was still working. He also took the time to once again search the room to make sure no bugs had been planted since he had left for lunch. When he was satisfied he couldn’t be overheard, he took out his phone.
“We have eyes on her location,” were the first words out of Clint’s mouth.
“Where is she?” Darius asked.
“She’s in a barn in an isolated location, about an hour outside of Victoria. She went in there thirty minutes ago.”
“Is she okay?”
“The whole property has the foliage cut way back so you can see anyone who approaches. When the barn door opens, they can see a bunch of the girls standing and sitting together. They’re working on a way to get in for a closer look.”
“Good.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going for a hike. Liu has a security team and motion detectors. I want to see what’s on the other side of the island.”
“Be careful.”
“Tell Drake and Finn to take care of my girl.”
“Roger that.”
***
Rylie only threw up twice, a small miracle in her opinion. The smell of frozen pizza and blood would forever be imprinted in her mind as the worst odor in the world. She looked down at the dead man and managed not to tremble.
“Howard, get this cleaned up,” her voice was hoarse. Huan handed her a bottle of water that she gratefully accepted.
“What should I do with him, ma’am?” Rylie sidled away from the corpse and looked down at her hands. Hands that had now actually killed someone. She bent over and slid the knife from Klein’s body. Huan took it from her hands, and she watched as he rinsed it off with his bottle of water, and then dried it off with a napkin, and handed it back to her.
“You and Huan will bury him on the property.”
“And then what?”
Damn good question.
“Howard, I’ve got to assume you have some friends who could use some cash. Is that true? A couple you would actually trust?” The man looked down at the sawdust covered floor and then looked up at her and frowned.
“No, ma’am. Not enough. I can get my cousin Mike. I trust him, but that’s about it.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I can probably make some calls and get some friends of friends to come if the money’s right.”
“Offer what you need to. I need men here immediately. Have them bring building supplies. I want the farmhouse windows nailed shut, I want the entrances shut, and I want guards around the perimeter. Have your buddies bring plenty of food, blankets and mattresses. I also want some clothes for these women.”
“But ma’am, Mr. Klein said we’d be moving them again tomorrow.”
“Well Mr. Klein isn’t in charge anymore, is he?” she said sarcastically. She took another hasty drink of her water as bile rose in her throat.
“I think the women should bury Klein,” Howard started.
“Huan, there’s a gun down in the cellar, would you please go get it?” Rylie asked the man. She watched as he went down to get the weapon. When he reappeared, he handed her the gun, and she turned to Howard.
“Why must we always have a pissing match about my orders? I said you and Huan were going to do the burying. I can’t have these girls with calluses on their hands.”
She turned to the girls, who were finishing their food. She saw two squirming and knew they needed the facilities. Damn, a couple of them didn’t even have shoes. What in the hell had gone wrong in the last few days? How could she have let Ursula die? Calm down, Rylie, maybe she’s still alive, she told herself.
“I’ll make sure everything is taken care of Ms. Hessman,” Huan told her before she left.
“Follow me,” she motioned to the girls.
The two girls who needed the bathroom practically ran to the house. The others took a little longer, carrying the garbage from their meal.
The farmhouse was large, and she asked the women to congregate in the living room. Finally, everyone was settled.
“I need you to listen to me. Who can translate?” She knew only about half of them spoke English, the rest spoke Ukrainian or Russian. Two hands popped up, one being Ophelia. “Fine.”
“First. You’ll be staying here at the house for the next six days.” She waited until the words were translated. She saw looks of relief pass over their faces.
“Next, I have clothes, food and mattresses being brought. Is there anything else you need? Medicine? Anything else?”
Ophelia asked for aspirin and hygiene products. Rylie kicked herself she should have thought of that. “Can you make a list in English?”
“Yes,” Ophelia answered.
“I’m going to see about having Huan stay with you.”
“Can’t you stay,” Ekaterina asked with a thick accent.
“No, I can’t.” Rylie kept her voice firm and business-like. She saw a couple of the girls shut-down. So be it.
“You killed Klein. You killed him for us,” Ekaterina said.
“No, he was going to kill her, you dumb cow,” the older woman said.
“Stop! Do not question me. Klein needed to die. I am in charge. You all belong to me and Albert Liu. You are our property. If you want to be treated well, you better remember that.” There was dead silence.
“Translate what I just said,” Rylie commanded.
She watched as her words were translated, and all hope left the faces of the females in the room.
“I will stay until tomorrow morning, to make sure you have everything you need, and we have the people here to make sure you don’t escape. If you try to escape, you will be punished. Remember, you will not like it if you make me angry.” She took the time to look into the face of each and every woman and girl in the room. “Now, Ophelia, tell me everything that happened the day Ursula disappeared. Don’t leave out a single detail.”
It had occurred to Rylie that Howard should be used to digging graves, all things considered. The fact he wasn’t meant maybe Ursula was still alive.
***
Darius put on his jeans and hiking boots, and meandered around the property. About fifty yards from the house, he was pretty sure he found the last of the motion detectors. The last video camera had been twenty-five meters from the house. He checked his watch. He had three hours before he needed to be at dinner. If he ran at a pretty good clip, he would be able to get to the north side of the island and back. He’d stay in the woods, out of sight because he was sure as shit sure there were fucking buildings and something going on over there. He’d prefer to do it during the daylight hours first, then take a more leisurely perusal tonight of whatever they were hiding.
Darius jogged slowly for another hundred meters past the last motion detector, then he started at a training speed. Even though he had a goal in mind, he couldn’t get over the beau
ty of the forest. There was something positively primeval about the place. And all that green, with the sun filtering through the trees made everything surreal. He saw glints of white, purple and pink flowers on the forest floor interspersed by ferns the size of boulders. Darius easily hurdled tree trunks that had to have been there for a hundred years. It was eerie. It was beautiful.
After an hour, he was breathing hard, and he saw bright sunlight ahead. He slowed down, knowing he was coming up to a clearing. He considered all of his options and grinned. He creeped forward, and finally saw what he was looking for. He started climbing the perfect tree. When he got high enough, he was able to scope out the three buildings below. He’d packed mini-binoculars and saw that two of the buildings looked like cabins. Both had bars on the windows. Real welcoming.
The third building wasn’t a cabin. It looked a lot more modern. Looked like some kind of office building. He’d have to get a closer look. He sat there in the tree for almost an hour, scoping out the security measures. Except for the bars on the windows and the locks on the cabin doors, he couldn’t see any. It was like they expected no one to come to this side of the island. Still, he would be cautious going in tonight, he found that usually paid off. He looked at his watch. He wanted to get back to the room in time to get another report from Clint before he joined Albert and Brandon for dinner.
***
“What the fuck do you mean there was a dead man being buried?” Darius said in a harsh whisper.
“Calm down, Dare.”
“You tell me Rylie was limping and looks like she’d been in a fight, and there is somebody dead, and you want me to calm down?” It was a fight for Darius to keep his voice down.
“Obviously, she took care of herself. We knew she could,” Lydia said in a soothing voice.
“Don’t try to handle me, Lydia,” Darius said through gritted teeth. “Where the fuck were Drake and Finn?”
“This is an undercover operation. They couldn’t very well waltz on in, now could they?” Clint asked reasonably. But Darius was past the point of reason. If somebody ended up dead, that meant that it could just as easily have been Rylie.
Her Daring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 5) Page 9
