‘You want cash? I’ll give you a cut of the ransom, and you can walk.’
‘You want me to walk? Fine.’
‘Cool, what do you want? Fifty grand? A hundred? How much was the bitch worth? Two? I’ll give you two, think of it as payment for servicing her hot bod, man she was a peach, how did her titties taste? Was she a squealer or a screamer...? What’s up Rushe? You don’t look happy.’
‘He never looks happy,’ Simone drawled.
‘Yeah,’ Victor said. ‘You’re a superior sonofabitch... got some of the guys thinking... you a badge?’
No one said anything, and Flick wondered at this weird turn of phrase, then it hit her at the same time Rushe spoke.
‘You think I’m a cop?’ Rushe said, and damn if he didn’t sound like he was smiling. ‘Right... fuck.’
Flick heard movement and the crack of flesh on bone, then someone called out – and she was almost positive it was Skeeve. She would have smiled, if she had space to behind her gag.
‘That doesn’t mean shit,’ Victor said. ‘We all wanna hit him in the face.’
‘I’m a cop? Come on...’ Rushe said.
Flick took the time to retrace her encounters with Rushe. Consent, he always needed consent when they had sex. But she didn’t have a clue of the rules cops followed, what they were and weren’t allowed to do. Surely they weren’t allowed to... some of the places they’d had sex would be considered illegal, but for all she knew cops were above that.
Flick would be the first to admit that Rushe was better than every man here was, better than any man she’d met in her life. He’d come back here by choice, and that took cojones. But if he was a cop it made sense, he could be undercover for some reason. It put so many things in perspective, about why he didn’t want her hurt, about why he protected her, cops could talk dirty and have rough sex too... she was almost sure anyway.
‘Pride aside, you’re small time... why would I waste the time? I’ve been working with you for months,’ Rushe said.
‘Yeah, but you came from nowhere.’
‘You know the history of every man you hire?’ Rushe asked. ‘Fuck it. Give me the dough, and I’m gone.’
‘You wanna walk out that door when we’re about to make the big sell?’ Victor said. ‘You gonna walk away?’
‘Not worth this shit. You expect me to have some ID number tattooed on my ass? You think that’s why I don’t get naked with your whores here, who knows what shit they got?’
‘You fucked the Dell’s bitch.’
‘Yeah,’ Rushe said. ‘You think she was a plant?’
‘Could be,’ Victor swithered.
‘Fuck!’ Rushe said. ‘What is it? You want me to fuck one of your bitches? That help you sleep at night? That take your mind off my cock?’
‘Yeah,’ Victor said. ‘As it happens.’
‘Fine,’ Rushe said. ‘Give me a rubber and you got it.’
‘Pick one,’ Victor said.
Though their voices were still in the far corner Flick knew they were talking about this line of women on their knees, which included her. Skeeve sniggered but abruptly stopped, which must have been on a silent warning from someone else in the room.
‘Pick?’ Rushe asked.
‘Yeah. You can have any one of them you want,’ Victor said. ‘Except the one on the end, you can’t have her.’
‘She special?’
‘Not to me,’ Victor said. ‘But the point is to prove you’re capable of mixing it up so you don’t want that one.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because,’ Victor said. ‘You’ve had her.’
A rush of air warned Flick that someone had approached her. But when the hood was whipped off, Flick had to blink through her tears that prevented her from focusing her eyes. There were a dozen forms she could make out, the shapes of bodies, and while she was drawn to his, she couldn’t see his eyes, not through the scratch of her own.
‘Fuck.’
On the quiet exhale of breath, Rushe cursed, and she wanted to apologise. Flick wanted to tell him that this wasn’t his fault, and that he could never have foreseen this. They came to her; they came to get her, because they wanted to show him that they had something of his.
While she was here, they could try and control him. But being in the basement and with what she’d been told, she was to be sold, just like the other girls. Maybe the point wasn’t to keep Rushe in line, or even to have him screw anyone.
If the next shipment went out with her in it, then Victor would know that Rushe was capable of anything. Of turning his back on the only thing that anyone had noticed meant anything to him, or at least that was what they suspected.
‘We picked her up, stroke of luck, huh?’ Victor said, waiting for Rushe’s reaction.
‘You want me to fuck her, fine, where’s the rubber?’
‘Oh no, no,’ Victor said. ‘You can’t have her. She’s got rounds to do.’
Through the smear of tears over her lenses, Flick saw his fists ball and flex. He couldn’t lash out, but he couldn’t control this either. The door was locked, and they were outnumbered. He had to hold onto his indifference, but she couldn’t. Try as she might to muster any confidence, or detachment, from this situation, it only caused more tears to gather.
‘I think she’s upset,’ Victor said. ‘And the boys have been treating her so well too... you’ll find a way to cheer her up, won’t you boys?’ A collective muttering went around the room then settled again. ‘Shame you’re not into the merchandise,’ Victor said moving in at Rushe’s side. ‘You could’ve showed us just how she likes to be fucked.’
‘What do you want?’ Rushe growled, and though his lips didn’t move, she could see now from the set of his jaw that he clenched his teeth. When her tears cleared Flick saw his eyes trained on her, but the venom in them, the anger, made her drop her own attention to the floor. She was exactly what she didn’t want to be for him – a liability.
‘Isn’t this fun,’ Victor said, and Flick realised that just like Skeeve, and Glen, and all the others, Victor was enjoying this perversion. This was sport, tormenting Rushe like this. This was all just one big chessboard to Victor. Check.
‘What do you want?’ Rushe asked again, but Flick still couldn’t bring herself to lift her face.
When the hot copper built in her mouth, she couldn’t swallow down the liquid quickly enough. Inhaling made her choke, and with the gag in place she couldn’t cough out. Retching again, she lurched forward, but had no hands to catch herself on.
‘Take it off before she chokes on her own blood,’ Victor demanded, perturbed by her outburst as though it was somehow voluntary or contrived.
Skeeve dug his knee into her back, and sliced the gag from her face. Flick deliberately turned to cough the blood on his lap spraying it up to his tee-shirt.
‘Fuck!’ he said, and grabbed at her throat to shove her away.
‘You want to fight again,’ she snarled, still on her side on the floor. ‘I think I won the last time. You’re so weak, it’s pathetic.’
‘Why you fucking—’ His fist came up, and Flick closed her eyes to receive the thump, except someone appeared at his back and snatched Skeeve’s raised fist.
In an instant Rushe had Skeeve off his feet, and hurled him to the other side of the room. Rushe didn’t follow, he stayed in front of her, his boot heels less than a foot from her face that still lay on the black floor. And though Flick knew it couldn’t last, in that half second she found peace. He gave her the cover to relax, though if he knew it he’d tell her to get her guard up.
‘Everybody relax,’ Victor said. ‘Skeeve, you little shit, don’t fuck with the woman while he’s in the room, you do that once he’s gone. Which you’re gonna do right now, Rushe. You’re going upstairs... with Simone.’
Flick knew what that meant. Rushe wasn’t capable of forcing himself on a woman, and it seemed that Victor was happy to accept that fact. But Simone would consent. Perhaps for the men in this gang Simo
ne was a rite of passage.
‘What?’ Rushe barked at Victor.
Rushe hadn’t looked at her. He hadn’t turned. But his body remained between her and them, while Flick cowered like a wounded animal. Reminding herself of the strength she’d managed to garner before, Flick dragged her body up to her knees. Then with one shaking calf, and a screaming thigh, she got her weight onto one foot. Steadying herself on the wall, Flick knew she’d never be able to hold all of her weight, but she got the other foot under herself and stood.
‘You just don’t know when to quit,’ Victor said, with admiration glowing in his tone. ‘You’re gonna be a tough one.’
Flick kept her eyes locked on Victor even when Rushe stepped aside to see what the boss had. Victor wouldn’t break the stare, and so she wouldn’t either.
‘What’s the worst you can do to me?’ she asked, once again finding her smile. ‘Don’t send those sacks of shit to do a real man’s job,’ she said, nodding her chin in the direction of Skeeve and Glen, but Flick kept her attention on Victor.
‘The bitch has got game,’ Victor said, sauntering closer. ‘I get what you saw in that, Rushe, you’re a man of taste.’
When Victor approached, Rushe shifted into his path, getting his shoulder in Victor’s way to block her body from the boss’ proximity.
Victor drew his eyes around to Rushe while his tongue pressed the inside of his cheek. ‘You wanna scent the bitch?’ Victor asked. ‘You sure you wanna do that?’
While there was a battle of testosterone, Flick tried not to make a sound, but she knew Rushe’s position was impossible, just as hers was. Taking his sight away from Victor in an instant, Rushe stepped out of Victor’s way.
‘That’s what I thought,’ Victor said. ‘You do your business with Simone. The boys here will take care of the girl for you.’
Victor leered at Flick’s all but exposed chest, and she wanted to spit blood again. But this was the man in charge. If he ordered a bullet it would happen, and she couldn’t die until Rushe knew that she didn’t blame him. He would take the responsibility for her death onto his shoulders, and he’d never forgive himself. Victor’s finger touched the swell of one breast and traced down toward her nipple. His hands on her flesh made her nauseous, but Flick set her jaw. The tears came of their own accord, and she couldn’t stop that, but she wouldn’t cower from him, she was getting used to bullies.
‘Go!’ Victor hollered
The three hulky men came toward Rushe but he held up a hand. She sensed his reluctance, the room probably did, and Flick knew that he would hate to have them see his weakness, intentional or not that’s what she was. Simone held out a hand that showed a key, and when Rushe started toward her, the European put the brass into the lock. On the action, Simone looked back at Flick, more than pleased to be gaining an advantage. Rushe would screw Simone... but he’d never smile at her.
Flick didn’t expect Rushe to look back, and he didn’t. Simone opened the door, and Rushe had the three hulks at his back. With the streak of light behind the door, Flick saw that there were three men of equal girth waiting to walk in front. Six guys... Flick didn’t fancy their chances.
As soon as the door was closed behind Rushe, Skeeve and Glen were on their way over and she expected another confrontation. But they each started to haul the other women to their feet.
‘I’m sending him down,’ Victor said to Glen. ‘I’ve got no patience on this, it’s one or the other you hear me?’
She doubted he meant Rushe when he spoke about sending someone down. The door the captives had entered by opened, and Glen started to shove the other women back down the corridor.
‘Where are we going?’ Flick asked. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Rushe is gonna move on now,’ Victor gloated. ‘Which means you’re going out with the shipment tomorrow.’
Flick had known that was the next chapter; she’d been under no illusions about that. ‘What about Rushe? What happens to him?’
‘Pastures new,’ Victor said. ‘Unless...’
‘Unless what?’
‘You’re luckier than the other girls here,’ Victor said, moseying in close and propping his arm beside her head, letting himself lean on her while Glen closed the door behind him, Skeeve, and the other captive girls. Leaving Flick alone in this space, with Victor.
‘And you’re going to tell me why,’ Flick said.
‘Yeah.’ Victor touched her navel through what was left of her uniform, and he moved his mouth closer to hers. ‘I’m the man with all the cards.’
‘Let me guess,’ she said. ‘If I consent to join you in the room next to Rushe and Simone I get out of jail.’
Victor’s lips curled up into what was supposed to be a smile, but it made her ill to see it. ‘I get what Rushe saw in you,’ he said. ‘But I’ve got a dozen girls in this place who’ll lick my lollipop any time I want it. Not sure I could trust a woman with your...’
‘Fangs,’ she said, ensuring to show her teeth when she smiled.
Flick had once warned Skeeve that if he put anything unpleasant in her mouth she’d bite it off. Victor would get exactly the same deal, only she might not be polite enough to warn him about it ahead of time.
‘I can let you go back to your daddy, forget you ever saw this place.’
‘Why would you do that?’ she asked. ‘You went to all the trouble of abducting me... twice.’
‘I did,’ he said. ‘And fun as it was to watch Rushe on the hook; I brought you here for something else.’
‘Something else?’
‘If he’s a cop that might... stall my expansion.’
‘If he’s a cop you’re going to jail. You and your perverted friends.’
‘I’ve got friends in high places sweetheart, so don’t bet on that,’ Victor said.
Flick folded her arms, and rolled her eyes left to right, before pinning them on him again. ‘Except word on the street is you’ve got a bit of a God complex, and... not the goods to back it up.’
‘That what Rushe told you?’
‘Ah,’ Flick said in comprehension. ‘Pillow talk, you wonder if Rushe has a loose tongue. You want to know what I know.’
‘Could say that,’ he said, admiring her body again, but Flick was unmoved.
‘Problem is... when a woman’s had a man like Rushe... well, let’s just say sloppy seconds aren’t so appealing.’
‘He works for me,’ Victor ground out.
‘You’re not very sure about that, are you? What is it with you lowlife scum suckers? Why are you so threatened by Rushe? Is it because you take one look at him, and know you’ll never be the best, because the best is what you’re looking at?’
Victor backed off, and any genial emotion had been wiped from his face, and from his stance. ‘I thought we could be pleasant about this. You give me what I want, and I let you go... I see you’re not very professional.’
‘I’ve not been in the game long,’ Flick said. ‘But I was instructed by the best.’
‘You think an awful lot of the man who just turned his back on you. How do you feel knowing he’s up there fucking another woman? You guys partners? Colleagues? Tell me.’
‘If I was a cop, I think I’d have called for backup by now.’
‘Would you?’ he asked. ‘So why hasn’t your buddy upstairs called it in?’
‘How do you know he hasn’t?’ she asked. ‘One thing I’ve learned about your game is that you’ve gotta have the stomach for it. You gotta be a man who can hold his load... a man with balls.’
With a swift backhand, her head snapped to the side, but Flick only brought her eyes back to Victor. ‘You’re one smart mouthed puta, aren’t you? You talk to Rushe like that?’
‘Only when I want him to wash my mouth out.’
‘I can do that too,’ he sneered.
‘Oh I hope you try it,’ she said. ‘Please.’
A heavy clunk echoed in the space, and the door Rushe had exited by opened. Flick held her breath, hoping it coul
d be him coming back for her, but it wasn’t, it was John... and Shiv.
‘Do what you want,’ Victor said to them. ‘But she’s out the door tomorrow either way.’
Victor glared at her, then marched through his men to exit.
‘What do you two want?’ Flick asked, uneasy by how Shiv limped. The vengeance he’d wanted could be his now. The only thing between him and the victory of punishing her was the width of this empty room.
‘We want it all bitch... and we’re gonna get it from you,’ Shiv said.
Chapter Eleven
Flick didn’t have much time for panic, and there was nowhere for her to run. So when John rushed at her, then dug his shoulder into her belly to fling her over his shoulder, there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop him.
Shiv opened the door that Skeeve and Glen had used. But there was no way for Flick to stop the three of them from going in the same direction. Her attempts to kick loose were fruitless, because John’s arm just moved further around to clamp her legs against him. The corridor was narrow, but with her hands still bound behind her back she had no way to reach out.
Shiv followed behind sneering at her, and she knew that whatever was about to happen he was looking forward to it. Screaming out, Flick knew no one could hear her. Likely no one but the women still trapped in that room, who most probably envied her liberation. But she wasn’t free. Flick was helpless, and Victor was doing all he could to remind Rushe that he was powerless too.
Victor worried enough about Rushe’s identity to kidnap her, but to do it in the way that they had, with the van on the street, John and the others had to have watched her. They knew where she was. Flick had no reason to be on that street; no reason to work in that coffeehouse, or to go to the Italian place with Hayden. Which meant they knew where to pick her up. If they knew that then, they had to know that she wasn’t a cop. But that didn’t mean they were as confident about Rushe.
If he was a cop there would be some kind of protocol, some way he had to check in with whoever his superior was. Holding onto the hope that he would get a message out, or his colleagues would worry enough to come in looking for Rushe, Flick’s captors brought her to a halt and unlocked a door. A door that from what she could hear had threes locks and further bolts.
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