by Beth Abbott
“So, it’s one of the others that’s stirring shit up?” Danny scowled.
“Speak to Hannah.” Hollywood repeated quietly. “She may have already resolved whatever the issue was.”
Danny glanced at the door of the conference room.
“Ok, thanks, Hollywood. I appreciate your help.”
As the big American continued on towards the kitchen, Danny pulled out his phone and dialled Hannah’s number. A few seconds later he could hear her ringtone through the big conference room door.
“Hey, honey.” Hannah’s voice sounded tired. “What can I do for you?”
“Hi, baby.” Danny said quietly. “Do you think you could open the door and let me in? We need to talk.”
Hannah didn’t answer him. The call was ended abruptly, but a few seconds later he heard the door lock being turned, and finally his little pixie was staring at him through a crack in the door.
“I’m busy.” She said quietly. “Is it urgent?”
“Anything that upsets you qualifies as urgent in my book, Hannah.” He smiled at her. “But can we do this on the same side of the door? It would be a little more private, don’t you think?”
Hannah stepped back and opened the door a little, allowing Danny just enough room to step inside.
Before he had a chance to turn around, the lock was turned again, and she was stepping away from him.
“Baby?” Danny reached for her hand and tugged her back towards him. “What’s upsetting you, Hannah? You know I’m not leaving until you talk to me, so you might as well get it all off your chest.”
When Hannah stared up at him, Danny was shocked by how tired she looked. Tired and something else. Sad, maybe?
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she shook her head, probably trying to communicate that she had nothing to say.
“Honey, you have to use your words if you’re trying to tell me something.” He scolded. “I might be able to interpret your body language in bed, but this is not the same thing at all.”
Hannah snorted a laugh without being able to stop herself, but it turned into a sob, and before he knew what was going on, Danny was picking her up and carrying her to the big sofa, Hannah’s tears quickly leaving a damp patch on his shirt.
When she was all cried out, and the sobs had faded to irregularly spaced shudders, Danny leaned back so he could look down into Hannah’s face.
“Why do you think you’re not important anymore?” He asked quietly. “You were talking in your sleep, saying that you were ‘nobody’. Why would you even think that? Has one of the new team said something to you?”
Hannah shook her head.
“It’s not like that.” She sniffed. “I had an issue with one of the team yesterday. Something that gave me serious cause for concern that they weren’t suitable for this mission. The things they were saying, and their attitude were just completely wrong for this job. Anyway, I tried to raise the issue with JT, and, well, let’s just say I didn’t get the response I was looking for.”
“How do you mean?” Danny frowned. “You have to give me more detail Hannah, not half a story.”
“Ok, well, I raised the problem with JT and he shut me out.” Hannah frowned. “He said he knew the guy had an issue, but he refused to discuss it with me. ‘Staff confidentiality’ was the reason he gave, which obviously means he doesn’t consider me important enough to know what’s going on with the Guardians team members.”
Danny was stunned.
“Are you sure that was what he meant, honey? You’re the heart and soul of this operation. Are you sure he was shutting you out? Couldn’t he have just been trying to save you from worrying?” Danny didn’t believe it himself, but he had to ask.
“Danny, JT told me that staff members were entitled to confidentiality, and that he had a duty to make sure their information was only shared with the appropriate people.” Hannah sniffed again. “Seeing as he suggested bringing Drew in to talk to the guy, it seems obvious that he meant he considers the directors to be ‘appropriate people’, but not employees. Apparently, in JT’s eyes, I’m just another employee.”
“I can’t believe that, honey.” Danny protested. “Everyone in this company knows that without you, Alpha Company would be just another security company. You’ve elevated us to a position way beyond our imagination when we set up the business.”
“Yeah, but if you look at my employment contract, I’m still JT’s assistant.” Hannah argued. “So, JT’s right. I am just another employee.”
“Hannah, that is not the way people see you around here, no matter what your contract says.” Danny gave Hannah a little shake. “You are the most respected person in the company. Everyone knows what a genius you are, and they all adore you.”
“Honey, d’you think you might be a little biased? I mean, you are the one person I grant sexual favours to, so you’re obligated to say shit like that.” Hannah’s lips were twitching for the first time, and Danny was relieved to see she hadn’t completely lost her sense of humour.
“Honey, those sexual favours might be why I adore you, but they have nothing to do with why everyone else loves you.” He kissed the top of her head. “Just because JT decided to act like a first-class prick yesterday, doesn’t make you any less valuable to the company.”
“I guess.” Hannah didn’t sound completely convinced.
“Do you feel well enough to get back to work now, or d’you wanna play hooky and take off for the rest of the day?” Danny smiled suggestively. “You could treat me by granting me a few of those sexual favours you were talking about.”
Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.
“As much as I’d love to take you home and abuse your body all afternoon, I really do have work to get finished.” She did at least sound regretful. “The guys are shipping out on Monday, and I have to make sure they all know every bit as much as I do about the operation, before we send them in.”
“Ok, but I want you to promise me that if anyone else upsets you, you’ll pick up the phone and call me.” Danny stood up and carefully set Hannah on her feet. “Don’t make me come chasing after you again. You know that’s not how we work best.”
“I won’t. I’ll phone you immediately the next time someone acts like a total asshole around here.” She smiled up at him. “There’s a distinct possibility you may get sick of taking my calls.”
“Never gonna happen.” He guided her into the corridor and back to her office, where the smell from the flowers was almost overwhelming. “You have an admirer I need to know about?”
“Hardly!” Hannah chuckled. “I haven’t checked, but my money would be on JT realising that he pissed me off.”
Danny nodded.
“Well, ignore him, baby.” He leaned down for a goodbye kiss. “You just carry on being a genius and let the asshole wallow in his own shit. He’ll soon realise his mistake.”
As Hannah kissed him back with more passion than was probably decent for the workplace environment, Danny could feel the usual stirring in his groin.
He pulled back and groaned.
“And once again, I’m gonna have to try and work with a hard-on.” He mock-complained. “Thanks, honey.”
He stepped back, closing the door to the sound of his wife’s giggles, relieved that she seemed in a lot better frame of mind than she’d been in when he found her.
There was just one more visit to make before he returned to his Alpha Company office.
Danny walked around the corner and down the corridor until he came to JT’s office, relieved to find his former commanding officer alone.
He didn’t knock or wait for an invitation to enter, just walked straight in, and shut the door behind him.
JT glanced up from his screen, and Danny was convinced he saw the man pale slightly.
“Something I can do for you, Danny?” JT said calmly, and Danny had to give him points for smoothness.
“You know, if you’d asked me that ten years ago, and I’d been i
n this exact frame of mind, I’d have suggested you stand up, so I could punch you fucking unconscious.” He growled. “Luckily for you, I’m ten years older and wiser, and I appreciate that we have to present a united front for the sake of the business, our customers and our staff. It wouldn’t do to have you walking around with a couple of unexplained black eyes.”
JT frowned, but otherwise showed very little by way of emotion.
“I find it incredible that after all these years, and everything Hannah’s done for our company, that you could treat my wife with such careless disdain.” Danny continued. “But, I have no doubt that the version of events that I just dragged out of Hannah probably, if anything, downplayed how thoughtless and cruel your actions were.”
JT sat silently, not even trying to defend himself.
“So, I’ll just leave you with this thought, JT. If you ever treat Hannah with less respect than she deserves… in fact, if you ever upset her in any way, or you cause her another sleepless night or a flood of tears, it will be the last day she works for this company.” Danny growled. “And I don’t need to remind you how many of the security systems we offer our customers were designed by, patented by, and are still owned by Hannah. When she walks away, she’ll take everything with her, and won’t be coming back. And when I say everything, I include myself in that statement. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.” JT nodded solemnly. “For what it’s worth, I’ve been trying to apologise to Hannah since last evening. She’s not taking my calls, and she’s not in her office.”
“Try harder!”
Danny turned and walked out of JT’s office, extremely proud of himself that he hadn’t resorted to violence.
He prayed that JT would take his words seriously, as he really didn’t want to walk away from their family. But if he didn’t, and Danny discovered Hannah had been upset again, for no good reason, he hadn’t been kidding.
They’d be gone!
Chapter 16 – Niko
Niko stood in the empty factory unit, watching the truck as the driver slowly backed it in. When it had cleared the doors, one of Ilya’s men hit a switch, and a motor started whirring as the door lowered shut.
When it hit the ground with a low thud, the truck’s engine cut out, and several more of Ilya’s men stepped forward to lift the back door. Drago stepped inside the warehouse at the back of Ilya’s men, his short-cropped blond hair making him easy to spot, his face a mask lacking any emotion.
As light permeated the truck, probably for the first time in twenty-four hours or more, Niko watched the women crowded into the back hold their hands up to their eyes, to shield them from the sudden brightness.
Niko stepped forward to get a look at them, and her stomach rolled when she realised how young most of them were. It was almost as though someone had raided an after-school club and kidnapped all the students.
Ilya would be pleased. Young, inexperienced girls fetched a premium price at auction. He would make a pretty packet when this lot reached Rotterdam.
She looked closer and saw how bedraggled and filthy they were. Goodness knows how long ago they’d been taken, but they’d obviously had no access to soap and water since. They would need to be scrubbed before the next leg of their journey.
“How many?” She looked at the driver for a report.
“Thirty-two.” He confirmed. “Young and fresh.”
Niko swallowed down the bile, hard-pressed to stop the look of disgust and revulsion showing on her face. She was there as Ilya’s proxy, and as such, she needed to at least try and look as though she supported the business he ran. It wouldn’t do to let anyone know that given half a chance she would shoot the lot of them, Ilya’s men, and the seller’s crew, and release the women so they could go back to their families.
Ilya had laughed at her when she insisted that they look after the women they transported, but she made sure that his men kept their hands, and other body parts, to themselves. Niko’s argument was that she was just trying to ensure that the women fetched top dollar on disposal, but she doubted that Ilya actually believed her.
Still, he didn’t seem to care what her reasons were for looking after the women he trafficked. Not while he actually was going to get top dollar for them as a result of her interference.
“Get them out of the truck and put them in the back room.” Niko instructed the men closest to her. “Keep your hands off them, though. I want no marks.”
Drago smirked at Niko, having heard her give the same instruction dozens of times. She knew the men feared Ilya enough to not actually try and fuck one of the hostages, but she doubted that they kept their hands entirely to themselves. Still, as unpleasant as it was to be grabbed by one of those stinking thugs, it would be a whole lot worse to be raped by one of them.
As the women climbed down from the truck and allowed themselves to be herded into the small former factory unit, Niko saw one of the older women glance around at all the faces in the room.
She knew the moment the woman spotted her, as the look on her face went from fear to disgust and loathing in less than a heartbeat.
Why did these women think that Niko being there was any worse than the men who were there? Because she was a woman? Because she should feel bad about their situation?
Who said she didn’t? Well, everyone, actually.
Nobody ever believed that she could sympathise with the hostages, and still do what she did. But she could. She had to.
Did anyone really believe that she was doing this job for Ilya out of a desire to traffic poor unfortunate females? Did they think that when she went to college to learn English, or even before that, when she was in school, that she wrote essays about what she wanted to be when she grew up, and in them she explained how she wanted to traffic women for slavers?
“Stop!” She instructed the men, who halted just before the older woman was pushed into the back room.
Niko walked up to her, towering over the woman by about six inches, and noticed the look of defiance waver as she realised Niko was heading directly towards her.
“Do you speak English?” She asked, watching with surprise as the woman registered her words, spoken in very clear English with only a slight accent.
The woman nodded her understanding.
“Good.” Niko leaned down so she was staring directly into the woman’s face. “Because I want you to understand your options here. You will take that look off your face, the one that told me quite eloquently that you hoped I burned in the pits of hell, and you’ll keep your eyes down and your mouth shut at all times. Is that understood?”
Niko waited for the woman to nod.
“Good.” She smiled. “Because I’m the only person here trying to keep you alive and keep you all from being raped by my brother’s men. Of course, if you prefer to keep sneering at me, I could always let the men take you into the office and take turns fucking you over the desk. It’s your choice. But FYI, they do like a challenge. So, the more defiant you want to be, the happier they’ll be when they get their turn.”
She watched the woman pale significantly.
“Good. I think we understand each other now.” Niko scowled at the woman. “So, when you get in that warehouse with the other women, I suggest that you pass on my warning. Tell them what fate awaits anyone who steps out of line.”
The woman nodded before being pushed into the room, and Niko turned around to see Drago watching her closely, his green eyes missing nothing. No doubt he was ready to report everything he saw back to Ilya.
Niko hated this part of the process. She hated seeing the women and knowing the fear they had. Fear of dying. Fear of being raped. Fear of the unknown.
In the last few years she’d learned to live with it, but none of it sat easily with her. It was simply the price she paid to keep her son safe. To Niko, Roman’s safety was everything.
Once the women were all inside the building, Niko followed them in. They were all huddled against the far wall, cowering away from the men standing cl
ose to the door and the mattresses stacked up in the corner.
“Listen to me.” Niko raised her voice, waiting until she had their attention. “Beyond the door to my left is a large bathroom, with showers. You will disrobe in here, leaving your soiled clothes in the bin in the corner, before moving into the bathroom. You will shower using the soap and shampoo provided. Some of you have head-lice, and most of you are covered in filth. The shampoo will rid you of the lice. I suggest you use it properly or the next few weeks will be miserable for you. Once clean, there are piles of clothes on racks. Take a t-shirt, leggings, jacket, and underwear. Once you’re dressed, return to this room, and make yourselves comfortable. You’ll be here for a few days.”
Niko turned to the men behind her, and noticed they were watching the women with interest, obviously waiting for them to strip.
“Out, now!” She instructed in Russian, watching the look of surprise on the men’s faces.
“But who’ll guard them?” One of Ilya’s men protested.
“You’ll still guard them.” Niko explained. “Only you’ll do it from outside. There’s only one door to get in or out of the building, so I have no doubt you can manage to guard it sufficiently to stop the women escaping through it. After all, it does have a lock.”
Some of the men looked to Drago for confirmation.
“You heard her. Do what she says, or you’ll regret it.” He confirmed.
Niko turned back to the women and spoke again in English.
“Make no mistake, if any of you tries to escape, or gives my men any sort of trouble, the consequences will be severe.” Niko warned. “For every one of you that causes trouble, I will let the men have that person and another two. Do you understand?”
Enough of them nodded for her to be assured that they would pass on the message. Satisfied, Niko turned back to one of Ilya’s lieutenants and scowled.
“You’re Bogdan, right?” She addressed him in Russian.
Niko waited for him to nod.
“Right, well, we’ll all be here for two more days before we ship out. Once the men from the auctioneer get here, we need to be ready to leave.” She explained, needing him to make sure Ilya’s thugs followed her instructions. “Do you think you can manage to keep your men from damaging the cargo for forty-eight hours? I don’t want to hear that any of the women have been molested, or I will hold you personally responsible.”
