Katerina refused to move, then kicked Hugo’s shin as he grabbed her again. Hugo winced, then pushed her toward the security man who had little difficulty pulling her out of the room and back up to her glass cubicle. As he closed her door she spun around and thumped on the glass with her fists. ‘Let me out of here, take me back, now.’
The security man just grinned at her through the door’s window as he turned the key and the locked clunked into position. The next few minutes were the longest of her life as she tried to push thoughts of what would be happening to Jessica from her mind. She stared at the door and waited for Hugo to return, but when he did, instead of coming for her, he brought Jessica back to the next cubicle.
When he turned to leave Katerina banged on the glass. ‘Bring her in here Hugo. Let her stay with me.’
Hugo hesitated, then turned and stared at Katerina. Without saying a word, he unlocked the next room and led the girl into Katerina’s cubicle. Katerina just watched as he left. She couldn’t even bring herself to thank him. She hated herself for ever speaking to him, and if she could turn back time, she would stay quiet, watch as Anton cut his throat, and then spit on his dead body.
She wrapped her arms around Jessica and led the sobbing girl to the bed where they sat and hugged each other. She could not imagine what would be going through this girl’s mind right then. She thought back to when she was ten and how she knew nothing about sex. In fact, she had only learned about these matters during a get together with a few of her friends around the time of her eleventh birthday. Most had listened open mouthed as the oldest girl among them seemed to delight in describing in graphic detail what men and women do in their bedroom. And most had vowed they would never do anything so disgusting.
A wave of anger surged inside her at not being able to stop what had just happened to Jessica. Why was life so unfair, so out of balance, and so horribly cruel?
She looked up at the camera on the opposite wall. It was no longer panning back and forward. It was stationary and pointing straight at them. Katerina lifted her head and poked her tongue out at whoever was watching them. If only she were a man, a big man, as big as Hugo, she would tear them all to shreds.
32
MASON
After their brief encounter with Hugo, Mason and Natasha made their way along the corridor and through a door to the stairway. He paused to look up and down over the banisters. There appeared to be two floors above them and two below which were probably below ground and were most likely where they would hold the girls.
Before they could set off down the stairs a door below them opened and the sound of footsteps and men’s voices echoed upwards. Mason turned and ushered Natasha back into the corridor, and as the door swung shut behind them, Gustav appeared at the other end. They walked towards him and Mason said, ‘Sorry, we turned the wrong way.’
‘That’s not a good sign is it?’
Had they just blown their cover? Mason mentally prepared himself to attack.
Gustav smirked. ‘Couriers with a bad sense of direction, not a good sign.’
Mason breathed easy. Gustav had accepted their explanation.
Just then two men in black leather jackets escorted a teenage girl into the corridor. She was around seventeen years of age and frightened.
Gustav pointed to the stairwell door. ‘Take her down to the video room.’ He looked at Mason. ‘Come on my friend, I think you will like this.’
Mason and Natasha exchanged glances, then followed Gustav, the men, and the girl down two flights of stairs, along corridors to a darkened room with a four poster bed and a three camera arrangement.
The men led the girl to the bed, then after a nod from Gustav, they left the room. Gustav walked closer to the girl and placed his hand on her left breast. ‘This is what you will be transporting later.’ He lowered his voice. ‘So you may as well have some fun first.’
The girl looked at Gustav with a puzzled expression. It was obvious she hadn’t been told her fate.
Mason pointed to the cameras. ‘What about these?’
‘Don’t worry, they are switched off. You will have complete privacy.’ He turned to Natasha. ‘Come with me.’
Natasha waited for Gustav to turn towards the door, then took the photo of Katerina from her back pocket and pushed it into Mason’s hand. She lowered her voice to a whisper and nodded her head toward the girl. ‘Ask her.’
Mason took the photo, and when Gustav and Natasha had left the room, he turned back to the frightened girl. She backed away from him with a look of terror across her face. He checked over his shoulder confirming they were alone, then went to each of the video cameras to check they were switched off. Finally, he scanned the room looking for any covert recording equipment. Satisfied they were not being monitored, he motioned for the girl to sit down on the bed.
He tried to reassure her with a smile. ‘Don’t be frightened, I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Mason Cooper, and I’m not one of those guys.’
She seemed to study him for a long moment. ‘I’m Sofia.’
She sat down and he sat next to her but with enough distance between them to lessen the threat she would feel from being alone with a stranger.
‘I’m looking for two girls called Katerina and Jessica.’ He handed her the photographs of both girls.
Sofia looked at the photograph of Jessica first, shook her head, and gave it back to him. But after staring at the photograph of Katerina for a moment, she looked at Mason and nodded.
He pointed to Katerina’s photo. ‘You’ve seen her?’
She nodded again.
‘Here?’
‘She stood near me at the auction.’
‘Do you know where she is now?’
‘No, I think she was the last one to be offered for sale.’
He reached out and wrapped his hand around hers, and as he gave her a gentle reassuring squeeze. He had to tell her what Gustav had planned for her. But how do you tell a girl they intend to cut out her heart and transplant it into a rich woman in Paris?
He gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘I have to tell you something, and I’m only telling you this so you don’t panic when they take you to the medical room.’
Her eyes widened as she swept her shoulder length brown hair from her face and waited.
‘They may take you to a room with medical equipment because they plan to donate your organs on the black market.’
Sofia gasped. ‘Oh my god, so that’s what he meant when he said I was worth more in the black auction.’ She stared at Mason. ‘And you’re telling me this so I don’t panic? Is this supposed to reassure me?’
Mason held both her hands in his. ‘I haven’t finished yet.’
‘There’s more? What are they going to do, skin me first?’
Mason couldn’t help but admire this girl’s grit, being able to use humour when she must be terrified inside.
‘I’m telling you so you remain calm when the time comes because I will be there, and I will not let them harm you.’
‘You will be in the room?’
‘Yes, they think my friend and I are here to transport the organs, and Gustav, the guy in charge, has agreed to let me watch the procedure.’
Sofia looked at Mason with pleading eyes as the horror of her situation sank in. ‘Will you stay with me until then?’
‘I have to try and find Katerina and Jessica, the girls in the photographs I showed you, but don’t worry, they won’t start the procedure until I’m there.’
‘How will you stop them?’
‘It will depend on the setup. I can’t answer that right now.’
Sofia shook her head. ‘That doesn’t fill me with confidence.’
‘Trust me.’
She studied him for a long moment, then nodded. ‘I don’t know why, but I do.’
‘Where do they keep the girls?’
‘On the floor above this one in some rooms that look like they were used for individual patients when this place was a psychiatri
c hospital. But I don’t know if they’ll be there now because they left the auction room after they were sold.’
‘When the security guy comes back, I’ll tag along to see where he takes you. If Katerina and Jessica are not there I’ll have to try and find them, and if they are, I need to find my friend, Natasha, before I do anything. She’s Katerina’s sister.’
‘I understand.’ She looked down at the bed. ‘Are you supposed to be having sex with me right now?’
Mason nodded.
‘Should I take off my clothes?’
‘No, but when they come back for us, turn away and pretend to be buttoning up your shirt.’
Ideally, Mason would have wanted to get Sofia out of there so she wouldn’t have to go through the trauma of being prepared for surgery. But there were no windows in the room and only one door that led back into the corridor. He couldn’t risk being caught trying to smuggle her out.
Not yet.
Even though he knew there would inevitably be a confrontation, he had to avoid one before he’d located Katerina and Jessica and reunited with Natasha.
He scanned the room looking for anything he could use as a weapon when the time came. Apart from the bed and the camera equipment, there was just a tall cupboard in the corner of the room, no doubt where they store the equipment and maybe fresh sheets for the bed.
He went to check just in case, but when he opened the cupboard door he got a shock and Sofia let out a partial scream behind him. She must have been able to see past him to the gruesome sight in front of him. Slumped inside the cupboard was a man, around forty years old, with fair hair pulled back in a pony tail. He was in a seated position with his legs under him, his torso upright, and his head flopped forward.
Mason crouched down and felt for a pulse on the man’s neck, but there was no sign of life. Also lacking was any obvious cause of death. There was no blood on the man’s head, face, or body, at least as far as Mason could tell without moving him.
He closed the door and returned to the girl. ‘Did you get a look at his face?’
She nodded.
‘Do you know him?’
She seemed to think for a minute then nodded again. ‘I think he was the camera man. He was filming us at the auction.’ She pointed to the equipment around the bed. ‘He was using a camera just like these.’
A few seconds later, footsteps outside the door drew closer. Sofia turned her back to the door and tussled her hair. Then she pulled her shirt out from her waistband and fiddled with her buttons.
The huge man who entered the room was familiar to Mason. They had met in the corridor earlier. Mason watched for any adverse reaction, but Hugo just held the door open and told Mason and the girl to follow him.
He studied Hugo’s eyes. There was nothing in his expression to indicate the big man had connected Natasha with Katerina. They followed him to a large room with eight half glazed cubicles that must have been the single rooms for patients that Sofia had mentioned. As he glanced at the end room he drew breath. He immediately recognised the two girls sat hugging each other on the bed. They looked just like their photos. He had found Katerina and Jessica. Now he had to find a way to get them out of there along with Sofia, who Hugo had just locked in the room next to the girls. But he needed to locate Natasha first.
33
NATASHA
Natasha was nervous about being separated from Mason but had no choice other than to leave him with the girl in the video room and follow Gustav back to the office. Her skin prickled when Gustav locked the door, removed the key, and placed it on the desk before sitting behind it and instructing her to sit opposite him.
She couldn’t ignore his actions. ‘Why have you locked the door?’
Gustav glanced down at the key. ‘Don’t worry, I want to talk to you without any interruptions.’
‘Okay, talk.’
Gustav sat forward resting his elbows on the desk as he studied her. ‘Why do you think I told you about our operation here? And why do you think I let you see the ten-year-old girl in that room back there?’
Natasha shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I was testing you.’
Her heart leapt into her throat. She had suspected that all along. But she thought she had passed the test and now wasn’t so sure. If she had, why had he locked the door and removed the key. She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. ‘Did I pass?’
Gustav raised an eyebrow. ‘So far.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Gustav grinned. ‘You are not like the other couriers. I like your straight forward attitude. You seem unshockable.’
If he knew why she was unshockable he wouldn’t be so complimentary. She bit down on the her bottom lip to stop herself from blurting out, Yes, well, a few weeks ago I was tricked and forced into the sex industry in London, and over the last two days I have killed seven members of your sick organisation. And I plan on killing you after I locate my sister. As much as she wanted to see his reaction, she just said, ‘We are a product of our past experiences.’
He studied her for a moment then nodded. ‘I want you to join us.’
‘Join you?’
‘I want you to come and work for me here.’
She was shocked. She hadn’t expected that.
He stood up, then walked around and perched on the edge of his desk in front of her. ‘I need someone like you around here.’
‘Someone like me?’
‘You are young, pretty, and I suspect you have a heart of stone. Just what I need to help me take this organisation to another level.’
Oh, I have a heart of stone all right, but only when I’m killing scum like you. She took a breath. ‘You seem to be doing okay from what I can tell.’
‘Okay is not good enough. I want more. We cater to wealthy men with perverse appetites. But I want to ensnare men in powerful positions, and for that I need a honey trap.’
‘And you want to use me as the honey trap?’
‘You are perfect for it. You are gorgeous, not many men could resist you, and as I said, you have a heart of stone.’
‘And just how would it work?’
‘You strike up relationships with men in high places, preferably married with families because they have more to lose. Then you entice them with underage girls. Once we get them on video with a minor we can control them for life.’
‘What if I’m happy with my current role of courier, I think it’s risky enough.’
‘My guess is you need more. I sense that about you. You are looking for something more.’
Natasha smiled inwardly. I’m not looking for something, I’m looking for someone, but I do need more. I need to watch you take your last breath in this world.
He lowered a hand to his belt buckle. ‘You could earn a small fortune working for me.’
Her eyes followed the movement. ‘Let me guess. Would this role involve any extra responsibilities?’
He laughed. ‘Just as I thought, you are smart too.’ He parted his feet and stared down at his groin. ‘You should practice the skills you will need to use when trapping your targets. If your pretty mouth feels as good as it looks, you will hook them every time.’
Natasha’s heart raced. It was thumping so hard she worried he may be able to hear it. He thinks she’s made of stone, but she felt more like jelly as she realised what he was expecting her to do right there in his office.
He slowly opened his belt and unzipped his trousers.
She glanced around the room for anything she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing fit for purpose. She looked back at him and pulled a sharp intake of breath. He had lowered his trousers revealing a telling bulge in his boxer shorts. How the hell was she going to get out of this, fight her way out? Alone with this man in a locked room and no weapons, she didn’t fancy her chances.
But what other option did she have that wouldn’t entail giving him what he wants? Would he take no for an answer? She doubted it, but
had to try. ‘Please, Gustav, pull up your pants, you have got me all wrong, I’m shy really.’
He laughed out loud. ‘You are not shy, and I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.’
She had been right to doubt he would simply fasten his trousers and carry on as if nothing had happened. She reviewed her options again, cooperate, fight, or hope for a miracle.
She dismissed option three as too unreliable, option two was likely to fail, leaving her with option one. If her welfare was her only consideration she would refuse and take her chances with whatever happened next. But it wasn’t. She remembered why she was there. Katerina’s rescue depended on her and Mason, but she had been separated from him, so she could not compromise her own ability to find her.
She drew a deep breath and slid off her seat into a kneeling position in front of him.
He looked down at her and nodded. ‘Clever girl, I knew I’d judged you right.’
She hooked her fingers over the waistband of his boxer shorts and slowly pulled them down. With Katerina’s image firmly on her mind, she wrapped her fingers around his erection. Reluctantly, she leaned forward, and as she parted her lips, option three, a miracle, announced its arrival with a loud knock on the door.
Gustav tensed and shouted, ‘Not now, I’m busy.’
A man’s voice shouted back. ‘Open the door, boss, it’s important.’
Gustav’s reply was filled with anger. ‘I told you, I’m busy, whatever it is it will have to wait until I’m done here.’
The man on the other side of the door was persistent. ‘Boss, trust me, you need to hear this.’
Natasha threw in with the man in the hall. ‘You’d better see what he wants, I’m not going anywhere for a while.’ She winked at him, and hoped it would encourage him to postpone their encounter and also hoped the issue in reception would delay him long enough for her and Mason to accomplish what they had come for.
Gustav looked down at her for a moment, a long moment, then he pulled up his shorts and trousers. He took the key from the desk, opened the door, stepped out and closed it behind him.
Innocent Girls Page 19
