by Genovese, CM
“We’ll take care of the Russians,” I said. “You get us that plane. Day after tomorrow just to make sure we have time to get out there. I’ll have the satellite phone. I’ll get in touch, but day after tomorrow should be fine.”
As I walked back to my room to pack, my MC brothers hooted and hollered behind me. They’d been itching for a serious fight. Most were ex-military and hadn’t had the chance to let out real aggression in a long time. This wasn’t a one-off bar fight. This was a fucking war.
* * *
The truck could only take us as far as Coldfoot, which was over a 12-hour drive north from Anchorage. Like the show Ice Road Truckers, we made the trip in an eighteen-wheeler. Frostbite drove with Nugget in the front passenger seat. They would be returning the truck once we departed. Carousel remained at the clubhouse, but the rest of us sat in the back of the truck with our sleds. Six of us were making the trip. I couldn’t imagine there would be more than ten of the Russians on site. It wasn’t a big operation. It couldn’t be in a small town like Kalishna.
The village of Kalishna wasn’t even on a map. It was so undocumented and unheard of that Cracker had to dig into his old archived books to find a map with some of the smaller towns on it.
At Coldfoot Camp, along the Dalton Highway, we hauled our sleds out of the back of the truck, said our final see-you-laters, and headed west to a place the roads dared not go. We’d slept a few winks each in the truck, but the Dalton wasn’t known for being a smooth ride. Now, it was just after noon, and we had a lot of ground to cover.
This wasn’t my first time on a snowmobile journey, but it was the first one with a firefight waiting at the end of it. Every other time I’d been out only for the fun of it or to go look for good ice fishing spots with BP.
This was something else entirely. The boys seemed to be in good enough spirits.
“Y’all think Cracker was telling the truth about that BJ guy and his whiskey?” Beezus called out over the roar of the engines, already swigging from a flask.
No horror stories were going to stop any of the guys from drinking. Out here in the arctic tundra, liquor made you feel warm, and I only hoped they could keep their wits about them. Not only did we have this impending storm on its way, but we also had unfamiliar terrain to cover and plenty of wildlife scavenging for food.
Our only benefit was the Russians thinking they were somewhere hidden, someplace safe, where nobody, including law enforcement and especially not the Royal Bastards MC, would be able to find them let alone travel so far to interrupt their progress.
They were dead wrong. We’d be there tonight, and we were coming in guns blazing.
21
Cassie
One gigantic room full of bunk beds. Behind me, filthy windows set up so high we couldn’t see out of them without sitting on a top bunk, and even then, there was nothing but a snow-covered field for our view.
At the end of the aisles of bunks, there was a wall. At the left corner was an opening to the shower stalls and toilets. Three stalls. Water was lukewarm, which up here where we were, that meant it was practically freezing. To get wet in it would mean catching the damn flu as soon as you got out. Four toilets. Thin toilet paper. The kind so cheap your fingers ripped through it every time you tried to wipe.
In the opposite corner of the bathrooms was the main door. It was heavy. At least one guard was always inside with us. During the day, it was two most of the time. They sat at a table and played cards. They drank something from canteens. The more they drank, the louder and more aggressive they got.
Somewhere on the other side of that door was Palach, I assumed, and the big guy. Who knew how many. Including those two and Artur, I’d counted eight faces so far.
I took stock of all I’d learned since entering this compound as I’d begun to call it. If there was some way to get this information to Rain, I knew it would be helpful, but the more I sat around waiting, the less I was convinced he’d show up at all.
More than anything, I wanted to tell him how I felt. I regretted only being sexual with him. I’d never had the chance to sit and talk to him. He had a messed-up past, but I did too, and we could have made a great team if we’d been given more time together.
You will get more time together. Hang in there. Don’t give up. Rain’s coming for you. But is he, really?
I’d fallen in love with him. Insta-love seemed silly, like something you only read about in romance novels, but with this guy, sparks flew. It wasn’t lust. This wasn’t only a sexual desire. If that were the case, my need to be with him would have faded after having sex a couple of times. I might have wanted him in bed, but my desire to be around him, to have him hold me, and to hear about his day and share mine… those things would have diminished if it were a purely sexual relationship.
He’s worried about you right now, Cassie. He’s simply planning his move. He’ll be here. This isn’t easy. Hunting down these assholes would take time.
What if I didn’t have time? Who knew when they were planning to move us to Russia? The guys at the door right now playing cards would know, but they wouldn’t be willing to give us that kind of information easily. I’d have to get it from them.
“Where are you going?” Nia asked as I slid up from where I sat on the floor leaning against the wall.
“I’ll be right back,” I told her.
“Are you going to pee? Because I will go with you.”
We’d made an agreement to use the buddy system. We wouldn’t go anywhere alone. It wasn’t safe in a place like this. Not that we were strong enough to defend ourselves against these assholes and their guns, but it seemed they’d be more likely to snatch one of us up and drag us off somewhere if we were alone.
“No, I’ll be right back,” I told her.
“Cassie, don’t go alone.”
I held a hand out at my side to reiterate that I’d be right back and said, “Give me a second.”
This was risky. By approaching the guards’ table, I was singling myself out. So far, the plan to stay as part of the pack had worked. The girl who’d lied about being an MC ol’ lady never returned to our room. Palach’s threat to fuck me and then hurt me played over and over in my mind, and I had no doubt that was what happened to her. She’d been cut and then she’d been beaten, or worse.
“I win!” one of the Russians playing cards said.
I recognized the voice before I made it all the way over to them. It was Artur, and he’d chosen to announce his victory in English, which only pissed off his partner more. The other Russian, a balding man with one cheek that looked to have suffered a really bad burn, threw his cards onto the table and shouted something in their language.
He turned and saw me approaching. “What do you want, woman?” the bald guy asked.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your game,” I said. “I was wondering how much longer you’re planning to keep us here because it’s cold and we’re all hungry and—”
“You will sit back down if you know what is good for you!” the bald man shouted.
“We can’t stay like this tomorrow and the next day and the next day—” I prodded for information.
“Ha!” the bald man interrupted me again.
“You will not have to worry about that,” Artur said. “You will not be here that long. Tomorrow, you get to see my country.”
“Then you will really see what cold feels like,” the bald man said followed by laughter that sounded a lot like a dog barking.
“Sit down before you get into trouble,” Artur said, and his eyes shifted to the man seated in front of him. He wanted me to know that the guy was dangerous and if I didn’t sit down soon, the guy might do or say something that could hurt me.
“Of course,” I replied with a nod as I turned to walk back to my spot against the wall.
The door swung inward with a loud bang as the big guard stepped in. Now, I wished I’d returned to my seat much more quickly. His loud entrance caused me to look back at him without really meaning t
o, and as soon as he saw me, his eyes locked on mine.
“You,” he said with a finger pointed in my direction.
“I’m sorry. I will sit down,” I said, turning back to Nia.
“No, you come here,” he said.
“Ivor,” Artur said, “Palach said we do not touch the women.”
His name was Ivor, and he looked like an Ivor. He stared back at me with his eyes opened wide. Then, he turned and slammed both palms against the card table, making the entire deck jump and a few cards fall onto the floor. Ivor yelled something in Russian, Artur pointed at me and replied, and Ivor stormed out of the room.
Artur had saved me. If he hadn’t, I would have been like the other blonde woman.
“You may sit now,” Artur told me.
I nodded, too afraid to verbally thank him in case it might make him look weak to the bald man seated across from him.
I was only halfway back to Nia and Pamela when the door swung open again, and Ivor rushed at me. His boots stomped against the concrete, and I knew he was coming for me. Struck with a brief moment of sudden fear, I couldn’t bring myself to turn around, because I knew he would be right there. If I kept walking, I thought, maybe I’d make it back to the other women and I would be okay.
“Ivor!” Artur yelled.
Ivor wasn’t listening this time. He came at me hard and fast. His sudden grip on the back of my head stopped my forward momentum and practically tore the hair out at the roots. I fell to the ground, where he dragged me.
“Cassie!” Nia yelled.
“I knew you were the one,” Ivor said. “Cassie the motorcycle whore.”
“No!” I yelled, swatting at his arm, but the harder I slapped him, the more he dug into my roots and the pain was so immense I had to reach for my own hair and the hand holding it rather than fight back.
“Ivor, let her go!” Artur yelled.
Artur stood up and made his way toward us, but Ivor was fast, and he drove his fist into the throat of the young man trying to save me. Artur threw his hands to his neck and fell to his knees, fighting for breath. Ivor stood over him. One hand was wrapped around my hair and the other pointed at his fallen comrade.
“Palach says she is mine,” Ivor said, “and she is mine.”
My body lay on the ground next to where he stood. My head was between his legs.
“I’m not yours!” I yelled, as I took advantage of his legs’ wide-open position, swung one arm up, and drove my shoulder into his groin. Ivor howled and fell to the ground, clutching his cock. I’d nailed him so hard I thought I heard something pop.
When he was on his knees in front of me, I spit on his face and drove my knee into his nose. One hand went to his face while he swung a heavy right fist and caught me in the gut. I doubled over and fell to the ground on all fours. I couldn’t breathe. He’d knocked the wind out of me, and my breath refused to return.
Behind me, several sets of shoes clip-clopped into the room. Finally, I was able to catch a gulp of air. My throat unclogged and I let out a loud gasp as my lungs filled and I fought to control my next few breaths. I glanced over my shoulder to see Palach standing behind me. My shoulders and chest convulsed as racking sobs threatened to pour out of me, but I bit my lip and fought back the urge. These men wanted to see me cry. They wanted to know they’d broken me. Palach had made that promise to me. He would break me. Not this bitch. Not today.
“What is happening here?” the boss asked.
“You told me to take her,” Ivor said. “I was taking her.”
“It looks like she has taken you,” Palach replied.
A few men behind Palach snickered and Ivor’s face grew red with fury. I hadn’t broken his nose like I’d wanted to, but he’d have some bruising.
“Grab her,” Palach told his other guards. “If she wants to be on all fours like a dog, we will treat her like one.”
I tried to fight them off me, but the guards were too strong. One grabbed each arm, and I was forced to accompany them out the door, down the stairs, and out into the frosty air. It had to be midday and the sun was up, but as usual in the winter, it fought to break through the insistent grey haze.
The sun lost, and gloom claimed the day.
Cold wind hit me with a punch that was nearly as strong as Ivor’s. It wrapped around me and brought an instant chill to my bones.
“Where are you taking—” SLAP. Palach’s back hand hit me so hard it shoved the words right back down my throat.
My body flew through the air and I landed on the ground. On my hands and knees once again, I could only stay like this, trying to regain my composure. Crimson blood dripped onto the snow in front of me, melting it in the spots where it landed but then freezing almost instantly. My hands were already numb. It was so cold.
“Ivor, you take her first, but move her over so any of the women looking out the window can watch. They need to know what happens when you take our pleasantries for granted.”
Pleasantries? Take me?
My mind was a blur. I was still reeling from the blow to my face when I felt someone grab me by the hips and pull me against him. A hand came around to the front of my jeans and unsnapped my button. I fell onto my stomach and kicked my legs, but he was strong and was already unzipping me and yanking my jeans off my hips.
“Get off me!” I screamed. “Get the fuck off me!”
My past came back to me. The last time this happened. My mind raced with so many images I couldn’t keep my thoughts right. My arms flailed and my legs kicked, but the Russian behind me was strong, and he was hellbent on having his way with me.
I screamed.
I cried.
I wailed.
If any woman in the compound heard me, they’d never make the mistake of striking one of these men again. I was putting on the show these monsters wanted from me.
“Ivor, she is besting you again, I think,” Palach said, egging him on.
“You dumb cunt!” Ivor yelled, and a fist hit me in the back of the head.
My face crashed into the snow and darkness swirled behind my eyelids. The world had gone from zero to a hundred in a matter of minutes. Nothing seemed to make any sense.
Hands ripped my panties away.
A giant palm slapped my ass.
Fingernails dug into my ass cheeks.
The only way to describe the frantic pace at which I tried to crawl is to imagine you’re in a tight cave, but the opening is above you, so you’re crawling upward. The walls are closing in on you. If you don’t reach the opening at the top in a matter of seconds, the world will go black, and you’ll be trapped here forever.
I’d had that hole close on me once before, and I’d been trying to dig my way out ever since.
“No!” I yelled as I threw my elbow back and smashed it against his eye.
His grip on me loosened so I scurried away, too numb to even pull my pants up. They were around my thighs and stopping me from moving any quicker, so I yanked at them with one hand.
“She is like a pig!” one man yelled.
“Make her squeal!” came the voice of another.
“Don’t be a pussy, Ivor! Fuck her!”
The rest was in Russian, but those words came out with such a harsh sting, I didn’t need to guess at their meaning. They wanted me to suffer.
The men laughed.
A glance up at the window showed Nia and Pamela watching. One of them slapped the glass. An open hand clung to it, and I knew they wanted to help me.
The world swirled again. I saw stars. And I was so cold. Blood ran down my chin, but I was back on my feet and stumbling away from him. I didn’t know where to go, but I went in the direction of the runway. His hands grabbed my ankles, and I fell again, slamming my elbows through the snow and against the hard concrete. Shockwaves went up through my funny bones and sent agonizing pain up my arms and into my shoulders.
“Please,” I cried out, hoping one of the men would be decent enough to stop what was about to happen.
I
vor wanted to rape me. He wasn’t going to stop. He’d been given permission and was making it his mission to get the job done. His large body climbed on top of me, and I felt the warmth of his skin as his large cock slapped against my tailbone. But he wasn’t inside me yet, and he never would be if I had anything to say about it.
My hand slid across the ground and my arms flailed. I made backwards snow angels as I fought to get free. My fingers touched something solid under the snow, and I grabbed it, brought it around, and slammed it against the man’s jaw. He grunted and fell off me.
The men cheered louder. We were their gladiator games. This was how they had fun. These Neanderthals got off on watching women being taken by force.
Ivor had been so close to ripping me open. He wouldn’t have been soft, he wouldn’t have been gentle, and he wouldn’t have been careful. He would have torn right into me, and as I scrambled away once more on my hands and knees, I heard him moan with pain, but he was still alive, and I knew he would be back on his feet any second.
“Ivor!” Palach called out. “You better fuck this motorcycle whore. That is an order!”
I got to my feet as he got to his, and I saw something only twenty feet away. I’d noticed it the other day when I was first brought into the compound. At that time, I didn’t contemplate picking it up, but this time, I stumbled toward that tree stump with the firewood axe still planted in it.
“Uh oh,” Palach said, “she’s going for a weapon.”
The men laughed. Of course, weapon, or no weapon, I was no match for the angry giant stalking me. He would reach me, he would throw me to the ground, and he would fuck me. That was the plan, and no dainty whore could interrupt that.
That was what they thought, and that was the only thing working in my favor. They didn’t care if I reached the axe, because they thought I would never be strong enough or skilled enough to wield it.
They were wrong.
Ivor was hot on my heels when I grabbed the handle, yanked it free of the tree stump, and turned. His eyes went wide as I lifted it over my head, swung it downward like one of the smaller throwing hatchets, and let it fly right at his face. He didn’t duck. He didn’t have time. The blade of the axe slammed into the spot at the top of his chest, right where his throat began, and was lodged there.
