by Genovese, CM
The one in the bathroom getting fucked right now was doing her part, but her friends had let her down. The guard’s grunts as he fucked her echoed through the room. He wasn’t shy about it. He was getting the best pussy her town had to offer, and he didn’t give a shit who knew about it.
Crawling to the foot of the bed, I carefully stood up to peer out the window and down at the snow-covered runway below. I still wasn’t sure where these women planned to go if they were able to escape. Unless they were a ruthless team of military special forces members infiltrating a sex trafficking ring, I couldn’t imagine they’d be able to take out all the Russians. That clearly wasn’t the case since even the sound of opposition sent them scattering like cockroaches when the kitchen light is turned on.
These women might not have had a plan, but someone outside did. Two people wearing all black and carrying guns, shot across the snowy field and toward the runway.
The guard’s wheezing, growling, and coughing as he fucked the brunette dancer masked the sound of me leaning toward the window. The springs in the mattress squeaked, but I was able to glance straight down at the door below where I saw two more men come around from the back of the building.
One of the guards dropped in the snow. A pool of blood expanded around him.
It has to be Rain. He’s come for you.
The stripper’s friends might not have come through for her, but I would. If Rain was down there, I wouldn’t let him step into this room with an armed guard waiting to plug him in the chest.
They all deserve to die, Cassie. Kill every one of them you can.
With Ivor gone, the biggest of the guards wasn’t a threat any longer. Palach was the craziest. He was the one we needed to watch out for. Yet, the asshole in the shower right now had a gun, and I needed to take him out. Now was the only time that made sense.
And if this all goes south? If those people coming in aren’t here for you?
Then at least I’d die fighting. If today was evidence of the life I had ahead of me, this wasn’t going to get any easier. This time I was able to stop the guy, but what about when that plane touched down in Russia? What then? Was I going to miraculously find an axe each time some guy forced my legs open?
Do this, Cassie. Get out of here now and worry about how you’ll make it later. After tomorrow, you’ll be stuck in this world forever. Die in the fucking cold if you have to, but do not let these men get you on that plane.
The decision was made. Nia and Pamela were asleep on the ground when I slid out of bed and crept quietly toward the bathroom. The room was absolutely silent except the sound of the guard’s thrusts. He’d finish soon. I needed to make this quick.
Like the girls who’d crossed the room before me, I made my way through the shadows, having no idea what I was looking for or what I would find. I imagined they were hoping to stumble upon a gun, a knife, a walkie talkie, or maybe a cell phone. None of those things would be on that card table. I knew that.
No weapons would be left behind. No intentional weapons. But I could lock the door from the inside. That much I could manage, so I slid the bolt in place and snickered under my breath at the thought of the Russian guards having to break down their own door to get in.
I made my way into the bathroom, hoping like hell the stripper had been smart enough to turn his attention away from the door. Sure enough, she was in the shower, her palms against the tile wall, bent at the waist, with the guard driving into her from behind. His back was turned toward me.
She must have heard me or noticed me enter because she got louder herself, sighing and whimpering. I needed a weapon. A rock. Something sharp. Anything that could kill this guard or at least knock him out. Eyeing the toilet in the first stall, I quietly slid the cover off the back and held it up. It was heavy and I could only hope it would do the trick.
Saying a silent prayer as I walked toward him with the chunk of porcelain raised above my head, I moved cautiously forward. The girl sighed louder, and the guard moaned once, very loudly, and then slowed down his pumping. He was finishing inside her. It was now or never.
I stepped forward, squinted in anticipation, and brought the giant club down with the hardest swing I could manage. It smashed against the top of his bald head, breaking in half and falling in smaller chunks to the ground. The guard groaned, let out a gasp of air, and then fell on top of the woman. He was heavy against her, and her hands slid down the tile wall making a screeching sound. I reached out to help her, pushing his fat frame off her. He collided with the floor and lay there in a disgusting heap, his cock still sticky with his own cum.
“Who are you?” the woman asked.
“Your friends bailed on you,” I warned her. “So, I thought I’d help.”
She wore a blank expression, and I knew she wasn’t proud of what she’d let happen. She’d given her body up to the man, and he’d gladly taken it. Now, she looked back at me, and after a second, she tore her eyes away and glanced down at the shattered pieces of porcelain. She squatted, picked up the largest, sharpest shard, and turned back to the guard.
Straddling him, she raised the shard over her head and brought it down against the guard’s throat, cutting him wide open. Blood sprayed all over her, but she didn’t stop stabbing. She kept going and going, cutting his gut, then his cheek, then his chest, his arm, and finally, his cock. She was a bloody mess when she was done.
And that’s when the sound of bullets rang through the air. Rain was here. I knew it.
24
Rain
The storm had chosen the perfect time to hit. Gusts of freezing wind pelted us as we lay on a ridge, looking out at the three-story building with night vision goggles. This was the coldest I’d ever been in my life. It was the kind of freeze that gives you an instant migraine. The wind was that rough and its sting that brutal.
It didn’t seem to faze the old man who’d led us to the area. “This is as far as I can go,” Fred said. “I wish y’all the best of luck, and when this all goes down, please don’t be tellin’ nobody that ol’ Fred helped you find this place.”
“Not a chance,” BP promised him. “Your name won’t come up.”
“God bless y’all. Go help them ladies,” Fred added as he walked back toward his house in his snowshoes. He stopped once more and said, “Guess you were right about this storm. It’s gonna be a rough one. You better get inside quickly and stay inside.”
“We’ll be okay,” I said, realizing he’d never be able to hear my soft voice over the howling wind.
He turned and disappeared into the powdery air. We’d left our sleds parked near his tavern. Any closer and we would have given ourselves away. The wind might have masked some of the roar of the snowmobiles’ engines, but it wasn’t worth the risk. We couldn’t afford to arrive at the Russian’s doorstep with a whole crowd of them waiting for us.
Fred was a good man. He’d taken the guesswork out of it by leading us right to their backdoor. He wasn’t kidding when he’d said this village was tiny. A few cabins we’d passed served as the small businesses he’d told us about. Other than that, there was only this runway, an airplane hangar just beyond, and a three-story warehouse. That was where the women were held. It was where Cassie would be.
God, please let her be in there. Please don’t let anything happen to her.
BP shouted his orders over the banshee wail of the wind, making sure we each understood his plan. “Slitz, Oosik, y’all cut across the field and come in from the front, over by the runway. Rain and I will come around from the back of the building to this side closest to us. Pipe and Beezus, you two will come around from the other end and you’ll stay at the back corner. You’ll be watching for any backup they might call. Who knows, maybe some of their guys are holed up in the village. Find a spot that shields you from the wind and wait for us. Make sure nobody goes out the backdoor. Nobody leaves the building unless we’re dragging ‘em out.”
“Got it, Pres,” Pipe said.
Everyone else acknowledg
ed our leader. Then we started toward the warehouse.
It was quiet as we headed for the building. It didn’t surprise me considering none of these fucks believed they’d ever be discovered. In their eyes, they were invincible. They’d chosen a faraway camp where they would be free to do whatever they wanted with the women at their disposal. Out here, you’d have to be mad to show up without an airplane. Unfortunately for them, we were a little mad. Royal Bastards weren’t known for their sanity.
I was the first one to reach the door, with BP right behind me, and Slitz making his way across the field with Oosik. They’d been sent out front in case there was someone out there watching things from afar. We knew that wasn’t likely to be the case, especially with this storm kicking up the way it was, but all of us marching right up to the building with some sniper in a tower would have gotten messy quick.
It was better for us that we approached from different directions.
When I reached out to try the front door handle, it opened. It swung outward easily. These motherfuckers really did think themselves invincible. The village council hadn’t given them any shit, so why would anyone else?
Because you assholes are taking women right in our backyard. You took MY woman.
As soon as the door creaked open, a guard rushed out yelling something in his fucked-up, pig Latin sounding language. My ulu blade slipped from its pouch in one fluid movement and I swung my arm around, swiping it across his throat before he could shout another word. He fell to the ground and bled out like I did that day in prison. Each of these motherfuckers needed to go out this way. If it were up to me, there’d be no bullets involved. Every single one of them would die with a grin ripped open in their throat.
“You’re a goddamn ninja!” BP yelled. “You make it look so easy!”
This was easy for me. I’d already passed the point of getting another raindrop tattooed under my eye. That ink could be applied later. For now, I only wanted to see the ground slick with Russian blood. That, and find Cassie, get her and the rest of these women out of here, dice up Palach real nice, and wait for the plane to arrive.
Cracker would have someone on their way out here to pick us up. We needed to clean this mess before then.
Once inside, all was quiet for a moment. BP stood beside me with Oosik and Slitz entering behind us. The wind must have covered up the sound of the Russian’s shouting only a moment ago. His blood was seeping through the doorway and starting to pool at our feet.
“For fuck’s sake,” Oosik said as he pulled his feet out of the sticky, red mess.
Slitz chuckled and stepped over the puddle.
Straight ahead was a staircase. I leaned forward and glanced up to see the second-story landing above us. No guard in sight, but I knew there’d be one up there. To our right was a hallway that branched left at the end.
Outside, the wind reminded us we needed to stay indoors if we didn’t want to feel its wrath.
Whistling alerted us to the man coming from our right. He must have been walking back from the kitchen because he held a plate in his hand. Steam billowed off it in the cool air.
He was too far away to use a blade on him, and he’d noticed us. As soon as he opened his mouth to shout, BP shot him in the forehead. His plate hit the ground and served as the alarm we’d hoped to delay. It shattered at his feet and the big man dropped to the ground.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” BP whispered. “That wasn’t expected.”
In his defense, the guy had rounded the corner quickly and neither of us had given the plate much thought. The bullet to the head was reactionary.
Lights came on upstairs.
The bad guys were awake. Shuffling feet warned of their approach.
One ran down the stairs, and I peppered his chest and stomach with bullets.
“Careful,” BP said, “these fuckers could be anywhere. Slitz, eyes on the hall.”
Slitz dropped to a knee and held his gun steadily aimed at the hallway from which the man carrying his dinner had emerged.
Oosik had his sights on the stairs. BP and I did the same. That was where most of the noise was coming from. In seconds, bullets flew back and forth. It was an all-out war in close confines. With so much metal and cement, each shot that pinged off any surface sent sparks flying in its wake.
“Ah, fuck!” Slitz yelled.
Someone had peered out from the end of the hall and shot Slitz in the shoulder. He fired back and a body dropped. More blood. That made me smile.
“Motherfucker!” Slitz cursed and shot the body on the ground twice more. The guy was definitely dead.
We couldn’t see the second floor at all. Every time we climbed a few steps, someone would fire down at us, and we’d be forced to retreat. Noise on the second-floor landing told us there were quite a few adversaries up there.
I’d had enough of this shit. These cowards weren’t going to come out and fight, so I’d have to go up there and take the battle to them.
“Cover me,” I told BP as I stepped onto the staircase, making my way toward the second story landing.
A Russian leaned over the railing above and pointed his gun at me, but I shot his hand before he could pull the trigger. He was in mid-painful howl when I put a bullet into his lips.
“Heads up!” I yelled as loudly as I could as his body flipped over the railing and he hit the stairs, breaking his neck, before his body tumbled toward us.
BP stepped over him, but Oosik wasn’t quick enough. His big frame tried to move out of the way, but the body hit him and he fell backwards, stepped in the pool of blood near the door, and he slipped and came down hard, cursing as he hit the ground.
“I’m foocking cursed!” he yelled, his slight Irish accent coming out with his anger.
Banging sounded off on the second floor, like someone was trying to get into a sealed door. It was all angry shouting and pounding. I leaned forward to try to catch a glance at what was going on, but I couldn’t see shit without exposing myself too much. I wished like hell we’d brought grenades. Then again, that would be too risky. I couldn’t take the chance of blowing up Cassie.
Cassie. Kill all these fuckers and free your woman. Take her back to the clubhouse and seal the deal with her. Let her know how much she means to you, you hardheaded fuck.
“Palach!” I shouted. “Where you at, you pussy-ass motherfucker? Step out and go toe to toe with me!”
“You know he can’t hear you!” BP reminded me. “You’re practically fucking whispering, man!”
This wasn’t the time for his fucked-up jokes. But, he was right. My voice wasn’t loud enough, especially over all the yelling, banging, and shooting. Palach was in this building somewhere, and I would find him. I was going to rip out his fucking throat.
A bullet whizzed by my face and hit the wall next to me. Concrete tore away from it and hit me in the side of the face. Only fragments of the wall, but it bit into my skin. Blood dripped down my cheek from the spot at the corner of my eye. Half an inch closer and it would have blinded me.
BP fired at the guy who’d almost taken my head off, but he missed.
“Slitz!” I yelled. “How you doin’ back there?”
“Ain’t no action over here, brother,” he said. “Not anymore.”
An explosion rocked the second floor. It was so loud I damn near dropped my gun.
“Cassie!” I yelled as I was blown backwards, dropped my gun, slipped on the stairs, and slid down on my stomach.
BP was on a knee next to me.
Oosik covered his ears and seemed disoriented. “What the fuck was that?”
“Was it a grenade?” Slitz asked.
I peered back at them through concrete dust that had fallen from above, and I couldn’t quite understand it myself. A grenade would have shredded me, so I knew it wasn’t that. My ears were ringing so fucking loud I could barely make out more yelling and footsteps above.
“I think they blew open a door,” BP said.
“Cassie!” I yelled again.
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I shouldn’t have said her name, but I couldn’t help it. Nobody would have heard it anyway over all that noise. Angry yelling sounded off above. Whatever they were doing up there, they were doing it quickly.
We hadn’t even made it to the second floor, and there was a third. Little by little, we’d clear this fucking building. Every part of me wanted to yell for Cassie again, to see if she’d answer, to at least hear her voice and know she was okay. But, I didn’t want her used against me. If she came searching for my voice and caught a bullet, I’d never forgive myself. Or if one of the Russians found her because of me and used her as a bargaining chip. So, I had to keep quiet.
Oosik and BP followed me up the stairs with Slitz at the back. Pipe came in the front door. He’d been told to stay out back, but I couldn’t blame him for disobeying. If I knew my brothers were in trouble and there was no action happening outside, I would’ve come in too.
“Sounds like a helluva fight in here,” Pipe said. “Ain’t shit going on out there.”
“Beezus where he’s supposed to be?” BP asked.
“Yeah, he wouldn’t dare disobey,” Pipe replied.
“But you would,” BP said. “I told you to stay outside.”
“I love y’all motherfuckers too much to hear you fighting in here without me,” Pipe replied. “Ain’t nothin’ goin’ on out there.”
“You were given a fucking order,” BP said, “and you left a brother outside by himself.”
“I didn’t—” Pipe tried to defend himself.
“Listen,” I said, interrupting their argument.
The shooting overhead had stopped.
“What is it?” BP asked.
“Nothing,” I replied. “That’s the point. Where’s the shooting? The footsteps?”
I slowly made my way upstairs, expecting shooters to pop out and try taking my head off, but it didn’t happen. When I reached the top of the stairs, I said, “Something’s not right. Where did they go?”
