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‘You do realize that any change in pattern now could raise questions?’
‘But you don’t HAVE a pattern.’
Samantha stopped following Carey.
‘Didn’t we agree that I’d be YOUR consultant, not the other way around?’
‘I think of you more as a semi-silent partner.’
‘So why let them think this was me?’
‘Insurance.’ Carey took her arm and smiled again. ‘Come on, you’ll get a kick out of this.’
Samantha managed to set one foot in the bedroom doorway before her breath caught in her throat.
‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.’
‘I’ve never taken out more than one.’
Samantha looked at the beautiful, half-naked unconscious man lying face-down on the bed, then she shifted her gaze to, and locked eyes with, the thin, shaking, white-blonde girl curled up in a ball on the rug.
How the hell do I sort this?
Samantha got down on one knee and pushed back a stray, sweaty strand of hair that had fallen down between the girl’s eyes.
‘How old are you, sweetie?’
The girl did nothing to indicate she’d understood the question, other than shaking even more violently. Samantha gave her a reassuring smile, leaned in close and whispered.
‘It’s okay; I’m a cop.’
The girl’s eyes darted from Samantha to Carey and back again before she managed to squeak out a reply.
‘Eighteen.’
‘And how did you get here?’
Tears ran down the girl’s cheeks. ‘I can’t remember. We were having some beers at the Blue Umbrella, and Tommy said he wanted to dance so we went and danced and then…he…came up and started trying to dance with us, asked us if we wanted to party, and Tommy said yes. I didn’t want to go butTommy…’
Samantha put a cool hand on the girl’s blazing forehead.
‘It’s okay, I get the picture.’
She got the picture, alright. Tommy was probably little Miss Skin ‘N’ Bone’s first boyfriend, and Tommy knew a good doormat when he was wiping his feet on one.
‘I’m scared,’ the girl whispered.
Samantha nodded. She got up, took Carey by the arm and led him out into the hallway, shutting the door behind them.
‘I understand ambition, but this was just careless.’
‘You don’t need to whisper - I soundproofed the room myself.’
Samantha rolled her eyes. ‘Of course you did.’
‘Is something wrong?’
‘Yes, actually. It’s all well and good to want to knock off two people at once, but you made two key mistakes here: they know each other, and you picked them both up from the same place AT THE SAME TIME. Can you not see why this might be a touch problematic?’
Carey only stared.
‘Both of them went missing on the same night; the first people the cops will go to for information are these idiot’s friends and family. The chances are pretty good that at least one of them is going to tell the cops about the club, and do you know what the cops are going to do after they’ve questioned the manager of the club?’
The corner of Carey’s mouth twitched.
‘Watch the security footage.’
‘Watch the fucking security footage. Then they’re going to zoom in on your pretty face, and some awe-struck teenage strumpet’s bound to remember you and in which direction you went.’
‘I made sure we left when the street was empty, and even if it wasn’t there’s no way anybody could make me.’
‘How the fuck can you be so sure of that?’
Carey stroked an imaginary hipster beard. Samantha was unmoved.
‘I hope you went full Grizzly Adams, because that’s the only way we’re getting out of this.’
‘Who?’
Samantha groaned and tried to come up with a famous bearded guy someone of Carey’s generation would know.
‘Full Gandalf, then.’
‘Oh! Yeah. I did.’
‘Thank fuck for small mercies. Alright, have you done either of them yet?’
Carey smiled. ‘Not yet.’’
‘You left her conscious. Why?’
‘So she could watch what I’m about to do to him before I do it to her.’
‘Poor girl. She never had a chance…never.’
Carey looked at her sideways. ‘Don’t tell me you’re feeling sorry for her?’
‘I feel for anybody who gets through life without a spine. Shut up and listen. You are going to do this here and you are going to do it tonight. You don’t have the luxury of a little cave in which you can store these kids during the day.’
‘This isn’t my first rodeo, you know.’
‘You’ve never taken on something on this scale before.’
‘And you have, I suppose?’
‘I have a shit load of experience, so you can take my word for it when I say that you need to be quick, quiet, and careful here.’
‘Ooh,’ Carey grinned, ‘quiet…that might be fun.’
‘May I make a suggestion?’
Carey considered what Samantha had to say carefully before he went back into the room. Samantha followed behind him, hoping she looked a hell of a lot more confident than she felt. Carey went over to a stereo in the corner of the room, put in a cd that was laying naked on top of the right speaker. He went to the girl and knelt down.
‘How often does he make you do…this?’
‘NEVER!’ The girl barked out the answer then immediately quieted down. ‘I wasn’t actually going to…he wouldn’t like that. He just wanted me to do…other stuff.’
Carey nodded patiently. ‘Okay, what stuff does he usually make you do?’
The girl looked to Samantha.
‘It’s okay, honey.’
The girl chewed on her lip a while, then answered in a tone that was barely above a whisper.
‘He makes me do things…dirty things…in public, and films them on his phone. His subscribers pay to watch.’
The girl pulled down the waistband of her panties to reveal three letters that were etched into the thin skin above her hip bone. It looked like it was done with an Exacto knife.
‘It’s so everybody knows who owns me. He says it’s insurance, even though nobody else would ever want me.’
‘But that just isn’t true.’ Carey put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, and she flinched.
Samantha shot Carey a worried glance.
Take it easy now; don’t be too eager.
‘I’ve seen his type before,’ Carey said, withdrawing his hand, ‘that’s why I picked you both out. I’d like to help you.’
‘But you’re cops.’
Carey shrugged. ‘There’s only so much you can legally do to guys like Tommy before someone bails them out. We’d like to see real justice done for a change.’
The girl looked moderately worried.
‘Are you gonna hurt him?’
Carey reached out and offered his hand again, slowly this time.
‘Would you care if we did?’
The girl looked away, thought about it, then took Carey’s hand and let him pull her up.
‘Hell no.’
Tommy the would-be pornographer was rudely awakened when Samantha tipped a bucket of ice cubes over his head. Samantha made sure she kept to the side of the bed, so as to give him an unobscured view of the show that was about to commence. His girl was standing at the foot of the bed, half naked, and looking as though she was awaiting further instructions. Carey pressed play on the stereo, then came up behind the girl and began kissing and nibbling her neck while Marilyn Manson groaned about being in love with a pretty pistol.
‘When was the last time you enjoyed it?’ Carey asked.
‘Never.’
‘Why’s that, beautiful?’
‘Because he can’t get it up unless he’s hurting me.’
‘How could any man resist a wonderful creature like you? You’re perfect. You’re everything any man could ever want. You’re what I’ve always wanted.’
Tommy’s face reddened. His nostrils flared.
Carey reached around and cupped the girl’s breasts with his left hand, reached into her panties with his right. The girl’s head lolled back.
‘Does he ever do this, lovely?’
‘No,’ she whispered.
Carey worked his magic on the girl until she came - all of three minutes - then gently turned her around so that she was facing him. Watching them kiss was like watching them fuck all over again, only slower. Samantha could feel the heat radiating off the boyfriend from where she stood. Carey took the girl’s panties off, rolling them down to her ankles and following them the whole way, then slowly running his hand up her leg as he came back up. He turned the girl around and lay her down on the bed so that Tommy’s eyes would be level with where Carey’s head was about to be. Carey gave the girl a quick peck on the lips and stroked her cheek.
‘Smile, honey; we want to give him his money’s worth.’
The girl smiled, shyly, as Carey kissed his way down her body, then beamed when he stopped at her boyfriend’s maker’s mark.
Tommy tried to turn his head but Samantha grabbed him by the ears and forced him to stay still.
‘You’re going to watch every second, fucker.’
Carey gingerly traced the initials on the girl’s flesh with his tongue like he was painting them on with a brush. The girl drew in a quick, deep breath at the delicious shock of it, then let it out in a long gasp when he bestowed his kiss on another part of her. The girl made sounds Samantha would never have guessed she had in her for the next two hours while Carey worshipped her. When it was over, he rolled her onto her side so that she could look directly into Tommy’s eyes while she was spooned.
‘How many times was that, Kitten?’
The girl smiled. ‘I don’t know…a lot.’
‘A lot,’ Carey smiled back,’and you deserve it. There are two types of people in this fucked up sideshow of a world: Victims and Victors.’
He cupped his hand under her jaw and gently turned her face toward his.
‘You’re going to be a victor, and do you know what that makes this piece of trash right here?’
‘A victim.’
‘A victim.’
Carey kissed her on the cheek and got up off the bed. He reached out to her.
‘Come here, gorgeous.’
The girl took his hand and obeyed. Carey opened up his dresser, took out a clean T-shirt and boxers and handed them to her.
‘The bathroom’s just down the hall. We’ve got candles and everything. Why don’t you go take a long, hot bath? You don’t need to see this.’
‘But I want to.’
Carey stroked her hair. ‘No, you don’t.’
A spark of recognition registered on the girl’s face, as though it had only just dawned on her what was about to happen.
‘No.’ She gave Tommy one last, furtive glance and rushed out of the room.
Samantha started shutting the door.
‘No,’ Carey said, ‘leave it open.’
‘Why?’
Carey smiled. ‘I said she didn’t need to SEE this.’
Samantha shook her head. ‘You bastard.’
‘She needs to bear witness to this in some way; it’ll do her good.’
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