“There are rules?” He sounded disappointed.
“Oh, yes. Definitely. Follow them, and I won’t have to get all nasty about anything.” He stepped closer to Doug and the college boy got a little nervous. It was best to make certain points in advance. “They’re simple rules and they won’t stop your fun. But obey them.”
“First rule: Condoms. Use them. They’re for your own safety.” He looked at the gathered guys. “You all know where your buddies have been dipping their wicks. Do you really want to catch what they’ve probably got?” A few of them laughed. “That rule is so-so. If you break it, I’ll forgive you.”
“Next rule: Do not break the merchandise. Have fun, guys, but remember these girls belong to me. If I can’t use them when you’re done, I’m going to have to find new girls. I don’t like finding new girls. So no cutting, no beatings, no hot wax or nipple clamps.”
“That all?” Doug seemed okay with the rules.
Tom opened the back door of the van and urged the girls out. They were still in a stupor. “Almost. This is the last rule and don’t think I’m kidding when I say this, because I’m not. Top quality is what I promised and top quality is what I deliver.” He paused as Lizzie, Maggie, and one of his new girls, easily recognized by the boys in the frat house, stepped out and stared wherever their heads were turned.
Doug stepped forward and whispered in his ear, “Dude, these girls are hot, but they’re all fucked up.”
“Relax, it’ll wear off soon. Just wanted to make sure they were in the mood to play.”
“They won’t call the cops or anything, will they?”
“No. Now shut up and let me finish my speech.” Tom spoke louder when Doug nodded. “You probably know every one of these fine ladies.” The boys were nodding and very, very pleased. “You get to have your fun tonight. They’re yours. You guys want to talk about this later, that’s great.” Some of them looked like they wanted to go tell a few tall tales about what they’d done when it was all over; most looked like they’d already started having second thoughts. They’d still go through with it, they were guys and they wanted what the girls had to offer, but they weren’t ever going to tell anyone about what happened tonight; shame would stop the majority of them. He made sure he looked at the ones who wanted to sing in the choir when he finished his speech. “I have a few snitches just about everywhere, guys. They’re paid well to keep me informed of what’s going on. If I ever hear that any one of you has ever mentioned what happens here tonight and used the names of one of my girls in the same sentence, I’ll kill you.” He spoke calmly, but clearly and if he had to guess, he was getting his message across. The one who looked like he was still having troubles with the idea was the one he focused on next. He walked over to the kid. He was skinny as a rail and looked like the only way he was ever going to get laid was by paying for it. “I’ll do it slow, too. My girls have to go to this school, too, and you never talk about what happens here and you never mention their names. That’s part of the deal I made with them.” He jabbed his finger into the kid’s sternum and watched him wince. “You never even look at them funny in class. You want to talk to them, you’re as polite as you would be in church. You like what you get tonight and want to do it again, you call me and we make arrangements.”
The kid was flinching a bit, and that was good, but he still wasn’t quite scared enough, so Tom got in his face. He was close enough that he could count the eyelashes on his reflection in the kid’s eyes. “You understand me?” His voice was an arctic breeze when he spoke again.
“Yeah. I mean, yes sir.” Now he believed the kid would follow the rules.
“Good. They’re all yours. I’ll be back around one in the morning to pick them up. Make sure they have all of their clothes.”
Tom climbed back into the van and started the engine as Doug took Maggie by the arm and started leading her toward the house. “Oh, and Doug?”
“Yeah?” The man looked back at him, a little worried.
“Have a good time. Don’t worry if they scream, just turn the music a little louder.” He smiled and Doug smiled back.
Then Tom was driving away. Oh yes, they would learn their lessons. It had been easily three years since he’d worked out a frat party like this one, but the girls came back with a lot less attitude and worked just fine when it was all said and done.
Except for Sarah. Sarah had been a little too roughed up by the time the boys were done with her. Not physically, because the frat had played by the rules. Emotionally. Something about her fiancé being one of the frat brothers had just ruined her.
She’d killed herself a few days later. When they found her, she’d been sitting in a dried pool of her own blood. She’d written the word WHORE across her chest with a razor and then slit both wrists.
Sometimes he still missed her. She was feisty and liked to try to slap back when he started in on her.
He wondered idly if one of the girls from this party would crack that badly. “Maybe Liz. She’s close to burning out anyway.”
He turned on the radio and drove on autopilot. He had to get home. Lenny was supposed to be waiting for him. So was Lenny’s little girl.
III
Danny had just climbed into bed when the phone rang. “Better be good,” he answered as he lifted the receiver. The digital alarm clock reminded him in bright, cheery letters that it was just after nine P.M.
“It’s better than good.”
“Jesus, Richie, I was actually gonna sleep tonight.”
“Not anymore. Get your ass out of bed.”
“Are you serious?”
“Danny, you’re whining. You sound like a baby when you do that.”
“You sound too happy. What happened?” He sat up in the bed and reached for his pants. They were already dirty, but he didn’t care.
“My buddy made a mistake.” Oh yes, Boyd was sounding far too happy.
“Who? Tommy?”
“Who else? Get dressed. We’re gonna go bust his ass.”
“You’re lucky. I’ve been wanting a good reason to slap him around. He
is
gonna resist, right?”
“Hell yes, he’s gonna resist. Danny Boy, I can bet he’ll resist all over the place.”
“Good, ’cause as much as I love you like a brother, I ain’t getting dressed if he isn’t resisting.”
“You can arrest him just as good in your pajamas.”
“Joke’s on you. I don’t wear pajamas.”
“Please tell me you wear something.”
“I could, but I’d be lying.” He slipped the pants over his bare skin. He didn’t have time for underwear.
“Next time, lie to me.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
“Fuck you. Get dressed. I’m at your door in ten minutes, Danny.”
Boyd hung up on him.
Danny met him outside seven minutes later. Boyd had brought coffee. Lots of coffee.
“So what’s the scoop?”
“You ready for this?” Boyd was smiling a lot. It was a smile of pure piss and vinegar joy.
“Yeah, shoot.”
“So I get home, take care of the esses.”
Esses
was Boydese for shit, shower, and shave; along with sleep and sex, he figured they were all Boyd needed for true happiness. The sex part and the sleep part were rarities. “And I get a phone call from Newton over at the precinct. He knows I’ve got a hard-on for Pardue.”
“Richie, everyone knows you’ve got it bad for Pardue.”
“Whatever. Shut up and let me finish. Okay, so he calls me up and tells me he’s got some interesting stuff for me. Seems our buddy went looking to find out about who might have stolen all of his money.”
“Getouttatown.” Danny’s face split into a gigantic grin. “Somebody stole his money?”
“Not just somebody, Danny Boy.” Boyd was nodding his head like a bobble head Taco Bell mascot. “Seems somebody with a few computer tricks hacked into all of his accounts and made his life savings go away.”
Danny slapped the dashboard as he laughed, narrowly missing spilling hot caffeine all over his lap. “Oh, that little fucker. I gotta send him roses.”
“Yeah, you know he was pissed the other day. I guess he got his revenge. And roses? Screw roses, I’m gonna buy him a night with your sister.”
“He did look like he needed to get laid.”
“Yeah. Anyway, there’s a college boy named Ryan Harper. Seems he’s done stuff for Pardue in the past.”
“Yeah, I know the name. Small change, trying to keep his nose clean since he did six months.”
“Yeah, that one. Whatever he did for Tommy, it was the sort of thing that made Pardue figure he might have stolen from him or know how to get in contact with the thief. So Pardue threatened him and his girlfriend.”
“And?”
“He carried out his threats. Pardue didn’t think he’d go to the cops, what with him being involved in criminal activities himself. I guess he doesn’t get that some things are more important than being outside a jail cell.”
“Pardue wouldn’t.” Danny shook his head. “How bad is the girlfriend?”
“Bad enough, but she’ll recover.” The smile had left Richie’s face. He took poorly to people getting hurt. “Anyway, Harper pressed charges and so did the girl.”
“And we get to make the bust?”
“Oh yeah, baby. We’re the ones.”
“I’m glad you woke me up after all. Now I’m all tingly and excited.”
“Don’t go there. I don’t need to think about you that way.”
“My sister’s number is area code—”
“Shut up. Dickhead.”
“Oh, now you’re just being bitchy.”
IV
The boys were beyond excited. They were also discreet. There was a party going on and a lot of girls had already been invited to attend, but tonight was a special occasion, because Ray Lima, one of their own, was twenty-one today. Ray was the pet bookworm; he was also a confirmed virgin and needed to be placated from time to time. So it was party time and they decided to send Ray off in a big way. Three women, all class, and as a bonus, they got to have fun when he was done with his business. In the meantime, there were girls downstairs to talk to and enough booze to make even the ugly ones seem interesting for a few hours.
Doug Clark was done setting everything up. Three rooms had been prepared and each of them had little but a bed in it. They were normally guest rooms for when the partying got too rough. Tonight, anyone passing out had to stay elsewhere.
Tom Pardue was a god. He wanted to be just like the supplier when he got older, only not so ugly. The erection he was sporting felt like it might go away sometime next week and he wanted to score hard with all three of the girls. Hell, he’d tried to score with each of them in the past and had been shot down. Now he would get his wish and that was just gravy.
But Ray got to go first. That was the rule. After tonight, Ray would be a little less awkward around the girls.
He slapped Ray on the shoulder and smiled. “Go get some, Ray.”
The way the kid was acting, you’d think he’d asked him to suck off a shotgun. “Dude, it’s all good. They’re paid and they’re yours. Go have fun and no one will ever hear about it. Okay?”
“You sure, Doug?”
“Yeah, man. Go have fun.”
He walked to the first room like a condemned man, while several of the guys made sure no one came up and ruined the surprise.
Ray spent a good fifteen minutes in the room with Liz Montclair. When he came out he was grinning like a baboon. Doug winked to him while several of the guys made comments and cheered him on. Next up was Maggie Preston. The original ice queen and now he knew why she was always so distant.
The second Ray entered Maggie’s room, Doug went for Liz’s. He made it first and closed the door. Liz was looking a little sleepy, but she was willing and he was definitely able.
He took his time and went for the trifecta. When he was done, he’d forgiven Liz for dissing him all those times.
Lloyd Tanner was after him and left the door open. Lloyd liked to put on a show; before much time had passed, half the guys were in there with him and they probably weren’t waiting.
Someone was moaning long and loud in Maggie’s room, and it sounded like it was Ray.
He was just starting to grin at the thought of what she was probably doing to him when the screams started.
V
Maggie came to full consciousness with a complete stranger groping her left breast and trying to shove his hand into her panties. Whoever he was, he’d already rolled her jeans down to her mid-thigh level.
“What the hell?” She grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her underwear. He flinched as if he’d been slapped, but his other hand was still kneading away at her breast.
“Get away from me!” She slapped his other paw aside and started pulling her jeans back up.
Then the pain hit. Deep, dark pain that started in her skull and ran through her entire body. It wasn’t incapacitating, just annoying.
So was the guy standing in front of her with his mouth open and his pants around his ankles.
“You, you’re bought and paid for. I can do what I want to do.”
“You come near me and I’ll hurt you. I shit you not.”
He wasn’t looking like all of the circuits in his head were working. The erection in front of him had probably taken too much of his blood. He came for her again and tried to cop a feel.
There was no thought in the action, merely reflex. Maggie backhanded him and watched in shock as he spun a half circle and fell down on the ground.
The pain flared again, growing in strength. With each wave of rising discomfort, her anger grew as well.
Monkey Boy had done this. Tom had gone too far. The twerp got back up and stared, shocked at her. “You hit me.” His eyes were wide and outraged and she could tell he was on something. Every time some asshole around her decided to start frying brain cells, he seemed to want to come after her.
“I told you to stay away.”
“Fuck you. You’re my birthday present.” He seemed to think that made everything all right. What he didn’t understand was that she wasn’t in the mood for him or anyone else to touch her. The pain was annoying now and getting worse.