Explicit Instruction (35 page)

Shiv
fumbled his own weapon, and it fell from his fingers, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Victor pulled his trigger and the look of shock froze on Shiv’s face. The dark circle of blood on his head oozed, and Shiv’s body fell back onto the stairs, then clattered to the bottom landing with a thud.

‘Anyone else got authority problems?’
Victor asked, and Glen said nothing, while the Kid stood as still as a statue.

‘This is very tiresome,’ Simone
said, examining her fingernails.

‘You know you’re the only guy in the building she
hasn’t fucked,’ Rushe said to Skeeve.

‘You shut it,’
Victor said, aiming his gun at Rushe.

Flick saw the red in
Victor’s focus, and though she tried to move, Rushe held her in place. ‘You kill me, and you’ll never know where the money is.’

‘Then I’ll shoot your puta
. Felicity, come on round, don’t be shy.’

‘She’s not going anywhere,’ Rushe said
, using his strength against her.

‘Why’s she special?’
Victor asked. ‘One bitch is as good as the next, what’s different about her?’

‘She can suck a golf ball through a garden hose.’

‘With a mouth like that I’ll bet she can,’ Victor said, with a flicker of a smile, like he knew better.

‘You won’t find out,’
Skeeve stuttered. ‘You won’t find out, she don’t want you, you’re no better than me.’

‘Be quiet!’
Victor called.

‘No,’
Skeeve said, taking his shaking gun closer to Victor. ‘No, you’re gonna give me respect. You respect that dumb bitch, and you don’t respect me!’

‘That dumb bitch stands up for herself,’
Victor said over his shoulder.

The bang almost burst her eardrums
, and Glen jumped from his skin when the wall at his side exploded. Flick peeked around Rushe again to look for clues as to what had happened, and that’s when she saw Victor’s body on the floor, as motionless as Shiv.

‘You killed him!’
Glen exclaimed. ‘You killed our money!’

‘Rushe is
money, he knows where the money is,’ Skeeve said, practically giddy, his gun fell from his hand to the floor. ‘Rushe, can tell us.’

‘He can
, but he won’t,’ Glen said, because he’d seen what Skeeve hadn’t – Rushe with his gun aimed at the murderous weasel.

‘I told you no second chances,’ Rushe said.

Flick held her breath; every occupant of the room seemed to hold their breath, waiting for what he would do next.

‘Wait,’ Skeeve said.

‘Kick the gun away,’ Rushe said.

‘Boss, now—‘

‘Do it!’

Now he and Jansen were the only two armed people in the room. Flick stepped back from Rushe
, but stayed behind him. Glen and the Kid were still on the stairs, Simone stood at the bottom, and Skeeve remained in place, only a couple of feet from Victor’s corpse. Skeeve did as he was told and the weapon skittered across the floor to Rushe’s feet.

‘What do you wan
t to do with him?’ Simone asked. It seemed she was positively aroused by this turn of events.

‘We’re gonna have a little fun,’ Rushe said.

His focus remained on Skeeve throughout, whose pallor was now transparent. ‘But... bu—bu... you’re the boss.’

‘That’s right,’ Rushe said.

‘Are you going to shoot him?’ Simone gushed.

‘A gunshot’s the least of his worries now,’ Rushe said.

Still the room remained in suspended animation. Flick wasn’t entirely sure what to do. Rushe had all of the power here. Skeeve was terrified, and she couldn’t imagine that Glen or the Kid felt better. But he didn’t move; he stood, infinitely patient, as Jansen had said. Letting all of their imaginations make what they would of the situation, not giving a thing away.

Being in Rushe’s
presence could be intimidating enough at the best of times. But here he stood letting everyone get used to the fact that there was a new sheriff in town.

Flick consi
dered her future as a brawd in this intense environment. Skeeve didn’t blink, but a dark stain appeared on his jeans, and filtered down one leg, he’d wet himself.

Simone snorted in disgust, and Jansen lau
ghed, but still Rushe didn’t move. Flick wondered at his facial expression, but she wouldn’t interrupt him at work.

‘Get the women out of here,’ Rushe said. That bassy tone came from his chest, from deep, low in
side him, that cloudy place she’d witnessed herself.

Flick heard what he said
, but only when Jansen stepped backward did she realise that Rushe meant her.

‘I’m not leaving,’ Flick declared
, maybe the only entirely unintimidated party left in the building. Rushe might have remained static, but she heard the hiss of breath he drew through his teeth. ‘I’m not leaving without you.’

‘Isn’t she precious,’ Simone mocked, and tittered
at Flick’s seeming naivety.

Flick
knew exactly what could happen under this roof. But Rushe was in charge now, and with him at the helm Flick had nothing to fear.

‘I have work to do,’ Rushe growled.

‘I’m not leaving either.’

All except Rushe turned to the unexpected voice that came from the back. Serendipity was on her feet, she was in the lobby with them. When Flick had first seen the woman she’d looked frail in her catatonic state.
Now she stood tall, though perhaps not vibrant, there was a determination in the set of her jaw, and the width of her shoulders that Flick respected, and could identify with.

‘
Serendipity, baby,’ Jansen said, lowering his weapon to approach her.

‘No,’ Serendipity said. ‘They’ve been in control of me for
months; let’s see how they like it.’

‘You heard the woman,’ Rushe said
, and ticked the gun toward the stairs. ‘Everyone up.’

‘Up,’ Flick said.

Glen and the Kid complied, and with an eye roll Simone did too. Skeeve was visibly reluctant to turn his back on Rushe, which said a lot about the little weasel because Rushe wouldn’t shoot a man in the back.

Serendipity strode on, and Jansen stuck to her side. She hadn’t taken long to assess the situation, but now that she had the woman seemed to have ideas. Jansen kept his gun on those in front but whispered to Serendipity on the ascent.

‘What are you going to do with them?’ Flick asked.

‘You stay down here,’ Rushe said, watching the group on its journey
, but remaining at her side. He didn’t even look at her when he stroked her hair. Then he went for the stairs with his gun trained ahead.

‘Like hell I will,’ Flick said, hurrying to join him.

Rushe stopped on the stairs, and the others went out of view, which clearly perturbed him. ‘You don’t want to see this.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘No one touches you,’ he said, letting his gaze touch hers. ‘I love you, Kitten, god damn you woman, I love you.’

‘I know.’ Flick took his empty hand.

‘I’ll hurt anyone who hurts you,’ Rushe said. ‘There will be consequences for anyone who tries to wrong you.’

‘Rushe,’ Flick said, moving in closer to him. ‘
You can’t ask me to walk away from you. I won’t do it.’

With another grumble
, he bent his arm around her neck, over her shoulders, and kept her at his side when they started up the stairs. They followed the corridor, passing the room Flick had been kept captive in, and went straight through the double doors at the end, into Victor’s office.

Jansen was herding the four hostages into the side room that Flick had been introduced to by John. Serendipity sat on the couch staring into the
fire that was dying out. Rushe made a move to follow Jansen when he disappeared through the black velvet curtain, but Flick caught Rushe’s arm.

‘Please don’t get hurt,’ Flick murmured
, knowing that Rushe wouldn’t be happy at the implication that he might be fallible.

As she would’ve expected he mu
ttered to himself. Though the strength of his angry brow remained in place, and the space behind his eyes appeared void, Rushe ducked to press his mouth onto hers. Briefly enough to reassure her, without taking him from the task at hand. Flick stayed rooted to the spot, and watched him vanish through the drape.

Realising that at this point there was nothing for Flick to do
, she crossed to sit on the couch with Serendipity. The woman didn’t say anything, but Flick got a good look at her gaunt appearance. Colour smudged her dirty skin, bruises in various stages of their cycle: some new, some not. Closing herself in her own embrace Serendipity kept staring, but this wasn’t the vacant stare Flick had first seen in Serendipity’s eyes, this was a woman with vengeance in mind.

‘I know where there are clothes,’ Flick said, hoping that there would still be things in the drawers of her
previous enclosure. ‘There’s a shower too if—‘

‘I want to make them pay.’

‘I know,’ Flick said. ‘I can understand it. You must have been through quite an ordeal.’

‘They had no right...’

Serendipity remained intent on the hearth. Flick touched her wrist, and let her hand slide into Serendipity’s. Very slowly the woman turned, and looked her in the eye. ‘Our men won’t let them go anywhere. Let’s get you cleaned up.’

Serendipity allowed Flick to take her from the study, down the corridor, and into the room Flick had been held captive in. Her own paranoia came into play here, and she left the door wide open.

Trying to find a subtle way to ask
if Serendipity had been sexually violated was impossible, so Flick asked it out right. Washing away evidence of any such crime would hurt in the long run. But Serendipity told Flick that Victor hadn’t wanted her to be touched like that. Much in the same way Victor hadn’t wanted Flick touched either. But the arbitrary line only incensed Flick. Glad as she was that she and Serendipity had been spared that horrific ordeal, she wondered why Brianna, and at least one of the others, had to endure it. 

They stood together beside the drawers looking through the clothes. These garments weren’t all the same
ones that had been here when Flick was. That worked out for the best though, because Serendipity was much taller, at least five nine, so now their search had much more of a chance to turn up something suitable.

‘I don’t know how she does it,’ Serendipity said, seating herself on the bed and letting the clothes fall from her fingers.

‘Who?’ Flick asked, desisting in her own search.

‘Simone, she works for the guy bankrolling the trafficking. I think she’s
biologically related somehow, I don’t know. But she was here to keep an eye on Victor, make sure that things went smoothly.’

‘Things went anything but smoothly,’ Flick said taking a seat next to Serendipity.

‘It didn’t matter, she was drunk on the power. Victor said more than once that it was Simone’s job to look after the women, make sure they were suitable to be sold on. She starved us so we’d lose weight.’

‘So you’d be weaker? Or more marketable?’

Serendipity shrugged. ‘Initially, I was terrified, waking up in that cellar...’

‘I know,’ Flick said. ‘I was too.’

‘They kept me with the others until... they came and took them all away, treated them like cattle.’

‘But you were left behind?’

Serendipity nodded. ‘They separated me then. Took me into that room, chained me to the wall... at first Simone was the only one to visit. She taunted me with stories about what the men were up to, about what happened to the other women... about what they planned to do with me.’

‘You must have been very scared.’

‘By then... talking did nothing, I’d tried to escape, but... when I did, Simone was vicious, she enjoys watching others in pain.’

‘Like Victor, and Shiv, and the others
.’

‘She was supposed to look after us. Keep us alive. Keep us in shape, healthy... her job was to tell the money what to expect, what they were getting, so that they could arrange buyers further down the line... It’s horrible, isn’t it? How could anyone sell a person? A human being?’

‘I struggled with that myself,’ Flick said. ‘But you’re free now, Rushe and Jansen made sure that none of those women got to where they were going. They’re all safe... Simone will have a lot of explaining to do. I don’t imagine her boss will be happy.’

‘No.’

Serendipity had withdrawn again, and stared blindly into the distance. Flick took the clothes from her lap, stuffed them into the still open drawer, and took Serendipity’s hands to pull her up from the bed.

‘Get in the shower, I’ll find clothes and put them
in for you. Wash away the memories... it will get easier. But you’ve got to give it time.’

Serendipity
went into the en-suite and got washed. Flick found clothes, and though they wouldn’t magically erase the horror Serendipity had been through, Flick hoped that getting out of the rag she’d been imprisoned in would be in some way freeing, symbolic of Serendipity’s own liberation.

The water went off, and Flick listened to the noises of Serend
ipity going through the motions. When she came out of the en-suite, Serendipity had tears in her eyes and rushed over to hug Flick. Knowing that Serendipity still had access to her emotions was positive, but Flick wondered at the anger, and if it remained.

Serendipity had just tied back her damp hair when thunder joined them.

‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’

The women turned to see Rushe inside the doorway. Serendipity took one look at him
, then one at Flick, and filtered out of the room, presumably going back to Jansen in the study.

‘Me?’ Flick asked.

‘Don’t wander around, don’t go looking for things,’ Rushe said. ‘Stay where I leave you.’

‘How has that worked out for you in the past?’ Flick asked him.

‘If I have to tie you to something—‘

‘Why did Jans
en come to you?’ Flick asked, ignoring his fuming bull imitation. ‘If he was a cop, couldn’t he go to his superiors?’

‘
Jansen came to me because when Victor found out that he was an undercover cop, Victor kidnapped Serendipity. Victor wanted Jansen to feed his superiors misinformation. Not just about his own dealings, but those of others too. Jansen did it. It put Victor in a position of authority with members of the criminal community – he could get things done.’

‘What has that got to do with—‘

‘Jansen’s not the only cop that lowlifes have on the books. But he was the only one whose job it was to spy.’

‘Except he became a double agent,’ Flick said.

‘Right. When he tried to talk to a superior about it, Victor found out.’

‘How?’

‘Jansen didn’t know, still doesn’t.’

‘So he couldn’t trust anyone.’

‘Right, and Jansen had dabbled in more than a few illegal activities himself by that point. Victor had him over a barrel, and both of them knew it,’ Rushe said, and stepped back to gesture at the door.

But Flick didn’t exit. ‘
Why do you take cases in defence of women?’

‘What?’ Rushe was taken aback by the question. ‘Who told you that?’

‘It’s your reputation.’

Rushe came deeper into the room toward her. ‘What do you know about my reputation? Jansen was supposed to tell you to scram.’

‘He did,’ Flick said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

‘But you ignored him, sure,’ Rushe said.

‘You paid my ransom.’ Again, she’d surprised Rushe. ‘You personally ensured my freedom, but you paid the ransom anyway, didn’t you?’

‘Yes,’ he said, without moving his lips.

‘I can’t believe you would do that. No one’s ever cared for me like that.’

‘No one’s ever cared for me at all,’ Rushe confessed. ‘But I can’t get rid of
you; you’re like a terrier at my ankles, all the fucking time.’

‘You wanted me to see Jansen in that diner,’ she said. ‘You deliberately provoked me in the motel. You woke me up
, and threatened me with cuffs, to goad me into it. You wanted me to think that coming with you was my idea.’

‘It was.’

‘Yeah, but you had it first, didn’t you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why couldn’t you be honest with me?’ she asked, pushing back up to her feet. ‘Was it just about deniability?’

‘I told you at the shack that these guys weren’t to be trusted. I didn’t know how it was going to play out
. If something had happened to me, there was nothing stopping them coming for you. If I couldn’t be there for you, then you wouldn’t have a chance. Damn right I paid the ransom, I wasn’t gonna let Vic think that he’d lost either money or face. I paid it. I told them it was from your father, and he believed me.’

‘And Jansen?’

‘I didn’t trust Victor,’ Rushe said. ‘I knew he’d figure out my connection to Jansen eventually. Jansen was the only person other than you who knew I was here, and why.’

‘I didn’t know why.’

‘Victor didn’t know that,’ Rushe said. ‘He sent Shiv and John to torture you in the basement because he thought you knew everything, everything he didn’t.’

‘I could’ve told them. How did you know I wouldn’t?’

‘You didn’t know his name, or who he was,’ Rushe said, then hesitated.

‘What?’

‘If it had meant guaranteeing your freedom, I’d have de
manded that you tell them.’

Though his stature was subdued, she could read the fortitude in his eyes. But Flick couldn’t believe that she’d understood him correctly.
‘You would rather I gave up you and your friend, to save myself?’

That determination inside him, that glowed down onto her, didn’t waver.
‘I’d give up anything to save you, Flick, anything.’

‘Why were you at the shack?’ Flick asked. ‘In the first place, I don’t understand what—‘

‘Jansen wasn’t supposed to know that me and the other guys from the shack were on Victor’s crew. The meeting you walked in on was Victor making plans with the guys bankrolling the trafficking operation. Guys like that want the profit at the end, but aren’t interested in how the sausage gets made.’

‘Deniability.’

‘Some guys are squeamish,’ Rushe said. ‘The guys at the bar and shooting pool, everyone hanging around were from various gangs, everyone there had people with them, everyone blended to one.’

‘So Jansen wasn’t supposed to know you
, Skeeve, and Shiv, Glen and the Kid were working for Victor? You were a backup crew?’

‘
Victor started me working for him independently. I had to make it clear that I wanted more; I had to be hungry for it. Victor was impressed with me. But my goal was to find Serendipity, except Victor couldn’t know that. I wasn’t going to find her collecting cash on the streets. Victor, he put us in the shack, out of the way, ready to move in if he needed us. His fear was Jansen somehow getting Serendipity out on his own, or getting the cops involved. He didn’t tell us that. As far as we were told, we were enforcing, collecting Victor’s debts, proving to him that we had what it took to move to the next step.’

‘Trafficking.’

‘That and I think he wanted rid of Skeeve. No one will have to worry about that again after tonight.’

‘Have you killed him?

‘Broken a few fingers,’ he said. ‘I don’t work quickly. If you work slowly, make it clear there’s no hurry, people are usually tipped over by the wait. You let them torture themselves.’

‘In their head, like Skeeve downstairs.’

Rushe tucked his gun into his jeans and came to her, resting his hands on her shoulders. He opened his mouth, then paused and took a breath, before he started again.

‘When I was
twelve or thirteen... there about, I was a kid. I never stuck around in the same area, and tried to keep my nose clean as best I could but... I’ve always been in trouble, Kitten, I’m never gonna lie to you about that. I’d been arrested for fighting, and stealing, joyriding, vandalism, kids’ stuff. But I’d been on my own, part of the system, all of my life. I ran away from more than a couple of group homes. I’d been on my own on the streets for a while. I’d always looked out for myself, I always had to.’

Flick didn’t know where he was going with the story
, but she’d give him all the time he needed to get it out. Opening up to her, to anyone, was unnatural to him, and she could sense his unease. But he’d never surrender to fear, even the psychological kind.

‘One night, sorta by mistake
, I... I saw a woman come out of her apartment, she put this pizza box in the dumpster and... I went in after it. I was too busy scarfing down the food to notice that she’d come out again. She tried to talk to me but I...’ Rushe shook his head and his eyes fell from hers. ‘She started putting food out for me a lot; she was good to me, I... I don’t know why...’

‘What happened?’ Flick asked, sliding her hand up to his jaw.

‘She tried to talk to me...’

‘You didn’t talk to her?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘She didn’t make me eat out of the trash, she cooked for me, but I wouldn’t go inside. I didn’t want to be inside. I knew by then that you couldn’t rely on people, that you couldn’t trust them... One night I was eating in the alley, and she brought me a beer. I was always tall and broad; I’d never told her how old I was. She was drinking one too, and I... I couldn’t believe that someone, anyone, would want to share a beer with me. I didn’t know that such casual situations existed.’

‘That’s a good thing,’ Flick said. ‘She was trying to reach out to you.’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘This group... this gang, I didn’t know their colours, but they were... there were a dozen of them, maybe more, they started to give us hassle. She was cool but...’

‘But?’

‘I heard her scream... I knew what they would do to her, but... there were so many of them, I couldn’t take them all.’

‘You ran away?’

‘That would’ve been the smart thing to do,’ he said. ‘No, me, like an idiot, I fought. I didn’t stand a chance. I should’ve left. I should’ve got help, not that I trusted the cops but... a few of them were beating me and I saw... I watched them carry her out the end of the alley.’