by Ivy Clyde
“He’s done this sort of shit before,” said Victor. “He’ll keep doing it if you let him live.”
I stayed quiet, watching the writhing man before me. He was an asshole who deserved to be punished but killing him wasn’t the way to do it. The law was there to condemn and punish. We didn’t have to get involved.
“What’s the ultimate sign of loyalty?” Victor whispered in my ear. His breath was hot against my chilled skin. “What did you say at the meeting?”
“To kill for another brother,” I said in a voice that I could barely recognize as my own. “Can’t we shoot him and get it over with?”
Victor turned me toward him and placed his palms against my face. The leather against my skin was warm and comforting but the look in his eyes was impenetrable. He was giving me no choice.
“I must break that innocence in you,” he said in a low whisper so only I could hear him. “I can’t have you backing away from a situation because you’re scared to face death and blood. You’ve got to change.”
His stern voice suddenly reminded me of Nolan. That insistence on forcing me to overcome my inner resistance was something the chief did to me as well.
“You work for me now,” he continued in an icy tone. “So, when I order you to do something, you do it. You have no choice in the matter.”
Weren’t these the kind of words Nolan used on me some time ago? He never really gave me an option to back out of the operation. He thought I was the best person for the job and there was no choice but to follow his orders.
“Danny,” Victor called in a louder voice, bringing my attention back on him.
I gave a shaky nod. “Can I shoot him?”
A cold look descended into Victor’s silver eyes. I was toeing a dangerous line by resisting his orders. There were five gang members in the room. Continuing to refuse Victor was putting me in risk from them as well. They could kill me for being insubordinate. At this moment, it was my life or Boris’s.
I took a deep, shaky breath. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” I said. “What if I mess it up?”
“I’ll stay by your side and teach you,” said Victor, caressing my left cheek. “Kill for me, Danny, and I’ll kill for you. Kill for me and I’ll reward you. I want to reward you.”
“I’ll do it for you, Master Sokolov,” I said. The words cracked my soul in pieces but this is exactly what I’d signed up for.
I wanted to laugh at how stupid and naïve I had been. I thought the worst thing that could happen to me was getting forced to take drugs and being stabbed. Right now, I’d take those two options just to get out of butchering a man to death.
“Good.” A look of pure joy lit up his handsome face. He played with my hair, ruffling it lightly, and then patted my shoulder. Reaching into his jacket, he took something out. With a flick of his wrist, the blade of a knife snapped right out of the handle. Taking my hand, he wrapped my fingers over the hilt.
I eyed the razor-sharp blade of icy-cold steel. The thought of what I had to do with it caused a rush of bile to rise to my throat.
“Start with his cock,” said Victor.
Good god! I screamed in my mind but tightened my grip on the hilt.
Victor gestured toward one of the men. Stepping forward, he ripped the boxers off Boris’s crotch. The tied-up man screamed himself hoarse as his cock and balls were displayed before us.
I moved forward and caught hold of his cock in my left hand. For a moment, I wished Victor’s gloves were thicker so I didn’t have to feel the sick warmth of Boris’s repulsive dick.
A detached sort of feeling descended into me as I rested the blade of the knife against Boris’s cock. It felt like I was watching the whole scene from somewhere high above me. My hands were mine but someone else was controlling them.
Victor was the puppeteer, standing right beside me. He was pulling my strings and I was doing exactly as he commanded me.
Nolan, Ethan and now, Victor…
These men wanted me to turn into someone I wasn’t. A part of me felt like breaking down and crying but a more logical part ordered me to survive.
“Tighten your grip, Danny,” said Victor from beside me.
“Yes, Master,” I said, turning all my attention on the hanging man before me.
This was the man who’d wanted to rape me. He stole and sold children as sex slaves. He was a monster and deserved to die, but I didn’t feel righteous doing this to him.
I was a monster too.
One monster was killing another. There, that doesn’t seem so bad, I thought as I started sawing through the column of thick meat in my hand.
The blood dripping out made it slippery but I was determined to keep a steady grip on the knife. My mind was blissfully empty even though I could hear Boris’s screams coming from somewhere far, far away.
The smell of blood and vomit was strong in my nostrils but I kept going until Boris’s cock was finally severed from his body.
“Good job, Danny,” said Victor. Reaching out, he touched the bloody stump I’d just created. “Smooth work,” he said in an appreciative tone.
Boris screamed out but his voice sounded cracked and hoarse. I couldn’t believe he was still alive after what I’d done to him.
“Come, let me show you how to slit a man’s throat,” said Victor, taking the knife out of my right hand. He knelt down on the ground. I bent down beside him as he started explaining it to me.
Victor grabbed a fistful of Boris’s hair and pulled back his head to expose his neck. I just stared, barely functioning beyond breathing and blinking.
Victor must have slit several throats to do this so casually and expertly. The knife slid across Boris’s neck, creating a deep bloody gash.
A scream got stuck in my throat as a fine mist of blood sprayed us both. I reeled back to avoid getting drenched but within seconds, the blood started dribbling down Boris’s face.
Hideous wheezing rasps filled my ears but it was hard to tell whether they were coming from the dying man or me.
The floor before us was soon turned into a puddle of blood.
Pure relief flooded through me when Boris’s body finally stilled. It was done. Boris Pavlov was dead.
“Time for the finishing touch,” said Victor, straightening up. “Stick his cock into his mouth and then bring it out through the slit.”
This part was sickeningly gross but at least Boris was dead for this part. There was no screaming or gushing blood.
“Brilliant!” said Victor, stepping a few feet away. He seemed to be admiring my job, like I’d just finished creating an amazing art for him. Even now, he looked devilishly handsome with drops of blood freckling his flawless skin.
A sudden laugh escaped me but it didn’t sound like any noise I’d ever made in my life.
“Dump the body in the usual location,” said Victor, looking over at his men. “He needs to be discovered so he can serve as an example.”
“Yes, Boss,” chorused the five men.
Drawing closer, Victor caught my hand and dragged me away from the hanging corpse. There was no fight left in me as I stumbled behind him and giggled hysterically.
A piece of trivia floated into my mind. People often laughed when faced with great shock. Good timing for remembering this shit, Danica, I thought as my laughter grew louder and more breathless.
I thought of Ethan who’d trained me so well I could handle a gun with my eyes closed. He’d never mentioned I’d laugh like a crazy woman after I’d killed a man.
Victor dragged me out of the warehouse. The cold air was sharp in my nose but it helped in expelling some of the stench stuck in my nostrils.
Victor made me lean against the wall of the building and held my shoulders in a firm grip. “Breathe, Danny,” he said in a grim tone. “Breathe in, Danny.”
I took a shaky breath in.
“Good,” said Victor as if he were speaking to a child. “Now, exhale out.”
My breath got stuck in my throat as I tried t
o breathe out. Instead, a pained moan escaped me.
“Once more,” said Victor. “In...out.”
Victor’s hands held my face until my breathing turned more regular than before.
“Victor,” I called out in a pleading tone. I had no idea what I was begging him for but I just kept calling his name like a mantra.
“Shh,” he whispered, putting a finger to my lips. “Just keep breathing.” He brushed away the tears streaming down my face. “You did good, Danny. Boris is dead but you’re alive.”
My own hands reached up to hold onto Victor’s thick shoulders. The strength in my legs was about to fail and I needed to support myself. My fingers dug into his firm muscles.
Victor didn’t seem to mind me at all, allowing me to stay against him and hold him tightly like he was my life support.
Reaching inside his jacket, he produced a clean handkerchief. Wetting it with his tongue, he started cleaning my face with gentle strokes.
“With practice, you’ll be able to cut throats from behind,” he said, continuing to dab at my face. “That way, you’ll avoid this sort of a mess.”
“Do I need to kill more men?” I asked.
“If you want to survive in Sokolov gang, you’ll have to be tough enough to kill a man,” said Victor in a gentle voice. “Prove you’re not scared of violence and blood and they’ll all respect you. That’s how you survive among the monsters of the Sokolov clan.”
I let him clean me up while I took in every feature of his beautiful face. This close, I could even count the thick lashes framing his eyes and trace the shape of his luscious lips.
For a moment, I wondered how old he’d been when he committed his first murder. Was he forced to do it by his father? Had he reacted as horribly as me? Did he forget how to breathe from the shock of it all?
How many times did he kill in his young life to be so desensitized to it all?
Something strange flared in my chest. I was feeling sorry for Victor.
He was so gentle with me right now because he remembered how it was to kill a man for the first time in his life. He knew about the shock, the disbelief, the sheer nausea of it all.
I suddenly realized Victor was a victim too. The victim of being Ivan’s one and only son, the heir to the Sokolov clan empire. He never had a choice in the matter. Just like me...
Victor’s persona in my mind changed completely at that moment. He didn’t seem like a monster anymore. He was human too, just broken and damaged by his circumstances.
Reaching out, I closed a hand over his. He paused and glanced at me.
“You need to be cleaned too,” I said and took the handkerchief from him. Choosing a spot free from blood, I started dabbing at the crimson flecks streaking his flawless skin.
“I haven’t done any laundry,” I said as my hands gently glided along the planes of his face. “I have nothing clean to wear anymore.”
“I’ll take care of that for you tomorrow,” he said as a glimmer of a smile came on his lips. “I have to get you a gift too.”
“A gift?”
“You did so well today,” he said, cupping my face in his hands. “I have to reward you.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, wondering how the two of us could talk about clothes, laundry, and gifts after what we’d just done.
Maybe it was better to focus on such superficial stuff to keep the madness from settling into our minds. That’s how you survive, a voice said in my mind.
16
Nolan
The sound of rushing feet made me look up from my laptop. Ethan nearly slid inside my office instead of actually walking or running. Snapping the door closed, he threw a stack of photographs on my desk.
“You’ve got to see this, Boss,” he said, collapsing onto a chair.
Alerted by his pale face and heaving chest, I asked, “What’s wrong? Do you need me to get you something?” My gaze shifted to the photographs on my desk and I knew a glass of water wouldn’t be enough to calm my colleague.
My brows furrowed as I took in the gruesome image of a corpse with a slit throat and something protruding out of its mouth. Picking up the stack, I looked through the other photographs and stopped at one where there was a close-up of the victim’s head.
“Is that...”
“Yeah,” said Ethan, still looking slightly sick. “That’s the dude’s dick.”
I took a deep breath and put the photographs down. “Why did you bring them to me?” A case like this would usually end up with the departments handling homicides. Unless it was related to drugs and narcotics, we’d have our hands free.
“The corpse was discovered this morning at a prime spot in Bronx,” said Ethan in a grim tone. “He’s been identified and guess what? He was a top member of the Sokolov gang.”
The sound of that name jolted me, making me stare back at the photographs on my desk. Ever since Danica went undercover, all my thoughts were focused on her.
More than twenty-four hours passed since she last contacted me. Every hour spent not knowing where she was or what she was doing was causing me unusual anxiety.
It wasn’t uncommon for undercover agents to go without contact for days. During my time, I’d gone for months without communicating with my superiors. Still, I couldn’t stop worrying about the kid. She was the youngest member of my team and still quite inexperienced, but she was the best choice out of every prospective candidate on my list.
The sound of clicking heels caught my attention. Emma Scott, one of my colleagues, entered my office room. Her gaze swept over Ethan’s slumped figure on the chair opposite me.
“He’s told you, hasn’t he?” she asked, closing the door behind her quietly.
“Yes,” I said. Gesturing toward another chair, I said, “Take a seat.”
“Scott’s the one who got us a positive ID,” said Ethan, running his fingers through the dark blond strands of his hair. “She’s got the case for us, thank fuck.”
I glanced toward Emma and noticed her grim expression.
“Just accept the case, Cap,” she said, meeting my gaze.
I gave a nod. “Fine, I’ll do that but both of you need to give me more facts. Why should I take this case if it’s clearly homicide? I know he was with the Sokolov gang but that’s all.”
Emma nodded and placed another stack of photographs before me. These were even more grisly than the ones Ethan showed me. One of them showed a raw stump between the victim’s legs.
“That’s his cock,” said Emma, pointing at one of the photographs. “If this was a case of revenge or regular gang violence, they’d have fed it to the dogs or made a trophy out of it. But this, this is something else.”
“The corpse is poised at the location rather than dumped,” said Ethan. “You know what that means, right? This was an exemplary punishment meant to pass on a message.”
“You should take this case based on these photographs alone,” said Emma with a frown. “Don’t tell me you don’t recognize the torture method depicted here.”
“It’s the Colombian Necktie,” I said slowly. “A common torture method used by drug cartels but this is slightly different. They usually use the tongue to protrude out through the slit in the neck.”
“Corpses with such elaborate torture methods have been turning up recently,” said Ethan. “All victims were Sokolov gang members. I think it’s Victor Sokolov’s work.”
“Why do you think so?” I asked.
“We’ve studied Ivan’s methods extensively,” said Emma. “He doesn’t waste time torturing his men. The man prefers something clean and quick. When Danica was handling the information from these cases, she made the connection, but she couldn’t finish the job properly.”
“Because I took her off the job and sent her to train for her undercover assignment,” I said through gritted teeth.
“We believe it’s the son’s doing,” said Ethan. “Only Victor Sokolov could take out someone as high as this Pavlov guy. He’s the only one who could make an example
of him to the rest of the gang.”
“Wait,” I said, my mind whirring at the sound of that name. “Is the victim Boris Pavlov?”
“Yes, Captain,” said Emma.
“Fuck!” I muttered, getting to my feet.
“What’s wrong, Boss?” gasped Ethan.
“Danica,” I said. “She was supposed to start working for him but she caught Victor’s eye before that could happen.”
I thought of the phone conversation I had with her just a few days ago. “You’re both correct. This murder was most likely committed by Victor Sokolov. Danica told me about him killing Juan Lopez by strangulation. Victor had another defaulter do the deed. Looks like Ivan’s heir has a thing for the theatrics.”
“There was a raid on one of Pavlov’s warehouses,” said Ethan. “They found twenty children being kept there, waiting to be sold to highest bidders. Do you think this is the reason Victor killed him?”
“I don’t think that’s the reason,” I said. “The punishment doesn’t suit the offense.”
“What do you mean?” Ethan demanded.
I pointed at the photographs. “Victor cut off his cock and left it hanging in through his mouth and throat. This sort of torture was meant to humiliate the victim. Pavlov must have done something else.”
Moving toward one of the cabinets in the corner, I took out a voice recorder. Coming back to my desk, I played it for my team.
Danica’s rushed, urgent voice filled the space between us.
“I think I got into the Sokolov gang. Victor Sokolov invited me in. Boris Pavlov was also interested in me but he didn’t get a chance to have me. I think I belong to Victor now.”
“I have a feeling Boris and Victor don’t like each other. Boris didn’t say anything but I could feel his dissatisfaction when he saw me with Victor.”
“Shit!” muttered Ethan, running his fingers through his hair again.
Emma nibbled her chapped bottom lip and ran her fingers through her curly hair, making it puff out even more. “Danica is in the thick of it all,” she said in a wavering voice. “There’s something else though.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.