The Single Lady Spy Series Boxset

by Tara Brown

  It took a second to hit and for me to realize what he was talking about. Jack gave them both a disturbed look. I started to laugh. “Uhm, you think I'm going to let him have a quickie? For the greater good?” I turned to Coop.

  “If you can kill him really fast and silently, without being recorded and alerting the guards, you can get away with no quickie.” Coop sounded upset. “The plan is for us to kill them all noiselessly before they can alert anyone or tell anyone who is there. But you have to keep Karl, the guy who runs this one, busy. We have to stay out in the lobby, pretending to hang out while he tastes the merchandise. “

  “Stop saying merchandise like I'm bringing him a cake to try." I glared at him. “Does he have training I should know about?”

  “No. He's a lazy pimp. He has sex all day, he has no cares.”

  “He's got one now.”

  We landed on a roof. Everyone was certain of the plan, but I was desperately anxious. What if I wasn’t fast enough or able to kill him? What if he got his quickie? What if he was strong and raped me? Oh God. My stomach curdled.

  Servario grabbed me by the arm, Jack and Coop came along behind us joking around, and I struggled as hard as I could.

  The building was nice. I assumed it was Maui. It was warm and beautiful also, though we were in a city, a big city. But we hadn’t flown so far as to be anywhere other than Hawaii.

  The top floor was a solarium for the helicopter visitors. Servario pressed a button on the outside of the elevator and then slid a card through a card reader. I gave him a dirty look. “You’re a card-carrying member?” He shoved me into the elevator. When we got inside, he did the same with the card.

  The elevator went down fast, stopping smoothly on a floor not too far down. The door on the other side of the elevator opened. It was a wall of mirrors, I wouldn’t have guessed it was a door. I supposed that was the point.

  Servario dragged me inside. He flashed a smile at the redhead at the front desk as if it were a hotel.

  “Mr. Servario, how are you?”

  “Very well. Is he in?”

  “Yes.” She smiled sweetly. “He is. I'll ring. Please have a seat and some refreshments.”

  He dragged me over to the couch. “Thanks, Roberta. We already had some on the flight over.”

  She gave me a smug look and giggled. She knew I was the refreshment and thought it was funny? What kind of woman did that to another woman?

  Trying to fight him, I pushed at Servario, but he grabbed my arm. “Do I have to turn you over my knee again?”

  “No.” I shook my head profusely. “No, please.”

  Coop and Jack laughed and rubbed their noses. Roberta eyed up Coop who grinned at her. “Sup?”

  “Oh uhm.” She blushed. “Not much. What's up with you?”

  “Not much. Just bringing my friend here a few girls to party with.”

  She nodded but a man spoke making us all turn around, “We do like to party. Servario, how are you? It’s been ages.”

  I was slightly confused when an extremely handsome British man in a well-cut suit walked up. He had dark hair and eyes, and a sly smile, but he was handsome in a way that suggested he could do better than prostitution.

  Servario shook his hand and motioned over at Coop and Jack. “I’ve been well, my friend. Karl Bergman, these are my associates, Tom and Jimmy Sullivan.”

  “From Boston?”

  “Yeah.” Coop frowned. “You know us?” His Bostonian was perfect.

  “Of course,” Karl acknowledged. “I know of your family. The Sullivan brothers are a well-run organization.”

  “Yeah well, you know.” Coop rubbed his nose. “We like to have a good time.” He slapped his hand into Karl's as did Jack who was a little wooden and awkward, but it suited him, even in disguise.

  Karl’s eyes darted to me. “What have you here, Gustavo? She is stunning.”

  “Indeed.” Servario nodded. “She's an agent out of Hong Kong. She worked her way into the Sullivans’ organization. They wish to be rid of her.”

  Coop winked. “She worked fucking hard, let me tell you.”

  Karl chuckled, running his fingers down my face. “This really is top shelf, my old friend. I might have to keep her for myself.”

  Servario shrugged. “However you wish it. I just want my merchandise.”

  Karl gestured at a corner of the room. “Let me see what she’s worth.” Two men walked in, grabbed my arms, and dragged me to the door they had come through. We turned right, down a hallway.

  They brought me to a room with a couch, desk, and some file cabinets. It resembled an office. They left me there alone. I sat on the couch, making sure my skirt was under my butt. I noticed my knives were visible if I sat so I stood up and paced, holding myself, assuming it was a recorded room.

  I recalled a video I had seen once of women in sexual tourism. They were weak and scared. They barely fought it. They did what they had to do to save their necks. I found the camera in the corner and prepared myself. The doorknob turned, clicking a lock. Karl came in, smiling nicely. “You really are a beautiful woman. What's your name?”

  “Jo.” I swallowed hard. “Josie.”

  “Hmm.” He walked over to me. “And are these your clothes, Josie?”

  I shook my head, almost crying like I believed his sweet British act. “No. They—they made me go to a party on a boat. They made me do things I didn’t want to do. You have to help me. Please, I know things. I can be of use, I swear.”

  “I am going to help you. I know you’ll be of use.” His eyes locked on my bright Russian Red lipstick. He ran his thumb over my lips. “I just need to smear your lipstick with my cock a little first.”

  “Okay, thank you.” I swallowed hard, nodding and then backing away as if I just realized what he said. “What? No, please.”

  He grabbed my neck and dragged me to the couch. He sat, pulling my face down into his groin.

  My hand trembled as I tried to fight him off, shaking my head. “Please, no.”

  He raised his hand, but I flinched away. “Okay, I’ll do whatever you want. Please, don’t hit me.” My voice was desperate.

  “That’s a good girl.”

  Shaking and hesitating, my fingers trembled as I reached for his zipper. He was already erect when I pulled him from his trousers. His cock was a respectable size but not circumcised. I almost made a face, but I knew that would get me killed. He jerked his cock in my hand, forcing me to stroke it as he bit his lip and gyrated into my hand a little. “You have such soft hands. Jerk me a bit before you get it wet.”

  I stroked his cock, ready to gag. He reached forward and smeared my lipstick with his thumb. “Oh I am taking you home for the next month or two. I need a new pet. Have you ever been a submissive before?”

  “No.” I gripped and stroked, twisting my hand the way Servario had taught me to do when he discovered I was not interested in blow jobs. Not his kind anyway.

  Karl thrust into my hands. “Okay, it’s time to test out that mouth.”

  “But I like to do it better with the man standing. Is that all right?”

  His eyes flared with emotion that suggested he might get violent. I backed away from him and crawled to the door, the only empty wall space, and out of the view of the camera. I gave him a sexy look. “I like to have my hair pulled and my face fucked.”

  He jumped up. Apparently, I had lied convincingly.

  Servario would be excited his version of a blow job was what saved our mission.

  Karl pressed his back against the door. “This better be good.” He grabbed my hair and forced my mouth down on his cock. I didn’t have a chance to gag. I sucked, pulled a blade and shoved it into his taint. I hauled out the other one and stabbed into his voice box as he was taking his breath to scream.

  I dragged the blade from his taint and stabbed into his heart. He died instantly, sliding down the door to the floor. I took a couple of breaths, looking at the camera and the couch and the feet on the floor. I was out of
breath and a little disoriented, but needed to get moving.

  Slowly, I stood, taking his keys, phone, and sliding card. I wiped my blades and bloody hands on his clothes, staying as close to the wall as I could, and opened the door. I barely got the heavy door open because of how his body was pressed against it. When I did, I strolled down the hallway like I had been sent that way. I was glad I'd worn the red shirt. Servario had thought of everything.

  As I rounded the corner, I saw the two guards standing by a TV and I headed that way. I hit the first one in the jugular and the second in the heart. The first pulled his gun, but I kicked him against the wall and stabbed him in the heart too.

  Then I took their guns and went to the doors I had come through. I used the sliding card thing, opening the door a little. I nodded at Servario who walked directly over to Roberta and snapped her neck.

  Hurrying through, I tossed a gun at Coop and Jack. They followed me back inside the doorway. Servario ran to catch up. He viewed my smeared lipstick, remembering his own fetish, no doubt. “How was that?”

  “Just a quickie.”

  Coop's eyes widened, distressed and Jack gagged. “Oh gross. You are the most dedicated agent ever.”

  “Let's go. I need gum, made of Lysol.”

  Servario went to the guards’ room first. He used a silencer to shoot everyone in the room and kill the monitors as Jack stole and deleted all data being stored on them.

  Coop and I made our way down the hallway. Every door we opened revealed something nastier inside. Each room had something, or someone. Teenage boys and girls, women of every shape and color.

  Some rooms held a sex slave with a man, midway in their session, which meant that man died. Some I stabbed in the back, others I slit their throats. I heard the silencers making their dulled noises. Servario and Coop were also killing everyone they found with someone.

  The blood greased my knives and hands, but I never relented. The men had no fighting skills. They were suits and executives with a membership to a private club. A private club we were bent on destroying.

  Servario was shouting at everyone, “GO TO THE FRONT DOORS, RUN DOWN THE STAIRS, AND LEAVE THIS BUILDING. GO HOME.”

  “Hurry!” I pointed. “Go that way!”

  The girl I spoke to sobbed, “Thank you. Thank you.”

  “RUN!”

  They left in a screaming horde. Every door I used the slider keycard on had someone in it, at least one someone. It was the most upscale brothel I had ever seen or heard of. It looked no different than an office, but each room had a bed. Coop and I met at the end of the hallway. He looked at the blood on my hands. “You okay?”

  “Maybe.” I didn't know.

  “This way,” Servario called out to us. “Last doors are down here.”

  I was out of breath and sanity, but when Servario opened the first door, I lost even more—my ability to think straight at all. The last three doors had children. They were young, very young girls. I would’ve guessed Mitch's age, if I had to. Somewhere between ten and twelve. The pain of seeing the children was akin to being stabbed in the guts.

  Servario got a look in his eyes that I had never seen before. Coop grabbed one, I grabbed one, and Servario grabbed the last one. We walked down the hallway, holding the silent, almost frozen, children to our chests. We rushed out the door to leave, the same one I was dragged in through, not seeing the man with the gun behind us. “Who are you people?”

  We spun, Coop firing a shot at the same time the man did. Coop dropped the child as the man died. The bullet had grazed Coop’s arm. He grabbed a pillowcase from one of the rooms and tied it around the wound, as I made sure the kid was okay. She wasn’t injured, but there was no mistaking the look in her eyes. She was stuck in the horrors that had occurred there. She couldn’t see anything beyond the faceless men who had hurt her. I couldn’t think about what they had endured without thinking of my own children. The whole thing filled me with a grotesque amount of hatred and rage.

  Coop came out of the room and nodded at me. “Thanks. I think you shooting first stopped that from killing me.”

  “That’s my job.”

  “Killing me or saving me?”

  “Killing you.” I glanced back at him. “I believe you already told me once there’s no way you’d ever be in the situation where you needed me. That was never going to happen. Remember that?”

  He recalled it with a stare, not laughing. None of us had anything to laugh about. I feared I might never laugh again.

  We carried the kids to the elevator. “Is this the only floor?”

  Servario nodded. “At this one. Jack downloaded all their hard drives though, and wiped everything. He’ll call the police from the air. We need to hurry. The girls should be reaching the ground level by now.”

  I looked at the kids. “What do we do about them?”

  “Don't worry.” He looked pained. “I have a special place I put them.” I couldn’t lie to myself and trust his special place or him.

  We rode the elevator to the top floor and ran for the helicopter. When we were inside and far enough away, Jack pressed a button and flew off. I frowned. “What was that?”

  He muttered, “One of the EMP-style weapons that was used on your house in Boston. In case any part of the building is getting information from that floor. I just wiped out a block.”

  The three little girls huddled to me, staying as far from the men as they could. I wrapped around the three of them like I had wings to protect them and shield them. I felt sick until we flew to something I hadn’t been prepared for—a church.

  Servario got out of the helicopter. “Evie, bring the girls.” They never made a sound, just gripped me. I got out and let them hold on to me for dear life until we reached the grounds where a nun came out. She smiled at Servario. “Gustavo, how are you?” She was an older lady with a gentle smile and a huge scar on her cheek.

  “I am well, Sister. How are you?”

  She looked at the three little girls. “Worried about the world we live in.”

  “Yes.” He nodded again. “As am I.” My heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces as I watched the nuns greet him with warmth and kindness. They knew him well. One random orphanage in Hawaii knew him this well?

  The nuns turned and welcomed the girls with hugs and kisses and promises of safety for the rest of their lives.

  I hugged each one, wishing we had tortured the men just a little longer. I had killed too quickly.

  Servario took my hand, leading me to a bathroom inside the old stone building. He leaned against the wall. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No. I conned him into thinking I liked having my hair pulled and a penis lodged in my throat.”

  He laughed bitterly. “If only he’d known you better. He might still be with us for me to let your mother skin him alive.”

  “You were watching us, the whole time?”

  His eyes darkened. “I will forever be in the shadows, Evie. Just as I promised I would be.”

  My insides ached, but I chose to ignore his words. “I liked my way of killing him just fine.”

  “What did you do?”

  I grinned at myself in the mirror. “Stabbed him in the taint and cut his voice box out.”

  “Good.” He wrestled with a look of horror. “Someone is remembering who she used to be, quite quickly.”

  “I never was this evil,” I said with an accusing tone. He nodded knowingly. He knew he had done that to me. Coop and Jack came in. Servario left the room.

  “You all right?”

  “No,” I answered Coop quietly. “I don’t think I’ll ever get this one out of my heart.”

  “No.” Jack gave me a sober expression. “Me either, Evie.”

  We all washed up, tended to Coop’s bullet wound, and got back in the helicopter.

  When we landed on the roof of the yacht again, Servario looked back at me. “You are fearless.”

  I felt sick. “I need something hard to drink.”

  Coop chuc
kled. “How bad was it with him?” He might have been laughing, but there was hurt in his eyes for me.

  “Bad.” I shuddered. “I mean clearly it wasn’t good, but I’ve been through worse.” It was true, nothing would ever top watching the guard get backdoored by my children’s paternal grandmother.

  Servario spoke to us all, “I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership between the four of us.”

  “Yeah.” Jack nodded. “And Luce, don’t forget Luce.”

  We made our way off the helicopter and down to the party. Coop shouted, “We're part of the mile-high club!”

  Everyone on the boat cheered him and gave me an approving nod. We went to the bar where Servario ordered four shots of tequila.

  He held them in the air. “To the sisters at the convent for forgiving our trespasses today.”

  We all clinked and drank. He ordered four more. Jack lifted his. “To Lucile.”

  We clinked again. Eventually, we had toasted everything under the sun and drunk the bottle dry. But even then, we all had the same haunted look in our eyes. The initial horror would fade away, but that night when I lay down to sleep, alone in my bed, I sensed the stain of it would always be left on my soul.

  As I drifted off to sleep, I tried not to think about the way the nun had known Servario so well. It was an odd thing, a drug dealer with a conscience.

  Epilogue

  My mom passed me one of Fitz’s coffees and sat on the huge back deck. I snuggled into the blanket and rocked my chair.

  “It’s nice here, isn’t it?”

  “I’m surprised. I always thought Canada was snow and rain. This is just like Montana, very desert and country-like.”

  She sighed. “You need to cut things off with Coop. You can’t be involved with a member of the team.”

  I gave her a sideways glance. “Like you and Dad, you mean?”

  She smiled. “Exactly. Look at my marriage. What kind of life is that?”

  “I don’t know, but I know he makes me and the kids feel normal and safe.” I smiled.

  “You don’t have to tell me. He’s the best I’ve seen, besides Servario who’s the best ever.”