“Tell me, how did it feel when you put your dirty hands on me? When you fucked me? Did it feel as good as this does now? Or is this as hot now as you always wanted it to be when you fucked my ass too?”
Anna raised the knife and rammed it between Ahrend’s legs again. He screamed like a banshee.
“Do you still want to fuck me? In the ass again? Am I still making you horny now? You like a little pain, you said. But only when it affects others.”
With that, she stood up and left the knife stuck between Ahrend’s legs. She looked at Ahrend’s pain for a while, then exhaled in resignation.
“Would you please take care of it?” she said and went to one of the dead men and picked up one of the pistols.
Sergey, meanwhile, went to Ahrend, not taking his eyes off Russev, pulled the knife out from between his legs, only to use it to slit Ahrend’s throat.
Russev exhaled. “What the hell is this?”
Anna shrugged. “Consider it the end of our business relationship.”
Before Russev could say anything, Sergey shot two bullets into his chest. Russev looked at him with a confused expression, then collapsed.
Anna pointed her pistol at Ben, who was still crouched on the floor with his hands up.
“Surprised?” asked Anna with a smile.
Ben shook his head. “I was thinking something like that. And Mo, too, I guess. Hence your name on the list.”
Anna looked irritated. “My name?”
She picked up the list that was also on the table and studied it. Then her eyes fell on the last line and she smiled in understanding. “I guess it says more than just the path to the files.”
She turned back to Ben, who just scowled at her.
“I suppose you want to know the reason why.”
Sergey cleared his throat. “We should get out of here.”
Anna glared at him angrily. “Scared because you killed your boss and the place is crawling with his men who don’t react too well to that? I’ll explain that shit to him. Thanks.”
With that, she turned back to Ben, but waited a moment. “Do you know what that’s like? No, not really. What it’s like to come from the bottom? To not have a chance. Oh, you’re always told you have a chance. You just have to try hard enough. You want me to tell you, I did. And what did it get me?
“I tried so damn hard, because I truly had the best motivation to get out of the dirty life. A life where my own father ‘visited’ me again and again at night, as he called it. Little girl, I’m going to visit you again tonight. That’s when you’ll be nice to Daddy again. Again and again.
“The worst was when he was drunk and lost control. I think he enjoyed it, which is why he faked the drinking. Oh, sorry kid, but I was drunk. So you know that can happen.
“But there was something good about his boozing. That’s how I met a guy who was a regular at his games. And I found out what he did for a living. He was killing people for the Russian mafia. He didn’t trust anyone, so he preferred to gamble away his money rather than invest it in any way.
“But when I started my banking apprenticeship, he approached me. He knew me and I knew him. I invested his money. In return, he killed my father. Slowly. He knew some really nasty guys who were into some really sick stuff. He gave my father to them. They were experts at torturing people and especially loved to rape their victims for hours with all kinds of objects. Every night before going to bed I would watch the episode of the day and it was a satisfaction.
“My father broke very quickly. He didn’t have the strength of his little ones, who endured his repulsive touches for years. Finally, they just threw him into a basement room that had a camera with a live feed. So I could watch my father slowly starve to death. And my mother? I left her to the guys for nothing, just as she had simply left me to my father.
“Somehow word got around what I was doing for the guy, let’s call him Yuri. As a result, others approached me and I invested their money. And my need to move up here in the bank wasn’t so great anymore. Right here, in this sleepy nest, who would believe that money is laundered or even invested here for contract pilots? Only, Ahrend was on to me.
“The dirty pig couldn’t take it that I didn’t suck his cock at a meeting. He was not used to that. Each had sucked his dick. So he was looking for something to blackmail me with. And so he came across something.
“He may have been a scumbag, but unfortunately he wasn’t stupid. A shitty combination. Especially for women who run into guys like that. Unfortunately, I couldn’t dispose of him the way I did my fucking father, because he hooked up with Russev by stealing my idea. But I knew the time would come. And voila, it came. Though not in the way I intended.
“And now here we are, and you’ve really ruined everything. You piece of shit. Who are you? Mo always thought so much of you. But who you actually are, geez, no, not a dying word.”
Anna paused and her features softened. “Mo was a really nice guy. I knew he had a thing for me. But just one little mention, one revelation of what had happened to me, and he left me alone. Oh, he flirted with me some more, but it was all subtle, friendly teasing, nothing more. So not at all what you should expect from the alleged Turkish machos. He was one of the good guys.” She exhaled in resignation. “Too good, unfortunately, because he got the Ahrend thing. He wasn’t wrong, but he should have stayed out of it. Unfortunately, he didn’t and it all threatened to blow up. I couldn’t let that happen. Neither could my clients.”
Anna’s eyes twitched and she clearly struggled to compose herself. “I will never again allow myself to get into a similar situation that I’ve been in before. I’m not going to prison. That’s where my fucking father and my fucking mother would have belonged, but not me.
“I just did what I had to do to survive. I survived.
“I thought when I got rid of my father, it would be over. But it wasn’t over. It went on. There were always men I had to be submissive to, so they didn’t just destroy my career. I did it because I knew one day it would be over. If I didn’t do it, it would be over right then and there.”
She shrugged. “I should have stopped Mo before, then maybe it wouldn’t have come to this. Should have gotten rid of Ahrend before and taken over Russev’s affairs. Unfortunately, Mo got in the way, and then you. Jesus, you really made a stupid situation even shittier. Now I have to clean everything up and run. That was never the plan. But I’m going to rebuild my organization.”
Anna laughed. “Shit, you’d make an excellent client. You’ve really got it together. But I don’t assume you’d be interested. How would that look? I take on the guy who killed my clients? Bad for business.
“But I solved everything, and word will get out. People will be knocking on my door again soon enough. Maybe it’ll revive my business too, who knows? I’ve always been very good at thinking positively, or I’d be dead by now.”
She took a breath. “Whew, really felt good to get that off my chest. Talking doesn’t actually help shit, but this really needed to come out because you were really getting on my nerves. Just killing you would have been just shit. I wanted you to know beforehand that you didn’t fuck me. Nobody fucks me anymore. Nobody fucks me anymore. Not my father. Not all the other perverts who take advantage of their position. And not you either. I’ll beat anyone. Cause I’m a fighter. I always get back up. Losers give up when they can’t anymore. Winners, when they have won. It won’t be you who stops me from winning.”
Her eyes glinted, but Ben just stared at her.
“Damn it, do you ever have anything to say?!” she snapped at him, but Ben’s expression didn’t change.
“You killed Mo.”
Anna nodded, looking genuinely saddened. “But left you alive. Which was a huge mistake. I should have killed you back in my apartment. But I was still way too confused then, because shit just hit the fan over everything, and you informed me that Russev’s men were after me. After that, everything suddenly happened so fast.
“I drugged
you in the woods. I always have the injection with me when some shithead thinks he’s going to assault and rape me. I thought that my people, whom I had called with the help of the pager, would then take care of you. But unfortunately, first Russev’s people came instead.”
Ben nodded. “Your killer came later. Matteo.”
“Matteo? Now please don’t tell me you killed that one too! Matteo was really cute.”
“Matteo killed Russev’s people and then I killed him.”
She shook her head. “You bring death and destruction to all who deal with you. Just like you did with Mo.”
She took a breath and all arrogance disappeared from her expression. “You probably won’t believe me when I say this, but I really regret it. I wish he’d kept his hands off it. Then everything would have been fine. Ahrend would have disappeared sometime in the near future and I would have taken care of everything. Everything would have been fine. Most of all, I never would have run into you.”
“And technically, I guess I was the one who killed that Mo,” Sergey interjected, smiling sardonically at Ben.
Ben’s look at Sergey spoke volumes.
Anna rolled her eyes. “Had to do it now, huh?”
She looked at Sergey and took a breath. “Let me guess: You’d love to end this, too. And not by just putting a bullet in him. Shit, I should have shot him right then and there.”
She raised her arms in resignation. “I’m going to get this all sorted out now and transfer all of Russev’s accounts. Then I’ll be on my way. You know where to find me. Do what you can’t help doing and then join me. I’d recommend you just pick him off.”
She turned to Ben and was silent for a moment. She smiled mirthlessly. “I really didn’t want all this. I’ve made mistakes. I should have had Ahrend eliminated directly by my friends, but thought it was too conspicuous. He interfered. Blackmailed me and everything got out of hand. If Ahrend had been gone, I’m sure Mo wouldn’t have noticed and none of this would have happened.” Her face became serious again. “But I’m not going to let this ruin everything I’ve bled for.”
Without giving him another look, she left the room.
Sergey and Ben looked at each other. While Sergey smiled and continued to point the gun at Ben, Ben’s expression remained serious.
“So you killed Matteo, too,” Sergey stated. “I don’t want to say now that I liked Matteo, but I don’t approve of it.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I always assumed that he and I would work it out someday. Or we’d both grow old together somehow. But if we did, I would have taken it upon myself to kill him. And now I’m disappointed and curious at the same time.”
Ben nodded. “So was Matteo. Now he’s dead.”
Sergey smiled. “Yes, the Italians. Can’t let go of their machismo.”
“Neither can you. Otherwise you would have killed me long ago.”
Sergey nodded in agreement. “Yes, admittedly. You did kill Matteo, though. And many others. Some of whom I knew for a very long time. We were not unconditional friends. Good colleagues, you could say. They respected me. And you just killed them.”
“They tried to kill me.”
Sergey nodded slowly. “Yes, the old game.”
Ben pointed at Russev and the other dead men with a nod. “You just killed your men, too.”
Sergey shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I’m a bad person and I won’t be the Colleague of the Month this time.”
Ben waited. “So, what now?”
Sergey laughed. “Honestly, I don’t really know either. How did you kill Matteo?”
“I stuck a knife in him.”
Sergey laughed. “Matteo was good with the knife. Maybe as good as me.” He nodded, then walked over to one of the bodies and pulled up the back of his jacket to reach underneath and pull out a knife. The black blade was a good twenty inches long, smooth in the front and serrated in the back.
“You guys are into army knives,” Ben noted.
Sergey smiled and tossed the knife near Ben. Then he pulled out one of his own that could have come straight out of one of the Rambo movies.
“What can I say? Shoot someone, anyone can.”
With that, he put the gun away and gestured for Ben to pick up his knife.
Slowly, Ben walked over to the knife and picked it up without taking his eyes off Sergey.
“I guess you showed your friend quite a bit,” Sergey commented. “He really surprised me, I must admit. And the fact that he still held out, all the way home to himself, demands respect. You understand that it was purely business? He got too close. If Russev had discovered the extent of what Anna had set up there and he found out she was the real Administrator, well, he wouldn’t have taken that well.”
Ben nodded. “So Mo’s death was purely business. For me, it was very personal. Your death will be very personal to me, too.”
Sergey shrugged. “You should never take something like that too personally. It clouds your judgment and makes you unfocused.”
Ben smiled weakly. “Then let’s find out.”
The two men got into fighting positions.
Sergey smiled and licked his lips in anticipation as they circled each other, waiting for the other to attack or if a gap could be seen, but neither gave an inch.
Sergey tried to move Ben in the direction of the bodies so that he might not pay attention and stumble over one of them. But it was as if he had a seventh sense, because he moved so skillfully that he avoided every tripping hazard. Sergey nodded appreciatively, then kicked the chair with the dead Ahrend, sending it flying in Ben’s direction. Ben dodged out of the way. Immediately Sergey attacked, stabbed and missed Ben by a hair’s breadth. Already he turned his knife around and stabbed again. Ben, however, had expected this, dodged, blocked Sergey’s arm and cut across the jacket. But before the blade could touch the killer’s skin, he dodged in his turn and got himself out of the danger zone.
Again the two circled each other.
Sergey raised the arm of the slashed jacket. “That one wasn’t cheap. I’ll chalk it up to teaching money.”
He then attacked again, whipping his blade around and making Ben dodge again and again. Ben didn’t even get to go on the attack himself and had to concentrate on Sergey and the surroundings at the same time. But it was also the environment that could help him.
Always use everything that is available.
Ben let himself fall backwards against the wall, but cushioned himself with one foot and then sped forward. Sergey could not cleanly execute his already planned attack as a result. Ben deflected Sergey’s knife to the side and delivered a blow to his side. Sergey’s face contorted in pain, but parried Ben’s next advance and kicked him in the leg, throwing Ben slightly off balance. The result was a gash on his left shoulder.
“Oh, my knife tasted blood!” Sergey chuckled with a smile. “Now it wants more of it!”
Again he went on the attack. And now the blades clashed as well. Ben backed away and Sergey followed him, now leaving him no peace. Ben made better use of his free arm, so that again he managed to give Sergey another blow, which made him stagger to the side, whereupon Ben drew his blade across his back. This time he cut him.
Sergey dodged and gritted his teeth, then got back into position. “Now that hurt!”
With that, he reached behind him and pulled out another knife, this one slightly smaller. He grinned and attacked. His arms were like windmill wheels that Ben couldn’t possibly escape in the long run. Sergey knew that. As far as fighting with knives was concerned, no one could fool him. Now Ben would also find out. There was no escape from him. He could not compete with him.
But Ben didn’t want to.
He dodged, only to drop his knife and roll away to the side. Thereby he aimed at one of the dropped pistols and picked it up to immediately aim in Sergey’s direction.
“Shit!” He shouted and jumped to the side so that the bullets flew past him. At the last moment he found cover behind an almost completely collapsed wall and d
rew his pistol himself.
“Pretty unfair of you!” he shouted at Ben, then pulled out a small radio.
“Everybody over here!” he shouted in Russian. “Russev and the others are dead!” Then he fired in Ben’s direction. But he was long through the door.
“The perpetrator is still in the building!” continued Sergey. He followed Ben. Peering cautiously through the opening, he could see nothing.
“That bastard!”
Ben heard a general commotion. Voices seemed to be coming from everywhere and getting louder in his direction. He quickly hid in an alcove that was hard for anyone to spot, but he knew it was there. So he had a good view of the corridor, but no one saw him.
The men walked past him and Ben realized directly that there were too many of them. Russev must truly have ordered every available man to clear the situation. He had no chance against such an armed superiority. Here, after the announcement of Russev’s death, each of them would pay attention to nothing and drop all restraint. If they spotted him, they would shoot at him with everything they had.
Sergey came out of the room, bloodied himself, and the men who looked in came out pale and full of anger. Sergey spoke to them partly in Russian. Ben could not understand everything. His knowledge of the language had already fallen asleep. The most important statements he understood in the end already.
The right weapons.
There had to be a hiding place here, where weapons were stored, which went beyond pistols and apparently obligatory army knives. Automatic weapons like machine pistols and rifles. His situation would not improve.
Ben needed weapons, too. More weapons than he had at the moment to stand against this superior force. If he fled now, his situation would hardly improve, because there were too many of them. Here, however, he knew his way around. Besides, he knew where he would find weapons here.
As soon as the factory was shut down, he had made it his retreat, his fortress. He knew that he could not simply discard his past. They would search for him, would hunt him down. To be able to escape then, or at least to have a chance, he prepared the factory area. It was unlikely that anyone had stumbled upon his hiding places by chance and that anyone here knew his way around as well as he did. That was his advantage.
Ultimate Rage - Ragnarok (Thriller) Page 13