Chris headed through the arched doorway and quickly found the bathroom. Once inside with the door locked, he pulled out his phone and called Jonathan.
“We’re in,” he said. “You know where to find us?”
“We’re about fifteen to twenty minutes away,” said Jonathan. “What do you have so far?”
“There are three security goons here from what Kaddur told us,” he explained. “One is in the entrance foyer. I’m guessing the other two are out back with the ladies. Kaddur will be taking us for a tour so I’ll know more soon enough. They have security feeds of the grounds within the walls, at least six cameras. Lay low when you get here until I can get a better idea of how to handle this.”
“Okay,” Jonathan replied. “Be careful and keep me posted. I’ll buzz you when we’re there.”
Chris returned to join the others, smiling as he noted how Leslie was maintaining an animated conversation with a man she loathed.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said. “I’d love to see the rest of the house now.”
They spend the next few minutes on a rapid tour of the luxurious villa, starting with the upper floor and its tastefully decorated bedrooms and bathrooms. The main floor consisted of several living rooms and dens, a couple more bedrooms, one being Kaddur’s master chamber, a few powder rooms, a dining room and a kitchen.
“It seems all the ladies are out back,” said Kaddur as he led them out onto the terrace and down into the walled yard to the pool.
Eleven very attractive ladies of varying appearances lounged about, some tanning in skimpy bikinis, others preferring the shade offered by parasols. A few quietly chatted while others read or simply remained silent. All smiled politely as the threesome approached then politely ignored them to continue with whatever they had been doing. One man sat in the shade near the terrace while another strolled in the garden beyond the pool.
“I trust you will find something to your liking,” said Kaddur, motioning towards the women. “I invite you to choose whichever ones you like.”
“That blonde in the yellow bikini looks delicious,” Leslie suggested.
“I was looking at her too,” Chris agreed. “I also like the dark haired one in the blue sundress and that one in the orange tube top.”
“Yummy,” said Leslie. “Let’s start with them.”
“Excellent choices,” said Kaddur before approaching the selected women, simply nodding at each to indicate their services were required.
Without hesitation, each woman stood and obediently made their way towards Chris and Leslie.
“With the six of us,” said Kaddur, “I would suggest we go the sunroom by the terrace.”
“If you don’t mind, Mustapha,” said Leslie, “I was hoping you and I could get a bit better acquainted alone in that big bedroom of yours to start. I’m sure Barry won’t mind getting some attention from these three lovely ladies in the meantime.”
“Your wish is my command,” Mustapha replied before turning to Chris. “Make yourself at home and enjoy yourself, my friend.”
* * * *
“I’m going to take just a minute or two to freshen up a bit,” said Leslie as soon as they entered the master bedroom. “While I do that, I want you to get naked and lie down on your stomach all stretched out on that big bed of yours.”
She kissed her fingertip then lightly tapped his lips with it before turning and going into the en-suite bathroom.
Already aroused, Kaddur hurriedly undressed and lay on his stomach spread-eagled as instructed, waiting in anticipation. A moment later, he heard the bathroom door opening behind him.
“Are you ready?” Leslie asked.
“Yes,” Kaddur replied as he started to turn towards her.
“No peeking,” Leslie ordered, waiting to ensure he remained in position before approaching. “Let’s do this my way to start.”
“Okay,” he said, “But hurry.”
He felt her crawl onto the bed, getting closer to him then gasped as she gently traced a line up along the back of his calf and thigh with a fingertip.
“Oh, baby, this is going to be fun,” she whispered as she squeezed his left buttock with one hand then jabbed it with a hypodermic needle with the other.
Kaddur stiffened as he yelped and rolled over while Leslie slid off the bed.
“What was that?” he demanded then noticed the syringe in her hand. “What did you do?”
“Calm down, Mustapha,” said Leslie. “Getting excited will increase your blood circulation which will spread the poison faster.”
“Poison?” he gasped, already starting to feel numb and confused. “Why?”
“It’s not poison, you big wuss,” Leslie replied. “It’s just something to help you relax.”
She watched him as the powerful sedative took effect, knocking him out cold after a few more seconds.
“You see?” she said as she pulled out her phone. “Now you’re relaxed.”
* * * *
Upon entering the sunroom with the three women, Chris told them he wished some place with more privacy and suggested they move to an upstairs bedroom. All three followed without hesitation, demonstrating the docile and obedient nature Chris had noticed by the pool, which he suspected was drug induced. Into the bedroom with the door closed, he had them sit on the bed and sat down on a chair facing them.
“We don’t have a lot of time and I’ll need your help so I want you to listen carefully.”
All three nodded, barely displaying any curiosity regarding what this might be about.
“To start,” Chris continued, “My friend and I aren’t here to have sex with you or anyone else. We’re here to get you out and back home.”
“Back to Paris?” the blonde asked, her tone dull. “I would love to go back to Paris but they told us that would not happen.”
“They were wrong,” said Chris. “In a short while, we’ll be taking all of you out of here for good and you’ll be going back home.”
A tear rolled down the cheek of the dark haired woman as she asked, “Really?”
“Really,” Chris replied. “We just have to take care of Kaddur and his men first. How many of his men are here at any time?”
“Three, I think,” the woman in the orange tube top spoke for the first time.
“Yes, three,” the blonde confirmed. “There is always one at the front entrance and the other two keep an eye on us and handle any trouble with customers.”
“How do they know if there’s trouble?” asked Chris.
“Each room has panic buttons set in the nightstands,” said blondie, “Right on the corner under the edge.”
Chris crouched down and noted the switch. “What happens when you press the button?”
“I used it for the first time last week,” dark hair replied. “We’d barely been in the room a minute and the customer slapped me, hard enough to knock me on the bed. I scrambled to the panic button and made it. A minute later, the door burst open and a guard yanked the bastard off of me and threw him to the floor, kicked him a couple of times then dragged him out of the room.”
“The one thing we can say about Kaddur,” said orange tube top, “Is he does his best to keep us from getting hurt.”
“Yeah,” blondie sneered. “It’s bad for the bastard’s business.”
At that moment, Chris’ phone vibrated and he gestured to the women to give him a minute as he took the call from Leslie, moving off to one corner and speaking in a hushed tone.
“Kaddur’s sleeping,” said Leslie.
“Excellent, Les,” Chris replied. “No problems?”
“None at all. Any word from Jonathan yet?”
“No, but they should be here soon,” said Chris. “The problem is, I don’t see how they can help much without breaking in here and they won’t be able to do that without being noticed with those video feeds of the grounds.”
“Pretty much how I see it too,” Leslie agreed. “None of these guys are carrying, as far as I saw, so taking the
m out shouldn’t be too difficult. We just need to get to them.”
“Or get them to us,” said Chris. “I’ve learned they have panic buttons in the rooms. No doubt goes to the front guy who either deals with it himself or dispatches one of the boys out back. I’m in one of the rooms upstairs on the right side. I’m thinking of drawing one of them up here with a panic call and taking him down when he gets here.”
“Let me get up there in case you need a hand,” said Leslie, moving to a rear window in Kaddur’s room to peer outside. “Both guards are still out back. I’ll be right up.”
Chris cut the connection and returned to the women.
“Kaddur is no longer a problem,” he announced. “Now, we need to look after the three other guys and the plan is pretty simple. My friend is on her way and when she gets here, I’m going to bust up this chair, smash a mirror, you know, cause some damage. Then we’ll leave the room, you’ll press the panic button and we’ll take care of whoever comes to check. If anyone of them comes in here, which I doubt, just tell him I went berserk and started breaking things and scared you. Simple enough?”
The three women nodded in unison without saying a word.
* * * *
When a panic alarm for one of the upper floor bedrooms buzzed on the security console, the guard was surprised since the only people in the villa, besides the women, were Kaddur and the couple he had arrived with. Nonetheless, the panic buttons were not placed where they could easily be accidentally pressed so the guard radioed one of his counterparts out back and relayed appropriate location information. He fully expected to be radioed back in a few minutes and informed of a false alarm, perhaps a system malfunction. Although rare, glitches did occur on occasion.
* * * *
Upon receiving the radio alert, the second guard was as surprised as the first and for similar reasons. However, Kaddur did not pay them to assume anything; he paid them to react when a security issue arose so he quickly left his shaded seat under the parasol and hurried into the villa. He made his way through the sunroom and down a hallway then through a central den which opened up on the oval central hall. Despite his size, for his was a well muscled, stocky build, he bounded up the staircase at a surprising speed. Unnecessary delays in such situations were not tolerated and knowing Kaddur might himself be the one seeking assistance made the need for speed even more important.
He reached the top landing and rushed around the corner towards the bedroom in question… and received a crushing blow to the face which sent him reeling backwards and tumbling helplessly down the long flight of stairs he had just ascended. As fate would have it, his descent ended with his head cracking the stone floor at an odd angle, the weight of his body combined with the velocity of his fall being sufficiently violent to snap his neck.
Leslie hurried down the stairs while Chris put down the heavy toilet tank lid he had used as an impromptu weapon. She checked the man’s pulse out of principle then looked at Chris and shook her head.
* * * *
On most other occasions, the guard at the front entrance would probably not even have noticed the slight rumbling which seemed to have come from the central hall. However, since a panic alarm verification was currently in progress, his senses were likely more in tune and he decided to go make sure all was in order. Rising from his chair, he headed to the door leading into the hall and entered his security code onto the keypad to unlock the door.
* * * *
As Leslie looked back down at the dead guard, still crouched by his side, the door from the entrance foyer opened behind her. Turning her head, she saw the front guard standing there, staring at her without expression. A few seconds went by then he pushed the door closed with his foot and smiled at her as he pulled a switchblade from his pocket.
“You came to the wrong place to cause trouble, pretty lady,” he said taking a step towards her.
Rising to her feet, Leslie took a couple of steps back and a switchblade suddenly appeared in her hand as well.
“Give it your best shot, you big ape,” she replied as they began circling each other, each looking for that opportunity which could lead to the other’s demise.
Chris, who still stood at the top of the landing and had yet to be noticed by the guard, was trying to determine something, anything he could do to assist Leslie in the deadly dance being performed below. He doubted he could make it down the stairs without getting the man’s attention then it suddenly dawned on him that getting the man’s attention was the best thing to do.
“I’m glad I’m not in your shoes, my friend,” he called down.
As expected and hoped, the man jerked his head to the right and up towards Chris. The half second distraction was all Leslie needed who launched into a vicious reverse roundhouse kick, catching the man solidly in the throat.
Dropping his knife, the big Moroccan clutched at his neck as he tried to suck in precious air. Taking no chances, Leslie delivered a flying kick to the chest, knocking the man to the stone floor where Chris rolled him onto his stomach, binding his wrists and ankles with zip ties.
“You’ll live,” Chris told the man as he lay on the floor wheezing. “Now, how do I unlock that door?”
In response, the guard attempted to spit at Chris, managing only to send himself into another choking fit.
Chris kicked him in the thigh and said, “If you want to join your dead friend here, we can accommodate you. Now, what’s the magic numbers for that fancy keypad?”
“Three, six, nine, four,” the big Moroccan gasped.
“Same for the front door and gate?” asked Chris as Leslie tried the combination, confirming it was correct.
The man nodded in response, still wincing in pain.
“Thanks for your cooperation,” said Chris then reached into his pocket as his phone began to vibrate.
* * * *
They rode in silence for a few minutes until Mo turned onto a street and said, “Halfway down here.”
“Nice neighbourhood for a brothel,” Carlos commented, admiring the villas they passed.
“I guess Kaddur runs a high class place,” Jonathan replied then turned to Mo. “Drop us off here. We’ll move in on foot.”
The minibus pulled to the side of the street, stopping just long enough for both men to exit before driving off again to park closer to their destination.
As they slowly sauntered along, Jonathan contacted Jorge who had done an initial reconnaissance of the area. “We’re here now. Anything to report?”
“I’m parked right across the street from your current position,” Jorge responded. “Villas are walled in all along the street. Those on either side of Kaddur’s also have locked gates. There’s an alley which runs along the back with access to the property through another locked gate. I counted four surveillance cameras mounted on the villa.”
“Chris mentioned six,” Jonathan replied. “Any word from him?”
“Nothing so far,” said Jorge. “Where do you want me?”
“Take another leisurely stroll around the back. If we need to get in through there, I want to be ready. Keep in touch.”
“Si,” Jorge replied before cutting the connection.
“You see?” Carlos murmured as they walked by Kaddur’s property. “We’ve got the whole thing covered.”
“Yep,” Jonathan replied, pulling his phone from a pocket. “I just hope to hell we know what we’re doing. Time to call our friends inside.”
* * * *
“Hi, Jon,” Chris answered the call. “Your timing is perfect. Les is on the way to open the front gate for you. Come on in.”
A moment later, Jonathan and Carlos followed Leslie into the central hall where Chris waited.
“You’ve been busy,” said Jonathan as he looked at the two guards on the floor.
“Two down, one permanently, I’m afraid,” Chris replied. “Kaddur is sleeping in a room out back and tied up for good measure. We have one guy left in the yard with the women and he probably has no clue yet
of what’s going on though he might start getting antsy if no one shows up soon.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” said Jonathan, “So let’s go see the man.”
They took a moment to move the two guards out of sight into a side room then made their way towards the rear of the villa. On the way, Jonathan contacted Jorge in the alley, alerting him in case the last guard tried to make a run for it through the rear gate. Exiting from the sunroom, they crossed the terrace and descended towards the pool where the eight remaining women looked at them with dull expressions of apprehensive curiosity.
The guard, though still on the far side of the pool, had moved in from the garden during his colleague’s absence. Concern shown on his face as the three men and Leslie approached and he glanced back towards the gate at the back of the yard.
“If you manage to make it through that gate,” Jonathan called out, “My associate in the alley will shoot you down.”
Upon hearing these words, the man surrendered, allowing Carlos to frisk him and zip tie his wrists behind his back.
“We won’t hurt you,” said Jonathan, “Though that unfortunately wasn’t the case with your two colleagues because they resisted. My friend will bring you inside to somewhere comfortable and tie your ankles. Just behave yourself and you’ll be fine.”
He turned to Carlos and added, “If he misbehaves, shoot him.”
As Carlos walked the man into the villa, Jonathan contacted Jorge, asking him to get the SUV and bring it by the rear gate from where they would leave. Meanwhile, Chris and Leslie turned their attention to the confused group of women by the pool.
“Hello again, ladies,” said Chris. “I’m happy to inform you that your forced residence with Mustapha Kaddur is over. I would ask you to go to your rooms to change into whatever you have more appropriate for travel. We have a bus waiting to commence your journey back home which will be leaving as soon as you’re ready.”
Amid gasps, quiet sobs and tears, the women rose from their seats and headed into the villa.
Femme Fatale Page 15