Crimson Desert

by Melissa Jane

  “Where’s Ethan?”

  “Out cold.”

  Panic had taken hold. I didn’t know what to do. Aiden had promised that no one knew where Danny lived. Had he got it wrong? Had someone followed us?

  “I’m not going with you.”

  He laughed. “You don’t have a choice.” The man lunged forward and wrapped his hand around my waist, lifting me higher onto his burly shoulder.

  “Put me down, asshole!” I screamed into the man’s back as he trudged down the stairs. My legs flung out widely ready to connect with his stomach, but he caught them before impact.

  “Don’t fuck with me bitch or I will knock you out cold too.”

  Not heeding his warning, I swung again, this time my knee hooked under his chin. Clearly unimpressed with my lack of cooperation, the man circled my waist with his meaty paws and flung me forward sending me sailing through the air.

  “Fucking bitch.” He raged as I landed heavily on my back on the lounge room floor. Squeezing my eyes closed against the searing pain, I groaned as my newly healed ribs took the full impact.

  Where was Aiden, and why was this happening?

  Remembering that Ethan was in the lounge when it all began, I searched frantically for him. Nothing! It was just me and brute.

  From the soft glow of the lounge room light, I could see that he was a terrifying looking man. He wore what seemed to be a permanent snarl and his eyes were crazy. The type who had been trained to take no pity on anyone. He was a cold hearted bastard that much I was sure of.

  I backed away from him, scurrying to find some protection even if it was just for a few seconds. With an easy stride, he closed the space, his steel capped boot crushing down on my shin. Using all of his weight he pinned me to the spot. I screamed as an agonizing pain shot through my leg as I clutched desperately at the carpet. If he applied anymore weight, I was certain my bone would snap clean in half.

  “Sedate her already.” Yelled an unfamiliar voice from the door.

  Crazy man released my leg to sit astride me, his groin rubbing against my chest. One hand gripped my jaw while the other forcibly opened my mouth. A small tablet dropped in but I held it against my teeth.

  “Fucking swallow it.” The man seethed. I shook my head against his instruction until his free hand wrapped itself around my throat.

  “Swallow the fucking thing before I choke you into submission.” He shook me violently until the pill fell down my tongue and dissolved. Its foul taste left me cringing as my body slowly became numb, my muscles relaxing beyond any control. I could see, but I couldn’t feel anything.

  “There you are, just how I like them.”

  I stared up at the man blankly, unable to retort or even move.

  Again he hauled me over his shoulder, my body hanging limp. Unable to put up a fight, I could only watch the scene unfolding. Filing out of the house, I was placed upright in the car, my head resting against the window. There were three men, all dressed in black. Ethan was dragged along behind one of them and put into the trunk of the car I was in.

  The darkness surrounding us suddenly became lit up in a fiery blaze, Danny’s house fighting a losing battle against the flames. Small explosions from the back and front aided the inferno, the timber home now engulfed in a sea of orange. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought of all the people who had suffered at the hands of Hector and Juan. Heat from the fire warmed the window as I mourned for Danny’s house. It seemed stupid, I knew that. But Danny was an exceptional guy. He didn’t deserve to have his hard work blow up in smoke.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Aiden

  After completing a reconnaissance on the mansion, Danny and I took our places, sniper rifles poised to go. I had chosen this wing of the mansion first, knowing full well that the main security camera was mounted on the wall directly in front of us. Take that out and it shorts out the others. Only I knew that of course, so the likelihood of whoever was in charge of security nowadays popping out to have a look was slim to none. I averaged that we had ten minutes before anyone raised an alarm, giving us enough time to complete the first task.

  “Game on,” I heard Danny say under his breath.

  As the first guard rounded the corner of the servant’s entry Danny aimed and without hesitation shot him clean through one ear and out the other.

  “Smooth, brother. You haven’t lost your touch.”

  He looked at me and even in the darkness I could see the regret in his eyes.

  “I would have shot him, Aiden. I would have shot Juan that day in the desert if it wasn’t for –”

  “— You don’t need to explain. It was a risk you weren’t willing to take, I get that.”

  “He was using Laila as a human shield. It wouldn’t have been a clean shot.”

  Danny was an expert marksman and he knew it. Human shield or not, he could have taken Juan out in a single shot. But, I felt for him. Danny’s demons would never let him rest. Eight years on, they still made him question every move he made when there was an innocent civilian involved. I had argued until I was blue in the face when he retired from being a sniper. Accidents happened. Most of the time we got shit right, other times we fucked up. Danny had fucked up and his biggest problem was that he never forgot the innocent child’s face that haunted him.

  As predicted a second guard made his way to the edge of the building, stopping just short of his dead colleague behind the wall. He was mine. I waited until he threw his cigarette bud on the ground and stomped it out before firing a clean shot between his brows. He fell like a sack of potatoes which roused the curiosity of his mate twenty yards away. My second victim had no time to reach for his radio when he too suffered the same fate.

  The irony was not lost on me that I was now hunting the man who had wanted me trained as a killer. He asked, he got.

  I didn’t know these men.

  They were not the ones I had trained.

  From what I could see, the newcomers were lazy and inexperienced. Most likely, Juan had dismissed my security shortly after I left with Laila coming to the conclusion that they must have been in on the betrayal.

  Looking at Juan’s men I could tell immediately. They were all runaways or street urchins, caring for no one, including themselves.

  Did killing them to get to Hector justify anything? No, it didn’t, but I was too consumed with vengeance to give a fuck.

  My thirst for pay back fast outweighed my conscience. With every inch of my being, I wanted to make Hector suffer for what he did to my parents and to Laila. Plain and simple.

  “Ready?” I heard Danny whisper.

  “Let’s head around the west side of the building. There are three more guards to take out to ensure a clean entry and exit.”

  “Let’s roll,” Danny said with a hint of excitement.

  “If I didn’t know you better, I would think you are some sick fuck who enjoys this shit.” I half joked as I gathered my equipment. I knew he had always loved being a sniper. That was part of the reason I encouraged him to stay with it.

  “Got to get my rocks off somehow.” he quipped.

  “Usually a woman is good for that. Perhaps you need to up your game and find one.”

  “Thought I did until some giant ape with an ego the size of this,” he pointed to the mansion, “stepped in and ruined my chances.”

  He was referring to Laila.

  “Move it asshole, before you join your friends on the ground over there.”

  ***

  The east wing was much the same. Two lowly men lazily meandering around the perimeter of the mansion lost in thought and completely unaware of the human sales taking place inside. Picking them off, Danny and I moved quickly through the shadows, knowing full well the cameras were disabled but not taking any chances. We snaked our way back through to the west wing where the servants’ entry was located, the keypad next to the doorframe shining with the glow of the moonlight. I knew full well that the entry codes would have all been changed by whoever was
now in charge. What could not be changed was the code to override all other codes. The four digits had been embedded into the system during construction and had not become common knowledge.

  The keypad beeped twice and the red light turned green before the door clicked open. The rooms and halls not in use were in partial darkness as we wove our way through the mansion. Being quiet on our feet, we headed to our next target, to secure the camera room. It was almost a certainty the rest of the guards would be in attendance trying to find the root of the problem. Twisting the silencer onto my Glock, I approached the small door that had been left open revealing the constant hum of the electrical equipment. Numerous voices, none of which I recognized, could be heard arguing as they debated the logistics of the failed cameras.

  There were four, all with their backs to the door, all failing to note my Glock pointed in their direction.

  “Don’t bother, you’ll never figure it out,” I quipped.

  The men turned in unison, the look of annoyance quickly vanishing when recognition struck. The one of the far left fumbled for his gun, which made him my first pick. He fell to his knees, a neat bullet hole positioned perfectly between the eyes. The others, with nowhere left to run, slowly raised their hands in defeat, silently pleading for their useless lives.

  When Danny and I set out on this mission, we were both in agreement about one thing. The rules were simple. There would be no survivors. We had been running for too long. Running because of Hector’s men who seemed to morph out of thin air.

  The one in the middle had the nerve to speak. “We were told you were dead.”

  “A shame for you that I’m not.”

  I put the men down like dominos. It was cold blooded. But it was them or us. I chose the latter.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Laila

  It was like being sucked back into a vortex where your worst memories came to life. I recognized the same girls who had been parading around on the night of the last party. Sophia was there, standing on the other side of the room, frozen to the spot. She even had the grace to look disappointed at my return. There were only a few guest’s faces I actually recognized from the first dinner.

  Hector had taken it upon himself to strap me to a wooden chair in the center of the room. Around my ankles and wrists were dog collars looped around the legs of the chair and back frame.

  I couldn’t move or dodge the advances of the men or women who came to inspect me. They were all dressed to the nines and dripping with glittery jewels, but none of them contained an inch of moral judgement.

  Hector looked on from afar, chatting to his guests and occasionally casting me warning glances. Juan on the other hand couldn’t hide his irritation that I was once again being put up for sale. In his head, he owned me.

  From what I could gather, they knew Aiden wasn’t dead. They just didn’t know where he was. Sophia glided past in her lingerie and came to a stop next to me where she filled up another tray of champagne flutes.

  “Chica, what are you doing here?” she hissed. There was concern in her voice and she seemed almost a different person from when I last saw her.

  “I don’t know. I think they are trying to finish what they started,” I mouthed, careful to not draw attention to us.

  “You must be careful. Alexsonov is here.”

  “Which one is he?” There were at least fifteen other men in the room.

  “He is the bald man with the beard. I have to go.”

  I didn’t even have the chance to thank her before she took off, being the perfect waitress she is. Scanning the room, I struggled to spot who she was talking about. The lights were down low except for the one over me, making the guests difficult to see.

  A hand came to rest on my shoulder and I jumped in fright. I had been so focused on the people in front of me I hadn’t been paying attention to the rest of the room. I glanced down to see ringed fingers gently massaging my shoulders. Suddenly I recalled the filthy pervert from last time, Galvez. His fingers too had been adorned with jewels. I sat rigid in my chair and the man’s massaging ceased. His face appeared next to mine. I couldn’t see him, but I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

  “I have heard a lot about you, girl.” I knew as soon as he spoke it wasn’t Galvez. A shiver ran down my spine with the realization this was indeed Alexsonov.

  “I also know it was your brother who ruined my first sale. That was a sale I was greatly looking forward to.” The asshole was referring to the two girls, one of them underage, who had been a special request. Ethan had spirited them into hiding and retribution for the loss of goods had followed.

  “You expect me to feel bad about your loss?” I quipped. “I couldn’t be happier those two girls escaped you. How dare you even request such a thing.” Where I got my sudden act of rebellion from, I didn’t know.

  “You’re very brave for a woman strapped to a chair. I was sure Hector had run through the details of what I like and what I absolutely detest in a woman.”

  I could see the man himself watching our interaction from afar. His eyes were narrowed, but he wore a smile that made me shiver in revulsion. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

  “Hector tried his best to control me, but not even he could beat me into submission.” I was treading on thin ice, poking the bear and all that shit but I wasn’t fearful of the man behind me.

  Alexsonov laughed, good and hearty, and I watched as Hector’s smile dropped from his face. Was there something in that laugh I didn’t know? Something I should be scared of?

  “My girl, Hector is a lightweight when it comes to discipline. You won’t have to wait much longer before you find that out for yourself.” Alexsonov hand fisted my hair, yanking my head back so my neck was exposed. He sucked my earlobe into his mouth, his teeth clamping down on the tender skin. I couldn’t hide the squeal of pain and I could tell he was smiling.

  Hector took a few steps forward, curious about what was playing out in front of him. I barely noticed him, but I could feel Alexsonov unbuckling the collars around my feet. I was fixated on Hector and what was going through his head. He was concerned. The man harassing me was making him uneasy. But this is what he had wanted all along, wasn’t it?

  A woman in a deep purple gown and a man, possibly her husband, stopped Hector in his tracks. They chatted animatedly but his attention was still on me. I knew enough about the man to know when something was amiss. Now was a prime example. Yet I couldn’t figure out why.

  “You know what?” Alexsonov’s voice startled me from my thoughts. “I’ve decided I can’t wait any longer to have you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Aiden

  The ballroom where the guests were dining was in the middle of the mansion on the lower floor. There were six doorways connected to other areas of the house situated around the hexagon-shaped room. Danny had left me in order to attach a small amount of plastic explosive to the northern entrance. This part of the house was barely used and for that reason it was the perfect location for the first blast to take place. The idea wasn’t to kill everyone is one go, but to set up enough carnage to make Hector and Juan realize their empire was quickly crumbling around them. They tried to take what I cherished away from me, so I would do the same to them.

  While Danny was taking care of the explosives, I set off to my old wing of the house. I knew from the layout that the corner of the room was positioned over the southern edge of the ballroom. Just thinking about all that had happened to Laila in this very place only further incensed me and I feared my desire for vengeance would consume me to the point of no return.

  Heading straight to the corner of the room, I pushed the armchair to the side and dropped my backpack to the ground. I had to drill a hole wide enough through the floor so the snake camera could easily glide through. There was enough noise down below to block out any I would make upstairs. The only concern would be the stream of dust catching in the light, which was why the corner of the room was the best option.r />
  “How’s it going your end?” Danny’s hushed voice came through my earpiece.

  “Drilling now. You?”

  “Ready when you say the word.”

  “Any movement down there?”

  “No one using this entry.”

  “Good, stay unseen. I’m dropping the wire down now.”

  Danny didn’t respond, knowing full well I needed to concentrate on remaining undetected. The camera threaded through easily enough and in a matter of seconds I was witnessing a scene unfolding. It was the usual shit that never once caught my attention when I lived here. A typical Florez party consisted of men and women of fortune rendezvousing together for a night of debauchery. Tonight was no different. The familiar girls in lingerie moved easily around the room, making a charming conversation with the guests. But I didn’t care for them. There were two people in mind I had to locate and fast.

  Turning the camera slightly to the right, my first target came into view. Hector was talking with a man and woman I recognized as regulars. They were Ukrainian and notorious for buying girls. Juan soon joined the conversation and they all clinked glasses. While Hector was focused on conversation, his eyes were focused on another point in the room.

  Time to get moving. My chess pieces were exactly where I wanted them.

  “Danny, it’s on.”

  “Got it.”

  I continued watching through the camera and, after a few seconds, the room below me shook as some debris blasted through the room. There was mass confusion and from the contorted facial expressions I knew people were screaming and yelling for each other. The explosion was just enough to cause a shake-up of the party, but if there were already some fatalities, then so be it.

  Everyone, including Hector and Juan had fallen to the ground more out of reflex. Dust was filtering through the room, blocking some of my views, but I was caught by Hector’s quick retreat as he released the arm of the Ukrainian woman and crawled out of sight. I trained my camera in the direction he went and immediately my stomach dropped.