She sat up, sniffing in instinctively to keep the liquid from running down her nose, thinking she should be frightened and on high alert, when in reality she only felt the heated urge to move around, to dance, to touch, and only tangentially wondered how she could have possibly allowed herself to fall asleep, to let her guard down so DeBlanc’s thug could catch her unaware. The sheet had slid down to her waist and she realized that, for the first time since putting on the bikini, she didn’t feel self-conscious about her near nakedness.
Even as Henderson stood next to the bed smiling at her, a dangerous smile, with a set of the whitest teeth she had ever seen, she hardly felt vulnerable. She instead felt warm, relaxed, even as her heart beat faster and faster, pulsing the blood strong and quick throughout her body. She felt relaxed not in the sense that she just wanted to lay back and watch the day pass by, but in the sense that there was nothing for her to fear, for she knew that whatever came her way, she could handle it. She could handle anything. She craved a challenge, any challenge.
She watched closely as Henderson put the nozzle of a small plastic white bottle into each of his nostrils and breathed its spray in deeply. When he finished she noticed his white, wide smile, his thick chest, thick arms, long, thick legs, and felt the heat rise within her. She wanted to feel repulsed by him, but she didn’t, couldn’t. She could only smile at him decadently.
Henderson loved the warm rush that was now beginning to flow within him, and he loved even more what was happening right before him. It was as if the concoction of drugs they had taken were transforming RJ right before his eyes. She went from the beautiful but scared and violent woman he had encountered earlier, to one who now looked even more beautiful and who was now completely carefree and open. Lustful even. He knew McKnight had told him not to drug her up, that he was to use forced sex as a weapon against her, but there would be time for that later. First, he wanted her to want him as badly as he wanted her, and he had never wanted a woman so badly. He sat down next to her on the bed and she continued to smile as she moved over to make room for him. He gently stroked her inner thigh with the back of his hand and then leaned into her and kissed her.
She knew it was wrong, she knew what it was that she should be doing, but she closed her eyes anyway and kissed him back, opening her mouth to his, meeting his tongue with hers. But she wasn’t kissing the man who had abducted her, the man who had repeatedly drugged her right up to this very moment, the man who willingly trafficked women and girls on behalf of that little pervert DeBlanc, she was kissing the only man she had ever loved, the only man she had ever desired. She let her hands roam all over his body as his hands roamed all over hers. She found his Glock holstered at his side and let her hand linger on its butt for a brief moment before continuing on down to his waist in search for the belt buckle.
He unstrapped the shoulder holster and removed it. Unsure what to do with it, at first he put it and the gun still holstered inside it in the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed. He then thought better of it and placed it instead in the top drawer of the dresser. After settling on this location, he shrugged his shoulders and gave her an apologetic smile. She shook her head and smiled back at him as if to say, what do I care about a silly gun? He removed the band from the ponytail and shook his long brown hair free. It settled around his face like a thick, masculine mane. He started to unbutton his shirt but soon became impatient with the process and just ripped it open and tore it off. He stood before her, his wide, chiseled chest heaving as he breathed heavily from the anticipation of what was to come.
She got on her knees to first unbuckle the belt and then to begin working on the zipper. She laughed a little at his eagerness to reach around her back and untie her bikini top. She slipped it off and tossed it far from the bed. He leaned down and kissed her again as he took her firm right breast into his hand, the feel of which sent titillating electric waves throughout his body. As he squeezed and massaged it, she kissed him back hungrily. Without ending the kiss or letting go of the breast, he managed to kick off his shoes and shimmy out of his pants and underwear. When he was naked, she pulled away from the kiss and looked him deeply in the eyes and smiled mischievously as she slipped off her bottoms. She tossed them far from the bed as well, close to where the top lay. Naked, she lay back on the bed, her long auburn hair fanning out lustrously beneath her, highlighting the radiant glow of her soft ivory skin.
His heart raced from the power of her feminine beauty and the longing of possessing it. He kissed her deeply again on the mouth and then began working his way down her body with more kisses, slowly, taking care to taste every delicious morsel of her. But just as he reached that soft auburn patch between her legs where he expected his longest kiss to last, she pulled him back up to her, whispering to him that she wasn’t ready yet, that first she just wanted him to hold her, to kiss her some more as he had done before.
Reluctantly, he made his way back up to her and obeyed her wish, lying on top of her, trying to gently work her legs open with a knee. But her legs were strong and she resisted. She drew his face down into her neck and whispered into his ear that soon she would give to him all he wanted from her, but for now she just wanted him to hold her, to allow her to feel safe within his arms.
He wanted to enter her so badly that he felt shaky, weak. He grinded his hips desperately against hers, impatient for the moment when she would open herself up to him. He tried to raise up so he could at least look into her beautiful green eyes, but she pulled his head back down, keeping his face buried in her neck. He allowed her to keep it there, to control him, thinking if that was where she wanted him, then that was where he would stay. She possessed him and he was lost deep within the universe of her, aware of nothing but her, all of her, her neck against his lips, her breasts against his chest, her hips against his hips, her legs beneath his legs, her right arm locked tight around his neck, her right hand firm on the back of his head, her fingers tangled within his hair.
But he wasn’t aware of all of her. He didn’t notice that her left hand remained distinctly apart from him, alien to him, and that it had dropped down to the side of the bed. And when her right arm squeezed his neck harder and her right hand held his head even tighter against her neck, he could only assume it was because she was getting closer to giving herself up to him.
And he was relieved because he could barely contain himself. He ground his hips harder into hers. He forced a knee in between her legs and worked again to spread them open, begging her as he did to let herself go, to give herself to him. But still she resisted, still she told him to hold on for just a moment longer, that she would be ready for him soon.
But soon wasn’t soon enough for him and, despite the strong mellowing, playful effects the drug had upon him, and despite her strong resistance, his primal desire for her was even stronger. He pulled himself free from her grasp and raised himself up. He then pressed a knee in between her legs and forced them open far enough for him to wedge his hips in between them. He then began grinding roughly into her until she was forced from the pressure into a position that allowed for him to begin slamming and stabbing his hard, painful erection in between her legs in a frantic, violent effort to penetrate her, to slice her open wide.
No longer able to see the lover she had always longed for but only the man she had hated most, that vile, despicable man she had to kill to stop from repeatedly doing to her what was now about to be done once again, she grabbed a thick handful of thick hair and, before he could force himself inside her, she yanked on it as hard as she could.
The sudden pain surprised Henderson and he was pulled off balance, falling back down onto the determined woman beneath him. She quickly locked her right arm around his neck as she continued pulling with all her might on his hair, forcing his head into the position she needed it to be. But he was much stronger than she was and was just about to free himself from her hold when she drew the broken wooden drawer guide out from under the mattress and thrust it deep into the inter
nal jugular vein on the right side of his neck.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Upon Rudenko’s order, Sabra walked to the door to inform McKnight to bring RJ in for questioning.
“Wait!” Killian shouted.
With his hand on the doorknob, Sabra stopped and looked back over his shoulder at Rudenko. Rudenko gave the undercover agent a look that instructed him to standby.
Killian looked back and forth from Sabra to Rudenko. “I’ll tell you everything I know, Rudenko,” he said. “Just leave the women out of it.”
Rudenko looked at Sabra and gave him a slow nod. Sabra returned from the door and took up his position next to Killian.
“Well then,” Rudenko said to Killian, “speak.”
Killian sighed and shook his head slowly. “You have to believe me when I tell you, I have absolutely no idea what it was my father took from you.”
Rudenko laughed. “Believe you?” He walked up close to Killian and looked down sternly upon him. “You are a highly skilled operative, trained by your government’s military and CIA in the art of deception.” He leaned down so he could look directly into his hostage’s eyes. “Come now, my friend, we both know that the last thing I should do is believe you.”
Killian’s eyes locked onto Rudenko’s. “And yet what I say is true. No matter how much you want to believe otherwise, no matter what you do to me to try to prove otherwise, I will never be able to provide you the information you seek because I don’t know what it is. So, go ahead, torture me if you must. Maybe I’ll come up with something creative from the pain that will please you.”
“My dear, Mr. Lebon. Have you already forgotten? It’s not you who will be tortured but the girl you’ve went through all the trouble to rescue. So please, let us end these games and just tell me what I want to know.”
“How many times do I have to say it, Rudenko?” Killian said passionately. “I have no fucking idea what it is you want to know.”
Rudenko stood and began pacing back and forth before Killian. For the first time, anger crept into his voice. “Okay, okay, Mr. Lebon. So you say.” He rubbed the dark stubble beginning to show on his chin in a thoughtful manner as he paced. “How about, to make sure we’re both working off the same page, we go over the information that is known.” He stopped pacing and looked to Killian as if expecting the bound man’s ready concurrence, but Killian just stared at him. “Okay, good,” he said, resuming his pacing. “Here’s what we know as fact. Based upon the extensive work conducted over many months by our patriotic computer forensic experts, we know that the highly secure systems of our military intelligence and foreign ministry networks were illegally compromised and exploited. We know that both compromises were conducted by the same, non-state entity. And, after much time and resources were expended in investigating the matter, we concluded with a very high degree of certainty that this entity was your father or someone working on his behalf. What we don’t know, however, is what it was he did while he was on our networks. We have been unable to discover any potential damaging viruses or other exploits that he may have left behind. Nor have we been able to discover any files or databases that he may have copied and stolen. Even after much persuasion by our friend Mr. Sabra here, your father was unwilling to confess to us what he did while he was on our networks.”
“So it was the trained monkey here who tortured and murdered my father? Good to know,” Killian said staring hard at Sabra. “I look forward to returning the service.”
“Yes, according to Mr. Sabra, your father has quite a high tolerance for pain. Isn’t that right, Mr. Sabra?”
Sabra grunted and looked down at Killian. “Yes, this is true. I told your father right before I slit his throat that I looked forward to doing to you what I was just about to do to him. Unfortunately, by then he no longer had a tongue so his response wasn’t very clear.”
Killian lost it. His eyes bulged wide and veins popped out everywhere as he thrashed like a wild animal against his bonds and screamed out the various evils he was going to inflict on both Sabra and Rudenko once he was freed.
Sabra laughed at Killian’s futile efforts to free himself and walked over to a camouflage backpack setting on the floor in the corner in the front of the cabin. He unzipped it and pulled out a large knife still in its leather sheath. He walked back to Killian, who was still struggling to free himself. Killian glared at him fiercely.
Sabra unsheathed the knife slowly. It was a twelve-inch, black carbon bowie knife with a five-inch black leather handle. He placed it flat against Killian’s left cheek. “This is the knife I used to remove your father’s tongue, right after I had used it to remove both of his eyes...” He drew the blade slowly along the bruised cheek. “And right before I lit him on fire and burned him to dust.”
Killian once again went into a fit of uncontrollable rage, spitting and cursing and renewing his vows of death to the Russians. There was a thin line of blood on his cheek where Sabra’s blade had been.
Rudenko stepped between the two. “Okay, okay. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here, men. Hopefully Mr. Lebon will be more cooperative than his father and we won’t have to resort to any of that bloody nonsense.”
Sabra wiped the knife off on Killian’s pants before sheathing it again and returning it to the backpack.
“Now where was I?” Rudenko said, gathering his thoughts. “Okay, yes. So, to summarize, we know your father hacked into our networks, networks responsible for passing and storing highly classified military and diplomatic secrets, but what we don’t know is why or what he did when he hacked us. But there is also one more interesting piece of information that we know for a fact. While Mr. Sabra may have failed in convincing your father to explain why he hacked our networks, he was successful in discovering that right before your father’s death…” he looked at Killian and bowed a short acquiescent bow, “…I mean murder, as you have repeatedly insisted on us using the more specific term. We have since learned that right before your father’s murder he was in contact with you. Do you deny this?”
“No, I don’t deny it,” Killian spat out. There’s nothing to deny. Look, since you obviously know so much about my father and me, then surely you know that he and I have had a strained relationship for years.”
Rudenko looked at Sabra, who gave him a slight nod. “Yes, we are aware of the troubled relationship between you and your father.”
“Well, then you shouldn’t be surprised that I didn’t want to have anything to do with him when he called me up for a video chat on the day of his murder – how he got my contact information I have no idea – talking some crazy shit about how he needed my help on some very important project he had been working on.”
Rudenko’s face lit up. “Yes, go on. Please tell us what it was that was so important, Mr. Lebon.”
“I don’t know what it was now because I didn’t want to know what it was then. I had just assumed it was more of his extremist bullshit so I wouldn’t let him continue speaking. And it wasn’t just because I was sick of hearing about all of his bullshit, it was also because I was in the middle of preparing for an operation. I didn’t have the time to hear it.”
“But that can’t possibly be the end of it,” Rudenko said. “According to our information, your conversation with your father lasted for nearly ten minutes.”
Killian nodded painfully in agreement. “Yes, he wouldn’t give up. He insisted that, as a Navy SEAL, it was my duty to help him. That the information he had could be devastating not just to the United States, but to the entire world.”
“Yes, yes,” Rudenko said eagerly. “Then what?”
Killian sighed. “Then I relented and asked him what it was that was so important.”
“And? And?” Rudenko said, prompting Killian on impatiently. “What was it, Mr. Lebon?”
“I don’t know,” Killian said in frustration. “Maybe it was whatever it is you’re so interested in. But he said he couldn’t discuss it over an open Skype line.”
“S
o, if he couldn’t discuss it, why did he even bother to call you then?” Rudenko demanded.
“He wanted to send me some app he said he had developed that would encrypt our conversation, but I didn’t have the time for all that. Like I said, I was preparing for an operation. And I told him that. He became very agitated and, as usual, we parted ways pissed off at each other. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.”
Rudenko laughed. “If only that were true.” The Russian restarted his pacing and quickly became serious again. “No, Mr. Lebon, that’s not all there is to it. Indeed, there is much, much more to it.” The anger in his voice had returned. “Now, indulge me for a few moments longer if you would. What did he say when you told him you didn’t have time to download his app? He didn’t try to talk around the sensitive nature of the subject like so many would?”
“No. Jesus, man, he didn’t say shit about it. When I told him I didn’t have time to deal with him, he tried to convince me to come home on leave. He insisted that he needed my help.”
“And you told him what?” Rudenko demanded urgently.
“What the fuck do you think I told him, asshole? Killian shot back. “I told him to get lost. I told him that I was sick and tired of all his righteous extremist Deep State conspiracy bullshit. Take your pick, you arrogant fuck.”
“You know, Mr. Lebon,” Rudenko said with a sigh. “I’m trying to conduct this... interview... in a civil manner, but if you’re going to continue to speak rudely and dismissively to me then I will be forced to conduct it with more aggressive measures.”
“Forgive me if I don’t come over to give you a hug to show my appreciation for your kindness,” Killian said. “But I’m a little tied up now.”
Rudenko spun on his heels toward Sabra. “Mr. Sabra, will you please do me the courtesy of teaching Mr. Lebon a lesson in respect.”
Sabra nodded, slung his rifle onto his back, and swung down at Killian, striking him hard on the left cheekbone, right where the thin gash ran that he had just made.
The Good Kill Page 36