‘Okay, we’ll find out one way or another.’
22
KATERINA
Katerina huddled closer to Sabrina as the van drew to a halt. The back doors opened and Marius jumped inside and stood in front of them, the top of his head just touching the roof.
He snapped at Sabrina. ‘Get up and sit on the box.’
Sabrina did as he said, and when he stepped closer, her face was opposite his belt buckle.
He glanced over his shoulder at Katerina and ordered her out of the van.
Sabrina gave her a half smile, the kind that said, you’d better go, I’ll be okay.
Katerina got to her feet and jumped down from the back of a van which was parked at the side of a road and surrounded by trees. She turned back to see Marius unfastening his trousers, then Hugo grabbed her arm and pulled her away. He led her between some trees into a small clearing and pointed to a fallen tree. ‘Sit there and don’t move.’
She sat on the tree trunk and watched Hugo pace back and forth. ‘Can’t you do something to help her?’
He stopped pacing. ‘Why?’
Katerina hesitated, trying to think of a suitable answer, one that would cause him to intervene, but the only thing she could think to say was, ‘Because she’s my friend.’
‘Take my advice, kid, and don’t get too friendly with any of the girls you meet in this business. It will only cause you pain.’
‘It’s too late, Sabrina is already my friend and she doesn’t deserve to be treated the way Marius is treating her.’
Hugo just shrugged and began slowly pacing again.
Katerina shuffled uncomfortably and realised her bladder was full. ‘Hugo.’
‘What now?’
‘I need to pee.’
He stopped pacing again and looked at her. ‘Go on then.’
She stood up and hesitated.
He was staring at her. ‘What are you waiting for?’
‘Can you please turn around?’
‘Why?’
‘Because I can’t go while you’re watching me.’
‘You did before at the side of the van.’
‘You were not watching me then.’
‘Yes, I was. I watched you through the side mirror.’
She drew breath, her cheeks burned hot. ‘I didn’t know.’
‘I need to make sure you don’t run away.’
‘Please, Hugo, I promise I won’t run.’
He shrugged. ‘Be quick then.’
Katerina waited for him to turn around, then pulled down her underwear and squatted down. She watched him closely until she had finished, pulled up her underwear, and straightened her dress. ‘I’m done.’
He turned around, looked her up and down, and nodded.
Marius shouted from the other side of the trees. ‘Okay, let’s go.’
Without prompting, Katerina walked back and got into the van. Sabrina was sat on the blanket wiping her mouth with a torn piece of cloth.
Katerina sat next to her. ‘Are you okay?’
Sabrina just nodded slowly.
A couple of hours later they stopped again and Hugo appeared at the back doors. ‘Right, girls, we’re going into a diner to get some food, but I need to warn you, if you do anything silly, I will kill anyone who tries to be a hero, do you understand?’
Hugo pulled his jacket aside revealing a pistol in his waistband.
The girls nodded and followed Hugo into the diner while Marius refuelled the van nearby. They sat at a table near the window, away from other customers. When Marius joined them, Hugo went to the counter and ordered sandwiches and coffees.
A few minutes later a waitress arrived at their table with their order and appeared to study Katerina and Sabrina as she unloaded the tray. The woman, probably in her early fifties, glanced at the two men then returned her gaze to the girls.
Sabrina kept her head down but Katerina held eye contact with the waitress as the woman smiled at her and asked if everything was all right.
Katerina wondered what this sight would look like to the waitress. Two rough looking men sitting opposite two young girls. As a waitress, she must be used to seeing fathers and daughters in the diner, a perfectly normal sight in any restaurant, fast food or otherwise. But surely this must seem different. It must be obvious that this situation was not fathers and daughters.
Or was it?
To Katerina it was obvious, but maybe to others it wouldn’t be, and most people are too polite or apprehensive to say anything other than ask if everything was all right.
So if she wanted to raise the alarm she would have to do something. She would have to ask for help or shout out for police. But Hugo’s threat was still vivid in her mind. She couldn’t do anything that would endanger the life of the waitress and possibly Sabrina’s and her own. She forced a slight smile and broke eye contact as Hugo pushed one of the coffees towards her and did the same with a sandwich on a plate. Then he looked up at the waitress. ‘Everything is good, thank you.’
The look he gave the waitress must have left her in no doubt that her presence was no longer required. She glanced once more at Katerina before walking away.
Hugo stared across the table at Katerina. ‘Friendly waitress, eh?’
Katerina nodded, not letting her disappointment show.
‘Well, remember what I told you outside in the van.’
Her lingering eye contact with the waitress must have given her away. ‘Yes, Hugo.’
But if Hugo noticed, maybe the waitress did too. Maybe she was in the back office calling the police right now. Or was that just wishful thinking?
When they had finished eating, Sabrina looked across at Hugo. ‘Can I use the restroom?’
Hugo shuffled uneasily in his seat and glanced around the diner. ‘If you try anything, your little friend here will pay the price, do you understand?’
Sabrina shot Katerina a reassuring smile. ‘I won’t try anything.’ Then she got up and headed for the restroom.
Marius placed the van keys on the table in front of Hugo and nodded towards Katerina. ‘If you want some time on your own with her, I’ll wait here with the other one for a while.’
Hugo frowned at him. ‘You heard the instructions, she’s to remain pure.’
‘There are things she could do for you that wouldn’t leave any evidence.’
Hugo didn’t answer him straight away. Katerina looked across at Hugo. He was studying her in silence. Her heart jumped. What was he thinking? Was he tempted to act on Marius’s suggestion? Was he thinking about breaking the rules? She held her breath as she looked into his eyes for any indication of what was going on in his mind.
Hugo winked at Marius. ‘Maybe I will help myself to some time alone with her.’ He glanced back at Katerina. ‘Come on then.’
Katerina’s legs almost buckled as she got up from the table and followed Hugo out to the van.
She was confused. Hugo had resisted any temptation he may have had for the last two days, so why would he change his mind now? Had he decided that he had taken her far enough? Was he going to force her to do what Anton had planned to do in the bedroom until Hugo had knocked him down, and what Marius had just made Sabrina do in the back of the van?
Her heart felt as if it was going to explode in her chest as she headed for the van’s rear doors.
Hugo reached down and took her hand. ‘Not there, come up front with me.’ He opened the passenger door and she jumped up. Then he walked around and got into the driver’s seat.
Katerina sat rigid, staring out of the front window. She didn’t dare look at him. She waited for his order. But it didn’t come. Instead, Hugo reached over, turned on the radio, and settled back in his seat. ‘Relax kid, I am not going to touch you and you are not going to be doing anything for me either.’
Katerina breathed easy, then turned to look at him. ‘Thank you, Hugo.’
He grunted and flashed her a half grin. ‘It seems all you ever do is thank me. You know I am going to sel
l you, don’t you?’
She nodded.
‘And you know what’s going to happen to you when I leave, don’t you?’
She nodded again.
‘So why the hell do you keep thanking me?’
‘Because I saw what Marius did to Sabrina and it was horrible. You could have done that to me but you haven’t. And you could have done what Marius was suggesting just now but you haven’t. So I’m thanking you because I’m grateful.’
‘Don’t be grateful, and don’t thank me anymore. All those things will happen to you when I’ve gone.’
‘I know that.’
‘Then you know I’m not your friend. It’s just business.’
Katerina wiped a tear from her eye. ‘Why don’t you earn money another way?’
‘This is all I know.’
‘Why did you take me?’
‘I told you, it’s just business. It’s what I do.’
‘But why me?’
‘The boss wanted you. That’s all I know.’
She studied him closely. She didn’t know why but she sensed he wasn’t being straight with her. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me.’
He looked at her but said nothing.
‘I’m right, aren’t I?’
‘Hell, girl, are you really only twelve? You are not like the other kids I’ve taken. They just whine and cry and never ask questions.’
‘Please, Hugo, you are going to make a lot of money when you sell me, so please, just be honest with me. You owe me that.’
He shook his head from side to side. ‘You won’t like what I tell you.’
Katerina turned in her seat and looked at him. ‘Tell me anyway. I have a feeling I may never go home and may never see my family again. I just need to know why. Why did you target me?’
‘Okay, I’ll tell you. The new boss in London placed an order for you. I was sent your details and given your grandmother’s address. I had been watching you for a few days but you were always with your parents until yesterday. When I saw you heading for the lake I drove around and parked on the farm track. You know the rest.’
‘You haven’t told me why the boss in London sent you my details.’
Hugo nodded. ‘It was your sister’s fault.’
Katerina gasped. ‘My sister. Do you mean Natasha?’
He nodded again.
‘You are lying, my sister would never sell me, never.’
‘I didn’t say she sold you.’
‘Then why was it her fault?’
‘Because she was warned not to escape. She was told what would happen if she did.’
Katerina stared blankly through the front windscreen trying to digest what she’d heard. Her suspicions had been right. Something bad had happened to Natasha. ‘Are you saying my sister had been taken by this organisation?’
‘You didn’t know?’
‘No, I thought she was modelling.’
He sniggered. ‘I guess you could say she was modelling, just not in the way she expected to be. You see, kid, when you are sold or brought into this business, that’s it. You are theirs and they do not let you out until you are no longer any value to them. That’s usually a few years.’
‘Don’t you ever feel guilty about what you are doing?’
‘Why should I?’
‘You take girls away from their families. You sell them into the sex trade. You destroy their lives and their family’s lives. Are you really okay with that?’
‘I never think about it. In this world it’s the survival of the fittest. The strong thrive and weak don’t. Or, putting it another way, the strong take and the weak give.’
‘Is that what you really believe, or do you just tell yourself that to help cope with the guilt?’
He just stared at her.
‘Do you have a wife or children?’
He laughed out loud. ‘Who me? Nah, I couldn’t be doing with all that.’
‘Why, don’t you like children?’
He hesitated as he stared out of the windscreen. His eyes narrowed and he seemed deep in thought. Had she touched a nerve buried way down under that hard exterior? Just maybe she was getting through to him, scratching the surface of the barrier around his emotions. He appeared lost in his thoughts. Was her plan working?
Right then the passenger door opened and Katerina jumped. Marius was holding Sabrina by the arm. He looked past Katerina to Hugo. ‘Finished?’
Hugo snapped out of his trance and nodded.
Marius turned his gaze to Katerina. ‘Get out and get in the back.’
She glanced back at Hugo. The moment had gone. He was back to his usual serious self. She turned and got out, then followed Marius and Sabrina to the back of the van.
When the door slammed shut, her brief moment of hope and opportunity slammed shut with it.
23
HUGO
As they set off again on the next leg of their journey to Brussels, Hugo studied the road ahead while Marius slid down in his seat, raised his legs, and rested his feet on the dashboard. He looked over to Hugo in the driving seat. ‘Well, I’m waiting.’
Hugo glanced at him. ‘What for?’
‘The gory details. The kid, what was she like? Was she good?’
Hugo didn’t answer. He continued to stare ahead, trying to decide whether he should tell the truth or just lie to shut him up.
‘I might try her myself the next time we stop.’
Hugo snapped out of his trance. ‘What did you say?’
‘The kid, she’s so cute, and now she knows what to do I might want to try her when we stop again.’
Hugo gripped the wheel and stamped on the brakes and the van skidded to a halt. He turned to Marius. ‘You had better not touch her, do you hear me?’
Marius held up his hands. ‘Hell, Hugo, calm down, you misunderstood me. I wasn’t going to fuck her. I was just going to get her to blow me, like she just did for you.’
Hugo took deep breaths. He hadn’t misunderstood. He knew exactly what Marius had intended, and knew it wouldn’t have affected Katerina’s value. She would still be a virgin and could be sold as such. So he was shocked by his own reaction. Why did he feel so angry? He could have crashed the van and jeopardised the operation. He had preserved the innocence of many girls before to ensure top price when he sold them, but with the others, he had always done so calmly and professionally. After all, this job was just about the money. It wasn’t personal, or at least it never was before.
He looked back at Marius. ‘It’s okay, forget it.’ He pulled on the handbrake, jumped out, and went to the back of the van and opened a rear door. The girls sat huddled together against the bulkhead. He asked them if they were all right.
Katerina glanced at Sabrina and nodded. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing to worry about. I just had to stop quickly. Are you sure you are okay?’
Katerina nodded again. ‘It frightened us, but we are okay.’
Hugo stared at her for a moment, then closed the door and went back to the driver’s seat. He put the van in gear and drove on while trying to understand what he was thinking and feeling. He had transported many girls over the years and had never thought anything of it. They were just commodities that varied in value depending on age and cuteness. The younger and prettier they were the higher the price they fetched when sold. Katerina scored high on both counts. In fact, when it came to cuteness, she was way ahead of the others.
He stared out at the road ahead and tried to clear his head. He glanced across at Marius. ‘How long have you been doing this?’
‘What, trafficking girls?’
‘Yeah, I know we’ve done a few jobs together before, but how long have you been with the organisation?’
‘About six years, and before that I was freelance.’
‘Why did you join the Kestrati?’
‘For security. It’s safer and easier being part of the organisation. The other gangs don’t mess with us. They know better.’
�
�Do you ever think about the girls?’
Marius glanced at Hugo and grinned. ‘Yeah, all the time, they are one of the reasons I do this.’
‘I don’t mean like that. I mean do you ever think about them… you know… as people?’
‘Hell no, why should I? They are just girls to be sold and used.’
Hugo didn’t answer. He was still trying to understand why this job was starting to feel different to all the rest, and why he had been worried about Katerina after hitting the brakes. Sure, he would have checked on any other girl after stopping so suddenly to make sure they were not injured, but only to protect his investment. He tried to convince himself that his concern was exactly that, protecting his investment, but deep down he was beginning to think there was more to it than that.
Marius laughed. ‘Are you testing me?’
‘What?’
‘You’re testing me, right? Making sure I’m still trustworthy? Well, you don’t have to worry about me.’
‘No, I’m just curious. I have sold lots of girls before and never thought about what happens to them after I walk away.’
‘I know, that’s why you have the reputation you have. You are well known in the organisation as the coldest, most ruthless, single minded bastard of us all. And it’s why they call you The Recruiter. But I’m the same. You have to be to do what we do. I mean, if we were the type to worry about what happens to the girls, we might not be able to do this job.’
When Hugo didn’t answer, Marius looked at him. ‘Oh my god, Hugo, don’t tell me you are going soft on that kid. Is she getting to you?’
Hugo shrugged. ‘She saved my life this morning.’
‘How did she do that?’
‘Anton wanted her. He was going to slit my throat and take her for himself. She shouted out to warn me that he had a knife.’
‘Did she know he wanted her?’
‘Yes, I stopped him assaulting her yesterday.’
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