Choosers of the Slain pos-3

by John Ringo

  “Excuse me?”

  “Boyfriend,” Tanya said, leaning back into her own seat. “I’m with him for… three months or so. He tells me has a friend can get me into Germany as maid. There is no work in Russia for me, so I say I’ll meet friend. Turns out friend gets hookers for Albanians. Never see boyfriend again.”

  “That’s…” Mikhail said angrily.

  “Shitty, yes?” the girl replied with a bitter laugh. “I think, maybe he not know. I love him, yes? And he do this to me. But he must know. Sometimes think of what would want to do to him if found him again. Are not nice thoughts.”

  “I’ll hold his arms for you,” Mikhail said. “If you not want to do this…”

  “I have to do this,” Tanya said desperately. “Don’t drop me off, please. I need to earn money. If I don’t bring back money, I get beaten.”

  “Okay,” Mikhail said, as they pulled up to the hotel. “We do this.”

  “You very nice,” Tanya replied, snuggling back up to him. “You nice boy, nice man. I think I give you special service. I rock your world.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  When the American answered the door he grabbed her and tried to kiss her on the mouth. Katya thought about it for a second and let him. He’d put on cologne and brushed his teeth. Americans. Like she cared.

  “I am very good for you,” she said, rethinking her strategy. If she walked back to the hotel, she’d probably be passing through a bunch of other brothels’ territories. Which meant if she tried to pick up tricks, she’d get the crap beat out of her by the pimps that watched the girls. Paying for a taxi, unless this guy was incredibly generous, was out of the question. Even if he gave her the fare, she’d be better to pocket it and walk.

  But it was at least a half hour walk back, if she walked fast. In heels.

  So… and so.

  “I give you good time,” Katya said, pushing him back towards the bed. “And you give me money, please?” she practically sobbed. “I am sorry to ask, I am not good whore. I have only been whore for few days.” She sat on the edge of the bed and started sobbing.

  “What?” the man said, sitting up and patting her on the shoulder. “Really?”

  “I am orphan,” she sobbed. “I am thrown out of orphanage. There I learn English. Not so good, but I can understand, yes? I have nowhere to go, no one hire me. I must do this.” She looked up, suddenly, and stared at him, fiercely. “I will do this with you, yes? You are good man, sweet and nice, a good American, yes? I will give you much sex, but, please…” She broke down and sobbed. “Please, I ask you not send me back out. I will give you sex over and over but Boris, he hit me if I not bring back enough! Please to help me!”

  “How old are you, child?” the man said, pulling her up into his lap.

  “I am… I am fourteen,” Katya sobbed. “I am only whore a few days. Boris, he rape me and tell me I make money for him. He make me pay rent and I must pay him eight hundred euros every day! Yesterday, I only make sixty euros! He hit me much,” she added, pointing to the bruises on her face and her cut lip.

  “That’s just… abominable,” the man snapped. “Horrible! You can stay here, if you want. I’m going to be here… I’d planned on being here for a few days…”

  “No!” Katya gasped in fear. “No! Boris’ men, they find me. Find you! No, I will stay with you until is very late. But I must have money! I must… you are not… I must…” She broke down again.

  “Look,” the man said. “I’d planned on spending… quite a bit, here. You can have it. I don’t really need…” He stopped and sighed.

  “You need, yes?” Katya said, looking up with tears in her eyes. “I will. With you, I am very good for you, yes? And… you need. I feel you.”

  “My wife and I…” the man said with a sigh. “I mean, I love her, but she just… doesn’t want to anymore. And I’m not going to… you can’t just up and beat a woman because she doesn’t want to have sex. So… I use a Kleenex and… well. Anyway, I was at a seminar in Italy and there was this… young lady. Like you but… not as young. And she… was very good for me.”

  Katya was fighting yawning and trying to keep the tears going at the same time. It was a tough call, but she managed it. The important part was to stare him in the eye and nod. Doing your nails was a bad idea. Save that for later when he was on top and wouldn’t notice as long as you kept making lots of noise.

  The long story of the man’s journey to the most whore-infested town in Albania wound to a close and Katya jerked back to wakefulness, trying to remember what he’d said.

  “Your wife is very bad woman!” Katya said, throwing her arms around him. “She should give you what you need. You are good man!” I hope I can suck enough out of him for all this time. But if I play my cards right…

  “She’s not a bad woman,” the man said with a sigh. “She just doesn’t understand how… what I need. And… she’s not as good looking as she used to be. I don’t want to leave her, though. So… here I am. In Lunari. It seemed like a good idea with a few drinks in me…”

  “But I am good you,” Katya said, standing up and lifting up her skirt a little. “I am take care you. But…”

  “I’ll pay you,” the man said, reaching into his shirt and pulling out a secure wallet. “I’ll buy you from him if that’s what it takes!”

  “Would not sell me,” Katya said, pushing the money away and mentally calculating the bulge. If that was all he had with him, she was sunk. “This town, is not safe and safe at all same time. I know people make safe. But need money. You pay me, I stay near you most of time. Must go back so they know I not try to run. But I come for you. I show you town, we go to club. You pay me. I give you much sex, more sex than ever have in life. We get other girls, do it together if you want. Not much more money at all. I take very good care of you! But…”

  “Would a thousand euros a day cover it?” the man asked, pulling out travellers’ checks.

  “I cannot do with those…” Katya said in real desperation. “But can cash at hotel?”

  “I have some euros, too,” the man said, handing them over to her. It was about three hundred, so far so good. Oh, shit, the mission. This would have been heaven if she was really one of the whores in the brothel. But she had a different mission. “And, yes, I can cash them at the hotel. And it has an ATM, but… if I hit that too hard my wife will wonder why.”

  “We take care of it,” Katya said, seriously, but with a touch of innocence. “I take care of you and give you very good time until you leave. I am rock your world.”

  * * *

  “Oh… wow!” Mikhail said, lying back on the bed.

  “You come quick,” Tanya replied, wiping the cum away from her mouth. “And lots. I think there is more there,” she added, stroking his member. Sure enough, it started to pop back to life.

  “I’m not sure…” Mikhail said, starting to sit up.

  “I show you other way,” the hooker said, standing up and pulling off her sheath dress. “You like my body?”

  “You’re very pretty,” Mikhail admitted. She would only be average as a Keldara, but he’d never seen a Keldara girl naked so he had limited experience to judge. All he knew was that he wanted to do it again. And again and again.

  “Come over here,” she said, lying down on the bed. “You need condom.”

  “I’ve got one,” Mikhail admitted, getting up quickly and digging through his bags until he found the foil packet.

  “I show,” Tanya said as he fumbled with the latex sheeth. “Is almost too small.” She took the condom, placed the tip in her mouth and put it on that way. “You like?”

  “Yes,” Mikhail admitted. “What… where…?”

  “Come here,” the girl said, pulling him over to her. “On top. Try not to put all your weight on me…” She started to spit on her fingers to moisten herself and realized she didn’t have to, she was actually enjoying herself. “I get you there…” she added, guiding him down and in.

  “Oh… wow,”
Mikhail repeated, starting to pump at her furiously. He looked up after a moment and stopped as he saw tears in the girl’s eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked, starting to pull out.

  “Don’t,” she said, digging her fingers into his buttocks. “Is good for me, too. You are very nice. I like. Makes me sad, though. I not be whore for very long. Is almost like boyfriend again.”

  “Only almost?” Mikhail asked.

  “Actually, is better,” Tanya admitted, grinning through the tears. “Boyfriend was too small. I think you are rock my world.”

  * * *

  Katya got out of the taxi, one of the last driving around Lunari, and twisted her spine to get it back in line, getting a full view of the front of the building. Two guards, more barred windows up to the fourth storey, heavy steel door. The street was mostly deserted, though, at this time of night.

  The man, he said his name was Tom and he was a neurosurgeon from Cleveland, Tennessee, had been as hard to get off as she’d predicted. But he still wanted sex most of the time and she’d given it to him. And he must have slept in, because he hadn’t passed out until after three. It hadn’t advanced the mission much, but it gave her some leeway. She had her money for the day, at least.

  “You’re late,” the guard on the door growled. She was using the front entrance, which she’d never been through, because it was clear the others were closed.

  “I have to make money, yes?” she asked.

  “Get in,” he said, irritably. “You’re the last one.”

  Boris, unbelievably, was still awake, the bastard.

  “Where the fuck have you been, bitch!” he stormed, walking up to her and smashing her to the floor with a hard slap.

  “I have your money!” she whimpered, reaching under the dress and pulling out money. “Six hundred euros!”

  “Let me see that,” Boris said, snatching the money out of her hand and then reaching into her dress and fumbling around. “More, bitch? You have more!”

  “I found a rich American,” Katya said, stopping the dissembling and standing up. “He thinks I’m fourteen and just broken in. My amazing skills at sucking him off being natural, I suppose. Six hundred for my debt, thirty for room I’m only going to use for a few hours and food I didn’t eat, yes?” She reached out and calmly plucked a hundred euro note out of his hand. “This is for me, yes? If you hit again, American might not like my face. He wants me and sometimes other girl. Let me pick and he stays happy, yes? And you make your money. Is another hundred there is yours. Or… you can hit and tell me I’m stupid bitch and beat me up so I not look good… and tomorrow maybe I have six, maybe not.” She shrugged and dared to look him in the eye.

  “You’ve been around,” Boris said.

  “I said, I am whore in Ukraine,” Katya said, shrugging. “Have been a whore for… five year. I know how to work men, how to suck them dry of money. I speak English, I speak Russian, I even speak fucking Georgian. No Albanian. But I spend some time here, suck my American dry, send him home happy to his fat wife and then you send me to Italy where I make you real money.”

  “Bring him to the club, tomorrow,” Boris said, his eyes narrow.

  “He doesn’t like those shitty rooms upstairs,” Katya said. “I will, but…”

  “There are other rooms,” Boris said. “Ten euros to rent. Clean sheets, red light, very nice. You didn’t know?”

  “No,” Katya said, trying not to sigh again because then he would hit her. “You only told me to get out on the street and make you your money, yes? I have made you your money. I’ll bring him to the club. But… he likes me. He likes girls like me. Let me find another for part of the time. There will be at least one here that will do. I’ll bring him, introduce him, get him to buy pay-me drinks, yes?”

  “You know the routine,” Boris said. “But I think you’re a little too smart for your own good.”

  “I bring you money,” Katya said, shrugging. “Why you care?”

  “Because you better understand that I own you, bitch,” Boris snarled, grabbing her by the arm. “And I can teach you that without ever leaving a mark. Come with me.”

  He dragged her to the back of the club and into the men’s restroom. It still hadn’t been cleaned from the night and smelled of shit, piss and puke.

  He kicked open one of the stalls and shoved her head into the fetid bowl of the toilet.

  “Lick it clean, bitch,” Boris snarled, shoving her head down. “You’re no more than a fucking whore. And whores do what they’re told. So lick that shit out of the bowl, bitch!”

  Katya gagged but did what she was told, licking at the shit besmeared bowl. She tried to tell herself that she’d done worse, but when didn’t come to mind. Yes, it did. There was a Japanese tourist in the Ukraine that had paid her to eat his shit. But she’d at least been paid. And that was a long time ago.

  When Boris jerked her head up she was careful to look as meek as possible. He wanted her humiliated so she brought up some more tears and quivered in fear.

  “Please,” she whimpered. “I bring you money! I will!”

  “You’re damned right you will,” Boris said, reaching into her dress again and pulling out her remaining hundred euro note. “And this is a fine for thinking you’re smart! Now get your ass up to the room, bitch. And your rich American had better be in my club tomorrow!”

  Katya kept her head down on the way up to her room. Light was apparently optional above the main club level and she kept stumbling over bumps and cracks in the floor with her heels as she made her way.

  When she got there she saw that her stuff had been picked through but they hadn’t taken her toothbrush at least. But she didn’t have any toothpaste left.

  She made her way back to the only bathroom she had found, other than the one on the ground floor and she wasn’t going there any time soon. She brushed her teeth with the horrible soap that was on the sink and managed to get the last of the shit taste out then took a sketchy shower. The hot water had apparently been turned off as well.

  That done she went back to her semen- and blood-stained bed, set her dress against the wall to avoid having it stolen and linked her fingers behind her head, staring at the ceiling.

  So far, the mission was going better than she’d expected.

  * * *

  “Mikhail, do you have any idea what time it is?” Vanner asked grumpily.

  “Yes,” the team leader said. “I have problem.”

  “Come on in,” Vanner said, waving the way into his bedroom. The intel team had set up in the main room and he’d taken one of the two bedrooms. He’d just gotten off of monitoring duty and had looked forward to a few hours of rest before Katya woke up. One of the girls was on duty to monitor when she was asleep, in case a serious security issue came up. But Vanda would get to sleep during the day. He wasn’t going to get the chance.

  “The girl I pick up… ” Mikhail said as the intel specialist closed the door.

  “Oh, crap,” Vanner said, collapsing on the bed. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with a hooker.”

  “She not want to be whore,” Mikhail insisted.

  “Mikhail,” Vanner said, frowning. “We’re on a mission here. We can’t afford for you to go all John Wayne on us.”

  “What?” Mikhail asked, confused.

  “You were supposed to just go out and get laid,” Vanner replied, sighing. “Not fall in love with the girl. Look, most of the hookers in town aren’t here because they grew up wanting to be hookers. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find one that had that on her list of intended vocations. But that’s what they are, now. What do you want to do about it? Where is she, by the way?”

  “In my room,” Mikhail said, worrying his lip.

  “Damnit, they have a curfew,” Vanner snapped. “Her pimp is going to come looking for her.”

  “She called,” Mikhail said. “She tell them she is staying with her… trick and will bring money in morning.”

  “She needs at least…”

 
; “Six hundred and thirty euros,” Mikhail said, miserably.

  “And I suppose you want me to cough it up,” Vanner said. “The Kildar to pay for it.”

  “I will pay back,” Mikhail said. “I not want her to get hurt. She is from Club Aldaris. That is target, yes?”

  “Christ,” Vanner said, sliding up the bed and leaning on the headboard. “Mikhail, you’re supposed to be security for the suite. You think she can come in here with you?”

  “No,” the trooper admitted. “But…”

  Vanner held up one hand and thought for a second.

  “Okay,” the intel specialist said, frowning. “You’re on deck for security tonight. You’re supposed to be in there now. So go tell her you have to go for a while, she can sleep there. Tomorrow you take her back to the club, she pays her pimp, then you two go back to your room. Get some rest, don’t just screw all day because you’re on duty tomorrow night, too. We’ll see what we can arrange.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Mikhail said, standing up.

  “I want to meet her, tomorrow,” Vanner added. “Maybe we can salvage something useful out of this.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now… go!”

  * * *

  “Come,” Mike said at the knock on the door.

  “Kildar,” Oleg said, entering the room and coming to attention.

  “Sit, Oleg, what’s on your mind?” Mike said, clearing the screen on his computer.

  The helicopters had arrived and the Keldara had gotten started on that training. Most of them had never ridden in an airplane before and few had even seen a helicopter. But, as always, they were soaking up the information like so many sponges. And the majority already knew how to fast-rope for that portion of the entry.

  Taking off and landing on the freighter, though, was going to be problematic. Mike intended to exercise in the Black Sea before they headed for Albania.

  “Kildar, I am not sure how to say this…” Oleg said.

  “If it’s about that… Kardane thing…” Mike said.