In Love by Christmas: A Paranormal Romance

by Nathan, Sandy

  All the streets in Manhattan seemed to be permanently jammed and all the parking places filled. Leroy knew they’d never find parking on the street. He looked up, seemingly to the stars when they found the building they were looking for. It was huge and new, covering almost a block. It had underground parking. They turned into the opening and found a manned tollbooth. Doug’s contacts had provided him with the passwords into the garage, through the lobby, and upstairs. Money was the most important password.

  “Hey, buddy! Take your wife out to dinner.” Slurring mightily, Doug stuck his head out the window past the driver, intoned the password, and threw a few hundred to the guard on duty. “We may be a while.” He laughed crazily and the driver stepped on the gas. They shot into the basement garage.

  Hannah did some typing on one of the computers. The van’s interior looked like the high tech law enforcement vehicles Leroy had seen on TV; its walls were ringed with screens and equipment.

  “OK. It’s done. All the surveillance systems are down for blocks. We have about ten minutes.”

  Hannah and company held back while Doug and Leroy walked across the parking lot to the elevator and took it to a marble lobby at the street level. A big, tough-looking guy in a uniform was behind a desk.

  “Everything’s hunky dory this fine evening,” Doug used the password he had procured from his California lady-friends.

  The guard flashed Doug a look. His eyes made a fast circuit of the room, hitting on four wall-mounted screens giving impressive displays of static. He scowled and addressed Doug. “What’s hunky about it?” The guy stood up, looking toward a door at the rear of the lobby for reinforcements. The door remained closed. His brows pulled together and his hand moved toward the handle of the desk’s middle drawer, ready to pull a gun.

  “Oh, Jeez. I guess I’m out of date.” Doug pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and fanned out some hundreds. “What will it take to get in?” His speech was slurred, but intelligible. “We just want to get laid. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Plenty, if you ain’t right. And you ain’t. You’re not on the list for tonight.” He waived at a clipboard on the desk.

  “Wait a minute, tha’s not fair. I been thinkin’ about this all day.” Leroy weaved forward and banged his fist on the reception table. He looked as drunk as Doug. “I can’t wait no more. I never been to New York City an’ I want to get laid. Here. Now.” He lurched forward.

  When Leroy bumped into the security guard, he grasped his neck and the man collapsed, unconscious. Doug and Leroy dragged him behind the reception desk.

  “You will sleep until I tell you to wake up,” Leroy said to him.

  “That’s nifty, Leroy. I didn’t know you could do that. It’s on the seventy-fifth floor.”

  Leroy’s stomach lurched.

  “Don’t worry, it’s just like fear of flying. Do it once, and you’ll be over it forever …”

  Doug stepped out of the elevator, head turned back toward Leroy as he spoke. A thug in a fancy suit leaned around the door of the elevator, in his face.

  “Who are you?” The thug had a New York accent, the most pronounced Leroy had heard. It sounded like, “Whoer uze?”

  “Just here for a good ol’ hunky dory time.”

  “Things ain’t been hunky dory around here for a year.” Leroy could understand what he said, but would not be able to repeat it to save his life. He grabbed Doug’s jacket by the front and hauled him out of the doorway. “What is this? Did you do this?” The hood nodded at the screen mounted along the wall. It flashed black and white sparkles. “That happens and uze show up? Who sent you?”

  Leroy swung out of the elevator box and grabbed New York City by the shoulder. He gasped and collapsed the way the man in the lobby had. They dragged him to an out of the way corner and Leroy ordered him to stay out until told otherwise.

  They waited until Hannah and the others arrived in one of the other elevators.

  “What now?” she said in that voice like a dozen cigarette rasps.

  “No more ‘hunky dory,’ that’s for sure,” Doug said.

  Doug took the floor plan out and they made their way to the condo. Hannah and the commandos followed closely, taking positions on each side of the door when they reached the suite. They had that fine Numenon tech gadgetry geared up, sensing everything. All they needed were the two starring actors. Leroy faltered, hanging back in the hallway.

  “I know you don’t want to do this,” Doug said, “but you’re the beefcake. When they see you, they’ll stampede. Whores aren’t shy, Leroy. They’ll grab you and want to fuck you. Go with it. If they want to kiss you, kiss them back. If they want to grab you anywhere, let them. If they drag you into the back, good. That’s where Cass is. I know you’re a spirit warrior and this is against what you believe. But if you end up fucking some girl and save Cass as a result, that’s OK. Let’s go.”

  Leroy lagged. This is what Grandfather had warned him about, and told him was all right. Maybe with his grandpa, but not with him. But he’d do it, if he had to. He and Doug wore cashmere sweaters with soft wool jackets over them, Italian shoes. Top of the line, all the way. Will had stocked their apartment with every conceivable thing they could need for anything they might do.

  Doug grabbed his elbow and whispered viciously, “Leroy, smile. You’re supposed to be out for a wild night with your old buddy.”

  Leroy heard the girls’ intake of breath when he entered the living room. He hadn’t known what Doug meant when he said, “You’re the beefcake.” Then he did. There were a bunch of them, but four focused on him. They were dressed in little bits of tight stuff like swimsuit material and undies so tiny he didn’t know why they wore them at all. They had every color hair, curled, sticking out, straight. Eyebrows painted like hard semi-circles sat above their eyes, which were circled with black paint.

  After pulling in a hard breath all at the same time, they lunged. One of the women wiggled up to him and took hold of his privates through his pants. She pumped him a couple of times, and his body responded. It felt wonderful. Like something he should stop right now, that would definitely result in the Rules being broken. His cheeks flamed with embarrassment, but he didn’t push her off. She kept handling him, so skilled that he was surprised he didn’t let loose. She knew more about him than he did.

  “Oh, baby, your dick is as big as the rest of you,” she exclaimed, sounding awed. Hearing that, the others wiggled closer to look through his pants. “Look at him! That’s what I call a screwdriver!”

  “Let’s get you in back so we can see you good.” A redhead behind him put a hand on each of his buns and pushed him toward the hallway.

  “When I get a hold of you, you’re gonna remember me forever.” One of them whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek and running her hand down his chest inside of his sweater.

  “Don’t pay attention to her, sweetie. I’m the one who’s gonna be your steady. You ever done a one-two-three-four? That’s what I do.”

  “I do that, too,” he said, while the pros kept stroking and whispering. Leroy remained fully clothed, but that didn’t stop much. The girl who’d been handling his buns bit the cheeks of his ass and felt his balls between his legs. He struggled away.

  “Come on, now. I got enough for all o’ you. Let’s go back there and let me make you happy.” He headed up the hallway, four prostitutes in tow.

  “Let’s go in my room,” one with blue-black hair said. That was the first door. Then it was “Mine! Mine! Mine!” A couple of big, muscly guys with bulges under their jackets indicating revolvers looked at him. They had baseball bats leaning against their legs. One smiled, then the other. Trying to keep from scaring the customers too much.

  “Let’s all go in the back. All of you. I can do you all.”

  “All of us?”

  “Yeah, sure. Do it all the time.” Since they were stuck to him, getting the bunch to move wasn’t a problem. He smelled Cass’s quarters before they got to them. “Let’s go in h
ere.”

  “No, we’re not supposed to go in there.”

  Leroy stuck his head in. A huge, heart-shaped bed, made up with white satin and lace, sat in the middle of the room. “This is fine.”

  “We’re not …”

  “You want to do me, or not?” They entered the room, where he immediately laid them out on the bed and zapped them. Put them to sleep for a long time. “Except make noises like you’re having …” He couldn’t say the word. Even unconscious, they began moaning and crying out, then turned to each other and began kissing and caressing each other.

  The smell drew him to the closet. It was a big walk-in. Something was in the back, a pile of clothes that had fallen off hangers. He turned on the light and pick them up. Leroy jumped back.

  It didn’t look human. It didn’t look alive; face all jaundiced, eyelids stuck shut with yellow guck. Half-shaved head. The dragon Will had said was tattooed on the other side of her scalp peeked through a quarter-inch of stubbly hair. Cass had her arms and legs drawn up like a mummy they showed on the Adventure Channel. She looked like a mummy—dried out, joints twice the size of her limbs. She was wearing a bright-colored slip, that’s all. The smell came from the mound behind her. Whatever shit she’d been able to make was stacked up there. A pool of half-dried golden liquid spread out in front of her. They didn’t take her to the bathroom.

  He looked at his soul mate for the first time. Her face was tawny rawhide glued to her bones. Holy God in Heaven! O, Ancestors! O Great One. This is not possible. I cannot heal her.

  He would try. How to get her out of there? The girls were on the bed, moaning and carrying on. He smiled and went to the door.

  “Hey, you guys want a freebee? They done me in, but they’s still goin’. It’s on me. I already paid for ‘em. But I get to watch.”

  The guards came in warily, lighting up when they saw the girls on the bed, rolling in the throes of something.

  “What’d you do to them?”

  “Oh, jus’ that ol’ one-two-three-four. Go on. Have some. They’ll never know. I’ll go in this closet an’ take a peek now ‘n’ then. Don’t worry about me.”

  Leroy ducked in the closet, wrapped Cass in a coat hanging there. When he picked her up, she dripped and stinking clods fell off of her. O God, Grandfather, help me. How he could get out of there without sobbing, he didn’t know. The smell, the way she looked. So unconscious that she had no idea he was there. She was so light in his arms. A child would be heavier. Her heels banged against him. Bones banging would have felt the same.

  “Great One, protect me. Protect us. Save us.” He ducked out of the closet and into the hallway. The guards were so deep into the hookers that they didn’t notice him. He ran for the front door.

  “Where did you say you got our address?” the madam said to Doug, scowling. She was a short, fat woman with a black wig and surgically enhanced boobs as big as her head. Doug almost took a step back. Angry, the bitch was scary. She nodded to one of the bouncers to get rid of Doug. “This is a private club. Only members are allowed here.

  “Throw him out,” she barked, then changed her mind. “No, wait a minute. How did you hear about us?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, sugar,” Doug said. “We’re here from California. I called up a friend back home. Charlene, maybe, or Karleene. She’s got a real nice place in Hillsborough.”

  “I don’t know anyone in Hillsborough.” The bouncer moved closer.

  “Well, they sure know you! Let’s get this party going!” Doug beckoned to the guy at the bar. No one moved. “Come on! I came here for a party and I’m gonna have one.”

  “Who sent you here?” The madam’s eyes were like recessed slits, sinking into her face. She crossed her pudgy arms. A tattoo of a snake ran down from one elbow.

  “Who cares? My buddy’s in there fucking four of your girls. Would you like to get paid? How ‘bout that? Some cash put you in a better mood?” He pulled a roll out of his pocket and peeled off hundred dollar bills. “Say when.” They didn’t say when.

  “Whoa, this is high-priced pussy. He’s got four of your best. You outta give him a quantity discount.” It took four thousand dollars, and they were still looking at him like road kill.

  “Well, this is cheery. How about a drink?” Doug positioned himself a few steps from the entrance to the hallway where Leroy had disappeared, with the main entrance to his back. “Yoo-hoo! Can I get a drink? Some Scotch. You can bring it to me, sugar,” he said to one of the three or four whores standing around looking scared. He made himself smile and act totally at ease. Doug began to look over the available talent. “Do I get to play, or just my friend?”

  The madam and bouncers were silent, looking equally likely to beat the crap out of him as let him buy a woman.

  “Hey! You got any more?” Doug shouted. “I want one with big tits and a big ass. How about back in there?” He headed toward the hallway and its multitude of bedrooms. A big guy with a baseball bat blocked his way.

  “Pick one from the living room,” he said.

  “Sure, OK. Here I am, wanting a nice friendly screw and I get baseball bats. If you don’t want me to go back there, I’ll fuck her right here. You with the big ass, come over here.” Doug began unzipping his pants. “Let’s do it right here, honey. Bend over, baby. You’re gonna love this.”

  Leroy walked out of the hallway and across the living room, carrying a scrap of flesh and rags wrapped in a big coat. “Let’s go, Doug. I got her.”

  A couple of guys with bats and guns stumbled out of the hall after Leroy. Their pants were unzipped and hanging off their hips. They struggled to zip them as they ran.

  The front door flew open. Hannah Hehrman and her operatives burst in, legs spread, and weapons drawn. “Lie face down on the floor. This is a raid.”

  Leroy stopped when he got to Hannah and opened the coat, letting Hannah see what they did to Cass. Leroy displayed all of her, from her jaundiced skull of a face to the reeking shreds at the back of her gown.

  “Shut up, you stinking bitch,” Hannah shouted at the madam. “Do you know who was in your closet?” Hannah had the madam shoved against the wall with a baseball bat jammed across her throat. The woman gagged as Hannah screamed, “She was my baby!

  Hannah switched to a whisper, “No one hurts my baby. You will find that out. You and your people are going to tell me everything about yourselves. You are going to open your hearts and minds to me. If you do that, maybe you’ll live. Do you understand?”

  The madam spit in Hannah’s face. Hannah laughed. “You think that scares me. Do you think I will not hurt you?” She jabbed the bat into the woman’s throat, hard. The madam choked.

  Her soldiers had assembled the bouncers and whores in the living room and secured them on chairs, taping their mouths. They arranged them in a circle so they could watch Hannah. Their eyes rolled, signaling their terror. The music was turned up high enough to muffle any noises the hostages might make, but not enough to bother the neighbors.

  “You think you are as tough as me. Eh?” Hannah never wiped her face. “You should fear me, fatso. Because …” Hannah pulled the baseball bat away from the madam’s throat and held it away for a long moment. The heavy woman remained frozen, and then lunged at Hannah.

  Hannah pulled the bat back like a major league player and swung it the same way. It hit her target square across the face at the level of the nose. A thud filled the room. The woman dropped, dead, the center of her face caved in.

  “You should be afraid of me.” Hannah raised the bloody bat. She circled the room. “I really like using bats. The noise when you connect is so satisfying.”

  She casually walked up to one of the bouncers, tied in a chair. With that same lightning swing, Hannah drove the bat into his crotch, where his legs met his torso. He couldn’t scream due to the duct tape over his mouth, but he tried. Several pops from deep in his body accompanied the swing. A wet stain began to spread from the point of impact.

  “This type of blow
breaks the pubic bone. I also cracked both of his hipbones, and of course, severed his urethra. I can’t crush his genitals in this position. That requires a special type of chair.”

  She paced, “That girl you held captive means a great deal do me. When I saw what you did to her, it made me angry. It made me want to show you what pain is. And take my revenge.”

  Hannah went ape-shit, as only she could. She never made a sound, but she tore what was left of the bouncer to pieces. When she could do no more with a bat, one of her soldiers handed her a huge knife. The others put the subjects on tarps before she went to work on them. Hannah ran a very neat operation; no mess.

  “You see, I have done this before,” she turned to the terrorized hostages. “I love what I do, especially when it is for revenge. I deserve to take my revenge, don’t you think? What you did to that girl was hideous. All of you were involved. No one helped her.

  “I have not killed those of you who know something. For instance, you,” she pointed to an innocuous bouncer, the smallest of the bunch, “are the accountant. You operate the computer systems and control the records. We will talk. Mostly, you will talk.

  “That fat bitch was nothing. But you are,” she leered into the face of one of the whores. “You know everything, don’t you? You’re the one who runs this place. Who was your contact? Who paid you to keep that girl here? Where did the money come from?”

  A yellow puddle appeared and spread under the girl’s chair. “You are smart. You should be afraid. However afraid you are of the one who paid you to keep my child, you should be twice as afraid of me.” She taunted the girl. “Would you like some plastic surgery?” Hannah pulled sharp-nosed pliers from her belt and a small knife. “You want a nose job? Or I can put the basketballs from that piece of shit’s chest in yours.”