Mercury Decending (Mercury Black Authority Book 3)

by Finian Blake

  Sarah didn’t wait for Alex to speak, “Tina is in hiding. The other girls won’t have anything to do with her because she did everything that she was told. They are taking everything that she did personally. If you need Tina she will be with me.”

  “Sarah, I am sending a few people out on a shopping expedition to start the girls off with some clothes. I need Tina’s sizes.”

  “We will go with you. Tina needs to get out.” Sarah stroked the back of her head. It was not hard to tell a mutual bond had already formed between Sarah and Tina.

  “Sarah bought me for a ton of money. My mother sold me for two balloons of ‘H’. I love Sarah,” Tina said fiercely holding on to her right hand.

  The tattoo artist arrived shortly after the girls agreed to the program. He looked at the scope of the job.

  “I can’t do this in one day by myself. I have some friends that will help. What do you want over the other tattoo?”

  “That would be up to the girls. I will pay four times the normal rate for quality work and silence.”

  “I will make the calls. There should be at least three more artists on this job.”

  “Call whoever you want, but I will need quality work and discretion. Keep the size of the tattoos small as possible.” Alex pulled eight thousand dollars out of his money belt and handed it to the artist. “Wanda will have the final say so in all cases.”

  With seven people going shopping they decided to take the van. Rich split fifteen thousand dollars between Anna and Sarah. The girls needed everything. When they hit the mall the men and the women split. They agreed on a bar for a meeting place. Ivan went to one store and bought shoes, socks, underwear, shirts, pants and numerous accessories. Inside of thirty minutes, the two men adjourned to the bar. Three hours later the ladies appeared. Rich and Ivan were very drunk, so the ladies loaded Rich and Ivan in the van stacking the packages on top of them. They pulled the van next to the mall entrance and retrieved the rest of the packages. After they pulled into the garage the ladies let them sleep in the van until they woke up later naturally.

  Petra received a cool reception on the third floor until Alice lifted her blouse to show the beating Petra took to rescue the others. Petra had only been with Victor a few months and it was generally agreed that Ludmilla was far worse. Petra agreed to stay off the third floor unless she was with Anna or Alice. By the time they added in the cost of the suitcases Rich had to add three thousand more even with Sarah personally buying all of Tina’s goodies. Each of the girls had several changes of clothing that would get them each through a full week. The girls started trading clothes between each other almost immediately. Sarah and Anna helped the bed ridden girls to clean up and make themselves presentable after which she had them dress in some fashionable pajamas. She wanted as much as possible to return them to normal. Wanda made some calls and had three beauticians come to the apartment with instructions to pamper the girls to the max. He thought that it was only right to use Victor’s money since he created the problem. When they ran the total assets of the three generals Sarah figured that there was around nine million total.

  Suki had to comment. “They started with a few millions of their own money, plus the seven million that you paid them for the guns and girls. Guns, drugs, prostitution and murder, all of that misery and they lost money. If they had invested their money legally, they could have done better by a few million.”

  Rich regretted not doing something in Pakistan, “I feel guilty that so many people died because of my actions. I am responsible for all of the people that they killed plus all that we killed. I was the judge, jury and executioner.”

  Suki wasn’t buying his story, “They made their own decisions and we all agreed that they had to go. We all made those decisions and we were their jury. It took us about one minute to make up our minds. Nobody would ever doubt that this had to be done. Given the chance they would have killed all of us and I had no doubt the bitch that bought me would have done what she promised. Ask any of the others if they had any doubts about their decision. The only regret that I have is letting Petra and Ivan loose.”

  “Alice made that decision and I will honor it.” Rich reaffirmed.

  Suki wanted to press her point, “She also decided to go home and ignore the dangers. That was an awful decision. It damn near turned her into a sex slave and a corpse instead of a doctor. You are showing your humanity by trusting them, and I think that Ivan and Petra will slip back into their old habits before too long.”

  Rich wanted to remain hopeful, “We gave the two of them four hundred thousand dollars between them. If they just bank it, they will be able to live comfortably without working. There is no reason for them to go back to their old ways.” Suki was losing patience.

  “There is a very good reason for them to revert. It is called old habits.” Suki spun on her heel and stormed out of the room cursing as she left. Alex was stuck with his promise and would remain true to his word.

  By dinner time, each girl had at least seven changes of clothes and accessories in their possession. They were happy with their new Tattoos covering another mark of the generals. The beauticians worked their magic with the girls achieving a more normal appearance. Anna decided to put out a challenge.

  “If anyone wants to leave we will take you to a safe place and you can carry on from there. If you want to stay here we will provide you with care and safety.” Everybody elected to stay. They were being well treated and wanted to stay with somebody that could guarantee their safety. For dinner the ladies elected to order out for pizza and watch TV. When the news came on they were surprised to see the two brown stone houses that was their former prison on the news. They listened to the announcer with interest.

  “The two buildings burnt with such intensity that metal objects inside were melted. Other buildings in the area were undamaged. There was no one inside of either building at the time and all of the vehicles were missing. The two buildings were suspected as being brothels. A supply of ammunition went off as the Fire Department was trying to enter and the bomb squad was called in to investigate the explosions. The investigation is ongoing, but unconfirmed sources are sure that the fire was the direct result of arson. It appears that there were no bodies found in the fire. The fire department believes that both buildings were unoccupied at the time and none of the fire fighters were injured fighting the fire. We will have more news as it develops.” The pictures from the news cast showed four brick walls and a hollow interior. Rich received a call to come upstairs. The ladies were completely upset, with Lori acting as the spokesperson.

  “You said that they were all dead. Nobody was in the building at the time. They said so on the news.”

  “We took them all out. There were no bodies because we removed them. There were some important people at that party, so they had to disappear. They are all dead and they will never touch you again. You can walk down that street without worrying about them.” Everybody wanted to see the buildings personally. Rich decided to drive them past the burnt out hulks. He also announced that Anna, Alice, Grace, Suki, Frank, Mark, Tom, Brent and Ryan would be leaving and they would come up to visit before they left. Francesca and Frank would be leaving also, but none of the ladies had ever seen them. Lori and Connie stopped Alex in the hall when he left to go downstairs.

  “We need to get on with our lives, but we can’t stay here. This city holds too many bad memories for us.” Rich thought for a minute.

  “I have an influential friend visiting me from California. I think she may be able to get you started somewhere else with good jobs. Come with me and we will see what can be arranged.” Rich took them downstairs to Frank and Francesca, leaving the four of them to talk and went off to find Wanda.

  Wanda was seated at the kitchen table working on the papers for Petra and Ivan. She covered her work when Alex walked in the room.

  “Is Cassandra here?”

  “How long have you known?”

  “It was a guess, but you told me when I
first called you. It was the time you told me to ask for Cassandra. I was working on cleaning up the ‘Mercury’ mess and I know a little about Greek mythology. Later on I started to wonder. The way that you worked with us was the final clue. In the past you were always so private and to the side. Now, it looks more like an open house.”

  “I was contacted by mutual friends because there were too many screwed up operations and I was asked to see what the problem was. Mooney lost control and Laurita wanted her revenge on you, but you managed to complete the missions despite her sabotage. I was going to call you, but I knew about your promise to her father and thought better of it. What did you do about ‘Mercury’?”

  “Let’s just say that she crossed several lines and will not be joining anybody for dinner ever again. She asked me to take out the Russians and then she called in a raid on the Inn by the Russians providing them with information on my family. She set Alice up.”

  “There is still a need for your type of work,” Wanda stated flatly. “There are only a few others that have the talent and the nerve. Most of the people that have the nerve don’t have the talent, so you are needed. Would you consider working with me?” Wanda cast her gaze over Rich’s shoulder at Anna who was standing behind him.

  “Answer the question, darling.” He looked back at Anna.

  “I would have to ask my wife. She is a full partner.” Anna and Wanda both chuckled at the comment.

  “It would depend upon the request. We are a private multinational enterprise and do not represent any government. You may have better luck with Frank and Suki.” Anna stopped talking when she heard running in the hall way. Lori and Connie stopped when they saw her.

  “We have to talk to Rich! Have you seen him?” They saw Rich sitting at the table. “Francesca said that she had a job for us with her firm. We are leaving with her in the morning. Does that kill our deal?” Rich shook his head no.

  “I will send the money with you. When you leave with Francesca, she will help you set up the necessary accounts. She is a genius with finance. If you follow her advice you will be set for life. I decided to raise the donation to half a million each.” They both ran in and kissed him on the cheek.

  “She is going to fly us out there in her private jet. Did you know that she is a pilot?”

  “Yes, I heard that. Be sure to ask her if you can drive. You better go and pack.” Both women ran off to pack and to tell the others. Sarah came around the corner with her shadow Tina in tow tossing two driver’s licenses and birth certificates on the table.

  “I will make the passports next. Father Cash said that the histories will be ironclad in two weeks.” The picture on the top license was Petra’s. Wanda put her hand over the names.

  “Do you really want to know?” Rich silently shook his head no so she continued. “I have found employment for them, and they will be leaving tomorrow. They said that I could forward their funds when you have them.”

  “Will they trust me?”

  “I told them if they couldn’t trust you, they would not be here talking to me.”

  “The figure will be point five for each of them. You may take the funds out of the stash. You will receive one M, for your help, but I will need to make arrangements for that. I just used up the cash on hand, so you can call Lynn for any funds necessary to complete the deal.” Wanda’s eyes popped opened and her jaw dropped as Rich continued. “You hosted this mess. The money is from the generals and ‘Mercury’. They might as well pay for the cleanup. I don’t want those two reverting to old habits. We are down to ten girls now.”

  Sarah coughed to get their attention. “We are down to nine. I bought Tina from her junkie mother.”

  “What…?” Everybody in the room erupted in unison.

  “I talked to Tina and she told me that her mother pimped her out for a fix. The ‘john’ was Victor. He kept Tina and sent more drugs, so her mother never reported her missing. She was afraid to report what she had done. I bought her for thirty thousand at Victor’s auction. I offered her mother ten balloons of pure heroin that were in his stash from the garage. When I showed her the balloons, she took half a second to make up her mind. Tina’s mother sold her to Victor for much less.” Anna could not believe what her sister had done.

  “What if her mother changes her mind?” Sarah laid a British certificate of live birth and passport on the table. “I brought her back to her mother, and she sold her to me with no thought. She did not even ask me my name or what I intended to do with her. All she wanted was some junk to pump into her arm. After she shot up I could have cut Tina’s throat in front of her and it would not have made any difference. She had Tina cook a batch for her before we left and Tina put it in her arm. There were ten balloons of pure heroin in Victors stash. Each balloon had his fingerprints on them. When we left she was unconscious on the bed with a needle in her arm and a smile on her face. In our world doing things legally is a technicality.” Sarah stroked Tina’s head.

  “Who’s your mommy?” Tina put a two fisted grip on Sarah’s arm.

  “Sarah is. We are going to live in England.”

  Sarah asked Tina, “What is your name?”

  “Cherry, Sarah let me pick it myself. Sarah said that she loves cherries.” Anna smiled at her innocence. She would have smiled even if she knew that Cherry cooked the triple hit of pure for her mother.

  Sarah continued, “Who’s going to protect you?”

  “Sarah, Nadia Angela, Suki, Anna, Alex, Frank, Mark…”

  Anna pulled Sarah back whispering in her ear, “Giving that much pure heroin, to a doper will kill her.”

  Sarah smiled, “One can always hope. Tina it’s my nap time shall we go?” Sarah kissed Anna on the cheek as Tina pulled her out of the room. “I will do anything to protect my daughter. Just like you.” Mother and daughter walked out of the room. Cherry gave Anna a wicked smile as she left the room. Anna had no doubt that she would only see Tina’s mother if she went to the morgue.

  Rich liked the idea of giving the girls that were not returning home new names. It would give them a fresh start.

  “Rich, what are you going to do about the others?”

  “I was going to find the parents and find out whether or not the girls could come home. With Cherry’s situation settled we have four underage girls. The two girls from the first house will need clinical help. They may miscarry or die without medical supervision.” Rich shifted his attention back to Wanda.

  “We are going to need an advanced private clinic capable of mental and physical treatment. I want it understood that either Anna or I will have notice of any major decisions on treatment, and that absolutely includes releases. They are material witness to a major crime.”

  “Have you talked to the pregnant girls about their options,” Wanda asked.

  “I told them they could have their babies and we would pay all the expenses,” Anna said firmly. “They can keep their babies or have them adopted. If they keep their babies we will pay for their care and education, but I presented the abortion option last. Two of them are within days of delivery. I was going to leave it between the clinic and the woman.” Anna was on the verge of tears. “The whole situation is totally bizarre. We will use the money from the generals to provide help for the girls wherever we can. If things do not work out, we will help them. I gave each girl a number to get in touch with us. I won’t just turn them loose and forget about them. Wanda, what did you find as far as clinics go?”

  “We have two clinics to choose from in Illinois. I would recommend that you not take the minors across state lines, it’s a legal thing.” They finally decided on a clinic not far from Elgin and made arrangements to move the girls in the morning. Rich agreed to put up a million-dollar deposit to guarantee payment and cover 24-hour advanced care. He wanted to free up Alice to resume her life. Grace and Alice decided to return to LA when Francesca flew back. Anna was going with her this time plus she needed to deal with closing out Margarita’s operation. Rich left the ladies to sa
y their good byes.

  Rich needed time to reflect on the past few weeks. He went to the apartment that he and Anna were using. He looked in the cabinet and found the liquor that he knew would be there. Rich poured himself a triple, sat down at the table and started to shake. It continued for several minutes. A pair of hands pushed down on his shoulders.

  “Are you alright?” Alice’s voice drifted over his shoulder. She kept her hands in place for several minutes until he stopped shaking.

  “It passes after a while when things slow down everything catches up to me. Other people shake along the way, but I shake all at one time.”

  Alice spoke quietly, “I came down for my lecture.”

  Rich continued to look at his glass, “What lecture would that be?”

  Alice continued nervously, “The lecture about all of my bad decisions,”

  Rich asked, “Is there anything else that I should lecture you about?”

  “I treated you pretty shitty these past few years.” While Alice was searching for specifics, Rich interrupted her.

  “Well, there you have it. There is more there than I would have said. You have been lectured. Is there anything else that you would like to say?”

  Alice kissed him on the top of his head. “I should say thank you.” She kept her lips on top of his head, “Dad.” Rich turned and hugged Alice. They remained in that position until Anna came in the room.

  “What’s going on,” Anna asked.

  “Dad is just giving me my lecture for not listening.”

  “Dad,” Anna raised her eye brow in surprise, “Did I hear you say dad?” Anna had been waiting for Alice to acknowledge Rich since they were married.

  “Yes, you heard me say the ‘D’ word. He has proven his right. Looking back at Gregory’s history, Rich has earned the title ‘First Dad’.”

  “So Alice how was the lecture?”

  “It was short. Rich couldn’t think of a thing to say that I haven’t already learned.” Anna stared at Rich, “Well, I have something to say.”