Lorne had a word with a taxi driver and persuaded him to let her park on the rank, she left the car and sprinted down Soho. She hated this part of town, and she shuddered at the thought of what went on behind closed doors in the shops surrounding her. Ordinary folk were under the illusion that the multitude of sex shops simply provided the general public with fun sex toys, but Lorne’s stint with the vice squad around ten years ago had certainly opened her eyes to the true shenanigans that went on in this area of London. No thanks! Neither Tony nor I need anything like this to keep our marriage fresh in the bedroom department. Makes you wonder if people’s ways of thinking are getting weirder in this day and age. Probably not. Maybe it’s me just getting older.
She trotted past a few of the establishments with burly bouncers on the door, until she finally came to a halt outside the Happy Cock. Her mobile rang.
“Hello?”
“You’re there, right?”
“Yes, as you well know.”
“You can’t get one over on me, Simpkins. You’d be wise not to bother trying from this point on. Do you hear me?”
“Yes. You’ve made yourself perfectly clear. What do you want me to do next?”
“Go inside. The girl behind the counter will have a surprise for you.” Warrior sniggered like a teenage boy attempting his first kiss on a date.
Lorne cringed inside. Shit! What bloody awaits me? The call ended, and after inhaling a lungful of fresh air—well, as fresh as air gets in smoggy London—she entered the shop.
A pretty, leather-clad, petite woman smiled and beckoned her closer with a red-painted finger. “Come. My name is Anastasia. I show you good time, yes?” The girl sounded Eastern European, maybe Russian.
Lorne flashed her ID. “I think you’ve got the wrong impression, sweetheart. I’m not here for any kind of fun. The man on the phone said you would have something for me. What is it?”
“Come. You have to come back here. I show you.” The girl pulled aside the luxurious aubergine-coloured curtain and motioned with her head for Lorne to follow her.
Lorne’s insides clenched in spasms with trepidation. She placed her hands in her jacket pocket. In one, she found the clues she’d acquired so far—the key and the keyring—and in the other, she placed her hand over something that she hoped she wouldn’t need to use to protect herself, her pepper spray. God, I wish I’d had the foresight to arm myself with my Taser.
“Come. Don’t be scared... I no harm you. You enjoy the performance. I promise.”
Lorne stopped short of going through to the back. When she reached the curtain, she strained her neck to see what lay beyond. A series of red glowing lamps lit a narrow passageway with numerous doors. Jesus, the proverbial den of iniquity! “I’d rather not. Just give me what Warrior wants me to pick up.”
The woman laughed raucously until her mascara began to run down her heavily blushered cheeks. “You funny. You do as I say now, or the kid gets it.”
Lorne glared at the woman. “And this sits well with you, does it? To hold a baby’s life in your hands like that?”
The woman’s laughter stopped, and a venomous look darkened her features. “Not me who has baby’s fate in their hands. It’s you. Now, do as I say.”
The woman had changed from welcoming Lorne into her establishment with the promise of something pleasurable lying ahead to downright threatening her. Lorne relented but remained cautious as she agreed to go with the woman.
“No. Stop. I not stupid, lady cop. Empty your pockets on the counter.”
Lorne tutted then did as she was told. “Here, that’s it. I only have the clues your boss has supplied me with so far.”
The woman patted Lorne’s other pocket and shook her head in disgust. “You wait. I tell Warrior you try to deceive me. Give it me.” She held her hand out, and Lorne ignored her hand and slammed the spray canister onto the glass counter.
“There. Satisfied?”
“No. I need to search for more. You destroy all trust now.”
“I haven’t got anything else. Lay one hand on me, and I’ll break your bloody immaculately painted fingers in two. Am I making myself clear?”
Through narrowed eyes, the woman looked her up and down. “You nothing special, lady. I had boyfriend in KGB; he good at torture. You watch yourself, or you get sample of what he taught me.”
Lorne shook her head. “You don’t scare me. I’ve had my share of dealing with psychos over the years, and you’re a pussycat in comparison. Shall we get on?”
“I’m in charge here. This my gaff, not yours. You take the orders. I give them.”
“Whatever. Time’s marching on,” Lorne told her, tapping her foot in annoyance.
“Come with me. No funny business.”
The smell of burning incense invaded Lorne’s nostrils as she followed the woman up the hallway. At the end, the woman gave three short sharp taps on the door. Lorne prepared herself to strike.
A man of gigantic proportions pulled open the door. He had a goatee beard, and his huge muscles bulged beneath his taut shirt and waistcoat. “Is this her?” he asked the woman, leering at Lorne and giving her the once-over.
“Yeah. You have fun with her. She feisty, just the way you like them.” The woman stepped backwards and rammed a hand in the centre of Lorne’s back.
Lorne could do little to prevent herself surging forward into the giant’s arms.
The woman and the man laughed. Lorne stared up at the man. The courage she always prided herself as having diminished quickly as his arms gripped hers, squeezing her muscles into painful submission.
“Please, don’t hurt me.” She despised herself for begging pitifully, but she had to say something. It felt as though the man’s hands were crushing her bones.
He lifted her off her feet, swiftly moved across the floor, and threw her on the bed. The silky satin bedding softened the fall, but only a little. She stared up at the brute.
“Don’t mess with me, bitch. Lie there and shut the fuck up.”
Lorne gulped and nodded. She scooted back against the headboard and wrapped her arms around her knees, never once taking her eyes off the man. She’d only found herself in such a dire situation once before, and that was when the Unicorn had forced her into a hotel room years ago. The similarity between the two events caused her heart to pound faster. I’m right! I have to be. He’s got to be behind this. But how? He’s dead.
Two leather-clad girls entered the room and eyed her with interest. Lorne held firm, fighting the desire to bury her head in her hands.
“Get on with it,” the giant ordered.
The girls promptly tottered on their high heels towards the bed. Barely inches away from Lorne, they began kissing. Their hands fondled and caressed each other’s bodies. Lorne squeezed her eyes shut.
“Open them!” The man’s booming voice filled the room, forcing her to watch the disgusting display.
She cringed as the girls started to undress each other, their tongues intertwining one second, lashing at each other’s flesh the next.
Crap! Let me get out of here. She scanned the room using her peripheral vision, not wishing to alert the other occupants of her intention to attempt an escape. Nothing. The room was just that, a room. No windows. The only way out was the door she had come through. Shit! I’ve had it.
***
Warrior took the call from his boss while the baby was exercising his lungs.
“Can’t you shut that thing up? I can’t think straight, let alone hear what you’re saying.”
“They don’t come with on/off switches. You want to be here when it really starts. I’m telling you, this is bloody minor.”
“Right, I’ll make this quick then. Are you ready?”
“Yep. All ready and good to go.”
“Expect another delivery soon. And keep that copper on her toes. Don’t let her stop and think for too long. She’s more intelligent than you and me put together.”
“She’s enjoying herself at the moment in Soho.”
Both men laughed.
“I don’t want to know. I’m just glad things are going according to plan. Make sure you keep her team well out of reach, too.”
“Yep, Max called in and said she’d dumped her DCI. She’s now all alone out there.”
“Don’t take that for granted. Her car probably has some kind of tracking device on-board.”
“Damn. Okay, good idea. I’ll get her to dump it.”
“Do what you have to do. Just keep her moving at all times. If nothing else, it’ll mess with her brain. She’s a thinker. Just remember that, and you’ll do fine. I’m organising the endgame now. However, we have more plans to initiate before we get to the climax. I’m going to have fun with her when that finally comes around.”
Warrior sniggered. “I can imagine.”
“We’ll up the pressure, make sure they take our request for that ten mill seriously. Mind you, when they hear about what’s come to light today, they’ll have no alternative but to take us seriously.”
“Yes, boss.”
His boss ended the call first. Tempted to harm him, Warrior glanced at the crying baby, but he had a feeling if he laid one hand on him, the decibels would sky-rocket into another universe. Instead, he went to fetch the child’s mother. He crossed the yard to her hiding place then unlocked and lifted the doors. The woman shielded her eyes.
“Get out,” he said, his voice bearing the signs of his frustration.
She held up her bound arms and waited for him to hoist her out of her prison dwelling, as usual. Without much effort, he deposited her beside him, her brow furrowed by unasked questions. “Come. The kid needs you. You have ten minutes to shut it up, or you’ll both get hurt... and this time, I’m not messing about.”
Her hands touched her face. “Babies don’t work like that. He’s used to me being around him twenty-four hours a day. Please, we need to be together. My husband will pay the money; have mercy on us. I promise I won’t try to escape again or do anything foolish. You can keep me restrained. Just please, let me be with my child.”
Her constant whining made his blood boil. He struck her with his fist, grabbed the rope around her wrists, and yanked her back into the house. “Cut the shit, lady, and deal with it. You’ve got exactly ten minutes, got that?”
The woman sobbed but tried to keep the noise to a minimum for her child’s sake as she lifted him from his makeshift bed and rocked him back and forth to soothe his crying. Then she undid the button on her blouse and exposed her breast for the child to suckle, all under Warrior’s close observation. He felt his crotch spring to life and began playing with his aching member. The woman quickly averted her eyes, much to his amusement.
“Have you ever been with a real man?” He laughed when he heard her swallow noisily. “Well?”
“My husband is a real man. He fathered my son. Isn’t that what real men do? Not kidnap innocent women and children in the hope of getting money out of folks.”
His laughter ceased. “I promise you, before you go back to him, I’ll let you see what a real man can do for you, sweetheart.”
The woman shuddered and held her baby tighter.
He looked at his watch and tapped the face. “Five minutes—actually, make it four. I’ve got things to do, and I need you shut away so I can do them without your constant pleading ringing in my ears.”
She shot him a look laced with hatred. He grinned at her, revelling in the power he had asserted. When the time was up, she kissed the baby on the forehead and replaced him in the bag, speaking softly, urging him to go to sleep. He watched the touching scene with bile rising in his throat.
“Right, get going.” He shoved her ahead of him, back outside to her cell, semi-admiring her compliance to do as instructed for a change. Maybe the suggestion about him showing her what a real man could do would serve to keep her in line. He watched her jump back into the hole then secured the doors again, before he made the call to Soho, and got on with his chores, while he awaited the new arrivals.