Johnny helped the woman to her feet again, as Monster Squad members raced into the corridor. Johnny held up his hand. “We’re good, my friends. It appears the women were not so innocent as Paulo claimed.”
“Bring her to my casting couch, Kabong,” Lynn said. “I finished with Carone already. He confirmed everything he told us so we cut him some slack. His laptop, he kindly gave us all the file passwords for, catalogued all his dealings, including with the Pilot Hill bunch. Fernando did mention the female contingent. He likes the ladies… dangerous ladies. All three of the women are Cartel hitters. The blonde is his favorite. I see the two bloody brunettes so blondie’s in the bag I assume. Her name’s Senta Bulgar. She’s from Albania. Senta is on loan from Al-Kadi. According to Fernando, Senta killed the heads of two Central American Cartels he passed her off as a prostitute to. Carone never bedded her. He’s scared to death of her. He gives her anything she wants and has used her to handle the women transferred through his hands on their way to Dubai and Saudi Arabia as sex slaves.”
Nick glanced at his companions, wondering if they were thinking the same thing he was. Harding voiced it.
“I’m reading your mind, Muerto. You’re considering using your number one status with Fernando and Senta at your side for an intro into Pilot Hill.”
“That’s scary good, Cheese,” Nick said. “I’m slipping if I can get read like a four year old playing five card stud. What do you think, Lynn?”
“Let me get a look at Senta, Kabong.” Lynn walked over to their surviving female prisoner with features in neutral observance for the introduction.
Johnny removed the hood. Senta had been listening to the discussion of her real calling. She knew they would torture her to death no matter what she pretended now. She spit on the deck after looking into the eyes of another female killer. Senta made an error in judgement. She thought she had been captured by regular federal authorities, in spite of Nick’s threats. The woman in front of her looked down at the deck and sighed.
“Gently, Cheese,” Lynn cautioned. “We need her face undamaged.”
“On it.” John Harding upended Senta as if she were a recalcitrant two year old. He lowered her slowly, with Senta cursing her heart out over her spittle. He forced her face directly into it, stirring and swabbing with gentle swirling motions to the amusement of his audience, ending the final wipe with her hair.
“Recon!” Lucas enjoyed the show even more than the others. “Now that’s the way a Marine cleans the deck, swabbies!”
Lynn grinned at the sputtering Senta as Harding righted her, caressing the side of her head. “Oh good. Senta still thinks she’s in charge of what happens. You’ll learn to obey, my dear one. Soon, you will pray never to hear my voice raised in anger. I already own your pal, Fernando.”
Outraged instead of thinking through her situation, Senta made a second, more egregious error. She spit in Lynn’s face. “You will get nothing from me, Puta! Oh, I know how to handle bitches like you! I will die before ever helping your skank ass.”
The men who knew Lynn fled backwards a few steps - not from fear, but because they could imagine what lie ahead of Senta at Lynn’s hand. Lynn sighed with contentment while taking out a handkerchief to wipe off her face.
“Oh my. That was lovely. C’mon with me, honey. I think we need to get to know each other better. I like you already, sweetie. You’re going to love me.”
“That’s what you think, bitch!” Senta tried to twist away from Johnny to no avail. “Why not take me on woman to woman? I’ll stomp your stupid Puta ass into a bloody pool!”
“Maybe later after we visit Pilot Hill, sweetie,” Lynn replied without raising her voice. “We need your face in one piece right now. Hey, how do you like the blade?”
“I love the blade, Puta. I know you’ll kill me after I refuse to help you so what does it matter?”
Lynn laughed, a haunting titter of sound capable of freezing the hearts of lesser men and women. “Don’t worry about that, dear. You’ll help. In fact you’ll beg me to help. I’m thinking my cohort, Muerto, will need a female on his arm at Pilot Hill. We’ll be close friends by then, Cara Mia.”
Casey shook his head as Senta passed him. “Sucks to be you.”
On the couch set by the minions to be Lynn’s interrogation tool, Johnny and Nick strapped Senta down with the binding straps found aboard. Nick took off his mask as did Johnny. Senta would never return to the general population of anywhere. Senta gasped.
“I know you! You’re Nick McCarty! You killed Felix Moreau! Felix was a lover of mine. He mentored me. You bastard! He wasn’t even on a contract in your way. I know the accounts on the Dark Web about the way he was killed are lies. No way, you ever came close enough to him to kill Felix with a knife. How did you kill him? You shot him in the back.”
Nick shrugged as his companions enjoyed the exchange. “I would have. Felix was so easy a target, I hardly needed much effort to get him.”