The muscle to his left took the bag and led the way back around the building. Beelzebub strutted like he truly believed he was king of the castle. Like nothing could ever touch him.
Just before we went out of view, I risked a glance over my shoulder. Finn was sneaking toward the barking dogs, a length of rope in his hand. They were making a wild fuss, but it was no different to when we’d arrived.
Good, trapping the dogs would take one problem out of the equation. We needed those dogs secured with more than a damn magnet on their gate. If they got out…well, I didn’t fancy shooting a dog but I would if it went for my throat.
In the shade, at the rear of the house, were two shipping containers. They had MAERSK written on their rusting sides, and the bolts were looped with chains to keep whatever was in there well and truly in there.
“Redhead with matching pubes, yeah?” Beelzebub said. “That’s what you ordered.”
“Perfect.” Jamie nodded.
Beelzebub produced a key and undid a padlock. The big metal door creaked and groaned when he opened it, and from the depths of the shadows I was hit with the rank smell of unwashed human bodies, terror, and misery.
I swallowed a bitter taste of fury and willed myself to be patient. We had to find out what we were dealing with before we started taking prisoners.
“Right, bitches,” Beelzebub shouted into the darkness. “Get out here. We’ve got a buyer. And look smart, you’re commodities, remember.”
There were a few squeaks and sobs and a shuffle of movement.
“Now!” He drew his gun and aimed it inside. “Unless you want today to be the day you take your last fucking breath.”
Five bedraggled women, huddled together, shuffled into the daylight. They were grimy, pale, and clearly terrified beyond all belief. God only knew how long they’d been kept prisoner. Their clothes were filthy, and they had dark rings under their eyes. None of them had curves, they’d clearly been half starved.
“Take your pick,” Beelzebub said. “They ain’t virgins, but that’s not a product that’s easy to find these days, unless you want to go into the pedo game; not my thing. I have standards, you know.”
“Yeah, got to have standards,” I said through gritted teeth. My gun was pressing into my skin, begging to be let out to play. A bullet to the temple would be too good for this asshole.
“You’re charging a lot for women in this state,” Jamie said.
I could hear the abhorrence in his voice, the absolute soul-deep fury that this had happened. He tried to cover it up, though, keep his words steady.
“Hey, they’ve got all their limbs, haven’t they? Scrub them up a bit, a few meals, they’ll be solid. Perfectly fuckable at any tea party.”
I nodded and clenched my jaw so tight it hurt.
“This one’s a goer.” Beelzebub snatched the girl nearest to him and hauled her to his side. He reached for her left breast and squeezed. “I can recommend. Took her myself last night, I did, just to pass the time.”
“You think I want your sloppy seconds.” Jamie raised his eyebrows.
The woman whimpered and hunched forward, trying to shrink in on herself.
“Hey, I give a decent price for these Kosovo chicks. You want Romanian or Albanian, you pay a premium, and for what? Wet pussy is wet pussy right.”
The woman yanked free, and he let her retreat to the huddle.
I checked out the two heavies. No one else had turned up, so I hoped we were just dealing with three.
“How about we go in the house?” Jamie gestured toward it. “You can count the cash.”
“Nah, I trust you, bag’s heavy.”
Jamie laughed, a strained, deep sound that really didn’t sound like him. “For all you know I could have put a few bricks in there.”
“Which would get you a bullet to the head before you even left my premises.”
The tall stocky guy to his left pulled his gun, though he let it hang in his hand, business end pointing at the ground.
“Not easy to get away with these days,” I said, “Murder. Bodies are a bitch to hide with search dogs. You should know that, you’re a dog guy.”
