Carmen shouted again at them, gestured with the paddle. She did not seem very intimidated by two strange men bursting in with weapons. Maybe not an uncommon occurrence at the Hen House. The john, on the other hand, was looking back over his shoulder at them, wide-eyed, probably wondering if this was part of the role play as he tried to remember the safe word.
Brodie looked at the man. “Get up.” Luis translated. Carmen started toprotest, but the man managed to stand up and almost lost his balance as he turned to face them, hands cuffed behind his back and his pene at full attention. He blubbered something in Spanish, and Carmen told him to shut up, which he probably liked.
Luis said to Brodie, “He says his wallet is in his pants, which is on that chair.”
Carmen, who was beginning to figure out that her visitors were not with the management, started to look a little more concerned. She asked in English, “What do you want?”
Brodie gestured to her client. “Tell him to get on the ground.”
Carmen hesitated, then communicated that to the guy, who lay face down on the leopard-print rug.
Brodie said to Carmen, “Tie his ankles.”
Carmen looked to the door. “Where is Carlo?”
“Getting an enema. Move.”
Carmen walked to the wall with the hooks and took down a piece of bondage rope, then crouched next to the guy and tied his ankles together.
Brodie said, “Roll him under the bed. And tell him if he makes a sound, I’ll kill him.” Carmen said something to the man in Spanish and then rolled him under the bed.
Brodie spotted a pink robe hanging on a nearby chair and tossed it to Carmen. She glared at him for a moment, then put it on and sat on the edge of the bed.
She asked, “Who are you with?”
Brodie thought that was an interesting question that told him something about Petare, and maybe the whole country. Not who are you, but who do you represent? What is your tribe? Brodie replied, “The United States Army.”
She didn’t respond to that.
“I’m looking for an old Army friend,” said Brodie. “Kyle Mercer. Someone told me that he is your friend also.”
“Who told you this?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Carmen shook her head. “I do not know this man.”
“Five hundred dollars to help you remember.”
She looked at him, then at his pockets.Show me.
He pulled out his wad of cash and peeled off ten fifty-dollar bills and held them up.
She looked at the cash, then said, “Maybe I do know this man.”
Brodie nodded, put the money back in his pocket. She furrowed her brow.
“Information first,” said Brodie.
“Money first,” she insisted. “What if you cheat me?”
“What are you going to do about it? Spank me?”
She smiled. “No, man. That’s extra.”
Brodie gestured toward the floor under the bed. “How long are you supposed to be with this stud?”
Carmen looked at the wall clock, trying to remember, then leaned over and asked the john under the bed. Brodie heard a muffled reply, then Carmen looked up and said, “He paid for a full hour. So… another twenty.”
