Abduction (12 page)

ONE
side of the Bunker was sectioned into holding cells fronted by steel bars. The floors were solid concrete, and cinderblock walls separated them from one another.  There were also three large rooms used for storing drugs and weapons on the other side of the long corridor.  Eleven people were being held prisoner at the present time, seven of which were girls aged between twelve and seventeen.  There was only one infant, and that was Kelly.

When she woke up her head felt muzzy, as if it was filled with the white stuff that her mommy called cotton batting.  It was difficult to think.  Fear had driven out all cohesive thought.  Kelly remembered that she had been crying, and asking the woman ‒ who had brought her to this cage ‒ where her mommy was.  The woman had told her to shut up, and had then stuck a needle in her arm.  It had stung, and then she must have fallen asleep.

She stayed still for a long time with her eyes tightly shut and her body curled up in a fetal position; back curved, head bowed, and arms and legs bent and drawn up to her torso. There was a thin blanket over her, but she was still very cold. Much later she let her body relax a little and slowly opened her eyes and looked about her.  There was a single naked bulb hanging down from the ceiling on a short length of cable, but it only cast a dim glow.  She was in a box.  Three sides of it were solid, and the other had iron bars across it.  She gripped the edges of the grimy sun lounger that she was lying on and pushed herself up into a sitting position.  The only other item in the cell was a red plastic bucket.  It didn’t dawn on her that it was there to use as a toilet.

Kelly could hear noises.  There were men’s voices talking, someone crying, and the noise of another person throwing up.  The sounds seemed to echo all around her.  She wanted her mommy.

In the corridor, out of sight from Kelly, two men sat either side of a card table on wooden chairs.  Bobby Thornton and Jack Devaney both believed that they had the best jobs in the world, apart from having to empty the buckets when they hosed out the cells.  Most of the time they just got to ‘force groom’ teenage girls, turning them into drug addicts, while being regularly raped and beaten up.  It didn’t take long to reduce the strongest will to mush.  When the girls were sold on they were totally dependent on heroin, and had been fucked so much that their new roles as hookers was a breeze.  It was amazing just how simple it was to reprogram people; to fundamentally alter their psyche by modifying it under extreme duress.

A truckload of what they thought of as no more than product had left less than two hours ago, bound for brothels run by a syndicate up in Atlanta.

Bobby and Jack had mopped out the empty cells, and the bunker now smelled of pine-scented disinfectant, that dispelled the stink of human habitation, to a degree.

“Funny how these broads latch on to you and actually start to enjoy whatever you do to them,” Bobby said as he twisted the cap off a bottle of Bud and took a swig.

“They rely on us for the smack,” Jack said.  “After a few days on it they’d cut each others throats for a hit.  Getting the next fix becomes the meaning of life to them.”

When Bobby finished the bud, they went into a cell that held two doped-up teenage girls, and laughed as the young women looked up at them with unfocused eyes and automatically parted their legs.

“Like well-trained bitches on heat,” Jack said as he unbuckled his belt and pushed his chinos down to his ankles.  “And we get fresh pussy to play with every week or two.  How good can life get?”

Carla Melville entered the bunker via a set of concrete stairs that led down to it from a door on the first floor of the building.  The door was constructed to look like a tall rack of shelves, designed to spring open at the push of a well concealed button.

Walking along the corridor, she came to the cell that Bobby and Jack had entered, but said nothing, just stood and watched the men’s pale asses pump up and down, and listened to them grunting as they took the girls.  It turned her on to watch the teenagers being abused.

Bobby was first to finish up.  He climbed to his feet and turned round to see Carla staring at his now almost flaccid penis.  He made no attempt to pull his pants up.  He could see that Carla’s cheeks were flushed, and she was running the tip of her tongue over her top lip.

“You want to go in an empty cell and get it on?” Bobby said.  “I should be ready to pop again in a few minutes.”

Carla said nothing, just walked along the corridor and entered an open cell.  She felt dirty, but excited. She wanted it, and Bobby was twenty years younger than her, had a great physique, and didn’t run off at the mouth.  What happened in the Bunker, stayed in the Bunker.

Bobby was standing tall in more than one way as he entered the cell.  Carla was in her early forties, but knew all the moves.  She stripped off and then knelt in front of Bobby and took him in her mouth, gripping his firm buttocks with both hands as she tasted both him and the girl that he had just taken.

She withdrew her wet lips and told him to lie on the lounger, and was astride him, enveloping him in seconds, to growl like a lioness as he rose to meet her thrusts.

She came quickly, three times, but was still up for more when Jack knelt behind her to make it a threesome.

Kelly heard strange noises.  It was frightening and sounded like wild animals she had watched in TV programs.  She hoped that the bars of the room she was in would keep them out if they found her.

Jack and Bobby were in the corridor, sitting at the table and sharing a joint when Carla came out of the cell.  She was back in her dark two-piece suit and high heels and looked all businesslike again.

“You want a beer?” Bobby said.

Carla shook her head and smiled.  “I’m fine now, boys,” she replied, walking past them back along the corridor.  “Keep up the good work.”

She looked in on the little girl, who appeared to still be sleeping.  And then she went back up to ground level, to walk to her Kia and leave the premises.  She wanted a hot shower and a large Scotch rocks.  On the way home she relived the episode with Bobby and Jack.  The sex had eased a growing tension that she had been experiencing.  Getting laid always took away the build-up of pressure.  It was her addiction.  It seemed that she could never get enough of it.  And so she was not particularly choosy.  She took on all comers with a stiff dick that they needed to stick in somebody.

Logan woke up four hours later feeling refreshed.  He had also made up his mind what to do.  The power of sleep was in part a way that let the subconscious sort and file and sometimes come up with practical solutions to problems.  Getting up off the floor he stretched and heard the crack of bones as he rolled his neck.  He could smell coffee, so made his way through to the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Gail said.  “Did you sleep well?”

Logan nodded and grunted in the affirmative as Gail poured a cup of coffee and held it out to him.

“Thanks,” Logan said.

Debbie turned and smiled wearily at him from where she was standing at the partly open back door.  It was obvious that she had not slept.

“I’ve been through the paperwork,” Tom said, entering from the hallway.  “Looks like we have all we need to spring Kelly.”

“All
I
need,” Logan said.  “I told you that I’d be going it alone from here on in.”

“And
I
decided that you won’t,” Tom said.  “When we came on board it wasn’t just for one stop, it was a ticket to the end of the line.  You need someone to cover your ass, and that someone is me.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll get things done better if I don’t have to worry about other people’s safety.”

“That’s not your decision to make, Logan.  Getting Kelly back is the goal, and we’ll have a better chance of doing it together.”

“You could still get yourself killed.”

“Life’s a risky business.  At least we know to expect trouble.  It’s not like being taken out pointlessly by some moron driving under the influence, or being felled by a fucking heart attack, or―”

“Enough,” Logan said as he turned to face Gail and said, “What do you think? Do you want to take the chance of being a widow tomorrow?”

“You two are capable and have the advantage,” Gail said.  “You know who these bastards are, and have their addresses.  I agree with Tom, two is better than one.”

Logan sighed, finished his coffee and held the cup out for Gail to refill.

“Okay,” Logan said at length.  “I’ll give Larry Kramer a call and see if he wants to deal.  What happened at Will’s apartment will have given him more food for thought.”

“What about me?” Boo said from where he was still sitting on the chair in a corner of the kitchen.

“You’re a millstone,” Logan said.  “We need to offload you.”

“You mean kill him?” Gail said.

“Hell, no, I usually hold back on murdering unarmed and injured men, however much they piss me off.”

“So what do we do with him?” Tom said.

“Stash him in your barn, in the back of the pickup.  He can wait it out there.  If we make it back we’ll dump him off at a hospital to have his leg patched up.”

Leaving Boo to suffer alone, they went out to sit at one of the picnic tables.  Logan speed dialed Kramer.  Let it ring till the call was taken, and upped the volume so that the others could hear both sides of the conversation.

The caller ID was Jade, but Larry knew it was not her new cell number, it was Logan trying to reach him, so he made him wait and let it ring for what seemed an age before accepting the call.

“Yeah, Logan.  What now?”

“Same old,” Logan said.  “The girl back.  You need to know that you’re next on my list of fuckwits to deal with.  The surprise visit at Will’s apartment has taught me to up my game.  You won’t get that close again.”

“You don’t scare me, Logan.”

“I should, because I’m going to hold you personally responsible for the girl’s safety, and her freedom.  You can’t hide behind Vince Palmer or Nick Cady. You’re the one I’ve decided to deal with.  If I have to move up the ladder to one of them, it’ll be because you’re dead.”

Larry
did
feel more than a little worried.  He felt extremely vulnerable.  They had no idea where Logan or the guy that had been with him had gone.  For all he knew they could drive past him on the way to the industrial park and take him out.  You can’t fight what you can’t see.

“What do you suggest?” Larry said.

“That you go to the Bunker and get Kelly, and then drive north on 41 until I call you again.  If you’re followed or the handover goes west for any reason, you’ll die.  That’s as sure as the sun setting this evening.”

“Okay,” Larry said.  “You’ve got a deal.”

“Be sure that you keep it, Larry.  You get one life, so don’t throw it away over a little girl that means nothing to you.”

“What does she mean to
you
, Logan?”

“Enough to get her back, whatever the cost.”

“And if I tell you that if you don’t quit and back off, she’ll have her throat cut.  Then what?”

“Then we both lose, because you’ll get the same, after I’ve ruptured every organ in your body and broken every bone.  It’s a pity you don’t know me, because if you did you’d know that I don’t bluff or issue empty threats.”

“It’ll take me an hour to get to the yard and collect her,” Larry said.  “I’m at home.”

“Bullshit.  I got your address off Will,” Logan said.  “You could be at the industrial park in thirty minutes, but there’s no rush, so plan on heading up 41 in the Dodge at midday, and count on being followed.  I’ve got a few new recruits to help me bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.”

Larry said nothing, and if he had done it would have been to a dead line.  Logan had switched the cell off.

“Do you trust him to do it?” Debbie said.

“As a rule I trust no one,” Logan said.  “He’ll think it through and do whatever he figures will be in his best interest.”

“What do
you
think he’ll do?” Debbie asked.

“I wish I knew.  He’s part of a big outfit, but will feel a little isolated at this moment in time.  Telling him that I’ll target him personally if he doesn’t come through for us might tip the scales.  Giving up one little girl to save his ass will be an attractive proposition.  But we’ll go with plan B, because people don’t always do what you expect them to.”

“What’s plan B?” Tom said.

“Take someone to trade with, in case Larry stays loyal to the team he’s on and puts his faith in Cady and Palmer.”

“Have you got someone in mind?” Tom said.

“Yeah, Vince Palmer, he’s Cady’s right-hand man.”

“You think you can take him in broad daylight?” Gail asked.

Logan nodded.  “Most folks feel safer during daylight hours.  It’s a primeval thing. Our ancestors knew that a lot of predators prefer to hunt under cover of darkness, back before we were top of the food chain.  Their subconscious associated the dark with danger, and modern man still does.

“Palmer is full of shit.  It wouldn’t enter his mind that he would be targeted and lifted.  He overestimates his capabilities, which is a weakness that we can take advantage of.”