The Killer’s New Obsession by B.B. Hamel
Cam
“Holy crap, this is one freaking awesome pool,” Sasha said and went running down toward it. She threw herself onto one of the lounge chairs, shoved her hands behind her head, and let out a low sigh of pleasure. She grinned up as I approached, shading my eyes, with Irene right behind me.
“It’s pretty nice,” I agreed. “You have anything like it back home in Ukraine?”
“Hell, no,” she said. “Nothing like this. Not for girls like me anyway.”
“What was your home like?” Irene asked, sitting down on the chair next to her.
I walked a few feet away and stood near the edge. An inflatable giraffe floated past, blown by the invisible wind. The grounds of the manor house were immaculate, and I could only imagine how many people it took to cut the grass and trim the bushes and weed all the flower beds. Dean clearly cared about the place though and kept it looking nice.
Which made sense. It was the heart of the Valentino family, and if he couldn’t afford the upkeep, then there was something wrong with the family’s finances. I looked out across the slowly sloping yard, past a gorgeous oak tree, and toward the forest beyond. It was all owned by Dean as far as I understood it, Dean and his wife Mags.
“Quiet,” Sasha said. “Dusty. Old. Soviets came years ago when my parents were young and they messed everything up but also modernized it all. Then they left, and nothing got fixed, so it’s all still rotting away. My village was a little nowhere place in a little nowhere country.”
I turned and faced them, standing on the edge. “How’d you end up here?” I asked.
“Met a man online.” She made a face. “He sweet-talked me. Said nice things, called me pretty, said I could model. He said he was a talent scout from America. I assume he meant a model scout. But that wasn’t the talent he was interested in.”
Irene glanced at me and I clenched my jaw. “So you came over, thinking you’d be modeling.”
“I figured it out pretty fast,” she said. “On the boat over here, I figured it out. Some of the other girls were in denial, were convinced that we were going to be models. But we weren’t all pretty enough for that.”
“I’m sorry,” Irene said, looking horrified.
Sasha waved it away. “It’s fine, it’s in the past now. Look at this though.” She spread her arms, grinning. “What a place. I never thought I’d see something like it.”
I walked over and sat on her other side, leaning my elbows on my knees. “Don Valentino says you can stay here for a while,” I said. “At least until this is over and we’ve taken care of you.”
Sasha eyed me sideways. “Taken care, how?”
“Money,” I said. “Mostly, anyway. We’ll set you up with a job too, if you want it.”
“I’m not fucking anymore,” she said harshly. “I’m done being a whore.”
“That’s not what I mean,” I said, looking at Irene for support.
“We’re not doing that,” Irene said softly. “I swear, that’s not why you’re here.”
Sasha chewed on that for a second. “Kira talked about you once,” she said suddenly, glancing at me. “That’s why I listened when you called. She said you’re a murdering piece of shit like all the other mafia guys, but you’re not so bad.”
“What a compliment,” I said, deadpan.
“From her, that’s basically the nicest thing she could say.” Sasha stretched then put her arms above her head lazily. “What’s the plan then? What do you want from me?”
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Before I could start explaining, the back doors opened and Don Valentino stepped outside. He wore a slim navy suit with a white pocket square and a pair of black sunglasses. He walked down toward us, hands in his pockets and stopped a few feet away.
“Look at this crew,” he said. “Weird little group.”
“Don,” I said, standing.
He held up a hand. “No need to be formal right now,” he said. “Sit down. Call me Dean, please.”
I hesitated, but sank back down and nodded gratefully. I knew some of the guys closest to him still used his first name, and I felt almost honored to be given the privilege, if at least only for one conversation.
“It must be my lucky day,” Sasha said. “The big boss himself comes and graces me with his presence.”
Dean snorted. “You’ve got an attitude on you,” he said.
“Damn right I do,” Sasha said. “Everyone needs some way to survive being forced into whoring. Mine happens to be an upbeat attitude and a sharp intellect.”
“I’m sure the Healy guys loved it,” Dean said, grinning.
Sasha shrugged. “Not really, but okay.”
“I was about to explain the plan,” I said, shifting in my seat. Dean gestured for me to continue, so I cleared my throat. “I’m thinking we’ll keep this simple. Thanks to a trove of information about their trafficking business, I want to dismantle the entire operation from the ground up.”
Sasha let out a sharp laugh. “Ambitious,” she said.
Dean’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Irene only looked anxious as she chewed on her lip.
I plowed ahead.
“I want to start with the girls,” I said. “You know a lot of them, so they’ll listen to you. My idea’s pretty simple. We’ll find some sympathetic conspirators, give them money and guns, and kill as many Healy fucks as possible.”
Sasha laughed. She seemed absolutely delighted by the idea of arming a bunch of battered, trafficked women, and letting them loose on their captors.
It wasn’t an elegant plan and there was no small measure of risk involved, but the Healy family would never see it coming. Those girls could get close to some very high-up men, and if we supported them right, attacked at the right times, we’d be able to score some serious blood.
We might even be able to topple their entire business.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Dean mused. “Depending on whether the girls are reliable or not.”
“Some are,” Sasha said, waving a hand in the air side to side. “Some aren’t. I won’t ask the ones that are too addicted to do more than spread their legs.”
“So you’re in then?” I asked.
“You give me money and guns and tell me to kill Healys, and I’ll pledge my undying loyalty to your stupid little mafia family.” She sat up suddenly, baring her teeth. “I hate those fucking pieces of shit and I want to see them all bleed.”
Dean seemed pleased. He rubbed a hand through his hair, a bemused smile on his face, and paced toward the pool and back.
But Irene’s eyes were narrowed as she watched me. She knew parts of my plan, but I hadn’t told her the whole thing—she didn’t know I wanted to arm some of the Healy girls and have them fight back.
I didn’t tell her for a reason. I knew she’d look at me just like that.
“This is pretty dangerous,” she said finally. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Sasha nodded once then collapsed back onto the chair with a huff. “Absolutely,” she said. “If I get killed, so what? At least I get killed murdering some of the bastards that forced me to fuck for them.”
“I love the idea,” Dean said. “If you can find me dependable girls, I’ll get you guns and cash. Lots and lots of guns and cash.”
“You’re okay then, boss,” Sasha said, nodding at him. “For a mafia prick, anyway.”
Dean grinned at her and shook his head like he didn’t know what to make of that. “You all hash out the details. I’ve got a call to make.” He checked his watch then headed back up to the house.
Irene stood and walked a few feet away, tugging at her hair nervously. “I don’t like this,” she said, turning back. “Aren’t we supposed to be helping them? Not using them as soldiers.”
“Better a soldier than a warm hole for some asshole to fuck,” Sasha said.
I grimaced slightly. Her mouth was going to take some getting used to. “I know it’s a risk,” I said. “Some of them might get hurt. But we’ll give them a choice and be up front about what we’re asking.”
“Fighting for freedom,” Sasha said. “It’s a trade I’ll gladly make.”
“I still don’t like it,” Irene said. “We can find a way to use all this against the Healy family without putting the girls in harm’s way.”
“What do you suggest then?” I asked, cocking my head. “Should we take those USB drives to the police? You think they’re going to do shit?”
“I don’t know,” she said, spreading her hands plaintively. “I just think there’s got to be a safer way.”
Sasha waved her away. “I appreciate your worry, I really do,” she said. “But I want to fight and I’ll find girls that want to fight too. It’s a good plan, really. The Healy men don’t look twice at us. To them, we’re a bunch of stupid whores, half of us are addicted to drugs, and the other half barely speak English. We’re dumb European trash, good only for blowjobs and anal. I have a feeling I’ll find more girls willing to fight than you have money and guns.”
“I doubt that,” I said, standing up. “We’ve got a lot of guns.”
Sasha grinned savagely at me. “I think I’ll stay here by the pool for a while,” she said. “If you can get me a phone, I can start making contact. I’ve got numbers memorized.”
“I’ll get you one,” I said and walked over to Irene, who glared at me like she wanted to shove me into the floating giraffe. “Enjoy yourself for a little while. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Sasha waved as I took Irene’s arm and led her away.
“You didn’t tell me you wanted to turn them into your little private army,” she said sharply, her tone angry.
“You wouldn’t have approved,” I said.
“Of course not, because it’s a bad idea.” She sucked in a breath and pulled her arm away. “You shouldn’t have started this behind my back.”
“This isn’t a game,” I said softly. “These women have no other choice. You think Dean—Don Valentino’s going to approve more guys to help me get all these girls away from the Healy family? There are fifty, a hundred of them. We can’t save them all, but we can help them help themselves.” I stepped closer to her and gently touched her hand. Last night came back to me in flashes, her body under the sheets sweating beneath my fingers, moaning with her back arched, her breasts shaking, my cock buried in her mouth, my tongue lapping up her clit, then her spent and sweat-covered body lying naked in my arms as we both drifted off into sleep.
It was like some wall broke down between us and she threw herself at me, hungry for all the intimacy we missed over the last two years. It was incredible, one long night of her body, and I was already half hard wanting more.
But she pulled her hand away. “I understand what you’re saying,” she said, turning her back on me and crossing her arms over her chest. “I only wish there was another way.”
“If there is, I’ll do it,” I said. “But I’m afraid there’s nothing else we can do.”
She nodded once and drifted back inside without saying anything else.
I looked back over my shoulder. Sasha sat near the pool watching. She didn’t move or look away, and I turned my gaze back to the house.
Irene was going to be angry, and I couldn’t blame her. I knew on some level that she was right. If I could take the entire Valentino family and go liberate all those girls, I would. But that would never happen.
Instead, I had to work with my single crew, and we couldn’t do it all on our own.
I’d find some other way to hurt the Healy family with those USB sticks. I’d use all the resources at my disposal to take down their trafficking ring.
For now though, I had to help these girls, and giving them guns and pointing them in the right direction was the best I could do.
I only had to hope Sasha could find someone reliable.
