Godsend 8: The Value of a Woman (Godsend Short stories Series) (5 page)

Echo quietly entered Room 304, gun in his left hand, computer printout in his bandaged right hand. Swinging Eddie’s heavy ass had agitated the two swollen knuckles. He closed the door and heard sexual noises coming from the bedroom area of the suite.

When he rounded the corner, Echo saw a black man fucking a white woman doggy-style in the big bed. She purred sounds that revealed both pain and pleasure.

The black man said, “What’s my goddamn name?” then slapped the woman on her right ass cheek.

Echo flipped the light switch on and said, “Bernard Taylor.”

The man was out of the call-girl, off the bed, and to his feet in an instant. As the woman scrambled to cover herself with the bed covers, Bernard picked up his pants to hide his nakedness from the gunman.

Echo said, “Stay just like you are and I won’t have to search you.”  He looked at the printout. “Mr. Taylor, I’m shutting down the Echelon Escort Service, and right now I’m looking for all the pedophiles.”  He looked at the call-girl, who was watching him while hiding her body under the cover. “Traci Cartaway. This document says you’re twenty-one. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

Echo now wondered about the names on the paper that didn’t list an age. Veranda’s didn’t list an age, and neither did the names of two more girls on the printout. “Alright, Traci, make sure you find yourself a new hustle. I can promise you the Echelon is finished.”

Bernard said, “Are you a policeman or something?”

“Special Investigator, Sex Crimes division. You can finish fucking her, and getting your money’s worth, but let this be your last night involved with Ryan Madison’s escort service.”

WELDON GLASSER SHOUTED,  “Who’s there? I never asked for room service.”

Echo closed the door and headed for the bedroom in Suite 311. He stepped into view, aiming his silenced handgun. A tall, slender, white man was sitting up in bed with a young white girl. Echo walked up to the girl and said, “Is your name Kira Millsap?”

The girl nodded affirmatively. The covers were up to her shoulders as she leaned against the headboard. The gunman scared her more than the man in bed with her.

Echo said, “How old are you Kira?  If you lie to me I’ll kill that man beside you.”

She said, “Twelve.”

Echo looked at Weldon again. “You the same Weldon Glasser with that stupid-ass infomercial, advertising your eBook  series for children?”

Weldon said, “What’s going on here?  I was always assured I would have privacy and anonymity when dealing with Echelon. If you’re a new floor guard, you have no right to use a key card to enter my suite. Dale Oates will hear about this!”

Echo said, “Kira, get up and put your clothes on. Right now. I’m taking you to the lobby downstairs. When the police arrive, I want you to tell them everything Mr. Glasser has ever done to you. Tell them everything.”

The girl got out of bed and began getting dressed.

Echo said to Weldon, “My partner explained to me how he punished a pedophile down in Room 308 earlier tonight. I wouldn’t dare let him get more creative than me.”  He walked around the bed to Weldon’s side and ripped the thin telephone cord from the wall and the back of the phone.

Weldon said, “Mister, I’m so sorry. I thought you were part of the Echelon organization.”  Damn fool still hadn’t tried to show remorse for messing with a child.

Echo tied one end of the cord in a small slipknot, leaving a loop the size of his fist. When the girl was dressed he said, “Kira, I’m gonna walk you to the elevator and-” He paused to consider another idea.

The child said, “I’m not supposed to leave the room unless one of the guards comes to get me.”

Echo looked at her and felt pity. “No more guards, Kira. They were bad men, and you won’t see them ever again. We have to leave, so let’s all take a walk down to Room 319.”

Brian was still in the supply room with Ryan. He had recorded a full confession about Milana Rockerson’s murder. Ryan was now hog-tied with the jump rope, resting on his belly, and Brian was sitting on the five-gallon bucket.

Brian said, “As a matter of business, I can understand why you and your woman killed Milana. I don’t agree with it, and your ass needs to be punished, but I understand why you did it. But help me understand why you have grown men raping children in your well-run escort service.”

Ryan had water in his eyes, the result of being hog-tied with dislocated shoulders. He cut his eyes across the room and saw Eddie still crumpled on the floor in a nasty puddle of dark blood. “I...I guess I didn’t consider it to be rape. I was willing to see things differently when it came to making more and more money.”

Brian said, “You’ve been running this shit for five years. You admitted that Echelon had grossed more than $22 million, tax-free. All that money just so you could end up like this?  What do you need so much money for?  What the fuck do you do with it?”

“I used some to live comfortably and put the rest up for future investments.”

Brian smiled. “In other words, you can’t figure out how to spend all the money, yet your service keeps violating children and putting discount on the value of a woman.”

He got off the bucket and walked closer to Ryan. “Your business is illegal, so you obviously have a lot of cash on hand. We’re gonna make your woman tell us where you keep your cash then anonymously donate every dime of it to all the children that got raped by the Echelon over the past five years. And if you don’t have records of those kids, then me and my friends will take two weeks to kill you and your woman.”

Ryan recognized that the man apparently had a soft spot for kids. “I’ll tell you where our money is kept, just in case Valerie decides to lie to you guys.”  If he was not going to be able to enjoy the money, neither was his woman.

VERANDA WAS AT the front desk in the lobby. She was on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator, reading the long message that had been left on the computer monitor by Kiandra. She said, “My name is Veranda Speilman and I’m thirteen years old. I’m at the Hiatus Inn on Brevard Street, here in San Diego.”  She glanced at the two girls who were waiting in the lobby’s armchairs. They were all scared.

The operator said, “What’s your emergency, honey?”

“Me and two other girls my age have been raped. We were forced to work for the Echelon Escort Service. Some men came here and killed some people and hurt the pedophiles.”

Echo and Kiandra were sitting in the Escalade watching Veranda talk on the phone. He said, “Let’s go. Drive around back so I can take care of one last thing.”

Kiandra began driving. Etceterra was behind her in the Ford Explorer. Brian was in the backseat area of the Explorer, and Ryan was in the cargo area, still hog-tied.

Kiandra drove around to the back of the three-story hotel.

Echo said, “Stop right here.”

Kiandra looked up and saw two white men gripping the roof of the building, each holding on with both hands. The two men were ass-naked from the waist down. She said, “Why did you leave them like that?  They could have climbed back onto the roof and got away.”

Echo said, “Nope. Why do you think they’re still hanging on?  I made them loop the end of a telephone cord around their dicks and nuts. They can’t hold on to the rooftop with one hand and loosen the cord with the other. And since they’re both tied to the same cord, they can’t move much without yanking each other’s shit off.”

She shook her head. “Only you would have thought of something like that. If they fall from that height it wouldn't kill them, you know?”

Echo said, “I know, and that would put a lot of tension on the cord.”  He got out of the SUV and walked closer to the building. He said to the pedophiles, “I’m gonna get you fellas down from there, but I want you to stick around until the cops get here. Okay?”

The men agreed as they looked down at him.

Echo removed his silenced handgun from inside his leather coat. He aimed at Weldon and shot him in the leg. Weldon hollered but was still hanging on to the ledge. Then, Echo aimed at Denis Colliver’s ass. He fired another shot and hit the man in the lower back.

Denis hollered out and released his grip.

Echo turned and walked back to the SUV. He heard two bodies hit the ground, but he didn’t even look back to see the damage. The moaning suggested that the men were broken up and castrated.

ECHO’S WIFE AND daughter weren’t thrilled about living in California, but he knew they would get used to it. They lived almost two miles from Brian and Janelle’s place in Acton. As Echo backed the Ford Explorer out of the two-car garage, he looked back and said to Ryan, “Did you sleep good?”

“I didn’t sleep at all.”

“Well, it’s almost noon. Time to wake up now. You got a busy day ahead of you.”  Echo began driving down the street. “I just got the call from my partner. Your woman’s flight arrived, and she’s waiting at the storage facility in a rental. You did the right thing.”

“You didn’t leave me much of a choice. Valerie would have done the same thing to me. I didn’t want to call her, but....”

Echo used his prepaid cell phone to make a call. After four rings, a woman answered. Echo said, “What’s up?”

“Who’s calling?”

“We just fucked in the shower the other day; you forgot about me that fast?”

“Oh, it’s you, the sneaky rapist. You know my boyfriend dumped me because of what you did to him. He was pissed because I left with you.”

“He’ll get over it. I called to thank you.”

“For raping me?”

“No. Your information was good. You’ll never believe who I have all tied up in the truck with me.”

She said, “That’s an easy one. It’s all over the news, the raid at the three Hiatus hotels. Ryan Madison is wanted for questioning, so I guess he’s in your custody.”

“Good guess. Just wanted you to know that your friend Milana will get justice.”

“I’m impressed. You seem so unprofessional, but I’m impressed.”

Echo said, “You busy tonight?”

“Why?”

“I wanted you to invite me over and give me permission to get in the shower with you.”

She laughed. “You are crazy. I appreciate what you’ve done for Milana, but I don’t really know you.”

“Charelle, you worked as a call girl for Ryan. How well do you know your clients?”

“Well, that was...not the same. Besides, I don’t like that lifestyle anymore.”

“What, getting paid to fuck?  I wouldn’t pay you a roll of nickels. I don’t pay for sex, not directly. I’ll make a deal with you.”

“What kind of deal?”

“Let’s me and you have a fuck fest, and you give me some good head. Just give me four hours.”

She said, “What’s in it for me?  I still haven’t heard your deal.”

“I’ll bring Ryan with me, and you can get a little revenge for yourself. He’s tied up in the worst way. You can cut his ass, piss on him, burn his feet, whatever. I have to deliver him alive, though.”

She said, “That’s sounds like a tempting offer. I figure the bastard owes me at least three thousand dollars. Can I possibly get that from him?”

“Don’t think so. My partners are meeting his woman at a storage facility. He says they have $5.2 million in cash stored there, but my partner’s gonna split it all up between all the underage kids that’s been violated by the Echelon service.”

“That’s nice of your partner. Very nice. Meanwhile, I’m going to struggle with my bills because you made my boyfriend dump me.”

“Ryan says he has lots of other valuable shit in his storage unit. Rent a moving van, and I’ll help you load it all on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Let me fuck you whenever I feel like it. I’m married, and the woman you saw me with at your boyfriend’s place is my side woman, but I want you to be my other woman.”

She said, “I’m convinced, you are definitely crazy. That’s out of the question and won’t happen in this century.”

Echo said, “Well, I guess I’ll let the police discover the merchandise after my partner picks up the money.”

“What kind of merchandise is it?”

“Ryan says he has almost $700,000 worth of jewelry, collector’s items, and antiques in the unit.”

Charelle said, “And how long do I have to be your other woman?”

“I’m on my way over there. We can discuss the details after we fuck, but you better have some good head to get a good deal like this.”

RYAN MADISON was on the floor in Charelle’s bedroom. He was on his belly, still hog-tied, and had been carried inside like a damn suitcase.

Echo and Charelle were in her big bed, having sex. He was on his knees behind her, pumping all ten inches up in her doggy-style. He gripped her small waist with both hands and looked back at Ryan as he slowly long-stroked Charelle. He said to Ryan, “Does Valerie have an ass like Charelle’s?”

Ryan did not respond.

“Boy, you better answer me before I take a fuck break to put a footprint in your ass. You’re lucky I ain’t making you watch me fuck your woman. Now tell me what the fuck she looks like.”  He kept stroking Charelle, and their skin was slapping together now.