PRIMAL Fury (The PRIMAL Series) (4 page)

Aleks grasped the priest’s hand. “Thank you, father.”

“No need,” said the priest, grimacing in pain. “But come see me again later. For confession.”

CHAPTER 4

They had parked the Audi in a thicket of trees a few miles out of town. Sunlight was fading and outside the car Aleks lit a gas burner to brew a pot of coffee. Kurtz had a laptop and a small collapsible satellite dish set up on the hood of the station wagon.

He activated a program to establish a satellite uplink to his organization’s headquarters, located on an island in the southwest Pacific. A bar showed the progress of the connection, which crawled along slowly, then halted.

Unable to establish a connection

“
Scheisse
!” He slammed the lid of the laptop shut and punched the hood of the Audi. He needed to talk to PRIMAL’s head of operations and he wanted it to be face-to-face.

“Here.” Aleks handed him a cup of coffee and reopened the laptop, studying it intently. He frowned, pressed a few keys, moved the dish slightly, and grinned. “See, you laugh at big stupid Russian with hands like bear, but now we have a secure connection.”

Kurtz slapped his partner on the shoulder and took his place in front of the screen. He activated a secure video-conference dial-in and waited.

“Kurtz, how ya doing, bud?”

Vance, PRIMAL’s director of operations, was an imposing African American with a shaved head. Kurtz thought he bore a striking resemblance to the actor Laurence Fishburne.

“The girl was compromised. The syndicate captured her,” Kurtz said, his voice flat and emotionless.

“How?”

“Not sure. She had a tail; they suspected her of something.”

“What about you and Aleks?”

“They saw us, we killed three, but at least two got away.”

“Shit!” There was a pause. “Did you get the information we needed?”

“No, she didn’t know where the girls were being taken. I gave her a tracker but there’s no chance of her planting that now. The girls are probably being moved as we speak.”

“So are you OK?”

“We’re fine. But they’re going to kill her.”

“We don’t know that yet.”

“Yes, we do, Vance. They’ll think she’s talked to the police. She could already be dead.”

“Yep, and you’ve been compromised. So the best course of action is to get you as far away from that location as possible. Go to the safe house in Budapest. This phase of the mission is dead.”

“But the girl…”

“There’s no argument here, Kurtz. You’re to exfil now. I’m not risking your lives for one source. I need every asset I have to take down this network and that includes you two. Do you understand?”

“
Ja,
I understand.” Kurtz fought to keep the anger from his voice.

“Good. Now Bishop and Saneh are inbound to a staging location in the Ukraine. One of Chua’s Blades has infiltrated the sales component of the network. He’s vouched for Bishop and it looks like we might be able to get an invite to the next auction. If we’re lucky that’s where they’ll have taken the girls.”

Chua, PRIMAL’s chief of intelligence, ran a global network of deep-cover agents, or Blades. He had been working leads on a highly secretive sex-trafficking group for almost six months now. His Russian Blade Ivan had started doing business with the Hungarian trafficking syndicate. It was Ivan’s work that had led Aleks and Kurtz to rural Hungary and subsequently to contact Aurelia, their first inside link to the syndicate. He had also been the first to identify the potential link to Japan and a possible source in the Japanese police.

“What happens then?” Kurtz asked. “Are we going to pick up the girls or are we going to abandon them like Aurelia?”

“Jesus, Kurtz. This is bigger than a handful of girls. We’re trying to take down an entire operation. We’re not playing around here. We’re going to find the head and chop it off. Now get your ass on the road. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

Kurtz nodded.

“Aleks, you there?”

“
Da
. I mean, yes.”

“Make sure this crazy son of a bitch gets to Hungary ASAP, you got me?”

“Yes, I got you.”

“Good. Bunker out.” PRIMAL headquarters closed down the video link.

Kurtz stared silently at the screen with clenched fists. Aleks watched him without saying anything.

“You heard what he said, Aleks. We need to go.” Kurtz folded the satellite dish up and slid it in a bag with the laptop. He opened the passenger door to the Audi and climbed in.

Aleks put away the gas stove and coffeepot, placing them in the back of the station wagon, which was already piled high with luggage. An onlooker may have assumed that it was ready for a holiday. However, the ordinary-looking suitcases were packed with state-of-the-art weapons and equipment. Aleks contemplated the arsenal for a few seconds before shutting the trunk and getting into the driver’s seat.

The Audi’s V8 rumbled to life and they started up the dirt track that led them back to the main highway. Aleks turned on the headlights and leaned across to activate the GPS. He tapped the screen a few times until a blinking dot appeared on the screen.

“The tracker looks like it’s stationary. Maybe we could pick her up on the way?”

Kurtz looked across at Aleks. “You mean it? You’d do that for me? Even after Vance ordered us not to?”

“I know she means a lot to you. Vance will not know.” He paused for a second. “Plus, you are my best friend. How could I not do this?”

CHAPTER 5

CASTLE LORAN, EASTERN HUNGARY

“Look, it’s a castle!” one of the girls on the bus cried out, startling the others.

Karla peered out through the window as the bus slowed. Sure enough, looming above them was the hulking shape of a medieval fortress, complete with a moat and battlements.

As they approached the stone structure, she tipped back her head, trying to get a better look. It was far more intimidating than the manor they had just come from. She had never seen anything like it; the huge walls were lit up by floodlights, making it look more like a sinister prison than the home of a charming prince from a fairy tale. A shiver ran up her spine as they drove through the gateway and into the bastion.

“It’s not a castle,” she murmured. “It’s a prison.”

“Off the bus.” The assault rifle–wielding thug who issued the order looked like the type of man who would beat them if they failed to comply.

Karla grabbed her backpack and followed the others off the bus. They waited for a few seconds in a courtyard before being marched past a stable filled with expensive cars. She followed the girl in front of her through an archway and up spiraling stairs.

She reached out and touched the stone walls as they climbed. They felt cold and smooth. How many other girls had walked these stairs? With every step it became clearer that escape was not possible.

After at least six flights of stairs they reached a landing. To the side a guard stood in front of a set of heavy doors with a huge dog. It reminded Karla of her older sister. Images of the horrendous wounds on Kalista’s arms and legs flashed through her mind and she started to cry. Sobbing, she followed the girl in front as they climbed up another few flights of stairs and headed down a corridor. Another guard directed them in through a heavy wooden door.

There was a clunk as the door was pushed shut behind them, followed by the click of a heavy lock. They were in yet another prison.

The room was large, about the size of a squash court. On each side there were eight wooden beds, each matched to a tall wooden wardrobe.

Karla dropped onto one of the beds and buried her head in her arms, weeping uncontrollably. Many girls did the same, lying on their beds and crying while others wandered around the room, exploring their new surroundings. First, they opened the room’s doors and found a bathroom and rudimentary kitchen. Moments later, one of them opened her wardrobe.

“Oh!” the young woman exclaimed as she examined the contents. The other girls gathered around.

The wardrobe was filled with beautiful dresses, hanger after hanger of long, expensive-looking gowns. She pulled open the drawers to reveal lacy underwear, makeup, and an assortment of accessories. At the bottom of the wardrobe was a collection of high-heeled shoes.

Their plight was momentarily forgotten as the girls pulled items from other wardrobes. Even Karla stopped crying and was drawn into the moment. None of them had ever owned clothing like this; in their villages women wore flat shoes and plain clothes.

Before long a few of the girls had discarded their old garments and were laughing and giggling as they pranced around in the new outfits.

None noticed that they were being watched from a corner of the high ceiling, where a camera recorded everything.

CHAPTER 6

THE MANOR, SOMOGY COUNTY, HUNGARY

“Who the fuck are they?” Gusztáv screamed into Aurelia’s face. She was tied naked to a chair in the cellar of the manor. Blood pooled on the cobblestones under her, running down her thighs. He had raped her savagely when they first brought her into the makeshift dungeon. “They come into my territory, they kill my men, they turn my woman into a spy, who the fuck are they?”

Aurelia whimpered. Her face was already battered where he had punched her repeatedly, her once beautiful features a bloodied, swollen mess.

“If you don’t want to talk, that’s up to you.” He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “But if you don’t, I’m going to feed you and that Croatian bitch to the dogs.”

Tears ran down her checks and onto her bare flesh. Her body convulsed in sobs, straining against the ropes holding her to the chair, but still she said nothing.

“Fine, have it your way.”

He nodded to the guard in the corner, who handed him a pair of pliers.

“I didn’t want to have to do this.” Gusztáv locked her hand down with his vicelike grip, trying to force her fingers straight. She struggled, scrunching up her fist. He forced it flat and clamped the pliers onto one of her long fingernails. She screamed in agony as he tore it from her finger, thrashing against the ropes like a woman possessed. Eventually her head slumped forward and she hyperventilated as she wept.

“Tell me who they are and it all stops.” Gusztáv caressed her hair as he spoke softly.

She looked up at him with eyes filled with hatred and tears. “They will come for me, you know. It doesn’t matter if you kill me because they will still come for me. Then they will kill you all and burn this place to the ground.”

“
Who are they, Aurelia?”

“Wilhelm is from Interpol. He loves me.”

“Interpol?” He took a phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

“András, Interpol is sniffing around. We’ve got to shut down the manor.” He paused. “How the hell would I know how they found us? Why don’t you ask your friend…No, the girls are already on their way to you.” He paced the cellar floor. “No, only eleven, one of the blondes was bitten by a dog.” He paused as the voice on the other end of the phone became agitated. “The bitch tried to escape. This is not a problem; I will close up here and move to another location, then I will find you more blondes.” He put the phone back in his pocket.

“Tell everyone to pack,” he told one of his men. “We’re leaving.”

“What about her?”

“Give her a hit.”

The man took a syringe and a length of rubber tube from the wooden table in the corner of the room. He wound the rubber around her upper arm until the veins bulged, then he plunged the needle into her flesh.

Her eyes flew open as the heroin rush hit her.

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” whispered Gusztáv as he stroked her hair. “You’re lucky, most girls don’t get to experience such pleasures.” He paused, allowing the drug to take more effect. “You betrayed me, but I forgive you.”

She spat in his face, then turned away, already feeling the effects of the drug.

“Stupid whore!” Gusztáv lifted a boot and pushed her chair over. Her head flopped backward, hitting the stone floor with a thud. “Finish the bitch off!”

The mafia henchman had another two syringes filled with heroin ready. He leaned down next to Aurelia and injected them one after the other into her arm.

Gusztáv squatted next to her. “You were a faithful dog for a while at least,” he said as her petite frame started to convulse and her breathing grew shallow. “There are far worse ways to die.”

As he strode away, his big form growing smaller through Aurelia’s slitted eyelids, the building suddenly shuddered, dust falling from the exposed beams on the roof.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?” he screamed. “Get up there and find out what the hell is going on!”

Aurelia managed to smile despite the heroin’s assault on her nervous system. Wilhelm was coming.