No-LIMIT-Rooms 05 English

At least, the small size gave the possibility to smuggle it into the basement. And since it had no memory, it was also not possible to find out there, with whom one had phoned, when. Prepaid cell phone without contract, no billing, no traces. Nevertheless, it was better not to fall into anyone's hands.

I reported to Holger in the shortest possible sentences what had happened in the past week. Unfortunately, they had actually missed how I had been taken to the ranch. He admitted not to have enough people to be able to follow every vehicle of the Rooms. However, they had now taken remedial action and bugged the vehicles. As a result, they now knew where Rebecca lived. But breaking into her ranch was rather conspicuous and difficult because of the surveillance. As before, I should see to creating an entrance there.

I was beginning to get the impression that my clients were losing interest in the rooms. Or in me. At least the latter would be very bad for me at the moment.

What I had to report about the cellar was covered in a few sentences. Why I was already back in the hospital was too complicated to explain on this phone. So I limited myself to talking about a show that had gone wrong and to referring to a later, more detailed report. After all, I didn't know myself what had happened. At least I mentioned that the sound technician Edward had been caught cheating and had to reckon with harsh internal measures of punishment. Maybe there was something for my clients.

The conversation ended with the usual admonition by Holger that I should be careful. And with the fact that I felt left alone again. Thank you, Holger!

In the early afternoon Rebecca came and brought me Isabell as promised. Surprisingly, she gave us an hour to ourselves and left the room for that. It was heavenly to be able to hug and kiss Isabell again! For a short moment I thought about bunking with her now and immediately. But of course that was out of the question. She would hardly go along without asking why. And explaining that was much more complicated.

After a good twenty minutes of hugging, caressing and kissing, we also started to really talk.

"So," I began. "You tried to kill Edward?"

Her eyes flashed with anger. "The son of a bitch manually piloted the Dalek and hurt you. I wouldn't necessarily have killed him, but I definitely would have castrated him if they'd let me!"

"How did you know?"

"Diana instructed and assigned me to keep an unobtrusive eye on him. His area was not covered by any camera and a security guard at his side would have been much too conspicuous. But then, a service slave at the bar is pretty inconspicuous, especially since he didn't know who was hiding under my hood."

It was not yet clear to me how she could catch him, but she could tell me that in more detail at some point. Now there were more urgent things.

"Were you able to view my recording from 7/26?"

She shook her head. "No, they're completely off limits to me."

Damn! So I had to describe to her what I could see on the recording until I had to break off. She seemed honestly shaken, but soon regained her composure.

"Am I going to find out what happened to your sister, Nadine?"

I sighed inwardly. Of course, I had to tell her about it. However, I had no intention of dragging her into all this, so I had to keep lying to her in part.

"Nadine's fiancé, Kevin, got into trouble with the Russian mafia in Berlin and turned to me for help."

"Why to you?" she tried to interrupt me, but I refused.

"Long back story. Another time, I promise. I decided to set a trap for the bosses and get the police involved. That went so wrong. Kevin and one of the bosses was shot and killed during the raid. Another was sentenced to many years in prison as a result of my testimony."

She looked at me in horror. "Do you work for the police?"

"No, I don't, I never have. Do you want to know today what happened next?"

Pale, she nodded.

"I had to go into hiding, of course. But the Mafia could put one and one together and came to the conclusion that Kevin's fiancée could know something, my sister. And they got her. I had talked to her on the phone when they took her."

Isabell bit her fist in horror.

"The police couldn't do anything. In the exchange they demanded, her for me, the kidnappers had smelled a rat and taken off."

"You wanted to be replaced?"

"If need be, that too, but no, I knew they would have killed us both. But the police are really incompetent sometimes."

"And then? I mean, your sister, was she...?" She did not finish the sentence.

I shook my head. "No, they took her to Russia, and she's still alive."

"How do you know?"

I took a deep breath.

"After my misguided decisions to trust the police, I decided to act myself. I investigated, followed Nadine's kidnappers to Moscow, where, however, I initially lost their trail. But then I got new clues. And now I think that the Rooms are also involved. Or at least Morosov. According to my information, Nadine is with Morosov in Cyprus."

"I don't understand anything at all. But how did you track them in the first place? "

"With a lot of money. I've got myself into a lot of debt. I need the money from the gigs for that, too. But I must honestly confess, I didn't find out about Morozov and my sister until I had already started here."

"I still don't get it. What does all this have to do with your interrogation on the first day that you told me about?"

"Isabell, I was invited to the Rooms. Rebecca recruited me, I wouldn't have thought of starting here on my own."

That wasn't quite right, of course, but the full truth would only have led to more questions, which I was keen to avoid.

"I didn't know about the basement until that day. Morozov is a shareholder of the Rooms or even the sole owner. He certainly has contacts with the mafia. And he recognized me! Rebecca either knew who I was before I started here, or Morosov told her to recruit me and she wanted to find out why."

Isabell moved away from me. "Tell me, are you actually listening to yourself? This whole thing is just crazy. You're making it up, aren't you? I mean, I would have heard something about it, about conspiracies, about this, Morozov? Or your research?"

That's right, she hadn't been there when Morozov had approached me on the evening of the Kumiho show. Did she possibly not know him at all? Annoyed, I closed my eyes. How else could I make her understand the whole thing without involving my clients?

"Morozov introduced himself to me the night after our weekend show, in person. And Rebecca greeted him as a special friend. Morozov is a Russian oligarch. Billionaire and acquaintance of Putin. If he doesn't own the Rooms, who does?"

She pondered, obviously still confused.

"How do you know Morozov?"

"Not at all before that night. I Googled him!"

"But he knew about you?"

"Yes, I think so by now. When he introduced himself to me, he asked if I had already been to Moscow. That was more than a hint. He knows who I am!"

Isabell looked desperate. Did she still not understand the whole thing? How could I explain it differently?

"Bella, pay attention. An informant told me that Nadine is with Morosov in Cyprus. But I didn't find out until after I had already started here. I didn't apply here on my own. I was invited. Is that common practice here, to recruit models?"

She looked at me. I recognized from her facial expression how she began to understand.

"So, this Morozov guy has your sister, knows about you, is stalking you and luring you to the Rooms?"

I nodded in relief.

"That sounds even crazier! What do they give you for painkillers here?" She smiled sheepishly.

It was freaking me out. How could I make her believe all this? Of course the whole thing sounded crazy!

"Crazier than secret website studios in the middle of a major German city? Crazier than a secret slave school one floor below? Crazier than the secret circle to which the slave school is subordinated?"

She wanted to answer, but changed her mind. She looked at me thoughtfully.

"You never, ever figured all that out on your own, did you?"

Suddenly, my alarm bells went off again. My paranoia awoke. Was Isabell one of them?

"Yes, of course."

"Do you know how long I've been Rebecca's slave? I've slept at her feet, played doggie in her office. And never once have I heard anything about a Morozov, or whatever else you're implying."

"Does Vladimir mean more to you?"

She looked honestly surprised. "Dom Vladimir is Morozov?"

"Yes!"

She whistled through her teeth. "Now it all makes sense. I'd never known his last name or what he does. But you're right, he's involved with the Rooms and the Coven. He was Rebecca's Dom."

Piece by piece, the puzzle began to come together.

"What do you know about the circle? And now please don't say that you can't talk about it. We are here among ourselves. Without being bugged or watched, like in the apartment building."

Desperately, Isabell looked at me. "I think you're right. There's more to it than that. I think there are involuntary slave girls being trained and auctioned off down there."

Now it was my turn to look uncomprehending. "I thought everyone down there was more or less voluntary?"

"Yes, no, yes." She visibly struggled to explain it to me in an understandable way. "The training down there is voluntary. But the girls disappear afterwards. I always thought they went to private dominas or doms afterwards, voluntarily. But now that I think about it, I never heard from any of them again. I was Rebecca's slave from the beginning, so I had absolutely believed the explanation."

We looked at each other in horror and thought the same thing: Is Rebecca running an international slave trade?

A knock on the door made us cringe. Rebecca stepped in the door.

"Well, enough fooling around you two? Five, we have to go, I still have work to do."

Then she noticed our expressions. "Did anyone die while I was gone, or did my makeup run?"

She opened the door to the bathroom and looked in the mirror above the sink. "No, obviously not!"

Sharply, she looked at us. "So, what's going on?"

I caught myself first.

"Edward, what happens to him now?"

Rebecca looked surprised. Then she turned and closed the door to the hallway, which she had left open, and then returned to the room. "You don't really have to care about that anymore, my lawyers will take care of him."

"Just the lawyers?" it escaped me.

Rebecca's voice turned ice cold. "What else?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "He knows the Rooms, all the secrets, has nothing left to lose if the lawyers take him down, he's a danger!"

"What do you suggest I do?" Her tone became lurking.

"I'm not suggesting anything, I'm just asking."

She looked back and forth between me and Isabell. Annoyed, she threw her handbag on the table and dropped onto the chair.

"Who and what do you think I am?"

We remained silent.

"Ah, a rebellion?" She nodded. "Look, I built this place, and you guys don't have the slightest idea at what cost. And I'm not going to let anyone break it, no matter who, is that clear?"

"Does he stay alive?" My thoughtless question probably stunned myself the most, but Rebecca and Isabell obviously not much less.

"Of course! Who do you think we are, the mafia?"

Finally, a light seemed to dawn on her. "Is that it? Are you suddenly so afraid of me? Do you think I'm capable of such a thing?"

She leaned back, put her head on her neck and started laughing.

I didn't know what was supposed to be funny about that. Isabell also shook her head when I looked at her questioningly.

Suddenly Rebecca became serious again. "I don't know whether I should be angry or disappointed with you, Isabell. You of all people should know me best."

"Did you drug Johanna the day she arrived here?"

I suddenly felt ice cold. Damn it, Isabell!

But Rebecca also seemed startled.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you?"

"Who says so?"

"Me!", I interjected. "I remembered. I was standing naked in the AI room being questioned by you. And Q was there, too!"

Rebecca was about to wave me off, but then stopped. She looked at me sharply. "You fell and hit your head."

"There are test results in my medical records, the drug test you ordered, remember?" I was playing high poker now.

"Where...?" It occurred to her too late that she had now given herself away. She turned pale.

For the first time I experienced Rebecca like this in a defensive position.

This seemed to be a new sight for Isabell, too, because she opened her eyes in horror. "So Johanna is right? Why, why?"

"I had my reasons!" With difficulty, she began to compose herself.

I tilted my head, "I'm sure you would. And you would be?"

"You lied to me!" she tried to go on the offensive again. "You're on the run from the mafia and you kept quiet about your sister!" All at once she paused. "So you really think I'm a member of the mafia?"

I raised my shoulders cluelessly. "Is that so far-fetched?"

Gruffly, she reached for her purse and pulled out something. I actually feared for a moment that it was a gun, but it was her cell phone. She glanced over at us as she dialed a number. "Joana? Cancel my appointments for today."... "Yes, all of them!"

She slid the phone back into her pocket.

"All right, let's lay our cards on the table. Yes, I drugged and interrogated you because I was warned you were a cop."

"Warned? By whom?" I was starting to get angry again because she was trying to make me out to be the guilty party.

"It doesn't matter. And I finally needed to know if my company was in danger."

"You do realize how dangerous such means can be?"

Rebecca waved it off. "There was no danger to you! It was low-dosed and should have broken down quickly. I'm surprised it was still in your blood. So who gave you the report?"

I'd better not say anything in reply. I had not received one. Therefore, I went on the offensive again.

"So that was okay? I was practically invited, I hadn't even applied for an apartment myself. And then I'm supposed to work for a government agency, as a porn actress, as a camgirl? A bit of a stretch, isn't it?"

"And who invited you? Where did you get the brochure? The girl didn't know anything!"

My surprise was perfect. Shit, Holger, what have you done? I wasn't invited? Son of a bitch!

"I don't know what her name was. She gave me the prospectus and said it might be something for me because I had talked about money problems."

"You should know that's not how it works with us. First check, then you get the brochure! This is the invitation for the rooms, not for the apartments! And you didn't know the code word that goes with it."

"Code word? Could you get any more ridiculous? Where are we, in an agent movie? 400 people working in and around the Rooms, and you want to use code words to achieve secrecy? How many in the last 10 years. 4000? I'm surprised the BKA doesn't already have a separate department for you guys."

"Didn't it? How would you know that? Do you have inside information on that?" Her smile did not reach her eyes and her voice had become dangerously quiet.

Damn, I had to be careful with what I said. "What do I know about the BKA, I meant that as an example. You can't keep 4000 people under control, can you? Not without leverage. Yes, that's why I've come to suspect that the Rooms are part of the mafia. And your treatment of me, on the very first day, doesn't help my confidence there."

"How long have you suspected this?"

"What, why?"

"You've been in the circle cellar for not quite a week. If you had had this suspicion before, you certainly wouldn't have taken me up on my offer, would you? Instead, you would have run away or run to the police, but you didn't. Why? And you've been here since yesterday, why not call the police now? There's the phone!"

"I don't have a phone card! And no cash or clothes here either, remember?"

Rebecca looked demonstratively at the bath slippers in front of the bed. "And the toiletry bag in the bathroom, the book there on the nightstand?" Surprised, she got up, went to my closet and opened it.

"Oh, a sweatsuit?" Somewhat disgusted, she looked at the shape and color. Then she reached into her pockets and produced the change from the twenty.

She glanced at the money, then the book, and frowned.

"Damn it, Rebecca, what are you doing? I had nothing and I borrowed this!"

She raised a hand to interrupt me. "I know. Reiner called me and asked if I would agree. And of course. I would have had you bring something over myself. But I was also, unfortunately, a little distracted by having to clean up the mess Edward left behind. And actually, I'm still busy with that. During these words she had come closer and stood in front of my bed, next to my nightstand where the book lay. As if casually, she took it in her hand and flipped through it. "Borrowed it, too?"

"Can't I even read something here? Is it still going on? I still haven't received an answer!"

"To what question? Whether the rooms belong to the mafia? Yes, you do. They don't."

"How do you keep 4000 people under control with no real leverage. Something is bound to leak out."

"Fear!" Rebecca had put the word forward so simply and as if it were a matter of course.

Stunned and speechless, I sat there. With the book in her hand, she went back to the chair and sat down again. Then she lifted the book a little. "Read into it yet?"

I shook my head.

"You should, it's good! It's about power, intrigue, fighting for power, betrayal..." She looked at Isabell, who was still sitting quietly next to me on the bed. "If you have dangerous opponents, you can't be squeamish in your choice of means. But you don't necessarily have to resort to cruel means. It's enough that people think you'll use them."

"But deception also plays a role. You lull your opponent into a false sense of security and then strike!", I interjected.

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't read into it?"

"I had looked into the movies once."

Rebecca nodded and put the book away. "Yes, it describes everything. Sex and love, too. But let's not go there. Let's start from the beginning. You lied about how you found us..."

I started to object, but Rebecca raised her hand again and silenced me.

"And I, drugged you to see if you would be a danger to me. And indeed you do!"

My stomach knotted up. The missing video part! Damn, what else had I given away?

"The mafia is looking for you, with a very high bounty on your head. But interestingly enough, not under your name Johanna Blauert, right? They don't know that at all, even though you supposedly testified against them and they kidnapped your sister."

If I had ever possessed a perfect poker face, I hoped I did now.

"But they're looking for a Laura Zamora. Does that name sound familiar?"

Isabell looked surprised and then looked at me. "I don't understand, I thought you were wanted?"

Oh man, Isabell, my little, sometimes ponderous silly. In a flash, I ran all the options through my head. My eyes fell on Rebecca's face. She was smiling again. She knew she had caught me.

But she still did not know who she had caught.

39 monsters

"Thank you for confirming about Isabell your story that you told me while I was drugged. So I'm assuming that part is true. But now I'm bound to ask myself, if you're Johanna Blauert, and you're wanted by the mafia, why is the mafia looking for a Laura Zamora?"

"Because I wasn't stupid enough to give my real name to the mafia?"

"Ah. That's a good explanation. But don't you think they wouldn't have gotten your real name out of your sister? Or is she as tough as you? Does it run in your family? Surely your sister has your name, too, and had an ID with her when she was kidnapped?"