Only Consenting Adults Ch. 21

Eve's hand throbbed from where she'd punched the big guy, dropping down on one knee as he'd lunged towards her and putting all her weight behind the blow. She'd felt his rib crack, saw the look on his face, and had darted sideways, trying to get around him to the door. The two men had let her. She had wrestled with the handle, realising too late that it needed a keycard to open, but by the time she brought her stolen key up to the pad, hands were on her, dragging her back, pinning her to the ground. There had been two of them, big men, heavy. She had done her best; it had not been a disgrace.

The silence tortured her. Eve tried to keep track of the time, but the lack of external reference made it hard, plus the slap across her face from the big man in retaliation for his ribs that had left her ears ringing. Hitting girls, she'd told him, goaded him, your parents must be so proud. Eve had wanted him to hit her again, to come close enough for her to strike. She would have driven her palm up into his nose, a single, quick, lethal blow. That wasn't in the manual, but she'd opened the trunk on the low table in the middle of the room and she'd seen the shape sealed inside. Eve had been left with no illusions about her future.

The door lock clicked and she tensed. There was a swishing sound as the door was pulled open, followed by footsteps. Eve tried to count them, working out the number of people walking towards her: more than one, and a woman, high heels clicking on the polished floor.

"The face is slightly swollen."

A man's voice, Davis, the one Aidan had tried to get past in the reception area before the security guy had dropped him. Aidan had called him Davey, the one who had stolen Aidan's wife, Rosa.

"How come?"

A woman's voice, with refined intonation.

"Resisting. Armin slapped her."

"He's a brute."

"She broke his ribs."

There was a pause and what might have been a quiet chuckle. "This little thing? He must have been devastated. I wouldn't have thought she had it in her."

"Me neither, but then we found this."

There was a sound, another click, and Eve realised it was the clasp of Eve's purse. She braced herself, listening to the woman rifling through her personal items. There was an intake of breath.

"Yeah," Davey said, "Problem."

The voices were silent, then the heels rang out again, coming closer to her. A hand touched her hair and she jerked with shock at the sudden contact. Fingers brushed the hair from her face.

"Opportunity," the woman said.

"How so?"

"We don't usually trade in ethnicities, the market for them is a lot more limited. Blonde hair, blue eyes, they have a more universal appeal. However, I can think of a couple of potential clients in Addis and Mumbai."

Eve turned towards the source of the voice. "Fuck you," she snarled, "You're fucked. Don't...."

A stinging slap across her face silenced her.

"You really shouldn't speak unless permitted. Unless you want to suffer."

"Who the fuck are you?" Eve growled.

She was slapped again, harder, making her face sting with the impact. Then a slender finger was pressed to her lips.

"Ssh. There, good girl."

"You really think that's the best thing to do?" Davey asked, "I mean, you saw the badge."

"And your alternative would be? Seriously, we just need to keep some perspective here. If you want to go all Neanderthal, then what? Have you ever disposed of a body?"

Davey didn't reply.

"Or maybe we tell her it's all a mistake, and that we'll be good? But she's seen the other girl, correct?"

"Yes."

"Sloppy."

The heels clicked on the floor again. When she spoke, it was at a little distance, in muted tones.

"Police or not, once she's been trained and dispatched, she'll do whatever she's told, just like your little toy. I'll even let you train them together if you want, then you get yours and I get mine. A picture of her on her social feed standing by the Taj Mahal a month from now is proof of life. Then you have a woman who simply ran away, as opposed to a cop's body to search for."

"But what if she can't be trained?"

"Ah. Gabriel, what would you say to that?"

There was motion elsewhere in the room, a third person. He had been standing silently throughout.

"I think everyone can be trained," the new voice said, "Eventually, everyone reaches their breaking point."

"Everyone," the woman echoed.

Davey grunted. "I don't know him. He's a gamble. Where's Hayden?"

"He is otherwise engaged," the woman continued, "It seems he's gone and had a life moment, with his own little project out in the middle of the woods somewhere."

"Would you like to check my references, Mr. Scott?" Gabriel asked.

Davey snorted. "Have you checked?"

"I have," the woman replied, "He's endorsed."

"Okay, Gabe," Davey grumbled, "Let's see what you can do."

Footsteps approached her and Eve tensed. She had remained silent throughout the exchange, feverishly trying to work through the angles and come up with a plan. If her hands were free, she could fight back, but there were three of them. Even if she got the man approaching her now, then it would be two against one, with her still bound to the chair. The icy fingers of fear wrapped themselves around her heart, even as her brain worked through the permutations, looking for an angle, an opening, something survivable.

A hand touched her arm, just the lightest touch. She heard a click and suddenly her wrist was free.

"Hi," the voice said.

Eve reached out, and the stranger's hands clasped hers in an oddly intimate act, before releasing her. He walked around to the other side of her, and she felt him freeing her other wrist.

"Now, let's get acquainted. You know my name, but what shall I call you?"

The voice was warm and gentle, stirring emotions in her, tempering her fear. He sounded both strange and also familiar. Like her father's voice? Or maybe a teacher from her past? The tone was welcoming, reassuring. She felt as if she knew him, but that was the trick, she told herself: the first part of any interrogation was building up a rapport.

"Ava?" he continued, "That's the name on your identification. Or do you prefer something else?"

"Eve," she murmured.

"Eve. Beautiful. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Would you like to remove your blindfold, Eve?"

Tentatively, Eve reached up and slid the blindfold up over her head, blinking in the sudden brightness of the downlight above her, trying to adjust her eyes to the dazzling light after hours of darkness. He was just out of sight, but her neck was still secured, preventing her from turning her head to get a look at him.

"And how about you?"

He was speaking to someone else, off to her right. The other person didn't respond.

"She seems a little distracted," the man announced, "What have you been doing to her?"

"She's dosed up."

"Ah."

There was a pause, then the man spoke again, "In that case, I really can't help here, at least not until she's come down from whatever you have her on. It needs her full mental facilities to participate, otherwise it's not effective."

The footsteps came towards her again, and from the corner of her eye she could make out the shape of a tall man.

"I'll start with Eve," he announced, "I'm sure there are customers who would pay a premium to know that their obedient slave was once trained in the use of lethal force, that they owned a broken killer as their property."

"As you wish, Gabriel," the woman replied, "We'll defer to your judgement. It's in your hands."

"It is, isn't it?" he said, bending over Eve, his face obscured by the halo of brilliance from the downlight above his head, making her eyes water.

The man picked up her hands and brought them to her face. She looked up at him, trying to suppress the awful, gnawing feeling in her guts. His hand was near his mouth, moving, and then he pulled back. The light illuminated his face. Eve gasped.

Adam stood over her, looking down with a concerned expression, his back turned to the other two people in the room. Her heart jumped. His hand started moving again, repeating the same motions. Blinking rapidly, she tried to focus.

- Are you okay

Eve closed her eyes, trying to fight against the surge of relief at seeing the face of the man she loved. Adam had found a way in, somehow. He'd talked his way through the barriers and penetrated their operation. She counted to five, letting her heartrate settle, and then opened her eyes again. She moved her fingers.

- What's the plan

Adam didn't reply. Instead, he leaned over to a side table to retrieve something. He dangled it in front of her, and she looked up at him in confusion. It was a ball gag. He held it to her mouth, but Eve hesitated. Adam looked down at her with a kindly expression, waiting patiently.

At last, Eve opened her mouth and he slid the gag into place, securing it behind her head. She signed up to him.

- What next

Adam just looked at her. She signed again.

- Rescue

Adam wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her hand down to the side of the chair again, securing her arm with the strap. Eve stared up at him in utter incomprehension, watching as he moved around her and secured her other hand. Once that was done, he reached up and stroked her cheek, then signed back to her. She took a moment to register his words, her brain unable to understand what he was telling her. Two words:

- Be brave

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[Next chapter: Adam has a job to do.

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