a gap in the ceiling.
Linda fetched a wooden spanking paddle from the dungeon and pried the panel loose. About a metre above there was a grill leading to the outside. Linda pulled herself up and tried it. It was stuck fast. She tried to use the paddle to jimmy it but it broke. It would take more than one person to shift the grill.
Fuck! She was so close.
Changing tactics she hunted round and found the staircase. Making her way carefully up, she tested each step to make certain it didn't creak. The door at the top was locked, but only with a chub lock. Linda slid a thin section of the snapped paddle down between the door and the jamb, releasing the lever. Then she pulled the door open just a fraction and peeked out.
A gun went off and she jumped back. This was followed by a lot of yelling.
She heard footsteps in the corridor outside. She waited until they were nearly upon her, then opened the door fully and stuck out her foot. One of Edward's girls hit the floor face-first and dropped the weapons she'd been carrying.
Linda jumped her. She knelt on the girl's spine then reached around the front of her throat with her right forearm and held the back of her throat with the left. Bending her wrist inwards she squeezed her arms together, restricting the carotid arteries. With the blood to her brain cut off, the girl kicked a couple of times then lost consciousness.
Linda got up and inspected the weapons the girl was carrying. 'Come to momma,' she said as she picked up a sawn-off shotgun, two pistols, a Colt. 45 and a Bowie knife.
Now she was armed as well as dangerous.
'Come on out honey,' called one of the girls from up the corridor. 'I got something for ya.'
'I love you looong time,' cried another. 'Kill you quick.'
Cortez was standing by the door. It was opened into the corridor to block the girls' view of the office. He said nothing and looked over at Greaves who was going through the drawers of Edward's desk.
'Seems Edwards has some exotic tastes.' Greaves said, holding up a set of throwing knives and some shackles.
'I don't see how this helps us.'
Greaves smiled and handed Cortez all but one of the knives. 'I need you to use these to pin our dead friend here to the door,' he said and gestured to the woman on the floor.
Cortez shrugged and picked up the body. Greaves applied the shackles to the unconscious woman.
Propping the dead woman against the door, Cortez held her left arm above her. Taking one of the knives he drove it through her wrist and into the wood behind it. He repeated this with her other wrist and both her feet. The body hung, crucified, against the door.
'Now give me a hand with this,' said Greaves, struggling to lift the unconscious woman.
Cortez picked up the woman and Greaves directed him to hang her wrist shackles from the coat hook beside her friend. Kneeling, Greaves began to remove the screws from the hinges.
'Steady the door,' he told Cortez. 'Now we make them come to us. When I say go, we pick up the door and walk backwards to the far wall at an angle, using the door and the bodies as a shield.' Greaves slapped the unconscious woman hard across the face. She groaned at the pain and came to. 'Go!'
Cortez and Greaves lifted the door. They staggered backwards as a hail of bullets thudded into the wood. Most of them hit Cortez's side of the door. The bullets tore through but the corpse stopped any that might have hit Cortez.
As they reached the far wall two bullets connected with the woman Greaves was using for shelter, nicking her shoulder and smashing into the back of her thigh. 'Aaaaah! Jesus – motherfucking – Christ!'
'Candy,' called out one of the women from further up the corridor. 'Candy is that you honey?'
Candy simply wailed in reply.
'Candy we're coming darlin'.'
Cortez heard three sets of feet padding towards them.
'Come back you dumb bitches!' Edwards shouted.
'Now!' said Greaves, the second the footsteps stopped. He and Cortez kicked hard and the heavy oak door, with the combined weight of the two bodies, came crashing down on the three armed women. They collapsed, their guns clattering across the floor.
Cortez and Greaves ran over the door. Cortez grabbed two of the semi automatic weapons and Greaves picked up the other. They ran up the corridor firing indiscriminately.
Two women were caught by the spray of bullets. Their bodies jerked and flew backwards. Cortez and Greaves reached the hallway at the top of the corridor and looked around for more of them. There was no-one in sight.
Then Cortez heard an ominous click. He turned slowly to see Edwards with his Magnum at Greaves' temple. His wrist was wrapped with a makeshift bandage.
'Drop 'em big guy! Or your buddy here dies.'
With great reluctance Cortez put down his weapons. Two of the women started climbing out from under the door behind them, moaning and cursing at their wounds. Three more came down the staircase, all of them armed.
'You sons of bitches are in some serious shit.' Edwards said.
Linda had Edwards dead in her sights and she weighed up whether to pull the trigger or not.
She'd heard the catcalls and seen the gunfight in the corridor on the other side of the staircase. Edwards had hid and when the two men emerged he had got the drop on them. They were an odd looking couple. The runty one looked frightened and blinked through his glasses as Edwards held him at gunpoint. The big guy with him was a bit of an enigma – he was head and shoulders above everyone, including Edwards. He looked Hispanic, but he had a huge black beard and wore robes that looked Arabic. Linda had no idea what they were doing in this place, robbing it she supposed.
She kept Edwards in her sights as three more armed girls came down the stairs. Then she heard Edwards say: 'We're gonna do far to worse to you than was ever done to that bitch you came to buy.' That decided her. She wasn't certain why, but her gut told her which side she was on.
Linda unloaded the sawn-off shotgun into Edwards and blew his guts out the front of his body. Blood and ruptured intestines splattered into the wall opposite.
The girls on the stairs started firing and Linda ducked back. She heard the two guys return fire and a woman screamed.
Linda backed down the corridor as the men charged towards it. She was standing next to the girl she'd tied up when they saw her. The big guy raised his Uzi and Linda raised her hands. The runt saw the girl at her feet, put his hand on the big guy's weapon and made him lower it.
'Were you the one who helped us?' the runt said.
Linda nodded. 'I don't work here. I was a prisoner but I broke out.'
'We need to get to the basement.'
'It's this way.' Linda showed them through the door. She locked it behind them and used the sawn-off to wedge it shut.
'That is my weapon,' said the big guy.
It was the first time she'd heard him speak. 'Listen,' she said. 'If we get out of this alive I've got two more you can have, free of charge. And trust me honey, I rarely give anything free of charge.'
'How are we going to leave now?' said the runt. 'Is there another exit?'
'There's a grill over there, but I couldn't shift it by myself. It leads outside.'
The runt nodded then made his way down the steps with the big guy. Linda followed.
They headed for the cells. Linda watched as the runt slid open a hatch on each of them and peered inside.
'This is her,' he said after the fourth one.
He reached into his greatcoat and pulled out a small device that he inserted into the lock. He fiddled with the end of the device for a few seconds and gave it a sharp turn. The lock clicked and he pushed the door open.
Linda was surprised by the runt's reaction. He stood in the doorway with his mouth open, stunned. He looked like a groupie meeting her favourite rock star. 'I can't believe I've finally found you. You've no idea how long it's
