He reached a large circular area with a half-demolished square structure at the center of it. Its walls were full of holes. The voices were coming from inside the makeshift structure.
He turned off his flashlight and edged closer, being careful not to disrupt any of the loose bricks that littered the entire underground floor. He went around to the left of the squared structure and positioned himself behind some old cement bags, just a few feet away from the wall. Hunter bent down trying to level his eyes with one of the holes. He could see some movement inside but his angle kept him from having a clear picture.
The voices got louder. He could clearly recognize D-King’s voice.
‘We’re not gonna hurt you. We’re here to get you away from these fucks. You’re free, it’s over. I’m gonna undo your blindfold and gag OK, don’t be afraid, I’m not gonna hurt you.’
What the fuck is going on in there? Hunter thought. He needed to get closer. He inched his way nearer to the wall and quickly found a better position leveling his eyes with one of the larger holes. Three men were standing facing the opposite wall with their hands on their heads. One of them was completely naked, his back entirely covered with what seemed like a tattoo of Jesus on a cross. D-King was kneeling down in the center of the room in front of a petrified-looking brunette woman no older than thirty. She’d been blindfolded, gagged and tied to a metal chair. What was left of her black dress was dirty and torn. Her bra had been ripped off her body. Freshly made cigarette burns surrounded both of her nipples with water blisters already starting to form. Her legs had been spread apart and tied to the sides of the chair. Her dress had been hitched up exposing her vagina with more cigarette burns around it. Parts of her hair were stuck together with what seemed like dried blood. Her bottom lip was swollen and cut.
Hunter watched as D-King reached behind the woman’s head to untie both of her restraints. As the blindfold came off she blinked rapidly several times. The strong light burning her eyes. Her gag had been tied so tightly it had cut into the corners of her mouth. She coughed violently as her mouth was set free. D-King pulled a paper tissue out of his pocket and wiped her face clean of the mascara and bloodstains on her face. One of D-King’s men had already freed her hands and legs and she’d started crying again. Her body was shaking with every new sob, but this time the tears were a combination of fear and relief.
‘What’s your name?’ Hunter heard D-King ask.
‘Becky,’ she replied in-between sobs.
‘You’ll be OK, Becky. We’ll get you out of here,’ D-King said, trying to help her up, but her knees buckled under her. Quickly he grabbed hold of her waist before she collapsed back onto the chair.
‘Easy now . . . your legs are still weak. We gotta do this slowly.’ He turned his attention back to one of his men. ‘Find something to cover her up.’
The man’s eyes searched the room for a piece of cloth or something suitable but found nothing.
‘Here, take this.’ Hunter recognized Jerome from the nightclub. He took off his shirt and handed it to D-King. The massive shirt over the woman’s petite frame looked almost like a long dress.
‘You’ll be OK, Becky. It’s all over now.’
D-King’s voice took a different tone altogether. ‘Take her upstairs, put her in the car and don’t leave her side,’ D-King barked at someone.
Hunter quickly ducked behind some cement bags as best and as quietly as he could, the shadows helping to conceal him. Through an opening between the bags Hunter saw another huge man exiting the room. On his arms the petrified-looking Becky.
‘You’ll be safe with me, Becky,’ the man reassured her in a caring voice.
Hunter waited until they’d disappeared down the corridor and inched closer once again.
‘So you believe in Jesus, do you?’ D-King asked in an angry voice as he approached the naked tattooed man.
No reply.
Hunter saw D-King slam the wooden butt of his double-barreled shotgun into the man’s lower back, who collapsed to the ground. Instinctively, the shortest of the three captured men turned in a reaction, but before he was able to make a move Jerome struck him across the face with an Uzi sub-machinegun. Blood splattered against the wall. Two of his teeth bounced onto the floor.
‘Who the fuck told you to move?’ Jerome’s voice was an angry shout.
Damn, Steven wasn’t joking when he said they had a small arsenal in here, Hunter thought.
‘That girl was what, twenty-eight, twenty-nine?’ D-King hit the man on the floor once again, this time a hard kick to the stomach. ‘Get up and turn around, you sack o’ shit.’ D-King paced in front of the now scared men.
‘Do you know who I am?’ The question hung in the air before the shortest of the three nodded.
D-King looked on in amazement. With a calm voice he continued. ‘So you know who I am and still you took one of my girls from me, raped her, tortured her and killed her?’
No answer.
‘Boy, you’ve just taken the word stupid to new heights. You two . . . strip,’ he ordered, pointing at the two men who were dressed.
They looked back at him with a puzzled expression.
‘Are you fuckers deaf? He said strip,’ Jerome commanded, striking the one who was wearing glasses in the stomach.
‘Wow, she would’ve needed magnifying glasses, boys,’ D-King said, staring at their naked bodies. ‘No wonder you have problems getting women. Tie them to the chairs, just like they do to their victims.’
‘Don’t even think about moving,’ the voice commanded.
Sixty-Three
The door opened and Hunter was pushed into the room, the gun still pressed hard against the back of his head.
‘I found this piece of shit sneaking around outside. He was packing this,’ the man said, throwing the gun he’d retrieved from Hunter onto the floor. D-King turned to face the new arrival.
‘Detective Hunter? This is a surprise.’
‘Detective?’ Warren, who had discovered and captured Hunter, said in astonishment.
‘What the hell happened to you?’ D-King asked, staring at Hunter’s bruised and cut face.
‘Don’t look at me, boss,’ Warren said, lifting his hands up. ‘He was already this ugly when I found him.’
Hunter’s eyes quickly scanned his surroundings. The room was illuminated by battery-powered professional filming lights and the entire floor had been covered with plastic sheets. The metal chair Becky had been tied to stood in the center of the room. Next to the wall, behind D-King, a selection of knives had been placed on a small table. On one of the corners a semi-professional video camera had been mounted onto a tripod and just behind it, two extra chairs. It took Hunter less than three seconds to realize where he was.
‘A snuff movie joint? Very classy.’ His eyes fixed on D-King.
‘Oh you’re quick,’ D-King said, before noticing Hunter’s derisive look. ‘Wait a second. You think I run this fucked-up operation? Oh hell no.’
Hunter’s eyes moved over to the three naked men standing against the south wall and then to a shirtless Jerome. ‘So you folks having a little party?
‘Oh, you’re in the mood to be funny?’ D-King asked, cocking his shotgun. ‘What the fuck are you doing here, Detective?’
‘I was in the neighborhood. This is one of my favorite hangouts.’
‘You’re in a pretty fucked-up position to be cracking jokes,’ Jerome warned him.
Hunter’s eyes shifted to the three men.
