area. Maybe Clark didn’t know it was dangerous? But that seemed unlikely. Clark was quite familiar with the city, so…could he have deliberately put her in harm’s way? Brook could think of no conceivable reason Clark would want her hurt. She told herself the whole thing had to be a coincidence. Someone just saw her car, recognized its value, and took advantage of the opportunity to steal it. But then, why did they say the car was ‘right where it was supposed to be’? How did Benny come by the key he had used? And why was there a semi waiting if it was a spur of the moment theft, merely a crime of chance? She drifted into a confused sleep only to be awakened by the return of Jase, and his seeming insatiability. Brook wondered, vaguely, how he had gotten by before she’d entered the picture. Maybe he only enjoyed sex taken by force. Or maybe the more he had, the more he wanted.
When Jase was done, Pete pulled him aside.
“I feel a little weird about this lady,” Pete said quietly as they stood just outside the bedroom door. His manner was casual, but his uncertainty was obvious.
“What do you mean?” Jase scowled.
“Well, she looks pretty bad.” Pete stared at the floor.
“What’s it matter? She’s gonna die anyway,” Jase said, watching him carefully. Pete chewed on a thumbnail. 'Come on, Pete, spit it out. What the hell's up your ass?'
“We’ve never killed anyone before.” Pete looked up, his eyes anguished. “I mean, it’s one thing having sex with her, but killing her is something else. I don’t know if I can do it. Can you?”
“We ain't got a choice. She can identify us. You don’t want to spend the rest of your life in prison, do you?”
“No.” Pete quailed. 'I’d never make it in prison, man.” He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his face had an almost hopeful expression. “Hey! Know what? Benny wants to keep her.”
“Keep her?” Jase laughed. “Yeah, well, Benny’s a packrat. He never gets rid of anything. Have you seen his fucking room?”
“What?” Pete looked confused.
“It’s a joke, Pete.” Jase shook his head.
“Oh, heh, heh.” Pete gave a half-hearted chuckle and then turned thoughtful. “So, are you gonna let him keep her? Then we won't have to kill her.”
“Fuck, no, he’s not keeping her! She’s not some puppy that followed him home. She’s a potential witness against us. We
“I guess. But, I just think maybe we shouldn’t be so rough on her. I mean, look at her. She’s awful banged up. You know, I was raised not to hit no women.” Pete shifted his feet.
Jase snorted. “Raised my ass! Your old man ran off and left you, and your mom was a fucking alcoholic. Talk about a family of losers.”
Pete’s face was stricken. “My grandma wasn’t a loser.”
“No,” Jase relented. “No, she wasn’t. Your grandma was cool.” He slapped Pete on the back. “I ain’t got no room to talk anyway. My family ain’t exactly the Huxtables. Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” Pete swallowed hard.
“You know what your problem is?” Jase’s expression turned lazy and arrogant. “You’re just too soft. You got to remember something, dude. That woman ain’t like us. She’s a different breed. Just look at her. All suntan and diamonds, fancy clothes and dinner parties, ‘shopping on the boulevard’ and ‘lunching at the club’. She makes me sick. I bet she’s never worked a day in her fucking life. She ain’t never been hungry or scrounged around in the gutter to survive. She's nothing like you and me, dude.”
Jase's voice had taken on the edge of bitterness. “Then look at us. We’re finally doing good, ain’t we?”
Pete nodded.
“Damn right we are! But I remember the days when we didn’t have two nickels to rub together. You were just a snot-nosed kid whose old lady was so drunk she didn’t know where you were most of the time. Didn’t care. But I looked out for you. You and me, we came up through the ranks together. Now, that takes character. But this bitch? She’s hardly even human. She’s just an empty vessel, a trinket for some lame-dick rich bastard. She probably fucks the pool boy, and the gardener, and the tennis pro and anyone else she can get her hands on. But now she’s
“I guess so,” Pete murmured. “But she sure cries a lot.”
“Stop being such a pussy,” Jase snapped. “You know how that pisses me off. I swear; Gina’s really twisted you up, dude. She’s messed with your head. Look at it this way; we didn’t set out to take the woman on purpose. It just happened. We’re not fucking kidnappers. This is just her fate. She was a gift dropped right into our fucking laps, like finding a lucky penny or some shit. I’m taking advantage of it, and you should, too.”
Jase scratched his armpit and stared at Brook cowering on the mattress. His indolent air returned. His eyes were almost drowsy as he contemplated their victim.
“She kinda grows on you, don’t she?” he remarked. “Just like when you get a new video game and you think it’s probably not going to be that much fun, but before you know it, you can’t stop playing it. You try to quit, but something makes you keep going back to it. Oh, sure, you eventually lose interest but its sure fun while it lasts.'
“Yeah,” Pete answered, obviously relieved. Brook was sickened by Jase's remarks and Pete's stupidity.
“But, I’m not bored with her yet,” Jase said as he unzipped his pants. “Are you?”
“No, I’m not bored.” Pete’s voice betrayed his excitement. He watched as Jase mounted Brook once more and then turned away. “Gina?” he called. “Where are you, baby? I have a
Jase panted in Brook's ear as he rode her. It seemed to take longer each time. Satisfied for the moment, he finally left Brook alone. A long silence followed as the household rested.
Late that afternoon, the door to the bedroom burst open and Jase stalked in followed by an insolent Gina. “I don’t care what the shit you think, Gina,” Jase declared. “You’ll clean the bitch up, get her dressed, and have her ready for us to get rid of when we get back from town.”
Brook’s blood turned to ice in her veins. So this was it. The end was upon her.
Gina’s face held a look of pure hatred. “Why don’t you do it yourself? Or have Benny do it. I wanted to go into town with Pete. I’m sick of being cramped up here listening to you dicks fuck this bitch all day and night.”
“We could be fucking you,” Jase said menacingly. “Besides, you can’t go with us anyway. We got a new job and we’re going to town to grab a couple of beers and work out the plans, and you know we can’t let you hear the details of the jobs. We’ll be back by dark. In the meantime, wash her good. Give her a couple of those douche things. You know, clean out all traces of our cum from her twat so no DNA can be found. Oh, and you better squirt a couple up her ass too. Then put her into some of your clothes and wait for us. Can you do that, Gina?” Jase asked this last question in a tone that said do it or else.
“Whatever,” Gina muttered, and then acquiesced. “Yes. I can do it.”
Jase pushed past Gina and left the room.
Softly, Brook began to sing.
Her voice was becoming louder. Gina turned to stare at Brook with a look of disbelief. “What the fuck? What the hell are you doing?” But, Brook ignored her.
