Page 59 of Soros
“Of course,” Carlos pulled out his phone and walked out of the room.
Taking my hand, Tania pulled me down the small hallway and to a door that was bolted from the outside. She tried to open the door, but the bolts were heavy, and with her looking exhausted I quickly took over. Nerix came from behind and the moment the doors opened. he went in first. I didn’t object because I knew he felt obligated to shield us from potential harm.
Star sat crouched over on a bed, rocking back and forth. The moment she saw Nerix, she shrieked and reached for him with tears springing from her eyes. There were two other women in the room who sat closely together next to Star. Tania leaned against me as if too exhausted to stand on her own feet. “Veronika and Hanna. Don’t be scared. These men are our friends, and they came to help us. They won’t hurt you.”
The two women cried with relief and then one of them asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. You’re getting out of here,” Tania assured them.
The two women got up and hugged Tania, who had bruises on her neck and face. She winced a little when they squeezed her body. Memories of seeing the creep and Ko’roz hurting her made anger rush through me.
“What about Malene?” one of the women asked.
“I can take you to her, but it will crush you to see how badly beaten she is,” Tania said.
With tears running down their faces they still insisted on seeing their friend. I walked with them and saw when Tania opened the door and the women hurried to their friend’s side. They were sobbing and getting down next to her, speaking German. For a moment I was afraid that woman had died, because she didn’t react at first. My shoulders eased when she moaned, and her eyes slitted open.
“Tell her that paramedics are on their way,” Tania told her friends.
Turning, I saw that Lios stood in the middle of the waiting room. On one sofa sat Stanley and the two other men who had given us trouble upstairs. On the other sofa sat Ko’roz next to the creep who had hurt Tania. I wanted to set that couch on fire and kill both of them for laying their hands on her.
The two detectives who had driven us to the nightclub came into the room with Carlos behind them. They stopped and stared at all the people in the crowded room. Both had their guns drawn and the first one yelled, “Everybody get down on the floor with your hands behind your head. Now!”
Lios crossed his arms and dismissed that notion. “There’s not enough room for that. How about you just put your guns away and arrest these men in a calm manner. They understand their actions are punishable and they’re ready to face the consequences, isn’t that right?”
Only two of the five criminals on the couch confirmed it verbally with a small “yes.”
Lios wasn’t satisfied. “Can you speak up clearly and tell the detectives that you wish to confess all your crimes?”
The detectives looked puzzled.
“Is that the guy you came to the US for?” one of them asked Lios with a nod in Ko’roz’s direction.
“Yes.”
“I figured. He stands out.”
The detective was right. The five gang members had lots of tattoos and wore jeans with black t-shirts or hoodies. Ko’roz on the other hand wore a stylish outfit that made him look like a businessman on his way to play golf.
“And who is the dead guy?” one of the detectives asked with a sideways glance to the body of a man with a snake tattoo up his neck.”
“We’re not sure,” Lios said and turned to Stanley. “Can you sort this out?”
Stanley was more than happy to help. “That’s our former boss. He was disrespectful to our new boss, who doesn’t tolerate that sort of behavior.”
“Who killed him?”
“I believe Carlos and the new boss did, but I wasn’t there so I can’t give you the specifics.” The way Stanley sounded apologetic that he couldn’t be of more help had both detectives look to Lios.
“How did you get them to cooperate like that?” The bald detective asked in an impressed tone. “I’ve been a cop for thirty-two years and I’ve never seen a gang of criminals acting so docile.”
“It’s all in the way you ask,” Lios said.
“Huh… I’ve seen a few criminals turn themselves in but never a whole gang like this,” the other detective said.
“There are other women,” Tania told the detectives. “The German girls came yesterday, and they said there were some other women here last night and this morning.”
“Where are they?” Nerix asked the gang members in a hard tone.
