“Hey, you. Stop!” A gruff voice.
Sean held up his hand. “Just hoping for an invite, guys.”
“Haven’t seen you here before.”
“First time for everything.” Sean sounded relaxed, but I knew he was a highly-skilled machine, ready to leap into action.
“Yeah, it’s going to be the first time for these girls too, first time having some pain with their fucking.” A different voice. I wondered if it was the guy with the greasy hair.
“At least we’ve found the girls,” Jonathan whispered.
“And no one is going near them,” I added.
“Second that.”
Sean stepped in a little farther. “So what you doing…filming it?”
“Yeah, so if you’re camera shy, get the fuck out of here.”
“The girls know you’re filming it?”
A few fast footsteps, a bang, then, “Too many questions, and I don’t like your face, fuck off.”
“Get ready,” I said, reaching for my weapon.
“You don’t recognise my face?” Sean said.
“No, and I don’t fucking care who you are. Everyone else in here is hard and ready. I mean look at those girls, fresh meat, ripe for real men. So if you’re not hard, take a hike.”
“Actually, I’m not hard.” Ricardo’s voice.
“You will be, dude.” Laughter followed the words. Sick laughter.
“Mmm, I’m not sure about that,” Ricardo said. “I like my women willing, sober and to be honest, a bit older than these girls.”
“So get the hell out.”
There was a sudden shift in atmosphere. Experience told me now was the time to get our asses in there.
I rounded the door.
A single bare light bulb shone on a dozen or so men all standing against a wall. Some kind of wooden and leather harness stood in the centre of the room. Beside it the two girls huddled together. Both had tear stained faces. Greasy hair guy stood next to them. Like before, a man in the corner was at the ready with a camera.
“Stop, police.” I swung my weapon around, located Ricardo, Sean and then Mark Sands.
God, he makes me sick.
I should have remembered what a slippery fuck Mark was, because he seemed to melt backward, into the group of men, and then he was gone.
“How the hell? Get after him.”
Jonathan spun around. “There must be another door.”
“Find it.”
I nodded to Ricardo. “Get the girls.”
He strode up to them, weapon aimed at the son of a bitch who’d drugged them and brought them down here. “I hope you’re ready for a long spell inside. Get on your knees, asshole.”