The Country Club (9 page)

Chapter 21

     Dominic sat in the control room watching the mayhem ensue on the monitors. In all the years he’d been curator of The Country Club, this kind of thing had never happened. He’d never even heard of it happening in the past. He sat down and stared up at the screens, trying to figure out how this all had happened. There was pounding on the control room door. He tried to ignore it until gunshots sounded, blowing the knob off. It swung open to reveal Brett standing there.

     “Hello Brett,” Dominic said.

     “Hi Dominic.”

     “You’re going to kill me I take it?”

     “Looks like I don’t have much choice.”

     There was a girl with him, one of the blogger kids they had captured. The top of her head had been skinned, with tufts of hair sticking out from the side of her head.

     “Fuckin’ shoot his ass!” the girl said.

     “She’s right. Shoot me.”

     “I didn’t expect you to give up so easily. You were so cocky earlier,” Brett said.

     “That’s what killed us. We were too cocky. How’d you get away from my guys?”

     “They were cocky. They never searched me and I stabbed them with my pocket knife. So is anyone else coming? You hit a panic button or something?”

     “No, there is no panic button. There’s no protocol for something like this. It’s never happened before. Not that I’ve heard of anyway. Does she know about you?” Dominic said.

     “Know what?” the girl asked.

     “Go on. Tell her.”

     “Tell me what Brett? What the fuck?”

     Brett stepped inside and closed the door. Dominic’s jacket was hanging over the back of a chair. He took it and wrapped it around the girl.

     “You know I investigated this place before.”

     “Yeah?”

     “Well, I had done more than that. I made it here. I went undercover and made friends with a trust fund kid in Dallas. His dad was some oil big shot, there’s no shortage of them in this state. So years ago he brought me here. I was on the inside. I got pictures and everything. Thing was, I had to kill somebody. I didn’t want to. It made me fucking sick to see what they were doing to girls here. Yet if I wanted to get out of here alive, I had no choice. My story would never be told. So I did it. I tried to be as merciful as I could. I cut her throat.” He stopped and looked at the girl who was trying to back away from him. “So they let me leave, but as we were leaving, someone there recognized me. They figured out I was a reporter. They took my phone, my camera and everything. I thought they were going to kill me for sure. But they made me a deal. Make my story vague and never speak of it again and they’d let me go unharmed. So I did.”

     “You asshole! You let us walk right in here!”

     “I didn’t think you’d actually find the fucking place. That’s why I got right on a plane. And I told you to let it go. But you had to push it.”

     The girl stepped back and looked down.

     “I should have had you skinned alive,” Dominic said.

     “Well, that’s what you get for being merciful I suppose. A mistake I won’t be making.”

     “You’re no different than me, Brett. You realize that don’t you?”

     “How so?”

     “How do you think I got this job? Craigslist?”

     “I guess I never thought about it.”

     “Well of course not. Unlike most members here, my family was new money. My dad found a construction company that ended up being one of the largest in Central Texas. He wanted all the perks that came with being rich. You might not realize this, but the old money in this state tends to look down on new money. They see us at trailer trash who won the lotto, even if we earned it. So when I was eighteen, my dad hooked up with the right people and they brought him here. But they would only consider him a guest. Despite all his money, they wouldn’t let him join. So he made a deal. Me. He traded me for membership. At first they put me to work in clean up. That sure was a coming of age experience. Other kids my age were going to college and getting laid. I was cutting up remains of co-eds and throwing them in the incinerator. Eventually I worked my way up, just by earning people’s trust and being as helpful as I could.”

     “So you enjoyed it
,” the girl said.

     “No,” he said pointing a finger. “I have never enjoyed it. Not once.”

     “That’s bullshit,” Brett said. “You just said you wished you had me skinned alive,” Brett said.

     “Look, for the last twenty-five years, all I’ve known and seen is death. I’m around all these assholes who have more money and power than God. All I could do to survive was put on a happy face and pretend to enjoy this shit. I saw what they did to people here. I’d seen some employees who had tr
ied to run off or go to authorities. It wasn’t fun to watch. I didn’t want that to be me. So I played along.”

     “Well you don’t have to play anymore. You’re coming with us
,” Brett said.

     “What?”

     “You heard me. Get up before I change my mind.”

Chapter 22

     Sophie was in a blind rage as she fired at every asshole guard that came at her. She figured one of them would cut her down at some point, but no one did. Once she shot her way through the lobby, she walked up the stairs and began looking through the rooms. There were atrocities happening in several of them. Other girls she’d been held prisoner with had already been mutilated and maimed. Some were already dead. Sophie shot the assholes torturing them without so much as a word.

     She went into one room and found Eileen there, with another man and some naked girl hanging upside down. Eileen was raping the girl with a chisel. She took the bloody tool out as she turned and looked at Sophie.

     “Well looky who came to join us Gene. This is the girl I had wanted to play with. That was you making all that noise?” Eileen said.

     Sophie turned and fired four shots into Gene. He slumped to the ground in a bloody heap.

     “Now bitch,” Sophie said. “Take off your clothes,” as she pointed the gun at her.

     “Gene! You killed my Gene!”

     “No shit you wrinkled old cunt. Now take off your fucking clothes!”

     Eileen removed her blouse and skirt, tossing them to the ground.

     “Underwear too, bitch,” Sophie said.

     “They’ll never let you leave here. They’ll tear out your uterus and feed it to you, while I watch.”

     “I doubt that. Take the shit off now.”

     Eileen removed her bra, revealing her wrinkly, saggy breasts. They looked like fried eggs running down a wall. She pulled off her panties and stood looking at Sophie.

     “Happy now?” Eileen said. “You gonna fuck me?”

     “Actually, I am. On the table, sit
,” Sophie said pointing the gun at the metal table behind her.

     Eileen climbed up onto the table and sat facing Sophie.

     “This you torturing me? Making my bare ass sit on cold metal?”

     “I got some different metal for you
,” Sophie said as she walked up and jammed the gun in between Eileen’s legs. Eileen cried out as Sophie inserted it as far into Eileen’s vagina as it would go.

     “There you sick bitch. You like that? That turn you on?”

     “Fuck you, you little blonde cunt.”

     Instead of a verbal reply, Sophie pulled the trigger. The shot sounded muffled as Eileen jerked and fell back. Blood poured from her mouth as she coughed and twitched. Sophie stepped back watching the spectacle as there was now a large bloody crater where her pussy had been seconds ago.
Eileen continued to thrash and convulsed, so Sophie walked out of the room and into the hallway.

     She looked at the end of the hall and saw three people coming toward her. Sophie pointed a gun at them, but one of them was running toward her. It was a girl, but she looked bald and wearing nothing but a jacket. Crystal! She lowered the gun and ran toward her until they nearly collided and held her friend in a tight hug.

     “Jesus!” Sophie said looking at Crystal’s head. “What did they do to you?”

     “I think you can see. It hurts like hell
,” Crystal said.

     “Where’s Joel?”

     “He’s dead,” Crystal said. Brett came up behind them with another guy.

     “I thought you were gonna leave
,” Brett said.

     “I told you I wasn’t leaving without her. Who is this asshole?” Sophie nodded at the other man.

     “This is Dominic. He kind of works here. But we are helping him escape.”

     “Helping him? What does he do here?”

     “He kind of runs the place.”

     “Are you fucking kidding? I’m gonna blow his fucking head off
,” Sophie said as she raised the gun at Dominic.

     “Don’t! Come on. I want to do one more thing and then we’re out of here
,” Brett said.

     “One more thing?”

     “Follow me,” Brett said as he ran to the elevator. The girls and Dominic filed on with him as he pushed the button to take them into the basement. Once the elevator stopped, they stepped out into the cold, dark basement. Dominic led the way as they walked through the dark hallways.

     “What the hell is going on out there?”
a voice called from down the hall. An old man wearing bloody coveralls walked up as Brett and Sophie aimed their guns at him.

     “Dutch,” Dominic said. “Something has happened. The Club is closed.”

     “Closed? What the hell? Where is Caleb? That new kid?” Dutch asked.

     “If he was the other guy dressed like you, I shot him
,” Brett said. “I didn’t know who he was, so I shot anyone who looked like they worked here.”

     “Jesus. So what are we doing?”

     “We’re going to the incinerator.”

     “All right. This way
,” Dutch said as he turned and began walking. They followed him for several minutes until they arrived at the incinerator. It looked like a giant oven with a large door. “Here it is,” Dutch said. “Now what?”

     “Can you open it?” Brett asked.

     Dutch turned the large handled and pulled the heavy door open. Sophie felt the heat immediately as the large flames were revealed.

     “So what’s your plan?” Dominic asked.

     “This is part of it,” Brett said as he blasted Dominic in the face with the butt of his pistol. Blood shot from his nose as he stumbled backwards.

     Brett grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pants and heaved him into the incinerator.

     “No! No! No!” Dominic screamed, but Brett wasn’t stopping. “Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!” Dominic screamed as he disappeared inside the flames. Sophie couldn’t believe what she had just seen.

     “Why’d you do that?” Crystal asked.

     “He would have killed us. I remember last time I was here. All that shit he said was probably a lie. He’s a snake. He’ll say anything to anyone that will benefit him. When I was here last time, he took a lot of joy in watching people suffer and die here. He deserved to burn.”

Chapter 23

     Brett looked around near the incinerator. He didn’t really have a plan, just an idea. The girls still looked freaked out after watching him throw Dominic into the fire. Despite his pity party act, Dominic was a slimy shitball. He probably sat in that control room and jerked his wang while watching girls get cut to shreds. Though he’d never have the balls to do any of that himself. Yeah, he deserved the fire. Brett just hoped it hurt real bad before he died.

     “When we came down the other hallway, there were some barrels along the wall. What were those?” Brett asked.

     “Just ammonia and some other cleaning stuff. Blood and bodily fluids are hard to clean. So we order in bulk and water it down
,” Dutch explained.

     “Bring one over here for me.”

     Dutch turned and disappeared around the corner. He returned a few minutes later pushing a dolly with a 55-gallon drum.

     “Here you go,” Dutch said. “What’re you gonna do?”

     “Hey!” someone yelled from down the hall before gunshots rang out. Brett and the girls ducked to see a few more goons running toward them. Brett and Sophie both opened fire, hitting each one several times before they reached the group.

     “Guess we didn’t get them all,” Sophie said.

     Brett looked down and saw Dutch lying on the ground, gasping for breath. There was blood running out of his neck as he made a loud, wheezing sound.

     “Oh shit,” Brett said as Dutch took a few more breaths, and then stopped.

     Brett took the dolly and lined it up with the incinerator. He pushed it forward until it was up against the lip of the incinerator. He pulled the dolly away and pushed the top of the drum forward tilting it over the lip. He bent down and grabbed the bottom edge of the drum and pushed it forward until the whole thing tipped into the fire. He pushed it forward as far as he could and forced the door shut.

     “Ok, let’s get out of here
,” he said to the girls. They turned and ran, following Brett down another hallway. They arrived at the loading dock. Brett ran to the side door and shot at the handle until the door swung open. Daylight flooded the corridor as they ran outside into the parking lot behind the building. Several of the SUV’s were sitting parked along another building. They climbed into one of them as Brett jumped behind the wheel.

     The keys were in the visor as Brett had figured. He started it up and stomped on the gas. They sped around the corner and down the long driveway. The girls were looking at the mansion when it exploded. The concussion was so powerful
the SUV fishtailed. Debris and ash rained around them as they pulled onto the road. Brett looked in the rearview mirror to see The Country Club engulfed in flames.

     “Holy shit,” Crystal said. “Did all that just happen?”

     Sophie was staring out the window and didn’t respond. Brett couldn’t figure out how Crystal wasn’t passed out, with all the skin cut off the top of her head.

     “I’m afraid it did,” Brett said. “What we did also might anger some people. That place had a lot of money in it, and it made a lot of money.”

     “Well it won’t anymore,” Crystal said.

     As they sped down the road, all that could be seen of
The Country Club was a plume of black smoke in the sky. A police car appeared behind them, lights and siren blaring. Brett thought they might be headed to The Club, but instead they pulled up right behind the SUV.

     “Shit,” Brett said.

     “Are they pulling us over?” Crystal asked. “Why are they pulling us over?”

     “Just sit tight
,” Brett said as the officer approached them.

     “Sir,” the officer said. “Could you step out of the car please?” He had on a khaki uniform, a cowboy hat and aviator glasses.

     “Step out for what? Why did you stop us?” Brett asked.

     “Do what I said sir. Now.”

     Brett stepped out of the SUV as another police car pulled up. An older officer stepped out of the second car and approached them.

     “Well, look what we have here. Brett Higgins.”

     “Hello Chief,” Brett said.

     “I know I told you not to come back here. Shit, you not only came back, but you blew the place to high heavens. I sure with you hadn’t a done that.”

     “And why is that? Did I just blow up your meal ticket?”

     “Oh, you have no idea. Lots of folks won’t be too happy about that. You’re gonna have to come with us. Who else is there with you?
” the Chief asked as he looked in the window. Both Brett and the other cop jumped as a gunshot went off, blowing the top of the Chief’s head off. Sophie was leaning out the window holding a gun. The officer drew his gun and fired, as Sophie fired back while climbing into the driver’s seat.

     “Get out of here!” Brett yelled. Several more police cars were approaching in the distance. “Go! Now!”

    Sophie pounded on the gas as the SUV sped off. Brett looked at the officer who know had his gun pointed at Brett’s head.

     “I should blow your fuckin’
head off right now asshole,” the officer said.

     The other cars pulled up as cops surrounded them with their guns out. Brett looked around and put his hands on his head. Another officer can up behind him and hit him in the back of his knees with the butt of a shotgun. Brett fell face first to the ground as the officer bent down and handcuffed him. As they were placing him into the car, Brett figured wherever they take him, it won’
t be as bad as where he just came from.