Without You I Have Nothing (74 page)

_{"She hasn't
returned your Excellency but I'll bring others for your enjoyment.”  The guard
only got as far as the door. The last thing he heard was a soft puff and the
last thing he felt was the sting in his neck. He crashed to the floor before he
had time to realize he'd been hit by a poisonous dart.}

_{Peter waited to see
what would happen as the security camera glared down on the scene like an
unblinking, baleful Cyclops. Patiently he stood in the center of the room until
he heard the noise of the coach pulling up outside.}

_{First through the
door was Andrew. His face was a picture of absolute despondency when he
realized Jennifer wasn't there.}

_{"Spread out,
take the keys from the goon on the floor and thoroughly search the area. Kill
all males you find but bring all the women here. Hand me the bolt cutters.”  Peter,
who had reverted to the cold-blooded killing machine of his youth, watched the
Gurkhas eagerly carrying out his instructions. First, they unsheathed their Kukris
and then stealthily began the hunt.}

_{Devoid of emotion,
Peter knew that each client in the brothel would be dead before the man even
knew there was someone in the room with him. Peter listened attentively but
there was nothing, just the silence of death.}

_{Then he heard a soft
noise, distantly, down the corridor - the sound of shuffling feet. Through the
door, thirty white faced, terrified and traumatized, young Asian women followed
their Gurkha guards into the room.}

_{They watched every
movement of their Gurkha escort with horror as if panicking that they would be
next to die. Each was in various stages of nudity and each had a collar around
her neck.}

_{Softly and kindly,
Peter spoke to them in Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Malay, Tamil, Lao and then
English. The message was clear. Informing them they were safe and being set
free he demanded that they must forget what they had seen. He requested each
one to kneel in front of him in turn. With the bolt cutters, he cut through
each collar as quickly as he could although he knew he was causing them
physical distress.}

_{Once he had removed
all the collars, he sent them off to dress. When they returned to sit around
him, he informed them he was holding their passports. Patiently, he explained
that he knew they had been university students and understood that Dingo had
kidnapped them before their studies had even started. Looking at their haunted
faces, Peter perceived that they would need counseling before resuming their
lives.}

_{"Now perhaps you
can help me,” he said turning their attention to his real goal. "Where is
this woman?”  He pointed to Jennifer's picture with his fist.}

_{"We don't know,”
answered a tall Thai. "But we do know that the boss's son will be
brutalizing her. He calls it love but he's a pig and she'll take days to heal
after he's used her. The doctor comes on Wednesday so Jennifer will be back then
as she is to be prepared for a long sea trip."}

_{"The doctor?” 
Peter sounded puzzled.}

_{The Thai girl took
his hand and led him down the corridor and into the kitchen. She swung a
cupboard away from the wall and pointed to a flight of steps leading down. She
shuddered and absolutely refused to lead the way downstairs.}

_{"Help me please
Andrew,” Peter called.}

_{Distressed at what he
believed could be happening to his sister, Andrew was at the point of exploding.
He was stunned - appalled that Peter could remain so calm and so focused.}

_{"Steel
yourself,” said Peter. "We don't know what we'll find down here.”  He
didn't need Andrew to do anything foolish.}

_{Hesitantly, the two
descended and found themselves in a small operating theatre. On the walls hung
pictures of before and after procedures where the doctor had inserted nipple
and clit rings.}

_{Sickened, they
returned to the main room. Peter saw the Gurkhas lined up against the wall,
waiting. He noticed they had re-sheathed their Kukris and not one of them had
nicked themselves.}

_{"Ladies, you all
speak English. You're going to a motel where we've arranged to look after you. The
men there will treat you with dignity. You have thrown off the mantle of this
place and soon you'll return to normality. You are free!"}

_{"But sir, we
have no money.”  Still worried, the tall Thai girl interrupted. "Have we
swapped one master for another?"}

_{The Gurkhas started
laughing and the RSM stepped forward. "You know we are Gurkhas and we
treat women with respect. Don't be frightened by my men or me. We would never
harm you. What happened here today was repayment to people who hurt our friends.
Those men deserved to die. You however have earned the right to live. This man,
who has spoken, honors you all and you owe him nothing."}

_{Peter took over again
with a huge smile making his words warmer than ever. "You needn't worry
about money. Dingo has donated a large amount to your education and probably
has given enough to set you up in life. Our only demand is that you forget our
part in your deliverance and keep your mouths firmly shut about today."}

_{Eventually Joe,
Andrew and two Gurkhas loaded the coach and left with the tearful girls sitting
quietly, wondering where they were being taken next.}

_{"Come on let's
explore.”  Peter said, once the coach had departed.}

_{Leaving the remaining
Gurkhas in the main room, the RSM and Peter went reconnoitering. A naked male
body occupied the first room, a bedroom. The Gurkha, who had found him, had
slit his throat. Then he had removed the man's penis and testicles. These, he
had stuffed in the dead man's mouth. Hanging behind the door was the uniform of
a very senior police officer.}

_{The next bedroom told
the same story and it seemed as though two very senior police officers were
clients of the brothel. In four other bedrooms were men who had met their fate
in a similar fashion. When he completed his inspection, Peter had counted 10
bodies and held their wallets in his hands.}

_{Eventually, Peter and
his men were standing outside a door, obviously leading to the office. It
firmly refused to budge. Undeterred, the Gurkhas laughed at the futility of the
locked wooden door. Three put their shoulders against the door and gave a
tremendous heave. Suddenly there was a crash and the door hung uselessly on its
hinges.}

_{Peter rushed into the
office and proceeded to check out the furniture and equipment in the room. Security
monitors filled one wall, each one focused on a different room. Another wall
was full of DVDs all catalogued by date while another was full of DVDs listed
by each girl's name. Amongst those DVDs, Peter saw Big Red mentioned.}

_{A Gurkha breached the
writing desk and Peter saw ledger after ledger stacked inside the drawers. Each
ledger listed payments to various men and payments by clients who used the
girls, what services were supplied, the times and dates of their visits and the
medical repairs needed to patch up the girls after the men left.}

_{Whoever set up the
computers knew nothing about security or perhaps wasn't worried. The hard disks
contained files with videos from the security monitors of clients with the
girls.}

_{On the desk lay an
appointment book showing future bookings for the various girls against clients'
names. It was an extensive dossier on Dingo's crime world.}

_{Ruefully, Peter noted
that the next booking for Jennifer was 2 pm Wednesday and was astonished to see
the name of a prominent church dignitary against that booking. He clenched his
fists and the fury in his eyes made it apparent that he intended being present
at that booking.}

_{Still studying the appointments,
Peter was sitting at the wooden desk when a shout called him to the back of the
building.}

_{This back room was so
cold he shivered. The wall in front of him looked like a bank of wide deep
drawers. He pulled on one drawer and it slid towards him in a well-oiled
movement. Peter recoiled when the lifeless eyes of a corpse stared up at him. Evidently,
this was Dingo's own morgue where he stored bodies before disposing of them.}

_{As he examined the
new discovery, Peter thanked the absent Dingo as he'd not only mapped the path
to his own destruction but had given Peter material to use against his empire. Turning
to his Gurkhas, Peter gave an order.}

_{"Get this place
cleaned up. Bring all the bodies here and we'll use the drawers."}

_{It was not long
before the body of each of the day's clients was in its own drawer and the
bedrooms showed no sign of what had happened. With arms full of DVDs, books,
videos and ledgers they left, even returning to collect the computers and
monitors. They completely stripped the office of all its records.}

_{After a final
inspection, Peter and his men moved through the front door. He didn't consider
it strange that a taxi immediately pulled in and he hadn't made a booking. Another
followed and yet another, until they were all on their way back to the motel
leaving the deserted brothel spick 'n span.}

_{The well-oiled
enterprise reinforced Peter's realization that Joe's network was operating well
and was keeping a close watch on Dingo's party, which wouldn't be able to move
without one of Joe's shadows.}

_{In the early evening,
once the workers had left, Andrew drove the coach into the workshop where he,
with Joe and Peter, removed the false insignia from the coach. They worked long
and hard to restore its original identity as a Mercedes Coach with the signs
Blake Pastoral proudly displayed on the sides and back. Finally, Andrew
reattached the original number plates.}

_{The following day
dawned wet and dreary and the cold wind howling around the motel seemed to find
its echo in Peter's soul. He spread the diaries, the ledgers, the DVDs and
videos across his bed.}

_{Breakfast had been a
riot of laughter as the girls - closely guarded by Susie and Maria began to
organize a shopping trip. Peter, unable to deal with the hilarity, returned to
his room where he brooded alone.}

_{Then his morbid
silence was shattered when the girls entered the room. With their faces free of
terror, their eyes sparkling and their walk so confident the girls approached. They
hugged Peter and kissed his cheek. The last merely stated everyone's prayer. "She
will be safe!"}

_{Then each, with their
guards carrying huge wads of Dingo's money, left in the coach with two mother
hens, Susie and Maria, who were determined to guard their chickens.}

_{Grabbing the RSM,
Peter thrust a thick wad of extra money into his hands. "That's for Susie,
Maria, the RSM’s two daughters and James."}

_{Hours later, at the
end of the business day, Peter had his head down, studying the ledgers and
making notes when Joe burst into the room.}

_{"Our mates in
Bathurst have delivered the trailer and god it stinks!  Basically, the cattle
must do nothing more than piddle and cack. The clever buggers must hold it in
for weeks. Quite stomach turning it is. Now explain your plan."}

_{Later, once the
workers had left at the end of the day, the two of them backed the trailer into
the workshop and unhitched the prime mover, which drove away. Joe firmly closed
the shutters and the workshop was in cold gloom.}

_{In the motel dining
room, that evening the girls gave the men a show, displaying their new
purchases.}

_{Peter sat back and
considered that if the breakfast was a festivity what was this?}

_{Every girl paraded in
her new finery to tunes from the public address system and they actually glowed
with their makeup and new clothes. The men had made a catwalk of tables and
clapped each one as they paraded.}

_{When the girls
eventually finished the parade, the men began to chant, "More, more, more,
more, more,” much to the women's amazement.}

_{Then Joe and Bill
grabbed Susie and Maria hustling them out amidst much laughter led by the girls.
Bill returned to introduce the two women who played up as they pranced and
minced their way down the catwalk to hoots of laughter from the girls and
catcalls from the men.}

_{The parade ended and
a little Malay girl took the microphone from Bill. “Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan! 
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm speaking for all of us when I say to you that God
must be smiling tonight that such people have rescued us from terror. Here we
are, well fed, happy, extremely well dressed, each with our own laptops and
buckets of programs, and pockets full of money."}

_{When her words
faltered, the RSM showed that he was human after all as he joined her and held
her against his broad chest while she wept. Slowly she regathered her thoughts
and looked around the room before continuing.}

_{"Each night we
all prayed that an end would come to our misery but never once did we believe
this would be the end. You've told us we are travelling away to the protection
of Andrew and his extended family at Blake Pastoral.}