Chapter Fourteen
Mistress Gloria reentered the office, closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She smiled and licked her lips.
“Whadja get?” Hank asked.
“Hunnert. The way he gave it up, I shoulda asked for two. He’s a born sucker. You want some of it, Hank?”
Hank shook his head. “Nah. You keep it. I’ll get my cut from Turk later.” He picked up the phone. “Hey,” he said while it rang, “you wanna be cut in on the back end? He might be trainable.”
Gloria’s smile slowly spread across her face. “Yeah, I think I would.”
*****
Carl found Clairmont Street without trouble then followed it down to Haight Avenue. He parked in the darkness next to a fire hydrant certain he wouldn’t be long. For the first time, he wished he’d brought a gun. Coming here without a weapon could be a mistake, despite his self-defense skills. He got out and went to the trunk. Rummaging around, he came across a screwdriver. It would have to do. He slipped it into his belt—point down. He practiced yanking it free, feeling ridiculous. He looked around, afraid someone might see him and alert police—or worse, Turk.
Surprise was his ally. He’d better move fast if he wanted to get the drop on Turk. He crept up the walkway, unsure if he should find an open window and sneak in, or just boldly ring the doorbell, then threaten whoever opened the door. He decided on the latter course because he didn’t want to be considered a burglar. No, he was here to rescue DeeDee and nobody better stand in his way.
He rang the bell with his left hand, letting his fingers of his right lightly touch the handle of the screwdriver. When the door opened suddenly, he started forward, his face a snarl, ready to yank out his makeshift weapon, only to stop suddenly, his eyes wide. Instead of Turk, or some evil butler, as he had expected, there stood a slender, delicate Asian woman—a girl, really. She wore a black bustier and leather shorts. She had leather straps around her wrists and ankles, and her slender neck was encircled by a black collar.
“May I help you, Master?” she asked, bowing slightly.
Carl felt suddenly ridiculous. He took his hand off the handle of the screwdriver. “Uh. I’m here to see Turk. I, um, have some business to discuss with him.”
“Of course. Please come in. May I take your coat?”
“Er, no, that’s all right.” Carl pulled the flaps of his windbreaker tighter across his midsection, covering up the handle of his weapon. He hoped she hadn’t seen it.
“This way, please. Master Turk is in the study.” She pointed to a set of double doors past the huge stairway and began walking ahead of him. Carl dutifully followed behind. He thought it odd that he would be allowed in so easily. Perhaps she had mistaken him for someone else? Mentally, he began to rehearse what he would say to Turk that would convince the man to release DeeDee. Surely, he couldn’t believe that tripe that Evers had “bequeathed” her to him!
As he passed the stairway, his mind was still occupied and his eyes were on the Asian girl’s swaying bottom. He never noticed the hidden door open beneath the railing to his right. He sensed movement and began to turn in that direction when a spray struck him in the face, getting into his eyes. He screamed, jerking sideways to escape the burning sensation.
“You think you can just walk in here and steal one of MY girls away!” he heard a voice thunder. He wiped at his eyes with his left hand, desperate to clear them, and reached down for his screwdriver with his right. Suddenly he felt a hard fist smash into his head. Carl lurched sideways and went down.
He thought he was unconscious only for a few seconds, but when he woke up, his hands were fastened behind him. He looked down and noticed his feet were tied with plastic cuffs. He struggled to no avail. His eyes still burned, so he couldn’t really see his captor. He knew it had to be Turk.
He also knew that he’d been betrayed by Gloria and the bald man. Damn! What a fool! He should’ve known better!
“So, ‘Master’ Carl,” the voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’ll bet you’ve come for your slave.”
“She’s not a sla—” he started to say, but his voice caught in his throat when Turk kicked him in the leg.
“Silence! I’ll tell you when to talk. You’re in MY house. Show some respect.”
Carl cursed at himself for being so easily captured. He struggled to see Turk’s face.
“Crystal, go get a wet cloth. Let’s ease our guest’s discomfort.” He sounded like a warden, concerned about the condemned man’s comfort in the electric chair, just before he pulled the switch.
Carl feared he’d been captured by a madman. That he could be in a rage one moment, then giving first aid showed he was unpredictable—the worst kind of tormentor.
Crystal came back with a warm, wet washcloth and wiped the pepper spray out of his eyes. When his vision cleared, he was startled to see Crystal was nude. Gold nipple rings hung from her small breasts. She had no hair between her legs—only a small tattoo on her mons that said “Use Me.” He tore his eyes away and squinted up at the looming man above him.
Turk was as DeeDee had described him. Big and beefy with bulging eyes set in a round, fleshy face. He had a thin black beard along his jaw line and his head was bald. But it was his shoulders and upper arms that drew Carl’s attention—they were massive. Corded muscles made his neck disappear and he looked like he could toss sacks of cement around all day and not tire. That Carl had thought he could have taken him on with just a screwdriver clearly illustrated his ignorance of the world he had just entered.
“So what do we have here? The white knight?” His laugh was a cruel, throaty vibration. In one hand, he held Carl’s wallet. With the other, he held up Carl’s screwdriver and shook his head. “You know, we really hate amateurs up here. What’ya think? That you could just stroll in here with this and take away my property?”
“She’s not your property—”
“Silence!” He thumped a boot against Carl’s ribs. “You know nothing about it. Master Stephen gave her to me before he died, asked me to take care of her.”
“He can’t do that! She—”
Another kick, harder now, silenced him again.
“He can and he did. If you know anything about DeeDee, you know she likes to be controlled.”
Carl risked another kick. “Where have you been for the last year?”
Turk just grunted. “I was busy. But I never forget a promise to an old friend.”
“She’s changed in a year—Ooff!”
This time, the kick was harder. “Slaves never change, once they’ve experienced the lifestyle. It’s like a drug they can’t shake. She needs to be owned. Surely you must’ve seen it.”
Carl had to admit there was something to what he said. DeeDee had fallen right back into her lifestyle with only a little bit of encouragement from him. He’d been attracted to it for a while, fascinated, like a boy with a new toy. Then, just when he’d pulled back and tried to have a more normal relationship with her, Turk had moved in.
“Perhaps you need a little demonstration.” He turned and nodded to the Asian girl, who immediately trotted off down the hall. Carl craned his neck to follow her. Crystal came to a bookcase set into the wall and pulled down on one volume. He heard a click and the bookcase popped opened, revealing a passageway behind it. Carl could tell there were stairs there, for she began descending before she disappeared from sight.
Turk leaned down and yanked Carl to a sitting position, scooting him against a wall. His hands felt numb. “Watch and learn,” he whispered, his face displaying an evil grin.
In a few minutes, another naked woman appeared in the doorway—DeeDee! Crystal followed right behind. “DeeDee! Thank god you’re all…” The words died in his throat. DeeDee’s arms were behind her, probably handcuffed. But what really startled him was the change in her appearance. Her makeup was heavier, especially the bright-red lipstick and false eyelashes. She looked like a kewpie doll. She wore a black leather collar around her throat. Similar cuffs surrounded her ankles and probably her wrists as well, though he couldn’t see. Gold rings had been replaced in her nipples and he caught a flash of gold between her legs. Turk had taken advantage of DeeDee’s piercings. He probably made her wear her master’s old jewelry. He heard a slight jingling noise.