Chapter 4

Leon was slow to answer the phone because his brain was still buzzed from last night’s booze and drugs and his body fully satiated from a night of sex. When he first heard it ringing he attributed it to part of a dream but after several persistent rings he became aware it was for real.

He groaned as he sat up and tried to come fully awake. He eyed the clock through bleary, half closed eyes. Through a painful squint he saw that it read 6 am. He swore, rubbed his bloodshot eyes and rechecked the clock to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. He was tempted to go back to sleep but when he saw the number displayed he decided he’d better answer because it might be important. It was from the cell of Irena, who had been in charge of the girls that had been hired for a party last night. Although his job was to handle outside security, he had taken off after stationing the usual number of guards around the perimeter of the house.

Although Leon and Irena were supposed to work together their relationship was tenuous at best. He thought the stupid bitch had let her job of overseeing the whores go to her head. She thought her job was so important and she ruled the girls like she was a queen bee. She seemed to have forgotten she used to be one of them. In addition, he felt she didn’t pay him enough respect because she was always complaining about him not doing his job.

Just to show her she didn’t own him. He deliberately let the phone ring again before grabbing it.

“You know what time it is? This better be good,” he snarled.

“Oh, this is good. It’s real good. You’d know how good it is if you had been doing your job last night,” Irena retorted sarcastically.

“Yeah, what important titbit did I miss?” Leon answered. “What’s the problem, one of your whores got a hang nail or something?”

“It’s a lot worse than that. One of those bitches made a run for it last night and your men weren’t able to stop her.” Irena stated. She was determined to throw some of the blame on Leon where it belonged.

Leon was still half asleep but instantly came wide awake at the news.

“What the hell? How could that have happened? I had the usual guards stationed outside so it must have been your fault. I keep telling you should keep a closer eye on them but oh no, you insist you know what you’re doing. You keep saying you don’t take orders from me.”

Irena sighed in frustration. She knew Leon, the lazy piece of shit, would try to avoid responsibility even though it was as much his fault as hers. She was tempted to tear into the son of bitch but decided to wait for a better time and place. Right now their main priority was to find Denise as soon as possible otherwise they would both in knee-deep in a pile of shit.

“Look, it’s not worth fighting over the blame right now. I think our main job is to work together to get the little bitch back. I’ve had some of the guys out most of the night and the good news is they may find her pretty quick. A couple of them just told me they’ve already tracked her to a hotel downtown so it’s only a matter of time. Denise won’t get far, guaranteed,” Irena assured Leon.

When Leon hung up he lit a cigarette and stared hungrily at the partially naked body of the woman who was sleeping in the bed. Cindy was her name. She was blond with long, straight hair. She couldn’t be more than 20. Since the sheet she was wrapped in had fallen down to her waist her boobs were exposed. They contrasted white against her deep tan and looked almost over-sized on her skinny body. Leon recalled last night and felt himself stir. She was still a newbie who only arrived a few days ago. He didn’t care how she ended up in the brothel or what her fate would be. All that matter was that she proved to be a good piece of ass. He was tempted to waken her up and start all over again but then decided he’d better not.

Too much work to do and I gotta help Irena straighten out her mess or we’ll both be in deep shit, he thought. As he stubbed out his cigarette and made his way to the shower he was already worried about what his boss would say. Since he didn’t take kindly to lapses that allowed a girl to go missing, Leon knew he wasn’t going to be happy.