‘Who the fuck told you to move?’ Jerome’s voice was an angry shout.

Damn, Steven wasn’t joking when he said they had a small arsenal in here, Hunter thought.

‘That girl was what, twenty-eight, twenty-nine?’ D-King hit the man on the floor once again, this time a hard kick to the stomach. ‘Get up and turn around, you sack o’ shit.’ D-King paced in front of the now scared men.

‘Do you know who I am?’ The question hung in the air before the shortest of the three nodded.

D-King looked on in amazement. With a calm voice he continued. ‘So you know who I am and still you took one of my girls from me, raped her, tortured her and killed her?’

No answer.

‘Boy, you’ve just taken the word stupid to new heights. You two… strip,’ he ordered, pointing at the two men who were dressed.

They looked back at him with a puzzled expression.

‘Are you fuckers deaf? He said strip,’ Jerome commanded, striking the one who was wearing glasses in the stomach.

‘Wow, she would’ve needed magnifying glasses, boys,’ D-King said, staring at their naked bodies. ‘No wonder you have problems getting women. Tie them to the chairs, just like they do to their victims.’

Click, Hunter heard the unmistakable sound of a semi-automatic pistol being cocked behind him. A split second later he felt its cold barrel being pressed against the back of his head.

‘Don’t even think about moving,’ the voice commanded.

Sixty-Three

The door opened and Hunter was pushed into the room, the gun still pressed hard against the back of his head.

‘I found this piece of shit sneaking around outside. He was packing this,’ the man said, throwing the gun he’d retrieved from Hunter onto the floor. D-King turned to face the new arrival.

‘Detective Hunter? This is a surprise.’

‘Detective?’ Warren, who had discovered and captured Hunter, said in astonishment.

‘What the hell happened to you?’ D-King asked, staring at Hunter’s bruised and cut face.

‘Don’t look at me, boss,’ Warren said, lifting his hands up. ‘He was already this ugly when I found him.’

Hunter’s eyes quickly scanned his surroundings. The room was illuminated by battery-powered professional filming lights and the entire floor had been covered with plastic sheets. The metal chair Becky had been tied to stood in the center of the room. Next to the wall, behind D-King, a selection of knives had been placed on a small table. On one of the corners a semi-professional video camera had been mounted onto a tripod and just behind it, two extra chairs. It took Hunter less than three seconds to realize where he was.

‘A snuff movie joint? Very classy.’ His eyes fixed on D-King.

‘Oh you’re quick,’ D-King said, before noticing Hunter’s derisive look. ‘Wait a second. You think I run this fucked-up operation? Oh hell no.’

Hunter’s eyes moved over to the three naked men standing against the south wall and then to a shirtless Jerome. ‘So you folks having a little party? Getting down with it?’ He teased, putting on a silly, nasal voice.

‘Oh, you’re in the mood to be funny?’ D-King asked, cocking his shotgun. ‘What the fuck are you doing here, Detective?’

‘I was in the neighborhood. This is one of my favorite hangouts.’

‘You’re in a pretty fucked-up position to be cracking jokes,’ Jerome warned him.

Hunter’s eyes shifted to the three men.

‘My question still stands, Detective,’ D-King said. ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’

Hunter kept silent.

‘Wait a second,’ D-King said, squinting his eyes. ‘You slick motherfucker. You wanted me to do your job for you, ain’t that right?’

Jerome looked confused. ‘What?’

‘He knew I’d be going after whoever hurt Jenny with everything I had, so he sat still with his eye on me waiting for me to do all the hard work, waiting for me to scan the streets for him so he could turn up at the last minute and take the glory.’

‘Not quite like that,’ Hunter replied.

‘Well, I’ve got some bad news for you, Detective. The girl in your computer picture isn’t Jenny. Your maniac killer didn’t get to her. These three cocksuckers did.’ He pointed to the three naked men. ‘They raped, tortured and sodomized her before ripping her neck open. I’ve got it all on film.’ The anger was back in D-King’s voice and he exploded in a new violent rage slamming his shotgun barrel into the lower abdomen of the tattooed man for a second time. Hunter watched.

‘Tie them to the chairs,’ D-King commanded, tilting his head towards Warren.

‘You’re a policeman, do something,’ the one with glasses pleaded.

‘Shut the fuck up,’ Warren shot back, punching the man in the mouth.

‘He’s right,’ Hunter intervened. ‘I can’t just allow you to take your vengeance any way you want to.’

‘Stay the fuck out of this, Detective. This ain’t your show.’

‘I’m making it my show.’

D-King looked around the room with a sarcastic smile on his lips. ‘I think you’ll find you’re outnumbered, Detective. What do you think you can do?’

‘And if he’s got back-up boss?’ Jerome asked.

‘He doesn’t. If he did they’d be down here already,’ D-King said, throwing Hunter a defiant look.

‘Tie them up,’ D-King commanded again.

A couple of minutes later the three naked men sat tied to metal chairs in the center of the room.

‘Look, you’re not in the wrong yet,’ Hunter said, taking a step closer to D-King. ‘This still hasn’t gotten out of hand. Let me take them in. Let the law deal with them. They’ll rot in jail.’

‘If I were you I’d stand still,’ Warren said, lifting his gun and aiming at Hunter’s head.

‘If you were me you’d be good-looking,’ Hunter shot back. ‘D-King, I know you’re upset by what they did to Jenny, but we can solve this the right way.’

D-King let out a loud laugh. ‘Somehow “upset” doesn’t quite say it. And this is the right way. Let me bring it to you real, Detective Hunter. The law will allow them to walk and you know it. They’ll turn this thing around using some bullshit technicality as they always do. If you take them in, you’ve gotta take us in and that ain’t happening, baby. Sorry, Hunter, we’ve gotta deal with them our way.’

‘I can’t just stand here and watch you kill them.’

‘Close your eyes then. You’re not even supposed to be here. These people kidnap, rape, and kill women for profit.’

Hunter gave D-King a nervous laugh. ‘Coming from you that’s grand.’

‘Oh hell no. You ain’t comparing me to these fucks? I don’t force any of my girls to do the job they do. I also don’t force anyone to hire them. What these guys do, whatever way you look at it, is just fucking sick. Look at this place. How does this compare to what I do?’

Suddenly, catching everyone by surprise, the wall behind D-King swung open. A tall, shaven-headed man holding a Desert Eagle.50 pistol in each hand emerged, his eyes wide open, his pupils dilated, his nostrils inflamed. There was a murderous and deranged look on his face.

No one had any time to react. As gunshots showered the room Hunter sensed his opportunity and jumped to the floor searching for his pistol.

The onslaught of bullets had neither aim nor specific direction. One of the filming lights exploded with a deafening blast. The sudden change in light blinded everyone for a split second and on instinct D-King ducked down – bullets hitting the wall behind him, missing his head by a fraction. He heard Warren’s agonized cry as his colossal body crumpled to the floor, both of his hands covering his face, blood dripping through his fingers.

Jerome stood his ground like a fearless soldier ready to face death. He squeezed the trigger on his machinegun and the wave of bullets found its target with military precision. The intruder’s body shook violently with every blow and he tumbled back. The total impact was so powerful it almost separated his legs from his torso. His limp body fell to the floor. The entire gun-fight lasted less than ten seconds.