Page 49 of Out of Control

She spoke with such a heavy, nasal accent that she sounded exactly like a goose honking. An urge to giggle startled him. Christ. He was a black ops officer for the CIA, tracking violent international terrorists, here to prove he hadn’t killed a man. This wasn’t funny.

Except as she turned and waddled down the hall, her caboose twitched back and forth, lacking only tail feathers to make the image complete. He glanced sidelong at Spencer, and the guy’s mouth was twitching with humor. He smirked back before he remembered why they were here.

Fuck. Focus.

Since when had running an op beenfun? Since he was working with Spencer again, apparently.

“What’s your pleasure, you pretty boys?” she honked. “A pretty, clean girl for each of you? Or perhaps you would like to share? I have a new virgin in need of instruction.”

Without daring to look in Spencer’s direction lest they both break up laughing, he answered, “We want a three-way.”

“Perfect! We can accommodate you, of course!”Honk. Honk.“I have a pretty young thing who needs to learn to take two men. You will teach her, yes? Of course you will. Be careful of her virgin ass, I beg you….” The patter continued, and he tuned out until Madame Eva said briskly, “We require payment up front in cash. We accept euros, pounds, dollars, or rubles.”

Drago pulled out a fat roll of euros guaranteed to make the greedy goose drool. “How much for two hours, no surveillance camera?”

“I’m sorry. We always monitor the girls for their safety.”

Yeah. And for blackmail footage on the clients.“Ahh. Too bad.” He started to pocket the roll and turn around toward the front door.

“But for you, sir,” she said hastily, “I will make an exception.” She quoted a price that was easily twice the going rate for even the most exotic of entertainments. He shrugged and peeled off the bills.

“Talia is my girl’s name. She’s only just agreed to try a three-way for the first time. Please be gentle with her….”

He tuned out the rest of the line of bull designed to get him and Spencer so horny, they’d blow their loads fast and get out of the brothel ASAP so young Talia could fuck the next guy and turn a few more bucks for Eva.

He felt a sudden need to wash off the mucus-coated depravity of the place. A foul taste in his mouth, he followed Mother Goose upstairs.Eyes on the prize, man.First, prove his innocence. Second, get a lead, any lead, on who had killed Khoury. Third, convince Spencer to help him track down said lead.

Talia looked about fourteen. She had huge, fake-frightened eyes, slim, boyish hips, and slender, awkward limbs reminiscent of a newborn foal’s. He guessed her to be in her early twenties, borderline anorexic, and a fine little actress. She probably pulled down thousands of dollars a week for ol’ Honker.

Spencer made a low sound of distress as he stepped around Drago and spotted their girl. The guy was obviously not very experienced around hookers and had bought the barely-pubescent-young-girl façade.

The door closed behind them in a room decorated in white lace and pink ribbon. Jesus Christ. What twisted fucks fantasized about attacking a young girl in her own bed?

He eyed the bed’s placement and zeroed in on the one corner of the room that had an unobstructed view of it. There. Tucked right up by the ceiling and disguised in the pattern of the pink flowered wallpaper. A small black hole.

“Do you like chewing gum, Talia?”

The prostitute frowned but nodded gamely. He pulled out a pack and offered her a piece. He popped some gum into his mouth and chewed it soft, then dragged the chair from the makeup bench over to the corner and jammed his gum over the camera lens.

The girl lurched forward to stop him, but Spencer snagged her arm and stopped her, saying gently, “We won’t hurt you. I promise.”

Baby Talia gave way to the hardened adult in an instant. “Hey, look, boys. I don’t work without that. No film, no fuck.”

Drago climbed down. “Good. It’s not a fuck we have in mind, anyway.”

“You’re not our type onsomany levels, sweetheart,” Spencer remarked, following his lead quickly.

Drago pulled out the wad of cash again. “We need you to do us two favors, and I’ll make it worth your while.” He peeled off even more bills than he’d paid the madam, and the girl’s eyes popped wide open. “First, I need you to tell if I can still find Lena upstairs in the last room on the right. Second, we need you to convince whoever’s on the other end of that thing”—he pointed up at the gum-covered camera—“not to tell the boss lady we’ve left this room. If you can do that, there’s another three hundred euros in it for you.”

She nodded eagerly and held out her hand for the initial payment.

“Don’t screw us over, Talia,” he warned gently, holding the money a little beyond her reach.

“I would never—”

“Sure you would. But don’t. Neither one of us is the kind of man you should cross.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Spencer’s gaze go hard and cold. Goddamn, that man was hot. All-American-good-guy Spencer was pretty, but badass-special-operator Spencer made him want to come in his shorts.

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