"I won't," Mike said. "As long as she does what I tell her to do. Come here, girl," he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her onto his lap. "Let me see your eyes, look at me." He grabbed her chin and lifted her face so he could look her in the eye. When she looked at him he could see that her eyes were wide and frightened, and she kept trying to drop her head, her chin pulling against his fingers like a trapped bird.

Mike was, briefly, troubled, his conscience nagging at him. But the whole stinking mission had raised his frustration level to a fever pitch and his demons had hold of him firmly. He slid his hand up under the camisole and felt her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, roughly. They were tight as if she had just finished growing them and he reevaluated her age; she couldn't be more than seventeen and fifteen was probably closer. Again, his conscience twinged, but he ignored it. Her youth and relative inexperience was too exciting.

"I'll take this one," Mike said, standing up and taking the girl by the hand. She tried to pull away and he shifted his grip to her wrist. "Where's her room?"

"Upstairs," Kovacic said. "I think that payment up front would be good, however."

Mike pulled out the wad of notes and peeled off three, handing them to Kovacic.

"Show me your room," Mike said to the girl, pulling her forward and slapping her on the a.s.s, hard.

"Now."

The girl walked into the main living room of the house, then up the stairs. Her room was down the hall on the left. It had a double bed, pushed up against one wall, a small wardrobe, a nightstand and a chest of drawers. When she entered the small bedroom, Mike closed the door, then grabbed her by the hair, pulling on it brutally.

"You speak English?" he snapped, pulling her around to look her in her frightened eyes.

"A little," the girl whimpered. "Please, no hurt."

"Ilikehurt," Mike said, twisting her hair and watching as tears formed in her beautiful eyes. "You do what I say, I won't hurt asmuch. Understand?"

"Yes," the girl said in a terrified tone. "Please . . ."

"Down on your knees, b.i.t.c.h," was his reply, pushing her down. "Pull out my d.i.c.k and suck it. Suck it good, or I'll hurt you."

The girl quickly unzipped him and pulled out his c.o.c.k, sticking it in her mouth and fellating him. She sucked hard and used her hands, expertly beating at him at the same time until he came. She started to pull back, but Mike held her in place by her hair, coming into her mouth.

"Don't eventhinkabout letting my c.u.m spill," Mike said, hitting her on the head as he came into her mouth. "I'm going to put my c.u.m in you and if you spill one drop, I'll beat you senseless." He grabbed her by the hair again and shoved her onto the bed, ripping at the camisole as the girl cried out in fear. He slapped her on the face to get her to lie still as he ripped her clothes off. Even after coming in her mouth, he was so enraged that he was still as hard as a rock. He pulled the pillowcase off of her pillow and jammed it in her mouth, then pinned her hands over her head and took her, dry and hard, as she whimpered at the pain. He kneaded her b.r.e.a.s.t.s as he f.u.c.ked her, twisting at the nipples and biting her in a frenzy of brutal rape. He knew he was over the edge and didn't care. All he wanted to do was rape this b.i.t.c.h, hard, to use her and abuse her.

He could feel his c.u.m rising again, but he wasn't about to simply put it in her p.u.s.s.y. He pulled out, brutally, to a gasp of pain from the girl and turned her over on her stomach, reaching in his jump bag with one hand to pull out an unlubricated condom. The girl struggled as she realized what was about to happen, but he pinned her down, slid on the condom and found her lovely a.s.shole with the tip of his d.i.c.k, forcing it in with his hand. She tensed up against him and he punched her, hard, in the kidneys. The pain must have been overwhelming because she loosened up immediately with a moan of pain and despair.

She was still incredibly tight, probably an a.s.s virgin, and her moan turned to a shriek of pain and humiliation when he entered her. He pumped her, hard, for what seemed an eternity, enjoying every one of her whimpers, reaching around to grab each breast and pulling at the nipples so hard she screamed.

As she screamed in pain and fear he finally came again.

When he had, he slumped on her, limp, his flaccid member slowly drawing out of her a.s.s. He hit the still whimpering girl on the head and stood up, throwing away the condom, taking off his clothes and laying his sidearm on the bedside table.

"I've raped you," Mike said brutally, pulling out her gag. "Now I'm going to sleep with you. And if you try to run, or steal anything, I will wake up. You will sleep right here, with me, until I'm ready to get up. If you try to get away, you'll be beaten. Do you understand?"

"Yes," the girl said, pulling herself up against the wall and as far away from him as she could.

"Get over here," Mike said, pulling the covers back, then lying down on the bed and pulling the girl to him. He forced her to spoon with him, facing the wall. "Don't try to run," he said in her ear, wrapping an arm around her possessively.

The girl was gently crying, but she nodded. She smelled of fear and he still found that incredibly exciting, his member briefly engorging to touch her on the a.s.s. Other than in agreed-upon "scenes" he had never been so brutal to a woman in his life. And she had, no question, not been a willing partic.i.p.ant. It had been paid rape, pure and simple. His conscience was still nagging at him, but he was ignoring it. He slid his hand up to cradle one lovely breast and fell asleep like he'd been drugged.

Mike woke up, once, when the girl tried to slip out of bed. He simply grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back to spoon, then went back to sleep. The second time he woke to the sound of his phone ringing. He pushed her into the corner of the bed and picked it up, checking the time as he did. It had only been four hours, not nearly enough time for NEST to have arrived and done a full survey.

"Duncan," he said after a moment; he still wasn't used to his cover name.

"Northcote," the man said. "Go scramble."

Mike punched in the code on the phone and hit scramble.

"Be aware," Mike said. "I'm in an unsecure location."

"That's fine," Northcote said. "The IFOR team has finished a preliminary evaluation. They've found traces of plutonium, uranium and tritium. There's also a container that probably held new tritium, which is one of the things . . ."

"Look," Mike said, "this is all fine and dandy. But call me back when a full sweep has been completed including information from the area. I need to sleep; I've been on continuous ops for a while. I'll probably be over there this evening; I'm not far away."

"Okay," Northcote replied, nonplussed. "Will do."

"Bye," Mike replied, hitting the disconnect. He tossed the phone on his clothes on the floor and pulled the girl to him, entering her dry and pumping her hard. It clearly hurt and her face was screwed up in pain. After raping her for a while, he pulled out, then grabbed her camisole from the floor, forcing it into her mouth as a gag and entered her again. She tried to fight him this time, but he was much stronger than she was and there was no way for her to stop him raping her. He slammed her, brutally, holding her hands above her head with one hand gripping her wrists and twisting at her nipples with the other as she cried out in pain against the gag.

That wasn't enough, so he turned her over again, using her panties to tie her to the bedstand and tying the camisole around the back of her head. He put on another condom, then pulled out his belt and whipped her a.s.s red as she cried in pain. Finally, when he was so full of c.u.m he felt he would burst, he mounted her, hard, pounding her lovely a.s.s brutally, while kneading her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and pinching her nipples.

He still held back, though, giving her a full, hard f.u.c.king, before letting himself release into her a.s.s.

When he was done he threw the condom away and untied her.

"Lick me clean," he said, pushing her head down to his crotch. "Clean me all up."

The girl did as he said, then he pushed his c.o.c.k into her mouth.

"Suck it," he ordered, lying back. "Suck me back to life."

She blew him and played with him until he was engorged again, and then Mike threw her on her back and started pounding her again.

"I love raping you," he said, looking at her face that was screwed up in fear and pain. "Look at me," he ordered. When she opened her eyes a crack he laughed at the fear in them and they shot closed again at his expression. "I love raping you. I'm going to do it over and over again until I have to leave."

He'd already come several times, so he could f.u.c.k her for as long as he wanted. He kept pounding her and pounding her as she cried and whimpered in pain at the tearing in her p.u.s.s.y. She never got wet and it had to be painful as h.e.l.l. He lifted her legs up in the air and slapped her a.s.s, hard, spanking her until she was crying openly, sobbing and pleading at him to stop hurting her. This gave him enough juice that he could come again.

He collapsed on her again and then pulled out, pulling her to him in a spoon.

"You are the greatest girl to rape I have ever met," Mike whispered, licking at her ear as she tried to turn away. "I am having so much fun raping you, I might never stop. I can keep this up all day and all night."

"Please," the girl whimpered. "Please stop hurt me."

"No," Mike said, pulling her hard into him so his d.i.c.k was right in the crack of her a.s.s. "I like hurting you. I like scaring you. I like raping you. And when I wake up, I'm going to do it again. But don't try to get away or I'll beat the ever-living c.r.a.p out of you."

He played with her body for a bit and then went back to sleep.

He woke up at a second call, looking out the window for a handle on the time. The sky was red with sunset so he figured it was about right. The phone said four PM, local time.

"I'm already scrambled," he said, sitting on the bed and reaching over to touch the a.s.s of the girl in the bed. She trembled but held still.

"NEST has completed its evaluation and there's some intel on the activities here you should hear,"

Northcote said.

"I'll be over in about fifteen to thirty," Mike answered, hitting the disconnect and tossing it on the bedside table. He fondled the girl's a.s.s, which was still red with strap marks from his belt, then squeezed it, hard, eliciting a mew of fear from the girl. He reached into his jump bag, pulled out another condom and rolled the girl over on her stomach.

She had learned to accept him raping her in the a.s.s, but she was still tight. And she cried as he did it to her. He pounded her, playing with her t.i.ts and only pulling her nipples a little bit, until he came.

"You've been a lot of fun," Mike said, throwing the condom away and dipping into his pants. He pulled out a wad of euros and tossed them on the crying girl's back. "I'm going to tell your pimp that that is for you. And I'll check up, make sure he hasn't taken it from you. I'll also tell him that unless you want, you're off-duty tonight."

The girl rolled over and pulled the money from behind her back, her tears drying and eyes widening at the sight of the bills. He wasn't sure how much was in the fold, but it was probably half a year's pay for the girl. Most of the money she made, usually two or four to one, went to her pimp, even "tips" like Mike's. She flipped through the roll then looked at Mike, quizzically, for the first time without fear in her eyes.

"I'm not particularly proud of that side of me," Mike said as he pulled on his clothes. "It comes out from time to time, but I don't like it. That," he added, gesturing with his chin at the money, "doesn't make up for what I did to you. But . . . it helps. Both you and me. And I'm sorry for how I treated you, but I was at a point where it was do what I did or kill somebody. And, unfortunately, right now there's n.o.body left for me to kill."

"Is okay," Magdelena said, pulling the clip off the roll and counting the money. "Not like, much hurt, much . . . bad memory." She got to the end of the quick count and looked at him again, curiously. "But for this, is okay. Would do again."

"Yeah," Mike said as he holstered his piece and picked up his jump bag. "But then you'd be acting. It wouldn't be the same."

The brothel had a few customers checking out the girls when he walked downstairs, but he spotted Kovacic talking to somebody on the door who must have been a bouncer. He waved him over with a lift of the head as he headed for the door.

"I gave Magdelena a tip," Mike said, c.o.c.king his head to the side. "A very large tip." He dipped into his pants and came up with another hundred-euro note. "This is your tip. Her tip is hers. I'll be checking up.

And just to be clear, I'm tight connected with IFOR. Donotthink you can have part of her tip, or you'll end up sorry and sore as she is. Am I being blunt enough?"

"Yes," Kovacic said, pocketing the money.

"She's off for tonight unless she wants to work," Mike said. "That's for her share of tonight. We okay on that?"

"Yes," Kovacic replied. "I could hear some of what was going on. She won't be good for much tonight, maybe tomorrow."

"She's got some strap marks on her a.s.s from my belt," Mike said, shrugging. "No bruises. A hand print on the face that is mostly faded. I may be back later for . . . fifths I guess."

"It will not be on the house," Kovacic said. "I normally don't let my girls be treated like that."

"You're such a sweetheart," Mike said, walking out.

Chapter Five.

There was a large cordon set up down the street. Mike walked up to the line of soldiers securing the area and pulled out his diplomatic pa.s.sport.

"Michael Duncan," he said. "I'm here to meet Mr. Northcote."

"I have to clear it with the sergeant of the guard, sir," the private said, swallowing nervously. "Normally that would get you past, but we have a serious security issue here and . . ."

"Fine," Mike said, grinning. "I know where you're at, son. Follow procedures, I've got time."

It took a visit from both the sergeant and the officer of the guard before he was past, the officer of the guard escorting him to the warehouse. Even then he wasn't allowed to enter until Northcote was called outside. The van was gone, he noticed. He wondered, idly, if they'd loaded it on a tow truck or if some poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d had had to drive it. It had been, radioactively, hot as h.e.l.l.Hewouldn't have wanted to drive it.

"There you are," Northcote said, exasperated. "I was wondering when you'd bother to show up."

"I figured it would take most of the day to get a full read on the situation," Mike said, yawning. "And I'd been up for about sixty hours. What do we have?"

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Northcote said, dragging him into the warehouse through the personnel door.

Mike noticed that the lock had been knocked out by a door-knocker. "We've got a briefing set up . . ."

"Spare me the Powerpoint," Mike said, looking around. About half the warehouse was now covered in a set of plastic bubbles with guys in clean-room suits waving detectors around and using small vacuums to pick up dust. The office had apparently been converted back to being an office. There were at least thirty people in the room outside of the investigation area, standing around and looking worried. "Just the facts, as they say. And you're on pins and needles. Why?"

"Besides the fact that a nuke slipped into my AO and back out?" Northcote asked exasperatedly.

"Maybe it's the fact that the last call I got was from the Office of the White House asking about you.

What or who the h.e.l.lareyou? I'd pegged you as a CIA Office of Special Actions guy, but the White House doesn't call about them as a rule. And they asked for you by name; I had to tell them you were sleeping."

"I am not now, nor have I ever been, CIA," Mike said bluntly. "I do favors for the United States government and they, in turn, do favors for me," he added, tapping the pocket where he had his "official"

pa.s.sport.

"Contractor?" Northcote asked.

"Not even that," Mike said. "A contractor signs up for a specific payment. I consider myself more in the field of . . . salvage operations." He grinned and then shrugged. "What do we have?"

"This is Todd Jameson," Northcote said, leading him over to one of the groups. The guy he addressed was a big blond in a blue jumpsuit with NEST printed across the back. The other people were military, ranking up to a bird colonel. "He's the head of the nuke team."

"You must be Duncan," the NEST leader said, shaking Mike's hand.

"Mike," Mike replied, shaking his head. "Duncan's a name that gets you into fights and I hate getting in fights."

"Mike, then," the guy replied, smiling humorously. "Well, the nuke was definitely here. We got the isotope signature from the Russkis and the remnants we picked up are a match. Whoever was working on it knew what they were doing, too. There's remnants of wiring and the detonator circuit had been pulled. It would have degraded from radiation by now, so it was one thing they had to replace."

"Wouldn't they have had to reshape the explosives and the plutonium?" Mike asked.

"No, these older nukes are remarkably stable that way," Jameson said, shrugging. "They had to replace the tritium; it would have degraded. And the plutonium might be a little degraded. But I'm ninety percent sure, based on the evidence, that we're going to get some sort of nuclear reaction. What gets me is the rest of the evidence."

"What's that?" Mike asked. "The lead smell?"

"Yeah," Jameson said, leading him over to the side of one of the bubble tents. "See those?" he asked, pointing to some metal pieces on one of the tables. "Those are metal bars that have been cut with an arc welder. And there were large bolts sitting on the floor." Jameson waved to one of the s.p.a.ce-suited guys and made a motion like turning a wrench. The person in the bubble went over to another table and picked up a bolt, turning it back and forth.

"Can I see it up close?" Mike asked. "How hot is it?"

"It's not hot enough to bother about," Jameson said, walking over to the entrance and waving for the bolt to be brought over. "About like a tritium watchface. The shavings that were on the floor were hot as h.e.l.l, though."