The Crucifix Killer Part 41

'Long story. What have we got here?'

Steven handed Hunter a pair of binoculars. 'Down there, towards the back of the building.'

Hunter looked in the direction Steven had indicated.

'It's too dark. What the h.e.l.l am I supposed to be looking at?'

'Close to the north wall. Right over there,' Steven said, pointing at the main building again.

'Wait . . . Is that a van?' Hunter asked, a little more excited now.

'That's D-King's van. He and four of his men parked down there about half an hour ago and went into an underground entrance further towards the rear of the building. They were carrying a small a.r.s.enal with them.'

Hunter's interest grew. 'What's this all about?'

'I don't know, but we split the surveillance team in two. One team kept an eye on D-King and the other tailed his right-hand man, the giant muscle guy.'

'Yeah, and?'

'Well, in the past few days something's happened. They've been going crazy searching for something or someone. Whatever it is that they've been after, I think this is it.'

Hunter had another quick look at the rear of the main building. D-King doesn't know the first victim isn't Jenny, he thought. He's been after the killer and he might've found something, some sort of lead. 'Where's the rest of the surveillance team?'

'I pulled them. You said we didn't need to keep an eye on your drug-dealer friend anymore. I'm just showing you this because I thought it could be of some interest. I'm out of here myself.'

'Before you go, where exactly did they go?'

'See that little trail at the back of the main building?' He pointed down to the factory once again. 'Follow it. That's where they went, but you're crazy if you're thinking about going down there alone. Where the h.e.l.l is your new partner?'

Hunter hesitated for a few seconds. 'He's coming,' he said in a not very convincing tone.

'Do you want me to call for back-up?'

'No. We'll be OK.' Hunter knew Captain Bolter would throw a fit if he called for back-up after their conversation earlier.

'Suit yourself.'

Hunter watched as Steven jumped back into his unmarked vehicle and drove off.

'What the f.u.c.k am I doing?' he said out loud while checking his weapon. 'Haven't you had enough action for one day, Robert?' He retrieved a small flashlight from his glovebox and started down towards the little path Steven had indicated.

Sixty-Two.

Hunter made his way down the dirt track at the back of the old factory, until he came to an iron door concealed by some overgrown vegetation. Behind the door, he found stone steps leading to an underground area. He waited a few seconds listening for any sounds.

Silence.

Cautiously he started down the dark tunnel.

A heavy moldy, damp smell made him gag. He hoped n.o.body heard him cough.

'What the h.e.l.l, Robert?' he whispered. 'Another old building, another dark bas.e.m.e.nt . . .'

The tunnel at the bottom of the stairs was narrow, lined in concrete and filled with debris. As he moved deeper underground, voices started to materialize several voices angry voices. The foul smell now mixed with some sort of raw sewage. Rats meandered everywhere.

'I f.u.c.king hate rats,' Hunter murmured through clenched teeth.

He reached a large circular area with a half-demolished square structure at the center of it. Its walls were full of holes. The voices were coming from inside the makeshift structure.

He turned off his flashlight and edged closer, being careful not to disrupt any of the loose bricks that littered the entire underground floor. He went around to the left of the squared structure and positioned himself behind some old cement bags, just a few feet away from the wall. Hunter bent down trying to level his eyes with one of the holes. He could see some movement inside but his angle kept him from having a clear picture.

The voices got louder. He could clearly recognize D-King's voice.

'We're not gonna hurt you. We're here to get you away from these f.u.c.ks. You're free, it's over. I'm gonna undo your blindfold and gag OK, don't be afraid, I'm not gonna hurt you.'

What the f.u.c.k is going on in there? Hunter thought. He needed to get closer. He inched his way nearer to the wall and quickly found a better position leveling his eyes with one of the larger holes. Three men were standing facing the opposite wall with their hands on their heads. One of them was completely naked, his back entirely covered with what seemed like a tattoo of Jesus on a cross. D-King was kneeling down in the center of the room in front of a petrified-looking brunette woman no older than thirty. She'd been blindfolded, gagged and tied to a metal chair. What was left of her black dress was dirty and torn. Her bra had been ripped off her body. Freshly made cigarette burns surrounded both of her nipples with water blisters already starting to form. Her legs had been spread apart and tied to the sides of the chair. Her dress had been hitched up exposing her v.a.g.i.n.a with more cigarette burns around it. Parts of her hair were stuck together with what seemed like dried blood. Her bottom lip was swollen and cut.

Hunter watched as D-King reached behind the woman's head to untie both of her restraints. As the blindfold came off she blinked rapidly several times. The strong light burning her eyes. Her gag had been tied so tightly it had cut into the corners of her mouth. She coughed violently as her mouth was set free. D-King pulled a paper tissue out of his pocket and wiped her face clean of the mascara and bloodstains on her face. One of D-King's men had already freed her hands and legs and she'd started crying again. Her body was shaking with every new sob, but this time the tears were a combination of fear and relief.

'What's your name?' Hunter heard D-King ask.

'Becky,' she replied in-between sobs.

'You'll be OK, Becky. We'll get you out of here,' D-King said, trying to help her up, but her knees buckled under her. Quickly he grabbed hold of her waist before she collapsed back onto the chair.

'Easy now . . . your legs are still weak. We gotta do this slowly.' He turned his attention back to one of his men. 'Find something to cover her up.'

The man's eyes searched the room for a piece of cloth or something suitable but found nothing.

'Here, take this.' Hunter recognized Jerome from the nightclub. He took off his shirt and handed it to D-King. The ma.s.sive shirt over the woman's pet.i.te frame looked almost like a long dress.

'You'll be OK, Becky. It's all over now.'

D-King's voice took a different tone altogether. 'Take her upstairs, put her in the car and don't leave her side,' D-King barked at someone.

Hunter quickly ducked behind some cement bags as best and as quietly as he could, the shadows helping to conceal him. Through an opening between the bags Hunter saw another huge man exiting the room. On his arms the petrified-looking Becky.

'You'll be safe with me, Becky,' the man rea.s.sured her in a caring voice.

Hunter waited until they'd disappeared down the corridor and inched closer once again.

'So you believe in Jesus, do you?' D-King asked in an angry voice as he approached the naked tattooed man.

No reply.

Hunter saw D-King slam the wooden b.u.t.t of his double-barreled shotgun into the man's lower back, who collapsed to the ground. Instinctively, the shortest of the three captured men turned in a reaction, but before he was able to make a move Jerome struck him across the face with an Uzi sub-machinegun. Blood splattered against the wall. Two of his teeth bounced onto the floor.

'Who the f.u.c.k told you to move?' Jerome's voice was an angry shout.

d.a.m.n, Steven wasn't joking when he said they had a small a.r.s.enal 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' s.h.i.t.' 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 f.u.c.kers deaf? He said strip,' Jerome commanded, striking the one who was wearing gla.s.ses in the stomach.

'Wow, she would've needed magnifying gla.s.ses, 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 c.o.c.ked 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 s.h.i.t 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 h.e.l.l 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 cla.s.sy.' 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 f.u.c.ked-up operation? Oh h.e.l.l 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? Getting down with it?' He teased, putting on a silly, nasal voice.

'Oh, you're in the mood to be funny?' D-King asked, c.o.c.king his shotgun. 'What the f.u.c.k are you doing here, Detective?'

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

'You're in a pretty f.u.c.ked-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 f.u.c.k are you doing here?'

Hunter kept silent.

'Wait a second,' D-King said, squinting his eyes. 'You slick motherf.u.c.ker. 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 c.o.c.ksuckers 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 gla.s.ses pleaded.

'Shut the f.u.c.k 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 f.u.c.k 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.