Using the laptop, I compose and send a text message from Kat’s phone number to her “Papa”. I include the graphic photos of her, along with the sardonic message in English, Don’t worry. I will treat her as well as you treat the women you enslave.
He fires back a text immediately. It shows up on my laptop screen. Hurt her and you will die.
I send back, Oops.
What do you want?
I write back, I want to cut off your dick and feed it to you. To watch you die slowly. To make your daughter suffer the way you made hundreds of women suffer.
Finally. I have waited for this moment for so long. Dreamed of it. It’s so fucking satisfying.
Who are you? Poval asks.
Even though I told Kat my name, it suddenly feels wrong to include Nadia in any of this. To say that I’m her brother. I don’t want her sullied by the shit I’m doing in her name.
So I just say, I represent all the women you’ve harmed.
He shoots back, Leave my daughter out of it. She has nothing to do with my business.
Too late. Your daughter is now chained to my bed. If you want me to keep her alive, deposit $5M in her account within 48 hours.
When he doesn’t reply immediately, I add, I will return her to you personally when I’m finished using her.
I shut the laptop and look at Kat. “It’s done. Your father has been notified.”
She turns her lips inside and looks away from me, out the window.
“I’m going to get us some food, printsessa.” I grab a zip tie from my pocket. “Here.” I loop it around her wrist, and she tries to punch me. I catch her hand and hold it still, then fasten another zip tie to the pipe running along the wall. “Just one hand. You can stay right here and look outside. I’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
“What if I have to go to the bathroom?” she asks petulantly.
“Do you?”
“No. But I will soon.”
“I’ll take you when you do,”
“I want to punch your face,” she tells me.
I catch her head and kiss her temple even though she just threatened to hurt me. “I know.”
I explore the ship, finding the bathroom near our room, then taking the stairs up to the deck and walking along it.
It’s cold on deck, the wind cutting through my shirt and chilling my skin, but I love the smell of salt air. I’m comfortable on ships–I grew up working on the docks in Vladivostok and then worked as a ship’s engineer after I graduated.
That’s part of why I chose to drag Kat across the ocean on a freight ship. Also because that was what was done to Nadia. Although now that reason seems irrelevant and weak.
I eventually find the kitchen and mess hall where five guys, including George, the crew member who let us out of the shipping container are eating from bowls. There’s a large pot on the stove of what looks like Russian chili. There’s also a half-empty bottle of vodka on the table, like they’re already getting their evening drunk on.
“Ah, here is our stowaway,” George says in Russian. “Adrian, was it?”
“Adrian, da.”
“I am Vladislav, the captain.”
“Stepan.”
“Lev.”
“Grigor.” They each introduce themselves.
“Where is the girl?” George asks.
I already had misgivings about this guy when he let us out. I didn’t like the way he looked at Kat. Like she was a piece of meat. I don’t know why I thought because these guys are Russian I could handle them, no problem. I didn’t expect them to have my back, but I at least thought they’d be manageable. Icy tendrils of warning are seeping in, though. “She stays in our room.”
Grigor, the biggest guy, grunts. “How much?”
“She’s not for sale.”
“I don’t want to buy her. But how much for a turn?”
My hands clench into fists. Walls of anger close in on me. Mudaks like these used my sister. Fuck, maybe it was even on this very ship!
“Who are you saving her for?” George's eyes take on a curious glint. “Is she a virgin?”
It’s a wonder I don’t knock his teeth out right there. The guy likes unwilling virgins? He needs to die.
I want to tell them that she's not a sex slave except it would screw up my plan. If they suspected I had some prisoner I was ransoming, they might try to find out who is paying and get a piece of it. Or worse sell me out.
So I simply say, “She belongs to the boss. He wants her untouched.”
“Who?” the captain asks, “Poval?”
My heart races. Holy fuck!
I can hardly function from the tumult of violence that overcomes me. The roaring in my ears. I choke on the bile rising in my throat. This must be the ship used to transport the slaves to America. The one Leon Poval used for his sex slave trade!