Mimi heard heavy footsteps crossing the room. It seemed he was about to be shown the door.
“Valery, show our guest out.”
“No! Get your hands off me!”
She heard a roar of pain and the heavy thud of a large body hitting the floor.
“What the fuck was that?” The Russian again, cold but obviously rattled. “What did you do to Valery? I can’t let you…”
The speech trailed off and Mimi heard the sounds of a struggle, furniture overturned, things sliding and crashing to the floor. She hammered on the door.
“Open up, open up, it’s an emergency!”
Seconds of silence passed, then the door opened marginally and a wild face framed by unkempt hair peered out at her.
“What?”
“Is John Stone in there? He’s needed urgently. Umm, business. Urgent business.”
The eyes of the wild face narrowed, then, without warning, she found her wrist captured and her body yanked into the room.
John stood, dusting himself off, by an armchair. He glowered at Mimi, looking furious.
“You stupid girl, what are you doing?”
Ah, so the psychic link was up and running again. Because he wanted it to be.
“Getting you out of here.”
The Russian held Mimi against his chest, his forearm pressing into her throat.
“What’s this, Stone? I didn’t order a whore. But this one will do very nicely now she’s here.”
“Drop her.”
“What’s her name?”
“I’ve no idea. Just let her go and give me my ore.”
“You haven’t told me what you did to Valery.”
Mimi observed a bearlike man, felled and unconscious.
“He’ll be fine. It’s just a trick I learned in the…When I was younger.”
The Russian sniffed. “Well, it’s a good trick. But if you don’t mind, I won’t be getting too close to you. This little honey, on the other hand…”
The Russian put a hand on Mimi’s hip, rubbing it suggestively. She tried to squirm away, but he had her in a stranglehold.
“I need the ore.” Mimi could see that John was struggling to maintain a level of self-control. He swallowed and held out a hand. “Let’s do business like human beings, not animals. I have your money.”
“I have something better than that.” The Russian crooned into Mimi’s reluctant ear. “I’m feeling horny. Hey, John, what about I fuck your girl and then you can have the ore. What do you think?”
Mimi, tense as she was, still felt the Russian’s hand move from her hip and reach behind for something in a drawer against the wall.
“I think give me the ore, let the girl go. I’ll get your extra money.”
“The girl is important to you, eh?”