The Crucifix Killer

Forty-Six

He climbed up the steps to the VIP area wondering why it was left up to him to play mailman. The area was swarming with B-list celebrities. Pietro maneuvered his way around the noisy crowd towards the last table on the right – D-King’s table. Jerome, who was standing just a few feet in front of his boss, had already spotted the long-haired barman.

‘Is there a problem?’

‘Somebody left this at the bar,’ Pietro said, handing the squared packet to the ex-boxer who looked it over with questioning eyes.

‘Wait here.’

Pietro watched as the muscle-bound man walked over to the table behind him, bent over and whispered something to his boss while handing him the small packet. A few seconds later he was given a signal to come closer. He knew he had no reason to feel nervous, but he could feel his chest tightening around his heart.

‘Where did you get this?’ D-King asked without getting up.

‘At the bar. Somebody left it there.’

‘So somebody just left this over at the bar and walked away or did he hand it to you?’

‘Neither, somebody dropped it over the counter onto the bar floor. Todd, the other barman, found it.’

‘And he didn’t see who dropped it?’

‘He said he didn’t.’

‘When was that, when did he find this?’

‘About five minutes ago. He gave it to me and I brought it straight over, but it could’ve been there for a while. We’re really busy over at the bar and Todd said he’d only noticed it because he’d stepped on it.’

D-King studied the man in front of him for a few seconds. ‘OK,’ he said and made a hand movement dismissing the barman.

‘Can I open it, babe, I love opening presents?’ asked one of the three girls sitting at the table.

‘Sure, here you go.’

She quickly ripped the packet open, her excited smile rapidly fading away as the contents were revealed. ‘It’s a disk?’ she said unimpressed.

‘What the hell?’ D-King took the case from her hands, flipped it over and studied it for a few more seconds. ‘It’s a DVD,’ he said, uninterested.

‘Too bad, I was hoping for diamonds,’ another one of the girls commented.

‘There’s something inside the wrapper,’ Jerome said, noticing a small, white note stuck to the discarded wrapping paper. D-King reached for it and read it in silence.

I’m sorry.

‘What does it say, babe?’

‘Why don’t you three go dance,’ D-King commanded. ‘Come back in twenty minutes or something.’

They knew that wasn’t a request. Silently, all three stunning-looking girls left the VIP area quickly disappearing into the dancing crowd.

‘We have a DVD player in the limo, don’t we?’ D-King asked, now sounding a little more curious.

‘Uh-huh,’ Jerome nodded.

‘Let’s go take a look at this now.’

‘Sure boss.’ Jerome immediately retrieved his cell phone from his dark Tallia suit. ‘Warren, bring the car around back… No, we’re not leaving just yet, we just need to check something out.’

Cars were something D-King enjoyed and he made no secret of it. His extensive private collection included models such as a Ford GT, a Ferrari 430 spider, an Aston Martin Vanquish S and his newest addition – a twelve-passenger Hummer limousine.

Within five minutes they’d met Warren around the back of the Vanguard Club.

‘Is anything the matter, boss?’ Warren asked, standing next to the open back door of the thirty-eight-feet-long vehicle.

‘No, everything is cool. We just gotta have a look at something.’ D-King and Jerome jumped into the back of the limo and waited until Warren had closed the door on them.

A small panel next to the main seat hosted an array of buttons and faders giving its occupant total control over everything: different light settings and colors, sound and speaker configuration, access to the state-of-the-art high-definition DVD system and to the hidden compartment containing a small arsenal of weapons.

D-King placed himself comfortably on the main seat and quickly pressed a button. To his right, the front of a wooden cabinet slid open revealing a slimline DVD player. Without hesitation he placed the disk in it. The front panel that divided the driver’s cabin from the rest of the car glided shut and a colossal screen extending the width of the vehicle rolled down from its ceiling. The entire operation took less than ten seconds.

Low-quality images filled the screen and for a minute Jerome struggled to understand what was going on.

In a dirty and derelict square room a blindfolded and gagged young woman had been tied to a metal chair. Her body half exposed through her ripped clothes.

‘What the fuck’s this?’ Jerome asked, still looking confused.

‘Hold on, nigga,’ D-King replied as he reached for the fast-forward button. The images danced frantically on the screen for a few seconds before he released the button allowing the film to resume play. They both watched in silence for a while longer as the frightened young girl was being physically, verbally and sexually abused.

‘This is sick, boss. Somebody’s playing a practical joke on you,’ Jerome said, turning his face away from the screen and getting ready to leave the luxurious car.

‘Wait a second.’ D-King stopped his bodyguard before he had a chance to open the door. Something wasn’t right, D-King could feel it. He reached for the fast-forward button once again allowing the disk to skip ahead several minutes. When he resumed play the movie carried on showing more violence and abuse.

‘Ah damn. Turn it off, boss, it’s making me feel ill,’ Jerome pleaded.

D-King raised his hand signaling Jerome to be quiet for a second. He advanced the film one more time stopping it just short of the last scene.

As the two other mysterious characters in the film positioned themselves for the film’s climax, D-King realized what was about to happen. Jerome still looked clueless to what was really going on, but his attention was still on the screen. They both watched as her blindfold was torn away from her face.

‘What the fuck!’ Jerome yelled, jerking backwards. The camera focused on the girl’s face. ‘That’s Jenny.’ His voice half stating the obvious, half asking a question.

D-King had realized who the girl was a full minute before Jerome did. His anger oozed through every pore in his body. They observed in morbid silence as the knife sliced through her neck like a Bushido sword through rice paper. The camera zoomed in on her helpless and dying eyes and then on the blood spilling from the fatal wound on her neck.

‘What the hell is going on, boss?’ Jerome’s voice was an excited shout.

D-King remained silent until the DVD reached its end. When he spoke, his voice was ice cold. ‘What do you think is going on, Jerome? We just saw how they tortured and killed Jenny.’

‘But that’s wrong. The detectives said that she had no bullet or knife wounds, that she’d been skinned alive. We just saw someone slice her neck open.’

‘The detectives said the girl on the picture they showed us had been skinned alive. We thought that girl was Jenny. We were wrong.’

Jerome brought both hands to his face. ‘This is fucked up, boss.’

‘Listen to me.’ D-King snapped his fingers twice to get Jerome’s attention back to him. ‘The fucking gloves are off. I want those two in the video,’ he said with so much rage it made Jerome shiver. ‘I want the sonofabitch behind the camera, I want whoever owns that shithole of a place and I want the person responsible for that whole motherfucking operation, do you hear me?’

‘I hear you, boss,’ Jerome said regaining his composure.

‘Don’t get the word out on the streets. I don’t want to scare these fucks away. Use only reliable people. I want them fast and I want them alive if possible. It doesn’t matter who you pay. It doesn’t matter how much you pay. It doesn’t matter what it takes.’

‘How about the cops?’ Jerome asked. ‘I think we should tell them that the girl on the photo is not Jenny.’

D-King pondered the idea for an instant. ‘You’re right, but I wanna get these guys first. After that, I’ll get in touch with them.’