Kill Switch: A Vigilante Serial Killer Action Thriller (Angel of Darkness Suspense Thriller Series Book 1) (9 page)

The blonde said, “
Przykro mi, nie mowie po angielsku
.”

During her time in Poland, Tess had heard that enough times to know it meant the woman didn’t speak English.

However, verbal communication wasn’t the only means by which to ask someone a question. She pointed at the blonde woman, then her own right eye, then to the picture of Cat, and finally, she gestured to the café.

With a smile that was as fake as her hair color, the woman shook her head and returned to texting on her phone.

“Elena, I think this woman saw Cat. Can you ask her in Polish?”

Elena started to speak, but only got a few croaky words out before the effort started her coughing again.

Tess studied at the blonde. She was a stunning woman. But there was something not quite right. It was early in the morning, when most women would look at their very best, having freshly showered, put on clean clothes, and applied fresh makeup. But this woman?

Her lemon dress was a little disheveled, not neatly pressed. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, but lacked the body and sleekness that washing and styling would normally achieve. As for her cosmetics? That was more of a touch-up job than a fresh makeover.

The woman had either had a hot date last night and not yet made it home, or… Or she was a ‘working’ girl.

Of the few words Tess knew, ‘please’ was one of them, so she started with that and just hoped the woman actually did understand a little English, as many young Polish people seemed to do.

“
Poprosze
.” Tess pointed at Cat again and then at Elena. “This mother, er, mom, er, er… mama. This mama. She, er… very, very sick.” Tess feigned coughing and then solemnly shook her head. “Very sick.
Poprosze
, help mama find…” She pointed at Cat again.

Blondie looked at Tess, then slid her gaze over to Elena. The color and glow that Elena had had just moments earlier had vanished, replaced by that gray complexion and drawn skin that she’d had when Tess had first met her.

Blondie nodded to Elena. “She very sick. She will be well?”

In silence, Tess grimaced.

With a face showing absolutely no emotion, Blonde eyed Tess and then Elena again. Finally, she pointed at Cat on Tess’s phone. “She have big trouble.”

Elena gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth.

“So you saw her?” Tess said. “Do you know where she is now? Who took her?”

“Bad man take. Very, very bad.”

Gasping again, Elena covered her face with both hands as tears welled in her eyes.

“Where?” Tess said. “Where did he take her?”

Blondie said, “Where I don’t know.”

“But you know Jacek Grabowski?” asked Tess.

“Who Jacek Grabowski?”

“The man who took this woman.” Tess held up the photo again.

“Is not name,” said Blondie.

Goddamnit, they were getting fewer and fewer leads. When were they going to catch a break?

“Do you know why he takes women?” asked Elena.

Blondie rolled her eyes. “For candle dinner and romance.”

“Oh, God, no.” Tears again rolled down Elena’s cheeks.

“So how long does he usually keep them?” asked Tess.

“How long? What you mean ‘how long’? Forever is how long. You think this rape? No, this business.”

“What?”

“Is business,” said Blondie. “Beautiful woman worth big money.”

Elena squealed as if someone had poked her in the side with an ice pick.

“Oh, Christ.” Tess rubbed her brow.

The nightmare Tess had pictured involved either rape or murder. What the blonde was implying suggested a nightmare on a whole other level.

While prostitution was legal, kidnapping a woman and imprisoning her in a brothel certainly wasn’t. At least now, if Tess wanted their help, the police would have to get involved.

“You see. Can do nothing.” Blondie waved them away. “Now you know. Now you go.”

Tess slapped her hand down on the table. “We’re not going anywhere until we get Elena’s daughter back. Will you help us?”

Blondie studied Tess, as if deciding if she could trust her.

Tess needed to secure her help – she was the best lead they had. “If you’re worried about your safety, I can protect you.”

Arching an eyebrow, Blondie snickered. “You?”

At five feet seven inches, Tess was taller than most women, but she could see how that alone would mean nothing to someone who hadn’t seen her in action. “So the police. We can go to the police.”

Blondie leaned toward Tess. “Say me. In your country, police all good and don’t take money? Or sometime bad man do bad thing and police do nothing?”

Tess had no comeback for cold hard fact. The only reason organized crime existed was because the crime bosses knew exactly whose palms to grease to remain untouchable.

Blondie nodded at Tess’s silence and leaned back in her chair.

Her voice wavering, Elena said something in Polish. Tears streamed down her cheeks,

Blondie looked at her coldly, but said nothing.

Tess peeled off some notes from the roll in her pocket and offered the woman two hundred zlotys. Fifty bucks seemed a fair price for a little information. “We need to find this man.”

With a bored expression, Blondie raised an eyebrow at Tess again.

Altogether, Tess had around six hundred zlotys and a couple of hundred dollars she always kept on her for emergencies. The haul totaling around three hundred and fifty bucks, she bundled up all the notes and held them out to the woman.

“Here. There’s nearly two thousand zlotys. It’s yours.”

“I sorry, but your daughter you no see again. Best you accept.”

Without making any sound, Elena sobbed, her whole body juddering as if she was having a fit.

Tess could drag Blondie down an alley and beat the information out of her, or she could appeal to her compassion. While both strategies worked, the results differed person to person. The secret was in judging which strategy to use with which individual.

Tess leaned over to Blondie. “As you can tell, Elena is very sick. Every day she has to fight to stay alive. Even so, she’s so sick she could die today. Or she could die tomorrow. Or, if she’s really, really lucky, she could live this week, maybe even next week too, and die then. But if you don’t help her find her daughter, she’s going to die right this second right in front of you.”

And Elena would die. Not physically. But in every other way possible.

Blondie locked eyes with Tess, then swung her attention to Elena. She huffed, then screwed up her face for a moment, obviously deep in thought.

Finally, Blondie said, “I don’t know name.”

“Okay, so you don’t know the man’s name. But you do know what he looks like, don’t you?”

She shrugged the way someone shrugged when they couldn’t be bothered doing something without that little bit of extra coaxing.

Tess stood and beckoned Blondie. “Come with me, please.”

Blondie sighed as if this was the most uninteresting day she’d ever known, but she got up. As did Elena.

Tess led them down the street, back toward the square.

“Tess, where are we going?” asked Elena, her cheeks wet, eyes red.

“The square.”

“Why? What good is that going to do?”

“You know you told me I could tell you to shut the hell up.”

“Yes?”

Tess shot her a sideways glance.

“Oh. Okay. Sorry.”

Back into the square, Tess turned to Blondie. With a sweep of her arm, she gestured to all the tourists and locals swarming the place. “Point to the man who looks most like the one who takes women.”

Blondie frowned. “But it not right man.”

“I know. Just find a man who looks like him.”

Blowing out a weary breath, Blondie sauntered further into the square shaking her head. Quietly, Tess and Elena walked a few paces behind.

Turning this way and that, Blondie panned her gaze from man to man to man. After a couple of minutes, she pointed at a man standing behind an outdoor stall which burst with a rainbow of flowers. “Him. But shorter hair. Younger. Smaller nose.”

Wanting to be sure, Tess pointed. “The man selling flowers?”

“Yes. I go now?”

Walking toward the man, Tess turned back. “No. Please wait there.” She pointed at Elena. “Don’t let her go anywhere, Elena.”

Tess studied the flower seller. A very attractive man, he was forty-ish, had wavy brown hair hanging over his collar, a square-jawed face, and gentle eyes. With his business being in the main tourist area, there was a good chance he’d speak English. Checking that was the first job. And the easy part.

She sauntered over, glancing sheepishly at the gray cobbles when he caught her eye.

“
Czy mowi pan po angielsku?
” she asked.

He answered her question by replying in English. “Of course. Which flowers would you like, please?”

Great. That would make this a lot easier.

Tess smiled coyly. “Well… it’s not really flowers I want” – she glanced down, shuffling from foot to foot – “but, er, a small favor.”

“A favor?”

“My best friend at home is always teasing me because she has a handsome boyfriend and I don’t.”

“You don’t? No!”

“I just can’t find the right guy.” Tess shrugged as if the situation was hopeless. “But if you don’t mind me saying, you’re the most handsome man I’ve seen in Krakow.”

Feigning embarrassment, but obviously delighted, he waved his hands at her and turned away. “Please, no. Twenty years ago… hmmm… maybe.”

“Really. The most handsome man I’ve seen.”

“Then, thank you. Now, what is this favor?” He wagged his finger and laughed. “I hope not for borrow money, because rich men no sell flowers.”

“No. Not money. I just want to make my friend jealous.” Tess held up her phone. “Can I have a photo with you, please?”

“Just a photo? But of course.”

Marching out from behind his stall, he beckoned her closer. “Come. Come.”

Tess scampered over. They put their arms around each other, beamed into the lens, and Tess took a selfie.

“Oh, thank you so much.”

“No, is my pleasure.” He plucked a red rose from his display and handed it to her. “One beautiful flower for another.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet.” She smiled and held up her phone again. “Okay, so one last one. Can you look serious and moody maybe?”

A hearty laugh burst out of him. Grinning, he wagged a finger at her. “Are you sure someone is not pay you for tease me?”

Tess put her hands together as if begging. “Just one. Please.”

He folded his arms and adopted a stern pose.

“Oh, fantastic.” Tess clicked a couple of shots. “Thank you so much.
Bardzo dziekuje
.”

“Oh, you speak Polish!
Prosze bardzo
. You are very welcome.” He waved as she scampered away.

Tess beckoned the other two women, who were standing, mystified. Deep in the square, Tess waited for them. The three of them together again, Tess approached the portrait artist with whom Elena had chatted earlier about creating an enlarged drawing of Cat from a photo.

“Excuse me?” Tess said.

The artist, a man with a braided beard looked up from sharpening his pencils.

“Do you speak English, please?”

He hovered his hand in the air and shook it. “Little.”

Handing Elena her phone displaying the serious photo of the flower seller, Tess said, “Tell him to draw this, life size, but that we want to modify it.”

“Okay.” Elena talked with the man.

Tess looked to Blondie. “I want you to watch the artist and describe what needs to change to turn the flower man into the bad man. Okay?”

“You think I nothing to do better than stand all day here?”

Tess took out her wad of money again. “So, what do you want? This?”

“I want know why you think you win with bad man. Why I trust you to good do, not big trouble bring.”

“Tell me what I need to know and you won’t have to worry about the bad man again.”

“I no worry.” Blondie shook her head with a shrug. “I have manager. He rip off balls of bad man if me he try to take.”

Putting her hand on Blondie’s forearm, Tess said, “You help me and I’ll ‘rip off balls of bad man’. Today.”

Blonde sniggered at Tess.

That reaction was understandable – words were easy. Tess unslung her backpack and turned away from Elena and the artist. Unzipping her bag, she crouched, then beckoned Blondie closer.

Blondie squatted in front of Tess. Between them, they shielded the bag from sight.

Opening her bag, Tess nodded to her bulletproof vest inside. “Do you know what that is?”