“Hurts, doesn’t it,” the guard grinned. “Move again and I will crush your other hand.”
Dana’s screaming now filled Randall’s ears. She sounded like a banshee. He looked over at where the cries were coming from and saw Dana hanging from the ceiling by her wrists, kicking and squirming. Her legs were flying in all directions. But Randall couldn’t do anything. He simply stared at her in a stupor caused by the blow to his head. He still could not fathom what was happening. His mind was moving in slow motion. Sounds from around him were getting to his head but at a delay. It was surreal, like he was in a fog.
“Tie the bitch’s legs,” Maas ordered. “Stop her flailing.” One of the guards reached down and grabbed Dana’s legs just above the ankle. She fought with his grip, kicking him as best she could. Her bare feet slapped against his huge hands. She continued to fight the guard when another guard stepped over and, with a vise-like grip, grabbed her ankles. The first guard pulled away his hands and reached for a section of rope from his pocket. Maas stepped in closer. “Tie her legs tight at the ankles. I do not want her moving.” The sight of her hanging helplessly excited Maas.
“Damn you, you son-of — a-bitch!” Dana screamed. “You bastard!” Dana hurled every expletive she could think of at Maas.
Maas merely smiled and reached into his pocket and brought out a handkerchief. He grabbed Dana’s face with one hand and pried open her mouth with his fingers. She felt the pain of him forcing her jaw open. He roughly jammed the handkerchief in her mouth and stepped back. Dana’s eyes were as wide as saucers and full of tears. She saw this on TV and movies but had no idea how much it hurt to have something jammed into her mouth. She tried to scream again but just a muffled sharp grunt came out. Maas smiled again.
“See,” he said quietly, “We have ways to quiet you down.” He reached up and ran his hand down the side her face and down across her left breast. Dana’s eyes widened and he squeezed her lightly. “Very, very nice,” said Maas almost nicely. “I’ll get to you in a minute.”
The two guards finished lashing her ankles together. Now she could only whimper, hanging there helpless. Randall was still woozy lying on the floor a few feet away.
Maas motioned for the guards to step back. He stepped up to Dana and stood in front of her gazing into her eyes. She was petrified with fear. She had seen what this monster could do to a man. She was afraid she was next. She was right. He looked at her menacingly and reached up and wiped some of her blood trickling down her arm from her wrist with his finger. He put his bloody finger in his mouth.
“Mmmm, you taste good,” he said. “Don’t worry, my dear. Your time will come very soon.”
Dana thought, my time? Oh, God, what was this madman going to do to her? She was more terrified than ever.
Maas turned to Randall, still sprawled on the floor. “Pick him up,” he ordered. “I seem to have several unwelcome visitors here in my complex. I believe they are coming after you. They have already killed several of my men. So I will ask you this only once, Mr. American. Then I will start to enjoy your lady here.” Randall’s head had cleared a bit but was not totally coherent. Maas knew this. Randall’s inability to answer would be his key to justify doing the woman harm. Maas was ready for her.
Randall raised his head and concentrated. He knew Maas wanted Dana in the worst way. He knew he must answer. He also knew whatever plausible answer he gave would hopefully delay Dana’s fate. “They are here to free us,” Randall began, concentrating on his words. Even then they were a bit slurred. “They are U.S. soldiers coming to rescue us. The university sent them when we went missing.”
Maas stood there motionless. He believed Randall. These intruders were well trained, he thought. Look what they had done to some of his crack troops. Maas rubbed his head with his hand. “How did they find us?” demanded Maas.
“The radio… We used the radio. We called for help,” answered Randall, deliberately misleading the German. “When your men jumped us and killed some of our group, we called in for help and gave them our location. They simply brought in troops and are now coming to get us. We told them where your complex was and how to get here. It sounds like they have come as we asked.”
Maas’ face was becoming red. If this was true, the battle was just beginning. He had to move and move fast right now. But he glanced over to his prize, the American female. She was young and beautiful. He wanted to ravage her more than anything else. But he must be alive to do that and the intruders outside were definitely closing in. He had to make a decision and make it fast.
“Chain the man to the wall over here,” demanded Maas. The guards walked over and picked up Randall, dragging him over to the wall opposite Dana. “I want him to have a front row seat while I torture this bitch.” With that Maas walked out of the room.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
It was quiet. Hugo stuck his head out of the door of the closet to look down the hallway. A single shot rang out and the bullet smacked into the door frame barely missing his head. Sparks flew as the bullet crashed into the metal frame with a loud clink. He pulled his head back and turned to Dane. “It’s hot out here,” he said, bursting through the door and into the recess across the hall. The door barely moved. Even his weight could not force it open. He leveled his weapon as one of the Germans peered around the corner. Hugo fired his silenced weapon and the burst smashed into the German’s face, knocking him back against the far wall now spattered with blood and brain matter.
Hugo reached behind and tried the door handle. It was locked. He checked the corner again, stepped out from the doorway and fired at the locking mechanism. It opened as another German rounded the corner. He stepped back into the open door a step and fired another burst, taking down the two Germans who decided to throw caution to the wind and rush Hugo.
They got exactly two steps each before Hugo’s burst cut them down. Three down, Hugo noted in his mind. He wondered how many to go. He glanced over his shoulder. There was the stairway they were trying to locate. Still covering the corner, Hugo motioned for Dane to come over. Dane peeked out of the opening and leveling his weapon at the corner scooted across the hall and past Hugo into the stairwell.
“Go on,” cried Hugo. “I’ll hold ‘em off here.”
Dane nodded his understanding and galloped down the metal stairs. He immediately realized he was making too much noise and slowed a bit. He came to the first landing. He took a quick look down to the next landing. Immediately the stairway was alive with gunfire. The sharp clink of lead hitting the steel stairs and the powdery dust from the bullets smashing into the concrete walls threw a blanket of haze and confusion over the area. If it was not for Dane’s safety glasses he was wearing, the tiny bits of concrete would have caused temporary blindness, something you cannot afford in a close firefight.
At the same time he heard gunfire back up the stairs. Evidently Hugo was wreaking havoc on his own. Dane reached into a large pocket on his vest and produced an M67 fragmentation grenade. With bullets still peppering the concrete walls around him, he pulled the pin and released the spoon. After waiting about a second or two, Dane tossed the grenade over the railing and down the space between the two opposing stairways. He turned his head, crouched and readied himself for the explosion. Within seconds there was a deafening explosion magnified immensely by the closed confines of the stairwell. The concussion stunned Dane momentarily.