Fantasy Night Brings the Hunter by TMaskedWriter

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Story :- Night Brings the Hunter

Written by TMaskedWriter

"Well, I just got into town about an hour ago.

Took a look around, see which way the wind blow

with a little girl in a Hollywood bungalow.

Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light?

Or just another lost angel, city at night."

-The Doors, "L.A. Woman"

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Night Brings the Hunter Pt. 01

One of the mercenaries kicked the young man again to make certain he wasn't getting back up. Another placed a bag on the screaming woman's head as his associates tossed her bound body into the back of their Humvee. Men in two other vehicles searched around the crash site, looking for anything or anyone else of value to collect. The local authorities would be there soon, and they wanted to be gone long before then.

Another of the mercs picked up the woman's purse and climbed into the back of the Humvee with her. As the other men were making ready to leave the area as well, he opened the purse and dumped out its contents for inspection as he'd done many times before.

He'd found what he'd come to expect: Money, papers, a phone, some other items. He peeled off a few bills from the roll for himself, enough to insure an extra cut but not so much that the others would accuse him of skimming, and tossed the phone away, knowing it might have a tracker. The credit cards would be worthless by the time he got somewhere they could be used, but the cosmetics could be exchanged with some of the local prostitutes. Medications were also a potential source of revenue, but the woman had none.

An envelope fell out. What made this different from the passport and other papers the woman's purse held was the hundred-Euro note secured to it with a pair of crossed rubber bands. He picked it up and flipped it over, revealing a second bill secured to the back. It felt like there were more inside the envelope with the letter. He removed the rubber bands and pocketed the money before opening the wax-sealed letter.

Inside was a piece of expensive stationary folded twice. Each fold was wrapped in another hundred-Euro note, forcing anyone who wanted the money inside to open and read the letter. The letter was the same message written in four languages. English was the one he recognized, so he read that part.

*To whomever has opened this envelope,

I have more than paid for you to take the time to read this letter. If you know who the woman that carried it is, then you know who I am, and you are aware that this message is to be taken seriously and that I am capable of doing all that it promises.

This envelope is being carried by a woman whose identity may be verified if she is without other documents by an emerald signet ring on her right hand, or a small tattoo on the back of her left shoulder of the family crest pictured at the top of this stationary. If you have found her injured or aided her escape from others, call the number at the bottom of this letter from any phone in the world and think upon your heart's desire, and I will make it yours.

If you have taken her against her will, you have already noticed that she has fallen unconscious and will not answer your questions. She is under my spell and only I can awaken her. (Again, if you know who I am, you understand the truth of that statement.) However, you are still in control of the situation and still have all of the bargaining power. Call the number at the bottom of this letter from any phone in the world to give your demands or instructions.

If this woman is returned alive and unharmed (And for those who need clarification, that includes "unbangd" as well.), your demands can be met. If she comes to any harm whatsoever, you will earn my wrath and will find nowhere to run from me.

For your own sake and all that you hold dear, make the smart decision.

With all sincerity,

Contessa Helena de San Finzione*

He debated telling his employer about the letter, then stuffed it into his pocket. He certainly had a lot to think about now.

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

The maid ran through the castle, frantically searching for La Contessa. She found her in the library, staring at a chessboard and seated opposite a bald Russian man. The Russian moved his bishop, took her pawn, and declared check.

Contessa Helena de San Finzione looked at the board, then looked up and smiled at him before asking a question in Russian. "Do you read Confucius, Mr. Kasparov?" The grandmaster shook his head no. "I do. I love his style: Simple, logical, things we all SHOULD be thinking about all the time, but life then intrudes. One of my favorite passages applies here." She looked at her king, staring down the barrel of his bishop. "Great Man may be deceived, but he is never..." She castled her king. "cornered."

The maid stood between two bookshelves a distance away and cleared her throat. Helena heard her and turned around. "Just a moment, Tovarich," Helena said to him before approaching the maid.

"Jeanne," Helen said when she was close enough to speak in a low tone, switching from Russian to French without missing a beat. "Do you know who that is at the table? Even for me, arranging a private game with Kasperov is a challenge."

"Oui, Contessa," the maid replied. "It is that urgent. Something has happened with Lady Maria's helicopter."

Helen mentally switched gears. "Garry, "she called to the man waiting at the chessboard. "Don't leave town, we're not finished." She walked out the door and the maid followed.

"Is she ok?"

"They do not know. They say that warlords have shot it down and her phone tracker has been found at the crash site but she has not."

"Where is my jet," Helena asked the girl.

"You sent it to Africa with her and Monsieur Stavro, Contessa."

"Right. Wake my pilot and tell him to have the helicopter ready in 20 minutes, then call the airport. Find a trans-continental flight that hasn't boarded yet and tell them they've been commandeered by the government. Tell the pilots to chart a new course for the People's Democratic Republic of Uongo."

Jeanne made the needed calls as they walked, arriving at the Study. Helena went to her desk and opened the safe next to it. She pulled a black Prada Arcade bag from the safe and inspected the contents: Her diplomatic credentials, 25,000 Euros in various bills, a few platinum and black credit cards, a small, black leather pouch, and a Ruger LC9 with an extra clip were inside. Helena turned to Jeanne.

"I'll need clothes for the jungle." Helena recalled that Jeanne had only been with her for two months and told her "Closet 4, second rack. Two outfits."

Once the maid was out of the room, Helena steadied herself against the desk. "You've got 30 seconds," she told the tears forming in her eyes, and sat down and allowed herself 30 seconds of crying at a picture of Maria on her desk before wiping the tears away, blowing her nose, and sticking the picture next to it into her bag. She picked up her phone and told Siri "Army," as she heard the helicopter on the roof powering up. The call connected on the first ring.

"Si," said the voice on the end.

"Generalissimo, my great-granddaughter's helicopter has been shot down in Uongo. I'm about to fly to the airport. I want two squads of commandos waiting for me. I'll text what gate."

"Si, Contessa. I have only now heard and was about to call. Per favore, The Lady Maria; two of my men were escorting her."

"The only information I have so far, Generalissimo is that Lady Maria was not found at the scene. You may want to tell the men to pack with vengeance in mind," she replied, checking her Ruger before returning it to the bag.

"Si, Contessa. They shall be ready." The call ended and she made her way to the roof.

La Contessa walked toward the waiting helicopter, Jeanne in tow with a packed shoulder bag. Helena took the bag from her maid and loaded it into the helicopter. As she was getting in, she stopped and turned to the girl, shouting over the whirling props overhead.

"I just ordered the world's highest ranked grandmaster of Chess not to leave San Finzione until we finish our game, didn't I?"

"You spoke in Russian, Contessa. I do not know what was said."

Helen thought for a second. There wasn't time to go tell Kasperov he could leave. She finally came to a decision.

"Jeanne, I want every effort to be made to insure that my guest is happy and comfortable." The maid nodded. Helen grabbed the maid by her chin and gazed into her eyes. "And if it calls for it, I want YOU to be happy and comfortable with making HIM happy and comfortable, do you understand me?"

The maid's cheeks flushed as she smiled and nodded.

"Oui, Contessa. I shall make him happy and comfortable." Helen gave her a brief kiss before getting into the helicopter.

"Vive La France," she said to the maid as the door closed and she flew off to the airport. That's what she loved about the French, one didn't have to explain innuendo to them.

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Three shots were fired into the night air. A half-mile away, lights turned on, illuminating a gate ahead, which began opening. The convoy of Humvees made their way off the road and into the compound.

Shots of welcome were fired into the air as they approached, hailing the conquering heroes returning from their hunt. A man walked toward the incoming vehicles with a video camera, recording as they roared through the gates; the mercenaries looking as fierce as possible for the camera.

A large black man emerged from the lead Humvee, cigar clenched in his teeth. A face the world had come to know from YouTube videos and recent news exposure. He approached the one that had been in the rear and opened the back.

"Has she spoken," he asked the mercenary who was getting out of the vehicle. The merc handed him the woman's purse, which he tossed to a subordinate.

"Nothing, Mr. Igazi. She has been quiet the whole time. In fact, I think I heard snoring."

"And she is still wearing all of her jewelry?"

"You told us not to take it, Mr. Igazi. Everyone knows the penalty for stealing from you."

Igazi looked over her hands, finding the emerald signet ring he'd hoped for. He removed the hood and looked at Maria's face. Sometimes women he removed the hood from were terrified, sometimes they were relived to be out of it. This was the first time he'd ever removed a bag from over a woman's face to find her sleeping peacefully.

"Hey," he said loudly to the sleeping woman. When she did not move, he tapped her on the forehead and yelled "HEY!" Maria continued sleeping. He motioned for two of the men to bring her to one of the huts, then turned toward the men in the yard of the compound. The mercenary who'd rode with her followed the two men carrying Maria.

"There will be no fun with this one! She is mine," he yelled so all could hear. Many of them turned away in disappointment. "You have done well. Beer for all!" The disappointment turned to cheers as coolers were opened and cans and bottles passed around. He walked toward the largest hut in the compound, the men hoisting beers and cheering "Igazi, Igazi" as he walked away from them.

He unslung his rifle as he entered and sat down at a hexagonal poker table in the center of the room. The man who'd been recording their return knocked on the door. "Come," he called.

"Mr. Igazi, we have some good footage. Shall I edit it and deliver it to the media?"

"Not yet. How long were we gone?"

"Three hours, sir."

Igazi put out his cigar. "Then we still have eight hours before she arrives. I'll record my demands, and then it shall be delivered not to the media, but to the San Finzione embassy in the capitol."

"If you say, sir. Permit me a question, but I am told the girl is some kind of royalty?"

"Some kind, yes."

"Then with a prize this great, you could have the world's attention. Every television camera in the world would be pointed at Uongo and the name of David Igazi would be on the lips of all."

Igazi didn't remember the man's name, but he recalled that he was American. He'd taken a semester in journalism before dropping out of college, so Igazi had put him in charge of media affairs.

"This is not for attention," he told the cameraman. We need this girl, and we need one person alone to know where she is." He walked over to the small refrigerator by his desk and pulled out two bottles of beer. He set one before the cameraman and opened the other with his teeth before producing another cigar. "Once we have recorded my part, take it to the embassy."

"As you wish, sir," the cameraman said, setting down his camera and opening his beer. "I take it they will pay a greater ransom if the media is not informed?"

"Possibly, yes. But it is not ransom I seek."

"Your plans are greater than my understanding, sir," the cameraman replied. Americans always knew just how to kiss his ass.

"You'll want to get this," Igazi said, gesturing to the camera. The cameraman picked it up, pointed it at him and pressed record, giving a thumbs-up. David Igazi looked into the camera.

"If you want to trap a witch," he said to it. "First you must catch her familiar."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Night Brings the Hunter Pt. 02

"Things got hot in El Salvador, CIA got caught, couldn't do no more.
He's got diplomatic immunity. He's got a lethal weapon that nobody sees.
Looks like another threat to world peace for the envoy.
Send the envoy. Send the envoy."
-Warren Zevon, "The Envoy"

"Is your roll," Propappou said to Helena, walking over to turn off the kettle on the hot plate. When his back was turned, Helena palmed two of the white stones from the backgammon board and slipped them in her home tray, then picked up the dice cup.

They were in Troy's parents' garage, which had been converted into a small rec room. A foosball table and a pool table also graced the room, and an old Doctor Who pinball game stood against the wall by the workbench, where Propappou fixed the cocoa before bringing it back to the table. Helena had rolled a 2 and a 3, but lightly nudged the 2 to get double-threes.

"Here yours," Propappou said, handing the cup across the game board to her. With his other hand, he slid a couple of black stones up the sleeve of his red velvet smoking jacket. As he picked up his own cup, he casually slid the stones into his own home area. Helena smiled and ignored the obvious cheat; partially because she'd been cheating too, but mostly because it wouldn't be a proper Greek game of backgammon without it.

"Efharisto, Propappou," she said before sipping and finishing her turn.

"Perikala, Petalouda," he replied. "You Greek always been good, you do fine there. Meet good Greek boy like Troy. Hey, he got cousins there, you want I call them, meet up with you and Julie?"

"No, thanks. I had the perfect Greek boyfriend and I couldn't make it work."

The old man tried for a moment to get up, but he'd just sat down and his old joints weren't ready for effort again so soon, so he opened his arms and said "Hey, elah tho." Helena got up and walked around the table and into a big hug with him, nuzzling his long bushy beard.

"I'm sorry you and Troilus no stay together. You two was cute, and I would be proud to have you as my diesngoni OR my kori."

"I wanted that so much too. I know his heart isn't with me, though. And those fucking adoption people!"

"Eh, them malakas don't know what make REAL family like you and me." Helena bristled at the word "family." Propappou felt it holding her. "Hey, hey, you got every reason to think family bad word, but this is not it. Of not to cry."

"I'm not. I don't anymore. Sometimes, I think my dad beat all the tears out of me."

"Well, this you special night, you graduated the high college and it's your Name Day too. You and Julie got you trip after summer; you should be out partying with boys over at their place, not sitting in garage playing backgammon with old man."

She squeezed him tighter. "I'm right where I want to be, Proppapou. It's St. Helena's Day, I get to do what I want, remember?"

"Neh, this is for that," he said patting her head as she let go and went back to her side of the table. "Well hey, I got you something." Propappou reached into the pockets of his smoking jacket, searching for it.

"I don't need anything, Propappou. You and Troy are the only ones who really care about Name Days."

"Hey, you kids give me little things all the time. I no ask how you get money all the time, I figure you or Julie or Troilus knows a guy. Or maybe not; Troy, he good with money; get good maths grades. Like I tell him: Presidents, Congress, lawyers; all just be looking to steal. If you really want to steer the world, steer the money. Eh? Make them come to YOU for PERMISSION to steal! Here, Happy Name Day."

He found the item he'd been searching for and tossed it into the middle of the backgammon set. The small, black leather drawstring pouch landed with a rattling thump. Helena picked it up and opened it, pulling out the loop of coral beads on a string. Helena's eyes widened as a big smile spread across her face. She picked up the worry beads and started fiddling with them. Propappou pulled a string of his own from off of his left wrist.

"Ok, Helena, you see me use these for years. Now Propappou show you how to do it."

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Contessa Helena de San Finzione woke with a start as the plane hit a pocket of turbulence. The worry beads that she'd been toying with as she nodded off clattered to the floor of the empty First Class section; empty except for her and one of the stewardesses.

Apart from the crew and herself, the sixteen soldiers of San Finzione's elite Squadra de Ultimados troops that she'd met at the airport before takeoff and were now waiting back in Business Class were the only passengers. She'd offered to let them sit up in First Class with her, but their commander, a man named Capitano Ramirez, insisted that he and his men would give La Contessa her privacy.

At this moment, though, solitude was a bad thing for her. This was the part of her life that she hated: Solitude meant nothing to do but sit and worry about Maria and Stavro and try to will the plane to fly faster.

Stavro had been a bit less of a worry, as she'd been able to get some word while in flight. They'd found him at the scene unconscious and badly injured. One of the soldiers and the pilot had died in the crash, Stavro and the other had tried to fight off their attackers. The soldier had been killed, but Stavro had no weapon and fought with his hands, so they only beat him and left him at the scene. Still, the doctors said from his injuries that he'd fought off several of them before they overpowered him. He was still unconscious, but expected to make it. After Helena had called the Generalissimo, she informed Ramirez and his men of the loss of their comrades before returning to her seat and sitting in silent contemplation until she'd nodded off.

She thought about telling the stewardess to bring the drinks cart and leave it and polishing off every little bottle on it, but that would just lead to worrying about Maria AND being too wasted to do anything. She pulled a cigarette out of the pack that rested on arm of the seat and lit it. At the beginning of the flight, one of the stewards had told her that there was no smoking on the plane. She didn't feel like doing her thing to the man, so she simply pulled out her diplomatic passport with her free hand and flipped him off with the one holding the lighter as she lit the cigarette, and that had been the end of all discussion on the subject.

She swung the little video monitor that each seat had in this part of the plane and brought up the menu. All the movies were ones she'd either seen or she didn't want to sit through the "edited for airplanes" version. There was an option to view the plane's flightpath and information and she brought it up. Three hours left til they landed in Uongo.

Helena looked over at the stewardess, a tall, slender redhead with an Irish lilt whose nametag had read Colleen. ("Of course that's her name," she had thought when she saw the tag.) They hadn't really talked at all since Helena had asked for a hot cocoa after takeoff, and the rest of her co-workers were in back taking care of the Ultimados, so she'd been reading most of the flight. Helena couldn't see the title, but the cover was the "Fabio or a guy who looks like him about to rip the nineteenth-century maiden's bodice open" universal symbol for trashy romance. From the look on the woman's face, she'd gotten to one of the good parts. She looked fun, and fun was what Helena could use about now. When Colleen looked up from her book for a moment, she saw Helena make eye contact. She set her book down and walked over to her.

"Excuse me, Countess," she said in her musical Irish voice. "Is there anything I can get for you?" Colleen looked down at Helena's phone and gasped at one of the pictures of the crash site that'd been sent to her and was still on the screen. She looked at all the burnt and burning bodies and said "Oh, Is that..."

Helena cut her off. "Dolls. The food, water, medicine, and supplies were being delivered by the military convoy. She wanted to bring something for the children. She could have gone with them and had a full escort, but she'd never seen Africa from the air."

The stewardess hadn't been told why the government of San Finzione had commandeered the plane or why they were flying the Countess and what appeared to be a small invasion force to Africa when they'd been bound for Boston.

"I'm sorry, Contessa. Is there anything I can do to help?" Generally empty words, however, Helen WAS bored and needed a distraction.

"Sure, what were you reading over there?"

Colleen smiled and blushed a little. "Oh, just something I bought in the terminal before coming aboard. It's really...um...nice."

"It looked like you were at a nice part," Helena said with a little grin. Colleen's face was almost the same shade of red as her hair now. She looked up into Colleen's eyes and slowly stood from her seat. "Hey, don't be embarrassed. We're both girls here, nobody around to bother us. We can talk about stuff like that. What'd you think of it?"

[Ramesh_Rocky]

The stewardess straightened up. "I thought it was really sexy. I was getting a bit turned on this last chapter. The rugged young hero was just ripping the peasant girl's clothes off for the second time when I looked up."

Helena slowly circled her, checking her up and down as she did. "You do that a lot on long flights? Pick up a trashy romance and get yourself all hot and horny while serving the passengers? Be honest."

"Aye. Sometimes, if it's a really good one, I'll touch meself a little in the lavatory or where nobody else can see. Dunno why I'm telling you that."

"We're just girl-talking here, Colleen. And I have to admit, I do something similar on slow days around the castle. So, while we're both being so honest with each other, are the rumors about stewardesses true? Are you in the Mile High Club? Not counting Barbara Cartland and your fingers, of course."

"Oh, no, ma'am. Er, Countess. Not worth me job."

"But you're not AT your job right now, are you?" Helena asked, running a hand down the girl's back and making her shiver. "I've commandeered this plane and I'm aboard, that makes this San Finzione One now; MY plane." Her hand reached Colleen's firm ass, and she gave it a little squeeze. She jumped a little, but remained in her spot. Helena whispered in her right ear.

"In fact, that makes this entire plane MY territory. My 'lands,' if you will. You know, I'm a Countess; a noblewoman, right? Some might even say an EVIL noblewoman. A good number of people have, actually."

Helena's hot breath on her ear was making Colleen shudder. As the Countess circled her, Colleen found herself unable to move, feeling as if she were presenting herself for inspection. Every time Helena passed in front of her and Colleen saw the Countess' predatory eyes, the feeling became a certainty. The best response she could muster was to stammer out an "Oh, aye?"

"Aye," Helena breathed. "Your family doesn't have lands and titles, do they, Colleen," she asked with no mockery. The stewardess shook her head no. "That's ok, I didn't always, either, and we live in a civilized age. But one, two hundred years ago? Someone of my station would have called you a commoner; maybe even a peasant girl.

Helena circled in front of Colleen again, staring into her eyes as she walked around. "Do I make you feel like a peasant girl, Colleen?"

"Ah...a bit, yeah."

"I know I don't look like the man on the cover, Colleen, but do you read the ones where girls do things with each other? Tell me the truth now."

Colleen nodded before breathing out the words sharply. "Sometimes, aye."

"Mmm... me too. Those ones are my favorites, Colleen. I like the usual ones with the men, but the ones that are all girls? Oh, those send ME to the lavatory! Don't they do that for you too, Colleen?"

"Oh, jaysus fook, yes," she hissed. The way the noble Countess kept saying her name again and again made her feel so wonderfully... she'd never felt it before... "OWNED" felt like the right word.

"So, tell me, Colleen, what happens in the GOOD ones when the evil noblewoman meets the peasant girl?"

"She steps down from her horse. She... she chastises the girl; for trespassing on her lands. The g-girl t-trembles with fear. She knows this powerful, b-beautiful woman can and will deliver on the punishments she th-threatens the girl with. Sh-she is completely at her m-m-mercy!"

Helena stopped circling. Now she stood behind Colleen, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders and whispering to her again.

"That's right. And the evil noblewoman appraises her beauty and drinks in the scent of the girl's fear, and another scent that the girl wasn't even aware of before now, the scent of arousal. Naughty, forbidden, but undeniable arousal. When the noblewoman lays her hands on the girl..." Helena started rubbing Colleen's shoulders. "The trembles of fear quickly turn to trembles of excitement as a wave of passion, barely recognizable through the fear, but soon unmistakeable, washes over the girl. And the noblewoman says..."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

They said it together. "I believe we can come to some sort of arrangement." Colleen whispered the words, lightly moaning the last word as Helena's hands found her breasts. Helena closed in, pressing firmly up against the girl's back.

"And what happens next, Colleen?" Colleen's breathing was getting faster now, approaching panting.

"She...she rips the peasant girl's blouse off." As soon as she said it, Helena ripped Colleen's uniform shirt open. She pulled the blouse and jacket off as Colleen continued. "Exposing the peasant girl's naked breasts to the cool morning air."

"Hold that thought a second, Colleen. Those peasant girls don't usually wear bras. There we go. And then the noblewoman strokes and caresses her breasts, touching and squeezing her bare flesh. Softer, gentler, more knowledgeable than any brutish man's hands could ever touch her body. The peasant girl never even knew such feelings were possible until now, and now she can't help but want to feel more, can she, Colleen?"

Colleen moaned out a "Noooo," and took hold of Helena's hand, guiding it down her stomach, past the waistband of her uniform skirt, under the fabric of her panties, and down into the waiting wetness below. Helena rubbed the girl's slit as her other hand sought to drag the rest of her clothes down her legs.

Helena spun the girl round and kissed her deeply. Colleen began fumbling to remove Helena's clothes as Helena grabbed her ass and steered them back toward her seat.

She could have carried the fantasy further, made the girl believe that the two of them were in a shaded grove or aboard a pirate ship, but that would have been more effort than Helena wished to expend. For now, though, she had something to do besides worry for the rest of the flight.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Night Brings the Hunter Pt. 03

"Just another hunter, like a wolf in the sun.
Just another junkie on a scoring run.
Just another victim of the things he has done.
Just another day in the life of a loaded gun."
-Rush, "You Bet Your Life"

San Finzione One touched down in The People's Democratic Republic of Uongo. Helena and Colleen were dressed again (Colleen having to change into a spare uniform.), and Helena had invited her to the castle on her next trip to San Finzione and asked her address, telling the stewardess to expect a package soon. Colleen had definitely earned her new iPad.

Five limousines were waiting on the tarmac to take the Ultimados to the San Finzione embassy. Helena instructed Capitano Ramirez to accompany her in the next-to-last limo of the convoy. The embassy had called her on the plane, saying that Maria's captors had tossed a paper bag containing her signet ring and a flash drive over the wall outside from a passing car that didn't slow down enough to get the plate number. As they rode, Helena asked Capitano Ramirez if he'd been to Uongo before.

"Si, Contessa," he responded. "There was an operation once. You have clearance to know this." She didn't press for details.

"I have too. Your usual African dictatorship where the President For Life has five swimming pools and half of his people don't even know that clean water exists as a thing."

"People's Democratic Republic usually means a Communist-backed government," Ramirez replied, watching the passing people and noticing how many carried firearms.

"Yes. And like how that usually goes, they could hook a turbine to Marx's grave and power the whole country with his spinning."

"You do not seem very worried about Lady Maria," Ramirez commented.

"They sent the ring, not a finger. So they know better than to harm her. The flash drive presumably contains their demands or their manifesto or something. They want me to see it, and I imagine they'll be waiting for a reply. That they've chosen this way to contact me also means that I still have a wild card in play."

"They may have already killed her," Ramirez replied. "It may be an execution video."

"If that's so, then there's nothing I can do for Maria but avenge her, so that ISN'T so, do you understand me, Capitano?"

"Si, Contessa. We shall recover Lady Maria."

"That's not in doubt," she said as the gold leaf-covered minarets atop the Presidential Palace came into view. The embassy was a few blocks away.

"It may be the government that has her, Contessa."

"I don't think so. Supreme Comrade and President-for-Life Kiburi enjoys beating his chest on television too much to be this quiet about it. And he knows better than to cross me. There's a reason nobody stopped me from entering the country with sixteen men loaded down to start a war."

"So, the stories are true," Ramirez asked. "That La Contessa has a way of destroying the wills of men?"

Helena smiled sweetly at that. "Don't all women?"

"That is not what I meant."

"I know what you meant, Capitano, and I don't feel like having that conversation right now."

Ramirez nodded and the trip continued in silence.

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"If you want to trap a witch, first you must catch her familiar."

There was a cut in the video from the man saying those words into the camera to the interior of a shed. Two men in ski-masks with AK-47s flanked Maria, who was tied to a chair, her head hanging down. David Igazi stood behind her, his hands on her unresisting shoulders.

"They're drugging her," one of the Ultimados sitting around the embassy's conference table said as they watched the video play out on a large monitor at the end of the table. Helena sat at the opposite end, staring at the screen, it's light and her cigarette the only illumination in the room.

"No," Helena said, taking a drag of her cigarette. "She's been... trained to fall unconscious if kidnapped. They won't get anything out of her, and they don't have a screaming hostage to intimidate us with."

Some of the men turned toward La Contessa and wondered how she could speak of her great-granddaughter so coldly. All attention returned to the video when Igazi spoke again.

"To The She-Demon Who Birthed All Witches: David Igazi has your familiar."

"Igazi," Ramirez said, making an asking-for-a-cigarette gesture. La Contessa obliged him. "They say Kony has nightmares about him. The name means..."

"Blood in Swahili. I know. I've seen the videos of him beheading missionaries." Helena stared grimly at the screen.

"If the Demon wants her familiar back, she will come alone to the GPS co-ordinates at the end of this video at noon tomorrow. If she does not show up or if there are any tricks..." Igazi pulled out a long knife and held it to Maria's throat as she slept on. "A sleeping woman may not scream when you kill her, but that will not make her any less dead. The only question is if I give her to my men before or after."

A piece of paper with GPS co-ordinates on it was held up to the camera. The video continued for another 30 seconds before ending. The ambassador opened up a laptop and started searching for the co-ordinates.

"Savannah land," said the ambassador. "For kilometers in every direction."

"Some of the men could be camouflaged and waiting," Ramirez offered.

"They're expecting a trick," Helena replied, picking her own cigarette back up. There was only one drag left. She didn't usually smoke them to the end. "Probably have people watching the area now in anticipation of such a move. And all it would net us is whichever flunkies he sends to collect me and Maria still dies. We may beat the location of their base out of them in time, or we may not."

"I can speak to the Americans about letting us use one of their spy satellites to track you," offered the ambassador. Helena nodded, and the ambassador left to start making phone calls.

She stared down at the photographs of the crash site. She slid them over to Capitano Ramirez for inspection.

"They aimed for the engines," he noted. "They shot to bring the chopper down with minimal damage."

"Yes," Helena replied. "it didn't work, though. And now two of our men and a civilian pilot are dead. And the questions of how they knew who'd be on it and the flightpath and time still need to be answered. I'll have to take those things up with Igazi directly tomorrow."

"So you will go to the meeting," Ramirez asked. Helena simply nodded.

"There was no ransom demand, no political statement made. He's playing a game, and the only way I'm going to learn the rules is by doing what he says for now."

"This game could cost you and Lady Maria your lives."

Helena poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table and opened the small pouch that contained her worry beads.

"Then I'll have to do what the man who was the closest thing that I ever had to a father would tell me to do in this situation, Capitano Ramirez." She took a drink and started toying with the beads. "Cheat."

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Stavro was still unconscious. He'd been moved from the city hospital to the embassy's infirmary. Helen stood by his bed, looking over him. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and an oxygen tube was pumping air into his lungs via his nose. She took his bandaged hand.

"Hi, Stavro," she said to him. "How's your first trip out of San Finzione going?" He wasn't awake to answer.

Helen had only known him for a couple of months, ever since her friends had played an elaborate prank on her. He'd worked as a butcher's assistant and made deliveries to the castle. He'd caught Maria's eye, but she was afraid to say anything for fear Helen would decide she wanted the handsome young man for herself. After the prank, she and Maria had talked for a while, and Helen had decided that it was time to stop making Maria live the life of her personal maid and occasional lover and bring her into the world she'd been meant to live in before Helen had married her great-grandfather and claimed the Noble House of San Finzione for herself. The girl had only had those two months to enjoy the life she was born into and the love of the man she'd dreamed of until now.

She leaned forward and kissed Stavro on the forehead. They hadn't talked much at all, and it struck Helen just how little she knew about him.

"Maria will be here when you wake up," she told him. "Even if I'm not."

She walked back to the now-empty conference room, opened up the ambassador's laptop that was still there, and logged into Skype. She brought up one of the few contacts on her list and requested a video call.

The call connected. A face that she was only partially expecting to be on the other end appeared. Sounds of construction could be heard in the background.

"Oh. Er, hi," Susan said to her. "They're out with the construction workers. I can go get one of them if you want."

"That's ok," Helen said as she lit a cigarette. "I sort of called to talk to you anyway." Susan looked puzzled at that.

"Why me?"

"Because there are times when what you need most is to talk to your oldest, dearest friends," she took a long drag. "And times when what you need most is to talk to someone who completely despises you."

"I never said that," Susan replied. "I said that it'll take more than some fancy trinkets for me to forgive you, but not that it couldn't someday be an option." Helen had sent her a large gift bag a couple months ago to apologize for their getting off on the wrong foot. It hadn't gone over as well as she'd hoped.

"Well, thank you. That gives me some hope. And hope is what I need. I'm in a situation, I can't say anything about it; but something is going on that I can't buy or manipulate my way out of, and innocents have already been hurt and might still be."

"From everything I've heard, people getting hurt is a common problem for you."

"This..." She took another drag. "This wasn't one of those. This was me trying to follow his advice and do something right, and now it's blown up in my face."

"And I'm sure it'd be really easy to just fix things the same old way you always have, wouldn't it," Susan asked. "Whatever Tom Clancy 'need-to-know' fine pickle you've gotten yourself into, Contessa Helena de San Finzione can just descend from the clouds and wave her hand and everything's solved, can't she?"

Helen put out the cigarette. "I think we're past that being an option. I didn't create the situation. It arose because of who I am; who they are, as well. And soon you, too. How's that going for you?"

"Oh, that's going all right. Brenda keeps begging me to practice on her; but that's not why you called. This actually sounds serious. Is this a 'you need me to get them but you don't want to come out and ask me to' deal?"

"Oh God, no! They'd insist on helping and be on the next plane here, and then THEY'D be in danger too."

Susan raised an eyebrow at that.

"Danger isn't a word I hear you OR them use often. So, what's really going on right now, Helen? Don't give me any of that 'classified by the government of San Finzione' shit, you ARE the government of San Finzione!"

Helen reached into the pack for another cigarette. It was empty. She didn't have another at hand, so she pulled out the worry beads and started playing with them quietly; "The way you do them in Church," Propappou had told her.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"You're right. Ok, then. There are about twenty people in the world who know what I'm about to tell you, but whatever happens, the story won't stay contained long anyway. I need you to promise not to tell them before the media gets hold of it, ok?"

Susan poured herself a glass of wine. It made Helen want a drink too, but the only thing at hand was the now room-temperature half-empty water pitcher from earlier. She poured herself a glass anyway.

"All right. And thank you for asking rather than telling. I think we can call this your first step on the journey out of CompletelyDespiseville."

Helen smiled and told Susan what was happening. Susan remained quiet and let her talk, but her facial expressions showed Helen that she was following along.

"Ok," Susan said when she'd finished. "I get why we can't let the lovebirds in on this. But don't say you didn't create the situation or that it's because of what you can do. Nobody's kidnapped me to get to them. This situation came about because Helen decided 'I want my own country.'"

"San Finzione's actually a sovereign county, but I get what you're saying, and I appreciate it. I guess I don't really have a lot more to say. If anything happens, tell them to scatter my ashes at Propappou's grave, that's about it."

"I hope it doesn't come to that, but ok. Anything else?"

"One thing, call it the 'knowing is half the battle' bit at the end. I get that it was wrong to try to buy your forgiveness, but I've never gotten a reaction like yours from a gift. What was so upsetting?"

Susan laughed a little. "Because, Helen, those little bags and baskets of yours? You give those things to people that you've fucked. They're your little way of saying 'Hey, babe, that was fun, I'll give ya a call sometime.' And you fucked me when you made me feel like that. Not in a good way either."

"Well, I'm sorry again. And knowing is half the battle."

"Don't die, Helen."

"You either, Susan."

They ended the call.

* * *

Another Skype call was in progress at that time.

"She's reached the embassy," the person on the other end said. "And she's gotten your message. She'll be at the rendezvous."

"Good," David Igazi said to the screen.

"Remember our bargain, Igazi. Dispose of La Contessa however you will, but the girl is mine."

"She is yours. If the She-Demon cooperates."

"Very little matters to her, but the girl does. You'll get what you want from her."

"And in three days, you shall have what you want as well."

"This is the point at which little errors grow to become big ones. Take no chances."

"Once she has served her purpose, she dies. I know people who will pay well to consume the organs of a witch." Igazi took out his long knife and began sharpening it. "But her heart is mine."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Night Brings the Hunter Pt. 04

"Well, I went to the doctor,
I said "I'm feeling kinda rough."
"Let me break it to you, son:
Your shit's fucked up."
I said "My shit's fucked up?
Well I don't see how."
He said "The shit that used to work,
it won't work now."
-Warren Zevon, "My Shit's Fucked Up"

Contessa Helena de San Finzione sat in the back of the jeep as it tore across the open savannah. She reached down to grab the bottle of water that was rolling around in the seat and opened the little pill bottle she'd picked up at the embassy. In the front seat, Capitano Ramirez checked the feed from the American spy satellite.

"We have a fix on the rendezvous point, Contessa." He looked back at her quizzically as she swallowed the pills.

"Few things I picked up before we left town," she said, closing the water bottle. "Anti-malaria pills, vitamins, couple other things." Helena looked down at the kid gloves she wore. Jeanne, her maid back at the castle was still new, and when Helena had told her she needed to pack clothes for the jungle, the girl had picked her a safari outfit, complete with pith helmet. Helena had guessed it was technically correct, but that she'd have to talk to her about fashion when they got back. She didn't look so much like she was on her way to meet the African warlord who had kidnapped her great-granddaughter as she did like she'd come looking for Dr. Livingston or Tarzan.

"They'll take your gun, of course," he said to her. "And probably everything else."

"I thought of that. You and the Ultimados had better not be far behind."

Ramirez nodded.

"We will be able to form an assault plan once we've seen where they take you. There's no guarantee that Lady Maria will be in the same place."

"Whatever they want from me, Capitano," Helena said, producing a pack of cigarettes from a shoulder bag. She had an additional carton in in her black Prada Arcade bag as well now. "They know they won't get it until I see Maria. She'll be there."

They came to a stop at the coordinates. Helena got out of the vehicle and shouldered her purse.

"I have a feeling that they won't show up until you and the jeep are gone, Capitano."

Ramirez nodded. "I hope La Contessa knows what she is doing."

"Almost never," Helen replied, taking the pith helmet and sunglasses off the seat. "But that doesn't stop me, Ramirez. Just make sure everyone knows what to do."

They nodded to each other again and the jeep left. Helena stood alone in the midst of the grassy savannah. She leaned against a tree and put her hand on her hip, looking left and right as if waiting for a bus. She hummed a bit of AC/DC's "Ride On" as she took out a cigarette and lit it.

About halfway through her cigarette, she'd taken the sunscreen out of her shoulder bag and started applying it when she heard the sounds of approaching engines. Clouds of dust were coming up from the horizon in multiple directions. Soon, the vehicles making the sounds came into view: Six Humvees approached the tree that Helen stood under.

All of the vehicles came to a stop roughly twenty feet around her. Not in perfect sync, which Helena thought would have been cooler, just stopping a safe distance away. Each vehicle had a .30 caliber machine mounted on the roof. Two of the gunners pointed their weapons at Helena while the other four turned away from the group and searched the horizon. Almost a minute passed as they looked for any sign of other people approaching. She leaned against the tree and took a drag of her cigarette.

"There are 535 sub-languages and dialects of Bantu, boys," Helena said in English. "Why don't one of you start the conversation and I'll jump in?"

A door on one of the Humvees opened and a short man stepped out. He tossed a sack that landed at Helena's feet. A crude leather and stone ball gag rolled out of it.

"The witch will wear the gag and the hood," he shouted in Somali. Helena bent down and held them up. The bag had a faint scent of a tropical blend shampoo with an emphasis on the coconut scent. She recognized the smell of Maria's shampoo on the bag. Her heart leapt, but she couldn't betray emotion in front of these men, so she simply shrugged.

"Still not my weirdest first date," Helena replied in Somali as she placed the gag in her mouth and tied it around the back. She picked her purse and shoulder bag up off the ground and the Somalian gestured to get into his vehicle. He avoided her gaze as she got into the back seat. A tall, bald white man with a revolver trained on her sat in the back seat as well. He made certain the gag was secure before placing the hood over Helena's head. She felt him taking her purse and bag off her shoulder and searching through them.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"We got a nice piece here," the man said in an East End London accent. From his voice and appearance, he conjured images in Helena's mind of an English actor whose every film featured a POV shot of him kicking someone in the face. "And I ain't talkin' 'bout the countess." She heard the sound of metal gently rattling in his hand and realized he'd found the gun right away. Helena hadn't made it difficult, though. It was on top of everything else in her purse.

"Ruger LC9," he continued. "Good gun for a lady. And wot's this?" She heard the sound of a rubber band being broken off of something and felt his weight shifting as if he were stuffing something in his pocket. "What kind of rich woman comes to Africa with only 5000 Euros in her purse?" There'd been 25,000 Euros in the bag. "And a satellite phone, nice thing ta 'ave out here. Well, we'll just remove the battery and take care of any GPS tracking you had in mind. I'll try and forget to tell the boss about this." He leaned forward, speaking to the driver. "Let's not keep the big man waiting."

The Humvee started moving. She could hear the sounds of the other vehicles moving as well. They started driving around in a circle. From the sounds outside the hood, Helena could hear that the other Humvees were falling into formation in front or behind them and doing the same. A pop followed by a hissing sound came from the front seat, and Helena caught the scent of chemical smoke, indicating that the man had popped open a smoke grenade. After a few seconds, she heard him drop the can. Presumably, men in the other vehicles were doing the same.

"So much for the satellite," she thought as she realized what they were doing. The sounds of other Humvees breaking away from the circle could be heard before the one she was in turned out of it. Presumably, they'd all drove in circles while smoke grenades were popped out, then when a good enough cloud of dust and smoke had been kicked off, each driver went in a different direction. They'd effectively run a shell game on the satellite. Helena ruminated on the fact that she'd seen that one done a few times recently as the driver sped across the savannah.

* * *

Two hours later, the Humvee stopped. Three shots were fired into the air. Another three shots rang out some distance before them and the driver moved on.

Helena heard the sound of cheering and the scent of men who'd never heard of a shower became much stronger than it had been inside the vehicle. The door opened and someone helped her out and removed the hood.

Helena found herself in the yard of a compound of shacks and huts, standing before a giant, muscular man with ebony skin and a cigar in his teeth. Behind him, a large tent, the kind Helena associated with travelling Holy Roller churches, was being erected in the distance. He looked her up and down appraisingly. Helena wondered if this was how Colleen felt in the plane before David Igazi spoke.

"So this is The She-Demon Who Birthed All Witches. I thought you would be taller." Helena shrugged and he continued. "Before I remove your gag, you should be aware that there are guns on you from every tower on the walls, and the men guarding the girl have instructions to kill her if I should appear bewitched."

Helena nodded her understanding and the gag was removed. The Englishman came up to Igazi with her purse and showed him the gun she'd been carrying. He held the gun up in the air, tiny in his hands, and shouted in Rwanda "She brought this to kill me." The men around them laughed.

Igazi took out the money and the carton of cigarettes and ordered they be passed around. He then noticed the black pouch containing the worry beads.

He tossed the gun back to the Englishman and put the beads in his pocket. "I shall hold on to your fetish for now."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"Of all the fetishes I have, worry beads are not one of them," she replied. "I'll be wanting those back. And I'll see Lady Maria before we discuss whatever you want with us, thank you."

"I did not expect you to be American," Igazi said when he heard her voice.

"I didn't expect to be a great-grandmother before thirty. It just sort of worked out that way. I'll see her now."

Igazi stood closer and looked down to shout in her face.

"I will decide when you see her! You will obey me or..."

"Or what," Helena interrupted, speaking Rwanda. "You'll kill us? You could have had your men shoot me back on the savannah if that's what you wanted. No, you need something, or why go to all this trouble? And you know that whatever you DO need, I won't do it if she dies. So quit the blustering; nothing happens until I see her." She looked around. "Also, it's been a long drive; so, we just shit anywhere around here? Or..."

Igazi pointed to a covered bench with a hole in it surrounded by mosquito netting. A corresponding hole in the ground was below the hole in the bench. A torn-up newspaper on the bench was the only suggestion of anything for wiping. A bowl of water for washing after sat in front of the bench. Helena looked at the setup for a few seconds.

"Well, I'd have preferred an issue of Cosmo," she said as she walked over to the bench and stepped inside the netting, all the men in the compound yard looking at her as she dropped the short pants and underwear she wore. "Enjoy the show, boys."

* * *

Maria was sleeping peacefully on a cot inside a wooden shack. Her lips were dry and beginning to crack from thirst.

"Best I been able to do for 'er is a spoonful of water now and then," the Englishman explained as the two guards with AK-47s stood outside the hut, guns pointed at Helena. "She really needs to eat or drink something soon."

Helena nodded. "I can wake her." She turned toward the men with the AKs. "I'm going to wake her up now."

She stepped over to Maria's side, bent down, and whispered in her ear.

*"Xypna kai nah emay atromitos, mou diesngoni."*

Maria's eyes fluttered open. She remembered the men pulling her from the helicopter wreckage and tying her up. She remembered seeing Stavro fighting off three men before a fourth came from behind and hit him with the butt of his rifle, then seeing them all start kicking him on the ground before the bag went over her head and everything faded away.

"Great-Grandmama," Maria said calmly in Italian. "Where are we?" Helena responded in the same language.

"We're in the camp of the men who took you, my dear. You've been asleep for two days. You need food and water, Maria. I need to go do something for their leader, and then they'll let you go."

Maria nodded. "But what about La Contessa?" She'd been Helena's maid for so long that she was still getting used to calling her anything else.

"Stavro is fine," Helena responded. "He's back at the embassy in the city waiting for you."

"You have ignored my question, Great-Grandmama. They'll let me go when you do this thing they want. When do they let you go?"

Helena smiled a little bit. She'd instructed Maria to be fearless upon waking, so she supposed she'd asked for that. She sat on the cot next to Maria and hugged her.

"I don't know, Dear One. I'm not certain they will. That's why I need you to be strong. If anything happens to me, you'll be Contessa, and San Finzione will be looking to you for guidance." Maria nodded.

"They will most probably kill you when you have done what they want," she said calmly as the Englishman brought her a bowl of water and some food on a plastic tray that looked like it had been stolen from a cafeteria somewhere.

"Maria, honey. Propappou told me something long ago that I now fully understand: You kill for your children, you die for your grandchildren." Helena stood up and kissed Maria on the forehead. "You'll be ok. Stavro is waiting for you back at the embassy." The girl nodded as her great-grandmother and the Englishmen left the shack and the guards returned.

"Ok, Vinnie Jones," Helena said, remembering the name of the actor whose image she associated with him. "Let's go see what your master wants."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Night Brings the Hunter Pt. 05

"Well, I can saw a woman in two,
But you won't want to look in the box when I'm through.
I can make love disappear.
For my next trick, I'll need a volunteer."
-Warren Zevon, "For My Next Trick, I'll Need A Volunteer"

David Igazi was sitting in front of three televisions. One was tuned to CNN, one was tuned to the local news in Uongo, and the third was tuned to BBC World News. The two bigger news services, as was often the case, knew four or five facts and were rewording those facts in every conceivable way until more information came in.

They knew that Lady Maria Louisa Francesca de San Finzione's helicopter had failed to rendezvous with a military supply convoy at a refugee camp two days ago, that the helicopter had been found with three dead and two unaccounted for, including Lady Maria herself. No ransom demand had been made or video released to the media, but the area where her helicopter went down was near the territory of the brutal warlord David Igazi.

Igazi smiled at the mention of his name as they reworded as much as possible the other things they knew: That search parties were underway and that Contessa Helena de San Finzione had been unreachable for comment. The newscaster for the local news had nothing on the story and was instead talking about glorious production outputs for the next quarter. Behind him, the door to the hut opened and the large Englishman escorted Helena into the room. Igazi turned from the TV as reporters were commenting about the recent disappearance of Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov.

He pulled two bottles of beer out of a cooler and set one before the empty chair that Helena walked over to while he opened his own with his teeth. She sat down and opened hers against the edge of the poker table.

"The world has learned of your disappearance, Demon." Igazi told her, lighting a new cigar. Helena produced a pack of cigarettes and lit one herself.

"I prefer MSNBC," Helena responded, taking a drink. She hadn't had a Budweiser since she was a teenager. She hadn't missed much. "That Rachel Maddow, umm, you just KNOW she knows how to eat pussy."

David Igazi smiled and let out a big laugh. A smile and laugh that made Helena think he was about to extol the virtues of 7-Up over cola-based soft drinks.

"So," Helen said in English, taking a drag. "You've got me here. Maria seems to be ok. Now we should get to WHY you want me."

"Just so. But first, I require a demonstration of the power that they say you possess." He nodded to the Englishman, who motioned to someone outside and stepped out of the building. Two more men entered and tossed a scared young woman into the room. She fell to the floor, looking up in horror at Igazi. Igazi walked over to the girl and looked at Helena, the guards keeping their guns on her.

"This," he said, clapping his hand on the girl's shoulder. She let out a yelp, but he looked down at her and she cringed back. "is Umiwama. Her village's tribute was inadequate, so I took her instead. As you can see, she is terrified of what I have in store for her; making money for me. You will use your witchcraft to make her enjoy her new life as my most devoted and profitable whore."

Helena looked at the girl and looked back up to meet Igazi's gaze.

"I'd tell you to eat my shit, but I took care of that when I got here."

"You do not understand, Demon. This girl's holes are going to bring me money. What is up to you is whether or not they do so freely out on the streets or chained to a bed in a basement. On the street, she may bring in enough to make me forgo collecting her village's tribute for a few months. In the basement... well, she has sisters that could join her. Together they may bring in enough."

Helena put out her cigarette. At any moment, she could simply do her Thing and command Igazi to release Umiwama with her and Maria and order all of his men to drop their weapons and surrender to her, but the guards watching Maria had been ordered to shoot her if Igazi appeared to be "bewitched," and there was no guarantee that she could stop them in time. She steeled herself and knelt before the girl.

"Umiwama," she said calmly, laying her hands on the girl's shoulders more gently than Igazi did. "That name's Kinyarwanda, isn't it? Doesn't it mean 'Daughter of God'?" She'd asked in that language and the girl nodded. Igazi stepped back and sat in a pappasan chair as he watched them.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"Umiwama, this man," she pointed at Igazi. "And despite everything that you have heard, he IS only a man, is going to make you do things. Things with strange men that I'm pretty sure you've never done before. Are you a virgin?" The girl nodded. Helen sighed before continuing.

"If I find a way to bring you home, I will do it. But for now, for your family's safety and mine, I must tell you that you will enjoy the tasks he gives you to perform. They will be uncomfortable at first, but you will learn quickly, and you will perform these tasks as happily as you are able. You will look forward to the things that he and the men who pay tell you to do. You will not worry, you will not be afraid. This is your life now, and you will love it."

Umiwama's tears stopped and the look of fear on her face turned to a look of contentment as she nodded agreeably with Helen's words. Helen turned to the man with a look of contempt as she mentally added this moment to the ever-growing list of "Reasons to Kill David Igazi" in her head.

"She's yours now. Command her as you will."

"Undress," he told the girl. Umiwama rose to her feet and slid the simple dress she wore off her shoulders, letting it fall to the ground. Igazi raised his finger and Umiwama started walking toward her. The guards showed some interest, but kept their guns pointed at Helen.

He pointed down, and the girl knelt gracefully. He pointed to the fly of his trousers, and the girl reached for the zipper when Helena spoke up.

"Stop," she told the girl. Umiwama froze. Igazi turned his head toward her as the two guards flipped off the safeties on their weapons. "Unless you want your friends with the guns to start making out, I think I've given you a sufficient demonstration. You can humiliate the girl on your own time. Let's get back to our business."

"As you wish, Contessa," he chuckled and motioned for the guards to take her away. This time, Umiwama went willingly out the door with the two men. "My men can take over her... training from here."

Helena got up and returned to her chair, producing another cigarette and taking a large drink of her beer as the Englishman returned. "You have someone else that you want me to do that to, I'm guessing."

"Not quite the same thing, but yes. The tent my men have been setting up is for an important meeting tomorrow. Warlords from six factions will be coming to my compound to settle a territorial dispute."

"Is Kony coming," Helena asked. Igazi nodded in the negative. She took another drag. "Won't be much of a party if Kony's not going to be there."

"Kony will be a thing of the past once you have used your witchcraft to compel the other warlords to pledge their loyalty to me and unite their forces under my banner. After you have done this, the girl will be released unharmed." Helena mentally accessed her knowledge of the region.

"Hmm... I suppose with the right six factions behind you, you'd have the strength to take on Kony directly. Or no... Kony's forces are too far north from here. He'd be a long-term goal for you. But the capital of Uongo is less than a day's drive. Kiburi's army would definitely be overmatched by your New Mongol Horde. The only military force that could lend him aid in time to stop you taking the city would be..."

Igazi grinned and continued the sentence. "The convoys of San Finzione's troops delivering your country's aid packages through our blockades around the refugee camps, yes; which will be easily overcome once the six factions' forces are united with my own."

"You know we have other troops, right? Not just the ones here. You're not a stupid man, you know you'd be starting a war with my country and we'd send everything we have to remove you from power. You should take a dip in one of Kiburi's swimming pools while you'll have the chance. I recommend the one in the East Wing; beautiful view at sunset."

Igazi chuckled under his breath again. "You need not concern yourself with that. Just do as I command at the meeting tomorrow and I will concern myself with your forces."

"All right, then. And thank you for not lying about any intention of letting me go after you've got what you want as well." Helena said. Igazi grinned as she put out her cigarette. "Set Maria free and I'll make you a king and give you your little war."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"You just finished telling me that I am not a stupid man. The girl remains my prisoner until I get what I want. Then she is free to go. My men shall deliver her to your embassy. For now, you have been on a long journey, and tomorrow will be a busy day for you. Make whatever preparations your magic requires." He turned to the Englishman. "Take her to the Tower for now."

The Englishman pulled out his revolver and pointed it at her, indicating with it that she was to come along. Helena got up and walked toward him, then stopped and turned to Igazi.

"If you expect me to prepare my magic, I'm going to need my fetish."

The warlord thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled the leather pouch out, tossing it to her. Helena opened the pouch and made sure the beads were still on their string. She closed it and put it in her pocket.

"I told you I'd want these back," she said as she allowed the Englishman to escort her out.

* * *

The Tower was somewhat misnamed. A small metal shack stood on top of a larger shack with some hastily crafted stairs leading up to it. The Englishman led Helen across the courtyard and up the stairs as she took note of the guards watching them from the walls, their guns trained on her. Lights were being turned on around the compound as the sun set.

As she walked, Helen thought that she might be able to yell a command to everyone in earshot and the guards might abandon Maria and join the rest of the men in storming Igazi's hut and tearing him to pieces with their bare hands or being compelled to eat him alive. That "might" didn't outweigh the risk that they might not hear, see the others behaving strangely, and carry out Igazi's orders to shoot Maria. The Englishman broke the silence as they ascended the stairs.

"So, hearing the other fellas round the campfire, you're supposed to be some kind of spirit or witch. That what the Big Man wants ya for?"

Helen nodded. From the vantage point of the top of the stairs, she could see Umiwama surrounded by three men undoing their pants, a big, welcoming smile on her face. She looked away and let the Englishman lead her to her room.

It looked a lot like the shed they were keeping Maria in, but with some changes. There was only the cot inside, and the walls had thick plastic windows all around so the guards on the towers could see in during the day. A slot on the door for sliding food trays, and other smaller slots around the surface could only be opened from the outside. Helen reasoned that the smaller slots were about the right size for sticking gun barrels through and executing the occupant from outside the room. Helen entered the shack and sat on the cot.

"I'll arrange some food and water to be brought to ya," The Englishman said as he was about to close the door.

"Wait," Helen said before he shut it. He opened it back up again a little. She gave him a sweet smile. "You should give me back my phone. And the battery. You saw your boss give me back my beads, so it must certainly be ok for me to have my phone."

The Englishman thought for a second, then said "Yeah, all right," and retrieved the satellite phone and battery he'd taken from Helena's bag and handed it to her. She gave him the sweet smile again.

"Thanks. Remember, we're not telling the Big Man about this." He nodded his understanding and closed the door, the wiggling knob on the closed door indicating that he'd locked her in.

When he was gone, Helena popped the battery back in the phone and waited for it to power up. An unforeseen benefit to removing the battery was that it hadn't drained much since she'd charged it before leaving the embassy. When it didn't sound like anyone was walking around outside, she dialed a number.

"Si," said the voice of Capitano Ramirez on the other end.

"I'm in," she replied. "I know where they're keeping Maria. This is my first moment not at gunpoint to be able to talk, and I don't know how long we have."

"I understand, Contessa. We were able to follow the tracker you swallowed."

Helena took the phone away from her ear and walked to the window overlooking the toilet. There was no light in her room, so she covered the screen with her hand to keep any guards from spotting the phone's light. On the walls, she could see the men enjoying the cigarettes they'd taken from her bag when she arrived.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"Yeah, I don't think we're going to get that one back. Listen, Igazi has a summit meeting of the warlords tomorrow. That's what he wants me for: to get them to agree to make him their king. The shack that Maria is being held in is right next to the water tanks. There were two guards armed with AK-47s watching her when they let me see her. Have you found a way in?"

"The perimeter is well-guarded. Strangely, many of them are looking toward the compound rather than away from it."

"Oh, those are probably the ones with their weapons trained on the room I'm in. Apparently, putting one shack on top of another makes it a tower. I'm being kept in the shack on top."

"And they gave you a telephone?"

"We're getting closer to that talk about the things I can do, Ramirez, but not now. My part of the plan should kick in around midnight. Though it sounds like if we wait until morning, we can take out Igazi and wipe out most of the warlords in the region."

"And what if the other warlords bring their own men? Who knows how many we may be facing then?"

Helena took in his words, thinking of how her friends had told her in the past about her tendency to push things too far. She decided he was right; getting Maria to safety was the top priority. Bloody vengeance on Igazi and cleaning up Africa could wait until she was out of harm's way. From out the window, she could see men laughing and smoking, a few of them walking toward where Umiwama was servicing the three men to take their turn.

"All right, screw the summit. Maria comes first. How are the others?"

"They made it in," Ramirez replied. "They'll emerge when the time is right."

Helena took a deep breath. It wasn't time to relax yet, but even here, in the cell, things were happening. She was doing something now. She heard the sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs.

"Someone's coming. Go for midnight." She hung up and stuck the phone behind her back, under her shirt as the food slot opened in the door and a tray slid in. Between the glass of dirty water, the fried leg of an animal she didn't recognize, and a handful of wild grubs was a note. She picked it up and read it: "Present for you under the cot."

The Moon moved across the sky and its light began to enter the shack. Helena bent down and looked under the cot. Strapped underneath by two pieces of duct tape was her gun. She pulled it loose and checked it. The gun was still loaded. Helena smiled. Her wild card was still in play. She tucked the gun into her waistband and checked the time on the phone. Four hours until midnight.

She lit a cigarette of her own and produced the worry beads from the pouch. Nothing to do but wait. Helena took a sip of the almost tea-colored water that she knew contained no tea. Not the hot cocoa she would have preferred about now, but it would suffice.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Night Brings the Hunter Pt. 06

"Roland searched the continent for the man who'd done him in.
He found him in Mombasa, in a barroom drinking gin.
Roland aimed his Thompson Gun, he didn't say a word,
But he blew Van Owen's body from there to Johannesburg."
-Warren Zevon, "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"

Contessa Helena de San Finzione sat on the cot in her cell. She held the string containing the worry beads in her left hand, between her forefinger and middle finger so that half the beads were in her palm and the other half dbangd over her forefinger. Helena turned her wrist and the beads behind her hand flipped over and clacked with the beads in her palm. A flick back, and the top half of the string flipped back around and made a smaller clacking sound as they hit the back of her hand. She repeated this rhythmically while she waited to act.

The noise of the beads drowned out the sound of Umiwama being joyously plowed by Igazi's men somewhere in the courtyard below, which made Helen sad. There hadn't been anything she could do to spare the girl from her fate, but she'd done her Thing so that the girl could at least enjoy the life of prostitution that David Igazi had in mind for her. And if everything went well with the assault, Helena would be certain to undo the damage and try to make the girl forget the experience.

As Helena waited for midnight, when the Ultimados would strike, she had plenty of time to think about the past few days. The African warlord's men had shot down Maria's helicopter with the intention of capturing the occupants. It wasn't likely that they just shot down every helicopter they saw and hoped something good came from the wreckage, so they somehow knew that this one would be carrying something of value. They were right: Lady Maria, her great-granddaughter, was aboard.

Maria's helicopter ride, however, hadn't been a scheduled flight from the base, but the whim of a young, wealthy girl who'd never seen the wildlife of Africa from the air and had the influence to arrange a private flight. That's why Helena had instructed Jeanne to monitor them when they left; to insure that she arrived safely. But they couldn't have known who would be in the helicopter, when it would leave, and what flight path it would take without someone on the inside feeding them information.

She'd been kidnapped with the sole purpose of luring Helena here, to Igazi's compound, where a meeting of the warlords was to take place in the morning. Igazi wanted Helena to do the thing that she and her friends learned at an early age to take control of the warlords and make them swear loyalty to him. From there, his much larger force would take over the country of Uongo. They would have to go through her own troops to take over, which would undoubtedly spark a war between San Finzione and Uongo, or whatever Igazi planned to change the name of the country to once he'd taken over. Igazi seemed unworried by the possibility.

The trick his men did with the smoke grenades and the six Humvees driving in opposite directions back on the savannah was particularly effective against satellite or aerial tracking. It was possible that Igazi might have anticipated satellite surveillance, but given all the other inside information he seemed to possess, having been tipped off about it was equally likely.

That he'd kill Helena once he got her to do what he wanted was obvious. But Maria was still unharmed, which was more than she could say for the tribal girl screaming in ecstasy down below. Why not send Maria to the bang Basement he'd had planned for Umiwama if Helena hadn't made her happy with being a prostitute? If war with San Finzione was his ultimate goal, why not just execute Maria at the same time that he killed her?

Her thoughts answered the question for her: Because Maria was someone special. She would be Contessa after he killed Helena. Maria wasn't the kind of person that Helena was; she would certainly not send San Finzione's troops to war just to avenge her great-grandmother. Even after what he'd done to both of them, Maria would still choose to negotiate peace. It made Helena sometimes wonder which of them had more Italian in their blood.

Igazi couldn't have counted on that, though. He had no way of knowing that Maria was too good a person to seek revenge. And he'd been careful to this point, especially with how he kept Helena from using her thing to get them both out of this. No, he had some other reason not to worry about a war with San Finzione.

As Helena figured out the only explanation that made sense to her, it started outside. A few minutes before midnight, she heard the first sounds of vomiting: One person, then a second, followed by a third. Up on the walls, she could see guards dropping to their knees, clutching their stomachs, or leaning up against something as their legs began to give out.

She looked over at the Humvees, still parked where they'd stopped after bringing her to the compound, and watched as two shadows emerged from under the vehicles. Helena had expected that Igazi would have people watching the rendezvous site for anyone trying to sneak in camouflaged, however she took a gamble that Igazi hadn't seen the film "Cape Fear." The two Ultimados who'd strapped themselves to the underside of her jeep before reaching the site had concealed themselves in the savannah grass, then lashed themselves to the underside of two of the Humvees that had been sent to collect her, and were now making their move.