Marco, Inspector of Police was angry, indeed his anger was Vesuvian to behold. Torn between his duty and his friend, his duty always held sway,
"You opened fire and shot two men in my city!" He strode around the library, detecting the faint smell of faeces in the room, despite it being cleaned up an hour before, "Did someone shit themselves?"
"Yes, I had a guest from the Albanian house," Nicholas replied, glancing at his watch. He wore khaki today, a throwback to his military days, he looked at the picture of professional soldiery. It unnerved Marco.
"Had?" Marco picked up the obvious point.
"Yes, by now I think he will be about an hour from the outskirts of the city. I did only give him flip-flops to walk in. The delay is the key to my stratagem." Nicholas smiled and beckoned Marco over to the table. The two men looked at thick red marker lines across the city streets map and continued to the larger regional and countrywide maps. The picture was obvious.
"You're leaving!" Marco breathed.
"I have not a single option left. I have stirred the hornet's nest and I need to evade them." Nicholas smiled ruefully, frowning at the size of the problem he had to solve.
"Hornets do not carry automatic weapons, Nicky!" Marco shrugged.
"Yes, so I will be out of your hair, my friend." Marco looked over and thumped his good-naturedly on the shoulder.
"So, what can I do to get you away quicker?" Marco turned and leaned against the table and rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"I need some muscle, just enough men to pad out the house and make us an even bigger target!" Nicholas sighed and then smiled at Marco.
"You want them here?" Marco replied, beginning to guess the plan, Nicky had formed.
"If they come here, that means they can't be chasing the girls. I've set four of them off already but with now 18 girls to move, I'm going to have to get creative." Nicholas shrugged.
"What exactly do you want from me?" Marco knew Nicholas had given this some considerable thought.
"I want six police transports to take groups of girls to larger Italian cities: Milan, Bologna, San Marino and Genoa. No one would attempt to take down armed police transports. That will then leave smaller private cars to move the girls to the airport to take small private flights to Sicily and Croatia." Nicholas sighed.
"This isn't cheap, is it?" Marco chuckled, "The police transports will cost you too."
"If it's 2 million euros, it's money well spent." Nicholas chuckled, "Sofia will be escorting one of the groups, I want her safe. You'll make sure of that?"
"Mamma Sofia will be well protected. I assure you." Marco cared for Sofia as much as his loving mother, "Are you leaving for good?"
"I can't come back, you know that. I've worn out my welcome. I will find another place in another country, probably Cyprus." Nick smiled ruefully. He liked the people here but if he was ever going to silence the nagging voice in his head, his private crusade would have to continue.
"I can't remember why you came here, Sir Nicky and set up Il Paradiso?" Marco asked, now fishing out his mobile phone.
"I came here to run away. I came here to use my money to live up to someone else's standard. Somebody special." With that Nicky shrugged his shoulders and held his hand out to Marco, "If I get out of here, I'll send you World Cup Final tickets!"
After two hours of calls, drawing out the plans and then a sudden confusion of departures, Marco and Nicholas parted as friends. The day's heat had dissipated, and the veil of blackness fell. It felt like the heat of the Italian sun had been shut in a box. Nicholas felt empty, the house was almost deserted. With Marco's transports, most of the girls had gone, only four remained and they would be gone by the morning, he and the expected team of Marco's men would hopefully arrive and be ready.
Sleep would not come to Nicholas, as it never did before an operation or exercise when he wore the crown on his beret. He had wandered around the house, dressed in army surplus fatigues and boots, carrying the ugly weight of his sidearm. Finally, about 2 a.m. he settled back into his office. Il Paradiso was silent now, he sat in his little office. The house was almost empty, the lights out, but for a single exterior light. The silence was a blanket, a shroud if this plan didn't work. Now, he sat at his laptop and the silence. He turned on the light and there she was, naked.
"Irina, you don't have to do this." He stood up and walked over to the beautiful girl, who had spread her legs for him, her pussy there for his enjoyment.
"I want to, Sir Nicki" She smiled up at him.
"Oh Irina, I'm twice your age!" He stammered but her beauty stirred him as no other woman had before Rosalind entered his empty life.
"Is that an excuse, Sir Nicky?" Irina stood up and crossed the distance between them, "In this moment, you don't have to be alone now. You've been alone too long, haven't you?" Irina was wise beyond her years.
"I am here to protect you and all girls like you. In a few hours. We could be under fire from the same men that trafficked you!" He stripped off his jacket and held it out to her, "If we make it out of here, you can choose any man you want." She accepted the jacket and then looked up at him.
