side there were eight wooden beds, each matched to a tall wooden wardrobe.
Karla dropped onto one of the beds and buried her head in her arms, weeping uncontrollably. Many girls did the same, lying on their beds and crying while others wandered around the room, exploring their new surroundings. First, they opened the room’s doors and found a bathroom and rudimentary kitchen. Moments later, one of them opened her wardrobe.
“Oh!” the young woman exclaimed as she examined the contents. The other girls gathered around.
The wardrobe was filled with beautiful dresses, hanger after hanger of long, expensive-looking gowns. She pulled open the drawers to reveal lacy underwear, makeup, and an assortment of accessories. At the bottom of the wardrobe was a collection of high-heeled shoes.
Their plight was momentarily forgotten as the girls pulled items from other wardrobes. Even Karla stopped crying and was drawn into the moment. None of them had ever owned clothing like this; in their villages women wore flat shoes and plain clothes.
Before long a few of the girls had discarded their old garments and were laughing and giggling as they pranced around in the new outfits.
None noticed that they were being watched from a corner of the high ceiling, where a camera recorded everything.
CHAPTER 6
THE MANOR, SOMOGY COUNTY, HUNGARY
“Who the fuck are they?” Gusztáv screamed into Aurelia’s face. She was tied naked to a chair in the cellar of the manor. Blood pooled on the cobblestones under her, running down her thighs. He had raped her savagely when they first brought her into the makeshift dungeon. “They come into my territory, they kill my men, they turn my woman into a spy, who the fuck are they?”
Aurelia whimpered. Her face was already battered where he had punched her repeatedly, her once beautiful features a bloodied, swollen mess.
“If you don’t want to talk, that’s up to you.” He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “But if you don’t, I’m going to feed you and that Croatian bitch to the dogs.”
Tears ran down her checks and onto her bare flesh. Her body convulsed in sobs, straining against the ropes holding her to the chair, but still she said nothing.
“Fine, have it your way.”
He nodded to the guard in the corner, who handed him a pair of pliers.
“I didn’t want to have to do this.” Gusztáv locked her hand down with his vicelike grip, trying to force her fingers straight. She struggled, scrunching up her fist. He forced it flat and clamped the pliers onto one of her long fingernails. She screamed in agony as he tore it from her finger, thrashing against the ropes like a woman possessed. Eventually her head slumped forward and she hyperventilated as she wept.
“Tell me who they are and it all stops.” Gusztáv caressed her hair as he spoke softly.
She looked up at him with eyes filled with hatred and tears. “They will come for me, you know. It doesn’t matter if you kill me because they will still come for me. Then they will kill you all and burn this place to the ground.”
“ Who are they, Aurelia?”
“Wilhelm is from Interpol. He loves me.”
“Interpol?” He took a phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
“András, Interpol is sniffing around. We’ve got to shut down the manor.” He paused. “How the hell would I know how they found us? Why don’t you ask your friend…No, the girls are already on their way to you.” He paced the cellar floor. “No, only eleven, one of the blondes was bitten by a dog.” He paused as the voice on the other end of the phone became agitated. “The bitch tried to escape. This is not a problem; I will close up here and move to another location, then I will find you more blondes.” He put the phone back in his pocket.
“Tell everyone to pack,” he told one of his men. “We’re leaving.”
“What about her?”
“Give her a hit.”
The man took a syringe and a length of rubber tube from the wooden table in the