Torchwood: The Men Who Sold The World Read Free Page A

now alone with the girl. ‘You got some sugar for Daddy?’
    There was no reply, and Rex began to feel uncomfortable. Something about this wasn’t right.
    ‘You’re beautiful,’ said Dmitri. ‘Really beautiful.How old are you?’
    The answer was quiet, barely even registered by the microphone.
    Rex sat there for a moment, a shiver running through him before he yanked off the headphones, opened the back of the van and ran towards the hotel.
    Rex forced himself to stop running when he entered the hotel lobby. This was bad enough, without making a public scene. He moved towards the elevators and hit the call button, grinding the toes of his shoes against the marble tiles of the lobby floor. ‘Come on, come on…’
    He watched as the counter worked its way down.
    The doors opened. A solitary man stood inside. He was well dressed but local. What the hell, Rex thought, I might as well really screw this up.
    ‘You just seen Dmitri in room 1204?’ he asked as the man made to step past him. The surprised look on the man’s face was reflected in the elevator’s mirrored walls and more than enough evidence for Rex.
    He smiled his best ‘absolutely not up to anything’ smile, glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, punched the pimp in the throat and stepped after him into the elevator. He pressed the button for the twelfth floor, the pimp clutching at his throat and wheezing. Rex brought his knee up into the man’s face and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck to stop him falling to the floor.
    ‘Stay with me,’ he said. ‘We’re going back upstairs.’
    The pimp took a thin breath and reached inside his jacket. Rex thought that was a bad idea, shoving him back against the mirrored wall of the elevator. He stepped in close so the pimp didn’t have room to extend his arms, especially the one that likely now had a weapon at the end of it. Rex grabbed the wrist inside the pimp’s jacket and pulled out the man’s hand.
    ‘What have we got?’ he asked, glancing at the counter that showed the elevator was nearly at the twelfth floor.
    The pimp was holding a small switchblade. Rex pulled a back-handed slap across the man’s face and then reached for the knife, twisting back the man’s little finger to get it. There was a crack and the pimp cried out. Rex slipped the knife, hilt-first, up the left-hand sleeve of his suit jacket, holding it in place with his little finger. With his right hand he yanked the pimp in front of him as the elevator arrived at the twelfth floor.
    ‘Stand up straight,’ said Rex. ‘If you look nice and presentable when that door opens, I might not kill you.’
    The doors opened and a cheerful bell sounded along an empty corridor. Rex looked over the pimp’s shoulder, giving the shaking man a smile.
    ‘Don’t worry, I could tell you were trying. Back to 1204.’
    Rex pushed him out of the elevator, reaching for the handgun that he would avoid using if possible.
    ‘Knock,’ he told the pimp once they were outside Dmitri’s door. ‘Quickly. Tell him you need to come in.’
    The pimp did as he was told.
    Inside they could hear Dmitri swearing as he came to answer the door.
    ‘What?’ he asked, opening the door a crack. Rex shoved the pimp forward so that the door swung open and Dmitri fell backwards, the weight of the pimp knocking him to the floor. Rex kept moving, wanting to overwhelm Dmitri before he could use the loaded gun he knew the man would be holding. He had underestimated Dmitri’s speed – the gun was up and firing before Rex had even cleared the doorway. The pimp took the shot, losing his ear and what remained of his cool.
    Rex fired as the pimp started screaming. A small red dot appeared in Dmitri’s forehead, and his rapping skills and sexual preferences splattered over the wall behind him. Rex brought the handle of his revolver down on the back of the pimp’s head, closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed for a second, wondering how best to deal with