Zero Woman

"You asked too many questions. Just close your eyes and enjoy the moment, will you?" I started the grinding motion, digging my nails in his hips.

"I was worried about you," he sounded so genuine I was tempted to believe him. "But I knew you were tough."

"Wanna play," I dangled a pair of handcuffs in front of him.

"My kind of woman. I always knew you were not just daddy's little girl." His breathing became more shallow and rapid. He moved his hands behind, crisscrossing his wrists. I snapped the handcuffs on.

Yanking on the chains linking the cuffs, I forced him to flip over. His butt was now on top of the stainless steel handcuffs, his own body weight crushing the delicate bones of his wrists. The pain further aroused him. I ripped out the bedroom telephone cord, cut it into two, and used them to tie his spread legs to the base of the bed. I had never seen a middle aged man grow thick so quickly.

"How much money did they pay you to betray me?"

"What do you mean?" He tried to sit up, but I punched him in the nose.

"For God's sake, stop your lies and talk to me like a man." I spoke as softly as I could.

"Ashley, whoever told you that was lying. I would never betray you, not after what your dad had done for me."

His erection had gone soft. I stood up, walked on the bed, and placed a leg on his chest.

"Tell me the truth or I'll break every one of your ribs until one of them punctures your own lungs and you drown in your own blood."

Don was always a practical man. He calmly assessed his situation. He was in a vulnerable position. His legs were spread and tied to the bed. His arms were trapped under his own weight, twisted behind his back and secured by a set if sturdy handcuffs. He had badly underestimated me. Still, he believed he could verbally manipulate me.

"Ashley," his voice was getting thinner as he pleaded. "You must believe me. We had a good thing going. Why would I betray you?"

I cut him off. "It's not my job to analyze your psychology. I am not interested to find out why. I just want to know whether you are man enough to tell me the truth."

"But I did not betray you. Somebody was lying to you to save his own skin."

"Can you guess who it might be?"

Don did not hesitate. "It must be Jason. He was the only one who could convince you."

"What do you mean?"

"I told Jason how I feel about our 80/20 split. I told him I was not happy."

"That was why you wanted me dead?"

"Of course not," he protested. "Just because I am unhappy does not mean I was planning to betray you."

As he was speaking, I left the house and went back to my car. I fished out the gun from the glove compartment, and then opened the trunk and dragged Oily Hair back to the house.

When Don saw Jason, he shook at the cord holding down his ankles. "You motherfucking son of a bitch, you tried to set me up."

"Don, stop lying and just admit that you sent us to hunt her down." Oily Hair, AKA Jason, spoke to Don as if I was not there.

"Just be a man and tell her that you set her up."

"Hey," I interrupted. "I'm the one with the gun. So both of you shut the fuck up."

Both men ignored me and continued to argue and call each other names. I aimed at the ceiling and fired off a round. The plaster rained down on Don, who swore at Jason.

"Shut up," I pointed the gun at Don. He sealed his lips.

I turned and looked at Oily Jason. "And you, sit down and make no sudden movements."

He sat on the only chair in the bedroom.

I paced around the room, trying to decide what I would do to test who was telling the truth. What could I use as the litmus test of loyalty? The two men waited for their fate. They knew that one of them would die and the other would live. If I made the wrong choice, I would die as well.

"Don," I started. "You and I worked together for a long time. I was always loyal to you. Between you and Jason, we have a longer history."

"Yes, yes," Don said. "Therefore you should trust me. It's his word against mine, so you should favor the partner who stood by your side all these years. After all, why makes you believe I have changed?" It was strange he used the past tense when describing his loyalty.

"But why would I show up to try to kill you if nobody tells me to? Do you really think I have nothing else to do except go around killing for no reason at all?" Jason's logic was equally convincing.

I turned to Don. "Open your mouth," I ordered.

I climbed up on the bed and placed a knee on his chest. He was visibly shaken, thinking he would soon be dead. I shoved the entire gun in his mouth.

"Lick it," I ordered. "Suck it as if it's a penis. Your life depends on it."

Don did exactly as he was told. I did not know what that proved, but I wanted to know if you would still obey my orders.

"Okay, Don. You have proven your loyalty." As I started to unlock Don's handcuffs, I saw movements from the corner of my eye. Jason had stood up and moved near the door.

I shouted, "Move another inch and I'll blow your head away." I stood with both hands on the gun.

Jason froze and started pleading for his life. "You have to believe me, lady. I swear I am telling the truth. Please, I have three kids at home."

"If you are telling the truth, why are you trying to run?"

Jason mumbled something but I ignored him.

Don's hands were now free and he was untying the cords that tied down his legs. When he was fully free, he stood next to me.

"What shall we do to this man who tried to set you up?" I turned to look at Don.

"Let me have the pleasure of killing him." Don stretched his hand out.

"There's only one bullet left, so make it count." I said as I handed the gun to Don.

With the gun in his hand, Don walked slowly towards Jason. Instead of shooting him, Don pistol-whipped him, and then punched him so hard his chair toppled sideways. Don did not stop. He continued kicking at Jason's head until he passed out.

When he turned to me, Don pointed the gun at me.

"You stupid bitch, you trusted the wrong guy."

He moved nearer, closing the space between us. I stepped back, not quite matching his pace.

"Get down on the bed," he ordered, inches from my face. His gun pointed between my breasts. He was so close I could have kneed him. But I bided my time.

His gun continued prodding me until I laid down with my face up.

"Remove all your clothing, whore."

Again, I obeyed. I took my time to remove my top, then my bra. I twisted my body to unzip the skirt, pulling it down with my panties until they were gathered at my ankles. Don used the gun to hook it off my ankles and dropped it on the floor. He was momentarily distracted. I fought the temptation to lash out. I wanted to see the extent of his betrayal.

"Handcuff yourself." He tossed the metal chains to me, now holding the gun with both hands.

I moved my wrists in front of me, clicking the jagged teeth of one handcuff to the right wrist.

"Stop," he ordered. "I want both your hands handcuffed behind you. I know how dangerous you are, slut."

"Now you have crossed the line," I said. "I do not mind being a whore or a bitch. But to call me a slut, that is outrageous."

"What?" Don could not believe what he heard. "What did you say?"

"You heard me, motherfucker. Take back what you say. I am not a slut."

"Let me remind you that you are hardly in a position to negotiate," he yelled.

"And let me remind you that you are a traitor, betraying your partner, making yourself the lowest of the low, deserving of nothing except to suck dick for the rest of your life." I had no idea where my colorful language came from.

Don could not take any more of my defiance. He slapped me hard across the mouth, drawing fresh blood. I spit out the top half of a cracked tooth.

"Get on your knees." He was behind me, the gun at the back of my head. Leaning over, he dropped a pair of handcuffs on my thighs.

"Handcuffed yourself," he ordered softly.

I snapped the cuffs on my wrists and placed them in front of my knees.

"Before I am done with you, you are going to beg me to call you cunt, slut, whore, bitch, and whatever else I like." His gun was now jammed in my mouth. It was clear he did not expect a response.

I decided I had enough of his bullshit. I stood up from my kneeling position, pressing my forehead hard against the gun. His hand shook.

"Go ahead and squeeze the trigger, traitor." I continued pressing. He backtracked.

"Don't force me. I was not going to kill you."

I continue to force him to walk backwards, gun still at my forehead, until he had his back to the wall.

"If you're not going to kill me, what are you going to do?"

"I have no interest in killing you. But I hated to work for a woman. So I did the next best thing, sell you to the highest bidder."

"Sell me and let someone rape, torture and kill me? You are worse than I could possibly imagine you to be." I put my cuffed hands around his neck and starting squeezing.

To his credit, he was choking before he squeezed the trigger. But he only heard a click.

"The gun is empty, asshole."

I kicked him between his legs, forcing him to bend over. In one second, I wiggled the handcuffs down my legs and to the front. He had recovered and was taking a swing at me with his fists. Using my bound hands to block, I swept his left ankle at the same time. He lost balance and fell flat on the floor, face up. Not hesitating, I jumped on top of him, my knees landing squarely on his lower ribs, breaking two of them. He screamed and released a string of obscenities.

I flipped him to his back, twisted the telephone cord around his neck and kept at it. He twitched a few times, then stopped moving. To make sure he's history, I curled my arms around his neck and forced it sharply to the right until I heard the sharp crack of death.

Don was the last man I killed.

Years later, everyone wondered what had happened to Zero Woman.

Now that you have heard the story, do you still want to take me back to your room?