It came in handy.

The lock proved simple enough to pick. He had it open in less than a minute.

He put away his tools, pulled out his gun, flicked off the safety, and opened the door, hoping it wasn’t bolted.

It wasn’t, but the door banged to a halt after two inches as a chain stopped its progress.

Shit, that made too much noise.

No time for stealth now.

He stepped back and gave the door a good, hard kick.

What most people didn’t realize about chain locks was that they were usually fixed to a little brass plate held onto the doorframe by four small screws. Any decent amount of force would pop the plate right off the frame.

And that was exactly what happened.

The door swung open, hitting the wall of the apartment’s front hall with a crash. Heinrich got a glimpse of erotic photos on the walls and an open door to the right, leading to an empty lounge. He ran for the open doorway that led to the large main room ahead.

Just as he got there, a figure ducked out of sight behind a wide concrete pillar to the left.

Heinrich leaped back into the hallway, expecting a shot.

No shot came.

He dared a glance into the room.

It was a high-ceilinged loft of bare concrete, well-lit with bright fluorescent lights. That surprised him. He had expected red candles or something. Perhaps they hadn’t opened for business yet. Four large concrete pillars held up the roof. The figure he’d seen had moved behind the near left one. Screens of black velvet sectioned off various parts of the room, creating what looked like a maze. To the left of the pillar behind which Heinrich’s friend hid was a long stretch of black velvet that reached to the wall. Whoever it was could have moved off anywhere in the three seconds since Heinrich had seen him last.

Him? Yes, the figure had been too bulky to be a woman. Beyond that, Heinrich had scoped out only a black woolen hat, gloves, a red bandanna across the face, and dark clothing.

OK, now what?

“The police have been called and are on their way!” Heinrich shouted.

Silence.

“Wanda, if you can hear me, give some sort of indication.”

A muffled grunt came from somewhere ahead. It sounded like it was from the far end of the room but he couldn’t be sure.

“Whoever is in here, let’s talk. I’m not here for you. I’m a private detective investigating the disappearance of Wanda’s partner. Let’s talk. If Wanda’s OK, I’ll let you go. But I need some information first.”

Another muffled grunt, but the intruder didn’t reply.

“Stay cool, Wanda, I’ll get you out.”

And how are you going to do that? Heinrich asked himself.

From the doorway, he would have to take several steps in the open to get to the pillar and the first screen of black velvet. He would be a sitting duck if that guy with the red bandanna on his face peeked out and decided to shoot him.

Fuck it.

Heinrich charged, his gun aimed at the edge of the pillar as he angled left to get out of the direct line of fire.

Still no shot came. Had Red Bandanna fled?

Heinrich made it to the velvet screen and stopped, immediately tiptoeing a bit to the right in case Red Bandanna had good-enough ears to hear where he had ended up and decided to take a potshot at Heinrich through the fabric.

He crept to the pillar and froze a step before he made it. He had heard a sound, the faintest scuff, beyond the pillar and the screen, a little to the left. Red Bandanna creeping for the back exit?

Heinrich whipped around the pillar in a crouch, his gun leveled. Beyond lay a rectangular area about ten feet long and six feet wide, cordoned off by black velvet on two sides and the concrete wall at the end. What looked like a surgeon’s table stood in the center, all gleaming chrome and clean grey padding. An opening on the far right led somewhere he couldn’t see.

A glance down the main axis of the room showed several such partitions and openings.

Shit, this really is a maze.

Another muffled grunt. This time Heinrich didn’t answer.

Instead of moving to the opening at the far corner, where Red Bandanna had obviously gone, Heinrich peeked around the partition and saw another area cordoned off by velvet screens. In this one, a strange wooden X about eight feet tall was bolted to the floor. Chains on each end of the two beams sparked Heinrich’s imagination about what its purpose was.