Fragrance of Revenge (12 page)

Chapter 28

She had
no way to protect herself. When the men with hoods over their heads smashed the
car window, they quickly dragged her out, covered her head with a hood, put her
hands behind her back and cuffed her.

She was
going to scream for help, but realized there was a gun being held against the
back of her head. She was dragged a short distance and then thrown in the back
of a van. Several men climbed in with her and slammed the van doors. They were
talking in Spanish, laughing and pulling at her clothes. She heard her shirt
rip as it was pulled off her. Then she felt someone grab her bra straps and she
kicked out.

Someone
up front yelled something to the men and then yelled again. Slowly the person removed
his hands from her bra straps but she was being fondled. The same voice yelled
out again, and the man next to her let her go. He said something in her ear, and
although she didn’t understand what he said, knew it couldn’t be good.

Mercedes
felt the cool air on her almost naked chest and realized the cool air was also
on her thighs. There was no way she could pull her skirt down and just kept her
legs tightly closed.
She now knew what Scott must have felt like being held
a prisoner by her sister. She wondered if she would ever see Scott again.

She
could tell by the whispers the men were enjoying her condition. Periodically,
one would whisper something and the others would laugh. She felt a hand slide
up the inside of her thigh and a finger slide into the top of her bra cup. She
knew it was dark in the back of the van and the men were being careful not to
be discovered.

She was
about to scream at what was happening, but felt the gun barrel press against
her head again. If this was bad, she knew it would only get worse. If these
were the same men who killed one woman being held, they had nothing to lose.

She was
not going to let them know she was crying.
Strange she thought to herself,
all my adult life my features were an asset…now, it is obvious they are a
liability. There were only two ways she would get out of this alive. The police
would find a way to rescue her, or Ralph might.

She felt
the hand grab the crotch of her panties and heard the sound as they ripped
away. The next thing she felt was the back of a knife sliding between her
breasts and then lift off her to cut her bra off. The cool air against her body
told her they could now see what only Scott ever saw.

For some
strange reason she was thinking of Scott going to see Maggie perform. Her mind
was reeling, she remembered putting the small towel on in the cabin, which she
removed to give Scott his unwrapped Christmas present.

She was
trying to ignore what they were doing, but she was sobbing now. Then the
vehicle came to a sudden stop, and the luxury of hands no longer touching her
body. The metal click of the doors opening signaled the men to drag her from
the van. She felt the only thing still covering her nakedness, what was left of
her skirt, and her bra hanging in two pieces from her shoulders.

The
rough wood hurt her bare feet. Despite all of the confusing banter, she heard
the waves hitting the shore and then the heavy metal door clunk open, and
smelled the moisture laden air. She was being taken to a building on the
waterfront.

“Help
me,” she screamed. For a brief instant she felt something hit the back of her
head, then sharp pain, and then a sense she was falling.

Chapter 29

“Mike, I
didn’t expect to see you here,” I said.

“I could
say that about you too, Scott. Are you going to give this charade up now?”

“Thanks
for helping get me out.”

“You, my
man, are very lucky that Paul was there. You could have been locked up for
quite a while.”

“You’re
right, but can we get out of here now?”

“Let’s
go get a coffee and talk about some things.”

I could
tell it wasn’t a suggestion.

We were
on our second refill when Mike finally brought up what I was doing tonight.
“Scott, what the hell were you doing?”

I took a
deep breath before answering. “I wanted to see if I could get a look at the
care facility and the people who worked there.”

“Okay,
so what did you discover?”

“Actually,
not much.” Then I remembered the license plate numbers. “I did write down two
plate numbers.” I reached for the paper and handed it to Mike. “One of these
was a Cadillac and the other for a Pontiac.”

“I see
that. What do you want with these plate numbers?”

“Well,
do you think you can run a plate search and find out who owns these vehicles?”

“I
could, but why? What is going on?”

“One of
these cars might be the guy who is blackmailing Stephen.”

Mike
looked at the numbers. “Okay Scott. I think it’s now time for us to help you
with this case…in fact, I think it is time we took over this case.”

I
started to open my mouth.

“Scott,
you’re not trained to do this shit. You’re going to get in trouble, if not
killed.”

I
thought about what he said, and part of me wanted to give up this investigation.
However, it wouldn’t be fair to Stephen to drop it, and certainly not
acceptable to turn it over to Mike. “How about I keep you informed about what
I’m doing?”

“Scott,
this whole thing is getting out of control. You have no idea what you might be
getting into. Okay, let’s say you continue with this…what is your next step?”

“Does
that mean you will run the plates for me?”

“Regardless
of who is doing the investigation, the plates are a good starting point. So,
yes, I will run the plate numbers for you. What are you going to do next?”

“Well,
the next money pickup is scheduled for tonight. I plan on being there.”

Chapter 30

He stood
at the entry to the room which was a hotbed of passion just a few hours ago. He
wanted Alexis to be with him for the entire holiday weekend. However, she was
complaining of cramps from her period.

All he
had now were the memories and the Polaroid pictures. The pictures she took of
him were missing. She took them with her. He really didn’t want to see them,
especially the last two shots she took.

He went
through the pictures he had taken of her. She was an incredible sight. Even
though the pictures were black and white, the contrast of her white body
against the black sheets immediately caused his body to react. He could tell his
breathing was rushed and he adjusted himself. The absence of pubic hair brought
the memory of her shaving him, and his fear she could do so much more damage.

The
ropes were calling to him. A few minutes later he was naked on the bed. His
ankles were tied by the ropes and one wrist was. He had one free hand and was
studying each photo. He recalled being totally tied up and Alexis in control.

The
welts were just faint red marks now, but he remembered each strike. It was
painful then, but grand now. The interesting thing was the look in her eyes
when she was delivering the blows. She got very much into it, and at one point
he feared she would cause some permanent damage to his special parts.

Her twin
sister had kidnapped men, tortured them and killed some of them. Even though he
knew Alexis for all these years, was she capable of doing those things?

He
thought about what she had done to him and he couldn’t help himself and
recreated those scenes.

Chapter 31

It was
after midnight. He had completed all of his nightly duties and couldn’t wait
any longer to visit with Alexis.

He
opened her bedroom door and the only light in the area was the bathroom light.
She wasn’t in the bathroom. He silently crept into her bedroom area. Even in
the limited light he could see her pure white body lying on her back on the
bed. She had the black bra and bikini panties on. She was sound asleep.

He
wanted her awake, but all in good time. He was now standing beside her bed
committing her image to his memory. She was gorgeous. He strained to see
through the flimsy material and as his eyes adjusted her white breasts made the
dark bra disappear. He wondered if his heavy breathing would wake her.

He
looked at the junction of her thighs and the small material covering her
special part. Once again the material seemed to disappear and he could make out
the light covering of hair beneath it. He was getting excited.

Her face
is what he wanted to see next. However, it was hard to remove his eyes from the
beauty only inches away. He wanted to reach out and feel her body. Instead he
slowly traced his eyes up across her stomach, her navel, her breasts and then
her face.

At the
same time he noticed her eyes were staring at him, her hand grabbed him through
his pants. “That was exciting for me, and I can tell it was for you too.” She
squeezed him hard.

It took
his breath away. He was shocked she had been awake all this time.

“I’ve
been waiting for you to come. You’re late. I almost thought you might have
decided not to come. However, I can tell you are glad you did.” She was still
holding him tightly. “Am I hurting you?”

He took
a deep breath. “No, not really.”

She
squeezed him even harder and he yelled out.

“Shush.
You will wake the neighbors.” She let go of him and he took another deep
breath.

“Take your
clothes off,” she commanded.

He
hesitated, and felt immediate pain.

“Time is
a wasting. Now, take your clothes off.”

Less
than a minute later he had his clothes off and more than he was standing.

He
watched her quickly swing her legs over the side of the bed so they were on
either side of his legs. “Did I hurt you?”

He
looked down and saw her staring between his legs.

“Yes…a
little.”

“Poor
baby.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “Did that take the pain away?”

“No, not
really.”

“What do
you want Chris?” He didn’t answer her. “Do you want to see my body?”

“Yes.”

The
bedside lamp went on. He felt so stark naked.

“
That,
is so much better.” She reached out to him with two hands and he heard his
breath escape. He felt her breath against his body. “Okay, now you can leave.”
She let go of him and then moved to lie on the bed.

He was
crushed and just stood there.

“I said
leave. Go
now
or I will scream.”

“You
were going to show me your body.”

“I
changed my mind. Now leave.”

“Please.
What did I do wrong?”

“You didn’t
do anything wrong. I made a mistake allowing you to come in my room.”

“But,
you wanted me too.”

“I can
see you are upset. Touch yourself.”

He
hesitated.

“You are
making the same mistake. If I tell you to do something…you are to do it without
thinking about it. Now,
touch
yourself.”

He put
his hand around himself.

“If I
ask you something, you also have to give me an honest response without any
hesitation. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good.
Do you like the feel of your hand?”

“Yes.”

“Very
good. I’ll give you a reward.” She reached behind her and unhooked her bra and
very slowly lifted it off her breasts to expose them to him. “You like?”

“Yes.”

“I can see
that.

He
followed her next instructions and watched her eyes follow what he was doing.

She slid
back onto the bed again. “Good boy. You deserve another reward. Take my panties
off.”

He
reached and started to take them off in a rush.

“No. I
want you to take them off without your hands.”

He tried
to remove them as instructed, but she purposely made it difficult for him. Her
scent was intoxicating.

“Yes, there’s
another surprise.” She reached for him. “Remove it the same way.”

He
realized he never had control of this meeting, but if he had, he would have
lost it at this point.

Chapter 32

When I
got to my apartment I still had a strange feeling and wanted desperately to
hear from Mercedes. I think something happened, but I have no way to reach her.
I said a silent prayer and truly hoped my senses were tricking me, but somehow
I knew differently.

I was
worried about Mercedes. She was upset with me, but it wasn’t exactly Ralph I
was worried about.

I had no
way to contact her, and I wasn’t sure she would be calling me anytime soon. She
thinks I might have spent time with Maggie, and I did, but not the way she thinks.

Recalling
our previous phone call, I should not have played a game with her, telling her
I had bad news and bad news. I’m not at all surprised she hung up on me. Now, I
wish I could hear her voice, even if she was yelling at me.
How the hell am
I ever going to live with the danger she faces on some of the FBI cases?

My phone
rang and I rushed to answer it. “Hello.”

“Hi
Scott, it’s me.”

“Oh, hi
Mike.”

“Well,
that is not the response I anticipated.”

“I’m
sorry Mike. I thought it might be Mercy calling back.”

“I take
it you still haven’t heard from her?”

“No, and
I’m starting to feel uncomfortable. She is in a foreign country where women are
missing and turning up dead.”

“She is
trained and she’s not alone. You might be feeling your own vulnerable situation.”

“I might
be, but not having a way to contact her or anyone in her group, gives me a
helpless feeling.”

“I
understand Scott…maybe better than you do. Look, I ran the plates and have some
information to share. You ready?”

“Okay.
Shoot.”

“Well
the Cadillac is registered to a Dr. Samuel Adler who lives in Chestnut Hill.
The Pontiac is registered to a Christopher Sullivan who lives in Jamaica Plain.”

“Do you
have addresses?”

“Yes,
but I’m not giving them to you.”

“Not
even the Pontiac one?”

“Especially,
not that one. Look Scott, I would like to help you, but you have to let me.”

“I know
you really want to help, and I would love the company. However, I just don’t
feel right betraying a confidence.”

“Yes,
but you already gave me enough to know it involves Stephen.”

“I told
you I would keep you informed. I am planning to go to the drop site tonight.”

“Alright
Mr. Detective, how about you tell me the location of the drop site?”

“I don’t
see any harm in that. It is the Dudley Street elevated train station.”

“Thanks Scott.
Please be careful, but if you change your mind on things, please let me know. I
would be glad to assist. You know that.”

“I know
Mike. You are a good friend. Talk with you soon.”

“Thanks,
bye.”

*.*.*

As soon
as I hung up the phone, I pulled the Boston Area white page telephone directory,
and looked up Christopher Sullivan. There were three, but only one listed in
Jamaica Plain. I wrote the address down and decided to take a ride.

Twenty
minutes later I was parked down a few doors from the address. Even though it
was close to 2 AM, the street was well lit. The address was a three story
duplex with six apartments. The three mailboxes on each side of the front doors
told the story. It wasn’t important right now which floor Christopher lived on.
However, this address might not be important at all, but it might come in
handy.

After
waiting several minutes, I decided that if a police car were to come by and
spot my car, or me, it would be hard to explain being at this location after
being picked up at the other address.

Curiosity
got the best of me, and I decided to take a ride past the care facility. I
wasn’t planning on stopping, but I wanted to see if the Pontiac was still
there.

*.*.*

Twenty
minutes later I drove to the care facility in Belmont. The only car in the
parking lot was the gold Pontiac. I went past the facility and turned at the
next intersection and came back to get a better look at the parking lot.

The Pontiac was in the exact position it was in earlier last night. As I cruised past the building
I noticed the same light on, in the room I assumed was Stephen’s daughter’s
room. It is the middle of the night, why is her light on? Maybe she needs to
sleep with the light on.

I
resisted the temptation to park and walk back to the facility to see if I could
hear anything. It was too dangerous for me to be seen in this area, let alone
be parked or worse, to be found on the grounds of the facility.

I
stepped on the gas and headed back to my apartment. However, the light on in
that room reminded me of the single light in my cell while being held captive
by Melanie. Now she had a twin sister. Could my nightmare be a sign there is
more to fear?

The lack
of sleep was getting the best of me. I needed to get a good night’s sleep.

Minutes
later I was in my own bed, which still felt strange after being in Mercedes’
for many nights. I thought I could drift right off to sleep, but I was thinking
about Mercedes and whether she was indeed safe. I was also wondering whether
Alexis would pick up where Melanie left off. I closed my eyes and unconsciously
felt the arrow scar.