Fragrance of Revenge (16 page)

Chapter 43

He heard Mercedes calling to him and thought she might be in danger. He rushed over and opened the door to the bedroom area. “Are you okay?” he asked, standing in the doorway.

“I heard some noises outside the bedroom door and wondered if there was a problem.”

“Oh that. I was just moving a chair against the door.”

“I’m sorry I bothered you Ralph.”

She looked very relieved, but also very attractive holding the sheet against her. “It’s okay. You had a significant trauma and I understand.” He started to return to the sitting area.

“Ralph.”

“What?”

“Do you mind sitting over there until I fall asleep?”

“Sure, just let me get the files I was reviewing. Okay?”

“Thanks.”

When he returned she was laying face down way over in the bed with her face facing the far wall. He sat down and resumed his case review. Several minutes later he looked over and she must have fallen asleep. He noticed her uncovered shoulders rising and falling in a slow rhythm.

The sight of her long red hair and uncovered shoulders reminded him of the time she was naked in her hotel room.

They, actually she, had too much to drink that night. She was going to be sick and had to leave the dining room. He guided her to her hotel room. After being sick in the bathroom, she came into the bedroom and started undressing. Realizing he was watching her, she got pissed at him and pushed him out of the bedroom as she unhooked her bra. She had an incredible body and he could have taken advantage of her, but didn’t and left.

His thoughts were interrupted now by her crying out ‘no.’

The sheet had slipped down and exposed the side of her breast. He went over and took a mental picture of how she looked. He reached down and pulled the sheet up to her neck. Then he reclined on the near side of the bed. It was all he could do not to take his clothes off and get under the sheets with her. He wondered what she had endured and knew this was not the right time for him.

Being close to her like this made him realize that he was indeed protecting her. He had failed once this weekend, and was not going to fail her again. He took a deep breath and smelled the fragrance of Gardenia. He remembered holding her close and dancing with her. His thoughts were soon replaced by images of what must have happened to her.

He looked over at her shoulder and saw the red welts.
I’m so sorry Mercedes; I let you down once…it will never happen again.
He took another deep breath and wished she felt the same way about him.

He thought he heard something in the other room. He listened intently and seconds later thought he heard the chair sliding across the floor.

Chapter 44

“Lighthouse Manor, how can I help you?” Chris answered the phone.

“I’m glad I caught you.”

“Alexis?”

“Surprise, surprise, yes it’s me.”

“Aren’t you with the doctor?”

“Yes, I am. However, he is tied up at the moment. Do you know where he lives?”

“Yes, I’ve been to his house. Why?”

“How would you like to keep me company for a few days?”

“What?”

“Consider this a call from Doctor Adler. He is going to take next week off.”

“I’m not sure I totally understand.”

“Chris, listen to me. I don’t want to go over this on the phone with you. I would like to talk to you in person. I have learned some things and I’m not sure I’m going to go back to the facility. In fact, I know I’m not going back. I need your help. Doesn’t your shift end at noon? Can you come to his house when you get off?”

“Yes it does. I guess I can.”

“Good. The next question is whether you can take any days off next week, or better the whole week?”

“I have several days of vacation, but I don’t think I can arrange coverage on such short notice.”

“Work it out any way you can. Think of it this way. How would you like to have
me
for hours and hours, or more appropriately, days and days? Doesn’t that give you some thoughts?”

“What about Doctor Adler?”

“He won’t be an issue.”

“What?”

He heard the click in his ear followed by the dial tone.

He replayed parts of their conversation. The doctor is tied up and he won’t be an issue. She has learned some things. More importantly his mind quickly went to being with Alexis for days.

He quickly pulled the reserve schedule list from the file and called Maureen Doyle.

“Hello.”

“Maureen, this is Christopher Sullivan over at the Lighthouse Manor. I’m sorry for the short notice, but an emergency has come up and I have been called away. Do you have any days available this week where you could cover my shift?”

“As a matter of fact I have all week.”

“Well, I might need all week. Can you cover this week for me starting tomorrow afternoon?”

“Yes, I can. Why isn’t Doctor Adler calling to cover your shift?”

“Well, he is taking this week off as well and has signed out Alexis Strong also.”

“That’s interesting. He’s never done that before.”

“He said his time off has to do with Alexis getting back into society. I’m not sure exactly what that means.”

“Okay, I’ll cover your shift. What about the weekend?”

“I should be back to work by then.”

“If you are not going to be, just give me a call and let me know. I can cover that if you need me to. Oh, what is your emergency?”

He realized he should have thought about that before he called. “I just got a call from relatives in Arizona that my uncle and aunt went missing and they haven’t been heard from in over a week.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks, I better go. Thanks again for covering for me on such short notice. I’ll leave details for you on each of the patients, but if you need more information, you can talk to either Betty or Pam.”

“Good luck…I hope you locate your relatives and they are safe.”

“Maureen thanks again, you are a life saver.” He hung up the phone and made some mental notes about what he used for an excuse.

He wondered what Alexis had learned and what she could possibly do with the doctor for the entire week.
Those thoughts were quickly replaced with the memory of their last time together.

Then he remembered the money pickup was later tonight. He could do both. Should he take this opportunity to share her family information with her? That gave him some thoughts.

Chapter 45

She thought about Chris coming. That could have two meanings. She was going to have both. Thank goodness the good doctor had the number of the care home in his address book. There were many things she needed to consider, but the idea she might have a week to work them all out gave her a comfortable feeling.

Speaking of comfortable feelings—I wonder how the good doctor is dealing with his loneliness. She slid the black tie knot tight up against her throat. It was hard to breathe and it hurt. Her image in the mirror shocked her. Her face was beet red, but her body looked sensuous in the bedroom light. She loosened the tie and headed quickly down to the basement.

In her bare feet she was able to sneak up on the doctor. She moved slowly and stole a look at him. His eyes were closed and he was obviously missing her. She hadn’t seen him limp like that in all the time they had been together.
Maybe I’m not giving myself enough credit for what I do to men.

There were many things to think about. Right now she was thinking about her twin sister and what she had done.
Could she be like her? She kept men captive for sexual purposes, and isn’t that what she is doing right now? Melanie we should have met. In fact, we should have grown up together. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe we could have been double trouble to these men. Just maybe we would not have been stopped.

Her thoughts drifted to her other sister. Mercedes is an FBI agent who managed to save her boyfriend from her twin. Yesss, he is definitely worth saving. The doctor is good, and Chris is much better, but there was something about Scott Tucker’s picture that she was drawn to.

She could feel her plan developing. There was a way to have many things. However, right now she needed to test the good doctor.

*.*.*

She leapt into the bedroom, her feet pounded on the floor. The doctor’s eyes opened and he focused on her image. She could see his eyes move down to take in the black tie hanging between her naked breasts. She pulled her long red hair across the front of her body and he smiled at her. His eyes traveled the length of her and he was showing signs of liking what he was looking at.

There were beads of sweat on her body from the warm temp in the upstairs bedroom. She could see her body glistening in the soft light of the lamp on the nightstand. The urge she had was still there, but it was much stronger. She wanted the doctor’s body now, but knew she needed to wait.

“You like what you see?”

“Yes indeed.”

“I can see you’re telling the truth based on your body’s reaction. Did you miss me?”

“Yes. You were gone a long time.”

“I wanted you to miss me.” She looked at him tied to the bed and helpless. His wrists were tied, and he wasn’t just holding onto the ropes. “Is there anything you need?” She climbed onto the bed and sat down on his thighs.

“More of what we did earlier would be nice.”

“You like what we did?”

He nodded. She felt the coolness of his legs against her warm rear end. She touched him briefly, and his body jerked.

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

She smiled. “No.”

“Alexis, please. I have to go.”

“You remember what we did the last time you needed to go. However, since you didn’t like that treatment you will just have to wait.”

He tested the ropes at his wrists, but he was securely fastened.

She ran her finger down between her breasts and gathered some sweat on her finger. She put her finger against his lips. “Shush.”

She could tell by his expression he was distraught and by his body’s reaction excited.

“Where were you?”

“That is no way to talk to me. You are not in a position of authority any longer. I am your master. If you want to ask me a question, you better phrase it with some respect.” She blew a long breath down from his nose to his groin. She smiled. “That’s the kind of respect I was hoping for.”

“You were gone so long, I really missed you my lady.”

“That is much better. You never told me about my family. Do you know who they are?”

“You were dropped off at the facility as a little girl.”

“I know that. I can only remember being here. So, you don’t know anything about my real family?”

“No, not really.”

She nodded and touched him. “Do you play with yourself?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“No.”

“You don’t…what did you call it the other day—masturbate?”

“No.”

“Interesting.”

“Do you ever have fantasies?”

“I guess. Where is this going? I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Tell me about some of your fantasies.”

“Alexis, please.”

“Please what?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Once again you fail to respect your position and me.” She directed a slap that caused him to yell out.

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry…master.”

“If you want some of your fantasies fulfilled you need to tell me what some of them are. Now, do you ever masturbate?”

“No, not really.”

“You know for a studied doctor, you sure are being oppositional.”

“Why do you have those magazines in your nightstand?”

“You were not supposed to go in my bedroom.”

He wasn’t getting it at all. She slapped him again twice between his legs.

“Why do you have my pictures in your nightstand?”

He didn’t answer her. “Close your eyes.” He hesitated. “
Close
your eyes.” He did cautiously. She licked once at his pain. “Does that make you feel any better?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We’re getting somewhere. Now do you use those books and pictures to play with yourself?”

“Yes.”

She rewarded him with her lips. She noticed he was getting even bigger. “Didn’t you tell me once that everyone played with their body? That it was natural to have those feelings and to enjoy your own body? Did you forget what you had me do, when I was younger? You watched me, and I watched what happened to your body. You hypnotized me at that point, but we know now that I never was.”

“I should have been truthful with you, I’m sorry. You remembered your lessons well.”

“I should have. You have been taking advantage of me for years now. But, we both know you like things reversed. Isn’t that correct?”

“Yes…yes I do.”

She was losing her self control and rewarded him. She could tell he was having some difficulty with her attention to his body, and his need to go to the bathroom. After several minutes she needed to resume her interrogation.

“Master, I need you. Please. I’ll do anything.”

“Finally we have reached the point of truth.” She smiled and teased him some more but then she grabbed him roughly. “You lied to me about not knowing my family.” She grimaced and squeezed him tightly. She let go and leapt off the bed.

“You could have had everything, and all your fantasies fulfilled.”

She watched his eyes bulge when he saw the straight razor. “That’s right doctor. You lied about several things, but you lied about the most important one. You need to be reminded of the penalty for lying. One last question and think carefully and truthfully about your answer.”

His head and eyes followed her and the razor as she climbed back on his legs.

“Do you think you should be punished for not telling me the truth about my family?”

Chapter 46

I was entering my apartment when I heard the phone ringing.
Maybe that is Mercedes.

“Hello.”

“Scott, its Stephen. You need to come over to my office right away.”

“Is this about the money drop?”

“
No.
Drop everything you are doing and come over right away. Something terrible has happened.”

I heard the click and then the dial tone.
I hope he hasn’t done anything drastic. He said he wasn’t going to take much more of this shit.

I quickly put the things which would go bad into the fridge and headed to his office. Unfortunately, the drive is not that long, but long enough to think about several scenarios that were not pleasant at all.
Maybe I should have called Mike. No, that didn’t make any sense as I didn’t know what I could tell him.

My car bottomed out as I entered his parking lot much too fast. I wondered what damage I might have caused, but would worry about that later.

I took the stairs two at a time and went into Stephen’s office. He was sitting with a half empty glass in his hand looking out his window at the Charles River. He turned around and gestured toward the liquor area. “Get yourself a drink; you’re going to need it.”

I went over and poured double the amount of bourbon I normally take.

“Scott thanks for coming so quickly.” He got up and went over to the liquor area and refilled his drink. He sat down in the sitting area and took a long hit on it. I sat down across from him and took a small taste of my drink.

“About an hour ago I got a call from Max Gordon who is Mercedes’ director. He was calling from Venezuela. He said he wanted to let me know what happened before it got reported by the news agencies.”

Oh no. I don’t like the sound of this at all. Please God don’t let this be—

“Scott, Mercedes and another FBI agent Ralph Reynolds, were kidnapped just a short while ago. They were forcibly taken from their hotel room. I also learned she was kidnapped and rescued earlier in the day. Mercedes was being sent home on the first flight tomorrow.”

I heard what he said, but it wasn’t making any sense.

He continued talking. “Director Gordon didn’t have too many details, but given the situation, they wouldn’t be able to keep it under wraps. He wanted me to be aware of what was going on in case I heard anything, or someone contacted me for any ransom demand. He gave me two numbers where I could reach him.” Stephen downed the rest of his drink and headed over to the bar.

“Stephen, maybe you should slow down in case something develops, or someone calls.”
I felt uncomfortable advising him that, but I had no idea how many drinks he had consumed.

“Perhaps you’re right. I should be home waiting for another call, or –“

“Thanks for calling me to come over. I’m glad you didn’t tell me about this while we were on the phone.”

“Scott this is one of the worst things that could happen. Not just that she has been kidnapped, but because my wife will not be able to cope with this new development. If she hears this on the news, well…her condition might get worse. I don’t know if I should tell her, but my gut says to keep her from hearing anything about this.”

“What about the money drop?”

He went over to his desk, unlocked his middle drawer and pulled out a brown paper bag. “Here it is. You’ll have to make the drop.”