Fragrance of Revenge (8 page)

Chapter 15

She had him right where she wanted him. She liked this new power she had over him. He couldn’t control things any longer, and she really liked being able to dictate what they were doing. She had some surprises for the good doctor, but all in good time.

She knew she was learning some new tricks, and the old ones were also good and she loved having multiple climaxes.

Although she was very occupied at the present time, she couldn’t get a new conquest out of her mind. It wasn’t the doctor, it was Chris.

When he watched her the other night and she saw what he was doing, she had an incredible climax. She smiled remembering his predicament.

Her nails dug into the doctor’s flesh and her teeth made him jump. She thought she heard him scream, but she really wanted to make Chris scream. She now had the power over both men, to get them to do whatever she wanted. She smiled at the thoughts of Chris being unable to resist her.

The good doctor’s movement brought her back from her fantasy. She let him try to resume control of the situation, but knew he couldn’t any longer. It was exciting to watch what she had created. This new power was going to be so much fun.

They had showered many times together, but this is the first time it was on her terms. At this moment she wanted what she couldn’t have. She wished she was watching Chris. She wanted his hands on her body, and she wanted to reach out and touch his.

She felt sorry for the doctor, but watched in amusement. They had gone full circle. This is how she found him when she opened the shower door. She wondered if she should just leave now and return to the bedroom.
No, that’s not as much fun as controlling things here. “Stop.”

He didn’t answer, but moved his arms up over his head and resumed his earlier position. She watched him close his eyes.
He was now hers. She could demand whatever she wanted, and it looked like he was powerless to do anything about it.

“The choice is yours. However, you need to tell me exactly what you want me to do.” She wondered just how much power she had at this moment.
Could she actually get him to beg for what he wanted?

“Doc…you need to tell me exactly what you want.”

Although he didn’t respond, his body reacted to her words.

“Doc, I’ll do whatever you want, but you have to tell me what you want me to do.” The ice cold spray caused her to finally want some warmth.

She saw him take a deep breath. “I want your…”

“I’m listening,” she said and waited. Although he couldn’t yet say the words…she had him where she wanted. “We’re making progress here, good progress. Tell me Doctor Adler, what do you really want?”

He yelled his answer and in that moment their roles officially changed.

She had some surprises for him, but all in good time…all in good time.

Chapter 16

He dumped the bag full of money on his bed. He wished it was Alexis he was dumping on his bed. The scene of her with the doctor was still fresh in his mind. She was an incredible sight.

He spread the loose bills across the bed cover and instead of feeling the money he was feeling her. Then he recalled what she said, ‘…unless I want to lose my job, I better keep my visits between us, and I will do as she says next time.’ His hands were enjoying feeling the money on the bed, but his mind was playing those words and what they meant.

She’s not upset with my visits and she wants them to continue, but she wants me to do what she says.
He closed his eyes and fell back against the pillows.
What does she have in mind? I can think of some things, but I can’t afford to lose this job.

He thought of the money spread out on the bed.
How could he also blackmail Doctor Adler? He would need to be discreet, or the doctor would fire him.
He saw the doctor’s checking account balance on his earlier visit to his house and knew he could easily afford a few thousand dollars. The doctor couldn’t afford to lose his job at the care center.

He thought about the file material he had copied, but had never read the entire file.

He planned on making a deposit of the money over the next few days and had put most of it away in stacks of $900, withholding enough of the money to buy a new Stingray. That should help his love life some. He quickly pictured Alexis riding in the convertible with her long red hair blowing in the wind. Despite his attempt to think of her with clothes on, she was indeed naked.

*.*.*

He pulled the folder from his bottom drawer and started reading the material he had passed over. There was a recent newspaper article about missing US citizens in Bermuda. The article was actually several articles all stapled together.

A few minutes later he had put some of the pieces together. Mercedes Strong, who was Stephen’s other daughter, was an FBI profiler who helped locate the men and one woman who were still being held prisoner in a dungeon like facility. Two men were also killed by a Margaret Orion.

He held the other newspaper article and he was looking at two pictures of Margaret Orion; one after her plastic surgery and one before. Her name was really Melanie Strong. However, he was looking at Alexis’ picture. Melanie Strong and Alexis Strong were twin sisters.
Twins.

He was getting excited about the details in the file. Doctor Adler was closely following the Strong family and especially this Melanie character.

As he read the full material in the file, he was able to fill in all of the details. Mrs. Strong gave birth to twin girls. However, one of the twin girls, Alexis, was stricken with a deformity – hypertrichosis.

Hypertrichosis was described as a covering of hair on her face and other parts of her body. He had made copies of the pictures in the file and saw how she arrived at the facility, and progressed over her early childhood. The doctor’s notes indicated she lost the hair around the time she entered puberty. There was a picture labeled ‘Alexis at 13 – loss of lanugo hair.’

He had never been at the facility when she was this age. He studied the picture for a few minutes and then put it aside noting that it was something special.

After a few hours he now knew the Strong family secrets. Actually, it wasn’t the Strong family secrets, it was just Stephen’s.

There was communication in the file that Dr. Adler was to keep the twin birth a secret and that included never informing Mrs. Strong of the twin births. Stephen indicated that the deformity would crush his wife and he wanted Alexis’ birth to be kept secret from everyone.

There were some legal documents in the file, but he couldn’t totally understand what they meant. He assumed they were to satisfy any state birthing requirements.

However, there was a contract in the file that described Alexis’ care and annual payments, which increased every two years. The payment this year alone was twenty-five thousand dollars.

However, there were two bank accounts noted in the file, one to the care facility and one to Dr. Adler. The good doctor was receiving a separate payment each year of twenty thousand dollars. He was getting paid and having sex with her…what a deal.

Chris took the picture of Alexis at thirteen and the newspaper picture of Melanie Strong and contemplated more than his next move.

Chapter 17

I was really missing Mercedes and found it very difficult to deal with the loneliness of my own bed. I was trying my best to fall back asleep. The phone’s sharp ring didn’t create the normal confusion at this early hour.

“Hello.”

“Hello Scott, its Stephen. You sound like you were awake.”

“You caught me awake. Its 6 am, what’s up?”

“I need to talk to you right away. Something important has come up. Can you meet me at my office?”

“Sure, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be there.”

I heard the click in my ear. It must be real important judging from Stephen’s behavior.

*.*.*

After Mercedes’ upsetting call at 2 and Stephen’s at 6, I was feeling the effects of little sleep. I drove over to Stephen’s office building, but don’t remember the drive at all.

His car was the only one in at this hour, but it was Friday of the long holiday weekend, so I wasn’t surprised. I looked up at his office window, and even though it was smoked glass I could see him standing watching my arrival.

“Good morning Scott.” He pointed to the couch area. I was surprised there was not the usual offer of coffee. I needed it badly this morning.

“I’m sorry Scott. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“I can wait a few minutes. You look like you need more than coffee.”

He threw the folded piece of paper at me. “I’ve had it Scott. Read that. I’m going to kill this son of a bitch. He has got to be stopped.”

It was a simple note:

‘I know more than I did before.

The price of my being quiet has just gone up. I want $10,000 to keep quiet. You need to leave the money in the usual place and manner by midnight Sunday.

If you fail to do that, I will tell your WIFE what you did, and then alert the newspapers.

Mr. Know’

I passed the note back to Stephen. He immediately went over to the bar and poured himself a drink and downed it, and poured another. “Are you up for a stiff one, Scott?”

“Sure, but not Scotch.”

He poured about two inches of what looked like bourbon in a small glass, and then went back to his own glass and added some more.

I waited for Stephen to add something.

“I suppose you’re wondering why my wife is now being mentioned?”

“I noticed that.”

Stephen’s face was red and he looked like he was going to squeeze the life out of the glass. “Okay Scott, here’s the awful story, but you have to promise you will keep it to yourself. When you hear what I have to say, I know you’ll know why you can’t tell even Mercedes.”

*.*.*

He spent the next hour walking me through what happened with the twin birth, the twin with the disfigurement, hiding the twin births from his wife and finding a facility to take his twin daughter. He said his wife has had some mental breakdowns, and finding out she gave birth to a baby in this condition would have severe repercussions.

For years Stephen has supported her care and has also provided an incentive for the doctor to keep things under wraps. He hasn’t had contact with the doctor for years. However, he makes sure the annual payments are made to two separate accounts.

I was still wondering if Mercedes had a twin sister.

“Scott, Melanie’s twin sister is Alexis.”

Stephen’s voice sounded like he was in a tunnel. The image of Melanie was consuming my brain, and what she had done to me. I thought the nightmare of my two captivities was over, but I was immediately living the pain and the memory of almost losing my life twice. The room was spinning and I wondered if the drink this early in the morning without much sleep was the cause.

“Scott…Scott are you okay?”

I blinked a few times and tried to focus, but Stephen’s face was fading in and out. I felt a chill and a clammy feeling.
Melanie is going to get me again.

Stephen went over to the bar and came back with a small vial and put it under my nose. It smelled awful. He took the glass from my hand just as I was about to let it go. My mind went to Mercedes’ request that I give up investigations, and I’m now wondering if it’s too late to do that.

I could hear my own breathing. Stephen was just watching me and not saying anything. The room stopped spinning and I could now see Stephen waiting for me to come back into the room. The only problem is I never left.

“Scott, are you okay now?”

I took a deep breath and looked at him and then at the glass. “I guess I should have eaten something this morning. I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

Stephen left and came back in the room. “This might help, but it’s not that fresh.” He handed me a doughnut along with a bottle of Coke.

“Thanks.” I ate the doughnut without stopping, and then drank the coke. “I’m okay now.”

“Scott. I wanted you to know what was going on and why, but I’m going to put a stop to it now. This can’t go on. I can only support this extortion for just so long. My wife is going to find out if this keeps up, and all of this will crush her.”

“Stephen, I want to involve Mike Miller in this. This is getting out of hand.”

“No. You can’t. I owed bringing you up to speed on this, but I can’t let you tell anyone else about this.”

I could see he was like a cornered rat. “Okay, then give me one more chance to find out who this guy is. Please.”

“Okay then. Sunday night better tell us both who this guy is, or he won’t see much of next week.”

Chapter 18

I realized how desperate Stephen was to get this guy out of the picture. I think we both realized that this was going to continue until he was physically stopped. I’ve got my one chance to find out who the guy is, and couldn’t blow it.

Stephen also made a good point. Since he was being blackmailed about his twin daughter—the man must have some knowledge about her. He suggested that the man might be connected to the care facility. Based on the man’s description, Stephen ruled out that it was the doctor who he is paying behind the scenes.

I now had the address of the care facility, which I considered progress. The thought of someone at the care facility blackmailing Stephen has considerable merit. Chances are the person is not making a large income, and these recent amounts would add a considerable increase to his annual income.

I headed back to my apartment to give some thought to how to tackle this investigation and specifically what to do Sunday night. I also needed to get some rest knowing that I was going to be up late tomorrow night.

*.*.*

I picked up the papers Mrs. Abbott left on my stairs. It was almost 9 am, but it felt more like midnight.

I glanced at the front page of one of the newspapers and read the introduction to the story about the body of one of the missing women being found in Venezuela. Yup, that’s where my Mercedes is off to. Reading about the possibility of a slave-trade gave me immediate concern for Mercedes’ safety.

Then I thought about her not being alone, and being closely guarded by Ralph. Maybe by now, he was guarding her much too closely. I saw how her apartment was left, and it was obvious they had gone to bed together, and showered. However, Mercedes would have realized if she didn’t clean up her apartment, I would have noticed what they had done. Her attitude on the phone didn’t sound like she had left me a message.

I decided to head back to bed, but wanted to shower first. This time I was going to take a warm shower and get relaxed to get a good few hours sleep.

I didn’t remember much about getting in the shower. I was doing things automatically. The warm water turned cool and I tried to warm it up. However, the ice cold water reminded me of the nightmare of being held captive by Melanie.

Although in her own way she said she had fallen in love with me, it was not really love, but a means to satisfy her appetite for sex. Having kept several men captive at the same time helped diffuse her craving, but she was still quite adept at getting my attention.

I felt the scar on my abdomen. I can remember her cutting me and the look in her eyes as I thought she was going to do something far more disastrous. Melanie knew she had my attention, and she got off on the control she had over me. Even though I tried to will my body not to react to her insistence, she was much too adept at getting the response she wanted. However, I’m alive and that’s water under the bridge.

Mercedes has found a love of my scar, and tries to make light of it. However, she can’t imagine what it was like to be defenseless, literally to be in the hands of a madwoman with a knife.

Now to think there’s a ‘new’ potential Melanie waiting out there, I wanted not to put myself anywhere close to Alexis. I tried to reason that Alexis had a totally different childhood and early adult life and couldn’t possibly be the monster her twin was. I felt a chill across my body and it wasn’t caused by the cold water.

Alexis couldn’t possibly be the monster her twin sister was…could she?