Illusion of Luck (29 page)

“
Save your breath, Honey.
Psychology won’t work on me.”

“
So, is that all this is
about?”

“
It doesn’t matter what you
say, Cynthia. Whether you’re a willing participant or not, it’s
gonna happen. And I’ll
remember
it
the way
I
want to.”

“
You’re sick, Larry. You
really do need help.”

“
No, you’ve got it all
wrong. I’m not
sick
. Remember? I’m
lucky
. Lucky
Larry.” He laughed.

“
How can you still think
you’re lucky? I got away from you once already.”

“
But now I have you back. I
have the love of my life.”

“
I’ll never love
you.”

“
Sure you will. Tonight
you’ll do a strip tease for me and beg me to get undressed. Then
you’ll tell me how much you love me over and over again, as you
satisfy me in every way. It will be the night of our dreams,
Baby.”

There had to be a way out of this mess, she
thought. “And then what? You’ll just let me go?”

“
That’s the plan. If you do
everything I ask you to do, you’ll be back with Greg by
morning.”

But would she be alive? And
if so, would she
wish
she was dead?

**********

“
Hey!”

The young couple sitting in their car was
startled by the crazy man in the bathrobe banging on the
window.

“
What’s your problem?” The
young man yelled back, afraid to open the window.

“
My wife was kidnapped. Did
you see a man drive away with a pretty redhead?”

The young man rolled down the window.
“Maybe. I’m not sure if her hair was red.”

“
Yeah, it was,” said the
woman.

“
Did they leave in a dark
green Jaguar?”

“
I don’t know what kind of
car it was,” said the man. “But I think it was green. Definitely
some type of sports car.”

“
Thanks,” said Greg. “And
I’m sorry I scared you.”

He rushed back inside and found Sandy,
Rebecca, Chaucey, and Crow in his room. Rebecca was sitting at the
table, working at her laptop. Greg had not even realized she’d
brought it.

“
I found a couple making out
in the parking lot. They saw Larry and Cynthia leave in his car.
But I have no idea where he’s taking her. How am I ever going to
find them?”

“
Rebecca’s re-reading his
last chapter,” said Sandy.

“
He wrote another chapter?”
said Greg. “Is that how you knew he was here in
Orlando?”

Greg got in Sandy’s face and yelled. “Why
didn’t you warn me?”

“
I tried—but your cell phone
was turned off and you didn’t listen to the message I left you,” he
said, pointing to the phone on the night table. “I’m sorry. I
should have told the desk clerk.”

“
It’s okay.” Greg calmed
down a bit. “It’s not your fault.”

Chaucey walked over to where Rebecca was
sitting. “Any clues?”

“
Not yet. But you know he
probably gave one or two,” said Rebecca.

“
Yeah,” said Chaucey, “he
loves to do that. Thinks he’s smarter than everybody
else.”

“
For the apartment in The
Woodlands, he used the name Revo Enim,” said Rebecca, “which, of
course, is just ‘Undermine’ spelled backwards. It wouldn’t
surprise me at all if he did something like that again.”

Greg said, “Yeah, but we don’t even know if
he’s taking her to a motel or an apartment or what.”

“
I can’t imagine him renting
an apartment,” said Sandy. “He knows the police are looking for
him, so he wouldn’t want to stick around for too long.”

“
Good point,” said Rebecca.
“So, I’ll look for anything that could be the name of a
hotel.”

Chaucey leaned in close and read over
Rebecca’s shoulder. She found something and pointed to it on the
screen. “What about this? He’s talking about making his fantasy
come true in Orlando?”

“
What does that tell us?”
said Greg.

“
Try searching on the words
‘fantasy’ and ‘Orlando,’” said Chaucey.

After a few seconds, Rebecca said, “Bingo.
Orlando Fantasy Hotel. That’s got to be it!” She clicked on the
link, which took her to the hotel’s website.

Sandy opened his cell phone and called the
number on the screen.

“
Yes, can you tell me if you
have a Larry Luzor registered there?”

“
What was the name
again?”

“
Luzor.
L-u-z-o-r.”

“
No, we don’t.”

“
Okay. Thanks.”

“
Now what?” said
Greg.

“
Wait. He wouldn’t use his
real name, would he?” said Chaucey.

“
Doubtful,” said
Rebecca.

“
Call back, Sandy,” said
Greg. “Ask for a Mr. Ruzol, which is Luzor spelled
backwards.”

Sandy called the hotel and asked. But they
had no Mr. Ruzol.

Just when Sandy was about to hang up, Crow
said, “Ask about ‘Bigy Rules.’”

“
What?”

“
Bigy Rules,” said
Crow.

Although Sandy couldn’t imagine where Crow
was coming up with the name, he tried it anyway. “You do? What’s
the room number? 343. Thanks.”

“
You’re kidding me,” said
Rebecca.

“
No,” said Sandy. “They
actually have a guest by that name.”

“
Crow, how did you come up
with that?” said Chaucey.

“
Roulz. R-o-u-l-z is Luzor
with the letters scrambled. And I figured he’d like that one since
it sounds like rules, r-u-l-e-s, because he thinks he
rules
.”

“
Okay,” said Rebecca. “But
where did you get the ‘Bigy’?

“
Well, you were telling us
all about Larry while we waited for the bus. And you said his real
name is Lawrence Igby Luzor. So I just swapped a couple of letters
in the name ‘Igby’ and got ‘Bigy.’”

“
You’re smarter than you
look, Crow,” said Rebecca. “No offense.”

“
Bigy Roulz,” said Chaucey.
“Yeah, that’s him. No doubt about it.”

“
Come on,” said Greg,
rushing out the door, “we’re gonna outsmart Mr. Bigy this time. But
we’ve got to hurry.”

**********

As Larry pulled the Jaguar into the parking
lot of the Orlando Fantasy Hotel, Cynthia saw that there was a
group of teenagers getting out of a bus nearby. Larry wouldn’t
shoot her in front of all those witnesses, she thought.

“
Now, I’m warning you,
Cynthia. Don’t make a scene or you’ll regret it.”

She nodded humbly.

“
Okay, let’s go.”

They got out of the car. Cynthia started
running. She ran as fast as she could toward the hotel.

Larry thought about pulling out his pistol,
but saw the kids and decided against it. So, he ran after her. “I’m
gonna get you,” he yelled out, as though it was just a game.

She ran to the side
entrance. Once she reached the front desk, she’d be safe. He might
be capable of killing
her
, but she didn’t think he
was prepared to shoot the desk clerk and several others.

But the door was locked, and according to
the sign, required a key card at night. Larry was approaching
quickly.

Cynthia ran to the back of the hotel, where
the big garbage bins where kept. It was dimly lit, and smelled like
rotten fish.

Larry flew around the corner only to see
something flying at his head. He ducked, but the large cinder block
clipped his forehead anyway.

Seeing that he was stunned for the moment,
Cynthia turned to run away.

But he lunged at her, grabbing her leg on
his way down.

She tried to kick free, but he latched onto
her like a bear trap.

As he crawled up her body, his dizziness
began to dissipate. Finally, he planted himself on her thighs and
pulled out his gun and pressed the barrel into her left ear.

Cynthia wondered if this would be her last
moment on earth. Was this where she would die—in this smelly place
behind a hotel? A popular hangout for rats and other vermin, no
doubt. Her body would look like one of those cadavers on the CSI
show—the top of her head blown off. Maggots coming out from
everywhere. Could she fight him off and wrestle the gun out of his
hand?

“
Is this what you want? Huh?
You want to die right now?”

“
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
run away. That was stupid of me.”

“
And you shouldn’t have hit
me in the head. That could have left me brain dead.”

She wished.

“
I’m gonna give you one more
chance.”

“
Okay.”

He started to get up, but changed his mind.
“You don’t even think this gun is real, do you?”

“
What? Of course I think
it’s real.”

“
Or, maybe you think it’s
not loaded.” He pointed it toward the sky and fired.

Cynthia jumped. Even with the suppressor
muffling the sound, there was no doubt he had just fired a
bullet.

“
Let’s go,” he said, as he
got up and helped her to her feet. “Time to get it on,
Baby.”

Chapter
39

“
Okay, Baby, our time has
finally come,” said Larry.

“
I need to go to the
bathroom,” said Cynthia.

“
Alright. But don’t be
long.”

She went into the bathroom and locked the
door.

Larry opened the French
doors and went out onto the balcony. He breathed in the crisp,
60-degree air. Wonderful night for his dreams to come true. It
would take just a few minutes before Cynthia realized there was no
escape. She
could
go out the bathroom window. But they were on the third floor,
so it would be a killer jump. And there was nothing in the bathroom
that could be used as a weapon—except maybe a towel to strangle him
with. Good luck with that, Honey.

He took out his pipe and inspected it. Thank
goodness it had not been damaged during the scuffle downstairs.

After puffing away for several minutes, he
heard Cynthia calling to him from the bathroom.

“
Larry? I’m
sick.”

“
Sorry about that. Come on
out.”

“
No. You don’t understand.
I’ve got diarrhea.”

He tried the doorknob. “Unlock the
door.”

“
Believe me—you don’t want
to come in here.”

“
Unlock the door,
Cynthia.”

“
No. I’m
embarrassed.”

“
You’ve got five seconds to
open this door before I kick it in! One…two…three…”

The door opened. Cynthia was fully dressed
and the bathroom was odor free.

“
Nice try. Now get your
sweet little butt out here.” He closed the French doors. “Go over
there to the bed.”

Cynthia walked to the foot of the king size
bed. “Why are you doing this to me, Larry? You said you loved
me.”

“
Oh, I
do
. Always have, since high
school.”

“
Okay, then. So, why would
you want to
rape
me? If you really love somebody, you don’t force them to have
sex with you.”

“
Well, I don’t necessarily
have to rape you.”

There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“
You can do it
willingly
.”

“
I’m a newlywed. Are you
trying to destroy my marriage?”

“
Not at all. In fact, I want
you and Greg to stay together for the rest of your
lives.”

She was speechless.

“
Yes, I want you two to be
happy and raise a wonderful family.”

“
Then, let me
go.”

“
I
will
let you go. As soon as
we’re done.” He pulled the pistol out of his jacket pocket and
secured it under the waistband of his pants. Then he took off the
jacket and tossed it on a chair. “Now, take off your blouse. And do
it in a seductive way. Make it fun.”

“
Fun? You just said you
wanted Greg and me to be happy.”

“
That’s right. I want y’all
to be happy so the kids will be happy. So,
our
kid will be
happy.”

Cynthia was terrified. And
the hope of getting away unscathed was fading fast. “You want to
get me
pregnant?
”

“
Yes.” He smiled
proudly.

“
You’re a
monster!”

He laughed. “That’s right. And this monster
is gonna load up your womb with his monster sperm tonight, Baby.
Now, take off your blouse before I rip it off!”

She reached for the top button and unhooked
it.

“
Now we’re getting
somewhere.” He practically jumped up and down in
anticipation.

**********

Greg, Sandy, Rebecca, Chaucey, and Crow were
in a taxi, on their way to the Orlando Fantasy Hotel.