The Manga Girl (24 page)

     
 
“No, Lucy,”
he had said.
“Never again.”

     
“Promise?”

     
“I promise.”

     
Nick took the Turnpike west, then headed south at Sturbridge onto Interstate 84, and crossed the entire state of Connecticut before joining Route 17, which took him into the foothills of the Catskills in upstate New York.

     
As he approached his destination he tried to compose his thoughts. His plan, if you could call it that, was a rudimentary one - if, as he had been informed, Johnny Ho’s country cabin was surrounded by dense woodland, he would park some distance away and come in by foot. After that, it all depended on what he might encounter.
 

     
He didn’t exactly feel scared, although the longer he drove, the more he realized what a wild risk he was taking. A sane man would have probably thrown in the towel by now, but after his ‘Lucy experience’, Nick didn’t think he qualified as sane anymore. He had briefly considered calling Sid, but feared that his friend would either talk him out of his mission, or want to come along - neither of which he was going to allow to happen.
  

     
He reached a small hamlet called Roscoe - its welcoming sign proclaiming it to be ‘Trout Town, USA’ - and turned off onto a winding country lane, with trees on either side. The road began to climb, and Nick slowed and started checking to his left. A hundred yards up, he saw it - a wooden Swiss-style chalet, with large gable windows and an extended deck, set in a five acre clearing. Some cabin! Nick accelerated out of sight, and half a mile up the road, parked, climbed out, and stretched his legs.

     
He had spent most of the morning at Porter Square, trying to establish where Johnny Ho might have taken Lucy. Aunt Akiko had informed him that Lucy had called her, and had asked that she notify her father that she was going back with Johnny Ho - and she had been quite adamant that he was
not
to come looking for her. When Nick had suggested she might have been saying that under duress, Akiko had looked troubled, but had warned Nick not to get involved - for his own safety.

     
Nick wasn’t going to settle for that, and he had sought out Lucy’s cousin Chieko in her bookshop. She had been equally reticent at first, so Nick had told her about his theory that Lucy might have been drugged and was in danger. Like the others, Chieko was skeptical, but finally, out of sympathy for Nick, and a growing concern for her cousin, Chieko had informed him that Johnny Ho owned an apartment in Queens and a secluded cabin upstate. At Nick’s insistence, she reluctantly gave him directions to both. As he had headed out of Boston, Nick had decided that the cabin was the best place to start. There was no guarantee Lucy would be there, but away from prying eyes, it would be a logical place to hide someone.

     
Nick got back into the Mustang and found a narrow track leading into the woods. He turned in, and after a hundred yards stopped the engine. He reached into his bag and took out one of his sharp carving knives and his leather pouch of lock picks and wrenches. Then he tucked the knife into his waistband and, satisfied that his car was well hidden, walked back through the trees towards the cabin. As it came into view, he ducked down at the edge of the clearing. There was no sign of life, but a black SUV was parked in the driveway.

     
Remaining under the cover of the tree line, Nick circled round to the rear of the cabin. Then, his heart beating harder, he stepped out into the clearing and zigzagged between a scattering of spruces until he reached the back door. The deck that he had seen from the road ran around to the back of the house and also branched out into the clearing where it ended with an outdoor hot tub. He softly climbed the steps to the terrace and crouching down, peeked in through the window. There appeared to be nobody inside.

     
Nick cautiously tried the door handle and discovered that it was locked. He opened the leather pouch and selected a suitable pick and then placed a tension wrench inside the keyhole. He gently applied torque and then used the pick to work the pins out of the cylinder. Inside of a minute, he had the door open and he stepped into a sumptuous interior, comprising an open-plan lounge and dining area. Through an open door on the far side, he saw part of a well-appointed kitchen and in the left-hand corner was a pine staircase leading up to a loft which presumably housed the bedrooms.

     
It suddenly struck him that he had actually broken into the country residence of a yakuza hit man, and he was seized by the awful possibility that he had got this all wrong. What if Lucy really was here of her own free will? He was now guilty of breaking and entering and he had no actual proof that Johnny Ho had done anything wrong. Maybe, he thought, Lucy’s relatives had been right and it would be better to let them deal with it. He hadn’t yet been discovered and there was still time to turn back.

     
He took a step back towards the door but just then, from somewhere deep within the cabin, he heard the unmistakable sound of a girl’s muffled cry - and it was emanating from underneath the staircase. He crept quietly across the room and from underneath the floor, he heard a whooshing sound and another muted scream, which this time was followed by a man’s harsh, guttural voice. Under the stairs was an open trap door with another wooden staircase descending down beneath the cabin.

     
Holding his breath, Nick crept down the stairs and then stood stock-till. It took a few seconds for his brain to process the scene displayed before him. In the center of a large basement, an old Japanese man with short, silver hair, was brandishing a leather crop and circling a table, upon which Lucy had been arranged. She was chained, and naked, but it was her clearly painful and humiliating position that made Nick stare with horrified fascination. Lucy was balanced on her knees and face, with her ass up in the air, her naked sex exposed, her wrists cuffed together between her shoulder blades, and her legs bent double so that her heels touched her buttocks. The narrow chains which restrained her had been strategically placed to deny any movement at all. They circled her waist, neck and thighs, and were tightly secured to the four table legs, effectively turning her into a human tripod.

     
Nick had no idea how long Lucy had been forced to endure this obscene posture, but even a few minutes would surely be excruciatingly uncomfortable. Lucy’s groans of anguish were hardly audible however, because a large rubber object had been forced into her mouth and, from the swollen shape of her neck, deep into her throat. Her thrust-up ass cheeks were striped with red and purplish welts, and a thin metal rod protruded from her anus. As Nick watched, the silver-haired torturer pressed a button on a hand-held remote control and the rod buzzed and trembled inside her rectum. Lucy’s body shook, and she went cross-eyed and clenched her fists, as a sorrowful moan issued from her plugged-up throat.

     
Nick had taken in all of these details simultaneously whilst standing motionless at the foot of the stairs. Now he was galvanized into action, and brandishing the knife, he approached Lucy’s tormentor.
 

     
“Hey!”

     
The man swiveled round with a look of astonishment, but then lashed out with the crop with surprising speed, knocking the knife out of Nick’s hand. As Nick bent to retrieve it, the old man struck again, catching Nick viciously across the cheek. His eyes watering, Nick swung out wildly with his fist and caught the old man square on the nose. A stream of claret issued from the man’s nostrils and he staggered backwards. Nick grabbed the knife and holding it at arm’s length, said, “Untie her now!”

     
The old man’s eyes darted uncertainly between Nick’s face and the razor sharp blade.

     
“Do it!” Nick hissed.

     
The old man glanced at Lucy who had awkwardly maneuvered her face onto her right cheek so that she could see what was happening. Then he pressed the remote again and Lucy let out a throaty, warbled cry, and a stream of hot piss shot out from between her legs as the electrical rod shocked her insides.

     
In a blur of rage, Nick instinctively lunged at the old man, but as he did, a ragged pain tore into the nape of his neck, and his knees buckled and he pitched forward, banging his head against the table. Rolling over, the last thing he saw was Lucy’s contorted, naked form above him, as his world faded to black.

Chapter Thirty-Three

     
Nick woke up in a simply furnished room with security bars on the windows. He wondered if they were there to keep people out or in. His head ached and his neck was sore. He swung off the bed and wobbled over to the door, which he found to be locked. He checked his pockets and discovered that his wallet, watch, and cell phone were gone, along with the knife and the lock picks.

     
He sat down and considered his situation. It seemed he was now at the mercy of a murdering psychopath, and nobody except Chieko had any idea where he might be. Not the best of planning. On the plus side, Lucy was here and she was alive - or at least she was. What remained now was to wait to see what Johnny Ho planned to do with him. Ironically, Nick realized that Johnny Ho was within his rights to call the police, although he suspected that was unlikely to happen.

     
After some fretful hours had gone by, he heard a car engine and, peering out of the triangular window, saw Johnny Ho climb out of his metallic blue Porsche. He was greeted by a bald-headed Japanese man and they talked briefly before disappearing into the cabin. A small knot of fear formed in Nick’s stomach as he realized that judgment time had arrived. While he waited, he tried to formulate in his mind what he was going to say. He hadn’t come all this way just to ask for forgiveness and leave. On the other hand, he had witnessed enough to convince himself that Lucy was being held against her will - surely even
she
wouldn’t willingly have submitted to that torture. If he could get away, he would certainly feel he had reason to go to the police. Unfortunately, Johnny Ho would be well aware of that too.

     
He heard a key turning in the lock and the door opened to reveal the bald guy - with a sneer on his lips and a gun in his hand. He silently gestured towards the door, and then took Nick down a short passageway to a balcony at the top of the stairs which looked out over the ground floor. Johnny Ho was sitting in a leather couch watching a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. He glanced up and turned the sound down with the remote.

     
“Hello, Nick,” he said amiably. “Come on down.”

     
Nick felt the nozzle of the gun jab in his back, and he climbed down the stairs, noting that the trap door was now closed. He sat in a vacant armchair and Johnny Ho regarded him for a moment, his eyes dark and inscrutable, his mouth again pulled back into that narrow smile.

     
“I’m surprised that you came up here,” he said. “Most people wouldn’t have had the balls.”
 

     
Trying to appear relaxed, Nick shrugged.

     
“How’s your head?” Johnny Ho asked.

     
“A little sore.”

     
“Sorry about that. Kono-san here used a taser on you. You were going pretty wild, he said. I think you broke Satoru’s nose.”

     
Nick had wanted to do a whole lot more than that to the twisted bastard.

     
Johnny Ho folded his arms. “Anyway, I got a call that you were here and I was kind of intrigued, so here
I
am. The question is why
are
you here?”

     
“To see Lucy, of course.”

     
“After what she you told you on the phone?”

     
Nick drew a deep breath and said, “I don’t believe she meant what she said.”

     
“Why is that?”

     
“I think she was under duress.”

     
“Ah, I see. I was holding a gun to her head, right?”

     
“Not exactly. I think you drugged her.”

     
Johnny Ho cocked his head. “Really? With what, may I ask?”

     
Nick held his gaze. “A natural drug called scopolamine. I think you’ve used it on her before.”

     
Johnny Ho looked surprised. “I’m assuming Lucy told you about that.”

     
“In a round about way. I put two and two together.”

     
“Very astute of you, Nick.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Have you told anybody else?”

     
“No.”

     
Johnny Ho looked at him for a long time, then nodded, as if he had just reached a decision. “So now what? Do you expect to just walk out of here with her?”

     
Good question,
Nick thought.
What
am
I expecting?

     
Johnny Ho crossed his legs and said, “I need a Scotch. Will you join me?”

     
Without waiting for Nick’s reply, he spoke in Japanese to Kono, who went over to the bar.

     
Johnny Ho said, “Would you like to know why I drove all the way up here, when I could simply have had Kono take care of you?”

     
Nick waited.

     
“I had a long and interesting talk with Lucy yesterday,” Johnny Ho said. “Before and after I drugged her - yes, you’re right about the scopolamine. Under its influence, victims become totally compliant to suggestions - even if they exceed their own moral limitations. Literally, they will do
anything
you tell them to, with absolutely no recollection afterwards. Believe me, it can be quite a turn-on, watching a normally chaste and dignified woman willingly perform degrading sexual acts in front of complete strangers.”

     
“Sounds like you’ve used it a lot,” Nick said.

     
“Some Colombian acquaintances introduced me to it. In my line of work, it can come in very useful.”

     
Kono came back with two crystal tumblers of whisky over ice, and set them on the coffee table.

     
“Anyway, as you guessed, Lucy was under the poison’s influence when you spoke to her. I told her what to say. I’d hoped it would be enough to put you off, but I obviously underestimated your feelings for her.”

     
“And hers for me,” Nick added.

     
Johnny Ho sipped his drink. “Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? When I first heard that Lucy had a new boyfriend, I was skeptical. See, I’m a very egotistical guy and I don’t like to lose. It was kind of embarrassing for me when she left and, as a matter of honor, I have to show my colleagues that I have got her back, and more importantly, completely under my control. As you are very well aware, Lucy is a strong-willed girl, and in order to restore my standing with my peers, I am going to have to crush that spirit.”

     
“So this has nothing to do with love?”

     
Johnny Ho laughed. “No, Nick. It has to do with control. Lucy is my property. Always was, always will be.”

     
Nick shook his head incredulously. The man was clearly demented.

     
 
“Satoru, the guy you punched downstairs,” Johnny Ho went on, “is a master in the art of dispensing pain and humiliation, and he takes great pleasure in his work. Over the coming weeks, he will systematically strip Lucy of every ounce of her sense of self-worth. By the time he is done, her entire existence will revolve around satisfying my every whim.”

     
Nick was now feeling slightly panicked, along with a growing sense of helplessness.

     
“However, as much as that will repair my reputation,” Johnny Ho said, “there is still another issue that bothers me. Do you know why Lucy agreed to meet me?”

     
Nick shrugged again.

     
“I told her that if she didn’t, I was going to kill you.”

     
Nick felt the color drain from his face.

     
“Scopolamine is an extremely powerful drug, you know,” Johnny Ho continued. “It acts as a kind of truth serum. The loss of willpower means that the victim has no alternative other than to speak from the heart. So I asked Lucy if your life was so important to her that she would risk her own. Do you know what she said?”

     
Now Nick felt a combination of both relief and despair because he knew what was coming next.

     
“She said she loves you,” Johnny Ho said. “The poor kid actually put herself at my mercy to save you, Nick. How about that?”

     
Nick felt a lump rising in his throat.
Oh, Lucy.

     
“So here’s my dilemma,” Johnny Ho went on. “It hurts my pride to think that she is that much in love with another man, and even though I can physically make her my sex slave, that’s not enough. I want every part of her.”
 
Now he leaned forward with a manic glint in his eye. “I want her soul.”

     
For the first time, Nick had a glimpse of the malignity that Lucy had described.

     
“I don’t have that, but you do,” Johnny Ho said. “I was thinking about this on the way up. By coming here, you’ve given me an opportunity, Nick. So I have decided that you’re going to be staying for a while. You’re going to be Satoru’s assistant, participating in Lucy’s torture sessions. She came here out of love for you, but by the time we’re through, she will have learned to detest you.”

     
 
“You can’t make me do that,” Nick said without conviction.

     
“Don’t you be so sure,” Johnny Ho said, regaining his cool demeanor. He raised his glass. “You haven’t touched your drink.”

     
Nick looked at his glass and then back up at Johnny Ho. Beside him, Kono pointed the gun at Nick’s head. He had no choice - the net was being drawn in. He picked up the glass and put it to his lips.

     
“That’s it, Nick,” Johnny Ho said. “Drink up.”