Scent of Gardenia (Scott Tucker Series) (32 page)

Chapter
80

Something
had upset her stomach. She told the others she needed to go to her room to
rest. “Mercedes, why don’t you rest here, in case we need to discuss something
further with you?” Ralph suggested. “Just go in the bedroom and close the
door.”

She
decided that wasn’t a bad idea, leaving them in the other room. She leaned
against the open patio door frame, trying to get some fresh air. It was dark
outside now, and Hamilton and the harbor were already aglow. She was concerned
about what might happen to Scott and what might be happening right now. If this
was Melanie, she knew what she was capable of, having seen it first hand. She
wished she could just raid the house and confront her…just the two of them. She
had enough rage built up to overpower her.

As she
watched a sailboat moving under engine power heading out of the harbor, she
remembered the times with her sister and her grandfather on his sailboat. She
had wonderful times with him, but her sister always seemed aloof. Her
grandfather was a Harvard alumnus, wanting both of them to follow in his
footsteps. Her older sister Melanie had told him she had applied to Harvard—two
days later, he died suddenly in his sleep. She had wondered if Melanie might
have had a hand in his death.

One of
the reasons she had worked so hard to graduate with honors was to honor her
grandfather. The thoughts of Scott being held prisoner, possibly being tortured
or killed were too much for her. She felt tears running down her face. From the
day she met Scott in the task force office, she knew there was something about
him that produced an extraordinary curiosity. She wiped at the tears. She
couldn’t help smiling, remembering how she tricked Scott into staying in the
same cabin with her. That experience, although not entirely innocent on her
part, showed the kind of person Scott was. He was faithful to Lisa; even though
it was more than obvious he was attracted to her.

Mercedes
went over to the bed, stretching out on the covers. This was Ralph’s room. The
last thing she wanted to do was to get under the covers. She closed her eyes,
considering what tomorrow would bring. When Scott and the others were finally
released, what would his first words be to her?
Does he love me, and would
he tell me? Will he even be able to love again after his ordeal? Could he even
physically make love? If he can’t…is it that important? Would sitting by the
fireplace holding each other be enough? Do I love the man, or his body?
She
rolled onto her side, punching the pillow repeatedly. She couldn’t hold back
the flood of tears.

*.*.*

The wind
was blowing her hair around her face. She watched the bow of the boat pitch up
and down as it cut through the waves. The spray felt like someone was spraying
a fine mist from a bottle. The up and down motion had a rhythm, as she
anticipated each downward motion. It was hypnotizing. She closed her eyes but
continued to move in concert with the boat, like a couple on their honeymoon.

The boat
suddenly hit a large wave. The chain clanked on the bow of the boat. She opened
her eyes, realizing the anchor chain was wrapped and locked around both her
legs. She heard a laugh, turning to see her sister behind the wheel of the
boat. Melanie winked at her, pointing to the side of the boat. She turned in
that direction, seeing Scott naked, a chain wrapped around his body, leading to
another anchor on the bow. His chin was against his chest, and he appeared to
be unconscious. There was also a rope around his waist tied to the boat antenna
which was the only thing holding him from falling into the ocean.

Melanie
had them both and from the looks of it was planning on dumping them into the
ocean. Mercedes looked down at the chains, noticing she had an old fashioned
one-piece black bathing suit on. She tried to stand up, but she couldn’t get
enough leverage to push herself up.

The roar
of the engines died down and the boat slowed down. The boat was bouncing with
the waves but there was no forward motion that she could detect. Melanie came
up the side of the boat and knelt down beside her. She pulled at the chains and
made sure things were secure. She stood up and threw the contents of the first
bucket into the water. The water was red now instead of turquoise blue. She
dumped the other bucket into the water on Scott’s side. She couldn’t see the
water, but imagined it was the same color.

Melanie
stood and watched. Within minutes the water next to the boat was alive with
motion. Mercedes could see a fin circling in the water, and then another and
then too many to count. Melanie pointed at them all and waved her hand
vertically mimicking the fin cutting through the water.

“Now
sis, do you want to be first, or do you want to watch me dispose of Scott?”

Mercedes
tried to answer, but for some reason she couldn’t answer her. The boat bounced
and Melanie was thrown against the front of the cabin, like a drunken sailor.
She wished another wave would knock her into the water. Melanie was waiting for
her to answer, studying her closely. Mercedes felt the tear running down her
face.

“You
love him, don’t you?” Melanie asked.

Again
she couldn’t answer, but this time Mercedes nodded her head. Now, there was a
flood of tears. Melanie continued studying her for several minutes without
saying anything. She jumped as Melanie suddenly knelt down with an extended
hand. Melanie wiped at her tears with her fingers. Mercedes watched as
Melanie’s previous scowl was replaced with a concerned look. Melanie stopped
talking, and then looked over to Scott. She slowly stood up, looked at both of
them again, and then left.

Minutes
later Mercedes watched Scott come to, noticing his shocked reaction to his
condition. He looked over to the bow and saw her with the anchor chain around
her. He started pulling on his restraints, but to no avail. His head turned to
look behind her. Melanie came around the side with a flare gun in her hand. She
looked briefly at them and smiled, and then headed over to Scott.

Oh my
God she’s going to shoot Scott before she dumps him in the ocean. She fought to
get free from the anchor chain. She stopped when she watched Melanie raise the
gun. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. It was too late. There was
nothing Mercedes could do to stop her.

She
didn’t want to watch but could see Melanie looking over with a smile. She heard
her say, “I’m so sorry.” Then there was a loud noise, followed immediately with
a flash and then a glow.

She
successfully yelled, “Oh God NO.” The image was fuzzy but she saw Melanie’s
body fall into the water with her head on fire.

She
immediately sat up, hearing Ralph’s voice, “Mercedes are you okay.” She looked
at the voice and then the room, realizing she had been having a nightmare.

*.*.*

“Mercedes
you scared us. We were in the other room and heard you scream. Are you okay?”
Ralph asked.

She was
uncomfortable and soaking wet. Mercedes realized now that it was just a dream,
but it was so real. Well except for the part with Melanie shooting herself in
the head. “I’m sorry Ralph; with all of this excitement I just had a bad
dream.”

“That’s
an understatement for sure. It’s a wonder someone in one of the other rooms
hasn’t called the police. What the hell were you dreaming about?”

She sat
up, moving to the side of the bed. She was uncomfortable on Ralph’s bed, with
Ralph this close. “It was about the woman holding these men hostage…well…she
was planning to kill me and one of the other kidnap victims.” She thought about
whether Melanie’s ‘other’ hadn’t popped to the surface at the right time.
“Thanks Ralph, I’ll be okay now.”

Chapter
81

I had
enough length of chain to reach the crackers next to the bed along with the
soup and glass of water. The water tasted like it was leftover bath water, the
soup like it was just broth, but the crackers were a life-saver. I didn’t feel
alone; as I was sure everyone was living on the same thing. If one of the men
lived for a year and a half, it was a diet I could live with. However, the
cracker crumbs made the bed, if you could call it that, slightly more
uncomfortable.

It was
strange that Margaret had left my watch on, but it did give me an idea of hours
and time of day. I was aware only twenty-four hours had passed since I was
brought here. However, it seemed so much longer. We figured that Margaret would
be listening to us, so we rarely spoke. I can still remember the pain she
dished out for having spoken previously. I heard the clank of a cell door,
listening intently for any sign of her presence.

I could
hear a woman’s soft voice, but couldn’t make out what she was saying. I
suspected it was Margaret in Nils’ cell. There were still sounds coming from
Nils’ cell an hour later. Then things got very quiet. I wondered what could be
happening now. A minute later, I heard the rattling of chains and saw Nils
headed for the can. I watched for him to pass headed in the opposite direction,
but looked to the left side of my cell door, noticing Margaret standing there
with a washcloth in her hand.

Nils
passed by, but never looked in. That was because she was watching him pass the
other cells. Shortly, the chains rattled again, followed by other now familiar
sounds. I heard a splash and wondered if that was the sound of the washcloth
being returned to a basin. I could almost feel what was coming next.

*.*.*

Margaret
spent the last two hours wondering what my body could and couldn’t do. I
questioned several times during the time why I couldn’t control myself more.
She was much too experienced with what worked for her, and what didn’t. In just
about a day I was starting not to care about anything any longer. It wasn’t
worth resisting, as she eventually got what she wanted. I was unfortunately
learning this lesson the hard way, and she was benefiting from my stubborn
behavior.

She soon
became exhausted with Nils’ and me, taking time to recharge her batteries. She
was lying beside me. “Scott, do you love my sister?”

It was
an easy question to answer, but I didn’t. She liked dishing out additional pain
for not answering. “Scott, for Christ’s sake, why are you being so stupid? You
know I will get an answer…sooner or later. Now, do you love my sister?”

“Yes.”

She
didn’t immediately react or ask another question. “She’s very lucky indeed. So
am I. I knew you couldn’t stay away from me.”

I was
still recovering from not answering her.

“Scott,
do you love me?”

“No.” I
didn’t hesitate, and she didn’t either. It took my breath away.

“Scott,
if you’re going to stay alive…well…let me put it this way…your best chance is
to change that perspective. Every man that indicated he didn’t love me—has been
disposed of. Now, you’re Harvard educated, so I wouldn’t expect you to take too
long to learn your lessons. However, the longer it takes for you to tell me you
‘love me’ the longer the painful lessons will continue. One further note, they
all said they loved me eventually. However, at some point they told me they had
lied to me. That’s the point of no return.”

“Now
Scott, I am going to do you a favor. I’m going to let you do some thinking
about the pros and cons of not developing our mutual love. You know I will get
my way…why resist it. You have no idea yet of the pain I can dish out. The
alternative to pain could be so mutually rewarding.”

She
climbed off the bed, stood waiting for a response. My mind was still thinking
about the kinds of pain she was planning. I was weighing the risks of my future
actions.

“Now,
just to add a little more focus for you on your decision…I’m going to visit
with Holly now.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Her pain is going to be
directly related to your reluctance to love me. You know you love me. That is
why you couldn’t stay away from me.” She reached for the scissors, making a
motion to stab my groin, but stopped short of her target. She smiled, and then
laughed at my reaction.

“This will
give you something more to concern yourself with—tomorrow it might not be just
Holly you’ll have to concern yourself with.” She let those words sink in. “I
understand Mercedes is in town and she’s getting very close—too close actually.
She tried to save you once, and she almost succeeded, but I’ll be one step
ahead of her this time.”

She
threw the scissors on the table, looking like she was changing her mind about
going next door.
I was considering how far the scissors were and whether I
could reach them.

She saw
my eyes looking over at the scissors. She took a step back to the side of my
bed. “Scott, you make being with you so much fun. Would you like them a little
closer?” She didn’t move them closer, but she picked them up.

I had
two experiences with the scissors already and wondered;
what the hell am I
in store for this time.

Chapter
82

Holly was
trying to understand what had been happening for the last few hours. By now she
had a pretty good idea. She reached for some crackers, which were on the bedside
table. They were the only things that were worth eating. She had been
practicing how to bring her hands together. She could do it if her hands were
in front of her face, but not with her arms extended. Her best chance of
overpowering Margaret was when she was allowed to go to the pot. She knew it
would be risky, but not doing something soon might mean someone else might be
killed.

She and
Jules whispered to each other when they thought it was safe. They shared their
feelings for each other. It was difficult for her to tolerate Jules being hurt.
She would rather be the one occupying Margaret’s time. However, Margaret eventually
moved on, and Holly had to bear the sound of Jules being hurt, or worse.

She
remembered their time together on his boat. She could see her spending all her
days with Jules there. She immediately thought about whether they would survive
this captivity. Would they indeed want to be together? She knew what she wanted.
As the hours passed, the intensity of her feelings for him seemed to grow and
grow. She closed her eyes, picturing them together sitting on the stern of his
boat watching the stars.

She
smelled the scent of Gardenia. She opened her eyes to see Margaret’s eyes a
foot away. She recoiled and Margaret laughed.

“Did I
catch you in the middle of a dream?” Margaret said, leaning back. “You looked
like it was a good dream.” She paused. “I bet you were thinking of Jules. Is
that right?”

Holly
didn’t answer. There was some immediate pain.

“Holly,
I asked you a question. Were you thinking of Jules?” she said, loud enough for Jules
to hear.

“Yes.”

“That’s
a good girl. Yes, he’s worth more than a few thoughts, but you know
that…actually we both know that now.” She played with Holly’s body. “I think he
really likes you. He puts up with a lot of my shit when I tell them I’m going
to hurt you.” She made Holly cry out. “He is likely already listening to what
is happening here. Jules, are you listening to us?” She made Holly cry out
again.

“Yes,
and leave her alone. You don’t want her, you know you want to hurt me…hurt me
instead.”

Holly
couldn’t control herself, crying out in pain.

Jules
yelled, “You silly bitch, I’ll kill you if I have a chance.”

Holly
grimaced at the increased pain until she couldn’t hold back any longer. She was
screaming for the pain to stop, trying to move from Margaret’s grasp.

“Margaret,
please stop. I’ll do whatever you want,” Jules cried out.

“Well
Holly, see how much he cares for you. He’s willing to sacrifice himself for
you. So are the others, but he says it with such conviction, that I know he
really means it. He follows through so nicely on his promises too.”

Holly
was crying from the pain, and the knowledge of what Margaret was going to do
next. She tried to hide her crying from Jules, but knew he must have heard her.

“Jules,
I’ll be there in a minute or two. I have to make things better here.” Margaret
immediately changed her focus.

Holly
tried to focus her thoughts on being with Jules when this ordeal was finally
over.

*.*.*

Minutes
later she heard Margaret with Jules, trying to block the thoughts and the
sounds. She silently wept, because she couldn’t tolerate her earlier pain. Now
Jules was obliged to commit to his promise, or suffer significant pain himself,
and have Margaret return to her cell to pick up where she left off.

Holly
thought about Margaret spending hours with all of them, seemingly never tiring
of the process. She is a Nymphomaniac, as well as a kidnapper and murderer. She
practiced her potential stranglehold, wondering if she could actually pull it
off. Right now she was mad enough, and could do it in a heart beat.
Jules,
I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you. I really have fallen in love with
you…please God, give us the strength to live through this, and forgive me for
my future sin.