Fragrance of Revenge (4 page)

Chapter
6

His good
fortune was when he was able to copy and read Doctor Adler’s files on the
beautiful patient in room four.

He
learned enough to be dangerous, but most importantly he learned enough to get
rich.

He made
more money in the last few weeks than he made all last year. Tonight he was
going to add more to his bank account.

However,
despite his ability to manage to pull off the extortion of Stephen Strong,
which had no end in sight, his real interest was in the beautiful redheaded
patient named Alexis. He also learned the good doctor was aiding her in
adjusting to the real world for her future release.
I bet!

His gut
told him that more was going on than what was in the file. She’s much too
beautiful to ignore, and he was sure that the doctor was engaging in other
activities while she was in his personal care. His plan was to find out what
was really going on at the good doctor’s house.

The
doctor also made another mistake. He gave him a key to his house to get some
files he had left behind, which he needed for a meeting. He pulled the key copy
he had made and looked at it.
Chris you are a smart lad indeed.

Recently
Alexis has been giving him signs she wants more than a nightly bed check. He’s
even managed to check her out while she takes her shower. Although she has a
private room, he has pass keys to all the patient rooms. His nightly visits
have gone on for weeks. He’s the only caregiver on duty at night so his only
fear is that she will see him.

If I
were the doctor, I know what I would be doing with her. Right now she’s third
on the list. The money collection is first, a visit to the doctor’s house second
and just maybe more details of Alexis will surface.

He is
still trying to put all of the pieces together, but the most important thing is
that he knows Stephen Strong is a rich real estate developer, and is quite
content, it seems, to keep giving him money.
Maybe it would be best to see
if he can afford ten thousand dollars. If Stephen cuts off his willingness to
fork over the money some time down the line, at least his bank account will be
much larger.

He was
working a different shift this weekend. Today he was working noon to 9 pm.
While he sat at the duty desk waiting for the doctor to sign Alexis out until
Sunday night, he remembered his visit to her room last night.

The
shower in her room is located to the left as you enter her room. With her
bedroom door shut to the hall, she doesn’t need to shut the door to her
bathroom. She should, but she doesn’t. She leaves it slightly open.
Was she
doing that for him?

Last
night her shower routine was very different. He closed his eyes and recalled
what he observed.

When he
first saw her she had already washed her hair and was rinsing the soap from it.
She had her long red hair in both hands and was pulling her hands along the
strands under the spray. Even her naked back was sensual. Her hips flared
presenting the best ass he’s ever seen. He could only see the side of one ivory
breast.

She
finished rinsing her hair and soaped a face cloth and turned her back to the
spray. Her long red hair reached almost to her navel, only covering one of her
breasts. She closed her eyes and soaped her face, and then her arms. She was
obviously in no rush to leave the comfort of the warm water.

He had
committed her routine to memory. He was almost as excited as he was last night
watching her display. She put her head back and rinsed her hair, the water
washing over her face. Her routine was slow and was almost for his benefit. The
amazing thing was that she had her eyes closed, almost like she was letting a
lover wash her body. It was an incredible memory.

He
looked around now to make sure he was still alone at the duty desk with no one
watching him.

He
closed his eyes again and picked up where he left off. She wasn’t in a rush to
finish and he had the feeling that she knew he was there and was providing a
show for him. At one point she even paused and looked toward the slightly open
bathroom door. If she saw what he was doing it didn’t register as she resumed
her washing. Within a short period of time it wasn’t just a shower any longer.

When
they were both done he thought he saw a hint of a slight smile.

“Chris,
are you okay?” a deep voice asked.

He
opened his eyes and the doctor was standing in front of his desk with Alexis
slightly behind him.

“I’m
sorry doctor. I didn’t hear you approach.”

“I’m
leaving now with Ms. Strong. I need to sign her out.”

“Right,”
he replied. However, the doctor just stood there looking at him.

“Oh, I’m
sorry.” He opened the ‘sign out register’ and turned it towards doctor Adler.

“One
other thing Chris. I forgot to lock my office door. Would you keep Ms. Strong
company for a minute while I go lock it? Please help her with her coat too.
Thanks.”

“Sure no
problem.” He felt uncomfortable coming around the desk to be that close to her.
He smelled her fragrance as he held the coat for her arms. She put her long
hair over the back of her coat and turned quickly.

She
looked right into his eyes like she was searching his brain. Then she looked
down to his pants. “I see you are as excited as you were last night. Thank you for
my coat and for your
visit
last night.” She looked over in the direction
of the doctor’s office. “Now unless you want to lose your job, you will keep
your visits between us, and you will do as I say next time.”

He
didn’t say a word. He was still trying to process what he just heard.

“Are we
all set here?” Doctor Adler asked.

“Yes
doctor. Chris is an excellent caregiver. We’re all set now.”

“We’ll
return Sunday evening. See you then?” Doctor Adler said and grabbed Alexis’ arm
and guided her away.

“Have a
nice holiday weekend Chris, and I’ll see you Sunday night too,” Alexis said,
looking over her shoulder and winking at him.

“Enjoy
the holiday weekend both of you.” He watched them leave through the front door.
Now, who is blackmailing whom?

Chapter
7

She
couldn’t hold back the smile. The look on Chris’ face was priceless. He had no
idea she knew he was there last night. Now she has power over him. He’s not bad
looking and has some other special gifts. However, Sunday is a long way off.

She felt
the pressure of Dr. Adler’s hand on her arm guiding her down the walk. She
learned that he was twice her age. He was never married and lives alone in a
very large home. She’s learned the routine well.

He signs
her out for whatever time he has available. They go to his house mostly, but
every once in a while he takes her out to a nice restaurant. The last time was
very nice as it was a seaside restaurant. They sat outside and watched the
activity in the small harbor.

She
stopped and looked back at the care facility. The bright-spot lights lit up
both the sign in the front yard and the house itself. She thought of it as a
house, since it’s been her home for all of her life. ‘Lighthouse Manor’ still
has a nice ring. ‘We care when you need us to’ was printed below the name. The
white columns on either side of the front porch gave the Georgian colonial an
impressive and inviting entry.

“Alexis,
what are you looking at?” Doctor Adler asked.

“I’ve
spent so many years looking at the inside of this home; I just wanted to commit
the outside to memory.”

They silently
stood on the brick walk looking at the building. Alexis knew the inside like
the back of her hand. There were ten patient rooms; four on the first floor and
six upstairs. Off the front entry was a nurses’ station which was open to the
main entry hall that had double doors to the main living area and dining room
beyond.

At the
end of the main hall was the library which doubled as Dr. Adler’s office. There
were rest rooms to the left of his office. The kitchen was across the back of
the building out of sight. Patient rooms were along the left of the hall; hers
was across from the nurses’ station.

“Alexis,
are you alright?”

“Doctor Adler,
you’ve shared much with me for over twenty years, and you’re almost like a
father to me, but you’ve never told me about my parents.” She looked at him.
“Why haven’t you told me the rest of my story?”

*.*.*

She no
longer rode in the back of the Cadillac, but now sat in the passenger seat.
However, the front seat could easily seat three people comfortably. He never
answered her question, but had nodded his head and quickly ushered her to the
car.

Someone
had to be paying for her care, which she knew had to be expensive. There were
seldom ten patients at the home. Even if the building were paid for, there were
considerable expenses involved running the facility. She decided to find out
more about her parents and who was paying for her care, especially since he
avoided answering her.
He’s been out of character since she asked the
question.

She
could tell he knew she was staring at him. There was something about him that
interested her. His hair was black without any sign of gray. His hair was full
and was always well groomed. She wondered if he went to the same hair stylist
that came to the facility.
Maybe she went to his home and did more than
style his hair. She sensed some jealousy.

He
usually wore gray slacks like now, with a dark-blue blazer over a white shirt.
Most of the time he would wear a tie, but usually when he was picking her up,
he did not have one.

His chin
was long and square and when she had the chance to fix on his eyes they were a
deep brown and reminded her of maple syrup. He was what she considered
handsome. She thought of the hair stylist, and now wanted to run her fingers
through his hair and make him more like a human than a statue.

She
thought about Chris’ frequent visits and liked putting on a show, while she
secretly watched his. She even caught Dr. Adler in the shower one morning and
watched for several minutes.
She wondered if all men did what they did.
She
felt a strange sensation between her legs and wished she could touch herself.
Would
she be able to get Chris to touch her body now that she shared that she knew he
was watching her?

“A penny
for your thoughts?” Dr. Adler broke the silence, and looked at her.

She
could feel the heat on her face, and knew he couldn’t tell she was blushing
because of the dark car interior. Despite her condition she smiled at him. “Maybe
I should share what I was thinking.” She weighed the risks. “Do you think I’m
pretty Dr. Adler?”

“Alexis,
we’ve discussed your looks many times. You still deny what I keep telling you.
You are no longer the ugly child who came to live at the home. I’ve shown you
the pictures of how pretty…no, how beautiful you are. You need to understand
what a beautiful butterfly you’ve turned into.” He looked over again briefly,
and she turned towards the side window.

“If I’m
as beautiful as you say I am, then why am I still at the home, and how come…no
never mind.”

“Alexis,
maybe riding in the car like this…you can share what you resist sharing when
we’re talking in my office. Tell me what you were thinking, please.”

She
wanted to tell him what she was going to ask, but she liked what she had, and
didn’t want to jeopardize it.

“Alexis,
we’ve spent years together. You must know by now that you can say anything, or
ask me anything. Please tell me what you were really going to ask me.”

She
turned quickly to face him. “So, if you think I’m so beautiful how come you can
ignore it so well?”

Chapter
8

Mike was
not in favor of my doing the investigation. I wasn’t at all surprised. Mike
knew about those other times I could have lost my life. The idea of Mike doing
the investigation was appealing. However, I had made the commitment to Stephen
and had to at least attempt to identify the blackmailer.

I headed
to my apartment to change into some darker clothes. I had decided to go to the
drop location to see if I could spot who was picking up the blackmail money.
Stephen told me he was going through with the drop, but indicated he was losing
his patience.

I called
Stephen hoping to catch him at his office.

He
answered the phone, which didn’t surprise me. “Hi Stephen, Scott.”

“Hi
Scott. Have you decided to help?”

“Let’s
just say that I’m going to go to the drop location tonight to see if I can
learn anything. We’ll discuss things later. Are you still going through with
the drop?”

“I don’t
have any choice at this point in time, but putting all those green hundreds in
the bag…well, as I said, I’m losing my willingness to continue this. At some
point, one of us has to stop, or be stopped.”

“Okay.
I’m willing to help tonight, but…let’s just see how tonight goes.”

“Thanks
Scott.”

“Now,
let me see if I got the details correct. You go to the Dudley Street station
and as you enter, there’s a column with the street name sign on it. It’s the
only column someone would see leaving the station. In front of it is a metal
bench. You stand on the bench and put the bag of money behind it on the metal
cross rail. Is that correct?”

“That’s
correct Scott. The station is not in the most desirable section of Roxbury, and
is normally pretty deserted at night. However, you need to be careful that
nobody sees what you’re doing.”

“Do you
have any suggestion as to where I can watch who picks the money up?”

Stephen
didn’t immediately answer. “Good question. Let me think about that for a
second.”

I was
getting concerned Stephen hadn’t thought about that.

“Well
Scott, you need to be close enough to spot someone standing on the bench to get
the money and close enough to see if you can identify the person. However, you
need to be far enough away not to be seen yourself, or be seen hanging out in
the area.”

I immediately
thought about the Mission Hill gang that was involved in kidnapping men, and
some women, for the torso killers. I recalled being held captive by one of the
women and got a chill up my spine. That was one of the reasons Mercedes wanted
me to stay away from investigations.

The
choice of a location so near the gang’s area raised my suspicion as to whether
this gang was involved and seeking some revenge.

“Okay
Scott, here’s what I suggest. The station closes at 9 pm, which is why I’m to
make the drop at 10 pm, which means the main station is locked, but the entry
area still has access to the flyers and other schedules. If you wait in your
car across the street you can see who comes and goes. Near midnight there
shouldn’t be anyone coming and going except the blackmailer. You should be
close enough to see who it is.”

I was
considering what he offered.

“Scott,
maybe we should meet and go together in your car?”

“As much
as I would like the company, I think that’s too risky.”

“Scott,
I’m going to put in a good word for you with Mercedes. She needs to know—“

“No,
Stephen.”
I interrupted him immediately.
“Please do not say anything to her about me. She would be much too interested
in why you offered.”

“Scott,
do I sense a problem?”

I took a
deep breath. “Let’s just say she’s concerned that I should focus on business
things and not things that could get me killed.”

*.*.*

I
changed and was going to head over to pick up some of my things at Mercedes’
apartment. I was really hoping to run into her and try to smooth things out
between us. However, I realized I should scout out the Dudley Street station to
know what I was going to do, and where I needed to park.

It was a
short ten minute drive from my Brookline Village apartment to Roxbury and the Dudley Street station. My white ’58 Pontiac Bonneville convertible was not very
inconspicuous. Late at night, it was going to get even more questioning looks,
especially since I was white too.

I drove
by the station and noticed there were people entering and leaving even though
it was a holiday. I turned up one side street beyond the station to come back
to the station—wrong thing to do. It seemed like everyone was on the front
steps or on the sidewalk and I was the afternoon chicken dinner. I didn’t care
about turning around. I was headed out of there.

My heart
was beating and I was thankful I managed to get back to the station without
losing my car or my life. I parked the car across from the station entrance. I
estimated it was about forty feet from where I was parked to the entrance.

There
was a light pole with its globe still intact, so I assumed there would be some
light to help me see who would be taking the money. If I backed up just a
little I could see if someone stepped up on the bench near the entrance. I had
a plan and wondered what it would be like near midnight tonight.

I
quickly got back into traffic and headed the fastest route out of this area to
Mercedes’ apartment near MIT.

*.*.*

I pulled
in front of the building and the door man greeted me. “Hello Mr. Tucker. Will
you be parked for the night?”

“No
Harold. I’ll be leaving shortly.”

“Why
don’t you use the receiving area, there’s no deliveries expected today.”

“Thank
you Harold.” I discreetly handed him a folded dollar and got back in my car. I
pulled around the side of the building and parked on the down slope area to the
receiving docks.

I was
coming around the building when I saw Mercedes looking fine as usual in one of
my white shirts and a short black skirt. She was standing in front of her
apartment building looking at her watch. I was about to call to her when I
noticed her turn to a man exiting the front entry door with two suitcases.

I
recognized Mercedes’ white luggage and the man…it was Ralph. I remember Ralph from
Bermuda, and he was involved with Mercedes while they were investigating the
missing men there.

Mercedes
said there was nothing between them, but I could tell from his actions that he
didn’t see it that way. Despite her saying that nothing happened, I could tell
he at least had tried.

He came
over to a waiting cab, handed keys to her, and put his arm around her while
helping her into the back seat. He couldn’t help but notice that her legs went
a long way up under her skirt.

“Shit…shit,”
I muttered to myself. It’s a holiday weekend and she’s headed off with him.
Where the hell are they going? I tried to remember our last words last night,
but I couldn’t remember saying anything that would have resulted in her running
off with him.

The cab
pulled away along with a part of my life.

*.*.*

I
entered the apartment to get what I came for. I went in the bedroom and found
the bed a mess. I searched my memory and could almost swear I had made the bed
before I left.
Could they have gone to bed before they left?

I sat on
the bed and gave some more thought to our discussion. I felt real guilty
planning to do the surveillance this evening. I’m doing what she specifically
asked me not to. I love Mercedes and she said she loves me.
Now I wish I had
said more things to her last night.

The
thoughts of her going to bed with Ralph were absurd. I grabbed one of my
suitcases in the closet and started to put some shirts and pants in it. I went
over to the dresser and took out socks and underwear and added those. Then I
took my shaving stuff from the bathroom. The other things I had at my own
apartment, but the shaving stuff was only here. I closed the suitcase on the
bed and lifted it off.

I
noticed something other than crumpled sheets. I moved the top sheet and found a
pair of boxers.

“Shit…shit…and
triple, shit.”
I don’t wear boxers.