Fragrance of Revenge (13 page)

Chapter 33

Ralph
was still in shock. Mercedes was kidnapped right from under their noses. She
should have come into the cantina with him. The driver suggested she stay in
the car. He watched the driver trying to reach his superiors. Was this his plan
to have Mercedes in the car alone, so she could be kidnapped?

Mercedes
told him that the captain said she should not go anywhere alone, and was about
to cop a feel himself. She said he suggested he come to her hotel to discuss
the case of the missing women in more detail.

Jose was
not making much progress getting a hold of the captain. Jose was much too calm,
almost too calm. This must have been a planned kidnapping of Mercedes. He bet
the captain might be involved as well. He knew he needed to get a hold of his
boss, but how?

He
tapped Jose on the shoulder. “Jose, if you can’t reach the captain, have
headquarters contact the two policemen with my boss – Max Gordon.” Jose didn’t
seem to understand him.

He
snatched the microphone from him. “This is Ralph Reynolds with the FBI. Call
your policemen with my boss Max Gordon. Do it now.” He did not understand the
reply, but he realized they did not understand his request.

“Jose,
tell them to alert the policemen who were with my FBI boss, that Mercedes
Strong has been kidnapped.”

Jose
took the microphone back and after several exchanges Ralph could tell they
understood and were going to indeed reach them. “Jose, thank you. How can we
reach your captain?”

Jose just
shook his head. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that his earlier
suspicion about the captain might be right on target. “Jose, can you take me to
where the woman’s body was found?”

*.*.*

Ralph
sensed that Jose might be involved with Mercedes’ kidnapping and wondered if he
too had something to worry about. He was going to keep a keen eye on Jose just
in case his gut was correct.

Jose put
the blue light on top of the roof and rushed down side streets. This was a good
sign to Ralph. Ten minutes later they arrived at the docks where the body was
found.

“Mr.
Ralph, there is where body found.” He pointed toward the closest pier.

There
was no sign of Max and the other two policemen. “Jose, contact headquarters to
find out if they contacted my boss.” Jose just looked at him. “Jose, call
headquarters and get an update.”

Ralph
watched as Jose made the call and reacted to what he heard. He hung up the microphone,
started the car, and pulled away in a rush. “What did you learn?”

“They
have found agent.”

“They
found Max?”

“No,
they found pretty agent.”

*.*.*

Ralph
was concerned about whether she was found murdered or found alive. He didn’t
want to ask and just dealt with what he would do if she was killed.

Shortly,
they rounded a corner at another waterfront area. There were several police
cars with their lights flashing. Two were blocking the entrance to a warehouse
on a pier. “Mr. Ralph, we park here.”

His
heart was beating a mile a minute and he still didn’t know what to expect. As
they both neared the entrance to the building, a stretcher was being brought
out. A man’s boot was sticking out the bottom of the sheet. Ralph stopped and
watched them push the gurney to a waiting vehicle.

He heard
Max’s voice. “You will be okay now Mercedes, but we need to take you to the
hospital for treatment.”

Ralph
turned and saw Max guiding Mercedes through the door. She was holding her head
and was wrapped in a dark blanket. She spotted Ralph and came running to his
arms.

“Oh,
Mercedes, I thought we might have lost you. Are you okay?”

“I’ll be
okay now. I thought I was never going to be found.”

Ralph
turned and saw the captain walking towards them. “We were very lucky. We had
this building under surveillance for several days, and it paid off. You are a
very lucky lady.”

Mercedes
turned towards him. “Captain, thank you for rescuing me. I thought I was going
to be…” She started crying and turned back to Ralph.

“Like I
said, you would be a prize. I thought perhaps there would be an attempt to
kidnap you. We had you in our sights since you left our station. I’m sorry you
had to endure what you went through before we could rescue you.”

She
hugged the captain. “Thank you so much.” However, she had a strange feeling
when he and his men burst in, that his hesitation to cover her with a blanket
told a much different story.

“We have
two men who we will question, and hopefully we will be able to locate the other
women.”

She
smiled at him, but pulled the blanket tight around her. Ralph guided her to the
police car they told him would take her to the hospital.

Max came
up to them at the car. “Ralph, your job right now is to stay with Mercedes, and
don’t let her out of your sight. That is an order.”

Chapter 34

As the
police car headed to the hospital, Mercedes knew she was very lucky to be rescued.
She doubted she would have been killed, since she was more valuable alive.

Ralph
was being quiet, holding her tightly, and being respectful of her privacy. She
felt herself quivering, but it wasn’t because it was cold. Ralph hugged her
more tightly and she couldn’t control her emotions any longer and started
sobbing into his chest.

“I’m so sorry Mercedes. We should
never have left you alone. Thank God they rescued you.”

She was sorry she hung up on
Scott. He was who she needed now. He was the one she could relate what had happened
to her.
Or could she?

Her mind was playing tricks on
her. Parts of what happened seem like a haze, and other parts seem so real. She
played back what happened starting with her rescue.

There was a loud crash. It must
have been the outside door being smashed in. There were several gunshots and
yelling. She couldn’t tell who was saying what, but she pictured the police
confronting the men holding her.

Right after the shooting stopped,
some men were handcuffed and shoved to the floor. There were three men, with
their backs against each other. The captain left his men and came over to her.
He just stared at her without saying a word…no, he devoured her for what seemed
like an eternity. She remembered her feeling that he was not going to untie
her, and her ordeal might really just be starting.

However, he left her and yelled
something to his men. A minute later he came back with a blanket and covered
her with it. She remembered its shocking smell, and under normal circumstances,
would never have wanted it anywhere near her body.

She was glad the captain couldn’t
see her body any longer. The memory of his eyes slowly surveying her body, gave
her a chill that he was going to pick up where the men left off. He also took
too much time loosening the ropes to remove them.

She inhaled now and confirmed the
blanket only had the smell of sea life, and not what she also smelled
before—sweat and semen.

 “Mercedes, I’m trying to comfort
you, but you’re shaking.” She felt Ralph try to move her to look at her face,
but she just pressed harder into his chest. She was happy he didn’t persist.

The memory prior to her rescue was
a jumble of images. She remembers when they entered the warehouse the men
quickly stripped her remaining clothes, which was just her skirt and what was
left of her bra. They removed her hood, and she knew she was really in trouble
now since they didn’t care she could identify them.

They undid the handcuffs, or maybe
they did that first. They were all talking in Spanish and she was glad she
didn’t understand what they were saying.

She remembered being yanked over to
a wooden column. She remembered seeing ropes around the column lying on the
floor. One was quickly slipped up the pole and put around her neck; another was
slid up her legs to her waist and both were pulled tightly. Two other ropes
hanging from the top of the pole were put around each wrist.

She never felt so defenseless in
all her life. She thought about the dead woman and what she had endured, and
the others and then what was going to happen to her. Four of the five men just
stared at her naked body while the other took numerous Polaroid pictures of
her. She closed her eyes but could feel the hot flashes now against her body.

All of a sudden there were hands
all over her and she must have blacked out.

She could feel her heart beating
wildly now and her breathing rushed. She closed her eyes and was relieved she
couldn’t remember what happened.

“Mercedes, I’m so sorry we weren’t
there to protect you. You’re going to be okay now.” Ralph pulled her tightly to
him and she couldn’t control her sobs any longer.

The swaying of the police car was
almost putting her to sleep. She considered she might be having a nightmare and
remembered Scott having his. However, she is not having a nightmare—this really
happened to her. She wanted to see if there was any permanent damage to her
body and tried to mentally poll body parts. Nothing registered.

Then she remembered –
the
pictures that were taken of her, where are they?
Her nightmare is not over.
The captain has her photos, and if she is not mistaken, her nightmare is only
beginning. The only reason she is not his prisoner right now, is that his men
were there and he wanted to have her rescue by him on record.

Her profiling training kicked in—
his
police position could provide him with the ability to deter the official
investigation while making thousands on the slave-trade. Judging from his
expression, the money is only a side benefit.

She recalled his expression when
he found her tied to that pole. There’s no doubt in her mind that he was
weighing his options and planning something for the future.

“Ralph, you need to do a better
job of protecting me. Please don’t leave me alone with anyone…not even with the
captain.”

“Do you know what you are saying?”

“I know exactly what I am saying.”

“What about when we get to the
hospital?”

“You can close your eyes when they
examine me, but
don’t
leave me alone again while we are on this
investigation.”

He moved her so he could see her
face. “Are you sure?” He wiped her cheeks.

“I know my enemy and you are not
what I have to fear. I can’t exactly remember what those men did to me, but I
know you would never treat me like they did.”

He kissed her forehead and hugged
her tightly again.

“Ralph?”

“What?”

“You could have taken advantage of
me in Bermuda the night I had too much to drink, but you didn’t…you’ve earned
my trust…don’t blow it.”

She thought,
what will she ever
tell Scott? Simply, that she is very happy to be alive.

Chapter 35

She purposely didn’t let Chris
make love to her. He’ll have to earn that privilege.

However, she had lost track of
time, but it wasn’t wasted time. When he left her bedroom, he was a happy puppy,
but a sore man. The memory of their time together put a smile on her face and
she was surprised she was getting excited just thinking about it.

Her bra and panties were
somewhere, but it didn’t matter. She would get them in the morning. She felt
the cool air on her naked body.
Maybe she should ring for Chris. No, she
will do that some other night.

It was so different with Chris.
Although she was attracted to the doctor, Chris was young and very handsome.
His body was much more toned than the doctor’s. She had burned Chris’ image
into her brain and would be able to recall it whenever she wanted to, including
when she was with the good doctor.

She remembered what she put him
through and how she rewarded him. There wasn’t any doubt in her mind…she now had
total control of him. She had tested him and he passed the test with a very
rewarding experience for both of them. He was able to give her two incredible
orgasms.

She couldn’t resist any longer and
touched herself now where he spent those many wonderful minutes.

Before he left they showered
together. Well, first she showered and made him watch. He was more than ready
when she washed his body. She repeated the things she did to the doctor in the
shower, and Chris’ reactions were much more rewarding. She replayed those
things now and wished he was still with her.

She had two men who would do anything
she told them to do. She was starting to believe what the doctor had said about
her being beautiful. She was surprised by how her actions seemed to defy all
that is natural. Maybe it wasn’t her beauty, but her behavior. She will have to
ask the doctor which it is.

However, Chris still had to be
severely punished for reading her diary. What could she think up next? What
would his eyes look like when she held the straight razor against him? Would he
trust her? Of course he would. The doctor did.

You both have made some
unfortunate mistakes.

Chapter 36

Alexis had her way with him.
However, it was everything he imagined and more. He was impressed with how his
body had performed, but he knew she liked it even more.

He could have left her room at any
point, but he was a willing captive to what she would do next. Less than an
hour since he left her room, he had indeed managed to check all of the patients
to make sure they were still asleep and did not require any attention.

He looked at his name tag and realized
‘Chris’ was upside down. It was a good thing nobody noticed that, and he could
fix it before the doctor arrived. He would have had a difficult time explaining
why it was on incorrectly. He unhooked the safety catch and noticed the blood
on the end of the pin. The blood would have been even harder to explain.

He recalled when his clothes were
lying on Alexis’ bed; she had taken his name tag off his shirt and told him he
couldn’t have it back. When he finally started to get dressed, he remembered
she took the tag and he asked for it back. She made him close his eyes and told
him he had to earn his badge back. She was going to stick him with the pin point
five times.

It was her final way to say she
was in control and not him. He recalled each stick. The first stick was in his
navel. He flinched, and she told him if he reacted to any of the next sticks,
she would double the number. She purposely made him wait minutes between each
stick. She described the blood to him and then licked it away. The anticipation
was exciting and he couldn’t hide it from her.

His body was reacting right now to
the memory. She tortured him with that pin and it hurt like hell, but it was
such a sweet torture. She had tested him, and knew he had passed. It was an
erotic sight seeing her with blood on her lips.

Her final words were, “Get
dressed. That will give you something to remember me. Now we both have earned
our ‘red wings.’”

Chris you need to have a plan
to get rid of the doctor and have Alexis all to yourself. Maybe there is a
better plan.