The Nissan
Xia Min had used to abduct Cindy Hitchcock parked in the lot behind her
apartment building. When Cindy had gotten into the car last, she had her wrists
and elbows bound and her mouth taped shut. When she exited the car now, she was
free. The woman who freed her, Shondra Lockwood, got out of the car, then
reached back in and brought out Xia Min and now it was Xia who had her arms
tightly tied behind her back and tape cutting into her cheeks and crushing her
lips to her teeth. Cindy knew she shouldn't do it, but she couldn't resist
flashing a look of spiteful triumph to the defeated Chinese agent. Xia didn't
return her ire. She kept her eyes cast down meekly.
"Now that I've got my package," Shondra said,
"let's go see your sister."
The three women rode up to Cindy's floor and got off
the elevator. Two women entering the car stared at the bound and gagged Xia,
their eyes goggling.
"What are you looking at!" snapped Shondra.
"Police business!"
The women hurried onto the elevator. Cindy giggled.
"You know your sister was really worried about
you," Shondra told Cindy as the three walked down the hall. "She was
ready to go charging into the jaws of their trap just to make sure you got out
all right. Hope you appreciate her. I know I wish I had someone that cared
about me like that."
"I appreciate her," Cindy said. "I may
not have always shown it, but I realize Suzie's a special person and I'm lucky
to have her." Cindy turned the key in her door and opened it. "Suzie,
we're back!" she announced.
"Sit down and make yourself comfortable,"
sneered Shondra, shoving Xia roughly to the floor and locking the door.
"Uh, that's what I was trying to tell you out there. Your sister really
wanted to go charging in and I knew that might get her killed and you killed
and them clean away, so I wanted to go in her place. But she insisted. We
argued and she wouldn't listen to reason, so I kind of had to restrain her--for
her own good."
"What happened?" Cindy asked.
"Well," Shondra said uncomfortably, "I
had to tie her up and lock her in the closet."
Cindy tried to smother the giggles, but they soon
poured out.
"Oh my!" she squealed, her hands to her mouth
in childish delight. "Oh I just have to see this!"
Cindy sprang to the closet and whipped the door open.
She stuck her head in, then pulled it out. She had a puzzled look on her face.
"You said she was in this closet?" Cindy
asked.
Shondra bounded over to the closet and peered inside.
Susan was gone.
"Oh, man!" cursed Shondra, sagging against
the door frame.
Jack
Gullickson was already on the scene, along with several uniformed officers. He
heard a noise and turned around. Angela Hoffman was gingerly picking her way
through the rubble of the cinder block wall just behind the crashed van. It
wasn't an easy thing to do in heels and a short, tight skirt, but Jack forgave
her impracticality because it gave him another chance to appreciate her legs.
Some of the uniforms stopped to look, too.
"I still don't know how you expect to run down bad
guys in four inch heels, Angie," Jack jabbed.
"Running down bad guys is your job," Angela
retorted, clicking across the cement floor toward the gathered officers.
"I'm the brains of the outfit, remember? What have we got?"
"Just what it looks like," he said. "Van
crashed the door, fire fight ensues, one dead. Thing is, there's nothing to
indicate this was a drug lab."
"There's a lot of shell casings, though,"
mused Angela. "Look, three separate gatherings. That means at least three
guns."
"And we found this over in the corner," Jack
said, leading his partner.
"Cut rope, discarded tape with lip prints,"
Angela said. "A kidnapping? And the person in the van was the
cavalry?" Jack nodded. "Pretty gutsy move. But why call us? Nobody
else available?"
"Take a look at the body," Jack replied.
They knelt down and pulled the sheet from Huan. A chalk
line indicated a weapon.
"What kind of gun?" Angela asked.
"Russian made," Jack said. "Might not
mean anything."
"But it might tie him in with that CD, if he's
Chinese Intelligence."
"Why would Chinese Intelligence be involved in a
kidnapping?"
"Maybe the victim's the French woman," Angela
proposed. "Or maybe the Hitchcock woman still has the disk and the victim
was her sister. Can you finish up here? I think I need to go over there."
Marie heard
the lock turning on the front door of the hotel room she shared with Armand.
She turned expectantly, her spirits raised at the potential return of her
mentor and lover. Then a cloud darkened her euphoria. What if it wasn't him?
What if it was that horrible Chinese woman come to retrieve her? In her
weakened condition, there was no way she could escape or defend herself. Marie
reached for the gun Armand had left her, sitting in the drawer of the night
stand next to her, but her arms were so weak that she could barely hold it, let
alone fire it accurately. Still, she tried, pointing it as the
door opened.
"<I am back, petite>, she heard Armand call
out and sagged with relief, "<and I bear a gift>."
"<You brought me something>!" Marie
squealed like a little girl. "<Armand, you are wonderful! What did you
bring me>?"
Armand entered the room carrying a struggling woman in
his arms. The woman's wrists and ankles were bound and she had a thick cloth
gag stuffed in her mouth. Marie's face screwed, puzzled by who this woman was,
why she was bound and gagged, and why Armand had brought her here. She tried to
rise, but her arms and legs were still too weak to support her.
"<Who is this>?" Marie asked.
Armand sat the woman on a chair and held her down when
she tried to push off. Marie could see her face now and her eyes grew wide with
surprise.
"Mmmmph nnnnngfff!" Susan shouted into her
gag.
"<The nurse>!" gasped Marie.
"<But I thought she was dead>!"
"<I only found out myself this
midday>," Armand replied. "<When I learned she was still alive,
I tracked her to her sister's rooms and decided to look around, in case the
disk was hidden there. Imagine my surprise when I found her instead, trussed up
and stuffed in a closet>."
He got some rope and pulled it across Susan's chest,
anchoring her to the chair back. Once Susan was secured, he untied the gag and
pulled it from her mouth. Susan sighed loudly, glad to be relieved of the
smothering gag at least.
"Does that feel better?" Armand asked kindly.
"Look," gasped Susan, "you have to let
me go. There're some Chinese spies! They've kidnapped my sister! They're going
to kill her! I have to get to her! You have to let me go!"
"We have both met these people," Marie said,
lying in the bed across from her. "They are very bad. I feel for you,
Cherie."
"They want the disk, I assume," Armand asked.
"Yes," Susan replied. "Please! You have
to let me go! There isn't much time!"
"You have my condolences for your loss, my
dear," Armand said.
Susan just stared at him, unable to comprehend that he
was pronouncing a death sentence on her sister.
"Yes, the only people you will be giving the disk
to is us."
"But I don't have it," Susan said, gazing
down at her lap, hoping her lie would convince them. "She took it! You
friend took it when she left me to burn to death!"
"Cherie, you are not going to hold that against
me, are you?" smiled Marie. Susan glared at her. If looks could kill...
"Well, my dear," Armand interjected,
"the Chinese do not believe you, and at this point in time I choose to
accept their judgment. Where is the disk?"
Susan pulled against the ropes in frustration. She
couldn't get the mental picture of Cindy lying in a pool of blood, vacant eyes
staring toward the sky. She tugged at the ropes again, but again they didn't
break. However, she felt the rope over her chest beginning to loosen.
"You will hurt yourself doing that," Armand
said softly. "Give us the disk and we will release you."
"Do you know what's on that disk?" Susan
demanded.
"No, nor do I care," Armand said
straightforwardly. "All I know is that people will pay large sums for it.
All that matters to me is the money."
Susan stared at him like he was from another planet.
"You disapprove?" He shrugged. "I am
what I am. I have been many things in my life, but thief is what most
accurately describes me. If this disk spelled the end of the world I would
still sell it for as much as I could get for it and live the good life on the
spoils until the day Armageddon came for me."
"You'll pardon me if I don't share your
philosophy," Susan spat.
"I do not seek to sway you, only to explain myself
to you." Armand pulled up another chair and sat next to Susan. "Now
where is the disk?"
Susan set her jaw and remained silent. Armand cupped
her chin in his hand and gently turned her to face him.
"Please do not make me hurt you," he told
her. "I loathe and despise hurting women."
Susan felt a chill run down her spine.
"Yeah,
the lock's been picked," Shondra announced after examining the front door.
"There are lock pick scratches on the keyhole assembly. If I'd have been
looking for it when we came in, I'd have seen it."
"So where is Suzie?" asked Cindy. "I
mean, anybody could have come in here and taken her! Some pervert could have
her now, raping her and..."
"Not likely," scowled Shondra. "This
lock was picked by a pro and pros don't break into a place unless they're
looking for something specific. Now nobody would expect Susan to be tied up and
stuffed in a closet, but they might expect that CD to be here. They were
probably looking for the CD and found Susan, then took her to try to make her
take them to the CD."
"So what good does that do us?"
"It narrows down our suspects. Now since our
Chinese friend is accounted for," Shondra said, glancing over to the
sullen Xia, still bound and gagged on the sofa, "that eliminates them. So
unless someone new has jumped into this mess, that narrows it down to Pleusse
and LeClair."
"Who are they?" Cindy asked.
"A couple of French thieves after the disk.
LeClair's the one who set your sister's place on fire."
"Oh no!" sobbed Cindy.
"Don't worry," Shondra said. "I'll find
her."
"But why are they doing this? Suzie doesn't have
the disk!" Cindy said, looking pleadingly at Shondra. "Does
she?"
"That's the question everybody seems to want to
know." Shondra headed for the door.
"You're going to leave me alone with her?"
Cindy asked tremulously.
"She can't hurt you tied up like that,"
Shondra smiled. "If you want to give her a kick, feel free. I figure she
owes you at least one shot." Shondra put her hand on Cindy's shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll get your sister back. And stay out of trouble! It seems
like every time I go to find one of you two, the
other one gets lost."
"I will," Cindy smiled weakly. "Thank
you, um...I don't even know your name."
"Shondra," the agent smiled. "Or the
Lone Ranger, if you prefer."
Susan hung
against the rope across her chest, her right breast throbbing. It amazed her
how much pain could be generated by a few simple motions. For a while there she
thought Armand was going to pull her nipple off. It was cruel, sadistic
treatment and she could have more visited upon her at any time.
Armand was such a dichotomy. He was well mannered and clearly intelligent, but
with a side that could generate such cruelty. Susan wanted to tell, just to end
this all, but she didn't dare. She had to hold out, if for nothing else the
memory of her sister. Her breast throbbed again, whispering to her that it
wasn't worth it.
"So now will you tell me where the disk is?"
Armand asked. Susan remained silent, letting her head hang.
"She is stubborn," Marie said. "Let me
try. You are too nice."
"No, petite," Armand said sternly. "You
must rest and recover. You are still too weak to stand."
"I am much better, Armand," smiled Marie.
"The pain in my arms and legs is almost gone."
"But you are still too weak," admonished
Armand. "You may fall and hurt yourself."
"Armand, you baby me so," cooed Marie.
"But really, the sooner we can retrieve the disk, the sooner we can sell
it. The riches we will make will be enough balm to make me healthy and robust
again. Let me help."
"I will spank you if you do not lay there and
rest."
"It might almost be worth it," leered Marie.
"Did you kill Dr. Dressendorfer?" Susan
asked.
"Of course not," Armand replied, insulted.
"There is no style in murder."
"But she was willing to kill me," Susan
added.
"Still you hold that against me?" Marie
pouted. "You are clearly no fun."
The door to the hotel room buzzed. Everybody froze.
Susan sucked in enough air to yell as loudly as she could, but Armand's hand
clamped over her mouth and kept her silent.
"Petite, I have to get her into the other room and
silence her!" Armand hissed. "Are you strong enough to answer the
door?"
"Mmmm nnnnpphh!" murmured Susan desperately.
"I think so," Marie replied. "But
Cherie, what if it is the Chinese woman?"
"I doubt she would knock," Armand replied,
dragging Susan and the chair she was tied to into the bathroom.
Once inside the bathroom, Armand grabbed a washcloth
and jammed it into Susan's mouth. While she tried to expel it with her tongue,
he took a hand towel and twisted it into a tight bundle, then pulled it between
Susan's teeth. As he tied the towel behind her head, Susan felt the towel fill
her mouth
and jam the washcloth back in. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a
tiny, heavily muffled sound. Satisfied that Susan was properly concealed and
silenced, Armand exited the bathroom.
In the living room, he found Marie with a breathtaking
blonde woman in an attractive red bolero jacket and miniskirt. The woman was
helping Marie to the sofa, and Armand noticed that she had noticed the welts
still around Marie's wrists.
"Petite, you should not have gotten up,"
admonished Armand. "You are still too weak. I would have gotten the
door."
"You baby me too much, Cherie," Marie cooed,
picking up on Armand's glance. When she sat down she tried to conceal the welts
by crossing her legs provocatively.
"Has she had an accident?" Angela Hoffman
asked.
"A mild one," Marie replied coyly. She
noticed Angela had spotted the welts on her ankles. "If you must know,
Armand and I became too--passionate--last night and the poor dear injured me
accidentally." She grinned and leered at Armand. "He is such a
brute."
"How would that cause those welts?" Angela
asked.
"Because," Marie said, leaning forward to
display her cleavage and staring with obvious carnality, "I was
spread-eagled to the bed at the time."
Marie's very forward manner drew the first sign of
unease either had seen from the woman thus far. Up until that point, her pale
blue eyes had been unreadable.
"You wished to speak to us about something,"
Armand interjected, "officer?"
"Detective," bristled Angela. "I've got
a few questions I'd like to ask."
In the bathroom, Susan heard the new voice. She
couldn't tell who it was, but the woman didn't seem to be friends with the two
French thieves. If only she wasn't tied and gagged. Susan strained against the
ropes holding her to the chair, but again they held her tight. She had to find
a way to contact this woman before she left.
Slowly Susan began to hop her chair over to the door.
If she could get close enough, she could kick the door with her running shoes.
If she kicked enough, someone would have to hear and rescue her. Gradually she
inched the chair closer to the door.
"Don't leave," Susan pleaded silently,
hopping the chair closer. "Please don't leave!"