Header: Melody and Mia in temporary respite. Mia is optimistic. From a Spanish soap, ‘Alma Rebelde,’ Bindher.com

In-text 1: Gothic detail from the novel The Iron Gates by Margaret Millar, Monlux

Footer: Molly gloats over Mia in the dungeon. From ‘Mill of the Stone Women,’ Movie Star News.

True to the sinister name by which Molly Fusil dubbed it, the chateau loomed fearsomely above the three bound captives. Two figures, completely covered in black body suits and with their heads and faces masked like Japanese ninja, emerged from the darkness on either side of the driveway and opened the two huge wrought-iron gates. The Mercedes purred smoothly into the entrance and gathered speed. The gates closed behind and the two figures vanished as suddenly as they had appeared.

Melody experienced a creepy feeling along her spine as she saw the building they were approaching. It stood in darkness except for a splash of light over the double doors at the entrance, where two more black garbed figures stood to attention. She shivered involuntarily. Beside her Jasmine squealed pitifully through the packing of her gag. On her other side Mia rubbed her shoulder against Melody’s arm in a movement that tried to communicate reassurance. It did not succeed. Melody fought back the whimper that was beginning to form in her throat. She felt that once they were enclosed within those dark stone walls their fates were sealed. There would be no escape. The only way they would leave would be crated up in a packing case, a trunk or, worse still, a coffin, trussed like they now were, gagged within an inch of their lives, probably blindfolded as well. No-one will find them. They will disappear from the face of the earth.

Mia was more optimistic.

*

‘Two guards at the gate. Another two at the front entrance to the mansion. The vehicle is driven by one of the suspects, a woman. There are three passengers in the back.’

‘That’s four guards. There may be more in the house.’

‘The doors have not yet opened, but ... You’re right, Sir. Two more guards are inside ... The captives are being helped from the vehicle ... They’re being marched inside ... One has stumbled ... Their arms appear to be bound at their backs. Can’t make it out clearly from here, but they appear to be gagged as well. The door’s closing ... One of the guards has entered the vehicle. It’s moving off ... around the back. Out of sight now. All quiet. The two guards who opened the entrance gates are somewhere in the grounds.’

‘Probably patrolling the perimeter.’

‘Yes Sir. Aside from the person who took the vehicle, the other three guards entered the house with the prisoners.’

‘Good work Sergeant. Place one of the KAS men on surveillance and report back to the HQ van.’

‘Yes Sir, Inspector Clifford, Sir!’ Sarah the police Sergeant placed the night binoculars back in the case that hung by its strap around her neck and retreated crouching down the hill to the woods behind her.

‘What do you think, Miles?’ asked Brod. The two men were hidden in the brushwood on another hill, below its crest so that their silhouettes would not be revealed against the skyline. They overlooked the sepulchral chateau on the south-west side close to the cliff edge. From their vantage point they watched the fourth guard park the Mercedes in a shed behind the building. He did not re-emerge.

‘We have to wait,’ said Miles deVille thoughtfully. ‘We can’t make a move until we’re confident that the women are relatively unharmed. Give the criminals a chance to relax and think they’re safe. Then we’ll go in.’ Absently he patted a dark bulge that rested on his hip.

*

The three women stumbled into a large front room at the same time as Molly Fusil switched on the lights. After the pall of darkness outside, the brightness of the chandeliers dazzled their eyes. Melody was shivering with delayed shock. Jasmine sank to the floor in a half faint from a combination of fear and the stifling gag she wore. Mia remained calm in spite of the horrible rubber gag taped into her mouth. In fascination she watched their new enemies, the three guards in black who stood to attention in the centre of the room while Molly paced up and down as if she was inspecting them on parade.

‘You’re in for a few surprises my dears,’ said Molly turning to her three captives. ‘Some good treatment. Temporarily.’ Turning back to the guards she gestured regally, ‘Remove their gags. Use safety scissors for that one.’ She meant the triple layers of tape wrapped tightly around Mia’s face.

The three minions stepped forward to do Molly’s bidding. As they worked, the fourth guard entered the room and stood to attention by the door. Over the crook of his elbow hung what appeared to be a bundle of white towels. Melody, who had been drooling copiously throughout the long cramped journey in the car, groaned with relief as the straps were unbuckled and the small rubber ball was removed from deep in her mouth. Her jaws ached and the corners of her mouth were chafed and sore. She watched as the tape was stripped from Mia’s face, bringing tears to her eyes in sympathy with the flood of tears that came from those of Mia. Mia licked her lips shakily and made a wry face. Jasmine wailed softly then had a fit of coughing as the large sponge attached to the leather half mask was eased out of her mouth. She was prostrate and had to be carried to a nearby couch by two of the nondescript guards.

‘There are a large selection of bathrooms in this mansion,’ said Molly.

(I know, thought Mia).

‘All three of you will have their benefit. You two go first. Follow the guards.’ Molly indicated Melody and Mia. Jasmine was clearly out of it for the present. ‘Separate facilities,’ she directed the guards, ‘then secure them in the dining room.’

Melody and Mia were led from the reception room into the large atrium and up the wide marbled stairway. At the head of the stairs their paths diverged. Melody was taken down one hallway while Mia was led in the opposite direction. For both women it was an indescribable relief to have their bonds removed at last and to be allowed unlimited time in their separate bathrooms. Melody drenched herself thoroughly under the shower. Mia took a luxurious bath, and did a lot of thinking.

When they were escorted back to the dining room, Mia and Melody had undergone a dramatic transformation. Gone were their original clothes. Instead they wore dark business suits, jackets and short skirts that had been chosen personallyby Molly. Beneath her jacket Melody wore a figure-hugging silk body stocking in translucent black. Mia wore a white silk blouse with a ruffled lace bodice under a jacket with satin lapels. ‘Whatever else I might think about this woman,’ whispered Mia, ‘she has exquisite taste in clothes.’

When they entered the room it was to find that Molly herself had bathed and changed. She now wore a full skirt and low cut peasant’s blouse of an off-white silk, reflecting her Spanish ancestry.

‘Make them comfortable but secure,’ Molly ordered the two guards. ‘No need to gag them. I’ll have fun with them later, before we ship them off, and after Karl arrives to join in. If that’s in our orders from Sir Murgatroyd.’ On hearing that name the guards bowed reverently and muttered unintelligibly. Molly gave a faint grimace of distaste. ‘I have things to do,’ she continued. ‘Make sure that none of the women escape. Where’s that slip of a girl, the Morris woman?’

‘In the herbarium, Ma’am,’ replied one of the guards.

‘Good. Make sure she’s comfortable.’

Molly turned on her heels and exited with a swish of skirts and petticoats.

*

‘Nearly time to move,’ Brod muttered. ‘Any news from the fellows monitoring the bugs?’

‘Yes Sir.’ It was Sarah. ‘The suspects appear to be treating the three women surprisingly well. They have used the bathroom facilities and are at this moment being secured by guards in one of the front rooms.’

‘The dining room I’ll wager,’ muttered deVille.

‘Yes Sir. The suspects are expecting the imminent arrival of Sir Herbert Murgatroyd.’

‘That changes things.’ Said Brod. ‘We’ll have to sit tight until he comes. He’s the big fish all this effort is aimed to net.’

Sergeant Sarah returned to her post. The surveillance crew adjusted their headsets. Impatiently, Miles deVille and Broderick Clifford hunkered down behind the brushwood. The KAS crew could not yet be called in. The waiting game continued, with growing apprehension for the three women held in the chateau.

‘The bugs cover only the front rooms,’ said Brod gloomily. ‘If Melody and Mia are taken to another wing of the building, we won’t know what they’re going through.’ The situation was becoming more tense with every minute.

*

Meanwhile, inside the chateau Mia was unusually cheerful. ‘Thank you,’ she said sunnily to the black garbed minion who was binding her wrists tightly together in front of her. The second guard was doing the same with Melody, tying her wrists together and then wrapping several turns of rope around her waist so that her arms were held close in front of her body. Melody was not feeling cheerful at all, and she was beginning to wonder whether Mia had flipped her lid.

Two heavy dining room chairs were placed back to back in the middle of the room and Melody and Mia were taken by their shoulders and firmly seated in each one. Additional lengths of rope were wound about both women, pinning their arms even more securely so that their bound hands rested in their laps. If one moved, the ropes tightened around her companion as well as herself. Their ankles were tied with separate pieces of cord and anchored to the wooden rungs that connected the chair legs. These were the sort of ties that would be comparatively easy to wriggle out of, but any bid for freedom was completely out of the question while Molly Fusil and four guards were close at hand.

The two guards left the room. Melody and Mia found themselves alone in companionable silence. For a few seconds they tested the cords that bound them and settled their hips into the best positions possible against the lower backs and seats of their respective chairs. Neither woman was really comfortable. The psychological bonus of feeling less vulnerable with their hands tied in front, knowing that they could probably do something about getting free if an opportunity presented itself, weighed unfavourably against the knowledge that they were still very much prisoners and were experiencing a short respite only.

Mia turned her head in Melody’s direction and remarked, ‘Well Melody honey, this could be worse. Can you believe not being gagged or blindfolded? Maybe Molly’s starting a new game called be kind to abductees.’

‘I can’t understand why you’re so damned cheerful,’ Melody erupted in irritation. ‘Sure, we’re tied a lot less stringently but how long is that going to last? We’re still their captives. You haven’t forgotten what Molly and Millionaire Murgatroyd have in mind for us? I’m not looking forward to being trussed and gagged and crated up in a coffin by those evil minions of theirs, and shipped to foreign ports unknown. And that horrible man Karl is on the way. You heard what Molly said.’

‘Ah, but there’s something about this place that the gang are obviously unaware of.’

‘Meaning?’

‘I couldn’t believe it when we arrived at the gates. Melody, I’ve been here before. This used to be Miles’s place. It’s where we first came to know each other, early last year. And we lived here until the fall when Miles sold the chateau to some international millionaire. He didn’t say much about the deal, just that it was related to his undercover work that not even someone very close to him should know.’

‘Really?’ Melody began to regain hope. Then she grew despondent again. ‘But it can’t make any difference. The place has changed hands and that’s that. Put it down to a huge coincidence.’

‘But don’t you see? It can’t just be coincidence. Miles is a very devious man when it comes to dealing with the underworld. And after Karl kidnapped me - he called himself Snedley then, as I told you a few days ago - Miles has been on a sort of vendetta against that tycoon Murgatroyd. I sense more to this than a simple property sale. Melody I think what’s going to happen is ... Ohh, no ...’

But Mia was unable to voice the sudden thought that made her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach because just then the door opened and Molly Fusil reappeared accompanied by two guards, the same persons or two others. It was hard to tell when they were all dressed alike in neutral black. One of the guards was carrying several pieces of white cloth.

‘I trust you have both used the chance to catch your breaths,’ said Molly lightly, ‘because your pretty mouths are to be coerced into silence again.’ Molly indicated Mia to one of the guards. ‘Start with her.’

‘What are you going to do with us?’ asked Melody. She looked up into Molly’s cold eyes. Behind her Melody could hear faint choking noises and knew that Mia was being gagged.

‘Spare me the cliches of cheap melodrama, my dear. You already know what lies ahead of you in the long run. A one-way trip to foreign parts. What we shall do with you in the short term you are soon to discover.’

Molly nodded to the second guard who advanced and began stuffing one of the pieces of cloth into Melody’s mouth. A second piece with a knot tied in its centre followed, the knot going between Melody’s teeth. When it was tied tightly at the back of her neck, it pushed the wad deeper into her mouth. The choking sounds that were forced out of her were almost identical to the sounds that were still coming from Mia.

The ropes were removed and the captives were allowed to stand. Working in unison, the two guards bound Mia’s and Melody’s arms behind them.

‘Take them to the separates places as arranged,’ ordered Molly. I’ll follow shortly.’

‘Yeh Ma’am,’ said the guards together, and Melody and Mia were marched unwillingly out of the room.

*

‘Sir, the surveillance team report that two of the women - Melody Hazard and Mia Chantal - are presently unharmed and in relatively good spirits. The whereabouts of the third woman is unknown. She may be in another part of the building out of range of the listening devices. Before gags were put back in their mouths, their conversation was recorded and is available for your ears only. I was told that it touches on classified information. They are now somewhere else in the house, out of reach of our sensors.’

‘Thank you Sergeant.’ As Sergeant Sarah left to take up her post, Brod turned to Miles. ‘I’ll check that out. If there’s something to take note of you’ll be the first to know.’

Brod’s large bulk slipped quietly away into the dark.

*

‘Guards at the gate, guards at the front doors. This is big league stuff, Hudson, what the Brits like to call heavy duty villains.’

‘Yer’m.

‘We might have to choose sides. Wha d’yuh think?’

‘I’se wi’ you, boss.’

‘Even though I haven’t treated you well sometimes?"

‘Sure boss. You gi’s me a roof when I was down an’ out. More than once too. I don’ forget.’

‘Okay. It’s a deal. We look after each other’s backs. An’ we look for that diamond too. Molly says that woman Melody Hazard and the girl Jasmine Morris are in there. That Chantal woman too. We gotta get to them, get ‘em out, an get ‘em t’ tell us where that diamond is. Got it?’

‘Yeah boss. We gotta help those womens too.’

‘Good.’

Going to be some interesting developments, thought Johnny Montague as he pulled up in the slash of yellow light cast by the lamps at the front door of Molly’s Casa Medroso.

*

Under the dim glow of the ceiling lamp, Melody luxuriated in the soft ropes that so elegantly bound her. The guard in charge of her had substituted yards of soft cotton cord for the rough clothesline used on her and Mia earlier, and she was more comfortable than she had any right to expect. But as the minutes slipped by she became restless. Testing the bonds at her wrists and arms proved that, soft though they were, they were unyielding. Having her jacket removed did not help either. The ropes pinioning her arms were now cushioned by only the thin silk body stocking.

Even if she slipped off the bandage around her face and expelled the packing that gagged her, Melody knew that no one would hear her cries for help through the thick stone walls of the cellar where she lay, somewhere at the back of the chateau. That is, if there was someone to come to her rescue. The guard had muttered that there were many cellars like this, implying that Mia was in one of them, probably very close.

Melody looked around the room for an idea that she might use to gain her freedom. But the room was bare of all but the most basic furniture, and the old mattress upon which she lay offered no inspiration. With a whimper of frustration, she settled down to await her fate. It would be so easy to succumb to tears.

*

Mia was in a less enviable position. She was indeed a prisoner in another cellar close to where Melody lay. But she had been placed on her back and strapped down firmly to a long wooden bench. The satin-lined jacket had been taken from her so that in the cold cellar she was clad only in the short skirt and lace blouse. The gag trapped in her mouth kept her quiet, not that she needed to say anything. An experimental ‘mmmph’ or two was sufficient proof that she was well silenced and she soon gave up trying to get the rough cotton out of her mouth, much less call for help.

She looked fearfully towards the heavy door of the dungeon where she lay. Mia knew the room well, having been a willing prisoner for Miles on several occasions, and an unwilling kidnap victim once at Snedley’s hands. Knowing those secrets bucked her up. But she knew too that Karl/Snedley was on the way and that he would recognise the place immediately. The game would be up. Miles’s plan, whatever it was, would be blown. Mia decided that her confidence was misplaced.

A sound at the door startled her into attention. Mia watched with large frightened eyes as the door opened. It was Molly Fusil and one of the guards. Mia caught a glimpse of someone else standing in the passage outside but that guard did not enter. The Latin beauty looked down upon Mia gloatingly.

‘How do you like this new arrangement, Miss Chantal? I have news for you. This cellar is the last place you will see. We have decided to make you redundant, following Sir Murgatroyd’s orders. For reasons of his own - he implies revenge of some kind - he has singled you out for special attention. The other two women will be shipped out as planned, so there is no need to worry your pretty head about them. The burning question is, how shall we dispose of you? Have you any suggestions?’

Mia shook her head violently and made an unintelligible sound through her gag.

‘I thought not. Then we must be inventive. You have no particular preference as to how it should be?’

Mia strained uselessly against the broad leather straps that held her. Her face was white and sweat broke out on her brow.

‘Have you ever considered the end result if one of those melodramatic scenes in which the heroine is about to make her demise was ever to come to pass, if the hero did not appear in the nick of time? Tied to railroad tracks for instance. Messy but quick. Or bound in the path of a buzz saw? Not quite as quick, but definitely messy. Or tied to a chair with a ticking bomb? Very quick, and not enough pieces left to be, well, messy.’

Molly was enjoying herself and her eyes flashed.

‘Heavy weights might fall when a candle flame burns through the rope holding them. A crushing defeat you will agree. Or your body might be wrapped in heavy chains and dropped off a little ways out to sea. But the important thing is to make it slow so that you will see it coming, and after much thought I have hit upon the best solution.’

Molly gestured to the guard who walked to a corner of the cellar. Mia lifted her head and craned her neck but the man moved out of her line of vision. There was a sound of pulleys and chains. Mia’s head was jerked back to look into Molly’s eyes as the woman took her firmly by the chin and jaw.

‘Have you ever read Poe’s little tale, "The Pit and the Pendulum?" No? I may regale you with a somewhat dramatic reading if time permits. You might know that the victim was tied down more or less as you are now, and that a huge pendulum with a razor sharp blade was set in motion above him. With every swing of the pendulum it dropped a notch lower, until ... I’ll leave it to your imagination.’

This woman’s totally mad, Mia thought frantically. But how could she remonstrate with her? It is useless to reason with someone when you have a gag in your mouth. Mia realised with a pang of irony that it was a function of a gag she had not adequately explored. It not only prevented her from calling for help, it also made useless any attempt to plead for better conditions such as the loosening of bonds that were too tight, or for her life.

Molly raised Mia’s chin. ‘Look above you, dearie. Here comes the chopper to chop off your head.’ A shining scythe-like blade that hung above Mia began to swing as she watched, ponderously at first with a bit of a wobble, then with even strokes as it gathered speed. There was a click, and although she did not notice any difference Mia knew that the blade had dropped a fraction.

‘Neat, isn’t it?’ cooed Molly. ‘It will take a long while to descend, so you will have ample time to pray. And when it begins to make its mark, so to speak, you will suffer a death of many cuts. It’s one of the messy ways, but the hired help will clear it up. That’s what they’re for. And because it will take at least an hour, Karl may be here to enjoy your final curtain call.’

Mia watched the blade in horrified fascination. This can’t be happening, bringing a cliche to life - bad choice of word there. Mia turned her face to Molly and pleaded silently with dark frightened eyes.

‘My, you are the quintessential heroine.’ Molly looked at her watch. ‘I’ll be back in ten minutes. Time to check on your friends and prepare for their secure passage.’

With those words Molly strode from the room, the guard following obsequiously.

*

‘Another car was reported by the stake-out boys,’ muttered deVille to Brod on his return. ‘The Sergeant said that the two men who entered the house were identified as Johnny Montague - he led the heist of the Duck’s Egg diamond - and the gang’s driver, an ex-boxer called Hudson. Just a minute ... For you. Sergeant Sarah reporting other developments.’ Miles deVille handed the mobile phone to Brod.

‘Yeah?’ Brod grunted. He listened in silence for about half a minute before thanking Sarah and signing off. ‘Two additional moves in this game. The Chief Devereau and his secretary Oscar have joined the guys in the surveillance van. And another vehicle is approaching the main gates. Seems to be only one driver. The mobile phone bleeped and Brod opened it immediately. When he snapped it shut he looked gravely at Miles. ‘They are wondering whether Sir Herbert Murgatroyd will appear. The local cops back in town are watching, and one vehicle has just taken the turn off to this place. It’s a cheap hire car, not what we would expect of Murgatroyd, and it has two men in it. But the driver of the vehicle approaching the gates at this moment is identified as Karl.’

‘Shit, that blows it!’ exclaimed deVille. ‘He’ll recognise the place, if he hasn’t tumbled to it already on the way here. We can’t sit around now waiting for Murgatroyd to show up. Once that psychopath’s there, all the women will be in harm’s way.’

Brod thumbed his mobile and spoke rapidly into it. ‘Miles and I are moving in. Alert the KAS troops to stand by. We’ll take out any guards still within the perimeter ourselves and get into the house. The mobile is going silent. Got it? Good.’ Brod deactivated his mobile phone, replaced it in the sheath at his belt, and rose to his feet. Miles rose to his side. Both men ignored the faint possibility of being seen against the dark bulk of the hill where they stood.

‘If we split up we can take them from two directions. I know a way of getting into this place by the back door so to speak. An underground passage that leads from the gazebo to one of the cellars.’

‘Right you are,’ said Brod. ‘I’ll take one of the side windows. By the way, the classified information is that Mia of course recognised the place. And the reported frightened sound of her voice just before the guards re-entered the room suggests that she had the same thoughts about Karl that we have. There’s not a moment to lose!’

The two men disappeared into the grounds of the Chateau Medroso, shadows merging into other shadows in two different directions. But their destination was the same.

*

‘I say, wasn’t that a police car we passed just now parked up that side road?’

‘I’d say so, Orly old chum.’

‘Maybe they’re on to us.’

‘It’s a distinct likelihood. But our business is to get into this holiday mansion or whatever it is that Molly informed us of, where the women are being held. Whatever else happens to us, we must get Jasmine out of their dastardly clutches.’

‘I know, Brentford old mate. Our safety’s not as important as hers right at this time. But we can mingle with the gang, find out what’s going on. We may even have to use a little fisticuffs.’

‘More you than me old boy. I’m a trifle too old for that caper. But yes, Jasmine has been very sweet to me personally and I’m not going to let her down.’

‘What about the other two women, and the diamond?’

‘Now there’s a thought. If we can get to them that Melody Hazard woman might agree to a little trade-off, their safety for the diamond.’

*

‘Dum de da da dum. Jus’ drivin in the rain, singin in the rain. I’m looking for a di’mon, searchin in the rain. Le’s see. Gates comin up. Hokay. Two men in black. Two Gates openin. A’righty ... Wha’s this? Urk! This house. This’s the house! Wha’s goin on ...?

Karl drove on down the driveway towards the splash of light ahead, all of his senses alert, a grim but worried look on his narrow visage. His shifty eyes glanced into the impenetrable darkness on either side of the path and the hairs prickled at the nape of his neck.

*

Mia watched the slow descent of the swinging blade with fascinated horror. Its dull edge gleamed fitfully in the half-light from the ceiling as the blade passed in and out of the shadows. All straining and bucking against the leather restraints that held her produced no result. She was strapped up thoroughly. The only part of her that she could move was her head and that was only from side to side because of the broad strap across her throat. She could not help but strain frantically every time the apparatus above gave a sharp click and the blade dropped another few inches. She measured the angle of its slow descent and calculated that, when it reached her, the blade would begin to slice into her midriff. It would be slow and painful to be cut open in that way. Tears glistened on her cheeks above the cloth bound around her face and she moaned softly through the gag packed between her jaws.

The sound of keys in the padlock dragged Mia’s eyes from the sharp steel swinging above her to the door. Molly Fusil entered. This time she was alone. She smiled ironically at Mia and shook her head in reply to the look of pleading in the helpless woman’s eyes.

‘I’ve come to say hasta la vista, baby.’ Molly raised her eyes towards the ceiling. ‘I see the blade has settled into a relaxing rhythm, like a ticking clock. After all, it is a pendulum. Ahh, you don’t see it that way?’ she added in answer to a strangled grunt from Mia. ‘You’re probably wondering why I’m going to such lengths when a bullet is less trouble. Well, it’s for the suspense. You are experiencing a real-life damsel in distress situation. If the suspense is becoming too much for you, of course, I can move things along a little faster.’

Molly began walking towards the corner where the guard had activated the machine earlier. Mia’s scream came out as a thin throaty squeal through her gag.

‘Let’s see now ...’ Molly began,

‘Not so fast, Molly Fusil. Stay right where you stand!’

Miles deVille materialised from the shadows, an automatic pistol steady in his hand pointing at Molly who was now somewhere out of sight behind Mia. Mia felt a wave of relief sweep through her and she nearly passed out. She looked at Miles, her eyes glistening with tears. He must have used the tunnel from the gazebo. What a man! He comes so often in the nick of time!

Then Mia’s eyes widened in sudden terror, but her warning cry was choked into an inarticulate croak by the ever-present gag. For from behind Mia’s rescuer the large shape of another man loomed from the direction of the door. As Mia watched horrified, the huge man seized Miles around the neck, one forearm across his throat, the other forearm across the back of his neck, its elbow locked to the opposite wrist. It was a sleeper hold and the big man was Hudson.

Miles deVille was lifted off his feet like a rag doll. The pistol fell from his hand and clattered onto the stone floor. In less than thirty seconds he was still and Hudson lowered his body to the flags, stood and looked down at him. The big man’s face was unreadable. Mia screamed through her gag and the room seemed to spin around her.

‘Good work, Hudson,’ said Molly, walking into view. She turned to Mia who was now barely conscious. ‘Such a pity, but you’ll be joining him soon. I won’t touch the pendulum so you’ll have plenty of time to know that nobody crosses Molly the Gun. Come, Hudson.’ With those words, Molly departed.

Mia was alone again. Distraught, she raised her head as far as the strap at her neck allowed and tried to see where her lover had fallen. But the effort was too much for her and she had to let her head drop back. A faint moan escaped through the gag. Tears pooled in her eyes and trickled down the right side of her face to form tiny droplets on the wooden bench where she lay. Incuriously, she watched the pendulum with its curving blade as it continued in its slow descent. Nothing mattered now that Miles was gone. Melody, you have to take over, she thought dully. Sorry, but I can’t go on.

Chapter Nineteen

Back to Chapter Seventeen

Back to Friends Page