Showcase

by P. Roper

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” She asked me before turning to Noelle, “Oh bless you, girl. You’re an angel.”

  I frowned back at her but she just shrugged in my direction and raised her eyebrows. “Deliah is missing. And look who made a surprise fucking appearance tonight.” I spun the screen so they could see it. Audrey gasped, a hand covering her mouth, her eyes wide. But Noelle just looked surprised.

  “Niles? When did he get back into the country? And why are you so angry? Nate? What did I miss?” Confusion then disappointment marred her questions.

  Audrey was already talking to the dispatcher by the time Noelle had finished her minor inquiry. I paced with my hands in my hair, questioning everything, for what felt like an eternity before someone arrived. How could I have let this happen? I knew in my gut that my psychopath of a brother was behind her disappearance.

  The doorbell rang and Audrey ran for it. The Pride’s Crossing sheriff’s department was pretty much one squad car and a handful of badges that rotated shifts. I should have made a call into Boston, but this was outside their jurisdiction anyway. Some modicum of relief spread through me at a familiar voice though.

  “Man, what’ve you got for me?” Aaron Fitzberg had attended Andover with me before matriculating at MIT. He had settled into a comfortable life running IT for several outfits in the state, including local law enforcement detachments. I grimaced, turning the laptop toward him and Audrey. She explained a brief history, in hushed tones, but not quite quiet enough.

  “He did what?!” Noelle jumped off the counter and advanced on me. “This? This is what you felt the need to gloss over? Jesus, Nate. I’m not a goddamn child.” She sure damn well pouted like one.

  “Noelle, I’m sorry, it wasn’t my story to tell. It’s as simple as that. But circumstances have changed; people can’t find her without knowing the history.” Hell, even then. No one knew the half of it, except Deliah, my brother, and me. But that part wasn’t necessary to divulge. At least not just yet.

  “Whatever,” she rolled her eyes, being every bit of seventeen that she was.

  Hours later, Aaron had managed to track the car as far as Andover. But the town only had a single traffic camera, not giving us much to sift through. “Man, its progress. I know it’s less info than you need. But it’s something. I need to get back. But I’ll take a copy with me and file a report.” He clapped me on the shoulder, glancing at Audrey and Noelle asleep at the island. “I have more resources to look through that I can’t remote into. I’ll see what I can find and I’ll be in touch. Try to get some sleep yourself, yeah?” I nodded and thanked him as I saw him out.

  Ellen had come in early in the morning, shocked to see us all in the kitchen. After being informed of the night we had, she nodded and busied herself elsewhere. Once Aaron left, she appeared back in the kitchen, waking the girls and ushering them to bed before turning to me. “Boy, you need to sleep too.”

  I shook my head, sitting at the island, “I can’t, Ellen. She’s out there.”

  Placing a hand on my shoulder, she nodded. “That she is. And I know that girl hung the moon for you. But you’re no good to her, standing here dead on your feet. I’ll man the phones,” she held out her hand for mine, “while you all get a couple hours rest.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. I have no idea how this woman was expecting me to sleep. My girl was out there somewhere, at the mercy of her worst nightmare. I did as I was told though, tossing and turning in my empty bed forever, before finally passing out.

  I woke to a darker room. Glancing at the clock, it said 5:30. I maybe had 4 hours of sleep, but it was better than nothing. Making my way downstairs, I heard several voices. Turning into my kitchen, I stumbled back. There had to be a dozen people, flitting around the place. “Oh, good, you’re awake,” Audrey noticed me and made her way to my side. “We’re organizing right now. But Andover isn’t that big of a town, and Aaron called to confirm there are no cams that have caught the plate anywhere else.”

  “Okay. Coffee?” She nodded and went to grab me one. I spotted Noelle and slung an arm over her shoulder. “Anything interesting?”

  “No,” her nose wrinkled. “I have a couple feelers out to some friends who know town really well. I’m at a disadvantage there, not living on campus. I hardly spend any time in town.” She shrugged. “Nothing yet, but I’ll let you know.” I squeezed her shoulder nodding before letting go to accept my coffee from Audrey.

  I had to give it to my team. They were thorough, even more so than I had anticipated. By midnight, they had canvased the town and were hoping to send out targeted search parties in the morning. I fell asleep on the couch that night, knowing I couldn’t return to my empty bed another night. Not without her. Not again.

  Chapter 22

  Deliah

  Days. It had been days in this dark place. My skin felt permanently chilled and my body hovered constantly on the edge of dehydration. My hope dwindled as my empty stomach felt like it was gnawing away at itself. My hands shook and the headache – a compound result of hunger, tension and lack of sleep – was ever present. I had no tears left, my body wouldn’t allow for them. Instead, I just sat there with my eyes closed, waiting.

  My whole body tensed further whenever I heard footsteps on the stairs. The bright sliver of light that appeared always temporarily rendered me blind. After that first day, he appeared once every two days. I mean, that was my best guess. I spent a lot of my waking hours in the dark, just counting. I’m not sure how much I actually slept, so I couldn’t be absolutely sure of how long I had been here. But my relentless counting had added up to almost twelve thousand minutes. At least eight days, second by second.

  The dim light in the corner flicked on immediately before the door creaked. “Sweet Dee. How are we today?” His wicked voice grated on my nerves. “I have something for you.” He threw an oversized cardigan and another bottle of water in my direction. I shrugged into the sweater, my body relaxing slightly with the warmth. “There, better?”

  I nodded. “Why are you doing this, N?” I asked the same questions every time he appeared. “What day is it?”

  He always answered the same. “You’re mine, Dee. Accept it, embrace it. I own you.” Then he’d sigh when I asked the second one. “Time is irrelevant when we’re together, pet. If you weren’t such a flight risk, I’d let you come upstairs with me. But you can’t be trusted yet.”

  The ‘yet’ always threw me. Did he anticipate I’d change my mind and just accept being his property? It made me want to laugh, but I couldn’t find it in myself to actually do so. I had pushed my fight down so far that it felt like it went into hiding. Someone would find me eventually.

  Nate and Noelle had to know I had disappeared. I hoped he found the bracelet I dropped on the lawn as I was being pulled away, before the grass had been mowed this week. But there was no way to be sure that they even had any more clues as to where I had been taken, than I did.

  I licked my cracked lips. “Are you just going to stand over there and stare at me today?”

  “Not at all.” A wicked grin spread on his face as he pushed off the wall. Digging in his back pocket, he produced handcuffs. “Lay down, arms above your head.” I stared at him, my jaw clenching. “Come on. You know what happens when you don’t listen, pet.” He made it sound like he was pleading but I knew it was a threat.

  I had been restrained several times, showcasing for him, and each time had been vastly different. “You do this, and I’ll bring you a basin of hot water to bathe,” he negotiated. I sighed, lying down on the cot. “Good girl,” he commented, fastening the cuffs around my wrists and the edge of the cot, securing them above my head. He heaved the cot so it was leaning against a wall at just enough of an angle that I wasn’t physically hanging.

  I gasped when I saw the glint off the blade he retrieved from his pocket next. “Don’t move or you’ll hurt yourself,” was the only warning I got before he sliced cleanly through m
y stained, tattered dress. The material fell to my sides, leaving me bare save for the underwear I had been in since the morning I was captured. His hands came back, one pinching my nipple hard, the other running the dull side of his blade against my bare skin. I cried out, careful not to squirm. He gave the same treatment to my other breast before trailing his fingers down my abdomen.

  His hand snaked into my underwear, fingers parting me before pinching my clit. I gasped, and a shiver ran through me. “No moving, Dee. And I wish for your absolute silence until I tell you otherwise. Understood?” I nodded, pulling my lips between my teeth in hopes of staying silent. He strapped his blade flush against my stomach, ensuring that if my back arched, I would cut myself. The man was a sadist.

  Just like the last time I had seen him at a showcase, he inserted a device into me. But this one was different. It was hook shaped; half in, half out of me. He situated it tight against my over-sensitive clit, covering the device again with my underwear. He left the room a moment, returning with a folding chair. Sitting on it, he produced a remote and another involuntary tremor ran through me.

  He made a show of pressing a button and the device began to vibrate. He increased the speed methodically and it took everything in me to not squirm or moan as my body was stimulated. “Good girl,” He’d occasionally purr at me. He released himself from his pants, wrapping his cock in his fist. The remote in his hand flipped between functions until I was panting. Sweat dripped down between my breasts, in my efforts to remain motionless and silent.

  I could hear his movements gradually increase in speed before he barked out orders to break my silence. A cry broke from my lips and he roared from across the room. I assumed he came, watching me because moments later he was directly in front of me, pants still undone but his shirt smattered with sticky fluid.

  The device gained more and more speed, pushing me closer and closer to coming. But I knew that if I did, I would surely draw blood where the knife rested against my skin. My moans became strained and his eyes met mine, glinting. “I can see how wet you are, pet. You’ve soaked your underwear and your thighs.” He lowered his head, licking some of the slickness off my skin. “No choices now, sweet,” he chuckled, pausing, before meeting my eyes again. “Come,” he growled at me.

  When I didn’t, he pocketed the remote and pressed the device harder into me with one hand. Bringing the other one up to my chest, he all but shouted in my face. “I said, come. Now,” he demanded, pulling my nipple between his finger and thumb. I let out a gasp, the world crashing around my overstimulated body. And just as I knew it would, I cried out and immediately felt a sting and a trickle run down my stomach. The blade breaking my skin drew a hiss from me as tears welled in my eyes.

  He licked the blood off my skin and removed the blade. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I demanded.

  “You didn’t listen.” He whispered, eerily calm. “I asked for your voice, not movement. You did this to yourself, Dee.” He slipped the knife into the band of my underwear, cutting it off my body before ripping the device from between my legs and storming from the room. Leaving me almost hanging there, laid bare.

  Chapter 23

  Nate

  I found myself more often than not, in athletic shorts and old t-shirts, pacing the house. My bare feet had begun to ache, unaccustomed to not wearing shoes. So for days on end I slid my feet into a pair of crocs that I swore I would never wear, on principle, but turned out to be exceptionally comfortable. I made a point to thank Noelle for them. She had included them with a cane, suspenders and a flat cap for my twenty-fifth birthday the year before. Remembering the way she had laughed until she cried, telling me I was old, brought a smile to my face that felt almost foreign.

  Deliah had been missing ten days. Ten days too long. Ten days that I hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours. I was dead on my feet, but my body was strung so tight that rest didn’t even feel like an option. In so many ways, I was lost without her. She had been in my life barely more than six months, but the day I saw her on that stage, everything had shifted. She lit my world on fire and I had become accustomed to basking in her warm glow.

  “Anything?” Noelle asked the moment her foot crossed the threshold of the foyer, just as she had every time she saw me. I insisted she still go to school. Pulling her out at this point in the year would be questioned and the last thing we all needed was for the media to get a hold of this. I could see the damn headlines now: Mysterious Girl, Tied to Young Mogul, Abducted by His Brother. Nope, I wasn’t risking dragging this through the press, especially without answers.

  I shook my head and the hope drained from her face as she closed the door softly behind her. “We’ll hear something, Noe. The car may have been a dead end. But we will find her.” I pulled my sister into a hug. Her shoulders shook as her fresh tears wet my shirt.

  “Nate, it’s been too long. He could have taken her anywhere at this point. I’ll drive back to Andover and go door to door myself if I need to.”

  “I know,” I smoothed a hand down her hair. “But we’ll hear from them. We don’t know enough to go in guns blazing. It’s too much of a risk.”

  She sniffled. “Yeah, I know,” defeat laced her voice. “Did Ellen make cookies today? I have a paper due tomorrow and chocolate feels like it will be the only way I’ll get through it.” A sad smile crossed her face.

  “She did. The woman baked all day. Audrey actually just took baskets to drop off at the inn and B&B in town.” I shook my head. Each of the women in my life was coping with this entire thing so differently. Noelle was distracted, but trying with all her might to get through the final weeks of her junior year. Ellen was stress baking, far more than any of us could possibly eat. And Audrey had essentially moved into the estate, but I was almost positive she was sleeping even less than I was.

  She delegated all her regular duties to other team members from the family room, where she had set up a command center of sorts. But Audrey still moved like a hurricane, pouring through any information she could find. She had lists of stolen cars from the area that the original car had been left. There was page after page of real estate reports and traffic patterns. She had somehow gotten her hands on traffic camera footage from the days since the disappearance. Huddled around a screen, we spent hours and hours dissecting the footage, to no avail.

  “Cool, well I should get on this. I’ve been putting it off all week.” Noelle sulked toward the kitchen as Audrey burst through the door.

  “Nate! Did the detachment call?” She gasped in a breath. “Car moved. Like, not them. Plate got flagged by the camera. The one on Main.” She sat on the stairs to catch her breath. In the same moment that she lowered herself to the steps, my phone rang.

  “Hey. What happened with the car?” I asked as Noelle burst into the foyer, eyes wide.

  “Nate, we found the car. They had a plainclothes officer follow it back. It’s definitely your brother and we have the location of the place he’s staying.” Fitz had passed his original findings on to the Prides Crossing station. Officer Jerry Manchester had taken over. I had known him since I was a small child and gone to school with his son.

  “Where is he, sir? I need this resolved tonight.”

  “I know Nate. For anyone else I wouldn’t, but I can swing by and pick you up on my way. I have eyes on the house in the meantime and an ambulance will be around the corner by the time we roll into town.” I nodded, though he couldn’t see me. “I’m not pulling up that driveway of yours though, son. Meet me at the road in five minutes, or I’m going to Andover without you and I promise you will be denied access to the site if you show up in any vehicle other than my squad car.”

  “Yes sir. Thank you.” I hung up and turned to find three tear stained faces staring at me. “Stay here, eat cookies, study. I’ll call when I have her. Audrey?” I met her eyes, “Clear?” She nodded and ushered Ellen and Noelle back to the kitchen as I ran up the stairs. I couldn’t go save my girl in fucking crocs.


  I changed into jeans and boots before running down my driveway to meet Chief Manchester. I had crossed the street moments before I saw his car crest the hill just up the road and he barely rolled to a stop as I threw myself into his empty passenger seat. “Thank you,” I said to him as I fastened my seatbelt.

  “I’d do the same for my boy,” he shook his head. “Nate, the Andover police have the property surrounded. You will not be allowed to enter the building until we’ve detained your brother. Once he’s been safely removed, you may exit my vehicle and go in to get your girl. Understood?” He pinned me with a glare, and I knew the old man would kick my ass if I didn’t do this his way. But fuck, did I want to just go in and break down the door myself. My knee bounced as he sped down the road and into Andover.

  He pulled up quietly, at the end of the driveway belonging to a house that looked abandoned. There couldn’t be more than one bedroom inside. What are you doing here, brother? I wondered. Chief got out of the car, making a point to stick me with a final glance, in clear warning. Yeah, yeah, I got it. Be a good, patient little boy. I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest.