This must be male rape.
I was at her mercy. There was nothing I could do. Should I beg for my life? My body was reacting to her advances.
I considered my fate. If I extend her interest, would I benefit, and possibly live longer? This, after all, is Mercedes.
She acted swiftly.
Chapter 80
She was kneeling on the platform with her lower body against mine. She lifted the blindfold quickly.
I blinked several times and her image came into view. She was a redhead. I could see that clearly. I smelled the sweet smell of gardenia. I blinked some more and saw her smiling face. It was Mercedes.
* * *
My heart was beating wildly; I could hear it in my ears. I blinked again in disbelief, staring at her face—and stared some more.
It wasn’t Mercedes.
I hesitated acknowledging it but felt that was what she was looking for.
“You’re not Mercedes.”
She shifted her body, waving the long knife blade in front of my eyes running the back of the blade down my body, stopping dangerously close to vital parts. She moved the knife and replaced it with her hand. “I saw your name in your wallet—you’re Scott Tucker, and, I might add, a very fine specimen.” I felt her strong grasp.
We were nose to nose. “I’m not Mercedes. I find that very interesting, because my younger sister’s name is Mercedes. She’s the smart one in the family. I’m Melanie . . . but we’re both named ‘Strong.’” She tightened her grip, and my stomach turned again.
“Appropriately named, but you know that at the moment, don’t you?”
She removed her hand and fondled me with the knife. “Scott you saw those trophies upstairs. Well, I’m about to cut these parts off. We do that before we kill the men. That’s when they really learn to regret what they’ve done.”
I saw my chance. “I haven’t raped anyone. I don’t deserve to die this way. I’m in love with a woman, and I want to marry her,” I said, thinking I might be able to stall her.
“Tell me some more, Mr. Tucker, but don’t you lie, or you will regret it.”
I was quick to get it out. “I love Lisa Anderson, whom I met the day President Kennedy was killed. It didn’t take us long to fall in love. I even saved her life.”
“That’s very heroic. Do you like what I’m doing to you now?”
Her hand was on my body. I remembered what she said about lying. “Yes, your hand reminds me of your sister.” It wasn’t a lie, but I didn’t know how she would react.
“That’s very good, Mr. Tucker. There may be hope for the male race yet. How do you know my sister?”
“We both work on the task force, trying to find who’s killing those men.”
“Did you rape her?”
“No.”
“Did you make love to her? Remember what I said about lying.”
“No, but we spent the night together. We were very close, but we didn’t make love. I thought you were her.”
Her hand was back. “We both love the same perfume, Gardenia Mania, which is why you thought I was her. You must be wondering why we killed those men. I’m going to tell you the details before I cut you but then I must kill you. I’m sure the longer you listen, the longer you’ll live, and the more I can enjoy these moments. I have the power, you know.”
It didn’t take much to remind me that she had more than my life in her hands. I was silently praying for a way out, but I knew I only had a few minutes left.
* * *
I noticed she resembled Mercedes, but the years had not been kind to her. Her features were rougher.
“I’m going to tell you our stories. Each of the men was told why they were being tried and punished. We didn’t consider it killing. We thought of it as revenge for what they had done. We were their day in court; unfortunately, we were their jury, and their executioners.”
My mind was on Lisa while Melanie continued to entertain herself.
“Jean Jensen had been raped continually by her stepbrother Paul Maloney. He and his dad lived with them. He used something Jean and her girlfriends did with him to blackmail her into having sex with him. He was the first to be tried by our court and found guilty without question. His was the first display, or trophy, you saw upstairs.”
I was glad she was talking, but she was now hurting me.
Her voice seemed far away. “Sandra Sangello was raped by her cousin, Tony Sangello. It seems, during one of Sandra’s more frisky moments, she posed for some explicit pictures. He used the pictures against her, threatening to go to his parents if she didn’t have sex with him. Since their dads were related, it would have gotten back to her parents. He was also tried and convicted . . . and separated. He bawled like a baby just before she cut him here.”
She stopped talking to pay more attention to what she was doing to me. Then she moved back to my face and kissed me passionately. I tried to give her the impression that I was interested, but she could tell, I’m sure.
She resumed talking to me, but more softly now. “The younger sister of Carole Daniels, who called me earlier to alert me that her apartment building was the target of a police visit, was about fifteen when Jason’s gang caught her and raped her for a whole weekend.”
I thought I heard something in the distance.
“Her parents didn’t want the publicity of a trial, so nothing was ever done. Jason painfully recounted so many rapes, we lost count. He was a no-brainer. Carole’s rage was real scary stuff. I shutter every time I remember what she did to him. Carole worked her knife in slow motion.”
She stopped talking and went back to her diversion.
Shortly, she resumed talking. “My own situation brings it close to Mercedes. She was threatened by Bob Sullivan. That was his biggest mistake. However, he and I were lovers earlier for a period of time.”
Her touch became much gentler.
“My parents and Mercedes would go away weekends, and he would visit. Bob was a jock. One weekend, he had a party at his house, and he came to visit. I got carried away and allowed him to tie me up.”
The emotion was now coming out in her touch.
“His friends joined him and enjoyed me the entire weekend. The rape was bad enough, but their taunts at school afterward were unbearable. Bob just laughed when I asked whether he cared about me. I enjoyed making him regret he was a man.”
I was getting more uncomfortable with what she was doing. I had to do something to break her attention. “Would that killing have been the end?”
“It’s funny you asked that question. We talked about whether we would continue to wield our form of justice, or call it a day. We never answered the question before all of this happened. You know I can’t let you live. You said Mercedes and you wanted to be friends? How does that stand? Not that it matters now?”
“I love Lisa and explained that to Mercedes. She asked if we could be friends.”
“You said you saved Lisa’s life. Tell me that story; remember, I’m the jury here.”
I thought I was doing a good, if not an uncomfortable job of extending my execution. “She was going to be killed by Jimmy Ballou, who had killed some camp counselors. It was what he considered a revenge for a branding they did to him, when they were all younger with raging hormones.”
“Jimmy got Lisa because her mother owned the camp. I helped to rescue her.”
* * *
There was a loud crash, and I had to check to see if I was still alive. I was.
The next thing I knew, someone charged across the room and took Melanie off me down to the floor with a flying leap.
It was Mercedes. Somehow, she found me and was fighting for me. I strained to see them rolling on the floor. Melanie lost the knife when she was knocked down.
Mercedes was having a hard time holding Melanie since she only had her by her long red hair, but Mercedes had a firm grip and was striking Melanie with her fist.
However, Melanie was able to escape Mercedes’ grasp and pushed her
back against one of the columns. It took her breath away, and she slid down the column. Melanie knocked her head with the handle of the knife. I could tell Mercedes was out cold. Melanie rubbed her own neck, assessing the damage.
She got up quickly and grabbed some rope. She stood Mercedes against the column and tied her to it. It took her a few minutes to make all of the ties. Mercedes was alive, but not going anywhere.
Melanie came over to me. “Well, Scott, is this the first time women were fighting over you? I have to admit, Mercedes and Lisa know how to pick them. You’re as fine as any of the trophies upstairs.”
She picked up where she left off like nothing had happened.
“Scott, I’m really sorry I don’t have days to entertain you, but I have a lot of work to do. I have to dispose of the body parts upstairs, and then take care of you and Mercedes.”
“We were never that close after I was committed. Trying to burn Bob’s parents’ house down next door was the final straw, they said.”
I looked at Mercedes, who was coming to.
“My ‘other’ got me out of the institution—she knew how to talk to people. She fortunately doesn’t pop out much anymore. I can’t stand her; she’s too good.”
I could see Mercedes was observing my situation and listening to Melanie. I wondered if she remembered my naked dream . . . here it was, with just some minor changes.
“Scott, here’s what happens next. She grabbed me again, taking my breath away. I cut these off first, which makes you not care about the next part.”
I couldn’t hold the gasp back.
“Up over your head is what we call the ‘Guillotine.’ It takes care of the other parts. Do you see that thing hanging near the ceiling?”
I didn’t answer. She made me regret that. I choked out an answer. “Yes.”
“Well, I throw some switches and the weight that lifts the elevator does its magic, and the body parts go flying. Very bloody and messy; that is mostly why we don’t wear any clothes. That hole in the floor over there is very convenient. The ocean is right there, which makes it handy to roll the remaining torso right into the blue sea.”
Mercedes was struggling against her restraints. I felt the pressure of Melanie’s hand and knew what must be coming next. I closed my eyes and braced for the pain.
There was a loud crash. I was confused about what was happening. When I opened my eyes, I saw Melanie run to the open hole in the floor and jump in.
Mike and Paddy rushed over to me and Mercedes. Mike took off his coat and covered me while he untied my ropes. Paddy untied Mercedes. The other officers were pointing their guns down where Melanie had gone, but they were shaking their heads.
Chapter 81
It was now summer and we had all graduated. I was lucky to be alive. I had Mercedes and the others to thank for that. When Paddy and Mike had questioned her about where she was all that weekend, and why the listings were missing, she left the office.
The more she thought about those two ingredients, the more she wondered if her sister Melanie fit the profile.
She went to the real estate office and researched the available properties and discovered the two missing listings. That’s when she decided to check them out, but she thought the remote property matched better than the other listing.
She had taken a set of spare keys to both properties, since her sister managed both for the office. She found my car behind the fence when she opened the gate, then saw what was happening.
Melanie’s body has never been recovered, but she could not have survived the freezing water. The other two women were arrested since Melanie had told me their names. Their phone numbers were located in Melanie’s pocketbook.
I don’t know why I’m thinking about all of these things. I guess it’s the fresh air, the sound of birds, waves hitting on the rocks below, the smell of the ocean and the warmth of the sun. It seems Lisa is always waiting for me, but today is different. Now I’m waiting for her. I’m not alone either. Mike is standing next to me, and Judy is looking at both of us, smiling.
I could hear others whispering. “Lisa is never late.”
When would she come? My feet were falling asleep. Finally, I think she knew she kept me waiting long enough. The other sounds were replaced by the noise of those gathered standing, and then I heard the music . . . the most lovely music a man could ever hear.
Here Comes the Bride. She’s coming to join me for the rest of our lives. Thank you, God!
Serial Separation Page 28