Misguided Trust

by Jamie Ott

  “Here,” he said. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you. I’m under a lot of stress, right now. I promise I’ll be better. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she replied.

  He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, but his kiss was cold, just like his words.

  Two hours later, they pulled into the desert resort and handed over the keys to the valet.

  The hotel was spectacular looking in its Spanish décor. It was surrounded with palm trees; water evaporate mixed with chlorine from swimming pools was smelt in the air.

  A man helped them get their bags to their room.

  They walked through a breezy lobby to the elevators. Miniature water fountains, fresh white leather couches and fish tanks decorated the place. A long line waited to get into the hotel’s restaurant.

  After they settled in, Maddie told Joe that she was going to the spa for a few hours. Originally, she hoped they would spend the day at the farmers market; there was nothing better than fresh fruit on a hot day. But after what happened in the car, she didn’t want to be near him.

  Maddie grabbed her bag and as she walked out, caught a glimpse of Joe simply sitting on the bed and staring at the wall. What was wrong with him?

  A few hours later, Maddie returned, feeling as if her skin glowed.

  In the room, Joe paced with a frustrated look on his face.

  “Yeah, I gotta go. I’ll see you later.” He pressed the screen of his phone and stuck it in his pocket.

  Maddie noticed that Joe had not changed, and his bag was still unpacked. Had he really not left the room at all?

  Just as Maddie was debating whether or not to press him for answers, Joe asked, “Would you like to go to dinner in town, in fifteen minutes?”

  “Sure, let me get dressed.”

  Rather than argue, and end up spending the night alone, she went into the bathroom and re applied her makeup.

  ~~~

  The restaurant was a five star eatery. It was a large, white building similar in structure to the resort, except the front entrance was made entirely of glass; through which one could see people waiting for tables at the bar, or dining pleasurably while conversing with friends and family.

  As they handed over the car keys to the valet, Maddie first noticed the two thuggish looking men. They wore the ugliest black suits. This was a feat, thought Maddie, because when doesn’t black make a person, no matter how plain, look chic?

  The thugs couldn’t have been from California. The shorter one of the two was dark haired with an unshaven face. He fidgeted and snorted, loudly, in between hacks and puffs on a cigarette. The taller one looked overly serene with dark circles under hollow eyes and a bald head.

  To Maddie’s worst surprise, her husband flicked his hand in their direction.

  “You know them?” asked Maddie. She couldn’t have been more disgusted. “We’re not having dinner with them, are we?”

  “Hey, there!” Joe said, ignoring her. “How are ya? Let’s go in and eat, shall we?”

  On the way in, Maddie was affronted that Joe didn’t introduce her to them. This was something that he often did to her. Time and time again, she asked him to show her common courtesy, and he’d become somewhat better until that night.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that we were going to meet people for dinner?” she whispered to him. “Why didn’t you properly introduce me?”

  “How many?” asked the hostess.

  “Four,” said Joe.

  “It will be about 20 minutes, but you can wait at the bar.”

  “Thanks.”

  The two men followed Joe to the bar, as did Maddie. She could see the shorter man with dark hair looking at her out of the corner of his eye, though he tried to do so inconspicuously. The taller man talked to Joe, and when the bartender asked if they wanted anything, they ordered without asking Maddie what she wanted.

  Maddie’s face got hot.

  Wanting to get away from them, she walked to the other end of the bar where she scooted into a seat and ordered a double vodka martini. When the bartender set the drink in front of her, she emptied the glass, immediately, and ordered another.

  She barely took a sip of her second drink when she heard Joe calling from the other end of the bar. Maddie pretended like she couldn’t hear him, which always really pissed him off.

  “Hey!” he angrily spit in her ear, a second later. “Our table is ready! Do you mind not acting like a princess tonight? I’ve got business to discuss and you’re embarrassing me!”

  “What is your problem? You know what? Go eat your dinner and discuss business, because I’m leaving.”

  She left the restaurant, ignoring the stares of her husband and his acquaintances.

  Maddie and Joe had been through similar scenarios before. He thought he could treat her bad. And the truth was, he got away with a lot, but she couldn’t let him embarrass her in front of others.

  Her heels clicked on the cement as she made her way down the street. Cars flashed their lights at her. Hoodlums from inside hollered rudely at her.

  She sipped her martini, quickly, as she wasn’t sure if it was legal to drink in public in the desert. Then she gulped down the rest of the liquid and threw the glass in a trash can. Never, had she felt worse than she did at that moment.

  Two minutes later, she walked into her favorite place: an East Indian café. The restaurant had many little tables dimly lit by candles. Scent of spices hung, deliciously, in the air.

  Once she was seated, she continued with an encore of martinis, accompanied by a nice little curried potato and chicken dinner.

  When she finished, she decided to take a cab back to the resort. Maybe she’d hang out in the ballroom, dance a little, and drink a lot more. By the time she’d get back to her room, Joe would be asleep and she wouldn’t have to acknowledge him.

  In front of the restaurant, she waited at the taxi line. From up the street, the short smoking man from the other restaurant was headed her way. Even at that time of night, his outfit was not usual for desert climate at such a time of year. She just hoped he didn’t stop and talk to her.

  To her disappointment, he walked right up to her.

  “Hi,” he said, and exhaled. “How are you?”

  “Fine,” she said, waiving smoke away from her face.

  “I noticed you at the restaurant earlier. You’re a very pretty lady.”

  Maddie continued to look out to traffic for her cab.

  “Thanks, but I am not in the mood for conversation. Would you mind going on your way, please? Thanks.”

  “What are you looking for?”

  “I’m waiting for cab, what do you think?”

  “Well, if you like, I could give you a ride. I’m headed out to your resort, anyway.”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Your husband is still at the restaurant. He was talking to some waitress, so I’m sure he won’t mind if I give you a ride. You know, if I was yours, I’d never let you walk out the way you did tonight. He was a real bastard, don’t you think?”

  Maddie looked at the man, stunned by his boldness. She had the feeling that he was purposely trying to flatter her. Still, it sounded like something Joe would do. He was a huge flirt who, oftentimes, made Maddie jealous out of revenge.

  She sighed and said, “Yeah, okay, I’d like a ride. All of the sudden, I just want to go to bed. What did you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t say,” said the man. “My name is John.”

  Maddie and John walked back up the street toward the restaurant where his car was valeted. John was talkative at first, but then, he fell silent. That was okay, though.

  When they got to the restaurant, the valet brought the car and they got in. John didn’t tip the guy, so she stepped out. As she opened the door, the man seemed to freak out.

  “Where are you going?” he asked urgently. He reached over and grabbed her arm.

  “I’m giving the man a tip! Please, let go!”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. What was the g
uy’s problem?

  She gave the valet a five dollar bill; then got back into the car.

  Maddie sighed with relief when he turned on the car. All she wanted was to go home. Maybe she’d pack her bags, take the car and leave.

  They were on the old desert road fifteen quiet minutes. When they passed the resort exit, Maddie said, “You missed my turnoff.”

  John said nothing.

  “Are you listening to me?”

  He just kept driving.

  “Hello?”

  “Just sit back and everything will be fine.”

  “What do you mean? Stop the car! Let me out, now!!”

  He merely sat, looking unmoved by her yelling.

  She attempted to unlock the door. When that didn’t work, she banged on the window and screamed. But it was dark, and the drivers who passed them couldn’t see her.

  Next she punched John in the face. When that did nothing, she leant back and, with both feet, kicked him repeatedly in the head.

  Finally, he pulled over onto the dry grass.

  Maddie tried to reach over John and release the lock on the doors, but he fought her off. He pulled back his fist, and then punched her in the face as hard as he could.

  Stunned, she wobbled in her seat. Blood flowed from somewhere on her face.

  “Pleeease…” she cried. “Let me go.”

  But John pulled a needle from a small case in his pocket.

  “Nooo!” she screamed.

  He pulled back the fresh wrapper and stabbed her in the thigh. And a moment later, all went black.

  Tied Up

  Chapter 3

  Maddie remained still because the more she moved, the tighter her bonds got. Already, the plastic cut into her ankles and wrists. Her arms and legs were numb.

  Upon waking sometime that night in an unfamiliar bedroom, several levels up, Maddie tried to escape through the window. She must have been discovered by a security camera, and just in time, too. She nearly killed herself when she lost her balance. A mysterious man poked his head out of the window and gasped. There she was, hanging by her fingers on the ledge.

  Scared, the man climbed out and walked along the ledge; then helped Maddie pull herself up. He guided her through another window, at gunpoint. As she crawled in, the two men, from the restaurant, ran in and grabbed her. She fought with all her strength. Having had a few martial arts classes under her belt, she managed to deliver, affectively, several naga kicks before being taken down.

  After that, she was blindfolded and brought down several flights of stairs, to what she assumed was a basement. They bound her to a small chair from which she immediately tried to work her way out of. Several hours later, when they discovered what she was doing, they tied her arms and legs even more painfully than before.

  And now, the smell of chicken steamed its way through the walls. She tried to ignore the rippling growls from her stomach by reflecting on what she’d learned through her experience the night prior: Maddie was being held by multiple conspirators in a large house in the middle of nowhere. And they were far from any main roads because all she heard, that night, was crickets and frogs; and in the morning, birds and whining wind through trees.

  The smell of food was really getting to her.

  Someone opened the door to the room.

  Maddie jumped in her chair which made her yank on the plastic tie-ropes. Searing pain blazed in her wrists and ankles. She cried through the gag in her mouth.

  As the person drew closer, she felt the air move around her.

  “I’m Michael,” said the man. Then he removed the cloth from her mouth.

  “Scream, and I’ll leave.”

  His voice had a touch of grain that sounded like pure evil.

  Through the irregularities of her blindfold, she saw that he wore brown loafers and khakis. In his hands, he held a plate and a glass, which he set on the table in front of her.

  She nodded her head to show that she would comply.

  “I brought you chicken.”

  He, then, removed her blindfold and gag, revealing, as she suspected, a basement. When they brought her, it was pitch dark, so she couldn’t see much from the sides of her blindfold. But now, she saw that it was a small bare place, except for a table and two chairs, one of which she was tied to.

  Michael sat in the other chair, directly across from her. He was tan with sandy blond hair and an over bowed mouth that gave him a sinister expression.

  He sliced up the chicken breast and, using the fork and knife, pushed a piece of it in her mouth. Heat from the meat made her bruised lips throb.

  The man stuffed a piece of broccoli into her mouth, gave her a sip of water, and then more chicken.

  After a few minutes, Maddie looked at the man more observantly. There was something familiar about the way his light blue eyes twinkled out spookily from under his hooded eyes. She couldn’t help but notice the quality of his leather shoes; the style was familiar to her. Maddie knew someone who wore shoes like that, but she couldn’t remember who.

  She jerked her head at the sound of a child laughing, nearby.

  Michael put down the fork and closed the door; then came back and continued to feed her.

  When the plate and glass were emptied, he got up and left without a word, and without replacing her blindfold and gag.

  The next morning, Maddie woke when she felt something slap her head. A red face woman in a dirty brown dress stood before her. She untied Maddie’s bondage.

  “You’ll be working with me today,” she said. “Now, get up.”

  Maddie tried to stand, but her body was completely numb. Slowly, she stretched out her arms, and rolled them in a back and forward motion.

  The woman lost her patience and pulled the chair from under Maddie. She fell on her butt, and the woman yelled, “Get up, I don’t have time for this.”

  She kicked her in the legs and back.

  “Oww!”

  Maddie wobbled to her feet.

  The woman placed a black cord that was tied into a funny looking noose, around her neck. Then she replaced the blindfold, which lay on the table.

  “Walk straight ahead. Don’t even think about trying anything.”

  The woman placed her hand on her arm and pointed her up a set of stairs. Then she instructed her down a walkway, and up another set of stairs.

  Out of the corner of her blindfold, she saw through windows. A forest was back dropped against a mountain. On the bottom of the window, she saw many little pointed things, like cones, atop a small, grey flat surface.

  Was it a wall?

  If it were a wall, it was a major obstacle to her freedom, no matter if she managed to sneak out. They were approaching the third floor; if she could see the top from there, the wall had to be pretty tall.

  They walked up another flight of stairs, but this time, they turned in spiral.

  The woman guided her off the staircase and down an enormous hall. Maddie could tell this because she felt air billowing amply around her.

  Suddenly, the woman grabbed her shoulder and turned her ninety degrees. The sound of a door, in front of her, opening followed. She was pushed forward, a few feet, and the door was shut behind her.

  The red faced woman removed the blindfold.

  Before Maddie’s eyes was an enormous laundry room. It was hot, loud and stuffy. Piles of clothes laid everywhere. Along a set of shelves were numerous cleaning products and toiletries. A large fan blew from the corner of the room, even though cold air blew up from the floor vents.

  Directly facing her, across the room, was a large window, through which Maddie saw clothe lines and chickens running about, down below. She saw that she was right: the grey wall appeared to be about 10 feet high, and encircled the property.

  Out beyond the wall was natural beauty. Tree covered mountains extended out for miles, with one enormous mountain peak that seemed to touch the sky.

  The red faced woman told her to take a seat at the large desk in the middle of the room. The
n she rolled a funny looking contraption over from the corner of the room.

  “Get to work,” she said.

  “What is it?”

  “A steamer, what are you dumb?”

  “What do I do with it?”

  “The linens!” she snapped. She waved her hand at the cart beside the desk; it was full of clothes. “They’re all clean; they just need the wrinkles taken out. I’ll be locking you in. If I come back and you’re not done, then I’ll take you back downstairs and tie you up, again, without dinner.”

  Then she left. The sound of a key in the old fashion skeleton styled keyhole followed.

  Naturally, she wanted to tell the woman to go to hell, but she also didn’t want to be tied down anymore. If she had a chance to run, she needed her arms and legs in working order. As it was, just lifting the steam wand took all her energy; it was like her limbs had died on her.

  Maddie had never done this kind of work before, but it was pretty easy, except for the flying steam and hot water droplets that occasionally burned her arms.

  “What are you doing?” said the red faced woman who had just returned.

  Maddie was sucking on a little bubble that had risen on the back of her hand.

  “I burned myself.”

  “You’d better work hard and fast. I ain’t got all day. I want all this done by the time I get back, which is about an hour.”

  Despite little water burns, like pock marks sprinkled all over her arms, Maddie steamed at full speed.

  After the never ending pile of laundry contradicted itself by being finished, the woman dragged her to a pantry that was on the next floor up, and told her to scrub the floor. All the while, the cord was tied around her neck while she worked on all fours like a dog. It was then that Maddie learned her name.

  “Abilene,” said a woman who burst into the room. Maddie tried to catch a glimpse of her from the corners of her eyes. “You’re needed downstairs.”

  A few threats to Maddie and the woman left. Seconds later, she returned with a sandwich.

  Abilene was truly a foul woman, Maddie thought. She ate as though she hadn’t any lips on her jaw. Her mouth never quite closed as she smacked loud, and the food tossed around inside. The visual reminded her of the sheets that tossed around in the dryer. Abilene didn’t seem to notice or care about the way food and crumbs tumbled down her filthy clothes.