Princess, Without Cover

by Cole, Courtney

  He smiled at her again, the perfectly polite smile of a host, before he ducked out the door, closing it behind him. He was only gone for a minute before he returned with a large box. He set it down in front of her.

  “This is full of peanut butter sandwiches and chips. There are also bottles of water. Be careful, because it has to last until I come back next time. Now, I’m going to take you to the bathroom and you are going to clean yourself up. And then we’re going to make a movie.”

  Fear stilled her heart. She could only think of one kind of movie that a man like him would want to make with a woman. And since she had already ascertained that this particular man hated women, she couldn’t even imagine what kind of horrible, degrading things he would make her do in his movie.

  She took a deep, stilling breath before she nodded. The detective took a step toward the door, then turned to her again, his voice icy.

  “One more thing. Don’t try to run from me or I will kill the boy. Don’t doubt it,” he threatened.

  She didn’t. She could tell from the steely expression on his face that he wouldn’t hesitate a millisecond before killing Danny. She turned to the frightened little boy.

  “Don’t be afraid, Danny. I’m going to go with this man to help him with something. While I’m gone, I want you to eat a sandwich and drink a bottle of water. Okay?”

  Danny nodded but his expression was worried. Sydney turned and walked with detective Daniels out the door, waiting while he paused to lock it. She took note that it was padlocked into a hinge on the door. She wondered if she would be able to force it open. She silently vowed to try if he left them here alive.

  The detective escorted her to a dingy bathroom which was a hundred times dirtier than Stephen’s had ever been. Her thoughts wavered briefly at the thought of Stephen. She knew he was probably beside himself right now. She silently said a prayer for his protection and then turned on the water in the sink, as Detective Daniels stood silently at her side. As the water ran into the grimy sink, he handed her a wash cloth and a hair brush.

  “Clean up,” he demanded.

  She looked into the cloudy mirror and studied her reflection. She had sunken circles under her eyes which were probably a combined result of the dehydration and lack of sleep. Her skin looked incredibly pale from being closed in the dark room. She was only a shadow of herself.

  She wiped her face with the rag and then combed her hair. She tried not to notice that there was dried blood on the wall beside her. When she was finished, she turned to the detective.

  “I don’t suppose I can have a toothbrush?”

  He shook his head impatiently. “No one is going to notice your teeth.”

  He grabbed her elbow and dragged her from the bathroom into another bedroom where there was a single chair set up in front of a camera. She was instantly confused. She expected to see a bed in front of the camera. Not this.

  She turned to him in surprise. “What are you going to have me do?”

  He thrust a paper into her hands. Her eyes skimmed over it and with every word she read, her heart sped up a little bit more until it felt as though it would leap from her throat. Her fingers shook as she held the paper and finally she looked back up at him.

  “Why do you want me to expose my dad? You suggested this awhile back, too—that I leak this to the press. Why?”

  “It’s not your father who is important in this equation,” he ground out through gritted teeth. He shoved her harshly into the chair and began adjusting the camera. “And if you had listened to me then, you wouldn’t be here now.”

  Sydney tried not to think about that.

  “Okay, fine. Why do you want to expose your father?”

  She thought she had seen every kind of backstabbing in her previous life, but this was a new kind of betrayal. This betrayal stemmed from a deep-seeded hatred.

  “He is not my father.”

  Detective Daniels practically spit the words at her and she cringed from the bitterness they contained.

  “Now, you are going to look into the camera and say what was on the script. Word for word. This is your only chance of getting out of here alive, so be convincing.”

  Sydney swallowed hard as the light on the camera turned red. It wasn’t so much that she was adversely against reading the script, but she was afraid of what would happen to her after she read it. Once it was finished, he would have no more use for her. But she had no choice, so she leveled her gaze at the blinking red light and began to speak in a strong voice.

  “Hello. My name is Sydney Ross, daughter of Illinois senator Randall Ross. I am sending you this videotape as a public service announcement of my own because I need you to know something about the official that you continue to elect to office. It is important that you know this information before the upcoming elections.

  “My father, whose slogan has always been Family Values First, has been lying to you and to the entire world. He has been hiding his sexual orientation as a homosexual for years… and his partner is none other than Ohio senator Paul Hayes.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Stephen anxiously paced through the house, his nerves frayed and willing his phone to ring. Ever since Sydney was taken, he had spoken with the detective several times daily. In fact, he had spoken with him so much that he now called him Harrison.

  His first impression of the detective couldn’t have been more off base. Throughout the entire hellish last week, while he waited to find out anything about Sydney’s whereabouts, Harrison had been nothing but gracious and patient.

  Stephen had to admit that he had practically hounded the poor guy, begging for any new tidbit or a lead of some sort. But Harrison had kindly answered the phone every time, attempting to calm Stephen’s anxiety with the experience that he had developed over the years in similar situations.

  Kidnappings, that is. But even Harrison had to admit that this situation was unique due to the important players involved. Which was why he had instituted the gag order for everyone involved. It was not going to be leaked to the press for any reason.

  Something about that seemed wrong to Stephen. He wanted the whole world to know so that the whole world could be looking for her. But on the same token, he knew that if they tipped their hand to Randall Ross, the whole game could be over.

  He seethed just thinking about Senator Ross. In fact, when one of the senator’s campaign commercials had aired earlier that morning, he had thrown his glass at the television. Family Values First. What bullshit! If only he had listened to Sydney, really listened, when she tried to tell him.

  A soft knock at the front door startled him from his reverie and he quickly strode across the room to answer it. Detective Delores Wills stood in front of him, her face tired.

  “Stephen? How are you doing?”

  Her tone indicated that she was sincere. He imagined how he must look to her… he hadn’t showered in a couple of days, his eyes must be blood shot from lack of sleep and he was jittery from too much caffeine. He probably looked like a strung-out druggie.

  “Oh, not that great, I guess. I mean, if you want the honest answer.” He swung the door wide and she entered, standing next to him rather than walking any further inside.

  “I do. Stephen, you should get some sleep. If anything comes up, we’ll call you. First thing. You have my word.” Her tone was almost warm.

  “I wish I could sleep, detective. I haven’t been able to. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face and it reminds me that she isn’t here. Do you think she’s still alive?”

  He swallowed hard as he stared at Detective Wills forcefully. He really needed her honest opinion right now.

  She studied him for a moment before answering. “I don’t know. We haven’t gotten a ransom demand yet, which seems to further point towards Sydney’s father. Detective Daniels is working on attaining a court order from a judge to search the Senator’s home.”

  “He wouldn’t be stupid enough to keep Sydney in his house!” Stephen was exasperated. Were
the police really so dumb?

  “No, he probably wouldn’t. But there could be clues in his house that might implicate him further.”

  Stephen relaxed again. He should have known that- at the very least from all of the crime scene television shows that he watched. His sleepless state was really messing with his cognition.

  “I’m sorry, detective. I’m being rude. You came here for something. Can I help you?”

  “Actually, I was just stopping by to check on you and to see if you had heard anything. Anything at all.” She looked at him. “Because if the perpetrator contacts you, you need to let us know even if he says not to.”

  “I haven’t heard a thing, detective.”

  His shoulders slumped as he realized that she really didn’t have any news for him. He had been hopeful when he opened the door. “But you have my word that if I hear anything, you will know about it.” Detective Wills nodded before she stepped back out the door, turning in the doorframe.

  “Stephen, really… get some sleep. You look terrible. There’s nothing you can do for her in this capacity. We’ll call you the minute we know anything. And here—take my card. It has my cell number on it in case you can’t get a hold of Detective Daniels for some reason. Just in case you hear something.”

  She pressed her card into his hand and turned again, walking briskly down the sidewalk to her car, not looking back.

  Stephen closed the door and leaned his head against it. She was probably right. He should get some sleep. He couldn’t even think straight anymore. He felt like he was losing his mind. He slumped dejectedly into the bedroom, where he dropped onto the bed fully clothed. He laid his cell phone on the pillow beside him and closed his eyes.

  * * *

  It had been several days since Sydney had made the tape for Detective Daniels. After the taping was over, he had surprised her by yanking her back to the other bedroom and throwing her inside with Danny. She had expected that he would kill her, but he didn’t.

  They had heard him rustling around in the house, then they heard the tires crunching on gravel again as he left. Then they had stared at each other. He had really left them there alive.

  It was a surprising turn of events.

  Sydney had wasted no time trying to break the door down. She knew that if she could just kick hard enough, the padlocked hinge on the other side would break loose. But so far, it hadn’t. And she had been trying hard and often. Her poor feet had deep bruises to prove it.

  They were down to their last peanut butter sandwich, although they still had several bottles of water left. The stench of ammonia was almost unbearable in the room, like an overfilled stable or an overflowing sewer pipe. Sydney knew that if they ever got out of there alive, the smell would leave an indelible impression in her nose. She would never get it out.

  She edged up to the wall and knocked on it again, in an attempt to communicate with the other girl. So far, her attempts had been futile. The girl didn’t want to talk. Today, however, she surprised them.

  “What do you want?” Her voice was impatient, as though she had other things she needed to be doing.

  “I want to know about you. Why are you here?” Sydney’s voice was firm and slightly demanding. She couldn’t imagine why the girl didn’t want to communicate.

  “Does it matter? It doesn’t change anything.”

  The girl’s voice was pitifully hopeless and desolate. Sydney’s stomach sunk a notch lower just listening to it. Would that be her in a few months… a hollow shell of a person?

  “It matters to me. Do you have a name?”

  “Of course I do. It’s Deidre.”

  “I like your name, Deidre. Why are you here? Do you know?”

  “Of course I know. I know his secret.”

  Whose secret? Detective Daniels?” Sydney’s head snapped up in interest.

  “Heaven help me… yes. Harrison’s secret.” The girl started sobbing again, pitifully mewling.

  “Deidre… get a hold on yourself. What is his secret? And how do you know it?”

  The sobbing melted into sniffling.

  “I dated Harrison a couple of years ago. He got drunk one night and told me things- things that he didn’t really want to share. The next morning, when he sobered up, he completely changed. He was like another person. He told me that he didn’t want to have to do it, but that I was forcing him to because I tricked him into telling me things. And then he brought me here.”

  The crying started again. “But I didn’t trick him. I didn’t ask him to tell me anything!”

  Sydney let her cry for a few minutes longer before she interrupted her again.

  “So, he’s held you here for the past couple of years? Hasn’t anyone filed a missing persons report?”

  “I don’t have any family. I was an only child and my parents are dead.”

  The perfect scenario for a crooked cop wanting to hold her captive. Sydney shuddered and chills ran down her spine.

  “I’m so sorry, Deidre. But I do have family. And they’re going to know that I’m gone and they’ll try to find me.”

  She hoped. She knew Stephen would, but she couldn’t speak for her parents. Not after that video tape was released to news stations as per Harrison Daniels’ plan. They would think it was her just desserts.

  “Deidre, what is Harrison’s secret?”

  “His step-dad molested him for years. Ever since his mom married the guy- back when he was six.” Horror slammed into Sydney’s chest like a cement truck.

  “And his mom never did anything to stop it even though she knew. She just looked the other way. He’s so fucked up now that he doesn’t know if he is coming or going. But he hides it really well. I never even knew it until that one night. He said it makes him do bad things. And he does. He does really bad things.”

  Deidre’s voice wavered and then she collapsed into sobbing again. This time, Sydney let her be. She didn’t try to get any more information from her. The girl had clearly been through enough.

  No wonder the detective hated women. His own mother had knowingly left him at the mercy of a pedophile. And his step-father had preyed upon an innocent, vulnerable boy to get his rocks off. Her skin crawled at the thought and she felt like she was going to throw up. And she had thought that her life had been bad. This made her life look like the Andy Griffith show.

  She felt a piercing sadness for the child that Harrison Daniels’ had been. At some point, he had been a vulnerable little boy just like Danny. And years of being exposed to a monster had turned him into one. She tried to force all traces of pity from her heart because it wasn’t going to help her. She couldn’t change his past but she could try and change her own future.

  She got to her feet again and started kicking at the door with all of the strength in her slight body. The door jarred with each blow as her foot connected with the old, dry wood, but it held firm. She doggedly continued kicking it with her aching feet. She grew increasingly frustrated until she slid down the wall and slumped to the floor. Who was she kidding? Had she really thought she could kick down a padlocked door?

  As she sat with her elbows on her knees, staring dejectedly at the floor between her legs, a montage of images flooded her mind. Stephen’s face as he kissed her for the first time, Stephen’s eyes as they crinkled while he laughed. Stephen holding her hand for days at a time in the hospital.

  His image morphed into the cruel form of Harrison Daniels. The detective smirked at her, taunted her, mocked her… until she felt a sudden rage fill her up and overtake her completely. She was not going to let that monster kill her. It wasn’t going to happen. He had no right.

  She wiped the frustrated wetness from her eyes and jumped up with renewed energy. The door took the brunt of her agitation as she leveled her best rendition of a round house kick at it.

  It felt so good that she did it again. And again. The only other time she had used kicks like this was with her personal trainer, but they felt much more effective now as the sole of her foot con
nected solidly with the door.

  When her thigh got tired, she switched to her other leg and then to front kicks… beating the crap out of the door tirelessly as her rage consumed her and fueled her with adrenaline.

  To her surprise, the hinge gave a little as though one of the screws had come out. The door opened by a half inch. It only increased her aggression and she kicked all the harder, giving it everything she had left- every possible ounce of strength.

  With every kick, the metal hinge creaked and rattled, giving her hope and pushing her on. With her final kick, the door gave way with a groan. It flew open and she heard the metal hinge drop to the ground.

  She stared at it in shock for a second and then realized that Danny was staring at her with an expression of awe. She was sure that she must look unbelievable- as small as she was, kicking down a locked door barefoot.

  She guessed what she had always heard was true. A person really could pick up a car if they were scared or desperate enough. She had just kicked down a door. That was pretty bad ass stuff. She hoped that she lived to brag about it.

  “Come on, Danny!”

  She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him with her as she rushed through the door. She stopped at the room next to theirs and examined the padlock. There was no way that she could kick it down from this side.

  “Deidre? This is Sydney. I’m out here… I kicked down our door. You can do the same thing!”

  “I can’t, Sydney! I’m not strong enough!” Deidre started beating on the door with her fists, but the door didn’t budge.

  “Deidre, use your feet. Kick it!”

  Sydney pushed Danny behind her as Diedre began kicking at the door. The door thudded with each impact, but stayed intact.

  “I don’t have any shoes. I can’t kick hard enough! I haven’t eaten in weeks. Go without me and bring back help. He could come back any minute- go!!”

  “Deidre, I really don’t want to leave here without you. With us gone, he could move you…”

  Deidre interrupted her. “Just go! There’s nothing else to do. But please, please Sydney. Please, bring back help! You don’t know the things he does to me…”