“What do you want to know?” the woman quavered, the fear in her voice was real.
“Why have you two been following me?” Alice began, was the woman really so stupid that she would play games, make Alice wait for her answers? Her patience was beginning to wear thin. The woman had already inconvenienced her and she didn’t like the way this might turn out. It might become…messy. Alice didn’t like … messy. She wasn’t dressed for…messy.
“We weren’t,” the woman began but Alice made a gesture with the knife that had her squeak loudly.
“Shhh, talk normally or I will make sure you don’t talk again,” Alice told her in a gentle misleading voice.
“I I am a private investigator,” she began and Alice snorted at that. The woman amended, “Or rather, I’m studying to be one. This was an opportunity to work for real money for a change.” Alice examined her as she continued in her southern drawl. “He said it would be easy, I exchange your bag for mine, he handed it to me at the last minute.”
The plane ride here, if they had gotten that bag, Alice would have been very angry at the loss of the money, but really angry over someone getting the best of her. Fortunately that scenario hadn’t happened, just the casual way she looped the strap around her ankle had been enough to alert her to their attempted theft. “Why?” Alice asked deceptively. If she didn’t let her anger show, she would probably get a lot more from the woman. She was beginning to make plans of what to do with her, they weren’t pleasant but if the two of them were staying here together, she might not have a lot of time, although…he had gone for that drink.
“I don’t know,” at Alice’s look she shook with fright, “I really don’t, he asked me to come along and watch you, that’s all. He said there might be a lot of money in it for me. He paid me for switching the bag even though I didn’t do that and he said I owed him.”
“What’s his name?”
“I don’t know,” as Alice looked at her again; her eyes narrowing the woman repeated, “I don’t know, he told me to call him Richard, that’s all I know, really!” Her voice took on an increasingly frightened tone as her body shook with the shock it was going into.
“Did he tell you why he was following me, why he needed my bag?” Alice asked skeptically. The woman was proving stupid for a supposed private investigator wanna-be.
“He said you were part of an ongoing case. That the bag contained documents that would help prove it but he couldn’t get a warrant since you were crossing state lines.”
She really was naive, and she must have been perfect to set up for this scheme. Alice was almost ashamed that this ‘woman’ was a member of the fairer sex. Sighing deeply she shook her head. “What was going to happen if you found the documents or did he want to capture me?”
“We weren’t going to capture you, there is no way to extradite you from the Cayman’s he said,” well at least that was true, thought Alice, but then the man must intersperse his lies with enough truth that this gullible woman had fallen for it. “And the documents were gone when he searched…” she tried to stop her wayward tongue but Alice looked at her sardonically, almost bored in the heavy lidded look.
“So he searched my room but didn’t find the documents?”
The woman shook her head. Alice could read her though, she was thinking, perhaps she could get away, draw attention to them, force Alice to do something, “Don’t even think of it,” she stopped the woman before she could try anything. “I could slash your neck before your scream was really formed, or better yet, I could tell everyone we were having wild sex and you got a little carried away, after all, do you realize how you look? I’m fully dressed; who do you think they would believe? Imagine the gossip of all the staff that would carry back to the mainland.” Alice was certain that what happened in the Cayman’s, stayed in the Cayman’s but the woman obviously didn’t know that as her eyes bugged even farther out of her head at the thoughts that Alice had planted in her head. Alice waited a few seconds, adjusting her gloves absentmindedly as she let that little tidbit sink in.
“He said he would get you when you returned to L.A. though,” the woman offered.
“Get me how?” Alice was suddenly alert.
“I don’t know, he doesn’t tell me much,” she said shame faced.
Alice couldn’t imagine why, the woman was proving a font of information, she didn’t hold up well to torture, and Alice hadn’t really done anything…yet. “So is that it?”
The woman nodded eagerly and Alice didn’t believe her. She might be uninformed, she might even be stupid, but she knew more or this man Richard would never have hired her. Maybe she was a front for something, but what?
“I think you’re holding out on me,” Alice said as she began playing with the knife in the light, making sure it flickered off the few lights that were left.
“I swear I don’t, I swear,” the woman blabbered but Alice leaned over and put the tie across her mouth again, effectively gagging her. She pulled against the ties on her wrists and ankles, trying to loosen them, only making them tighter. The ones that were wires began to dig into her skin and Alice looked on, seeing that circulation was being cut off and breaking the skin in some instances, she would either end up bleeding from these or effectively make a tourniquet of her bindings.
“Stop or you’re going to hurt yourself worse than what I have planned for you,” Alice told her.
The tone and the words penetrated her feverish mind. From the little Richard had told her she didn’t know what this woman was capable of. All she knew is that whatever had been in the briefcase had been worth a lot of money. ‘Planned for her?’ This scared her even more, her chest felt tight. She had never felt more vulnerable in her life.
Alice took a sheet from the bed and cut it into strips before the terrified woman, each flash of the knife making her wonder what horrible things awaited her. Alice knew the psychological torture alone would cause this woman to blab. She untied one foot and places the strips around her ankle, effectively padding the area where the wire was cutting off the circulation. Retying the slip knot, making sure it would hold, she made it so it wouldn’t loosen despite the woman’s struggles and thrashing. The padding would ensure somewhat less pain, but it would also catch any blood that the woman caused herself. She did the same to her other ankle, the woman tried to kick her but her ankle was held tightly and Alice quickly had the padding under the tie. “There, that’s better, I’m not going to do the same for your wrists, if you continue to fight your bonds, you’re going to be very sore, very sorry, and who knows how long ‘Richard’ will be,” she said with a hint of derision. She knew she had struck home as she saw the woman calm down, Richard could either be her salvation or he could sit in the bar all night long, thinking Alice had gone to bed. “Do you have anything else you want to share with me?” Alice asked, she really had things to do and didn’t want to waste any more time on this.
The woman nodded eagerly and Alice slipped the gag from her mouth, as soon as it was free, the woman attempted to scream. Alice was prepared though and shoved the woman’s granny panties in her mouth and attached the gag again, tightening it so the woman could not spit out the soiled panties, she had made sure when she had padded the ankles to also cut these and the disgusting crotch. The woman’s eyes flared as she realized what was in her mouth and she was gagged as well, there was no way she could spit this soiled article of clothing out of her mouth. For the first time in her life she was tasting a woman, herself and she was horrified as Alice looked on amused.
Alice went to the bathroom and returned with a disposable razor and shaving cream. Wiping a generous amount on the V between the woman’s legs she warned her, “Careful, you wouldn’t want me to cut anything down here,” as she proceeded to sculpt and shave the edge of her bush. She returned to the bathroom and brought out a cuticle scissors and trimmed the woman’s unruly and long haired bush. When she was finished she smiled down and wiped away the excess hair and shaving cream with a towel and the
n admired her handiwork, trimming here and there with the cuticle scissors and razor where needed. Returning to the bathroom she returned with some aftershave lotion. The woman shook her head fearfully, knowing that this would sting horribly, and Alice poured little bits all over. It was beyond a stinging sensation. The alcohol in the aftershave sank into the pores of her bush and the tender skin between her folds, skin that had only ever felt soap and water, now screamed out in agony at the touch of alcohol. The woman screamed into her gag at the pain. Alice watched interestedly. She looked around and saw her purse and went to it. Taking out her smart phone she clicked several pictures, including a close up of the woman’s now heart shaped bush, the skin around it a fiery red from the irritation of the alcohol in the aftershave. She made sure to take several of the woman lying sprawled on the bed. Then she showed her pictures to her captive smiling evilly. “You see, I don’t like to be followed, I don’t like to be lied to.” The woman shook her head trying to say something. “No, no, you had your chance, now you have to suffer the consequences.”
Alice sent the pictures to her email address. “You see, I can use these pictures. If you tell anyone, if you breathe a word of this, you can bet I will have copies made and everyone you have ever known will see them. They will assume you are into bondage and other perverted things, imagine the scandal,” she said in a conversational tone.
The woman was shaking her head, trying to say something. Alice took pity on her and removed her gag. The underwear had become quite saturated from her spittle, she probably had been too afraid to swallow. Alice was grateful for the gloves she was wearing. “What are you going to do to me?” the woman asked in a frightened voice.
Alice looked down at her, was she really that stupid? “Why don’t you tell me something, something you’ve held back and that will decide your fate?”
“He has a gun, I’ve seen it,” she bobbed her head to look down on what Alice had done to her body and she thought about the pictures the woman had taken, she suddenly became angry and didn’t think as she added, “I hope he kills you!”
Alice had anticipated something like that, she shoved the underwear crotch back in the woman’s mouth, making sure the wet area that had been between her legs was now on her tongue and then she refastened the gag. “You know, that was stupid, that was real stupid. I know where you live,” she repeated the address in South Carolina verbatim and was pleased to see the woman’s eye’s bulge a little again, “And I can learn a lot about you, I’m sure they taught you that in,” here her voice changed to a derogatory tone, “Private investigator school.” Her voice became dangerously ominous as she continued, “NOW, you’ve just pissed me off, what I do to you now, is just a sample of what I will do if I ever see you again in this lifetime,” she got up off the bed and returned to the bathroom. She took a toothbrush holder, a travelling plastic case from the edge of the sink and returned with it. Unceremoniously she shoved it up the woman’s dry vagina. It must have hurt with the hard plastic, the ridges, and her dryness. The woman’s body reacted like she had been wounded. Next Alice looked around and spotted the radio. Going to it she unscrewed the long narrow rubber antennae and shoved this up the woman’s anus. Her body rose up at the invasion and the shocked look was back on the woman’s face. Alice took a couple more pictures and she could see the woman was beginning to look glazed, obviously she had never thought of things people would do to others.
She looked around the room; she went to the lamps and staged the lighting to look like the room was dim for a romantic interlude. Next she opened the patio doors to let in the cool ocean breeze which seemed to revive the naked woman a little. She watched as Alice took the radio and threw it hard at an angle against the building across the way, if the building itself didn’t shatter it, the fall to the pavement down below would, she did the same with the two cameras. She looked around the room and was satisfied that her work was done. She took her purse, looked down on her victim one last time, and left the room, taking the woman’s key card with her and bending the plastic back and forth until it broke she shoved it in the door slot, too low to pull out with fingers, only a needle nose pliers would capture it.
Next she returned to her room and efficiently packed her bag, grabbing her briefcase and her computer. She looked around the room and left it as neat as she had found it. As she hadn’t changed her clothes she looked ready for a night on the town. She wanted that look; it would work well to her plans advantage. She stripped off the gloves she had used in the room next to her and flushed them and walked out of her room as though she was just checking out, her bag rolling behind her, her briefcase on its strap over her shoulder. It was fairly late but a staff member was on duty and checked her out.
“Did you have a lovely stay Ms. Weaver?” he asked courteously.
She smiled brilliantly. “As always, thank you so much for the lovely accommodations,” she said as she signed her credit card slip. She was annoyed that she was paying for this night even though she wouldn’t be staying. Such a waste of money, but then she had been very inconvenienced this night. “Could you order me a taxi?” she asked in her ‘dumb blonde’ voice as she termed it, she knew men would fall over themselves to accommodate her in this voice, she knew from experience, and observation.
“Right away,” he made a signal to the doorman who nodded and went outside to signal a taxi or wave one down.
“I’ll be in the bar,” she said and he nodded.
Alice made sure that her ‘friend’ Richard saw her with her bags obviously packed and looking around the room for someone. He never realized she saw him almost immediately as he enjoyed a drink and nearly spewed it at her entrance. That she was leaving was all part of the game. She left as quickly as she had come in. The doorman was signaling to her and she watched out of the corner of her eye as Richard saw her get into a taxi.
“The Royal Caribbean please,” she told the driver. She knew it was across the island, she also knew that she wouldn’t be staying there. It was a quiet drive, she preferred it. It was late and the driver obviously took his cue from his passenger, she made no effort to talk as he maneuvered his way through the normally busy streets and across the island. Dropping her off, she tipped him and made her way towards the entrance as she watched him pull away. She stopped to adjust the strap on her sandal and saw him turn a corner. She walked across the street to another hotel and then down the street to even another where she saw a taxi stand around its corner. Checking carefully that it wasn’t the same driver she was pleased to see it was a woman and got in. “The Ramada please,” she told this driver.
“The one in Cayman Bay?” the woman asked in a delightful Jamaican accent as she put the taxi into gear and began to drive off.
Alice smiled at her. “Yes please, is there another?”
The woman laughed delightedly. “Ah no, you have me there, there isn’t is there?”
They had a delightful time discussing the various hotels and their amenities. As a taxi driver the woman knew a lot about the different places to stay. Alice contributed little, letting the woman talk and pretending to be a first time tourist. She gave the woman the minimum tip of fifteen percent so she wouldn’t really be memorable and went inside.
“Can I help you madam?” a cool English voice asked her as he looked over her polished dress, high heels, and the luggage she was toting.
She smiled. “Yes please, I’d like a room for the night if I could,” she sounded exasperated.
“Just for one night?” he asked as though that was unheard of.
She nodded as though she had just gotten off the turnip boat. She paid cash and used her false passport to check in. In no time at all she was in a lousy room, not nearly as nice as the one she had left but it allowed her to change her clothes, wash, and sleep. She was up early though, refreshed despite the few hours’ sleep. She changed into slacks with a leather belt and unique buckle, a nice blouse, and wore sensible traveling shoes, a minimum of makeup and her hair back in a ponytail.
She ate a barely palatable continental breakfast and was on the quay for her plane ride back to the States. It was a relief to find a different pilot this time. She was pleased that the family she shared the plane ride with had their children and two parents with them. It was crowded but it allowed her to play the bobble headed blonde on her first vacation to the Caymans. She let the kids tell her all about their trip and learned a lot more than she had planned to from them, or that their parents wanted touted about. It made her laugh.
They were met by an official who stamped their passports, he never questioned Alice’s fake one. She took a taxi to the main airport, declining to ride with her fellow airplane passengers, pointing out that there was less room in a taxi. She was delighted at the peace and quiet; it gave her time to think. This Richard by now was looking for her. She wondered what had happened at what they had found in the hotel room, she knew she would probably never know. If he didn’t know she was off the island she would have put him on a wild goose chase on the islands, she could be anywhere. If he knew of her reservations to Europe and the States it might delay him even further. She wasn’t counting on anything.
At the airport she saw there was a twenty minute delay to her airplane. Not unusual but she wasn’t feeling too patient today. Her thoughts were not kind but no one would be able to tell them from her expression. She had stopped in the bathroom and taken out the pony tail which gave her a youthful bobble headed look that she had used today, now she looked pretty, professional, and as she fluffed out her long blonde hair she knew she would attract the right kind of attention, or so she hoped. She checked her bag in and went through security. The alarm went off and she was prepared for that. She removed her shoes, her belt, and her jewelry. No alarm, but the delay had made her nervous for some reason.
As she put her shoes and then her belt back on she looked around using the corners of her eyes, looking closely at her fellow passengers but not seeing this mysterious ‘Richard’ and wondering if it were possible he was here ahead of her. If he had started last night he could conceivably be here already. The plane she had taken wasn’t the only way off the island, just one of the fastest. A lot depended on what they had found in the hotel room, the resulting scandal if the hotel had become involved, which she was certain they had with the broken key card in the lock, security at what they had found, etc. Who knew, maybe Richard had covered it up. She wondered if Bev would stay quiet, if her fears of exposure would keep her quiet, if she was still tied up?
Malice Masterpieces Page 8