Scent of Gardenia (Scott Tucker Series)

by Dick Waters

  *.*.*

  Holly didn’t want to think about what happened, what was happening, and what would happen next. She had to think of a way to overpower this crazy person. She replayed Margaret’s routine. There was nothing that helped her think about a way to overpower her. Maybe if she played along with her, she might undo some of her chains. Wait, that’s it.

  If Margaret takes her outside again she would have an opportunity to overpower her when she’s undoing her existing chains and putting on the handcuffs. She pictured the steps Margaret used to make the switch. There was one point where only one of her wrists was restrained to the wall cuff, with the other placed in the handcuff. If she could wrap her arm around Margaret, maybe she could choke her and get the key. It was worth a shot, what would the penalty be? It was probably nothing more than she was going to dish out eventually anyway.

  It had to be the middle of the night, as she was getting very sleepy. She felt exhausted, which really surprised her. However, without much food, combined with the stress of this situation and not knowing what to expect next, she could understand why it was hard to keep her eyes open. It was like a bad nightmare, but only in reverse…she wasn’t waking up.

  The noise from next door seemed so far in the distance. She could still hear Margaret’s and Scott’s voices but it was like background noise. Her eyes were closing, and she kept fighting to stay awake.

  *.*.*

  She woke from the nightmare. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, but judging from how wet she was and how cold, she must have been out for hours. The dream seemed so real and she tried to remember if it was Margaret, or somebody else, who was doing these things to her.

  She faintly remembered some of the attacks, looked down across her body and saw red welts, which hadn’t been there earlier. Was it a dream, or did these things actually happen to her. She strained her memory to recall the details, but everything was so disjointed. Her mouth was very dry. She needed something to drink. Her lips were sticking together, and so dry and even wetting them didn’t help. There was a bad taste in her mouth…was I drugged with something? She closed her eyes again, searching her memory for the facts.

  She did a mental check of her other body parts to see if there was any pain, or any changes she could detect. It was like she didn’t have the right senses to evaluate things. She started to panic. What the hell really happened to me? She strained to see if there was any blood, but she didn’t see any. Her wet body made the cool air feel even colder. Then she tried to hear any noise from the other cells.

  There wasn’t any. She was afraid to call out to Jules or anyone else. She could feel her lips starting to tremble, and she couldn’t stop them. Holly, you have to maintain your strength if you’re going to overpower Margaret. Her eyes kept closing. It was a struggle to keep her lids open.

  Chapter 75

  Mike got some sleep, but not enough. He decided to lay there and think.

  Obviously, Scott was now in the hands of that woman. Would they be successful and save him again? What about the others? Three of the people kidnapped, he knew personally. Jules was capable. He knew Jules well enough to know if he saw any opportunity to overpower her, he would do it. He thought about Holly being one of the captives. Unfortunately her presence complicated and limited the men’s actions. Margaret could just threaten to harm Holly to get the others to do whatever she wanted. Today, we are going to change the roles.

  *.*.*

  It was still early when Mike woke up again, but the others could now be contacted. He dialed Mercedes’ room. She answered right away. “Hello.”

  “Mercedes, its Mike. You sound like you’ve been awake for hours.”

  “I couldn’t sleep…I know I should have, but knowing Scott is with that woman…well…I just couldn’t get my mind out of gear. You must be up. I’ll call Ralph and see if he wants to meet for breakfast.”

  “Okay, I’m headed over to your hotel. I’ll meet you in the dining room in a half an hour.”

  “See you then. Goodbye.” Mercedes hung up.

  Mike went over to give the couch a kick where Sam was sleeping. “Come on sleeping beauty, we need to get the show on the road.” Sam didn’t move. “How about a nice hot breakfast?”

  Sam sat up in bed, looking at his watch. “Isn’t six a little early? I feel like I just put my head down.” He started to stretch.

  “Let’s go Sam; we’re supposed to meet Mercedes and Ralph in less than a half hour in their hotel dining room.” Mike went into the bathroom to do a quick clean-up.

  *.*.*

  Mercedes went into the restaurant downstairs. Ralph said he would be down shortly. She ordered a pot of coffee, pouring herself a cup. It tasted good. She saw Ralph approaching. They were the only ones in the dining room, which fortunately opened at six.

  “Good morning Mercedes,” Ralph said, with a large yawn as he took a seat.

  “Good morning Ralph. I might say you don’t look well this morning.”

  “Thanks for the compliment.” He poured himself a cup. “Well I look better than you did the other night.”

  “Now that you brought that up and we’re alone—“

  “Like we were that night,” Ralph interrupted her.

  “Yes, like we were. I need to ask you something about the other night.” Mercedes put her cup down, waiting for him to pay attention to her. “How did I get undressed?”

  Ralph lit up like a light went on, but just smiled at her, hiding behind his coffee cup.

  “Ralph, I need to know. Did you take my clothes off and put me to bed?” Mercedes asked, feeling her face turning red.

  His grin widened, but he still didn’t answer. Finally, he said, “Yeah. It was tough duty, but someone had to do it.”

  She studied him. “That was much too easy…I don’t believe you.”

  “Well, what do you remember about that night?” he asked.

  “I remember having too much to drink and getting sick in the bathroom. Everything was spinning including the toilet bowl.”

  He laughed and she kicked him in the shins. He looked serious and offered, “Well when you came out you headed into the bedroom and we both got undressed.”

  “No…no. That wouldn’t have happened again,” she said, drilling into his eyes. “You’re lying to me. Please Ralph, I need to know. Did you take my clothes off and go to bed with me?”

  He nodded.

  She leaned across the table and made sure no one was coming. “If you want to be my friend, you have got to tell me the truth. Please Ralph.” She bowed her head and sat back. A few seconds later she leaned across the table again. “Ralph, this is important to me. I woke up naked, with my dress thrown on the chair. My underwear was on the floor. What did I do, and what was your involvement?” She leaned back in her chair, feeling like she was going to cry.

  He shook his head. “Okay. You came out of the bathroom and went into the bedroom and started to remove your clothes. Honestly, I was watching, and you got pissed at me. You threw your dress towards the chair, and then started to unhook your bra. At that point you pushed me out of the bedroom. I wanted to sleep with you, but under the circumstances I left.”

  She felt relieved but uncertain he was telling the truth. “Ralph, is that the honest to God’s truth? You didn’t take my clothes off, or see me naked?”

  “Well, I’ve seen you naked.”

  “I’m not talking about that previous mistake. Are you telling me the truth about the other night in my room?”

  His smile went away. “I wanted more than anything to sleep with you the other night, but I couldn’t take advantage of you…you were really snookered. I didn’t think you would remember anything about the night, but I knew you would be bullshit with me in the morning. I know you think I’m a jerk, but I do have some scruples.”

  Mercedes got up, went over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Ralph, I have more respect for you now. Thank you for being honest…and a gentleman that night.”

 
; “Mercedes, I had a great time dining, drinking and dancing with you that night. I didn’t want to negatively impact being able to enjoy your company again.”

  “Thanks Ralph. That is a big load off my mind.” She smiled at him, refilling her coffee cup. Scott, I may have had too much to drink, but I didn’t do anything I would be ashamed about. Now we have to rescue you. She felt the weight lifted off her shoulders.

  *.*.*

  Mike spotted Mercedes and Ralph sitting alone in the dining room. He headed over to them with Sam trailing along behind. “Good morning, everyone,” Mike said. Sam echoed the same thing.

  In concert, Mercedes and Ralph replied, “Good morning.”

  Mike sat down, pouring himself a cup and tried to pour Sam a cup, but Sam shook his head. The waiter, dressed nicely in a white jacket over black trousers, came over and took their orders. Sam ordered a cup of tea and a bagel with cream cheese.

  “Okay, so what’s the plan for today?” Mike asked, looking at Mercedes and then at Ralph.

  Ralph replied, “Just after nine, we’re going to go to Margaret’s home and rescue them. We’ll make sure her truck is gone.”

  Mike asked, “And what if she hasn’t left?”

  “Why would she be there? You booked an excursion for three people…do you think she would pass up that booking?” Ralph said, waving his arms. He looked out the large windows at the overcast day. Normally the sun would be shining, but it actually looked like it was going to rain.

  Mike studied him, and then looked over at Mercedes. “This woman was smart enough to keep men for many months without being detected. I don’t want to underestimate her capabilities. I think we should make sure she’s at her dive shop before we head to her house.” He let that thought sink in. “If we do that and she’s not at the dive shop…what do we do?”

  Mercedes intervened, “That’s a good point Mike. Let’s go to the dive shop first and make sure she’s there, and then go to her house. If she’s not at the dive shop, I don’t think we should risk going to her house. She might just be running late.”

  Their breakfast arrived, which gave them some time to think more about this. When the waiter left, Sam asked, “I’m not one for calling the police, but do you think that might be the right next move?”

  Mercedes put her hand on Sam’s shoulder, holding answering his question, and asked, “Ralph, did you hear anything from Max Gordon?”

  “Yes, there was a message for me at the desk that he was still in the Bahamas, Freeport to be specific, participating in the questioning of the man found with one of the missing yachts.”

  “Well, that leaves the decisions up to us. I’m not in favor of contacting the police at this point. I think we can successfully get the hostages out…my fear with involving the island authorities is they might not be as sensitive to the hostages as we are. We’re out on this limb now, let’s play it out and see what it brings. If Margaret is at the dive shop when we check that out…I think we need to go through with a dive, or she will suspect something. Our not showing up might spook her; causing her to do something drastic, and I don’t think we can take the chance,” Mercedes offered.

  Mike and the others ate their breakfasts and considered their next action.

  *.*.*

  They were headed to the dive shop with Sam at the wheel of the cab. Their plan was to observe the activity at the shop before pulling into the shop’s parking area. Ralph brought a pair of binoculars.

  Sam found a small grove nearby and pulled off the road. Ralph was quickly out of the cab and focused his binoculars on the shop. He reported what he was observing, “The pickup is not in the parking area, but there’s a motorbike parked in the lot. A man is on the boat and looks like he’s getting some equipment ready, but I can’t really see what exactly he’s doing. I can’t see any woman on the property. She could be inside, but I doubt that.” Ralph lowered the binoculars and offered them to Mercedes.

  She took them and studied the area without saying anything. A few minutes later she offered, “You’re right Ralph, there’s no sign of a woman and there’s a man on the boat moving some heavy items.” She walked away from the edge of the woods with the others following her. When they were next to the cab she handed the binoculars back to Ralph. “Well, Mike was right…she’s not here. I think we should wait a few more minutes to see if she arrives, and then go through with our dive plans.”

  Mike offered, “I haven’t skin dived since I was here years ago. However, I can ask for a refresher. What about you and Ralph?”

  Mercedes answered, “I had equipment on once when I was a teenager with my grandfather, but I’m not sure if I could fake it.”

  Ralph smiled. “I guess you both will have to follow my lead. We’ll just tell him you haven’t done it for years.”

  Sam shook his head. “Why don’t you folks just say you’ve changed your minds…pay something and leave? It’s not like it’s the best of days for diving.”

  Chapter 76

  Sam drove them next door and Mike got out. He headed down to the dock where the boat was tied up.

  He approached the man on the boat. “Excuse me, I’m Mike Miller. I booked an excursion for today.”

  The man came over, offering his hand and displaying a big smile. “Yes, Mr. Miller how do you do. Where’s the rest of your party?” he asked.

  “Well, I’m sorry but I would like to cancel our excursion. Maybe I can reschedule for another day.”

  The man’s smile was replaced with a scowl. “This is highly irregular.” He turned to move something in the back of the boat.

  Mike reached for his wallet. “I’ll pay you for the boat and equipment, which Rusty indicated was a hundred and twenty five dollars. I’ll even throw in another twenty-five for the inconvenience.”

  The man came over, looked back at the parking area and then at Mike. He took the money from him. “Would you mind calling Rusty from the phone here and explain this to her, as I’m just doing her a favor today to take you folks out.”

  Mike thought quickly, responding, “I thought she was going to take us out today?”

  “Well, would you reconsider if she was going to do that?”

  “It’s a very cloudy day, why don’t we just reschedule.”

  The man jumped over the side of the boat, heading to the small dive shop. Mike followed him, but wondered what he was going to tell Margaret.

  *.*.*

  The man had never introduced himself to Mike and told him to wait outside while he tried to reach Rusty. Ralph joined him while he was waiting outside.

  Ralph asked, “I thought there might be a problem…what’s going on?”

  “I paid him a hundred and fifty for the boat and the inconvenience, but he wants me to talk to Rusty about our canceling this trip. Any suggestions?”

  “Why don’t you try to reschedule for tomorrow. I heard the weather is supposed to be nicer. That will give us a chance to plan what we’re going to do.”

  The man came to the door, waving Mike to come inside. He went up the stairs and into the dive shop.

  “I finally got Rusty on the phone and she wants to talk with you. Rusty here’s Mr. Miller.” He handed the phone to Mike.

  “Hi Rusty. I’m sorry for the change in plans. Tomorrow is supposed to be a much nicer day, can we reschedule for tomorrow?”

  There wasn’t an immediate response to his question. “Well tomorrow is Sunday. I’m not usually working that day. However, if you still want to go out I can do it, but it will cost you another one-hundred and fifty dollars. What you paid the man he’s going to keep for his inconvenience. What time tomorrow?”

  “How about the same time. Are you going to be diving with us?” Mike asked, hopefully trying to get a commitment from her.

  She finally laughed. “That will cost you an additional hundred. Do you still want to go through with the dive? That’s going to round off to five-hundred dollars for three people.”

  He saw his opportunity. “From what I hear that�
�s not much to pay when you’re diving with us. A friend told us there’s a lot to see on the dive, and afterwards.”

  “Oh, did those friends happen to dive a few days ago?”

  “Yes, and they were extremely satisfied.”

  She laughed, what seemed like an honest laugh this time. “Well Mr. Miller, I’m looking forward to seeing both you and your guests, and thank you for asking for my presence…I’m sure the dive will be most rewarding and memorable. Can I talk with my associate please? Have a nice day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Mike handed the phone to the man and went outside. “Ralph, I think we’re on for tomorrow.”

  *.*.*

  They told Sam to head away from the dive shop, and didn’t care where. They had to review, if not, revise their plans.

  “I think I’ve locked Margaret into taking us diving tomorrow. So, if we assume she shows up we can crash her place to rescue her captives. I was honestly surprised she wasn’t there this morning. I could have sworn she said she was going to dive with us. She quoted me five-hundred dollars for tomorrow’s dive, with her accompanying us. She’s pretty expensive.”

  Sam pulled into a scenic lookout, and they all got out.

  Mercedes asked, “Do you think she suspects something’s not right?”

  “I thought I got those vibes when I talked to her. However, when I asked if she was going to dive with us, she seemed to lighten up. I mentioned friends had told me about how memorable it was diving and afterward…and she seemed to come alive. I just let her take things from that point on. If she’s onto us, she’s a very good actress,” Mike said.

  Ralph put his foot up on the bumper of the cab. “Okay, let’s map out our plans for tomorrow, and let’s have some alternative plans. Any suggestions to what we planned for today? And Mike, you were right to check out the dive shop first…that was a real surprise she wasn’t there.”