Scent of Gardenia (Scott Tucker Series)

by Dick Waters

  “You’re right Sam; we shouldn’t put this on your shoulders. So, do we wait for her to leave and then all raid her house, leave one of us behind to raid the house with Sam, or what?” Mike asked. “Mercedes, I think given the unknowns at the house—I think you should go to the boat…now the only question is who goes to the boat with her?”

  Ralph immediately answered his question, “Mike, you need to go to the boat since you booked the dive. That leaves Sam and me to go to the house. Sam can drop me on the way, then drop you two at the boat, and then pick me up after he drops you off. I don’t think there’s another option.”

  “Ralph, I think you’re right. Now, what do we tell Margaret about the missing person?” Mercedes asked.

  Mike intervened, “Wait, Ralph you’re the only one that really knows how to dive. Why don’t you be me, she doesn’t know who I am, and if she does, she will react to it right away.”

  “Yeah you’re right, and if she reacts—she might do something to the people at the boat, then head straight to her house.” Ralph batted Mike’s comment back.

  “That’s it. Ralph, you and I will go to the boat, and Mike and Sam will focus on her house. We’ll have some time to finesse the ability to dive; possibly we can overpower Margaret during that time. If not, we’ll get a refresher, following what she does on the dive.” Mercedes summed it up.

  “I wish I had a gun.” Mike said.

  Chapter 80

  Something had upset her stomach. She told the others she needed to go to her room to rest. “Mercedes, why don’t you rest here, in case we need to discuss something further with you?” Ralph suggested. “Just go in the bedroom and close the door.”

  She decided that wasn’t a bad idea, leaving them in the other room. She leaned against the open patio door frame, trying to get some fresh air. It was dark outside now, and Hamilton and the harbor were already aglow. She was concerned about what might happen to Scott and what might be happening right now. If this was Melanie, she knew what she was capable of, having seen it first hand. She wished she could just raid the house and confront her…just the two of them. She had enough rage built up to overpower her.

  As she watched a sailboat moving under engine power heading out of the harbor, she remembered the times with her sister and her grandfather on his sailboat. She had wonderful times with him, but her sister always seemed aloof. Her grandfather was a Harvard alumnus, wanting both of them to follow in his footsteps. Her older sister Melanie had told him she had applied to Harvard—two days later, he died suddenly in his sleep. She had wondered if Melanie might have had a hand in his death.

  One of the reasons she had worked so hard to graduate with honors was to honor her grandfather. The thoughts of Scott being held prisoner, possibly being tortured or killed were too much for her. She felt tears running down her face. From the day she met Scott in the task force office, she knew there was something about him that produced an extraordinary curiosity. She wiped at the tears. She couldn’t help smiling, remembering how she tricked Scott into staying in the same cabin with her. That experience, although not entirely innocent on her part, showed the kind of person Scott was. He was faithful to Lisa; even though it was more than obvious he was attracted to her.

  Mercedes went over to the bed, stretching out on the covers. This was Ralph’s room. The last thing she wanted to do was to get under the covers. She closed her eyes, considering what tomorrow would bring. When Scott and the others were finally released, what would his first words be to her? Does he love me, and would he tell me? Will he even be able to love again after his ordeal? Could he even physically make love? If he can’t…is it that important? Would sitting by the fireplace holding each other be enough? Do I love the man, or his body? She rolled onto her side, punching the pillow repeatedly. She couldn’t hold back the flood of tears.

  *.*.*

  The wind was blowing her hair around her face. She watched the bow of the boat pitch up and down as it cut through the waves. The spray felt like someone was spraying a fine mist from a bottle. The up and down motion had a rhythm, as she anticipated each downward motion. It was hypnotizing. She closed her eyes but continued to move in concert with the boat, like a couple on their honeymoon.

  The boat suddenly hit a large wave. The chain clanked on the bow of the boat. She opened her eyes, realizing the anchor chain was wrapped and locked around both her legs. She heard a laugh, turning to see her sister behind the wheel of the boat. Melanie winked at her, pointing to the side of the boat. She turned in that direction, seeing Scott naked, a chain wrapped around his body, leading to another anchor on the bow. His chin was against his chest, and he appeared to be unconscious. There was also a rope around his waist tied to the boat antenna which was the only thing holding him from falling into the ocean.

  Melanie had them both and from the looks of it was planning on dumping them into the ocean. Mercedes looked down at the chains, noticing she had an old fashioned one-piece black bathing suit on. She tried to stand up, but she couldn’t get enough leverage to push herself up.

  The roar of the engines died down and the boat slowed down. The boat was bouncing with the waves but there was no forward motion that she could detect. Melanie came up the side of the boat and knelt down beside her. She pulled at the chains and made sure things were secure. She stood up and threw the contents of the first bucket into the water. The water was red now instead of turquoise blue. She dumped the other bucket into the water on Scott’s side. She couldn’t see the water, but imagined it was the same color.

  Melanie stood and watched. Within minutes the water next to the boat was alive with motion. Mercedes could see a fin circling in the water, and then another and then too many to count. Melanie pointed at them all and waved her hand vertically mimicking the fin cutting through the water.

  “Now sis, do you want to be first, or do you want to watch me dispose of Scott?”

  Mercedes tried to answer, but for some reason she couldn’t answer her. The boat bounced and Melanie was thrown against the front of the cabin, like a drunken sailor. She wished another wave would knock her into the water. Melanie was waiting for her to answer, studying her closely. Mercedes felt the tear running down her face.

  “You love him, don’t you?” Melanie asked.

  Again she couldn’t answer, but this time Mercedes nodded her head. Now, there was a flood of tears. Melanie continued studying her for several minutes without saying anything. She jumped as Melanie suddenly knelt down with an extended hand. Melanie wiped at her tears with her fingers. Mercedes watched as Melanie’s previous scowl was replaced with a concerned look. Melanie stopped talking, and then looked over to Scott. She slowly stood up, looked at both of them again, and then left.

  Minutes later Mercedes watched Scott come to, noticing his shocked reaction to his condition. He looked over to the bow and saw her with the anchor chain around her. He started pulling on his restraints, but to no avail. His head turned to look behind her. Melanie came around the side with a flare gun in her hand. She looked briefly at them and smiled, and then headed over to Scott.

  Oh my God she’s going to shoot Scott before she dumps him in the ocean. She fought to get free from the anchor chain. She stopped when she watched Melanie raise the gun. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. It was too late. There was nothing Mercedes could do to stop her.

  She didn’t want to watch but could see Melanie looking over with a smile. She heard her say, “I’m so sorry.” Then there was a loud noise, followed immediately with a flash and then a glow.

  She successfully yelled, “Oh God NO.” The image was fuzzy but she saw Melanie’s body fall into the water with her head on fire.

  She immediately sat up, hearing Ralph’s voice, “Mercedes are you okay.” She looked at the voice and then the room, realizing she had been having a nightmare.

  *.*.*

  “Mercedes you scared us. We were in the other room and heard you scream. Are you okay?” Ralph asked.

  She w
as uncomfortable and soaking wet. Mercedes realized now that it was just a dream, but it was so real. Well except for the part with Melanie shooting herself in the head. “I’m sorry Ralph; with all of this excitement I just had a bad dream.”

  “That’s an understatement for sure. It’s a wonder someone in one of the other rooms hasn’t called the police. What the hell were you dreaming about?”

  She sat up, moving to the side of the bed. She was uncomfortable on Ralph’s bed, with Ralph this close. “It was about the woman holding these men hostage…well…she was planning to kill me and one of the other kidnap victims.” She thought about whether Melanie’s ‘other’ hadn’t popped to the surface at the right time. “Thanks Ralph, I’ll be okay now.”

  Chapter 81

  I had enough length of chain to reach the crackers next to the bed along with the soup and glass of water. The water tasted like it was leftover bath water, the soup like it was just broth, but the crackers were a life-saver. I didn’t feel alone; as I was sure everyone was living on the same thing. If one of the men lived for a year and a half, it was a diet I could live with. However, the cracker crumbs made the bed, if you could call it that, slightly more uncomfortable.

  It was strange that Margaret had left my watch on, but it did give me an idea of hours and time of day. I was aware only twenty-four hours had passed since I was brought here. However, it seemed so much longer. We figured that Margaret would be listening to us, so we rarely spoke. I can still remember the pain she dished out for having spoken previously. I heard the clank of a cell door, listening intently for any sign of her presence.

  I could hear a woman’s soft voice, but couldn’t make out what she was saying. I suspected it was Margaret in Nils’ cell. There were still sounds coming from Nils’ cell an hour later. Then things got very quiet. I wondered what could be happening now. A minute later, I heard the rattling of chains and saw Nils headed for the can. I watched for him to pass headed in the opposite direction, but looked to the left side of my cell door, noticing Margaret standing there with a washcloth in her hand.

  Nils passed by, but never looked in. That was because she was watching him pass the other cells. Shortly, the chains rattled again, followed by other now familiar sounds. I heard a splash and wondered if that was the sound of the washcloth being returned to a basin. I could almost feel what was coming next.

  *.*.*

  Margaret spent the last two hours wondering what my body could and couldn’t do. I questioned several times during the time why I couldn’t control myself more. She was much too experienced with what worked for her, and what didn’t. In just about a day I was starting not to care about anything any longer. It wasn’t worth resisting, as she eventually got what she wanted. I was unfortunately learning this lesson the hard way, and she was benefiting from my stubborn behavior.

  She soon became exhausted with Nils’ and me, taking time to recharge her batteries. She was lying beside me. “Scott, do you love my sister?”

  It was an easy question to answer, but I didn’t. She liked dishing out additional pain for not answering. “Scott, for Christ’s sake, why are you being so stupid? You know I will get an answer…sooner or later. Now, do you love my sister?”

  “Yes.”

  She didn’t immediately react or ask another question. “She’s very lucky indeed. So am I. I knew you couldn’t stay away from me.”

  I was still recovering from not answering her.

  “Scott, do you love me?”

  “No.” I didn’t hesitate, and she didn’t either. It took my breath away.

  “Scott, if you’re going to stay alive…well…let me put it this way…your best chance is to change that perspective. Every man that indicated he didn’t love me—has been disposed of. Now, you’re Harvard educated, so I wouldn’t expect you to take too long to learn your lessons. However, the longer it takes for you to tell me you ‘love me’ the longer the painful lessons will continue. One further note, they all said they loved me eventually. However, at some point they told me they had lied to me. That’s the point of no return.”

  “Now Scott, I am going to do you a favor. I’m going to let you do some thinking about the pros and cons of not developing our mutual love. You know I will get my way…why resist it. You have no idea yet of the pain I can dish out. The alternative to pain could be so mutually rewarding.”

  She climbed off the bed, stood waiting for a response. My mind was still thinking about the kinds of pain she was planning. I was weighing the risks of my future actions.

  “Now, just to add a little more focus for you on your decision…I’m going to visit with Holly now.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Her pain is going to be directly related to your reluctance to love me. You know you love me. That is why you couldn’t stay away from me.” She reached for the scissors, making a motion to stab my groin, but stopped short of her target. She smiled, and then laughed at my reaction.

  “This will give you something more to concern yourself with—tomorrow it might not be just Holly you’ll have to concern yourself with.” She let those words sink in. “I understand Mercedes is in town and she’s getting very close—too close actually. She tried to save you once, and she almost succeeded, but I’ll be one step ahead of her this time.”

  She threw the scissors on the table, looking like she was changing her mind about going next door. I was considering how far the scissors were and whether I could reach them.

  She saw my eyes looking over at the scissors. She took a step back to the side of my bed. “Scott, you make being with you so much fun. Would you like them a little closer?” She didn’t move them closer, but she picked them up.

  I had two experiences with the scissors already and wondered; what the hell am I in store for this time.

  Chapter 82

  Holly was trying to understand what had been happening for the last few hours. By now she had a pretty good idea. She reached for some crackers, which were on the bedside table. They were the only things that were worth eating. She had been practicing how to bring her hands together. She could do it if her hands were in front of her face, but not with her arms extended. Her best chance of overpowering Margaret was when she was allowed to go to the pot. She knew it would be risky, but not doing something soon might mean someone else might be killed.

  She and Jules whispered to each other when they thought it was safe. They shared their feelings for each other. It was difficult for her to tolerate Jules being hurt. She would rather be the one occupying Margaret’s time. However, Margaret eventually moved on, and Holly had to bear the sound of Jules being hurt, or worse.

  She remembered their time together on his boat. She could see her spending all her days with Jules there. She immediately thought about whether they would survive this captivity. Would they indeed want to be together? She knew what she wanted. As the hours passed, the intensity of her feelings for him seemed to grow and grow. She closed her eyes, picturing them together sitting on the stern of his boat watching the stars.

  She smelled the scent of Gardenia. She opened her eyes to see Margaret’s eyes a foot away. She recoiled and Margaret laughed.

  “Did I catch you in the middle of a dream?” Margaret said, leaning back. “You looked like it was a good dream.” She paused. “I bet you were thinking of Jules. Is that right?”

  Holly didn’t answer. There was some immediate pain.

  “Holly, I asked you a question. Were you thinking of Jules?” she said, loud enough for Jules to hear.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s a good girl. Yes, he’s worth more than a few thoughts, but you know that…actually we both know that now.” She played with Holly’s body. “I think he really likes you. He puts up with a lot of my shit when I tell them I’m going to hurt you.” She made Holly cry out. “He is likely already listening to what is happening here. Jules, are you listening to us?” She made Holly cry out again.

  “Yes, and leave her alone. You don’t want her, you know you wan
t to hurt me…hurt me instead.”

  Holly couldn’t control herself, crying out in pain.

  Jules yelled, “You silly bitch, I’ll kill you if I have a chance.”

  Holly grimaced at the increased pain until she couldn’t hold back any longer. She was screaming for the pain to stop, trying to move from Margaret’s grasp.

  “Margaret, please stop. I’ll do whatever you want,” Jules cried out.

  “Well Holly, see how much he cares for you. He’s willing to sacrifice himself for you. So are the others, but he says it with such conviction, that I know he really means it. He follows through so nicely on his promises too.”

  Holly was crying from the pain, and the knowledge of what Margaret was going to do next. She tried to hide her crying from Jules, but knew he must have heard her.

  “Jules, I’ll be there in a minute or two. I have to make things better here.” Margaret immediately changed her focus.

  Holly tried to focus her thoughts on being with Jules when this ordeal was finally over.

  *.*.*

  Minutes later she heard Margaret with Jules, trying to block the thoughts and the sounds. She silently wept, because she couldn’t tolerate her earlier pain. Now Jules was obliged to commit to his promise, or suffer significant pain himself, and have Margaret return to her cell to pick up where she left off.

  Holly thought about Margaret spending hours with all of them, seemingly never tiring of the process. She is a Nymphomaniac, as well as a kidnapper and murderer. She practiced her potential stranglehold, wondering if she could actually pull it off. Right now she was mad enough, and could do it in a heart beat. Jules, I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you. I really have fallen in love with you…please God, give us the strength to live through this, and forgive me for my future sin.