by Dick Waters
Chapter 83
Yesterday, they planned how they were going to divide their resources to confront Margaret and raid her house to free the hostages. They waited for Ralph to finish his phone call with Max Gordon, who was assisting with the questioning of someone found with one of the missing yachts. Room service allowed all four of them to get a faster start this morning.
Ralph hung up the phone. “Okay, here’s what Max has learned. The suspect they questioned was threatened with being an accomplice to multiple murder charges. He said he had no idea that anyone was going to be killed. He gave Max the name of the people involved on this end. Margaret Orion was the brains behind all of the kidnappings and sale of the yachts. Her accomplice is Ray Hughes, who is Chief-Inspector Hughes’ nephew. I told Max we had determined Margaret was involved and possibly had the hostages at her house.”
Mercedes commented, “I wonder if the lack of progress by the police, namely inspector Hughes, has anything to do with the fact his nephew is involved?”
Ralph acknowledged her comment with a nod. “I told Max; we planned to confront Margaret on her boat today. At the same time, Mike and Sam plan to raid her home to rescue the hostages. He said he was taking a flight, but he wouldn’t be here for several hours. His comment was to be extremely careful, and not to do anything that might compromise the hostages’ safety. He also said he has some ideas of his own, but needed to head to the airport and couldn’t share all of them.”
Mike offered, “It is too risky to involve the police and Inspector Hughes, where the inspector’s nephew is an accomplice. There is no indication he’s involved, but it sure makes the lack of progress on the missing men a real question mark. I say we leave the plans the way we set them up. Does anyone have any other thoughts?”
Sam, who had been silent all morning, asked, “Do you think that where Margaret has an accomplice, he could be at her house?”
No one immediately answered his question. Finally Mercedes offered, “It does raise a question about whether she’s planned for anyone to be at her property, at least for today? What if Sam is right and Ray Hughes is at the property? He could have a gun.” She paused, but no one responded. “Mike, are you still in favor of raiding her house?”
He thought for a moment, and then answered, “I think if we don’t do it today, tomorrow might be even harder to raid her property. I say we go through with our plans. However, Mercedes and Ralph, it’s really your call. If anyone has any semblance of authority here; you’re the closest thing we have. My interest is to rescue those people.” He paused again. “Maybe I should call Paddy and run these plans by him.”
*.*.*
Twenty minutes later, Mike came back from the bedroom and related his conversation with Paddy. “Paddy said given the circumstances he thought we should carry out our plans. He had the same concerns about the accomplice at her house, but knowing men are being killed at a faster rate, he wasn’t willing to wait, especially with involvement of the police given the relationship of the accomplice to the inspector.”
They reviewed their plans one last time. Sam and Mike headed out in Sam’s cab, and Mercedes and Ralph grabbed a new cab for Margaret’s dive shop.
It was just before nine, when Mercedes and Ralph pulled into the dive shop parking area. “Ralph, remember you’re Mike Miller for this excursion. We need to be careful not to revert to your real name.”
“I got it…don’t you slip and call me honey…I mean Ralph.”
Mercedes made a move like she was going to slap him, but just gritted her teeth instead. Ralph paid the cab driver, and they headed toward the dive shop.
Ralph came around the small building, stopped and pointed at the boat with a woman moving things on the back deck. Mercedes nodded her head, as they continued towards the dock and boat.
“Hello, Margaret…I’m Mike Miller and this is my friend Mercedes Strong.”
The woman, who was only partially covered by a white bikini, stood up, shielded her eyes from the sun. “Good morning Mr. Miller, how are you today?” Margaret asked.
“I’m fine and you?”
“I’m doing better than most, actually. We have a beautiful day today. I’m glad you’re on time. Please, come aboard.”
They climbed aboard and shook hands. Mercedes studied the tall red-headed, very attractive woman. She was surprised it wasn’t her sister – Melanie. Mercedes asked, “Is there anything Mike and I can do to help?”
Margaret answered, heading into the cabin area, “No, I’ve got it pretty much under control, but thanks.” She donned the Red Sox hat, which was nearby. “Now, I have some questions for you both?” She picked up the spear gun, heading back in their direction.
Mercedes and Ralph had an immediate hesitant reaction. Seeing their reaction, Margaret laid the gun down. “I’m sorry I made both of you jump…one of my questions does involve the spear gun, but I wanted to ask—have you both been dive certified?”
Ralph answered quickly, “I have, but I could use a refresher, Mercedes is more of a beginner.”
“May I call you Mike?”
He was briefly stunned by her question. “Yes, I’m sorry…I should have said that.”
“Well, I’ll go over some procedures and give you both a refresher. As we talked yesterday, I will be diving with you both today. Now about the fees…”
Ralph reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. I said there would be three of us, but our friend had an emergency that required his attention. I’m still going to pay you the five-hundred anyway. I hope just the two of us is not going to be a problem?”
“That’s very generous of you, and two of you are not going to be any problem…unless you want it to be?”
Mercedes looked around at the spear gun. She thought she recognized something familiar in Margaret’s voice. “We don’t want any problems. I’m from Boston Massachusetts, have you ever been there?”
Margaret smiled, placing her hands on her hips. “Well, I haven’t parked my car in Harvard Yard, if that’s your question. However, I was there years ago.” Margaret knew Mercedes was her sister, and was thrilled Mercedes hadn’t recognized her.
Mercedes replied, “That’s cute.” She was close enough to look into Margaret’s eyes, again thinking she recognized this woman could indeed be her sister. She was prettier, with a more perfect figure, but could also tell she had undergone breast augmentation surgery. They looked stretched to their limit. Ralph seemed quite interested.
Margaret smiled, asking another question, as she picked up the spear gun, “Do either of you know how to use one of these?”
Margaret pointed the spear gun at Ralph for just a second, and then shot the gun with the spear anchoring itself in the closest dock post. “That’s how you shoot it, but let me show you both how to load it. We will be carrying these on our dive, just in case you want to have some fresh dinner, or we see something, or someone, getting too close for comfort.”
She did a quick demonstration, and could feel Ralph’s eyes staring at her assets. She quickly turned to look up at Ralph. “Now, do you think you could handle that on your own?”
“I don’t think that will present any problem.” Ralph answered, knowing she caught him looking.
Margaret smiled at him. “You have to be careful with these things, and they can go off when you’re least expecting it. Shall we get started?”
Ralph had a questioning look on his face.
“The boat…let’s get this show on the road. Mercedes, why don’t you get the bow rope?” Margaret went to the helm area, starting the first engine, followed quickly by the second.
Mercedes climbed out of the boat, heading down the dock to the bow.
Margaret came up beside Ralph to get the stern rope. The engines were really rumbling under them. “Did you like what you were looking at?” Her thigh touched his as she threw the rope onto the dock. She looked to check where Mercedes was and added, “I’ll leave the door open when I change into my wet suit, so you won’t ha
ve to strain so much to see things. Is that okay?” She smiled at him, walking to the cabin area, not waiting for his impossible answer.
Mercedes pushed the boat away from the dock, climbing over the boat rail onto the boat. She was standing beside Ralph and noticed how red his face was. “What the hell happened to you? This is not the time to let your dick get in the way of what we came to do.” She turned to see Margaret looking at them, smiled at her, and headed to the helm. She thought if she could get Margaret to talk some more she might be able to confirm her suspicions.
Chapter 84
Mike and Sam were headed to Margaret’s house. They were both quiet. Mike was busy developing scenarios for what they might be faced with. If the hostages were not alone, what was he going to do?
What Mike didn’t know was that Ray Hughes was looking out Margaret’s bedroom window for anybody approaching the house. He arrived at Margaret’s house early and had more than one preview of what to expect when they had their weekend together. However, he felt sleepy from that tryst, along with not getting much sleep thinking about today’s possibilities. Margaret was like a dynamite factory and he was innocently lighting matches. He was somewhat glad she had left…he felt like a sponge being wrung out—there wasn’t anything more to give.
He knelt to look out the window, feeling like he was falling asleep. He looked once more, and didn’t see anything. He walked around her bedroom picking up things. He found a pair of men’s boat shoes, thinking of the men Margaret might have kidnapped. He checked the window again, but there wasn’t anyone coming. Curiosity got the best of him. He decided to see where that guy he brought might be kept. She mentioned not to go downstairs, but she was going to be gone for hours.
He found the door in the kitchen that led downstairs. He thought about the dangers of going down there, but headed down anyway. There was a hall with a sand floor. He could see light shining in the distance. He slowly and silently made his way down the hall. The first room was a cell with full height bars at the entrance. There was a man chained to a bed, but he didn’t recognize him and appeared to be asleep. He went to the next room on the right and saw the man who he brought to the house the other day. That man saw him but didn’t say anything. He was jealous of Margaret’s attention.
The next cell on the right shocked him. There was a beautiful redhead on the bed, also naked like the others. He studied her and she looked scared. He tried the cell door and it was locked. She started to react to his trying to get in. He looked around for a key, but couldn’t find one. He wanted to get into her cell now more than anything. He rushed to the last cell, and saw Jules dwarfing the bed. He looked for a key there, but couldn’t find one there either.
He went back to the woman’s cell, staring at her. “What’s your name cutie?”
“Go fuck yourself, asshole,” she yelled. “You better tell someone we’re here, or you will regret it when we get out.”
He went running off to look for some keys. He even looked upstairs, but couldn’t find any. He returned to her cell, ignoring the other two. He started digging into the sand at the cell door, but the ground under the sand was just too hard. The woman in the cell reminded him of Margaret, but he was still surprised Margaret was keeping a woman here. Maybe they could work out some kind of exchange, or better a twosome. He was getting excited, just thinking about the possibilities.
She flipped him the finger, stunning him. She did it again. Now he was mad. He pulled on the cell door and it felt loose. He pulled harder on it and part of the dirt ceiling fell down. He could see the anxiety on the face of the woman now. He pulled and pulled at the cell door, and it was getting looser.
“Hey idiot,” Jules called out. “I suggest you get out of here before you do something you will regret the rest of your life.”
He was getting desperate, but was making progress on the cell door and frame. The woman was squirming on the bed, obviously worried about his seeming progress. Suddenly he stopped what he was doing, realizing he would be in trouble if he was able to get inside her cell. He also remembered Margaret’s instructions about watching for anyone coming. He took one last look, heading back to the front bedroom.
*.*.*
When he got to the bedroom window he knelt down and looked up the driveway. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There were two men stalking down the drive towards the house. One was black and the other white. He ducked down. His heart raced even faster than downstairs. Shit, shit, shit, now what the fuck do I do?
He didn’t have a gun. If these two men were cops, he was in serious trouble. He opened the walk-in closet door, closing it and hid behind some long dresses. His heart was beating loudly enough for him to hear it in his ears. He listened intently for any sound.
*.*.*
Mike noticed there was no vehicle in sight. “Sam, it gives the appearance that there’s nobody home. I don’t see any vehicles around.” It was broad daylight and if anybody was looking up the drive they would have seen them for sure. Mike gave a hand signal for Sam to go down the other side of the house, and look in the windows.
Mike looked in the first window and it was a bedroom. The bed was a mess, but there was nobody in it. He proceeded down the walkway, looking into the kitchen window. There was nobody there, but there was a door open in the kitchen. It could be a walk-in pantry, but his gut told him it would lead down to hopefully where Scott, Holly and the others were. He heard a noise and froze in position. Mike was ready for a confrontation, but fortunately Sam came around the back of the house. He was shaking his head, and he returned the same gesture.
Mike gave an indication that they needed to get inside. Sam waved for him to follow and Mike saw the back door. Mike wished he brought some of his former tools with him, it would make picking the lock that much easier. He tried the brass knob and although there was some play in the handle, it wasn’t sufficient to get inside. He gave Sam the look inside motion and when Sam got to the window, he started working on the lock. It took a few minutes but between the play in the hinges and door handle and his trusty credit card he was able to get the door ajar. He looked at Sam for anyone coming and Sam shook his head.
Mike opened the door slowly without any negative result. He stepped up to the entry way, peeking inside the kitchen. He could see the door directly opposite him and the stairs leading down to a lower level. He motioned for Sam to follow him. There were stairs leading down. He pointed with two fingers at his own eyes to let Sam know they needed to check out the other rooms.
There was a small dining area and living room. The furniture and decorations clearly indicated to him that a woman lived here. It was also tidy, nothing looked out of place. The bathroom was around the corner opposite the front door. He checked that out along with a small closet next to the bathroom. Nothing! Sam followed him into the bedroom. The bed looked like a war had taken place, which was notable compared to the neatness of the rest of the house. He signaled Sam that there was another door. Mike thought this had to be a closet.
He silently opened the door and looked inside. It was a walk-in closet and only women’s clothes, and a lot of them, were bunched up along one side. The other side had about ten different sundresses and evening wear. He moved some of the bunched up clothes, but didn’t see anything out of place. They left the closet, closing the door.
“Sam, I think we have the upstairs to ourselves, but we need to see whether anyone is downstairs,” Mike whispered. He gave the hush sign and headed out of the bedroom.
Sam didn’t reply, just followed on Mike’s heals. Mike stopped at the kitchen stairs, listening intently for a few minutes. He shook his head indicating he hadn’t heard anything. Mike’s detective experience was telling him this was much too easy…he had expected someone to be here, but maybe they were indeed downstairs.
Chapter 85
“Scott, did you get a good look at that creep that was just here?” Jules asked.
I recognized the guy. “He was the guy that knocked me out and brought me here.�
��
Holly spoke next. “Great. Now we have two assholes to worry about. Fortunately he doesn’t have a key to the cells.”
I thought I heard someone coming. “Shush.” I tried to be heard without being heard by anyone else.
Mike heard some talking downstairs. He motioned to Sam to listen, giving the indication someone was talking downstairs. They headed slowly down the stairs; Sam was almost in Mike’s back pocket. Suddenly there was a sound behind them. Before they could react, Sam was knocked on the head and fell into Mike. They both fell down the stairs.
I heard the commotion, but had no idea what was happening. I thought perhaps Melanie had returned, and had pushed that guy down the stairs. That’s what I thought anyway. The next thing I knew a body was being dragged to the chains used for the pot by the guy who was just here. I heard the familiar sound of restraints being closed, but couldn’t see exactly what was happening. The guy ran down the hall, dragging another body by the door. There was the sound of more restraints. I thought I recognized the body to be Mike’s.
There was some hooting and hollering. The guy came by my cell jumping up and down. He made a return trip and I heard a few thumps and wondered if he was kicking Mike and the other man.
“Wait and see what Margaret thinks of her two new visitors. I did it…I did it.” He went running up the hall to Holly’s cell. “I bet she will let me have you now red. Boy you’re pretty.” He pulled some more on Holly’s cell door, but it was holding firm.
I considered what had just happened. Now that Mike was out of commission…that left only Mercedes and her other FBI friend to rescue us. I hope she knew where Mike was going. Why wasn’t Mercedes with Mike if they were trying to rescue us? With Margaret gone—I suddenly had a thought about what they might be doing. Mercedes, please be careful…I know she’s your sister Melanie, but you don’t. She knows who you are though. She would have recognized you from the pictures this guy might have taken…you’re walking into some kind of trap.