by Denise Irwin
“No, we’re done feeding him alcohol. Let’s get some food and coffee in him.”
Glen sat quietly waiting for Sam to talk first.
“I would like to do to that bastard what he did to Cassie. I know you didn’t know her well, but in the two months I lived with her in Vegas…She’s a wonderful woman. Do you know what she asked me as I carried her up the stairs in my arms?”
Glen knew it was better to wait quietly. Sam would spill out the story in due time.
“She asked me if I had married Leona. When I told her tomorrow was our wedding day, she apologized to me. Do you believe that? Then she told me she loved me.”
“Sam, I’m sure she has a great love for you. Not the man and woman kind but rather the way one person loves another person.”
“Grossman’s a vicious animal. I hope they fry him for what he did to her.”
Sam suddenly turned to Englar, “I gotta go find Leona. She’s probably sitting on pins and needles.”
“I’d like the two of you to join my wife and me for dinner if you’re up to it. I didn’t know when I called you, that your wedding was scheduled to take place tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Glen. Let me see what Leona thinks.”
Glen drove back to the casino. He and his wife lived in a penthouse above the casino. When they took the elevator up from the parking garage, it stopped on the lobby floor where Leona and Bailey waited to board an elevator. As she stepped into the elevator, she looked at both men. Their faces were dead giveaways that things hadn’t turned out well.
“Gentlemen, what a pleasure it is for me to ride the elevator with two handsome men.”
Sam looked dazed, so Glen stepped up to the plate, “Thank you Leona. Let me take a moment and say how sorry I am that we called your fiancée away on the day before your wedding.”
Leona chortled, “Let me assure you, Sam’s not getting out of marrying me, so Mr. Englar, you do not need to apologize for that. There are more important things in life than weddings. Sam and I will marry, maybe not tomorrow, but I assure you we will get the deed done.”
“I asked Sam to consider dining this evening with my wife and me this evening.”
Leona looked at Sam’s face for any sign of what he thought, but he just stood there looking at the elevator door.
“Mr. Englar, can we take a rain check on your dinner offer?”
“Of course you can, my dear. I’ll let my chef know that you’ll be dining in your suite this evening. I’ll ask him to prepare something special for you.”
“Thank you Mr. Englar that would be very nice.” Leona took Sam’s limp arm and just about dragged him off the elevator. She held onto his arm while she unlocked the door. Once inside she stripped off his clothes and told him to take a hot shower. He did as she told him to do, but he moved with jagged, robotic steps as he made his way into the bathroom. Leona felt better when she heard the shower. Sam was at least able to follow her directions.
While Sam was in the shower, Leona spent the time sitting on the foot of the bed, getting her emotions under control. He needed her full support. She didn’t know if he’d be able to talk this evening. If he didn’t that was okay. If he did that was okay too. She needed to be there for him. Leona knew that whatever he discovered when he left with Glen was going to be horrible and if she couldn’t contain her own emotions, she’d not be able to render the support he desperately needed from her tonight.
Wrapped in a white terrycloth hotel bathrobe, he managed a small smile as he came to sit beside Leona on the bed.
“This was a hell of a day. Glen fed a couple double scotches into me, so I’m a little woozy.”
“He’s also asked his chef to prepare dinner for us to eat here in the room.”
“I think I heard that through the buzz in my ears.”
Leona stood from her spot on the bed. She then sat in his lap facing him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She touched her nose against his. Looking deep into his blue eyes, she gently touched her lips against his. It wasn’t really a kiss more than it was a tender touch to let him know she was there for him.
Sam wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer. Leona then rocked his body back and forth as if she were in a rocking chair. Sam nuzzled his face into her long brown hair. Leona felt his heart pounding in his chest against her own pounding heart. She had no idea how long they sat on the edge of the bed clinging to one another, but she finally felt his heartbeat return to normal.
Someone knocked on the door, so Leona kissed him on his forehead as she untangled her arms and legs from his body to answer the door.
Two porters rolled two portable carts into the room. Leona grabbed and opened her purse.
One of the porters shook his head, “No ma’am, Mr. Englar has taken care of everything.”
“Thank you and please thank Mr. Englar for Sam and me.”
Sam sat on the bed in his catatonic state. He watched as she peeked under the casserole lids. He might have looked like a zombie, but his nose woke up when the aromas from those dishes drifted to him. Sam was suddenly starving.
He quietly asked, “Hey woman, what you got there?”
Leona laughed, “Why Mr. Marksman, I didn’t see you come in. Are you hungry?”
“Is the Pope Catholic?”
“Stay where you are and I’ll surprise you with what I’ve cooked.”
Sam managed a small chuckle, “What you’ve cooked up, eh? Bring it on.”
Glen had also sent several bottles of wine and a small cooler full of beer. They ate that spectacular dinner slowly in bed. The chef had also included New York Cheesecake. Leona found a bottle of brandy as well.
Leona cleared the bed of dishes and then she lay across the bed with Sam, she told him, “We look like two beached whales.”
“We sure do.”
Sam stared at something far outside the room. Leona thought he was about to tell her about the day, so she lay quietly waiting while he formed the words in his head.
“Lee, I love you.”
“I love you too, Sam.”
“Are you in a hurry to get home?”
“I go home when you go home. If you need to stay, then I stay.”
“She asked me if we’d married. When I told her we planned to get married tomorrow, she apologized for ruining it.”
Leona waited quietly and patiently for him to continue. As she waited her first thought was, at least she’s alive. Until that moment, Leona had no knowledge of what Sam had, or had not found.
“She apologized for ruining our day.” He sat there staring off to a place, she couldn’t see. Leona knew in her heart he was reaching for something that made sense to him.
“She told me, she loved me. Lee, that fucking bastard had her shackled to a wall in the basement. He’d set up a bomb that would activate immediately if anyone broke one tiny laser beam. He fucking chained her to the wall. He shot Brutus and left the dog’s carcass at her feet. She was laying in her own feces and urine. When the officer pulled the duct tape from her mouth it bled. As I carried her battered and violated body up the stairs, she told me to tell you she was sorry she ruined your wedding day.”
Leona was choking on her own tears, but she remained as silent as she could. She knew in her heart that the man she loved needed to get everything out before she said anything to him.
“She almost died from dehydration. He didn’t feed her or give her water. How can someone do that to another human being? I want to be there to see him executed.” He turned to look at her, “Lee, I’m sorry I’m dumping this horrible story on you.”
“Sam, that’s why I’m here,” Leona felt comfortable enough to ask, “Is he in custody?”
“He is, and I’ll call in the morning to see if I can get in to question him. I’d also like to call the hospital and ask if we can see Cassie.”
Leona lay awake in bed with her arm across Sam’s torso to hold him down. He thrashed about all night. Twice during the night, he cr
ied out in anger.
Chapter Six
October 2001
As soon as Sam’s eyes opened in the morning, he grabbed his cell phone and called the hospital to ask if they’d let him see Cassie. His next call was to Bradley. He asked Bradley if he could talk to Grossman.
Leona was in the shower as he made his calls, when she finished, he told her, “We can visit with Cassie this morning. I also asked Bradley if I could talk to Grossman. Do you want to go with me or wait here?”
“You’re crazy to even think I wouldn’t want to go. Let me feed Bailey while you grab a shower. We can walk him then the three of us can jump in the car.”
Sam drove to the hospital first. As he drove onto the parking lot, he asked Leona, “Do you want to come in with me or wait in the car?”
Leona stunned by his question, said, “I thought we would go in together, but if you prefer I’ll wait here in the car.”
“I’m sorry for the edginess in my tone. Of course, I would like you to come in and meet her. I know she definitely wants to meet you.”
They left Bailey in the car and walked into the hospital together.
Cassie was sitting up in bed when they entered her room. She looked up at Sam and smiled, “Hey lover, how are you doing?”
Sam was not about to tell her she looked like something the cat drug in. “I’m fine. How are you?” Sam was not
“Better. I’d like to get out of jail and go home, but the doc wants me to stay for a couple of days. It appears that the bastard broke several ribs and the shackles dislocated my shoulders, so I’m receiving margaritas though this little tube. Rats chewed on me as if I was a roasted Thanksgiving turkey. The police collected four rats from the basement and took them to some vet who’s testing them for rabies. So, that means I have to wait for the lab results.”
Leona gasped at how casually Cassie talked about rats that had bitten her, rats that were possibly rabid. Even if they weren’t rabid, the thought that this woman had to endure that torture for four days was terrifying. Then to hear her speak so casually about it; even making a joke of the horrifying situation was beyond Leona’s comprehension.
She smiled at Leona, “I hear you’re the woman who managed to take Sam’s heart off the single market.”
Leona giggled, “That would be me. I hope I’m at least half the woman that his wife from Vegas is. Sam told me you took good care of him.”
“I have to be honest, I did; and what did he do? He couldn’t wait to get away from me and get his ass back home to you.”
Leona laughed on the outside, but on the inside, she was crying at the sight of this woman. Bruises covered her body. There were bandages around her wrists where the shackles had been. When she met Cassie in Reno, she was a tall slim woman with long thick blonde hair. The woman lying in the bed was skin and bones with matted dull blonde hair. Cassie’s upbeat and cheerful attitude astonished Leona. If Leona had been through what Cassie had, she’d be an emotional wreck.
“Then I owe you a big thank you for sending him home safe and sound.”
“Leona, Sam told me your wedding day was cancelled because he came to Jersey to rescue a damsel in distress. I am so sorry.”
“It wasn’t cancelled. We postponed it, we haven’t even thought about a new date. When we do is there a possibility you could come?”
Sam, who had stood quietly listening to their conversation, finally put in his two-cents, “What could possibly be better than having both of my wives at the same wedding.”
Cassie chortled, and then winced in pain from the two broken ribs, “A thorn between two roses. That would be a stitch. I hate to change this upbeat conversation into a downhill slide, but I need to ask if Grossman is in custody?”
“He is, and the jail is my next stop.”
“In the rush to get me out of the house, the police may have missed the boxes full of money. I was also able to take several pictures of crates labeled ‘fresh vegetables’ in the casino’s kitchen. I took those pictures late in the evening, before I left; I forwarded the pictures to Rudy’s phone. He’s one of the dealers, so make sure those pictures get into the right hands. Grossman made that delivery. He told me that someone paid him deliver the money, so in my mind that makes him a dirty cop on the take. Joe told me that the Bureau’s Assistant Director recommended him for the job, so I don’t know what that means. Is the Assistant Director dirty? Have you talked with Schuman yet?”
“No, do you want me give him a call?”
“Yes, please call him. Joe’s a good guy. He’ll get an investigation into Grossman’s associations underway quickly.”
“Before I call Schuman, I was in such a rush to get you out of the basement I didn’t ask why you didn’t use the communication room when you realized you were in trouble.”
“There wasn’t one, so Grossman caught me off guard before I could call for backup.”
“Cassie, has anyone from the police department been to interview you yet?”
“Hell yes. The State Police, the guy from the Bomb Squad, the FBI and I think someone from the Rape Victims something or other asking if I wanted counseling.”
Sam was not about to interrogate her, “Okay, I’ll call him. Is his number in your cell phone?”
“Yes, it is. I buried my phone in the bottom of my purse.” Cassie giggled, “I shoved it between several sanitary napkins in the bottom of the bag. I figured Grossman wouldn’t go near the napkins. I think the purse is here in the hospital, check with the nurses’ station on your way out.”
Leona laughed. “What a great idea!”
Sam shook his head and said, “Now, little lady, it’s time to get some rest. I want the chance to meet this so-called FBI agent.”
Cassie smiled as Sam leaned over the bed and kissed Cassie on the top of her head. When he stepped back, Leona moved forward to take Cassie’s hand, “I’m so glad you’re going to be okay.”
Cassie squeezed Leona’s hand as she replied, “Me too, but I gotta tell you, it was really scary for a while.”
“Sam, before you go. Can you find out where Brutus is? I’d like to have him cremated if his body is still around.”
“Yes ma’am, I will. If I find him, do you want me to go ahead and have him cremated?”
“I would Sam, if you don’t mind. I don’t think I have the courage to do it myself.
She waved goodbye as Leona and Sam left the room. When Sam looked back, she was already asleep.
He stopped at the nurses’ station to ask about her purse. He grabbed her phone, and then he and Leona walked to the car.
“Sam, after all she’s been through, how could she crack jokes about it?”
“Well, I can think of three reasons. First law enforcement officers often refer to a term ‘gallows humor’. Second, she’s on pain medication, and, third, she probably still in shock. So, at the moment she’s finding the whole thing amusing.”
“If that had been me, I’d curled up in a fetal position with my head under the blanket.”
“Not if you had as many drugs in your system as she has now. Leona, you drive while I call the Boston office.”
“Sam, where is the police station.”
“Hell, if I know, so I’ll call Bradley first.”
Sam wrote the directions in his notebook and handed it to Leona.
He then called Cassie’s boss. “My name is Sam Marksman; I’d like to speak with Joe Schuman please.”
As she drove, Leona listened to Sam’s side of the conversation.
“No, I do not want to leave a message. March into the meeting and tell him I’m calling about his agent, Cassie Henson. Yes I’ll hold.”
“Director Shuman, I’m going to assume that you’ve been briefed on Cassie’s situation.”
“No? So, you’re expecting me to believe that no one called you?”
“No sir, it is not privileged information. I just left her hospital room. She asked me to call you and that’s what I’m doing.”
“I don’t give a
shit what you were told. She told me there were boxes of money in the basement. The agent you assigned to work with her shackled your agent to a wall where he repeatedly raped and physically abused her. She went without food or water for four days. Who, the fuck, recommended this maniac?”
“I don’t give a flying ass about what you were told.”
“He rigged the house with a bomb that would have killed her if the New Jersey bomb squad hadn’t disarmed it and you’re going to tell me someone in the Bureau wanted him working with her?”
“No sir that is not the correct answer. If what you just said is true, someone should look into who else in the Bureau is dirty.”
“Was a communication room set up?”
“That is an unacceptable answer. You let some asshole tell you he didn’t need a communication room. Is that right?”
“You are not listening to me. Someone rape and tried to fucking kill Cassie and as the Boston Director, Cassie’s boss; you’re feeding me nothing but bullshit telling me the person making the decision was over your head. It’s your fucking job to take care of your agents. Let me tell you this, if you folded your hand on the cards you were dealt, you need to think about stepping down or quit.”
Sam slammed his phone shut. “And people ask me why I left the Bureau. I know Cassie likes him, but I just spoke to nothing, but a bureaucratic asshole. He was more worried about getting called down on the rug than his agent’s welfare.”
Leona didn’t want to antagonize the situation by telling him she thought she was lost. She reviewed her directions again, looking for where she’d gone wrong. Unfortunately, she could review those directions for a month and still end up lost. Leona wasn’t sure that they were still in Jersey. When she saw a pull off to a convenience store, she said to Sam, “I need to use the restroom.”
She hurried out of the car and into the store. After asking the clerk where the restroom was, she asked where the jail was. “I’m really lost.”
The kid laughed, “The restroom is over on the left. You drove past the jail. It’s about two miles back.”