Carter made his way around the landing and through the parlor. Then he entered the dining room. The young girl was preoccupied with staring out the window, her attention on the woods in the back. Carter pulled up behind her, his left hand coming down around her neck, his right pulling out his gun and leveling it at her temple.

“Stand up.” He could smell the scent of her perfume as he pressed his lips to her ear–floral–gardenia. His hand moved from her neck to the back of her head. Her hair was soft as finely wound silk. He stroked it as he brought her to her feet.

“No noise,” he warned. He pulled the gun from her temple and pressed it firmly into her ribs. Then he led her through the kitchen to the den. They paused at the door until he’d gained the attention of everyone in the room.

“Carter?” Stevens asked. “What the hell are you doing away from your post?”

“Shut up,” Carter wheezed. He pulled the revolver into sight and once again placed it at the girl’s temple. He noticed the deputy’s shock and concern. Carter smiled wryly. Then he returned to Stevens.

“First of all, Stevens,” he said, “I don’t even want to fuck with you.”

The gun whirled on Stevens, the action too quick to follow. The trigger was instantly pulled and blood soaked from Stevens’s abdomen as he slumped to the floor.

Mike went for his own gun- but before his conscious registered the shot to Stevens, Carter had the revolver planted again at Maggy’s temple.

“I wouldn’t, deputy, it would be such a waste of this pretty face to see it splattered all over the room. I want your hands where I can see them. Now!”

Mike did as he was told. “What the hell is going on?”

“Think you can save her now?” Carter asked. “Bet you’re wondering why I don’t just shoot you and get it over with. Get away from him Christine,” he said his eyes remaining on Mike.

Elly stopped. “He needs help.” Elly's voice was thick with tears. “Please! For god’s sake!”

“I must be slipping. I’d better finish the job.”

“No!” Elly screamed, tears running down her cheeks. “He’s not a threat to you!”

“No. He’s not, is he? Take his gun Christine, carefully, with two fingers. If I catch you trying any funny business, the girl loses her brains. That goes for you too, deputy.”

Elly pulled Stevens’s snub-nosed Smith and Wesson .38 from its holster.

“Put it by the door and get the deputy’s.” 

She acquiesced, taking Mike’s gun from the holster he wore under his tails. Her hand was shaking and Mike leveled his eyes on her and tried to reassure her that somehow they would get out of this.

“Now throw both guns out the door.” Carter watched as his will was done; then turned back to the deputy. “I bet you’re wondering why I haven’t killed you yet?”

Mike's eyes were ablaze with hatred.

“I want you alive to hear her screams; alive to imagine what I’m doing to her. Don’t worry, though, you can have her back once I’ve broken her in.” Carter released Maggy’s waist so his hands could travel along the sides of her body. She started trembling, tears pulled free from her eyelashes and she shut her eyes to hold them at bay. Carter’s hand came to rest upon her breast. He stared callously at Mike. “Have you ever gotten this far, pal?”

“Leave her alone.” Mike tried to rise from the couch, but the clicking of the gun hammer forced him down.

With the gun still against Maggy’s temple and his other hand caressing her left breast, Carter said. “Christine, I’ll give you five minutes to get some line out to tie that deputy up.”

Elly glared at him and left for the cellar.

The front door open and two distinct sets of footsteps could be heard clacking across the slate of the hallway. Carter tightened his grip on Maggy’s breast and dragged her, gun still firm against her temple, away from the hall and into the back room, stopping next to the fireplace. His eyes never left Mike’s. 

Two men entered the room. The larger of the two had scar that cut a path down his face. The other was short and squat with skin that looked doughy and formless. They both glanced at Stevens, now unconscious on the floor, before facing Mike.

“Where’s Perretti?” Carter asked.

“Finishing off the Feds that tailed us.”

“It’s quite a situation you have here, Carter,” said the squat man, his eyes resting on Maggy, spending an extra amount of time staring at her fondled breast.

“Where’s Christine?” scareface asked.

“Downstairs looking for rope. She’s got one more minute.”

“You idiot!” screamed the fat man. “You let her out of your sight?”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be back. These people mean something to her.”

Just then Elly burst into the room. She glanced at the men. She gasped, her eyes widening, when she looked at the tall one.

“Well, well,” he said, his voice deep and lazy. “So we meet again.”

“Cardoza,” Elly whispered. Her hands trembled and she was losing color in her face.

“You made the boss very angry, Christine. He has special plans for you. Plans I’m looking forward to carrying out.”

“Tie up the deputy, Christine,” Carter interjected. “And do a good job. If Cardoza isn’t satisfied, well, the girl will pay for your sloppy work.”

Elly glowered at him. Her teeth clenched. “Damn you.”

“Deputy, get on the floor,” Carter instructed. “And lean against the sofa. Christine is going to tie you to the sofa leg securely. Isn’t that correct, Christine?”

Elly glanced at Mike. Guilt and fear readable on her face.

He nodded slightly, then moved to the floor and after freeing his injured arm from its sling, placed both hands under the couch by the leg.

Elly tied the ropes securely as tears formed in her eyes. The inevitability was sinking in. Several times during the tying Mike winced from the pain in his injured arm as it was pulled in an awkward direction. The muscles stretched against their process of healing.

The front door again opened as she completed securing Mike’s bonds. The dread flooded her as a soft voice spoke gently to another in the foyer. Then one set of footsteps made their way slowly down the hall. They stopped abruptly at doorway. Elly looked again at Mike. Her face growing flushed. Yet she could not bear to turn.

Then she bit her lower lip and faced her fear. Perretti stood at the room’s entrance, framed by the doorway. He smiled pleasantly at her, then inspected the room.

Stevens groaned from the floor by the back door. Perretti looked at him, and then glanced up at Carter.

“Good work.” His voice was pleasant, the timber of a gentleman, laced with a slight Sicilian accent. “Now let the girl go.”

“I gave you Christine, the girl’s mine.”

Perretti wheeled on him, his eyes flashed with anger. “You only made it easier, Carter. Cleaner. We would have made it this far with or without you. I tell you who you get and when and where you get them. Is that clear?”

Carter stared at him, his erect posture slipping.

“Now, let her go,” Perretti said quietly.

Maggy was on the verge of hysteria by the time Carter removed his hand and gun from her. She ran to Mike and threw her arms around him, crying quietly into his shoulder.

“It’s all right,” Mike soothed, watching at the others over her head. “It’s going to be all right.”

Perretti made his way further into the room towards the fireplace. He examined the pictures that adorned the mantle. 

He removed the picture of Chief Broden in his uniform. “He’s a handsome man, Christine. Does he know what you’ve gotten him into?”

Elly bit her lip to fight off the tears.

Perretti set the picture down and went to the next, when he stopped abruptly. He whirled towards Maggy and Mike. The stare he had for Mike was cold, calculated.

“You had her call me. Didn’t you?”

Perretti picked up the picture of Kelly. He smiled at it and shook his head before regarding Maggy. “Hopefully it won’t be too late for you and your sister.”

Maggy faced him. Her eyes red and ripe with new tears.

Perretti set the picture back on the mantle before taking a seat in the leather chair closest to the fireplace.

“I’d like something to drink, Christine. As I remember you make an excellent, very dry, martini.” 

“I’m not sure we have what’s necessary. I’ll have to check.”

“You do that.”

Elly left the room. She went to the pantry where Chief kept his modest selection of liquor. All she was able to find was a half-full bottle of bourbon. She returned to the den.

“Will bourbon be all right?”

“I guess I’ll have to settle, won’t I?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure you are, my pet. For many things.”

Elly stared at him. Her throat, tight.

“Go bring me the bourbon.” Perretti's voice retained its pleasant tone.

“Yes, sir.” Elly disappeared into the kitchen.

“And one for yourself.” Perretti elevated his voice only slightly for it to carry into the kitchen. 

When Elly returned she had two glasses of bourbon poured and the bottle sitting on a large tray. The liquid in the glasses vibrated. Perretti took his glass, pretending not to notice. He sipped his drink as Elly set the tray down on the table. Perretti watched as she took her own glass in trembling hands.

“Sit down, my dear.” Perretti indicated the leather chair opposite him.

Elly sat, her pallid face turned to the floor, her eyes wide, focusing on nothing obvious.

“You look frightened.” Perretti held his glass to the light to judge the bourbon's color. Then he glared at Elly. “Now why is that?”

“You know why,” Elly shot back.

“You should have thought about that before you stole from me.”

Elly sipped her drink to calm her nerves. Her knuckles turning white from her girp. She tried desperately to think of an angle. Moss hadn’t come around to telling her where the ledger was. If it came right down to that, she would be unable to offer that information to save their lives. And of course, once that information was given up, they were dead anyway. If she claimed to never have had it, the result was the same. And, of course, he wouldn’t believe her either way. There was no way out of this situation.

Perretti regarded her fondly. “There was a time I’d have given you whatever you wished. There was no reason to steal from me. You realize now, that I have no recourse but to kill you.”

Elly was silent. She took another sip of bourbon and fought the shaking of her hands with her will.

“I want my property, Christine.”

She looked up from her glass. Her eyes locked onto his. “If you’re going to kill me anyway, why should I return it?”

Perretti smiled. He nodded towards Mike and Maggy on the floor by the couch. “I wasn’t planning to kill them. It’s your decision. Return my property and they live. Don’t and you all die.”

Elly looked at him, her panic returning. “You won’t get your book back if you kill me.”

“With you dead, what difference does it make?”

Elly surprised him by smiling back. “My partner will make the difference.”

Perretti’s smile faltered and then vanished. “Where is my property, Christine?”

“I don’t know.”

Perretti’s dark eyes became hard and cold. His face turned red. “We’ll see.” He regarded Maggy, whose face was still buried in Mike’s shoulder. “Maybe the girl knows.” 

Maggy looked up. She had grown calmer with Mike's assurances. Now her fear returned. Her breathing was shallow against Mike's cheek.

“She doesn’t know anything, Tony,” Elly shot back quickly. “This was my deal.”

“What do you think, Carter?” Perretti asked the man standing behind him. “Maybe she’ll talk.”

Carter's yellowed teeth emerged from between his thin lips. He stared at Maggy with lecherous eyes. “Want me to interrogate her, Mr. Perretti?”

Maggy clasped her hand firmly into Mike’s shirt. Mike felt her trembling return.

Mike glared at Perretti, his face turning red with anger and outrage. “Leave her out of this!”

Perretti ignored him. “Take her upstairs and interrogate her, Carter. Make sure you do it right.”

“No! Tony please!” Elly pleaded.

“Where’s my property, Christine?”

Elly looked at him. Panic had already set in and she fought to keep it from showing.

At her hesitation Perretti concluded, “Too late. But think of it this way, she’ll only lose her virtue, not her life–not yet. That all depends on you.”

Elly left the chair to place herself between Carter and Maggy, but Cardoza grabbed her from behind and pulled her backwards. She struggled in his arms but he forced her into the chair. Standing behind her, his large hands held her firmly in place by her shoulders.

She tried to get up again but Cardoza's fingers dug deeply into her flesh.

“Please! Leave her alone!” Elly cried.

Carter grabbed Maggy by the upper arm and dragged her away despite her desperate attempts to cling to Mike. She was becoming hysterical again. Her breathing was erratic with the onset of panic.

Watching Carter drag Maggy away was more than Mike could stand. He struggled against his bonds, despite the flash of white-hot pain shooting down his injured arm. The ropes dug deeply into his wrists as he tried to break free of the them. But they were tied securely and it was his flesh that succumbed first. He felt the blood pull up through the rope burns, as he continued to fight his bonds.

“No!” The couch rocked violently in his struggle to get free. “I’m going to kill you, Carter!” he yelled at Carter’s vanishing frame. “God-damn you— You’re dead meat!”

Maggy’s crying and hysterical screaming was heard at the front of the house. It continued up the stairs. Above they heard the girl collide with walls, her footsteps erratic, as she was being periodically dragged and propelled through the upstairs hall. There was a loud crash as Chief’s headboard was slammed into the wall above them.

Then quiet.

The quiet continued for several minutes. Then a second thump of the bed against the headboard was heard followed again by quiet.

Perretti returned to his captives. Elly was pale, holding her arms across her chest, her shoulders slumped forward. She stared at the emptiness in front of her. She was beginning to reflect inward, her outward appearance one of shock, just minutes away from hysteria herself.

Mike’s face was full of raw anger. He directed it at Perretti from the floor. “You die,” he said quietly between clenched teeth. 

“You are hardly in the position to make threats, my dear boy.” Perretti drank the rest of the bourbon in his glass and returned it to the tray. The squat man immediately refilled it.

“I warned you. I do not enjoy involving innocent women in my business dealings. But you left me with no alternative. I hope it is successful the first time, and not necessary to repeat.”

Elly looked up. Tears pulled free from her eyes. “You fool,” she said quietly, before biting her tongue against further words.

“I’m afraid you are the fool, and I will see to it you pay for that foolishness.” He smiled. “Better yet, Cardoza will see to it.” He glanced at the man, then back at Elly. “You’ve left your mark on him, haven’t you, my dear? I think he wants retribution.”

Cardoza's hand went to his face. His fingers rubbed a path down the scar. “That I do.”

Above them there was a loud bang as the headboard popped again into the wall. The violence of the noise itself seemed to rock the very house, before again silence fell. Then, shortly later the turbulent screeching of the bed as it traveled back and forth over the floor in violent rhythm echoed from above.

Perretti looked overhead. Then he returned to Elly who looked sick. “This is not how I would have chosen to handle this, Christine. You left me no choice.”

“You son-of-a-bitch!” Elly said viciously.

“Where’s my property, Christine? Or do you want me to send Riekker up next? Then Cardoza? I can play this game as long as you can. And to what end? I will still get what I want— whether she is raped once, or a hundred times— it makes no difference.”

Upstairs the noises continued; then abruptly stopped. Elly and Mike turned to each other. It was over. It was too late. All they could do was wait for Carter and Maggy to return. Perretti sipped quietly on his bourbon. Minutes crawled by. In the hall the tick-tick-tock of the grandfather clock seemed to bellow.

“Which will it be, Christine?”

Elly turned to Mike, hoping he’d give her some indication as to what she should do. 

But Mike merely stared back. He knew, as she did, that Perretti would not keep witnesses alive. If the location of the ledger were ever revealed they would all be killed. But at the same time, she could see in his eyes how much he was being torn apart over what Maggy was enduring overhead.

“All right,” Perretti sighed. “Riekker, your turn. Send Carter down.”

A crooked smile creased the folds of fat in the man’s face. “Yes, sir,” he said and sauntered from the room.

Elly began to cry, the dread pouring into her mind. She fought desperately for an idea but nothing occurred. 

Perretti sipped his drink, the condescendingly said, “I can’t believe you would let this happen to that child.”

“I? You are letting it happen! Is this the proper way to conduct business?”

“You left me with nothing–”

“You never even offered a negotiation! When word gets back how you treat women and children! They’ll order your hit! Then what Tony? Will there be a sap to weep on your grave?”

“Shut up, Christine,” the man answered sternly. His previous demeanor shattered. “You tied my hands, let’s not forget. I cannot let you walk– not on this. You will be an example.” He glanced at Mike before returning to Elly. “I gave you my word they would not be harmed had you given up my ledger, but you chose to put them in the same sinking boat as you. I am still offering their lives, for the book. This is my negotiation.”

Elly bit her lip. She stared bitterly at Perretti. Wishing she had the location to give him. She looked at Mike and pleaded with her eyes that he turn it over. Mike looked away. 

“I see,” Perretti said sadly. “Linche!” he called over to the hall. The man at the front door made his way to the back room. “See what’s taking Carter so long!”

Linche turned to leave the room, but before he made it to the door hurried footsteps pounded above them. They came crashing down the stairs accompanied by hysterical sobbing. Maggy came into the room and ran straight to Mike. Her arms going around him, her face buried into his shoulder. Her clothing was torn, her hair a mess.

“Shhh,” Mike soothed. “It’s okay.” 

Elly could tell, even Mike didn’t believe his words.

© Copyright 2025 C J Driftwood. All rights reserved.