Excerpt 122

Ala rolled onto her side and she heard the thick metal door scraping shut.  The rope didn’t feel as tight as before, but her body was worn and her fingers felt numb. She tried to remember Emmanuel’s letter to her, yearning for a recollection of a passage that would warn her that something like this could happen. As if it wasn’t obvious that letting a stranger sleep in his bed and removing some of his very expensive possessions from his home were not obvious reasons as to why this had happened. The offer of ten thousand dollars had been ridiculous.  If all of his art meant so much to him, why not hire a professional to watch over them?  She was grasping for any angle to make the entire mess Emmanuel’s fault.

Her neck itched and she jerked her head from side to side, only feeding her frustration. A muscle stretched and then froze in her neck.  It was a deep pain and since she could not use her hands, laid there, very still, hoping to fall asleep again.  Her wet clothes were cold and stiff and cramps spread throughout her stomach from hunger.

She had been spoiled. Emmanuel had given her the least laborious summer job with the biggest payout she could ever imagine and she had not taken it seriously. She had abandoned all responsibility in her position.  And the punishment was extreme.  Bruno and those men could do anything they wanted to her.  There was nothing anyone could do except find her, but she wasn’t sure if anyone knew yet that she was missing.  Her parents thought she was staying at Emmanuel’s house and finding them in the position she did, would not be concerned if she did not reach out to them or ignored their calls.  Gene was angry with her and Gertrude was busy trying to find a husband.  Danno was the only one who would think something was strange.  Then again, he hadn’t known her long.  He could think that she chose to shut him out and or worse, go back to Boston to be with Jase.

She was afraid to think of any escape possibilities.  Most likely because she knew she would fail and they would catch her and kill her.  And then, no one would know what happened to her even if they did start looking.  There was a better chance she’d be found if she stayed alive.  The metal scraped again and out of the corner of her eye, Ala saw one of the masked men.  His footsteps approached and she tried to keep from looking at him.  She knew he was coming, but still felt caught off guard when he bent down toward her.

Something in his hand flashed in the light and he grabbed hold of her shirt and began to cut it off her back.  The scissors creaked against her skin.  He pulled the fabric off and threw it across the room.  He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up on her knees. He began to cut her shorts down the side of her thigh, clasping her bottom.  She felt her breasts harden once the cold air hit her bra, while the arch in her back allowed him to drink in her exposed form.  Mortified, she closed her eyes and waited for someone, anyone, to come in and shoot the man. The blistering desire she had for him to be dead was alarming.  It was the first time she realized that there are circumstances when murder is the only option.