Posted by hisdinner on November 24, 2004 at 22:51:41:
Harrowing (for Reilly)
Martin spotted Allie walking her dog at five AM. He snatched her off on the boulevard right under the faux gaslamps they favored in her upscale suburb. She had no time to scream.
He spent two minutes and three seconds wrapping duct tape around her ankles and wrists and around her head, after stuffing a handkerchief into her mouth. Martin pushed Allie into the back seat and opened the front, and sure enough, the dog hopped right in. When Martin tied the dog to the lamppost in front of Allie and her roommate's house, the motion detector didn't even blip. Allie rolled off the seat when Martin threw the car into reverse. The dog barked at their taillights as Allie and Martin disappeared up the street.
She struggled to right herself in the tight confines and succeeded in bringing her head up between the bucket seats and resting her chin upon the box there.
"Enjoying the view?" He glanced at Allie in the mirror, then gently pushed her backwards. Unable to catch herself, she fell onto her side. She wriggled onto the seat again by the time the car had left the city. They were climbing. It has to be Red Rock Canyon Allie thought she recognized the route. Memorize it. She blinked and tried to spot a mile marker.
He caught her eyes in the mirror again and shook his head and smiled. "Almost there."
They turned off the main road onto gravel and the smell of creosote. The car slowed as it descended a series of sharp curves. Allie's body slewed back and forth on the seat. She felt her hipbones and then her shoulder bruise against the door handles. She was nauseous and panicky behind the gag. Oh god, no, don't let me be sick. I might choke to death. she thought. Allie whimpered and struggled. Martin stopped the car.
"Yeah, that road is a bitch," he said, hauling her out and slinging her over his shoulder. They bumped along a short path to a nondescript shack behind a screen of bamboo. She saw everything from a strange upside down perspective, just after it happened. They walked through the bamboo screen and then she saw it behind them. She realized that his car was completely hidden. Just after he'd thumped her down into a straightbacked chair, she saw the table and the men and the knives. Her heart was beating hard enough to hurt.
Finally, he pulled the tape from her mouth and allowed her to spit out the cloth. She wheezed and coughed. Her eyes were tearing and her chest heaved, and she realized that she'd undone most of her buttons as she struggled in the car. She couldn't think about that now. She craned her neck to find her captor lighting a cigarette as he leaned on the counter behind her. He smiled at her again.
"This the one you wanted?" He waved the smoke cloud away and peered at the two men. They were silent. The larger of the two men nodded. He pulled a wallet from his pocket, counted out bills and paid for her.
"I'll give you more! My boyfriend will give you-- Let me go, let me just call him.. please!" She twisted back and forth in the chair, her ankles bound so tight that her feet had begun to swell.
The three men glanced at her, then looked away. She moaned as she watched the money exchange hands. Her captor riffled the bills and tucked them into the inner pocket of his jacket. All three nodded. Contract fulfilled. The shorter of the visitors pointed to the door and said, "I'll bring the van around, Mikey."
Mikey scowled and the smaller man blushed. He shrugged his shoulders, adjusted the hang of his coat, and walked out the door. Mikey turned to the man with the cigarette and said, "Brother-in-law."
Allie stared at the two of them and then back at Martin. "You can't DO this!" she screamed.
"Just did, bitch," said Mikey. "Hey, Martin, catch you in a couple three hours, right?"
Martin shook his head. "Make it four."
He ran his hands over Allie's arms and thighs, and prodded her ribcage. "You want a quality job, right?"
Mikey nodded, looking a little green. "Hey, just whatever them Tokyo folks want, you chop her into that, ok? They just pay me to deliver. I fucking HATE sushi." he added.
"Will do. Four hours. That makes it 10:00. They having her for lunch?"
Mikey shrugged. "Just so I don't have to watch," he said, heading out the door. "See you later."
They heard the van lumbering up the road. Martin regarded Allie. She was shivering and pale, crouching low on the chair.
Martin reached down and tugged the two sides of her blouse together and buttoned it closed. Allie's breath was raspy and she whimpered. Martin sat down on a matching chair about three feet away from her.
"You're beautiful," he said. He was fascinated with her eyes. And that mouth. He watched her lips quiver as she tried to talk. He felt an overwhelming need to hold her, kiss her.
Alllie struggled to not lose her mind right then and there. She went into a frenzy, twisting her wrists and ankles hard. Martin was suddenly there, whispering things, soft, soothing, as if she were an unbroken horse. She saw a glint of steel and screamed but he used the blade to slice the tape around her ankles and wrists. He sank to the floor and pulled her into him, her back against his chest. She howled and twisted but he held her tight against him, crossing her arms, gripping those tender wrists, keeping her tight against him. He rubbed the pins and needles out of her hands, easily subduing her body as she tried to break free. She struggled, first strong and hard, then less emphatically, the longer he held her, the longer he whispered nonsense into her hair. He thought she smelled like heaven. She realized that her boyfriend had never held her in his arms this long, not ever.
When Allie settled down, he released her wrists. Allie bent forward then sprang onto her feet.
"Gaaa!" she cried as she fell to her knees. Martin suppressed a grin.
"You're mine now." Martin said so quietly that Allie almost didn't hear.
"You're crazy. And besides, those men? They paid you. For me. To-- to--?"
"To be butchered." Martin cocked his head toward the kitchen, where Allie could see a full set of cutlery, a roll of butcher's paper, a stainless sink large enough to--
Allie leapt up again, and this time, she managed to keep her footing.
"But I'm not going to do that." Martin shook his head, stretching up to stand about a foot from her. "You deserve better."
"Better? You're letting me go?" Allie felt her stomach lurch inside. Why didn't that thrill her? Why was it almost disappointing? Being kidnapped --it was wild! Allie couldn't think of one time in her life she'd felt so wanted. Being butchered? Allie shook her head. She couldn't even process that right now. But going home? Back to her house. Back to PLAYING house. Hmpf. Back to Robert and his secret girlfriends and the dog--
"The dog! You... I saw you tie it to the post!"
"Yes." Martin nodded.
"Why?"
"I like dogs. Besides" He cupped her chin and drew a thumb across her lips. "We're going to need to travel light. We have a four hour lead right now. Let's go." Martin rolled his cutlery into the soft pocketed cloth and tied it, and put it inside a bag with a few clothes.
Allie stared at him. "You're not going to butcher me for some Japanese, but.. but you're kidnapping me?"
Martin smiled and said, "Think of it as a cook's tour." He tossed his bag over his shoulder and reached out, and pulled her into him, bodies tight, and kissed her, hard.
"You, I want to savor."
Alllie felt herself responding to that kiss. She wanted more.
They were a hundred miles from town when Allie remembered the set of knives inside Martin's suitcase. Surely not.
"Do you butcher many girls?" she said, trying to affect a teasy tone.
Martin smiled at the highway, picturing Gina, perched on that platter. How beautiful she'd been. Almost as pretty as this one. He turned his head and winked at Allie.
"I like mine whole."