Phillip Margolin - Ties That Bind

"No," Amanda gasped. He released her hair and she fell back on the ground. As she lay on the wet dirt, terror overwhelmed her. She had escaped the surgeon only to find herself trapped and helpless again, and this time she was alone, without hope of rescue.

"What are these?"

Amanda tried to focus on the object that dangled from the leader's hand.

"My keys," she answered.

"That's right. We have the keys to your condo, the keys to your father's house, the keys to your office. You can't keep us out. We could go to your condo right now and destroy everything you own. We could go to your father's house and slit his throat. We can do whatever we want. You understand?"

Amanda nodded.

"Stand up."

Amanda struggled to her feet. She was still woozy from being drugged, and her limbs felt like spaghetti.

"Take off your clothes."

Amanda's eyes began to tear, and she bit her lip but could not move any other part of her body. The leader hit her hard in the solar plexus. She doubled over and sank to her knees. This time she did throw up. The men watched her without speaking. She fell on all fours and vomited some more. When she stopped, a hand reached down. It was holding a handkerchief. She recognized it as one she had in her purse.

"Here. Clean up," the leader said.

She wiped her mouth.

"We'll try again." His voice was calm and patient. "Stand up and take off your clothes."

Amanda struggled to her feet and removed her raincoat. She was wearing a skirt and blouse and her fingers tripped on the buttons. The leader showed no emotion as Amanda stripped, but the other two looked excited. As soon as she stepped out of her skirt and took off her blouse, goose bumps rose on her skin. The rain and the wind chilled her to the bone and she began to shiver. Her hair hung limp and heavy with water.

"Lose the bra and the panties."

Amanda did as she was told. Her tears mixed with the rain that coursed down her cheeks. She stared past the men into the dark forest.

"That was good. You did what you were told. Now I have a question for you. You ready to answer?"

Amanda nodded, too afraid to speak.

"What can we do to you?"

"What?"

The leader nodded, and the man she'd punched with her keys grabbed her right nipple and twisted. Amanda screamed. The man twisted again. When she reached for his hand, he hit her in the ribs. Amanda fell to the ground, gasping for air. The men waited. She started to struggle to her knees, but the leader put a toe in her side, and Amanda toppled back into the mud.

"Stay there," he commanded. "It'll make it easier for us to fuck you if you miss this question again. Now, listen up. What can we do to you?"

"What . . . whatever you want."

"Good answer, but be more specific."

"Ra . . . rape me."

"Correct. What else?"

"Beat me."

"Anything else?"

Amanda's body was shaking from cold and fright.

"Kill me."

"Good. But you forgot one thing that's worse than anything you mentioned."

Something else occurred to Amanda, but she couldn't say the word.

"No," she gasped between sobs.

"I think you figured it out, haven't you? We can take you to someplace cold and dark, where no one will ever find you, and conduct experiments in pain."

Suddenly, Amanda was back in the tunnel. She was naked then, too, and the surgeon was priming her fear by telling her how he would subject her to experiments in pain. Amanda curled in a ball.

"You get it now, bitch? You understand?"

Amanda was too terrified to answer. She braced for punishment, but no one hit her.

"Now listen to me. I'm going to tell you how you can save yourself." Amanda stared into space.

"I'm going to tell you to do something. If you do it, you'll be safe. If you don't, those you love will die and you will be taken away to spend the rest of your life in agony. And it will be a long life, very long. Now ask me how you can save yourself."

"How . . . how can I save myself?"

Amanda's teeth chattered and she barely got the words out.

"You will stop investigating Jon Dupre's case and you will make certain that Dupre is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Do that and you will survive. Keep poking your nose into the case and you know the consequences. Now get dressed."

Amanda wasn't sure she'd heard the man correctly until her panties fell across her face. They were sopping wet and covered with mud, but she scrambled into them. She rolled over and found the rest of her clothes. As she dressed, her keys landed next to her feet.

"Walk straight ahead for a quarter mile and you'll find a logging road and your car."

The men turned their backs to her and faded into the darkness. Amanda struggled into her shoes and stood up. Her body was trembling uncontrollably. She wanted to get to her car and the heater, but she was afraid that the men were waiting for her in the woods, that they had built up her hopes so that they could capture her again and crush them. When the shaking began to rattle her teeth, she forced her feet forward. Then she ran. Normally, Amanda could run a quarter mile in a little over a minute, but tonight her feet tripped over themselves. When she broke out of the woods onto the logging road, she sobbed with relief. The men were gone and her car was at the side of the road. Amanda got in and locked the doors. Her hand shook so badly that it took forever to fit the car key in the ignition. Then the car started and the heater, cranked to maximum, began pumping out hot air. She started driving, sobbing quietly. What was she going to do? She couldn't bear being alone. She wanted to run to her father, but what if she was followed? They could kill Frank to demonstrate their power. They were right. They could do anything they wanted to do.

Amanda parked her car in the condo garage but she didn't get out immediately. She imagined her kidnappers lurking in the dark waiting to take her again--the punch line to a cruel joke. When she mustered the courage to leave her car, she took the stairs instead of the elevator and peered down the hall before racing to her condo. Once inside, she double-bolted her door. Then she checked every inch of her loft. When she was certain that she was alone, she went into the bathroom and ripped off her clothes. In the shower, tears of shame and frustration flowed as the hot water washed away the grime.

Amanda lost track of how long she stood under the cascading water and how many times she soaped herself. At some point, she left the shower stall and dressed in sweats and heavy socks. Her body felt clean, but she felt soiled and empty. She curled up on her couch and stared through her high windows at the lights of nighttime Portland. What was she going to do? If she was responsible for Jon Dupre's execution, she would be a murderer. If she didn't follow her captors' instructions, innocent people, including her father, could die. She didn't want to think about what might happen to her.

Amanda wrapped her arms across her breasts. She felt so helpless and she hated that feeling. But she was helpless. These people knew exactly how to control her. They'd made her relive her terror at the hands of the surgeon and they had threatened her father--the person she loved most in the world. But who were they?

This was the first time since she'd been attacked in the parking garage that Amanda had been composed enough to ask that question. Once she did, the answer was obvious. The Vaughn Street Glee Club did exist.

Part Five

AN EYE FOR AN EYE

Chapter Thirty-Nine.

Amanda dragged herself into the bedroom at eleven-thirty and tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she was back in the woods. She curled into a fetal ball, shivering despite the blankets. Exhaustion finally knocked her out a little after two-thirty, but she jerked awake several times with night sweats from bad dreams. When she woke up for good, it was still dark. A machine-gun rain rattled her windowpanes. She had no energy for calisthenics. Amanda went to the kitchen, but all she could tolerate was toast and tea. She cried while the water boiled.