SEVEN
The girls arrived at the Edward’s ranch bright and early. The furniture had been stored over the weekend and demolition had begun. Strangely, Leslie Jacobs hadn’t appeared to micromanage their job.
Sarah checked her notes against the blueprint Peter had overnighted. “Olivia, do you see this anomaly on the blueprint. I hadn’t realized there was a room behind the fireplace wall.”
Perplexed, Olivia scrutinized the blueprint. “Strange, it has never been mentioned. I suppose we should inspect it before we seal it up.”
They grabbed a couple of hardhats and searched for the entrance to the hidden room. Sarah bumped the sconce next to the mantel and the brick shifted revealing an entryway. “Found it.”
Olivia licked her lips. “Indeed, you did. Can you tell if it’s dark?”
Sarah squinted. “Believe it or not I see a light. Do you smell that? I think its coffee.”
Olivia sniffed. “What or who in the hell have we found?”
Olivia startled, when cold steel poked her ribs. “Don’t worry about what you have found, just go inside.” She recognized that voice, it was Homer.
Her body jolted forward and she grabbed Sarah’s arm. “I don’t understand, what is going on? What do you want from us?”
Homer clenched his jaw. “Shut the fuck up, you talk too damn much. Now walk, both of you. There is someone, who is anxious to see you again.”
Sarah’s body trembled, but they shuffled their feet closer to the bright light. Olivia stood firm and taunted Homer. “You do realize when Garrett finds out, your life will be worthless.”
Homer laughed a hideous sinister sound. “Darling, I will be long gone before he finds your bones.”
“Homer, don’t give our guests the gory details yet. Leave me something to surprise them with.” Phillip’s voice boomed in their ears. Sarah braced Olivia momentarily.
She brushed herself off and stood tall. “You will not defeat me. I am no longer the innocent thing you kicked around for all those years.”
His hair fell over his face and his eyes glowed manically. “We shall see who defeats whom. If it’s a battle of wills you desire, it will be exactly what you get.”
“Let Sarah go, she is merely an innocent bystander. It’s me that you want. Now, you have me.”
Phillip tossed two pair of handcuffs at Homer’s feet. “Lock them up, hands behind their backs and you may leave. And I might suggest the country.”
Homer cuffed both ladies, but stopped at the door. “I assume she has my cash upstairs?”
Phillip stepped back toward a small countertop. He flipped a switch, “Leslie, my love, he is leaving.” A click was heard on the intercom. “She will be waiting for you.”
The hidden door locked behind Homer. Olivia plead some more. “How are you going to keep Garrett from finding us. When we don’t return tonight, he will come here.”
A monitor sprang to life behind him. We noticed Garrett and Erik on horseback. They appeared to be near Sweetwater Creek. Erik gathered samples and Garrett tracked the water’s edge. When they neared MPI, alarms squawked. Armed guards emerged and surrounded them.
Tears streamed and Sarah’s began to sob. Olivia comforted her but handcuffed made it difficult. She whispered. “I know it hurts, but he gets off on weakness. We have to be strong to see this finished.” Sarah shook her head and dried her tears. They returned their gaze to the monitor.
Erik and Garrett stood tall with their hands in the air. A guard barked. “What business do you have here?”
“We stopped to water our horses. Some of our cattle got loose.” Garrett lied, of course, but was quick on his feet.
“You have stumbled into a restricted area. I give you five minutes to get on your horses and ride away from here.”
“Sure, we meant no harm. We will get out of your way.” The boys mounted up and rode away.
The girls puffed out an exhale, they apparently held their breath during the interrogation.
Phillip chuckled. “Got away by the hair of his chinny chin chin…no doubt. They are treading in dangerous territory. My dummy corporation set up legitimately, but makes illegal drugs, dumps the run-off water into the creek. Sweetwater no more, Tsk Tsk Tsk, poor horseys…”
“You evil man. Why? Didn’t daddy give you a big enough allowance?” Phillip backhanded Olivia across her cheek. Blood trickled down her chin from a split lip.
He yanked her head up. “Leave my parents out of this.”
“Or what Phillip? You’ll beat me? That fucking ship has sailed. I am immune to you.” Olivia spat out her words a metaphorical slap on his face.
Phillip gritted his teeth and ripped the front of her blouse. “Watch closely, little one. I will show you how a real man treats his bitch.” His words were slurred and he stumbled, unlike the Phillip Powers she once knew.
Sarah turned her head away. Phillip grabbed her cheeks and forced her head around. His fingers imprinted her cheeks that later bruised. “Don’t turn away from me when I am talking or you will get the same as she does.”
She swallowed hard and held her head up. “Bastard, you have no idea who you are dealing with.” Sarah jerked her head from his grip.
He caressed her lips with his crooked finger. “Care to enlighten me on my enemy?”
Sarah laughed hysterically. “Nope, I want you to be so surprised you shit your pants.” She finished with gritted teeth.
Olivia heard her cellphone ringing in the distance. She recognized the ringtone as Garrett’s, followed only moments later by Sarah’s phone and she guessed it’s Erik. Phillip tuned into the phones quickly. He flipped that convenient switch once more. “Leslie, my lovely, do find those annoying phones and silence them.”
“As you wish, sir.” Came back her curt reply.
“How long do you think you have? We didn’t answer.” Olivia watched him pace much like a caged animal. “Don’t think they will believe everything is going as planned when neither one of us answered our phones.”
“Shut up cunt. I need to think.” He paced and tangled his fingers in his hair and trembled.
“What the great Phillip Powers without a plan?” Olivia jeered him.
He stepped toward her and landed a punch to her stomach. She doubled over and screamed in pain. The door flew open and Leslie sprinted inside. “What are you doing? This is not the revenge you spoke of to me.”
Swiftly, he had Leslie by the throat against the wall. “Plans change when opportunity strikes, my lovely. Don’t interfere.” His mouth crushed against hers and she melted into his touch. Her arms pulled at his hair and his body thrust against hers.
Olivia sneered. “What the fuck, you two get a room.”
He released Leslie. “My dear Olivia, it is nothing compared to the crop against your pink ass or watching him plunder your brown flower.” His expression showed amusement.
She gasped. “How do you know?” It clicked, Homer. The night Garrett caught him upstairs. “Homer.” She expelled under her breath.
Phillip’s satisfied expression confirmed her suspicions. “Yes, Homer proved to be a competent cohort in my spy game.”
Her face flushed, embarrassed that Sarah was privy to such personal information. Leslie perched on the sofa across from the handcuffed women. “Your interludes did provide some stimulating entertainment for Master and I.”
Phillip quickly turned on her. “Leslie, do not speak.” She whimpered but remained silent.
He dragged Olivia by her hair to the rug in the center of the room. A hook dangled from the beam in the ceiling. “It is time to have some fun.” He re-arranged his cock in his trousers.
He forced Olivia to the floor and unzipped his pants. “You have done it before, my pet. Do it again or I will hang Sarah from the hook and eat out her pussy while she screams.”
Olivia glanced at Sarah. “You give me no choice. Aren’t you afraid I might bite it off?”
Leslie produced a whip from beside the couch. “My subbie will strike you, each and every time you don’t please me.”
She closed her lids, visions of Garrett’s beautiful body filled her mind. He scrubbed the slick tip against her lips. She opened her mouth, licking and sucking not Phillip but Garrett, until he slapped her cheek. “Eyes up here cunt.”
Abruptly her mind switched to reality and she gagged at his grotesque manner. A loud crack breaks the air and Olivia was struck on her back. The whip tore her blouse and exposed the red welt on her skin. She bit down on his flaccid cock. Even he knew the attraction was no longer there.
“You, cunt stop it.” He pushed her away, but not before Leslie laid in another two strikes.
Olivia barely breathed during the pain, first her stomach, now this. Her face was swollen and one lip was dangerously cut.
Sarah screamed at Phillip. “You, fucking monster. What are you trying to do, Kill her?” She stared at Leslie. “Get her some water and take care of these wounds you, stupid bitch.”
Phillip dropped to his knees and grabbed his head. Leslie brought water and cleaned Olivia’s wounds. “Feed them. I will return shortly.” Phillip dragged himself further down into the hidden sanctum.
The time passed slowly with no light or clock. The construction noises faded. Olivia laid with her head in Sarah’s lap. She felt helpless, but she remained steadfast Erik and Garrett would find them soon. She had been elongating her fingers and wrists. She almost had one hand free.
“How are you feeling?” Sarah asked Olivia.
“Like a pile of horse shit.” Olivia managed quietly. Sarah laughed.
“I have no words for how you protected me today. I can never repay you for what it means to me and to Erik.”
She moved to sit up. “Listen, this is not your fault. It’s my past catching up with me.”
“How was your respite, ladies. Ready for some more fun?” Phillip’s voice sounded eerie from the dark side of the room.
They both stiffened. The unpredictability of their captor frightened them both. “Bring it on.” Olivia goaded him.
“Always so eager, my pet.” Phillip slapped a riding crop across his palm. “Perhaps, you will show me the same pleasure your Cowboy receives at the end of the crop.”
She gnashed her teeth. “Only a real man knows how to use it properly. You will never get pleasure from me ever again. I would sooner die.”
Phillip appeared under the spotlight. He had taken off his shirt, his ribs protruded. His skin flushed red and eyes were sunken and bloodshot. His body twitched a bit.
Olivia scrutinized his body language and appearance “Oh my god, you are hooked on your own drugs. No wonder you don’t want anyone to find out about your little opium factory.”
Olivia had his full attention. Sarah spotted a knife a few feet away on the counter, if she just slipped her hand free.
“I guess you’d have no idea about being the perfect son, living up to daddy’s standards. Then when you called off the wedding, they accused me of being a failure. I had to prove them wrong. I had to make my own fortune. And oh baby, when I found this magic powder,” He pulled a packet from his pocket and waved it at her. “…my life took off. Fuck you, but I can’t let you be happy without me. Not after you destroyed my reputation by having me put in jail. My parents disowned me after that incident. All I had left was Leslie and the magic powder. But you, you have to endure your punishment.” He swayed back and forth, soaring high and unable to stand still. He slapped the crop against his thigh with a thunderous whack.
Oblivious to anything but the sound of his own voice, he hadn’t noticed Sarah inching her way behind him, nor did her hear male voices upstairs.
Garrett located the blueprints. He noticed the same thing the girls had found that morning. “Erik, look at this.” He pointed out the hidden room before he moved, Leslie appeared out of nowhere.
“Gentlemen, can I help you?” She tried to be cool under pressure. She knew Phillip was awake again.
Garrett wheeled around and pointed a gun at her. “Depends on if you are honest or part of this trap.”
“Trap? What are you talking about?” The sweat on her upper lip confessed her guilt.
Erik frisked her. “What do we have here?” He produced a small caliber pistol.
“That is nothing. After all, I am a woman alone out here.” She fidgeted herself into a corner.
“Good to know, so where are Olivia and Sarah?” Garrett continued to hold her at gunpoint.
Erik, however, rooted around the fireplace and found the sconce. “Garrett this way.”
Leslie lunged for Garrett and he fired a shot. She fell to the floor, he hit her in the leg. She was hurt but not dead.
Inside the secret room, the girls recognized gunfire and began to scream. Sarah had obtained the knife and was about to cut Phillip when Erik charged in with gun pointed ahead.
Sarah dropped the knife and ran to Erik’s side. Garrett conversely had Phillip Powers right where he wanted him. “Don’t move Powers.” He strode closer to the frozen maniac. “Erik, take Sarah and Olivia outside to the truck and call the sheriff. Let him decide if he needs to send an EMT.”
Olivia stood between Garrett and Phillip. “Garrett, please, don’t. He’s not worth it. He is hopped up on drugs.” Olivia pleaded with him. “My scars will heal, but I can’t live my life without you, Bear.”
Garrett caressed her cheek and watched Powers lost in his own world. “But he hurt you, again. I can’t let that go, baby.”
Tears dripped down Olivia’s battered face. “He won’t hurt us again. He will go away for a long time. We can see to that. Let the law take him down. Please, for me?”
The sirens blared outside this broken place. “Give me the goddamn key to get these fucking cuffs off my woman.”
Phillip knew he was beat. He placed the key in Olivia’s hand and fell to his knees and howled. The authorities stormed in and dragged him away. Garrett released Olivia and she locked her arms around him. “What took you so long?”
“I am never letting you out of my sight again. I just might have you microchipped.”
Erik stuck his head in the room. “The EMTs want to check Olivia over.”
Garrett smiled. “We will be right up.” He studied to his friend. “Sarah, did he harm her?”
Erik choked back tears and in a broken voice. “No Olivia, she told me you saved her. Something you didn’t know is, Sarah is a virgin. There is no way I can ever do enough to thank you for this.”
Garrett released her into Erik’s hug. “She was innocent and still is. You two are going to make a wonderful couple.”
“Can I have my girl back?” Garrett escorted her to the ambulance.
Once statements were given and bandages applied, the foursome gathered at the Double T ranch. “There is still the matter of the water contamination.” Erik reminded them.
“The forestry service is supervising that. Thanks to your diligence in sampling the source and pinpointing the poison.”
Olivia raised her head from Garrett’s shoulder. “Homer was in on all of this. We are going to have to debug the house. Phillip had him install cameras and listening devices. Poor
Sarah had to hear some harsh things.” She stroked Sarah’s arm. “It doesn’t change your opinion of us does it, love?”
“Of course not. What you and Garrett enjoy privately is just that, private. I can only hope it doesn’t come out at trial.”
“Trial, I hadn’t even thought of that. We can only pray the DA gets him to take a plea. The DEA got a big bust out of this debacle as well. He was supplying the entire east coast.” She shivered at the thought.
Garrett kissed the top of her head. “I think the sedative the EMT gave you is taking hold. If you will excuse us, I better carry sleeping beauty upstairs. You two can see yourselves out, whenever you’re ready.” He cradled Olivia in his arms up to their bedroom.
***
Sarah and Erik headed back to Tomitown. Erik parked outside the store. He held her hand and smoothed circles with his thumb. “Sarah, today’s events put a lot of things in perspective for me. I love you so much it hurts. I can’t go another day without asking you to be my wife.” He slipped a perfect pear shaped diamond onto her left ring finger.
Choked tears made her voice broken. “Yes, Erik. I will marry you.”
***
The Devil’s Peak overlooked Sweetwater Creek, within about thirty miles of Tomitown. Although dangerous, a cave system remains today. Smoke tendrils float upward from a campfire lit deep in the woods of Cedar Ridge Forest. The smell of fried bacon wafted across the cool night air. Homer cooked his dinner and camped in the caves. He leaned against a tree and sipped his hot coffee. He had heard the sirens just a few hours ago. From his perch in a nearby vacated deer stand, he observed the scene through binoculars. He grinned when the sheriff shoved Powers into a squad car. “Well, well, rich junkie kid got his handed to him, about time.”
The ambulance trundled along the dirt road to the Edward’s place. Leslie was taken out on a stretcher. That Erik kid had Sarah wrapped up in a blanket. “Where’s Garrett and his bitch?”
“Damn, that Powers fucker was harsh on the her. She deserved it.” He replaced the binoculars in the case. “I just might have to exact my kind of revenge and finish that crazy son of a bitch’s job.” His laugh rebounded in the wind for no one to hear. “Yep, I guess I better get to planning.”