Alex felt like shit. Her head throbbed, her stomach was upset, and her body felt like a thousand pounds. She couldn’t lift an arm or a leg. Wanting to roll over from lying on her back, she tried to move and realized she wasn’t in her bed. In fact, what she lay on was damn hard and cold.

Popping her eyes open, she looked around the dimly lit area. First off, she noted there were no windows and the air was cold and dank like air in a cave or basement. As her eyes adjusted, terror grew inside her.

From hooks bolted into the ceiling hung chains and ropes and other restraining devices. Whips, shafts with feathers on the end, and was that a plug-in vibrator? Holy shit. Where was Andrew? They could play in here for a long time.

“Ah, you’re awake,” a familiar voice said—not Andrew’s. “Good.”

Alex craned her neck diagonally to see who was talking. The voice she remembered as Ted, but the vision she saw shocked her into speechlessness.

A man—Ted?—stood knotting ropes dangling from hooks. The disturbing part was he wore a black Speedo that revealed he had no package. No junk in that trunk. The scrawny, vampire-white legs were a nice touch.

Every few moments, he glanced at an image on a TV. The screen showed a naked woman bound in hanging ropes, spread eagle in the air. It looked like he had a porn movie on pause. She compared what he was tying to the image and realized that she was to become the naked woman.

She tried to get up, but like earlier, she couldn’t move. Glancing down, she saw her wrists and ankles tied to the table. At least she was still dressed.

A snippet of their earlier conversation came back to her from the bar. Ted saying that he bought sex paraphernalia for Jen, but Jen left before he could use anything on her. Alex thought Jen got out just in time. Her husband was completely off his rocker. Or a huge sex deviant.

Her mind was made up. Jen probably started out a normal person, then after so much abuse, began to lose more and more chicken nuggets from her Happy Meal. And with the body cremated, there were no remains to be examined to check for abuse.

Ted seemed to know what he was doing all along. Renting a truck to stalk Jen, smooth talking then drugging women, getting rid of a body to hide evidence. She had a feeling this wasn’t his first rodeo.

“So, Ted,” she coughed, her throat feeling dry and scratchy, “did you run Jen off the road and kill her?”

He sighed and put a hand on his hip, turning to her. “Alexandra, love, some things are unavoidable.”

She raised the side of her butt the phone was on. “Is that a yes or no, Ted?”

He harrumphed. “Yes, Alexandra, I ran her off the road, but the explosion killed her, so I didn’t have to get my hands dirty. Which I appreciated. I didn’t want to get out and risk a wild animal sniffing me.”

“Why, Ted? Jen was a nice person.”

Ted froze for a moment, dropping the rope he held. He reached toward a chrome tray and picked up a scalpel. Next to the knife lay several more surgical steel supplies, including tongs and clamps.

Her heart raced in her chest. What did he have in mind for instruments like that? She was sure he wasn’t into carving pumpkins. Fear running through her, she pulled and yanked at the binds holding her to the table. Her eyes followed his movement toward her, focused on the cutter in his hand.

He looked down on her, sadness in his expression. “Jen was not a nice person, Alexandra. She cheated on me with her asshole boss. He stole her from me.”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think he liked her,” Alex said, defending Andrew.

“No, I saw them at lunch together. Saw how she looked at him. She looked at me once like that. Then after work, she goes to that club where he always was. I know what goes on in those back rooms.”

“He owns the lounge,” she said. “He had to be there. Are you sure Jen even talked to him?”

“I don’t need to see it to know,” he replied, a smile creeping onto his face. “And the fact that bastard is under arrest for her murder is delightful. I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.”

“Wait, you planned to kill Jen?” She hoped he’d elaborate for the court.

“It didn’t take much. It was just like the others. I just had to watch and wait. Women are so predictable. But imagine my surprise when she drove up to the state park. I wondered what was going on until I saw her in a parking lot kissing her boss. He was laying it on her thick. I’m surprised they didn’t fuck on the ground then and there.”

Alex thought back to the night that seemed years ago. Andrew had kissed Jen, but it was to trick get the gun from her. It worked. If Ted had seen that, then why didn’t he recognize her? She was there with Nina.

“Did anyone see you? Was anyone else around?” she asked. Alex did her best not to stare at the overly hairy chest with a stomach that dunlapped over the Speedos.

“There were some girls, but they weren’t important. Just the stealing bastard.”

“What happened when Jen left her boss in the parking lot? Wasn’t she going back to you?”

Ted laughed. “I don’t know what they said, but it didn’t matter. The bitch is gone and if her boss gets out of jail, I’ll kill him, too.” He lifted the scalpel to his throat. “Just a quick—” he slid the blade from ear to ear, “and that will take care of him.”

He ran his palm over her breast and down her stomach. “And now, my beautiful lady, it is time to take care of you. Let’s have some fun.”

Alex thrashed on the table to no avail. Her restraints were solid. He patiently waited for her to stop, her breaths coming in pants. “What are you going to do to me?” As soon as the last word left her mouth, she decided she didn’t want to know.

Then from upstairs, the doorbell rang. Her instincts had her screaming for help before she realized she was. Again, Ted patiently stared down at her.

“No use in wasting your voice, baby girl. The basement is sound-proofed. Nobody upstairs will hear you. Save your screams for later.” He licked his lips.

She’d take her chances and continued to scream. The knife in Ted’s hand began to shake, his face wasn’t as serene as it was a minute ago. Alex sucked in a breath and closed her mouth. He was losing it.

Ted ran his gloved hand through his hair and schlepped back to the rope. He pushed the cord aside and rolled out the tray holding the surgical tools. Stopping next her, he patted her stomach.

“We should get started, darling,” Ted said. “You never know when the neighbors may come knocking.” He lifted a straight razor and held it over her head. Casually, he stepped down the side of the table, his arm extended, holding the knife above her. If the dick was into terrorizing, he was damn good at it.

The man stood at her feet and glanced up her prone form. He lowered the razor and cocked his head. “Do you know you have a hole in your shoe?”

Something upstairs crashed, and Alex screamed for her life.