Two of the three nodded immediately but the third crossed her arms across her bare chest, it was difficult to put up a stance with no clothing on but she managed well and she was beginning to feel brave now that they were out of that hell hole they had been in. Alice noted the crisscross of whip marks across her beautiful body and cringed mentally at what this woman had been through. “How do we know you’re here to help us, your dressed like that,” she gestured at Alice’s get up. “And you want us to trust you? Who are you?”
Alice was tired, she was a bit cranky, and she wanted to get out of here before they were discovered. She shrugged. “Okay, then go back, I don’t give a rats ass,” and she turned away.
“Wait a minute, I want an explanation,” she heard behind her as she hurried down the tunnel with the light. She also heard at least two of them take out after her, hurrying after their only source of light in the tunnel, then she heard one of them fall and she turned back, shining the light and seeing that all three had joined in the chase.
They walked for a long ways before coming out in another cellar. This door was not locked or hidden. The basement was bare and Alice wondered if anyone lived here. She listened carefully and heard no noises from the earlier group of people who had come through here. She saw old sacks of what looked like potato bags and indicated them to the woman. One looked at her like she was insane to suggest it and she shrugged as she looked around for the stairs to get her and them out of here. She was closely followed by the women, even the one who had hesitated at the bounty of the potato sacking for clothing, they each had at least one wrapped around their skinny and undernourished bodies as Alice noted. As the only source of light in the large basement they stuck close.
Slowly they made their way upstairs. The house was decorated in French antiques from what Alice could see. No lights were on and she kept her light low to help them walk but not so that it would shine off any windows and alert anyone that may be watching. It was obvious at least to her that no one lived here; it didn’t have that ‘lived in’ look. The antiques were merely camouflage. It was also dusty and Alice could see where the footsteps of many people had made a path from the basement door to the front door or towards what she assumed was the kitchen and back door. She found a blanket on one of the couches and threw it to the first woman. Looking around she saw no other blankets.
She wondered what she should do for the women, she couldn’t leave them here and yet she couldn’t take them with her. She spied a phone and made her way there picking it up with her gloved hand she realized there was no dial tone. She sighed disappointed.
“What now?” one of the women asked.
Alice turned around, her mag light pointed at the floor but it gave enough illumination that the four of them could see each other, sorta. “I’ve got to go get help for you three and send the police for that last gal,” she told them.
“No, you’re not leaving us here!” one of them whined.
Alice sighed. “I can’t take you with me; I have to get out of here unseen!”
“What are you some kind of cat burglar?” the belligerent one asked, she was using two of the potato sacks effectively on her sexy body.
Alice laughed a short bark of laughter as she shook her head. “The less you know about me the better.”
‘Who are you then?”
Alice gave her a look that should have told the woman to let it go but with the poor light she failed to notice it. Fortunately for Alice they couldn’t see her yellow eyes or the way they narrowed. “Look, I’ll send the police here….” she began.
“He might come, he might find us,” one of the women whimpered plaintively.
Alice didn’t know why but something about the tone of the woman’s voice reminded her of Kathy and it was this alone that made her change her mind. She wanted to leave, without these women, but she couldn’t leave them here, the woman had a point. Every moment here they were in danger of being discovered. “Okay, I will lead you to the end of the drive and get my car and take you to the hospital but you can tell no one who I am or what I did for you.”
“Who are you then?” the one repeated.
Alice grinned, the ski mask showing her even white teeth. “Just a concerned citizen.”
Alice made her way as cautiously though the hedges as she had through the tunnel. She had turned off her flashlight, not wanting to draw unwanted attention especially from the neighbor who owned this property. The gate was closed to the driveway and a doorway held another walkway gate that was locked. Alice picked the lock by feel mostly because she still didn’t want to turn on the mag light, it wasn’t worth the risk.
“Stay here,” she breathed to the three women and wondered if they would listen as she made her way down the street. When she was far enough away from them in the shadows of the street she pulled the mask up making it a hat that still hid her gorgeous blonde hair but no longer her face in case anyone was out jogging or walking at this time of night. She made her way to her SUV and quickly got inside looking for anything that might give her away to these three women. The car had been cleaned before her trip and her bags had been the only thing inside, she kept her purse in the glove compartment which was locked so she knew nothing should give her away, still she was careful and slipped behind the wheel and drove up the street cautiously, her lights off as she made her way around a couple of parked cars and pulled up to the house next to Eli Watson’s. She pulled her mask back down as she unlocked the car doors and rolled down a window on the passenger’s side. She looked at the gate pointedly as she leaned down and they could see her. Three naked asses high stepped their way across the sidewalk and quickly got in the SUV.
“Whew,” one of them breathed as they all closed the car doors rather loudly to Alice’s ears. She slowly drove off and turned her lights back on as she passed Eli’s estate. “Oh God, how can we thank you!” she breathed excitedly.
“By not telling anyone about my part in this,” Alice requested with her commanding voice.
“Why not, why don’t you want us to tell?” the belligerent one asked.
Alice shrugged as she tapped her GPS and looked for the nearest hospital. “Because I don’t want to be questioned or involved.”
“But you saved us!” the one that sounded like Kathy said breathily.
Alice nodded to acknowledge what she said. “But I don’t want anyone to know.”
The three argued unsuccessful the entire ten minutes it took to get to the hospital. “Get out,” Alice said when she was still a good fifty feet from the well-lighted entrance to the emergency room.
“You expect us to just walk in like this?” the belligerent one asked incredulously.
Alice nodded as she looked in her rear view mirror at the pretty woman. “Yes, it lends credence to what will be a fantastic story; you want them to believe you don’t you? You want to see Eli Watson,” she stressed his name again for them to know and remember who had done this to them, “To get his just dues?”
They all nodded but the belligerent one argued one more time, “Why can’t you just take us up to the entrance.”
Alice sighed, she just wanted to get away from this, to leave, she had come here and found out what she needed to know, Eli Watson would go down for this crime, he didn’t have anything left for her to take from him other than his good name. In fact finding these women hadn’t been part of her plan, but then she hadn’t known what she would find. These women and what they told could be found in his basement would be his downfall, totally and absolutely. She hadn’t told them what to say other than to leave her out of it. Alice slipped her hand between her legs as she turned to address the three women when her hand came up an automatic pistol was taken from its holster under her seat. “I said get out,” she said sternly. Yes, it was the gun that did it but her commanding and masterful voice lent a lot of credence to her command and the three of them slid out of the SUV and onto the sidewalk. Alice waited until both doors had been slammed before driving rapidly off. Sh
e waited until she was down the street and around a corner to pull her ski mask off and return the gun to its holster. She knew her car could have been seen in the cameras of the hospital but not her license plates since she had covered them with dirt earlier. The description could be her undoing though and she headed for the freeway. She had been nervous driving with her ski mask on but fortunately it was late at night and she had timed the lights to the hospital correctly. She was ever so relieved to have it off though. Her last glance in the rear view mirror had the three women sprinting to the emergency room entrance, two in potato sacking and another with a blanket wrapped securely around her.
Alice stopped at a small town on the Oregon/California border to sleep, shower, and change her clothes; it had been a long couple of days. She found it wonderfully ironic to use Eli’s cash to pay for the room and one of her false I.D.’s to check in. When she woke she turned on the news but saw nothing of consequence and she wondered at that. Had Eli Watson been more powerful than she had thought and bribed the right people? Had his power kept the three women’s testimony from bringing him down? She wondered about bankrupting the corrupt bastard, was he aware of it as of yet? Until she got to her computer she couldn’t answer the last questions and all day as she drove she listened to the radio hoping to hear something but perhaps it would only be on the local Portland news and not make the airwaves.
When she pulled into her private complex she waved at the guard who waved back recognizing the pretty woman who lived in that nice set of condo’s along the harbor, one of the lucky ones who had a boat too! He let her through without asking for I.D. and resumed his station as she drove in. She slowed down as she went down her street looking for their watchers and much to her surprise spotted one of the cars with their occupants watching her condo. This alarmed her, hadn’t Eli Watson’s funds dried up, didn’t they know, and hadn’t he been arrested? Alice was worried and dismayed and pulled into her drive a little abruptly concerned about Kathy after her three day absence.
“Hello,” she called but heard nothing in return. Her heart was in her throat in alarm. She hadn’t seen Portia’s car and she knew the goons would have followed them if they had gone with her anywhere.
“Hello,” she called again and then realized someone was out by the dock. She dropped her bags in the hallway and headed for the patio door glancing across the way to see if she could see the guy with the binoculars with her naked eye but even her eyesight wasn’t that good.
“Hey your back!” Kathy said in delight as she saw her come through the door.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief as Kit came running towards her, she gave her a brief hug before encouraging her to head back by her Mom on the pier. “Whatcha guys doing?” she asked trying to sound and look normal as she glanced around fearfully.
“Feeding the fishes,” Kit said happily as she squeezed Alice’s hip.
Alice nearly choked on that play on words but smiled instead. “So where is Portia?” she asked casually as she walked up to Kathy with Kit clinging to her.
“She went to get us dinner, we didn’t know when you’d be back and you didn’t call,” Kathy said in a voice that told Alice she had been missed. It also annoyed Alice momentarily because she realized she should have called at least once but had forgotten in her need to accomplish what she had.
Alice grinned. “Yeah I know I got tied up,” she smiled at the double entendre remembering where she had been and what she had seen. “When I knew I was free to come home I thought I’d surprise you.” Her eyes said a lot to Kathy.
Kathy interpreted the look and knew their ‘dry’ spell that was period induced was over at least tonight but then she remembered that Portia was here and staying with them so maybe not.
“How’d it go?” Kathy asked as the three of them walked companionably toward the condo.
Alice shrugged. “Fine I guess, I’ll know more in the coming weeks.” She didn’t want to think it would take weeks. She suspected it hadn’t gone well if the thugs were still watching the condo. Fortunately she had gotten home and Portia was only gone for a little while, she wondered if the thugs had just been contemplating storming the place.
They sat and chatted and then the doorbell rang. Kathy jumped at the sound and Alice went to answer it. She looked at the monitor and saw Portia standing on the porch with fried chicken and opened the door for her.
“Oh your back,” Portia said with a smile. Then she glanced at the food. “I don’t know if there is enough…” she began but Alice cut her off.
“Don’t worry about it, there’s fruit and fried food would make me ill,” she smiled as Portia made her way into the kitchen.
“Ohhh yummy, fried chicken,” Kit said in an excited voice.
The three of them ate the chicken, fries, and buns as Alice made herself a salad with plenty of fruit.
“How was your business trip?” Portia asked.
“Fine, fine, I should know more in the coming weeks,” she repeated what she had said to Kathy, it was best when you lied to tell the same lie, it lent credence to it and was easier to remember.
“What was it you went to do?” Portia asked interested.
Alice shrugged. “Just business,” and tried to drop the subject.
“Wasn’t it about some property you invested in?” Kathy asked.
Alice nodded and was relieved that they dropped the subject moving on to places that they would like to visit if they were in Las Vegas.
They played scrabble but had to downplay it to an eight year olds level for Kit’s sake until she went to bed. Then Kathy and Portia played as Alice turned on the news. Nothing told her what she wanted to know and she desperately wanted to get to her computer but didn’t want to be rude to her guests. She was tired though and the two women were sitting on the couch where she intended to sleep. She finally stretched exaggeratedly as she turned off the television watching as the artwork hid it from sight and she went to pick up her bags from the hallway to carry them upstairs so she could change for bed.
“Do you and Kathy want to take the bed?” Portia asked knowingly.
Alice stopped, she had heard the innuendo before when she left and she was sure the two of them had exchanged confidences since she had been gone but to have it boldly spelled out like this was a little much as far as she was concerned. It angered her. Being tired, and a little jumpy about a situation that no one else knew about had her biting back a scathing reply as she shook her head and headed for the stairs.
Kathy and Portia exchanged a look over the game they had been playing. Portia frowned slightly and mouthed ‘what’s wrong’ and Kathy shrugged as she waited for Alice to make it up to the master bedroom loft and followed her.
Alice had thrown one bag in the bottom of the closet and was unpacking the other which contained clothes she hadn’t worn. She looked up in alarm as Kathy came in and closed the door
“Is something wrong?” she asked worriedly.
Alice shook her head as she stared at her in consternation, she felt as though her privacy had been invaded. She also felt a little crowded at the moment. A solitary creature she was used to working alone and had done so for a long time in her life. Having someone to answer to was a new situation to her and she wasn’t used to it.
“You’ve been very quiet this evening,” Kathy said as she looked at Alice, there was something more, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, a tenseness that was in Alice.
Alice shrugged trying to put her off. “I’m just tired, it was a long drive,” she said and then could have bitten off her tongue; Kathy had thought she had flown.
“A long drive from the airport?” Kathy mused and then realized what Alice had said, “You drove from Las Vegas?” she asked incredulously.
Alice shrugged again. “It’s only a few hours.”
“But why?” Kathy asked surprised, she knew Alice had a lot of money; she and Portia had talked about that and a million other things while she had been gone and they had been catchi
ng up.
Alice looked at her oddly. “Why not, it’s a nice drive and I enjoyed it.”
Kathy looked at her; something about her eyes though was strange. She felt almost uneasy as she looked at her girlfriend. She mentally shrugged it off though, she didn’t know enough about Alice to question anything she did and she went to take her in her arms. “I’m sorry, here I am giving you the third degree when you’re tired and probably just want a shower.”
Alice returned the hug and gave her a chaste little kiss on the lips before being released and heading into the bathroom. When she heard the bedroom door open and close she returned to her bag and put away the clothes she hadn’t used and stuffed the dark ones into the bag in the closet. She put away her travel bag and pulled out clothes for bed from her dresser and went into the bathroom to shower and change.
“Bye, bye,” they waved and called as Portia drove her Mercedes sedan out of the driveway and down the road of the complex. The three of them waved until they couldn’t see her car anymore and returned to the condo.
“Now what are we going to do?” Kit asked as they closed the front door.
“Well, Alice and I have got work to do and your vacation means you get to play a while longer,” Kathy told her as she glanced at Alice.
Alice knew what that glance meant, they had to talk and she really didn’t feel like talking yet. She needed to find out certain things and she couldn’t wait to get to ‘work’ on them.
They sat down to breakfast first and for once turned on the television to the news, Alice lied and said she was waiting to see what the local stocks were doing but it was really to see if there was any news on Eli Watson but she doubted it had gone national. She had thought of using her contacts to spread that news but she didn’t know if those three women had reported it and she desperately needed to get to her computers to find out.
Finally breakfast was over and Kit amused with coloring and crayons, she was actually quite good and took pride in not coloring outside the lines, evenly coloring beautiful pictures in her books, it could keep her occupied for an hour at a time, enough time for her mother to do some work before she got bored and had to be amused otherwise. It was also enough time for Alice to get a little done as she hurried up to her alcove.
Malice Masterpieces Page 26
