by J. S. Luxor
Chapter Nine – Death Wish
MEGAN’S POV
I awaken in our Spanking Room and find Matt staring into my eyes with a probing and anxious expression on his gorgeous face.
“Last night was incredible,” I mumble as I awaken. “I’m sore in all the right places, my love.”
“Good to know, Megan. I want you to think about the risk you took with Roseanne every time you feel a twitch today. I feel terrible for her family and what they must be going through right now,” he admits.
“I’ll be having nightmares for months over the fact that I encouraged her to meet with Michael.”
“I like knowing that you have a strong conscience, Megan, and care so much about the fact that you had an indirect role in someone’s death. You’ve grown into an ethical young woman while we’ve healed our relationship.”
“That’s because I’ve learned to think of others before myself, at last,” I admit and kiss his amazing brow with affection.
That calms Matt down in a flash. “Thank goodness because I love you so damn much, Megan,” he gushes while we snuggle together.
“Would you like one of my famous omelets for breakfast?” I tempt with a flirty smile.
“Of course, but first I’d like to have you for breakfast.”
“I’ll be coming right up,” I promise with an exaggerated blink to my eyes.
“You’ve got that right, baby,” he asserts while running his tongue down my throat and settling his toy between my legs. It’s nearly an hour later, when we eat our omelets.
The weeks fly by quickly after we tell the police a bit more about Roseanne and Michael Kingsfield. He seems to have vanished from the face of the earth however.
I’m hard at work on blogs when I get a text from Matt. Cane’s been assigned to me for security protection.
“The condo construction has begun. Want to join me for the first shovel of dirt celebration?”
“Of course! What time and where?”
“Meet me near Elliott Bay at 5:30pm tonight. Directions to follow.”
“Yes, sir. Can’t wait to see it.”
I leave with Cane and head toward the location that I thought Matt gave me. When we arrive, the area’s filled with warehouses and looks deserted but that’s how new construction works. I’m not alarmed, at first.
We look around for a solid five minutes but Matt’s nowhere to be seen. I call him on his cell but his voice mail is all I get. Cane’s having no luck contacting either Rush or Matt. That’s strange.
Just as we turn from the site and head toward the SUV, a black Mercedes swings into view. It cuts us off before we can reach our vehicle. Cane goes into high alert and takes a defensive stand while pulling out his loaded weapon from a side holster under his armpit. The Mercedes guns its engine and starts moving slowly toward us.
“Get behind me, Megan, and stay close. I’m your shield,” Cane orders with utter confidence. My heart starts beating as though it’s about to explode. I suspect that Michael’s behind the wheel of the offending car. I worry that he’s tapped into my phone somehow and then start to panic when I consider what he might have done with Matt. Maybe Michael’s obtained Matt’s phone.
“What do you want?” I scream out in terror.
My phone buzzes and I check my texts. Sure enough there’s a message from “Matt”. Now I know for sure that Michael’s either got Matt’s phone or he’s forcing him to send the messages. Michael directed us to this location then. Maybe he’s taken Matt hostage as well.
The text message reads: “Get into the car.” I read the message to Cane and then let him know that someone’s gotten hold of Matt’s phone and maybe Matt himself.
“What should we do?”
“You’re not getting into that car,” Cane insists.
However, the Mercedes begins to inch its way toward us and moves us further from the protection of our own SUV.
Cane points his gun at the tires of the offending obstacle but before he can get a shot off, a bullet whips by his head and ricochets off a nearby metal drum. That’s when I notice that the front passenger window of the Mercedes is open just a crack. The blackened barrel of a Glock glistens in the fading light.
“Hit the ground, face down,” Cane yells at me as he crouches down in front of me with his weapon still drawn. All color has drained from Cane’s face as he assesses the situation. I flip myself down on the ground in a nanosecond and attempt to flatten out as much as possible.
In the very next instant, a second shot comes at Cane and hits him in the right hand. That’s when his gun flies from his grip and he winces with pain while grabbing his injured palm. I manage to retrieve the fallen weapon.
“Let go of the gun, Megan,” Michael commands from his car window. I do as I’m told.
“Where’s Matt?” I demand to know.
“He’s in the car with me. Come over and see for yourself.”
“Don’t believe him,” Cane tells me quietly. “It’s very likely a trap.”
“Let me see Matt and then I’ll come over,” I manage to blurt out.
My phone buzzes. The incoming text shows a picture of Matt, bound and gagged. He looks stunned. I shove the phone toward Cane so that he sees the evidence.
“It doesn’t mean that Matt’s in the car. He could be held elsewhere.”
“Nonetheless, if Michael’s got Matt, I must help him.”
“If you get into the Mercedes, he’ll have both of you. We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“Distract Michael somehow and I’ll grab the gun. Let me shoot one of the tires.”
“Megan’s going to slowly crawl over to your door, Kingsfield. She wants to see Matt for herself,” Cane lies.
“Get your ass over here now, Miss Pine,” Michael orders from the crack in the window.
That’s when Cane takes a handful of stones and dirt and hurls it toward the open window. He begins to roll on the ground toward our SUV. I roll as quickly as possible toward the grill of the Mercedes and fire the gun at the Benz’s right front tire two times. I hit my target on the second round.
That’s when Michael lowers the window of the passenger seat all the way and starts firing at Cane’s rolling body. He misses. That gives Cane enough time to wedge himself behind a large metal barrel at the construction site.
Michael curses and then opens the car door to get a better angle. As he steps out to take aim at either me or Cane, I sit up and adjust my own weapon. There’s at least four more bullets in my gun and I know how to use them to the best advantage.
“Put the gun down, Megan. I don’t want to shoot you. I have plans for you,” he assures me.
“Like what? Raping and strangling me as you did to Roseanne?” I ask to distract him.
“She deserved it, the little tramp. All she wanted to do was use me for my money…Your boyfriend slept with her, you know,” he divulges in a feeble attempt to enrage me.
“That was long before we even met, Kingsfield, so don’t go there,” I assure him. I notice that Cane’s been slowly inching toward the driver’s side of the SUV as I engage Michael in a heated conversation. Cane’s moving the barrel in front of himself like a shield.
“Don’t believe him for an instant, Megan. Your beloved Matt banged Marissa, Jillian and Roseanne among many others. Did you know that, you little fool?”
“How did you discover that?” I ask with feigned horror. I’ve known Matt’s backstory about the BDSM sex for a long while and I’m not threatened. That was all part of his distant past and related to his psychological trauma during childhood when he was kidnapped and held for ransom. Of course, Michael doesn’t need to know that I know.
“Roseanne and Jillian fessed up before I choked the living breath out of each of those whores,” he conveys with satisfaction.
“Why are you telling me the story, Michael?”
“So that you’ll never trust that son of a bitch again. If you’d only stayed with me, I could have given you the world, Megan. Now, yo
u’ll forever wonder if your Matt is out banging and beating someone else when he’s working late some night.”
“Thanks for bursting my bubble, Michael. If I’d married you, I’d be wondering when and if you were about to strangle me, however. I guess it’s a matter of choosing my poison.”
“It would never have come down to violence with you. I cherished you Megan, and you ran from me. You’re as fickle as your mother.”
“I ran from Matt too, and it had nothing to do with being fickle,” I confess as I watch Cane carefully moving himself and his shield toward the SUV.
“Why did you run away from both of us, then? Afraid of men?” Michael asks with real interest.
“I ran because I didn’t trust the meaning of love. I thought the phrase “I love you” was just empty; used to manipulate me.”
“You’re wrong, Megan. I loved you with a purity and intensity that would have assured you of my unwavering loyalty and care for the rest of your life. That’s a lot more than Frazier will ever be able to give you. He’s a sick and twisted puppy.”
“That may be, but why should you care?”
“Because I’m going to make you mine and show you what you’re missing. You’ve never even had sex with me. I’d bet once you’ve had a taste of my bad boy, you’d never want that pathetic, psychologically scarred creep near you again.”
I chuckle at the ego that Michael displays. He’s clearly disturbed if he thinks I’m going to fall for him once he rapes me. Since I’m dealing with a madman though, I might as well go along with his game.
“Maybe I should join a nunnery and forget about men entirely,” I taunt.
“Megan, just put the gun down and come to me,” he commands with exasperation.
Michael’s so focused upon me and my unwavering hold on the gun that he doesn’t notice Cane sprint to the SUV until it’s too late. When Michael finally looks in that direction, I carefully aim and fire at his head.
Unfortunately, my shot goes wide and merely glances off the metal frame of the Mercedes’ window. Now however, Michael’s really pissed at me. Nevertheless, he’s getting distracted by the fact that Cane’s entered the bullet proof SUV and has started the engine.
Michael fires his gun at the vehicle twice but then quickly realizes that the bullets can’t penetrate the exterior of our SUV. Cane proceeds to drive it straight at Michael’s Mercedes. Before Michael can do much of anything, Cane’s managed to smash into the driver’s side of the car door such that it’s impossible to open. Michael moves away from the car and stands unprotected to its side now.
He threatens me one more time. “If you don’t call off your security man, I’ll kill your boyfriend, Megan.”
“Just tell me where you’ve got Matt and we’ll be done with this fiasco,” I reply and point my gun at Michael like I really mean it.
“If you kill me, you’ll never know where I’ve imprisoned your good for nothing, cheat of a lover boy.”
“I don’t want to kill you Michael but I can wound you. Remember I told you that my father was a paramedic? Well, he also taught me to defend myself with and without weapons.”
“Oh yeah, he was your mother’s second husband. She told me all about him. If you wound me, I’ll certainly get my revenge.”
“How will you possibly get your revenge?” I ask to divert him. Just as he begins to answer me, I aim for his kneecaps. I fire off two more bullets and one hits its mark. Michael howls in pain and goes down for the count. He doubles over in agony while grasping at his left knee. His Glock falls to the ground and out of his hands.
“Dammit, that hurts like hell,” Michael curses while he places his hand over the gaping and horrific wound in his knee and writhes around on the ground. Cane then rams the Mercedes a second time while pushing it closer to Michael’s location on the ground.
“Just tell me where you’re holding Matt and I won’t shoot you in the other kneecap,” I promise.
“You’ll have to find him yourself, you little bitch,” he responds with anger and determination. I have to give it to him, Michael’s a tough bastard. Most men and women would be begging for mercy at this point but this guy’s truly deranged and not feeling it as he should.
“Michael, your car is out of commission. You can’t walk. I’ve got a loaded gun aimed at you and my security man is about to run you over with our bullet proof SUV. Give it up.”
“Just shoot me and get it over with then,” Michael pleads. I keep my loaded gun pointed at Michael while I edge ever closer.
Cane distracts him by ramming the Benz one more time. That action causes the Mercedes to bump into where Michael’s crouched over in a world of hurt. He’s writhing around in misery as I approach him. I kick his Glock far enough away so that he couldn’t possibly reach it. Since I’m standing relatively close to him at this point, he makes a final lunge at my legs.
He topples me over and I fall onto Michael. We each struggle to obtain the gun that I’m holding however. Cane quickly exits the SUV and dashes over to where we’re fumbling around.
I’m so absorbed with the wrestling match that I block out all other thoughts. At last, I hear a shot ring out and feel Michael go limp beneath me. Cane’s grabbed the Glock and blasted a whole through Kingsfield’s abdomen. He’s dead within moments. My heart aches for the person Michael used to be, before he went off the deep end. It’s probably a blessing that Cane ended his life today.
“You’re a good shot, Cane,” I admit as I disentangle myself from Michael’s cooling body. “How did you know that you’d hit him and not me?”
“I was a sniper in Afghanistan; trained for precision,” Cane assures me.
“How will we ever find where he’s holding Matt, now that Michael’s gone?” I ask with utter misery.
Chapter Ten – Resolutions
MEGAN’S POV
“Maybe we should look inside Michael’s Mercedes to see if we can find any clues about where he’s got Matt gagged and bound,” I suggest to Cane.
“Why don’t you do that while I check the pockets of the newly deceased?” Cane indicates while wrapping his superficial hand wound with his own tie.
“Oh, Cane, I don’t envy you that task but Michael’s tech toys or wallet could have some important info about my guy in them.”
I look inside the deserted car hoping for some clue about what’s become of both Matt and Jared.
“The glove compartment holds nothing but some old receipts. The back seat yields only fuzz from clothing as well as dust from driving around in the warehouse area,” I announce to Cane.
Cane recovers two cell phones from Michael’s pockets. The first looks like Matt’s familiar IPhone while the second must be Michael’s Android device. My breathing stutters when I take hold of my fiancé’s favorite PDA. I unlock the IPhone with the code that only I know, which happens to be 63426 (Megan).
I find the recent texts that Michael sent me along with the picture of Matt in a very helpless looking state. My eyes fill with tears as I gaze into the stunned expression on my baby’s face when Michael took his photo. Abduction and imprisonment would surely trigger all of Matt’s psychological panic buttons. Cane and I study the photo for any clues as to its background or location.
“The lighting’s dark so maybe he’s being held in some sort of warehouse nearby,” Cane posits without much conviction.
I know how much Matt loves to use the map feature of his data device so I click on the app and stare at it. The blue dot indicates our current location. However, as I study his mapping display, I notice a red dot flashing nearby.
“Do you know if Matt ever used or had some sort of tracking device for himself, Cane?”
“Like some type of GPS chip implanted in his clothing or even in himself?”
“Yes, exactly. I know Matt often spoke of putting one on me,” I admit with some hope.
Cane chuckles and wags his head. “Well, you’ve got one for sure, I’ll tell you that. Not sure about Mr. Frazier himself.”
“And I don’t know about the fact that I’ve got my own GPS chip?” I ask with absolute shock.
“It’s in the base of your engagement ring, Ms. Pine,” he confides in an almost sheepish manner.
I pull my ring off and look at its underside. No one would ever know that a chip had been inserted into my ring because I can’t detect it in any way. I’m slightly irritated that Matt didn’t tell me about my own homing GPS but I’m not surprised. Then I burst out laughing at the lengths to which Matt goes to protect what’s his.
At least if Michael abducted me, they’d have little trouble finding my location. I just hope Matt thought about how to reverse the process for himself.
