Everything was the same, as far as he could tell, as it had been when Gage had been there earlier today. His frustration grew to the point where he wanted to punch walls.
Where the hell was Harvey? Where could he have disappeared?
And more importantly, where was Tess?
Chapter 36
Tess’s arms and legs ached from having been tied down for so long. All she’d been able to do was look around her with her limited ability to turn her head. She’d spent most of the time staring up at the concrete ceiling and the hook, wondering if he had something in mind for that hook. The thought gave her a chill that rolled down her spine.
Where was Harvey? He’d left hours ago, supposedly to fix lunch and bring it back down.
What if he never came back and she died like this? Of thirst and starvation, unable to move and do anything to save herself. If there was a way to save herself. At least she’d die trying. Damn it. If she could only get out of this bed…
All of her attempts to free herself from the metal cuffs had rubbed her wrists and ankles raw. The cuffs had no give of course, but it hadn’t stopped her from trying. The ball gag kept her from making any sounds, so she couldn’t scream for help. Spit pooled at the back of her throat and she had to struggle to swallow it down whenever she could. She’d never realized how hard it would be to swallow with a ball gag in one’s mouth.
Exhausted from fighting her imprisonment, she eventually drifted off to sleep.
The sound of concrete scraping concrete jarred her awake. She opened her eyes and focused on the door, hoping that someone had arrived to rescue her.
It was Harvey, of course. Bizarrely, she found herself glad to see him. It meant she wouldn’t die alone like this.
At least not yet.
The door made a loud thunk when it closed and Harvey came down the steps carrying a couple of plastic grocery bags.
When he smiled at her, it was so chilling that she immediately changed her mind. She wasn’t glad to see him, not at all.
“I’m sorry, baby.” He set the bags on a small table beside the bed. “I had to take a little trip and wasn’t able to get back until now.”
Tess just stared at him. She couldn’t say anything with the gag.
“I wonder if all this time you’ve had to think has made you realize anything.” He continued to smile and raised one of the two bags he was holding. “Got you a toothbrush and a few other things you’ll be needing.”
She swallowed as he set aside the bag. It was clear he wasn’t planning on letting her go soon.
He brought plastic wrapped sandwiches out of the second grocery bag. He set them on the side table. “I’m going to take the gag off. Don’t scream and don’t beg and I won’t make you wear it. For now. Understand?”
She nodded.
He smelled of stale sweat when he leaned over her and unfastened the ball gag behind her head. When he pulled the ball out of her mouth, air rushed out of her in relief. “I have to go to the bathroom, Harvey.”
He paused a moment as if he hadn’t considered that possibility in his scenarios of kidnapping her. “Don’t try anything. It will only get you hurt. Got that?”
She swallowed and nodded. “Yes.”
He took a small key and unlocked each of the cuffs. Her muscles were sore and her skin burned where she was rubbed raw. She got up stiffly and he walked her to a small bathroom. He made her leave the door open but she still had privacy because the toilet was set back from the door and he didn’t come in.
She was grateful that she still had her dress and underclothes on. Harvey could have stripped her while she’d been drugged, but thankfully he hadn’t. It made her wonder exactly what his intentions were. Did he want her willingly? Or was he going to eventually force her to have sex with him? Rape her?
When she finished, she flushed, tugged down her skirt, and then washed her hands with soap and water. She walked back into the room with its gray concrete walls and metal shelves full of supplies and wondered if anything could be used as a weapon.
“There’s nothing sharp in here,” Harvey said, clearly reading her intentions. “Nothing you could hurt me with. So don’t worry your pretty little head about finding ways to harm me.” He gestured for the bed. “Sit, Tess.”
“Don’t handcuff me again, please.” She gave him a pleading look. “I’ll do whatever you want me to.”
“Whatever I want?” He raised an eyebrow and gave her an intense look.
Heat rushed to her face. “I meant that I won’t try to escape or anything like that.”
He laughed. “You have no chance in hell of escaping, so I’m not worried about that.” He pointed to the bed again. “Now.”
She went to the bed and her limbs trembled as she sat on the edge of the mattress.
“First we’ll eat, and then we’ll have some bondage fun.” He gave her a wicked grin.
Tess swallowed. She’d been starving before and now she wasn’t so sure she could eat anything.
“The egg salad went bad, so roast beef it is.” He unwrapped a half of a sandwich and handed it to her.
She took a small bite then found that she could eat after all. She finished the half sandwich then took the second half that he offered her and ate that, too. “I’m thirsty,” she said.
He frowned. “I forgot your cup upstairs. I’ll get it later,” he said before biting into his own sandwich.
She ate her second half more slowly to prolong the time until he would strap her down.
When she finished the last bite she looked at him with apprehension. He brushed the crumbs off his fingers onto his jeans then got up and walked to the shelf. He picked out several things before returning to her.
“Now for some fun stuff.” He set the small pile on the chair he’d been sitting in. “Stand up and turn away from me.”
Her stomach churned as she obeyed. She winced as he put metal handcuffs on her sore wrists, her hands cuffed behind her back. He took the ball gag and shoved it into her mouth again and fastened it. He turned her around by her shoulders so that she was facing him.
“You should be naked for this,” he reached for the low neckline of her dress and she thought he was going to tear it open. “But that can wait.” He gave her a grin. “Anticipation is half the fun.”
Instead, he caught her off guard by picking her up and laying her on her belly on the bed. He cuffed her ankles together and then showed her a couple of locks.
“There’s no getting out of this,” he said and her heartbeat quickened. He pulled her wrists back and locked her wrist cuffs to her ankle cuffs, hogtying her.
She whimpered behind the ball gag, one cheek against the mattress. Then he took a strap and put it around her arms and pulled the strap, drawing her upper arms back so tightly that her upper arms were nearly touching.
He put a strap around her head and pulled her head as far back as he could and fastened the strap to her ankles. She’d never been in such an uncomfortable position in her life. Her limbs and neck ached and her whole body hurt.
A wash of cold chilled her body. Was he going to leave her like this?
He walked in front of her and crouched so that she could more easily see his face while she was in the hogtied position.
“Beautiful,” he said. “Bet you’ve never been hogtied before. You can’t move, can you? Try.”
She tried shifting to get more comfortable while testing her restraints. She tried to move her hands but no part of her could budge. She gave a helpless whimper and he smiled.
He rubbed his crotch through his jeans and her stomach turned. She wondered how she had ever found him attractive. She’d never been drawn to him in any way, but she’d thought he was a good-looking man with a friendly nature about him.
Now she knew his twisted side.
“How long to leave you like this.” He tilted his head to the side. “Uncomfortable, isn’t it?”
She whimpered again, pleading with his eyes for him to let her out. Her arms a
nd shoulders ached from being pulled back so tight, and the cuffs caused her raw skin to burn.
“That’s part of real bondage and domination.” He leaned forward and brushed a lock of hair from her forehead and she would have flinched from his touch if she could have moved. “It’s all about my enjoyment, not yours.”
Tears burned at the backs of her eyes as he pointed up. She couldn’t follow the gesture but she knew what he was pointing at. The huge hook in the ceiling.
“I have something else in mind now,” he said.
He began unfastening the locks and straps, including taking the cuffs off her ankles, and soon she was able to relax her head and the rest of her body. He left only the cuffs on her wrists and the ball gag in her mouth. She slumped on the bed, every part of her aching.
He grabbed the back of her dress and jerked her to her feet. She heard something tear and felt cool air where her zipper had held the back of her dress closed.
“Oops,” Harvey said, but she heard the grin in his voice. He took her by her upper arm and jerked her to her feet. Her legs almost gave out on her.
To her relief, he unlocked one of the cuffs on her wrists. In the next moment he was turning her around and letting his hands caress her breasts as he pushed her dress over her arms so that the material slid down her body and landed around her feet. She shuddered at his touch but he didn’t seem to notice.
Her face went hot as she stood in front of him in her red bra and panties. He gave a low whistle. “Sexy,” he said. “Are you ready to admit how much you want me?”
The ball gag still stifled her and all she could do was shake her head in the negative.
He narrowed his eyes and grabbed her wrists again, and this time cuffed them in front of her. “I’ve got time,” he said. “And so do you.”
He took her by her upper arm and led her below the hook. As he was walking her there, she thought about escaping. Maybe she could find something on the shelf to hit him on the head with, hogtie him while he was out, and when he woke, force him to give her the door code to get out of here.
The scenario was an imaginative one, but she doubted it had true possibilities.
When she was under the hook, he raised her arms and looped the metal chain that connected the cuffs over the hook. Then he went to one of the walls with shelves, and beside that, found a button that he pressed. The hook rose until she was standing on her tiptoes, her arms straight above her head, her body stretching taut.
“I’ll give you some more time to think about it.” He started up the stairs again and glanced over his shoulder once and smiled. “I have an errand to run. I’ll be back.”
Tears burned at the backs of Tess’s eyes. This was a nightmare and she wanted to wake up and find herself in Gage’s arms. She wanted to take a chance and tell Gage how much she loved him, like she should have done while he was in the hospital, or right after he got out.
A crazy man had trapped her in a soundproof bunker, somewhere she likely would never be found. And she had no idea how she was going to save herself.
Chapter 37
Gage dragged his hand down his face as he sat on the couch in Harvey’s living room. He’d searched the house from bottom to top and then again from top to bottom. Under beds, in closets, in the attic, in the space under the stairs, and everywhere else he could think of. There was no basement as far as he could tell. The police had searched the same locations so all Gage was doing was repeating the same process.
He felt desperate, his skin too tight over his tense, aching muscles. It was almost to the point where he couldn’t move his leg, much less his shoulder.
Was Harvey keeping Tess somewhere else? When Gage had peeked in the window, he’d seen Harvey in his kitchen. So where the hell could he have gone?
Gage buried his face in his hands as he struggled over the facts that he couldn’t find Harvey and Tess was missing. There had to be an explanation. Had to be.
The sound of scraping came from behind the couch and Gage saw that the wall was moving.
Heart pounding, he ducked behind a chair and braced himself on the knee of his good leg. Careful to stay out of view, he peered around the chair just enough to see a door swinging open in the wall.
Harvey stepped out.
He faced the wall and touched something and then the door closed.
Gage’s throat grew dry. Tess had to be wherever that doorway led to.
He slowly reached for the pistol with the snake shot and got to his feet.
“Hold it right there, Harvey.” Gage’s voice was cold as he aimed the weapon at the man who went completely still. “Raise your hands and turn around slowly.”
Harvey obeyed. To Gage’s surprise, Harvey had a smirk. “Figured it out, huh?”
“Take me to Tess now, you sonofabitch,” Gage said in a growl. “Tell me how you open the door.”
Harvey gave a nod toward the wall. “Just press that knot. The medium-sized one.”
Gage did his best to not show any weakness from his injuries as he moved closer. He trained the pistol on Harvey. “You push it.”
Harvey slowly reached out and pressed the knot. Then there was a hard click as the center of the knot dipped in and the door began to move.
Concrete scraped concrete as the door swung open. Gage’s heartbeat quickened. He nodded to Harvey. “Go inside.”
Gage stepped in after Harvey. The first thing he saw was Tess. Relief flooded his heart to see her alive followed by fury at what Harvey had done to her. She was hanging by her cuffed wrists from a hook in the center of the room, wearing only panties and a bra, a ball gag in her mouth. Her eyes were wide and filled with terror as she stared right at him and Harvey.
As Harvey walked down the steps with Gage following, his gaze held Tess’s. “It’s okay, honey,” he said. “I’m here.”
Tess had hope in her eyes.
Gage had to struggle to get down the stairs and still hold onto the gun as he came down behind Harvey.
Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Harvey caught Gage off guard as he whirled around and hit Gage in his wounded shoulder. The pain was so intense that red lights flared in Gage’s mind and his legs almost gave out on him.
He managed to hold onto the gun and he swung it on Harvey, but in a fast, easy movement, Harvey pivoted and looped his arm around Tess’s neck.
“Come on, Gage, hands up. Then toss that gun onto the bed.” Harvey showed the affable good ol’ boy persona that fooled so many people. “We can have us a chat before I get my revenge.” Gage didn’t move. Harvey’s jaw tensed. “Hurry up before I get tired and snap Tess’s sweet little neck.”
Gage raised his left hand and pointed the gun to the ceiling.
“Both hands.” Harvey narrowed his eyes.
“I can’t raise my right arm.” Gage studied Harvey, the realization dawning on him. Now there was no doubt in his mind—Harvey had hired the man to kill him. “As you no doubt know, I was shot in my shoulder and my leg.”
Harvey studied him. “All right. Toss the gun on the bed like I said. But if you try anything, she’s dead.”
Gage pitched the gun underhanded and it bounced on top of the mattress. He felt more frustration and anger—not to mention fear for Tess—than he’d ever felt in his life.
Harvey motioned Gage in the direction opposite of the bed so that he was far from the gun.
“If my memory is correct from all those years ago, and my memory usually is right on,” Harvey said, “all you’ve got is snake shot in that pistol. Isn’t that right?”
“Let Tess go.” Gage tried to relax his stance. “I’m the one you want to get revenge on.”
Harvey shook his head. “I’ve wanted Tess for a long time and you got in the way there, too. You just have to fuck up everything, don’t you,” he stated
Gage let out a slow breath. “Please let her leave.”
“Not happening.” Harvey kissed Tess’s cheek then grinned at Gage. “Tess has a thing for me and has for a long
time. She’s been enjoying her induction into real bondage and discipline play.” He kept his grin pasted to his face. “It’s because of her that I arranged to have you killed.” His voice lowered to a growl. “Chess paid for his fuckup when things didn’t go just right.”
“So you killed him,” Gage said slowly.
“His body is off in the Bradshaws. He’ll never be found.” Harvey shrugged, his arm now loosely draped over Tess’s shoulders. “That’s where I plan on taking you.” He nodded toward the pistol. “I’ll put that right over your heart and it’ll take care of you.”
Harvey nodded to Tess as he continued. “I’ll just use her as my sweet little human shield as a little extra safety. I’ll let her have it if you try anything.” He kept his arm around Tess’s neck and leaned over to push a button on the wall with his free hand. The button operated the chain holding the hook, lowering her back firmly on her feet, her arms still over her head.
Scenarios flashed through Gage’s mind as he tried to figure out how he could save Tess and himself. Right now he couldn’t think of a good one.
Harvey unhooked Tess and marched her to the bed, keeping her between Gage and himself. Her wrists were still cuffed in front of her and she was still gagged as he forced her to sit on the mattress. He picked up the gun and turned it on Gage. With his free hand he grabbed a pair of metal cuffs lying next to some other things on the bed.
Harvey tossed the cuffs and they landed at Gage’s feet. “Pick those up and sit against that wall, next to that pipe.” Harvey nodded to a wall with a metal pipe that ran from floor to ceiling. Gage went to the wall and slid down so that he was sitting up, his gaze focused on Harvey.
“Put one cuff on your wrist and the other on that pipe,” Harvey said, waving the gun.
Metal clanked against metal as Gage did what Harvey told him to.
“I don’t want any blood or mess in my bunker, so I’m going to dispose of you in another way.” Harvey set the gun aside and turned to Tess. He dug a key out of his pocket and unfastened one cuff and hooked it to a bedpost. “Don’t move,” he said as he slipped the key back into his pocket. He unfastened the ball gag and tossed it aside.
Fencing You In Page 18
