Jack opened the bathroom door, tossed his towel on the end of the bed, and laid his clothes on top of his duffel bag. Jonathan turned down the covers on the bed and slept fully clothed. He remembered how many times they had pulled practical jokes on him in college. Jonathan knew better than to be caught off guard. He drifted off to sleep as Jack put one of the pornos into the DVD player.
At six a.m. Greg pounded on the door to their room. Jonathan rolled over and reached for his glass of water. Jack was already dressed and ready to leave. He opened the door and let Greg into the room.
“Damn. You’re still sleeping?” Greg asked.
Jonathan swung his legs over the side of the bed and put on his shoes. He hoped they wouldn’t have to be on the road much longer. All this driving and secrecy was starting to irritate him.
James stopped at a local diner for breakfast. Again, Greg began to question Jonathan about whether or not the waitress was his type.
“Yeah, okay. She’s pretty. What of it? Are we going to do this every single time we stop to get something to eat? What’s the big fucking deal anyway? Want me to come right out and say I’d like to tag her?” Jonathan asked angrily.
Jonathan was now close to his breaking point with Greg’s behavior, and it was evident to everyone at the table.
“No. You don’t have to say another word. That was all I wanted to hear you say,” Greg said as he glanced quickly at James.
The woman who served their breakfast couldn’t have been much older than her mid-twenties. She had long brown hair that hung past her shoulders with a soft wave. Her breasts were large and full, and her waist was tiny and tight. It made her legs look perfect in the short black waitress uniform she was wearing. As she leaned across the table to clear their dishes, Jonathan could smell her perfume. She smelled like jasmine.
James paid for their meals again, and they were quickly on their way. The road they were driving on seemed like a road to nowhere to Jonathan. They hadn’t seen a house or anything other than horses for miles. All of the sudden James veered off the two-lane road onto a barely visible dirt road. They drove for nearly thirty minutes before a large cabin came into view.
“Home sweet home fellas,” James said as he shifted the Hummer into first, depressed the clutch, and turned off the engine.
The cabin was more like a log home due to its size. James unlocked the door and ushered the others inside. The living room had a vaulted ceiling with the atypical moose antler chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A huge fireplace stood in the center of the far wall with an open galley kitchen that overlooked the view of the mountain. Though it was the perfect cliché version of a mountain cabin, Jonathan thought it would be a relaxing place to stay. He wondered if a great collecting experience they were all about to share was a gold vein that James or Greg had come across. After all, they were miles and miles from nowhere, so what else could it be?
Chapter Four
The Artifact
Jonathan opened the large French doors that led to the deck on the back of the log home. The view was stunning with the leaves beginning to ready for fall. A large pond stood at the far end of the clearing with the mountains in the distance. It almost reminded him of a vacation postcard as he deeply inhaled the crisp fall air.
Jonathan leaned against the railing and lit a cigarette. It was the first one he had smoked in several days. Though he had quit several months ago, being around his old college roommates and their chain smoking ways had led him to the inevitable light up. Jack wandered out onto the deck and leaned against the railing. He looked at his friend and wondered if he was up to the next few weeks. They had never invited Jonathan on one of their collecting expeditions. He wasn’t sure how Jonathan was going to react. Jack wasn’t even sure if Greg had told him the truth.
“How’s Penny and the kids doing?” Jonathan asked.
“Penny is doing great. She opened a little catering business, recently, but that is about to be put on hold for a little while. The kids are getting big. I guess I haven’t sent you any emails lately with the latest pictures. I am sorry about that. You know, life just kind of happens and you forget.”
Jonathan wished he could say he knew what that was like; to be so busy with a wife and kids that you didn’t have time to stay in touch with old friends. All the women Jonathan had met through work were only interested in furthering their careers. They weren’t interested in being anyone’s wife.
“That’s cool. I understand. Why is she going to put the catering on hold?” Jonathan asked.
“I am about to be a father again, and this time we are having a boy,” Jack said proudly.
“Congratulations. When is she due?”
“About two months from now. She is really nervous about raising a boy. She jokes around about how she only has girl experience,” Jack said and smiled.
“You will have to call me when he is born so I can send Penny something nice,” Jonathan replied.
Jack nodded his head. Jonathan was still the same nice guy he had been in college. Only Jonathan would think about sending Penny a gift instead of sending one for the baby. Jack knew that when James and Greg returned, he had to tell him to call everything off.
“Where did Greg and James go?” Jonathan asked.
“They went into town to get some supplies. Nothing major. They just wanted to pick up a few things. There’s plenty of alcohol at the bar and elk in the freezer, but there’s not much of anything else to eat around here.”
“I am going to go in and get a fire started. Are you coming in?” Jack asked.
“No. I think I will stay here for a while.”
Jack went inside and left Jonathan alone on the deck. He picked up his cell phone and attempted to call Greg. He knew where Greg and James had gone and doubted he would be able to reach him. It immediately went to Greg’s voicemail. He was either out of range or had his phone turned off.
Jack piled the split pieces of oak in the fireplace, and thought about the fact that this would be the last time he could hook up with Greg for at least a year. He would need to stay home for Penny once their son was born. Jack wanted to be there for every important moment in the first year of his son’s life which meant his adventures with Greg would need to be put on hold for a while.
When Jonathan finally came inside, it was dark outside and the sun had set. The fire Jack had lit had warmed the home nicely, and Bill was fast asleep on the couch.
“That looks like where I am heading. I am going to crash, Jack. See you in the morning,” Jonathan said.
He opened the door to his room and then closed it behind him. Jonathan unpacked his suitcase and placed his clothes in the dresser before he retired. It did not take long for him to fall asleep. The last two days had not been Jonathan’s idea of a relaxing vacation.
Jonathan had only been asleep for a few hours when he was awoken by the Hummer pulling up next to the log cabin. He heard what he thought sounded like arguing as he laid there in the dark. Jonathan sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed and was about to go to the window when the arguing stopped abruptly. He decided not to worry about it. Whatever Greg and James were arguing about could wait until morning. Jonathan laid down and went back to sleep.
The next morning, Bill knocked on Jonathan’s door to wake him. Breakfast was ready and a fresh pot of coffee was waiting. Jonathan didn’t bother to shower before he dressed. This was a vacation, after all.
James and Greg were standing on the deck drinking coffee by the time Jonathan made it to the kitchen. There were at least three pounds of bacon already cooked and waiting on a platter with a large bowl of eggs next to the skillet on the stove. Jonathan cracked two eggs in the skillet and turned the stove on, as he sipped his coffee.
Jack and Bill were sitting at the small kitchen table when Jonathan heard a loud thud come from one of the other bedrooms. He leaned around the end of the kitchen counter and listened to see if he could hear anything else. Jack jumped up from the table and hurried toward
his room.
“I must have left my bag too close to the end of the bed,” Jack said as he opened the door to his room.
Jack was gone ten minutes before he returned. He appeared to be a little concerned. It was an odd reaction for someone who only needed to pick their bag up off the floor. Jonathan wondered if one of the many vials Jack had in his bag had broken. As concerned as he looked, that had to be the case.
James came into the kitchen and asked Jonathan if he would like to do a little fly fishing before lunch. It was still early enough in the day that the trout should still be biting. Jonathan eagerly agreed. He had never been fly fishing, and it had always been something he wanted to learn. Jonathan rushed to finish the last of his breakfast while James retrieved two fly rods and a tackle box full of hand-tied flies. Greg stood on the balcony and watched as Jonathan and James walked through the meadow that led to the pond.
Once they were out of sight, Greg began discussing where he had been with James.
“Did you get the newest piece of our collection?” Jack asked.
“I did. And it’s ready and waiting for Jonathan to get back,” Greg replied.
“Are you sure he is going to be able to do this? I get the feeling he might freak out. Then what are we going to do?” Bill asked.
“Look, he will be fine. Just wait and see. I have faith he will jump in just the same as you guys did.”
Jack brought his duffel bag out and sat it on the table. He pulled out his black doctor’s bag. He removed a small vial filled with a clear substance and loaded one of the syringes. Jack placed the loaded syringe in his shirt pocket, took his bag back to his room, and cornered Greg.
“Look, I don’t think it was such a good idea to bring Jonathan along. Maybe we should just call the whole thing off and call it a day,” Jack said nervously.
Greg pushed Jack into the wall and held him by his shoulder.
“You are going to take that little vial and do what you do best, unless you want to end up like the others,” Greg said coldly.
Jack knew how volatile Greg could be when he was provoked. He also knew he had a wife and kids to think about and that going against Greg could be dangerous. Jack reluctantly nodded his head and opened the door.
Jack stood at the end of the bed and looked at the woman from the restaurant. Her face was bruised from where Greg had hit her. The noise Jonathan had heard earlier was the young woman from the diner struggling to free herself. She had kicked Jack’s bag off the bed in the hopes of drawing someone’s attention. Jacked slipped the needle into the vein of her arm and depressed the plunger. It would be better if she couldn’t feel what was about to happen to her.
As Jack pulled the needle out of her arm, he heard Jonathan’s voice. Jack shook his head as he pulled the door closed behind him.
“How was fishing?” Greg asked as he sat at the bar in the kitchen.
“Nice. Really relaxing. Sure can’t do that in New York. Thanks for inviting me up here Greg.”
“That’s not the best part. The best is yet to come,” Greg said and laughed.
Jonathan didn’t understand what exactly it was that Greg found so amusing, but then again, it was hard to tell with Greg.
“James, you’re up first,” Greg said suddenly.
“Right on.”
James walked over to the room with the closed door and opened it slowly as he peered in at the helpless woman.
“Come on, Jonathan. Maybe if you pay attention, you will learn something,” Greg said as he pushed Jonathan in front of him.
Jonathan was confused and had no idea what was going on until he saw her.
“What the hell is going on? Jesus Christ, Greg!” Jonathan yelled as he backed away from the open door.
Greg pushed Jonathan into the room and closed the door.
“I told you this was all about you. You said you’d tap her, so now’s your opportunity.” Greg leaned in close to Jonathan’s ear before he whispered, “And the best part is she won’t resist.”
Greg put Jonathan in a headlock as James pulled his hunting knife from under his shirt. He slowly slid his knife up each pant leg of her jeans and cut them away from her. James straddled her as he tore her blouse open and exposed her breasts. He slid his hand up the inside of her thigh as she whimpered and then slid his fingers around the edge of her lace panties before he looked over his shoulder at Jonathan and smiled.
Jonathan closed his eyes as James removed his shirt and leaned over the woman and forcefully held her face as he kissed her even though there was little she could do to resist in her drugged condition. Jonathan heard the material of her panties being torn from her body. James turned around to see that Jonathan had his eyes closed and climbed off the bed. He stood only inches away from Jonathan’s face.
“You got a problem with this?” James shouted.
“I told him you wouldn’t have a problem with this, so you better straighten up or I won’t be responsible for what happens to you,” Greg whispered.
Greg slowly released Jonathan from the headlock. James turned his attention back to the waitress. Jonathan was becoming sick to his stomach as he watched James begin to fondle her. He couldn’t hear what it was he whispered to her, but he could see the tears rolling across her cheeks.
James bit her several times before he unzipped his pants. Jonathan watched in horror as James untied the ropes binding her ankles to the four-poster bed and spread her legs. James leaned forward; biting the inside of her left thigh and drew blood. Jonathan knew now that Jack had drugged her as she could barely whimper let alone try to fight James. He was brutal as he raped her. When he had finished, he flipped her over onto her stomach and smiled. She was coherent enough to pull her legs into her stomach as she lay curled up in a ball on the bed. The sheets were already stained with her blood.
As James zipped his jeans, he paused to smack Greg on the shoulder.
“She’s all yours,” he said and opened the door.
Jonathan ran to the half bath attached to the room. It was all he could do to make into the bathroom before he vomited. He leaned against the porcelain sink nearly unable to stand and face Greg for almost five minutes.
Jonathan emerged from the bathroom and stared at the man who had once been his friend.
“I can’t believe you’re involved in this,” Jonathan whispered as he pulled the sheet from the end of the bed and covered the girl as she shook uncontrollably.
“There’s big money to be made. You would be surprised, Jonathan, at what a man is willing to pay when they have the means,” Greg said as he leaned over her and pulled her hair away from her face. “She’s pretty.”
“How long have you been doing this?” Jonathan asked.
“I guess about three years now. Don’t lecture me, Jonathan. At twenty-five thousand dollars a pop for the basics, I am not about to quit anytime soon.”
“And the supplies at the hardware store?” Jonathan asked even though he already knew the answer.
Greg turned his back to Jonathan as he was about to open the door.
“You didn’t think I was going to let her go, did you?”
“Whose idea was this?” Jonathan asked as he closed his eyes. Not only was he an accessory to rape, he would now be an accessory to murder.
“Mine, although James was more than eager to join my little venture.”
“There are some things in this life, Greg, that money can’t buy.”
Greg grabbed Jonathan’s wrist as he reached for the door.
“I hope you understand, Jonathan, if you don’t fuck her you will end up in the same place she will.”
Jonathan yanked his arm free from Greg’s grasp and slammed the door behind him. Jack followed Jonathan out the back door of the cabin. Jonathan continued to walk through the dense underbrush. He stopped at a large oak and leaned against it.
“The first time is the hardest,” Jack said. “It will get easier.”
“Easier? Raping an innocent woman will never be easy for
me. Jesus, Jack, you are married and you have daughters. What if that was your wife in that room? Or one of your daughters tied to that bed and drugged? Would you wish the same fate for them that awaits her? Greg will kill her you know!” Jonathan slid down the tree and slumped at its base.
“You’re going to have to come to terms with this and quick. Or she won’t be the only one who ends up dead,” Jack said and walked away.
Jonathan thought about their lives in college. Had there been signs that he was too blind to see where Greg was concerned? How could Jack and Bill be involved in this?
Jonathan sat against the tree until it was nearly dark. The sun was beginning to set when he decided he better go back. He stopped outside the window to the room where he knew her life would end. He could hear her screams as she was raped by Greg.
Jonathan went inside and sat in front of the fireplace without saying a word. Bill sat next to him and handed him a drink.
“Here, this will help.”
Jonathan’s hands shook as he lifted the glass to his lips. He couldn’t keep his hands from shaking. He could still hear her screaming. Bill put a disc in the CD player and turned up the volume in an attempt to drown out her screams.
“Why are you here, Bill?” Jonathan asked.
“Look, you know how Greg is. He invited me up here a few months ago. It was my initiation weekend, I guess. He did the exact same thing with me that he’s doing with you. Once you survive the first time, it won’t bother you as much.”
“I won’t do it. I will not rape her. He can kill me if he wants to, but I can’t support this.” Jonathan took a sip of whiskey, set the glass on the table, and covered his ears so he couldn’t hear her scream.
“Yeah, sorry. Greg likes to let the drugs wear off a little. He likes it when they fight him,” Bill said and turned the music up a little louder.
Jonathan looked at James who was standing in the kitchen and was acting as though he could not hear the screams of the woman emanating from behind the closed door.
The Collectors: Revenge Becomes Her Page 3
