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Weekend Away

Chapter 1

This week was the week she would reignite the passion in their marriage. She had spent hours as well as hundreds of dollars at the Hot Body Lingerie Boutique. Joe loved to see Maddie in white gauze nighties, of which she bought several. He was a true romantic that loved candlelight dinners and impulsive, lusty, lovemaking. This weekend, Maddie was going to help him indulge by looking as sexy as she possibly could.

Madeleine “Maddie” Engelard was a branch executive of a famous furniture manufacturing company. Over the years, Maddie had become increasingly responsible for more aspects of her company, such as overseeing advertising, sales, marketing, and every aspect of publication. She was proud of her success as an executive, but there was no denying that it had taken a toll on her marriage.

Her husband worked in the building next to hers as the Chief Financial Officer for an insurance agency. Joe was a tall, handsome man, and he knew it, yet he

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wasn’t arrogant. To be a true romantic at heart, he needed to be a gentleman, always. But, inwardly, he prided himself on his ability to charm women and make them fall in love with him. Never had he imagined that he would truly love one back, or think that he did.

Their meeting was a classic incident of romance: Maddie bumped into Joe and spilled her tomato soup all over the concrete patio, where they commonly took lunch. Joe was kind enough to help her wash it off into the bushes by pouring his bottle of water over it, and swishing it with the bottom of his foot.

After, her lunch gone, he insisted on sharing his sandwich with her. Maddie accepted and as they sat together, he teased her about being responsible for a murder that stained the courtyard concrete blood red. One may call it a cliché but from then on, she knew that Joe was the one.

Joe Williamson was the well bred son of a recently deceased Joe Williamson III. His father was a famous Los Angeles Banker known for possessing killer instincts as well as owning half of downtown. Similar to his father, he had a brilliant mind for business and a gift for persuasion. His voice was lovely to hear, with a range that was slightly deep and tremulous, yet soft and smooth, as though caught between tenor and bass. When Joe spoke, she believed he was able to hypnotize her with his voice.

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Joe and Maddie dated for three months before finally making love. Instead, he took her to the best restaurants in town and whisked her away for many romantic weekends in Mexico and the desert. He never tried to bed her, and every night would end the same which was with them making out like wild animals. In spite of how much Maddie wanted Joe, he somehow managed always to close the door to their adjoining rooms.

The night they finally made love, Maddie was happiest because she had started to wonder if Joe was really attracted to her. She had never been with a man who wanted to wait on intimacy; she didn’t know exactly how to interpret his lack of desire. Joe told her plainly he wanted to wait so that, when they did make love, it would mean something. Maddie was touched by his sentiment, but she was also confused because intimate reverence was something she’d never experienced with a man before.

After about eight weeks of dating, Maddie’s brain went into overdrive and plagued her continually with the idea that Joe was seeing someone else. After failing numerous times to seduce him, her best girlfriend told her to call it quits. The problem with that was Maddie never quit anything; if there was a way, she would find it. Instead, Maddie tried harder to be as sexy and alluring as she possibly could.

That night, her little red spaghetti strapped dress and plain tan leather thong sandals were her lure, simple

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but sexy. Although tall and a bit thin, she was a curvy hourglass with full breasts, lovely muscular legs, and the feet of a Goddess. When she walked, the dress would offer glimpses of her balanced body. Her legs would send a ripple through the A-line dress that would envelop her figure and relax again with each step.

Maddie thought that it must’ve been the dress that made her irresistible to him, for he couldn’t keep his eyes or his hands off her. At the bar, while waiting for a dinner table, Joe continually rubbed her bottom while kissing and biting her neck. Maddie tried to push him away because people were staring at them, but he held her face and kissed her more lustfully.

People around them gasped and made loud noises of disapproval, but Joe continued to entwine his tongue as deeply, with Maddie’s, as he could.

Just when she thought he was regaining control of himself, he asked her back to his room where he’d forgotten something.

In the elevator, on their way back up to his room, Joe continued to grope her. He felt her bum through the dress, then put his hand under her dress and between her legs. His warm fingers massaged her as though preparing her for what was to come, which was working.

Unable to care anymore about whether someone would see them getting hot, she moaned and leaned her

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shoulder into him as though begging for more. Joe responded accordingly and placed his warm hand inside the top of her dress and felt her full perky breasts while she arched her bottom back so as to get more localized massage from his fingers.

She weaved back and forth between both of his hands as the elevator ascended, and when the door finally opened, they walked, fast, to his room.

Joe opened the door, put his arm around her waist, picked her up, and swung her inside.

She watched him close the door and turn to her as he peeled off his gray suit jacket.

Maddie laid her purse on the desk as he stepped closer to her. She could still remember how he first kissed her that night, by grabbing her bottom lip with his own and pulling back gently; it reminded her of a person savoring the first bite of something delicious.

Next, he pressed his lips hard onto hers as he pulled the spaghetti straps of her dress down both shoulders. Joe rubbed her back with both hands and played with the edges of her dress as though threatening to make it tumble to the ground, but never quite letting it go. It was just like in a romantic movie when he picked her up and carried her to the bed.

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She watched him get undressed as she lay there looking up at him.

Joe had a fantastic body; he was a true Adonis, except with a little more definition in the buttocks and legs. He had hardly any fat on his body and when he leaned over, Maddie could see the six pack just under the surface of his belly. The hair on his chest was darker than the hair on his head, and his skin looked particularly tan under the light of the lamps.

When he lay down next to her, looked into her eyes and told her how beautiful she was, Maddie truly felt like beauty was gleaming out from every one of her pores.

She smiled up at him and looked him in the eyes.

Joe smiled back and moved down to the edge of the bed where he pulled her sandals off, then kissed her all the way up from her feet to the inner of her thighs.

Joe pulled up the bottom of her dress and buried his face in her softness. The warmth of his lips made her pulse quicken with thunder and her stomach ache with hunger. His tongue entered her and then licked her clean.

Maddie had never been so turned on; it only took seconds before her hips jerked in that tight upward motion.

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Joe pulled Maddie up onto her calves, pulled the dress over her head and flung it onto the floor.

Maddie reached behind her to unlatch her bra, but Joe stopped her by pulling her arms away from her back and gently wrestling them down to her side. After looking at her for a moment, he French kissed her mouth, down her neck, and over the top of her breasts. Next, he pulled the straps down so that her breasts fell out, displayed as though upon a shelf. Upon which, he grabbed them with both hands, sucked, and licked the nipples; tonguing and kissing the flesh around them.

Maddie reached down to feel his erection and it seemed to pulsate in her hand. When he pulled back from her chest and pushed her onto her back, she looked down to see that he was long and girthed. She tried to guide him in but he resisted by going down on her breasts once more while repeatedly poking the head of his erection softly at the spot for entry.

Maddie was crazy, writhing on the bed, moaning out, and grinding hers hips into him.

He responded by moving up from her breasts, and then kissing her even more deeply on the mouth. Every time he tried to tease her spot, she tried to force him in. When she said she would scream, if she didn’t have him, he slid into her slowly and smoothly.

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Maddie had never produced so much natural lubrication in her life; the cup runneth over she thought.

The expression on Joe’s face went slack when he felt her smooth warm internal walls; his girth filled out even more. His flesh grew, spreading her just a bit further. It reached all the way up to the funny rough little spot, which didn’t need much work because he seemed to fit her like a glove.

Before she had time to work herself up for it, she was off and this time she couldn’t hold back her scream. It was so powerful that Joe felt it too; the blood seemed to drain from his face, he groaned loudly as she clamped down on him, tightly.

He pulled out just as the rain came.

The one thing she loved about Joe was that he never left her hanging after making love, but rather he would lay with her, stroke her, and hold her. They cuddled so close that night, and after they’d made love for the third time, he told her he loved her.

Maddie thought he must’ve been lying because they hardly knew each other. In her experience, getting a man’s love usually took a lot of work. Either Joe was infatuated with her, or he was crazy, because men simply didn’t give their love away easily.

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Only a few more months went by before he proposed they get married. She was only too happy to accept his proposal, but his parents certainly thought they were moving too fast. Joe explained that they were just old fashioned and that they wanted him to marry someone who would be a proper housewife and have his children.

Instead, they got Maddie who was a top working class business executive whose plans for children were uncertain.

Still, she understood what Joe’s family wanted of him because she, too, came from a lazy upper class family where the women didn’t do much. As a form of rebellion, she promised herself that, unlike them, she would work to accomplish things in her life. After six years of college to get her MBA, and seven years with the furniture company, Maddie was not ready to let her hard work amount to nothing because she finally got married. This was not to say that she didn’t want children but at 35 and working 60 hours a week, it was starting look more like she wouldn’t have time for them.

None of it matter because Joe loved Maddie anyway.

Six months later, they were married at the Saint Mary’s Chapel in front of 300 people. The wedding was a huge success and photos made it into the newspaper as well as several bridal magazines.

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His father, Joe Williamson III, had many friends whom he helped get to places of success or wealth, and they gave generously to his son and Maddie. To Maddie, the wedding seemed more like a zoo, she would rather have had a smaller more intimate gathering, but her family was impressed nonetheless.

Their marriage was very agreeable without many squabbles. There were issues that would arise every now and then, but for the most part their relationship was smooth sailing. They were both hardworking, successful, and they loved each other very much. Sometimes weeks would go by and they would hardly see each other, but they would always make up for it with a sexy, romantic weekend whenever they’d get a chance.

Unfortunately, it had been quite some time since their last romantic getaway, as Joe seemed to be more increasingly busy over the last year or so.

That morning, she woke up feeling blissful at the idea of spending time with her man. She rolled over, put her hand on his shoulder, and tried to urge him over onto his back. When he refused, Maddie tried harder by kissing him on the back of his ear, and then worked her way down his neck.

“Good morning, Shmook.”

Shmookie, or Shmook, was the pet name she’d made up for him and he hated it, but seeing as it,

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usually, was a sign that Maddie was in the mood to make love, he allowed her to call him it.

He rolled over onto his back and for a split-second, she thought he looked irritated. Lately, Joe was often in a very bad mood, which was perpetuated by his exhausting work schedule; although sometimes she suspected there was something else going on with him.

Despite her suspicions, she knew it was pointless to press the matter of his grouchiness with him because he was the kind of man who never opened up to the people close to him. If she pressed him too hard, he would snap.

Joe’s attitude didn’t matter, though, because Maddie was determined to make him forget his troubles.

“Good Morning, Shmook,” she said again in a higher, breathless tone, trying to sound sexy.

Maddie’s lips parted so her tongue could protrude, parting his lips and slowly flicking his tongue with hers.

Joe loved it when she’d kiss him that way.

When they were just married, her kisses would always get him in the mood, but that morning they were unsuccessful.

Joe closed his eyes and rolled back over onto his side.

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“Good morning to you to. I just need, like, fifteen minutes more sleep and then we can go, okay?” he said with his mouth muffled into the pillow.

She ran her hand under his arm, down his slim belly and lightly over his soft manliness; the little hairs tickled her hands.

Maddie gave him a light groping as she reached her head over to kiss the corner of his mouth. She rubbed her breasts into his back while grinding her pelvis into him.

Once more, she tried to coax him over onto his back, but he wasn’t having it. He shot straight up in a violent, angry, motion.

Angrily, he leapt out of bed and, without a word, walked-stomped into the bathroom where he slammed the door and started the shower.

One and a half hour later, the bags were packed and they were both eating breakfast while standing in opposite corners of the kitchen. This was a long time habit of theirs because of their hectic schedules, but that morning she had hoped that they would eat breakfast together. She tried to be kind to Joe by making him a cappuccino just the way he liked it; she handed it to him and went to make their bagels and eggs, but Joe couldn’t even bring himself to say thank you.

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When the breakfast was ready to eat, he took his plate over to his usual spot without a word.

Maddie hated when he got like this because there was no getting through to him; if she tried, he would become angrier. Although he was the love of her life, he was also the most stubborn man she’d ever met. Instead of fun in the sun, there would just be a chilly, uncomfortable silence, between them, all day long.

Twenty minutes later, they were in the car and ready to go. Joe was still not talking to her, so Maddie asked pleadingly, “Honey, can’t you just try to be happy? We’re on our way to have a wonderful, sexy weekend?”

He said nothing, started the BMW, and they left the garage. Maddie looked out of the window, beginning to feel frustrated herself. Briefly, she contemplated jumping out of the car rather than spend a weekend with him.

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Ride from a Stranger

Chapter 2

They drove down the coast and then inland, toward the desert, for about an hour.

Maddie couldn’t stand the silence. After fifteen minutes, she leaned over and turned on the radio. As he drove, Maddie looked over at Joe and noticed that he was perspiring. It was about sixty degrees outside with a chilly ocean breeze, the inside of the car was chilly too. Then his cell phone rang, which he tried to ignore and it just continued to vibrate, finally Maddie said,

“Why don’t you just answer the phone?”

Joe said nothing but pulled out the phone and turned it off. As he did this, Maddie noticed that it was a phone she had never seen before. Normally he had a blackberry but this was an odd little prepaid phone that one buys in a grocery store. It was a prepaid phone that he pulled out of the center console, rather then the Blackberry that was in his shirt pocket. Maddie stared at Joe curiously

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and wondered if he were hiding something, like an affair. Joe kept driving, pretending that he didn’t notice her looking at him. Finally, she said,

“Why are you being so mean? Would it kill you to say two words to me? If this is how the trip is going to be, then just turn around and let’s go home. I don’t want to spend a weekend with you when you’re like this; I’ll even spend the weekend in the desert myself.”

“Mad,” as Joe sometimes called her, “I don’t feel like arguing right now but I don’t feel like talking either. Can you just let me have a few minutes of peace and quiet? Why must you always run your mouth? Can’t you shut up?”

“That’s it, turn around. This trip is over,” but Joe drove off the freeway and pulled into a gas station. Maddie presumed that he was turning around to get on the freeway going back, but then he turned off the car and turned around.

“The trip is NOT over. We are GOING to the desert. If you don’t want to go then get out of the FUCKING car NOOOW,” he screamed at her, his face was beet red.

Joe had never acted this way with her before, she was stunned and hurt at the way he looked and spoke to her. Maddie turned her head just in time to miss the globules of spit and sweat that propelled from his shaking,

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screaming head. She didn’t know why he was being such a jerk but she wasn’t going to put up with it. After grabbing her purse, she opened the door meaning to get out quickly but Joe was too quick. He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back in the seat,

“SIT DOWN,” he yelled, “you are NOT going anywhere.”

Not wanting to make a scene, she said nothing but continued to struggle to get out of the car for about 30 seconds, but he jerked her back each time. Finally, she gave up, closed the door, and stared out of the window. Sensing that she was subdued, Joe stepped out of the car and walked inside the gas station. Maddie tried to stop them from coming but she couldn’t, the tears ran down her face and she reached into the glove compartment looking for a tissue.

Maddie knew that Joe could have a bad temper, but it still hurt her from time to time. Yes, she knew that what he was doing was a form of abuse, which was wrong. Usually, he had never been as angry as he was that day and he certainly never screamed at her like that before. A few times, her friends did tell her they felt Joe was not right for her and at that moment, she was starting to wonder if perhaps they were right. But she couldn’t leave him because she loved him with all her heart. So Yes! He was a bit of a jerk; still, she knew that if it ever came

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down to life and death, in any regard, he would be there for her.

Joe was walking toward the car and he had a bag in his arm. As he opened the door and sat down, he reached inside and pulled out a travel bag of tissues and a couple bottles of water.

“Here,” he said. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you. I am just under a lot of stress right now but I promise I’ll be better. Ok?” he said.

“Ok,” she said and he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek but his kiss was cold, just like his words.

Two hours later, they pulled into the desert resort and handed over the keys to the valet. The hotel was a grand white stucco looking castle that glared in one’s eyes from afar but as they got close, they could see that it was a well structured Spanish like grand hotel with palm trees, pools, and various structures all over the property.

A man came up and helped them with getting their bags into the resort. They walked through a brightly lit, breezy-cool, lobby up to the desk clerk. There were miniature water fall fountains and fresh white leather couches with little plants and fish tanks everywhere. The hotel was very busy, with a long line at the front desk as well as another long line waiting to get into the hotel’s restaurant.

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After they were checked in, Maddie told Joe that she was going to the spa for a few hours. Originally, she hoped they would spend the day at the farmers market together but after what happened in the car, she didn’t want to be near him. Maddie grabbed her bag and as she walked out, caught a glimpse of Joe simply sitting on the bed and staring at the wall. What is wrong with him? This was a strange thing for him to do but she was too mad about the argument to care.

A few hours later, Maddie returned from the spa feeling refreshed. She walked in on Joe, who appeared to have been pacing the room. The look on Joe’s face was of intense surprise as he looked up and saw she had returned.

“Uh yeah, I gotta go, I’ll call you back,” Maddie noticed that Joe had not changed and his bag still sat packed in the same spot. Obviously, he had not left the room since they arrived. Just as Maddie was about to debate whether or not she should press Joe for answers about why, Joe hung up the phone and asked,

“Uh, would you like to go to dinner in town in fifteen minutes?”

“Sure, let me get dressed,” she said because, although she didn’t want to spend time with her grouchy husband, she also didn’t want to spend the evening alone. So instead of pressing matters, she simply got ready for dinner.

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The restaurant was a five star eatery in the city part of the resort community. It was a large, white building similar in construction to their resort except the front entrance was made entirely of glass. Through the glass one could see all the elegant people waiting for tables at the bar or dining pleasurably while conversing with friends and family.

As they handed over the car keys to the valet, Maddie first noticed the two thuggish looking men in black suits standing by the glass doors. They definitely did not look like they were from California and one of them had terrible manners. The shorter one of the two was dark haired with an unshaven face. He was disgusting as he fidgeted while snorting and hacking in between puffs on a disgusting cigarette. The taller one looked overly serene with dark circles under hollow black eyes and a bald head. She was disgusted by there appearance and when they noticed her looking at them, she turned her head quickly. To Maddie’s surprise, her husband flicked his hand in their direction and they immediately began to walk over.

“You know them?” asked Maddie incredulously.

“Hey there! How are ya? Let’s go in and eat, shall we?” and they walked in to get a table.

On the way in, Maddie was affronted that Joe did not introduce her to them. This was something that he often did to her, as if he didn’t feel that she was important

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as a person. Time and time again, she had asked him to show her common courtesy and he had become somewhat better until that night.

“Why didn’t you tell me we were going to meet people for dinner?” she whispered to him. “Why didn’t you properly introduce me?”

“How many?” asked the waitress.

“Four,” said Joe.

“It will be about 20 minutes, but you can wait at the bar.”

“Thanks.”

Maddie was furious that Joe still had not introduced her and he knew it. Yet, they all talked amongst themselves as though she weren’t even there. She could see the shorter man with dark hair looking at her out of the corner of his eye, though he tried to do so inconspicuously. The taller man continued to talk with Joe and when the bartender asked if they wanted anything, they ordered without asking Maddie if she wanted a drink. It was at this point that Maddie’s anger turned to rage and she literally wanted to explode.

Tired of being treated as nonexistent; she turned around and walked down to the other end of the bar. She ordered a double vodka martini and took a huge drink

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in the hope of calming her nerves. She barely took a second sip when she heard Joe calling her from the other end of the bar. Maddie decided to pretend like she couldn’t hear him, which always really pissed him off.

“Hey!” he angrily spit in her ear, “Our table is ready, you mind not acting like a princess tonight? I’ve got business to discuss and you’re embarrassing me!” which only made Maddie angrier than she already was.

“You’re embarrassed? What about me? You haven’t even introduced me and they are both staring at me because they obviously sense your animosity towards me. What is your problem? You know what? Go eat your dinner and discuss business, I’m leaving.”

Maddie rose and walked toward the door as her husband and the strange men watched her leave. Maddie and Joe had been down this road before; him thinking that he could treat her that way. It was certainly inexcusable in private but she would not let him humiliate her in front of people.

Maddie walked down the street with the martini glass in her hand, she was amazed that they let her walk out with it. Yes, she knew it was illegal to drink in public but she didn’t care, she needed the alcohol to calm her nerves. Still, she didn’t want to get arrested, so she swallowed the rest of the liquid and threw the glass in a trash can. She felt like an idiot as she meandered aimlessly

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alone down the street, cars flashed their bright lights in her eyes while hoodlums inside hollered rudely at her.

“Hmmm,” she said to herself, “there was a restaurant somewhere around here.”

She tried hard to remember where a quaint little East Indian café in which she had once dined was located. When her memory returned, she found herself walking up to the little door of the dimly lit restaurant. It was dark with a finely furnished dining room and the smell of various spices hung omnipotent in the air. The restaurant looked like an average fine dining experience with little tables, candles, and white table clothes; yet, the food was infamously exquisite.

Once she was seated, she continued with an encore of martinis’ accompanied by a nice little curried potato and chicken dinner. When she had finished, she decided to take a cab back to the resort. She figured she could hang out in the free ballroom for guests for the evening, dance a little, and drink a lot more. By the time she’d get up to her room, Joe would be asleep and she wouldn’t have to acknowledge him.

As she walked outside to wait for the cab, she noticed the short smoker man from the restaurant in which she was earlier with Joe. He walked up to her in a strangely rigid way and she couldn’t help but notice that his outfit was not usual for desert climate at such a time of year. The man simply seemed out of place in his full length black suit

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with black shirt and red tie. The man appeared sinister but when he said hello to her, he sounded rather nice.

“Fine,” she said, when he asked how she was.

“I noticed you at the restaurant earlier; you’re a very pretty lady,” Maddie continued to look out to traffic for her cab.

“Thanks but I am not in the mood for conversation right now. Would you mind? Thanks.”

The man just looked at her for a moment, “What are you looking for?”

“A cab to take me back to the resort,” said Maddie not looking at the man.

“Well, if you like, I could give you a ride. I am headed out that way anyway.”

“No, thanks.”

“Ohhh… come on. You’re husband is still at the restaurant, he is talking to some girl.

So I am sure he won’t mind if I give you a ride. You know, if I was your husband, I’d be crazy to let you walk out the way you did tonight. He was a real bastard, don’t you think?”

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Maddie looked at the man stunned by his boldness and not quite knowing how to respond. She had the feeling that he was purposely manipulating her, as though her husband’s flirting would anger her enough to go and sleep with this man. Still, it did sound like something Joe would do. After all, he was a huge flirt and would oftentimes behave badly in an effort to make Maddie jealous. Perhaps, she would try to make him jealous tonight instead and with that thought, she turned to the stranger and said,

“Yeah ok, it’s going to be another 20 minutes or so and I don’t want to wait. What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t,” said the man, “My name is John.”

Maddie and John walked back down the street toward the restaurant where his car was valeted. John wasn’t much for conversation and he continued to avert Maddie’s chit chat so that they wound up walking the few blocks in silence. In the short distance, Maddie found she didn’t like the short smoking man. She did hope he would aide her in making Joe jealous but that plan wouldn’t work because he didn’t want to tell her why he was there, where he was from, or why he was meeting with her husband for dinner that night; after initially getting her to open up to him, he didn’t want to say anything.

When they got to the restaurant, the valet brought the car and they got in. When Maddie realized that

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John rudely did not tip the guy, she stepped out to give the man a couple dollars. As she opened the door, the man seemed to sort of freak out,

“Where are you going?” he said in an urgent panic like voice.

“I’m giving the man a tip!”

Maddie hated to stiff people, especially in areas in which she was frequent. She had made that mistake once about ten years ago and it was one that she would never make again. When she got her car back from the restaurant, the leather seats in the back were keyed and cut up. Later, when she discovered the damage, she couldn’t prove that the vandalism had taken place at the particular restaurant.

After she gave the man a five dollar bill, she got back into the car and they drove off. Having failed severely at having chit chat with the man, Maddie resolved to just keep quiet and anticipate a night alone. When the man missed the turn off that led back to the resort, Maddie realized that she had made the mistake of a lifetime. Instead of getting off the freeway when Maddie told him to, John simply ignored her and kept driving.

“Umm… Hello! You missed my exit!” he said nothing. “Hello? Are you listening to me?”

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He just kept driving and Maddie began to freak out immediately.

“STOP THE CAR! LET ME OOOOUT!!! NOW!!” She attempted to unlock the door and when she couldn’t, she started to bang on the window and scream. Next she started hitting the driver, who then pulled over onto the dry grass. Maddie tried to reach over John and unlock the door, but he fought her off. John obviously lost patience at that time because he punched her in the face as hard as he could.

Stunned, she wobbled in her seat as she felt blood all over her face as well as the beginning of a flood of it from either her mouth or nose; she couldn’t tell by the numbness.

“Pleeease…” she cried, “Pleeeease, let me goooo,” but John pulled out a bottle and a handkerchief, and then put her to sleep.

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Tied Up

Chapter 3

Maddie remained still without saying a word as she heard the man walk in. She was bruised and hurt from being slapped, kicked, and slammed about by the thugs who abducted her. Upon waking sometime that night in an unfamiliar bedroom, several levels up, Maddie immediately tried to escape through the window. She figured she must’ve been discovered by a security camera and unfortunately; and yet fortunately, just in time too. Maddie was brave but she was not a climber, she nearly killed herself when she lost her balance and found herself hanging by her fingers on the ledge.

A mysterious man poked his head out of the window and gasped. Yet, he walked out along the ledge, helped Maddie pull herself up, and guided her into another room by way of a window at gun point. As she crawled in, the two men from the restaurant ran in and grabbed her, at which point she fought with all her strength. Having had a few martial arts classes under her belt, she managed to deliver affectively several naga kicks before being taken down.

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After that, she was beaten, blindfolded, and brought down several flights of stairs to what she assumed was a basement. They bound her to a small wooden chair from which she immediately tried to work her way out of. Several hours later, when they discovered what she was doing, they tied her arms and legs even more painfully then before.

Since then, she’d been down in a room, blindfolded, and gagged, where she currently smelled cooking chicken that steamed its way down through the walls, inspiring a ripple of hunger inside her. She tried to ignore the rippling from her stomach by reflecting on what she learned through her experience the night prior. Maddie learned that she was being held by multiple conspirators in a large house in the middle of nowhere. She figured they must’ve been really far from any main roads because all she could hear throughout that first day in captivity were wind through trees, birds, frogs, and an occasional vehicle every few hours.

The smell of the food was really getting to her and when she literally thought she was going to die from hunger, someone opened the door to the room. Maddie jumped in her chair which made her yank on the ropes, causing her much pain in her wrists and ankles. She cried through the gag in her mouth and tried to straighten up. As the person drew closer, she felt the air move around her.

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The man was obviously not in the mood to struggle with her. Apparently, he called himself Michael and when he first removed the cloth from her mouth, he told her,

“Scream and you’ll not eat.”

She could see through the irregularities of the sleep mask that the man wore black loafers and jeans. He had a horrible deep voice that sounded like pure evil to her. She nodded her head to show that she would comply and he said,

“I brought you chicken,” she heard him set the plate down in front of her then he removed her mask and gag.

In her weakness, she barely felt the man push a piece of chicken in her mouth. Her lips were dried stiff and they hurt tremendously when the meat rubbed her lower bruised lip where John hit her the night before. The food was too hot and Maddie almost choked but she kept chewing and tried to ignore the heat. The man stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth, gave her a sip of the water that was on the table, and then more chicken.

After a few minutes of chewing without discourse, Maddie looked at the man more observantly. There was something familiar about his tan skin, light sandy brown hair, and light blue eyes. Michael wore all black and she couldn’t help but notice how expression-full

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his eyes and mouth were. Almost as though by looking at him, Maddie could tell that he was a highly impassioned man. He had a bowed mouth, but it was a little too bowed, which made his lower lip appear extremely full.

Suddenly, she jerked her head and looked up at the door of the room. Maddie thought she’d heard the sound of a child laughing near by. The man put down the plate and got up to close the door, then continued to feed her. Whoever was responsible for keeping her must have a child that they didn’t want exposed to her.

“Why are you feeding me?” she asked but the man didn’t look at her, rather he continued to feed her until the food was gone and then left.

The next morning, Maddie woke when she felt something hit her head. Michael hadn’t replaced her gag and mask; she sat upright and saw that the person who slapped her was a woman with leathery red skin. The woman wore a dirty brown dress that looked as though it had been rolled in the mud. She began to untie Maddie’s bondage and when she was done, instead of allowing her time to adjust, she said,

“Get up,” in a harsh English accent, “you are going to help us today.”

Maddie tried to stand up but her body would not obey because she was numb from the waist down. She tried to outstretch her hands slowly but her arms, which

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were also numb, ignored her brain’s impulse. After a few moments, the woman helped Maddie stand up and get the blood flowing more efficiently through her body.

When Maddie showed that she could stand and walk around the room on her own, the woman placed a black cord around her neck. It was a regular electrical cord that had been tied into a semi-slip knot, and expanded into the shape of a short noose.

“You walk straight ahead and don’t even think about runnin’ cuz one of me men will run ye down and give ye a thrashin’ the likes of which you won’ forget.”

Maddie was blind folded again and the woman pointed her up the stairs from behind. The woman instructed her carefully about making her way through the house. As they walked further, she saw out of the corner of her blind fold, a forest begin to appear through a window in the stairwell along with the peaks of lamps that were atop gray bricks of a wall. Assuming that this wall encircled the house, Maddie realized that it would be harder to escape then she thought. Not only would making it outside be a challenge, but getting over that wall would be even more challenging.

After a moment, the woman instructed her that she was about to walk up another flight of stairs but this time, they would turn in spiral. At the top of the stairs, the leather faced woman pulled on the cord as an indication that she needed to stop. Next, she informed her that the

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man who’d brought her there wouldn’t care about taking her down into the basement for corporal punishment, if she didn’t behave. Maddie didn’t know what to say but after her last attempt at escape, she agreed with the woman in that trying anything would be too risky.

The red faced woman led her down an enormous hallway. Maddie could tell that it was enormous because she felt air billowing amply around her. She was guided toward a door where upon she stopped at feeling the tug on the cord. The woman opened the door; Maddie walked inside and stopped a few feet in. The leather faced woman closed the door and then removed the blindfold.

Before Maddie’s eyes was an enormous laundry room. It was hot, loud, stuffy, and there were piles of clothes everywhere. Along the many shelves, there were numerous cleaning products and various toiletries. Although it was still stifling hot, there was a large fan blowing in the corner and the thermostat seemed to be going at full blast. In the corner, there was a woman who was steaming clothes with a wand; while in another corner someone was loading a cart with fresh sheets.

Across the room, there was an enormous window and Maddie could see clothing lines and chickens running about below. She then saw clearly, the tall gray wall that appeared to be about 10 feet high and encircle the property. Out beyond the wall she saw true natural beauty, there were tree covered mountains that extended out for

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miles, with one enormous mountain peak that seemed to touch the sky.

The dark faced woman sat her down next to a pile of laundry and told Maddie to get to work steam cleaning them. Maddie looked down at the humungous pile of clothes in shock. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing! This woman wanted her to do laundry? Naturally, Maddie wanted to tell her to go to hell but if she could use her opportunity to figure out more about where she was, it would be better. Without a word, she sat and steamed as the lady told her to do.

Maddie had never done this kind of work before and when she burned her arm with flying steam from the wand, the woman screamed at her,

“What are ya doin’ ya good for nothin’ girl? You’re just sit’in there and there’s work to be done!” and with that, she grabbed the shirt that was in her hand and threw it to the side.

“Ya be’er star’ workin’ hard and fast because I ain’t got all day. Never had to work a day in your life but consider yourself lucky, this is easy. Don’t think about tryin’ nothin’, or else you’ll be sorry.”

As the day wore on, Maddie started to feel pain in her hands. The woman was right in that she had never worked physically hard in her life, except for at the gym. She tired of the laundry quickly; from holding up the

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steamer, little water burns like pock marks sprinkled all over her arms. Maddie hated the work, and hated the woman, but she preferred it to being tied up in the basement. In considering all the other things they could’ve had her do, Maddie was compliant without a word.

After the never ending pile of laundry contradicted itself by being finished, the woman made her scrub the floor of the pantry one floor up. All the while, the cord was tied around her neck while she worked on all fours like a dog. It was while she was cleaning the floor that Maddie finally was made privy to her name; another English woman blurted it out when she came in to give her something that Maddie didn’t see.

After she finished scrubbing the floor, Abilene removed the cord from Maddie’s neck so that she could eat a sandwich while Maddie rinsed the floor. Abilene was truly a filthy, foul, woman, she thought as she caught a glimpse of her eating her sandwich as though she hadn’t any lips on her jaw. Her mouth never quite closing as she smacked so loud and the food tossed around inside; the visual reminded Maddie of the sheets that tossed around in the dryer. Maddie turned her eyes back to her work immediately so as not to have to watch the disgusting woman eat. The woman didn’t seem to notice or care about the way food and crumbs tumbled down her filthy soiled clothes.

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The end of the day was truly beautiful to see from their location. Maddie stared at the orange-gold thin line of horizon that etched across the sky, and then layered out to engulf the mansion. Abilene had fallen asleep in the chair with the sandwich in her hand. The floor was finished and Maddie, not wanting to wake the foul woman, sat on a chair from where she stared out at the scenery. Finally, Abilene woke up, decided Maddie didn’t need to work anymore, and led her to the main kitchen to eat.

She noticed, as they walked down another hall, that doors to numerous rooms were open. Abilene, who had not re blind folded Maddie, didn’t care that she turned her head to catch glimpses of the insides along the way. The rooms seemed to be uninhabited, but the keepers of the house were going out of their way to maintain them. She made this conclusion by noticing that, from out of the rooms, wafted the smell of cleaners and air that blew in from the windows.

They walked into the kitchen which was bustling with simmering, steam, and smells. The cook in a long white dirty apron ran about grabbing things, while a woman stood cutting up carrots.

“What do ya want?” asked the woman, also in an English accent.

“It’s time for her to eat,” said Abilene.

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The woman grabbed a bag of bread, a small block of cheese, filled a bowl with the simmering beef soup, and filled a carafe with red wine. She placed the items on the table for Maddie to eat and asked,

“You want anything?” to Abilene.

“Anything chicken, if you got it,” she said.

The cook set another serving of food on the table and Abilene went at it like a horse. Although disgusted by her uncouth, vagrant, nature, Maddie couldn’t believe how she herself ate. Never having worked hard in her life, and somewhat starved by her captors, she tore through the soup, bread, cheese, and wine.

Funnily enough, the woman named Abilene went on about what a pig Maddie was and if she didn’t learn to eat more normal, she would stop feeding her. Maddie didn’t know what to say, of course, she had never eaten quite so much like that in her life. It terribly annoyed her that Abilene would make fun of her eating, when she herself was a dirty woman.

After she was done eating, Abilene took her back downstairs to the basement and locked her in, “Sleep,” she said and left. Maddie readily obeyed her orders because she was exhausted.

A week went by in the same fashion; Maddie would wake, eat, work, eat, and then sleep. She did nothing

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but what the woman told her without question because she wanted her to trust that Maddie was subdued. In fact, Abilene was easy to trick into complacency because she, herself, was a bit simple. Erroneously, she assumed that Maddie was “thick as a brickie,” which Maddie supposed was a British way of saying she was an idiot.

After the seventh straight day of working around the mansion, she lay in bed in the basement one evening thinking about all she had learned. In addition to the fact that they were many miles from even a township, Maddie considered her chances of escape. If she overpowered one of the women, and forced them to take her outside the wall, she could run but would she die of starvation, thirst, or be eaten by a wild animal? Well, she would have to make one of the women pack her a bag of food before she left, which would be sometime in the early evening. Maddie also recalled how the women seemed to be always talking on a cell phone, so she would have to make sure to get one of those as well. Lastly, her problem would be getting away from there without getting lost in the forest or mountains.

She figured that she could pull it off rather easily; especially seeing how complacent the housekeepers had become. They were obviously not in the business of kidnapping, but who was? Why her? These questions kept her awake for quite awhile until, finally, she decided that before she left, she would get answers. Even if it got her

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another beating, she would take the chance because she needed to know why.

That following day, Abilene did not come and get her until dinner time. Abilene opened the door with the noose in her hand and walked up to put it around Maddie’s neck. Maddie whipped her hand up to the noose and yanked it out of her grip easily. Abilene simply stood there with a look of surprise then she turned and bolted for the door,

“Stop! Abilene!” Maddie shouted.

The woman made it through the door and tried to shut it, but it was too late because Maddie had already placed her hands on the inside of the door and swung it back open. The knob slipped out of Abilene’s hands, she turned around and ran up the stairs with Maddie in tow.

Maddie followed her up two levels, they ran through a ball room, an entrance room, and then up a wide flight of stairs. At the top, Maddie tackled her to the ground, turned her over on to her back, pinned her down by the wrists, and demanded,

“Take me to your employer or I’ll beat you to death!” at which Abilene screamed as loud as she could. Abilene thrust Maddie off her with her hips and arose; she tried to run but couldn’t because Maddie still had a strong grip on one of her wrists. When Abilene raised her other

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arm to strike her, Maddie blocked her with her free hand, and grabbed a big wad of her hair.

Abilene screamed even louder and at that point, she heard a door open and someone down the hall yelled out. Frightened, she changed her mind and decided that she would escape right then. She gave Abilene a good punch in the face and threw her down on the floor. Then she turned and ran down the stairs, toward the entrance hall. Behind her, she heard loud footfalls coming toward her; but she was too scared to turn around and look. Instead, she tried to step faster, which made her legs trip on her feet and send her rolling down the stairs and out into the entrance hall.

Immediately, the tears sprang to her face because the door was right there. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get up because her whole body was stunned from her fall. She heard shouting behind her,

“You stupid woman. Even if you got out of the house, how would you get past the wall?” said a man and then someone kicked her hard in the back.

She screamed in pain, as another man shouted,

“Leave her alone!” and then there was a loud crunching noise, which was the crushing of the man’s nose by a fist, although Maddie didn’t know it.

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The man, who called himself Michael, lifted her off the ground and carried her up the flight of stairs. Maddie wanted to fight but she couldn’t because the pain shot up to her shoulders and neck as well as down through her thighs. Michael continued halfway down the hallway, where he opened a door to a room, in which he walked with Maddie and laid her on the bed. She looked up at him and noticed that he wore an emerald green robe and smelled like fresh lavender musk. Michael had obviously been bathing when Maddie had made her attempt to escape.

After a moment of looking at one another, he turned and left her there. She lay there on the bed and listened to him screaming at Abilene in the hallway. Abilene was screaming, crying, and apologizing for letting Maddie out of her room. From the sounds of it, Michael was not the one who ordered that Maddie should do housework. He was very angry with Abilene who begged him not to send her home, to the United Kingdom Maddie surmised.

When the screaming died down, someone had come to the door of the room where Maddie lay. She heard the scraping noise of a key inside the metal bit of the door and knew that she was being locked in. The tears crept back into her eyes as she realized that the chances of her escaping had been diminished by her rash actions. Why she didn’t just leave, she silently asked herself. Although, she realized that the man, whoever he was, had a good point. If

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she did make it out of the house, how would she get over the ten foot wall?

She lay there on the bed and dreamed of Joe and her father, the two most important men in her life. Maddie regretted having fought with Joe on the last night they were together. At that moment, she felt that a lot of their problems were her fault. Maddie promised herself that if she got out of her situation alive, she would do anything to make Joe happy. She wished that she could tell him how much she loved him and then be held by him. As she lay there, she wondered what her father was doing, and whether he had hired men to find her. She just had to have faith; she told herself that they would do anything to find her.

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New Quarters

Chapter 4

Except for meals being delivered once per day, Maddie was locked up in the room for a few weeks without disturbance. She was not given a change of clothes but fortunately the room she was shut in had a bathroom this time. There was nothing for her to do except stare at the ceiling or outside her window. At times, she thought she would die from the boredom but she was grateful to have a place to wash up at the very least. It beat having to hold her “call of nature” all night or having to be watched while taking care of her personal hygiene.

The room she occupied was very attractive

in an early 20th century sort of way, yet mixed with contemporary additions. Cold dark gray stone separated the room from outside and modern walls bordered the rooms on the inside. The décor was quite lovely with a large, old fashioned canopied bed with dark green hangings. More contemporary were the walls with gold and green leafy wall paper. The floor was a lovely dark cherry stained wood with a thick old fashioned bur bur rug that felt like heaven between her toes. From the ceiling, hung a

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miniature crystal chandelier and an even smaller more elegant one hung in the bathroom.

The bathroom had a strangely exotic decor with light mossy green garden stone for floors. It was almost as big as the bedroom with strange leafy green rugs and plants in every corner. There was a large fish tank that was about 60 inches running with the lights on but completely empty of fish. The combination of the decor with the walls, which were green and of the same leafy paper as in the bedroom, gave Maddie instantly the feeling of bathing in a garden or swamp; it was the strangest thing she had ever seen.

The spa bathtub was big enough to hold nine or ten people and took 30 minutes to fill. On the opposite side of the tub and against the furthest wall there was a miniature steam bath that was comprised of wooden slats that closed like a shower stall. It was the only item in the bathroom Maddie looked longingly upon. If she ever got out of there, she would have one of those baths installed in her bathroom too, she thought to herself.

Every day a woman brought her food that consisted of very little bits of bread and a few vegetables. The woman, who would not divulge her name, would bring a single tray sometime between morning and noon. The tray was supposed to feed Maddie for an entire day, but she usually finished it within five minutes or so. Then, for the rest of the day, she would lie about trying to ignore the pain

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in her stomach and the ribs of her cage that continued to progressively poke through flesh more visually.

Maddie didn’t understand why they didn’t want to feed her normal amounts of food. If the intention was to keep her weak, well there was no need because she was in the middle of nowhere and completely surrounded by people who would contain her. She tried to point this out to the woman but she said that her food quantities weren’t a matter that she could influence.

Finally, after a few weeks had gone by, the woman was convinced to bring her full meals despite her orders. Maddie tried to convince her on a day to day basis but the woman didn’t budge until one day when she came in and found Maddie lying on her bed half naked. When she saw that Maddie appeared to be emaciating, she finally took pity on her. She was right too because Maddie had begun to shake constantly and uncontrollably whenever she needed strength. In addition, her breath had begun to turn extremely foul, as happens when one is starving.

In hopes of gaining even more pity from the woman, Maddie tried to express how grateful she was for taking care of her. Truthfully, she really didn’t feel that grateful because she was too angry about being held against her will. In spite of her true feelings, her mind reflected that perhaps, if she got this woman on her side, she would eventually help her escape. This thought was the main

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motivation behind her persistence in reaching out to the woman.

Reaching out to the woman turned out to be easier said than done because she didn’t like to say much. Most likely, she didn’t want Maddie to remember her if she escaped. The problem was Maddie couldn’t help but notice her because it was the only distraction she had throughout everyday; there was no way that she could forget her. She was a slightly older woman who had the same sort of reddish skin as Abilene. In fact, she looked a lot like Abilene Maddie thought.

Everyday she wore dirty jeans and baggy tee shirts to clean in. She would come in and drop off the daily tray of food then go about her work while hardly glancing at Maddie. The woman wouldn’t say hi or goodbye, but she would clean the room as quickly as she could and then leave. If Maddie was lucky, she would see her again in the evening to clear out her dishes.

After she managed to convince the woman to bring her proper meals, Maddie’s strength slowly returned. Along with the return of strength, returned her restlessness. Throughout every day she would pace about the room, exercise, and talk to herself. Sometimes, she would sit for hours and stare out of the window. Other days, she would lie in bed for hours without washing up or going to the bathroom.

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With no one to talk to, her restlessness making her frantic, Maddie then began to badger the cleaning woman for her name. When she repeatedly failed to make rapport, she next tried to get information about where they were. Unfortunately, she was a tough nut to crack and would not respond to Maddie’s attempts to lure information from her. The woman wouldn’t even acknowledge her, but continued each day to work in silence. What hurt Maddie the most was how she left every single day, sometimes closing the bedroom door on her in mid sentence.

Maddie eventually gave up on getting information from the woman, but she never stopped jabbering at her. Despite the woman’s complete indifference to Maddie, her loneliness kept her persistent. When she saw the woman, it was like a light went on in her brain and she couldn’t help but talk nonstop. Maddie would talk to her about her work at the furniture company, her life with her husband, or how she never had kids but wanted them. On other days, she would talk aloud about her father and wonder what he was doing. Sometimes she would talk about how she wished she could be getting her nails done or how much she missed Joe. Then she would speak of how she wished she could go home or outside for a walk.

All the while, the lady would continuously clean without a word and then she’d leave. Maddie figured that the woman simply did not want to be involved with her for her own protection. Still, she couldn’t help but try to

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befriend her because she felt like she was dying in that room. Being locked up like a caged animal was something she had never experienced before. A couple of nights, she woke up scared and crying, feeling that she was losing her life. Everyone was moving on while she was stuck there and worse was when she’d notice the moon in the dark sky. In the middle of the night, it would remind her that another day had passed and the loneliness was most palpable in those moments.

After many days like those, Maddie did begin to sink. Sink into a depression that is. One morning, she found that she couldn’t get out of bed no matter how hard she tried. Her captivity had claimed her strength and motivation. Without either of those things, she could only lie in the pile of sheets of the four post bed from morning until morning, only getting up to use the bathroom.

The woman would come in with food and find that there was still food from the day before. Everyday that she came, there was more and more of the food that remained untouched. In addition, she couldn’t get Maddie to leave the bed so she could change the sheets. This motivated her, for the first time in weeks, to talk to Maddie; but only to urge her to move so that she could do her work.

Maddie receded so far back into her mind that she often didn’t know morning from afternoon, or evening from night. After what must have been many more days of lying about in that condition, the woman came to

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take her on a walk. For almost fifteen minutes, Maddie didn’t realize that the woman was speaking to her. She just stared out of the window into the mountains with the usual blank look on her face.

The woman walked over to the bed, put her hands on Maddie’s shoulders and shook her lightly. Maddie began to wake up from her mind the same way one wakes up from a dream. It took a great deal of effort for her to recognize that the woman was really speaking to her. She forced her brain to bring her back to a place of awareness.

She was shocked to find that not only was the woman speaking to her but that she wanted to take her for a walk. Unable to think of a response and not sure that she even wanted to leave the room anymore; she continued to lay there and stare at the wall without a word. Although, it wasn’t so much that she didn’t want to leave but that she felt terrible and depressed. Simply going for a walk didn’t appease her desire, which was to go home.

The woman set the tray on the cart and rolled it over to the bed. She sat on the edge and rolled Maddie onto her butt while placing pillows behind her back to settle into. She then placed her forearms under Maddie’s shoulders and lifted her up several inches. Then, the woman began to feed her a warm liquid cereal that was made of oats that Maddie accepted without protest.

After the woman fed Maddie a bit of breakfast, she helped her get into the shower and then

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dress. In trying to rise from the bed, Maddie realized that her limbs had gone numb just as they had when she was tied up. It took almost fifteen minutes for her to slowly rise and allow the blood to flow back to her limbs without killing her with pain. Even after she managed to stand, she needed to rest on the cleaning woman who walked her into the bathroom and helped her take off her garments.

Upon removing Maddie’s garments, the woman held her breath fast. This sent Maddie into peels of laughter and she said, “I guess I must be pretty ripe.” It was the first good laugh she had had since even before that day in the desert with Joe when she was kidnapped. The look on the cleaning lady’s face was the trigger that brought Maddie back into the world of the living. From that point on, she vowed that she would not let herself go again.

After the shower and change, the woman led her down into the entrance hall and out onto the front of the grounds. Before she opened the door to exit the room, she reminded Maddie that it would’ve been foolish for her to try anything. She told her that if she could take a walk and come back without trouble that she would eventually be allowed to wander the grounds regularly.

Maddie nodded in compliance because she wanted to do anything that would help pass the time. From what she remembered on her first night and couple of days out of confinement, the manor was enormous as was the grounds. It was really enough to keep her occupied, not to

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mention that she should learn more about her surroundings. If the time ever came, she could easily hide in a place like the manor.

After only a moment of being outside in the bright sunshine and air, Maddie became dizzy, tired, and short of breath. It was another incident that reminded Maddie of how she couldn’t let herself go. Sitting in her room without movement for days on end had taken a toll on her strength. The toll was even greater of an impact than not eating. Almost instantly, she felt tired and wanted to sit but the woman insisted that she only had an hour to walk about, so Maddie pushed herself to continue their walk.

Walking around the front of the property, Maddie took in a pleasurable full glimpse of the property. It was a magnificent gray stone manor that resembled an old castle. It was encircled by the large matching gray stone wall she had seen through the windows. The stone itself was lovely and inspired her imagination by making her think of all the old historical romantic stories she read as a child, some of which would describe large gray castles.

The front of the property was about 600 feet of lean, healthy, fresh, green grass. There were two sections, one to the left and one to the right. Both sections of grass were separated by a wide thick gravel road that was in the shape of a circle, with a line in the middle that led from the steps up to the front door and out through the wall’s gate.

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There were various statues in several corners of each section of the grass area. Several stone benches were situated randomly for observance. On the left section, there was a large water fountain that depicted a Grecian man lying on a mat while behind him a waterfall shot streams of water seven feet in the air. Beyond the gate, Maddie could see miles of trees and hills that made up the skyline from her view.

They followed the wall around the mansion which gave Maddie a greater view of the house. The house was the same color gray as the cement wall which gave it an even more medieval appearance. The same style lanterns as the ones perched on every few bricks of wall also surrounded the house, with several lining the gravel road. From the sides, Maddie could see that the house was comprised of around seven levels with a possible attic at the top, not to mention the levels underground which totaled approximately nine.

The right side of the property had vine covered gray posts with mid sized trees planted in terra cotta pots that lined a cement walkway into a greenroom full of flowers and plants. The greenroom was enormous with over 50 varieties of plants and an older man sat in a section caring for a particular flower she had never seen before. The woman, who had not yet divulged her name, walked with Maddie along the rows and she was truly delighted. She smiled as she observed the older man pruning the little flowers in a pot.

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At the other end of the greenroom, there was a door that led into a small labyrinth of large honeysuckle vines and more exotic plants. This section was lined in needled trees and when one followed the little walkway, they were led to the center which had a small courtyard with a table and chairs in the center. The greenroom, maze, and courtyard were beautifully organized with more stone benches.

The woman and Maddie walked past the courtyard and continued on the little walkway which had more vines and needle trees with benches. After a moment, they found themselves in a lovely garden of herbs and aromatics; here there was an even stronger scent of honeysuckle coming from the treelike vine with humungous bells that hung upside down, these were unlike any she had ever seen before. The scent coming from them made her feel heady and as they walked along, they passed many little water fountains and coit ponds.

Both sides of the house were lovely places to sit and observe plants and water fountains as well as various sculptures. For the first time in weeks, Maddie felt happy because the effect of being surrounded in the beauty of the gardens made her feel peace. She wished she could be a part of the gardens and never leave them. Maddie recalled at that moment how she always wanted to turn her own property’s yard from a stone lawn and concrete pool and hot tub, into a garden of her own. Unfortunately, her

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work never allowed her much time except to take care of chores and perhaps rest a bit before working more.

The back of the property was home to chickens that grazed openly along with four horses. There were clothing lines that divided the large grassy area. No one seemed to mind how the horses would walk among the sheets that were blowing in the wind. In addition, five purebred looking Mastiffs played wildly and chased one another about the yard. Occasionally, one would go after a chicken and get close to catching one, but would instead relent and then go after another chicken or one of its brother dogs. Maddie was fascinated by how they allowed all the animals to wander as they pleased without separation or containment.

To the right of the door that led into the back of the house, there was a large empty garage. It looked as though it could’ve housed about 10 vehicles but instead contained hundreds of weapons. When Maddie asked why, the woman told her she didn’t know the answer. Most of the guns looked like they were vintage and were dusted, rusted, and falling apart. Two guns caught her attention immediately, as one was a baker rifle from the 19th century and the other was a musket. Not that she was into guns but her father had taught her a thing or two about French rifles.

Behind the garage, there was a chain link fenced off area that contained a drained 15 foot deep concrete swimming pool. There were several diving boards,

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the highest sitting at approximately eight feet high, and the lowest was a little diving board at four feet. Next to the 15 foot, there was a normal three-to-eight foot pool that was also drained. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the little bit of green water and leaves that rested at the bottom near the drain hole.

On the far end of the pool area there was a wall with silver shower heads poking out. Right next to the shower heads, there was a wet bar and a few feet over, there was also a hot tub. All these items were enclosed within the chain link fence but at the furthest corner to the right, there was a chain gate that led into a courtyard.

They walked through the little gate and in the courtyard; there were basket ball hoops and a wall for racquet ball. Right next to the courtyard, there was a green tennis court and next to that, there was a small baseball diamond. Next to the baseball diamond, there was a small playground with a swing set, sandbox, and monkey bars. Each court, including the playground, had benches and tables for sitting and viewing.

After looking at all the immediate property, the woman led her along the cement wall to an old guest house that was falling apart. It was a small two stories high white house with its own little garden and a very small swimming pool. The house was surrounded by little shrubs and the windows were all shattered. Inside, the house was covered in dirt and leaves. The fireplace still had the

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blackened remnants of the last fire it held, which must’ve been years ago, thought Maddie.

There was a small rotting couch in the living room but despite the mess of the little house, it was very lovely. The floors were hardwood and completely in tact and the walls were a fresh white. The sun blazed brightly through the window of the dining area and kitchen which, in turn, brightened up the entire house. Upstairs there were four rooms and two bathrooms. In one of the rooms, they found a family of little blue birds nested in an old rocking chair. They scattered when Maddie walked in with the older lady.

After they circled the property, they stopped and fed the chickens some seed. Then they rinsed three bags of apples for the horses and carried them out in bowls, then dumped them into their troughs. After refilling all the water bowls for all the animals, they walked back in the house through the back door. They washed their hands in the sink and then the woman led her up several flights of stairs to another room of the house.

The room looked like a cross between a drawing room, a party room, and a library. It was enormous with smooth walls and ceilings painted white with brown edging. On the side furthest from the entrance where Maddie stood, there were brown leather couches with hugely taut upholstery. Scattered through out the couches were tables, lamps, and chairs that all sat on one enormous

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rug. The wall had a most impressive fireplace that stood five and a half feet tall and about five feet wide.

Next to the setting, there were twelve foot high curtained windowed doors from where the sun’s rays penetrated through white curtains. The only way she knew they were doors was due to the handle that poked out from the long curtain. Upon noticing the height of the doors, Maddie looked up to see the ceiling was about twenty feet high with an enormous medieval looking metal chandelier hanging down.

On the right of where Maddie and the woman stood, there were eight tall book cases that reached half way up the wall; they were filled with old and newer literature. On the left of where they stood, there was a bookcase that was enclosed in locked glass. Maddie noticed how some of the books behind the glass were not only old, but were from another era altogether. They were bound with leather binding and real etched in letters on the sides. No doubt the insides were uncut, painted in intricate gold, with old thick paper from the time before books became standardized by press machines.

In front of the glass book cases were two long tables that stretched the length from the entrance to the curtained window.

“What do you want?” asked Michael, his blue eyes twinkled with surprise but his face remained still.

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“I brought Madeleine to see the library and perhaps pick a book to read.”

“Make it quick, Adele, I don’t wish to be disturbed,” he said shortly.

So that was the woman’s name, Maddie thought as she watched the man run his hands through his sandy blonde hair. He turned back to his papers and without looking at Maddie, said in an indifferent monotone voice,

“You will be moved to the room next to this one because I have need of the one you’re in currently. You will be much more comfortable because there is a treadmill, television, and films. You will stay there as long as you behave, but cause any problems and I will send you back downstairs,” he said all this without looking up.

“What could you possibly have need of a room like that for? Especially with me in the house?” asked Maddie.

“How is that any of your business?” he continued without looking at her.

“It’s not but I find it fascinating that you could have guests while I’m being held here. How many people know that I am here?” but the man just stared at her. “Look, if its money you want, I can get it. Just release me”

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and the man signaled to the woman as he stood up and walked toward Maddie.

“I’ll think about it but do behave yourself and your stay here will be pleasant. I don’t see any need for it to be otherwise. You are a lady and I, a gentlemen, let us act as such,” he used her elbow to guide her around and back through the door, indicating that he was not going to answer her questions.

“You are no gentlemen, now tell me WHY I AM HERE!” she screamed as she realized that he was escorting her to her new room.

Michael simply opened the door, grabbed Maddie by the arms, picked her up as though she were a doll and placed her inside the room.

As he held her, she beat him on the face and chest with her fists while kicking her feet. She hardly realized it when she kicked him in the groin but felt him groan and partially release her from his grip. At which point, she wrenched her body from him as he slumped midway to the ground. She made to run off but he grabbed her by the ankle and she fell to the ground. Michael rose on his fours, crawled over Maddie, and pinned her down by her wrists. Ridiculously, she tried to struggle free while he sat on her waist and watched her.

“Why am I here?” she demanded of him.

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“You’re here because someone hired me to bring you here! Why do you think?” he yelled back.

“Who hired you?”

“Your husband hired me.”

“What? My husband?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a liar! My husband has nothing to do with this. Now, tell me who put you up to this and why haven’t you killed me yet?”

“Because Joe has reneged on his part of the deal and as long as he doesn’t pay me what he owes me, you stay alive.”

“I told you, if it’s money you want, I’ll pay you!” she screamed.

“Yes, but I don’t doubt that you’d go running to the police and find a way to track me down. I know who you are and I know who your family is. Releasing you would be the dumbest thing that I could do,” he laughed as he watched her continue to struggle.

“I won’t, I swear,” but he wasn’t buying it.

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Michael got off her quickly and then lent over to grab Maddie by the arm and lift her up. As his hand enveloped her forearm, Maddie sent a hook straight at the side of his face. Now, Maddie was a small framed woman but she knew how to throw a punch, and he didn’t see it coming. Michael groaned loudly and grabbed the side of his face as Maddie just stared at him.

Maddie became frightened when Michael started to regain his composure and didn’t know what he would do next. Feeling desperate to defend herself, she ran to the bathroom and grabbed the only item that was available for attack, the plunger. She turned around, held it out at him and screamed,

“Stay back!”

Michael walked in the bathroom and continued toward her as she pulled back the plunger and swung it at his head. She missed the side of his head as he ducked but caught him in the back of his head when he straightened up again. When he raised his hand in a knee jerk reaction to the hit, she shrieked and swung again, this time catching him on the upside. She figured she must have hit him good because he swayed for a second.

Having had enough, Michael grabbed the plunger out of her hand, threw it at the wall, lunged forward and grabbed Maddie by the back of her neck. He dragged her out of the bathroom and then threw her on the

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floor; as she tried to get up, he slapped her hard on the face, which sent her flying back toward the rug. Then he said,

“Make no mistake. I am in charge here.”

Maddie, feeling extremely defeated, laid with her face on the ground clutching her cheek and crying. For a moment, Michael felt really bad about hitting her because even though he was hired to kidnap her, he did not want to hurt her. He was only in this to help out his longtime friend who in turn promised to help him with his property. Michael promised himself that he’d just stay away from her from then on. As he watched the woman hopeless on the floor, he felt a desire to hold and console her; but he needed to remain authoritative if he was going to get out of the scandal without being hurt or caught. Michael turned and left the room feeling terrible about what had just taken place between them, the truth is Michael was not a violent man.

Maddie remained on the floor for awhile before she pulled herself up. She looked around the new room she was in and saw that it was just as strangely decorated. It had the same smooth stone wall that reminded her of a castle; yet, it had the same smooth walls as the other rooms on the inside. Colorful sheets of material purple silks hung from the walls, instead of paintings. Thick white candles in golden candelabra were screwed into the walls in several places. It was almost like the room

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was supposed to imitate the room of an imperial roman or royalty of the middle age.

The bed clashed with the purple silk; it was an enormous poster with red hangings this time and the most luxurious looking red and gold bed dressings. More shocking then the clash of colors was the size of the bed, which appeared to be twice the size of the average king bed. It was the biggest mattress she had ever seen and she immediately took down the dressings to verify what she was seeing. As she pulled them down, she found that it was a single mattress and when she sat on it, she was surprised to find that it was made of some sort of soft material that held firm.

Next to the window, there was a little chocolate brown wooden table with two matching seats. Next to the table there was a desk that appeared to be made from the same wood. It had a vanity mirror and a cushioned leather nubuck seat. On the other side of the humungous bed, Maddie suddenly noticed the enormous red leather nubuck couch that sat facing an enormous entertainment center and a treadmill.

Although her curiosity was peaked by the entertainment center, her mind quickly sent its focus to the large window that looked out toward the mountains. She now had a gorgeous view and as she looked out toward the sky, she saw birds in a v shape fly out toward the mountains. For the first time, she could clearly map out the

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line of each mountain peak and saw a little river flowing east toward a little road.

As she stared out of the window, she heard the door open once more but she didn’t turn around to see who had come in. There was the unmistakable sound of the cart’s wheels and a scent of food; immediately, she knew that it was Adele. Maddie heard her roll the cart into the middle of the room and then leave without a word.

She walked over to the table and picked one of the apples that sat in a bowl in the middle of the cart. They hadn’t allowed her to eat any fruit or anything sweet since she had been there. When she took a bite out of the apple and felt the grainy sweet cover her tongue, the tears flowed uncontrollably because it reminded her of the freedom she once had.

Walking over to the window, she sat at the little table and chewed. The sun shone brightly in the background of the mountains and trees, it was truly beautiful. She couldn’t stop staring at the little river that ran east and made her wonder where it went. As she sat there, she thought about the things she missed. Mostly, she missed her husband and regretted allowing them to grow apart from one another. She thought that if she ever got out of there, she would do everything she could to bring them back to the place they were when they were first married.

She completely discarded what Michael told her about her husband. There was no way that Joe would

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ever hire thugs to kidnap her because he loved her too much. Maddie finished eating her apple and then she walked back to the little table to pour herself a cup of tea. Under one of the trays, she found bread and jam. These are definitely Brits she thought to herself while she noted how delicious and fresh the raspberry jam was. For some reason, the sweetness of the jam seemed to lift her spirit slightly. She had not felt any comfort in what seemed like forever and the sweet jam acted like a happy stimulant.

Two weeks went by in which Maddie was confined to the room. Adele told her Michael wanted her confined for her outburst but that she would be allowed out soon. Unfortunately, her confinement combined with her determination to not let herself go as she had before, encouraged her restlessness to invoke her even worse than before.

Luckily, one day, Adele came to tell her that she convinced Michael to allow Maddie to wonder through the library and pick out some books. The idea of reading books just made her feel even drowsy but if it meant getting out of her room for a few moments, then so be it. Without a word, she put on her dressing gown and followed Adele into the library.

The library was an amazing work of art, if one could consider a library as such. Whoever had stocked it seriously had a “thing” as they say for the classics. She walked through the isles and was amazed to find extremely

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old copies of books. Although they were not originals, like those encased behind locked glass, it was interesting to read how classics like Don Quixote, Anna Karenina, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame was interpreted 100 years ago. For Maddie, reading it the way it was written a century ago was like being physically transported to another time. To her delight and surprise, someone had stocked the library with an entire collection of Chekhov and Chaucer, two of her favorite authors ever, along with a complete set of Charles Dickens novels printed circa 1850-1950.

Evidence of her restlessness could be seen on the bed which was always littered with books that Michael allowed her to have to pass the time. Adele brought her clothes to change into daily but Maddie lost motivation and spent her days in bed, rarely did she get dressed anymore. What was the point, she asked of Adele who hinted that she should make herself presentable.

On a few of the days when Maddie was tired of reading, sleeping, or watching television, she sat and stared at the walls. Really, she was dreaming about her freedom and Adele, afraid she might slip back into her prior state, had finally begun to feel sorry for her. It was about this time when she started to open up to Maddie.

As it turned out, Adele was the older sister of Abilene and they both came to the United States only a year earlier. She was the mother of four, three of which were grown and living in Worcester and the last who was

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there in the mansion with her. According to Adele, there were several other work women and men from the United Kingdom, whom she hadn’t met yet. Michael had brought them over because of a promise he made to his father before he died. The other work people were there tending the animals, property, and laundering. All of whom, knew about Maddie, which was quite striking to her. The idea that many people would know of her predicament and not do a thing to help her was maddening.

When Maddie learned of their connection to the United Kingdom, Maddie immediately wondered if there was a connection. Perhaps her being there had something to do with her father who was also from the Worcester region. She tried to get information from Adele but she swore that she didn’t know anything about it, or why she was abducted. Adele also made it clear that what little she did know, she couldn’t tell her for fear that she might lose her life, freedom, or even her job.

In spite of her anger with Adele for not helping her, they did somewhat bond a bit. On some days, they would talk for hours about lost love, family problems, and marriage. At one point, Maddie had confided in her about her dilemma between leaving work to have a family and her desire to continue her pursuit of a successful career. This led to Adele bringing her little girl, Annie, to play in Maddie’s room a few times.

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Annie was a sweet little hyper active seven year old girl with a wild imagination who would sometimes get into trouble. She always wore dresses and liked to pretend she was a fairy princess, but she played hard and got dirty quick like a boy. Adele would bring her to Maddie because it would keep both of them occupied while allowing Adele to complete work around the manor.

During their many conversations, Maddie was able to get Adele to open up a bit about the manor. According to Adele, the manor had been through a partial restoration but there were still over a dozen rooms that needed work. The intentions were to turn it into a sort medieval get away for wealthy families to visit; it was the only way Michael could figure a way to afford the costs to maintain the house because he himself was not a wealthy man.

Although it seemed like the manor was mostly empty, she learned there were always guests coming and going out of the back way. Some of the guests were friends of Michael’s or acquaintances of his other friends. Other visitors were tourists who were lured to the house through various marketing stunts meant to make people aware of the place. They would stay in the house for a couple of days for free; meanwhile Michael would hire temporary staff to adhere to their needs.

This information made Maddie remember the road she saw when they had taken their walk together so

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many days ago. It was not visible from her location but they must be the only way to the road that leads to a freeway and possibly back to a town. From what she could tell, the road leading out of the front entrance of the property went further up into the hills. One could always tell a true country house because its front was always facing the country, rather than an exit or entrance to another road.

She wanted so much to hate them all for contributing to the secret of her being there. In her mind, she thought that if she ever escaped that it would be a pleasure to see all of their lives ruined because of what they had done. Hypocritically, Maddie wanted to hate the house, the captor, and Adele who brought her books and food; but she was so bored and lonely that she couldn’t help but try to get whomever she came into contact with to warm up to her for company.

In addition, Adele had become her favorite because she was wise and intelligent, but she knew her place and kept to it. Still, she sensed there was more to this woman then simply a cleaning lady. Adele was real secretive about her early family roots but no doubt she didn’t want to be found out for Maddie’s condition. When and if she escaped, the entire staff at Le Marcon Manor, as Adele called it would be in serious trouble.

Maddie learned that after her incident where she tried to escape, Abilene was fired and sent back to the

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United Kingdom. Although Adele had not heard from Abilene after that, she supposedly left and returned safely to her home with her parents. Maddie wondered if she was thinking along the same lines as she, which was that if Michael was responsible for holding her hostage then he couldn’t possibly fire her and let her go free. She knew that Adele must be a strong resigned woman to stand by and tolerate those who may have harmed her sister; either that or she was concerned for her own safety.

It wasn’t long after this period confinement that Maddie found she was becoming more and more comfortable in her surroundings. From time to time, she could hear whom she assumed to be Michael in the room next to her; he was loud and loved to shout. Lately, he seemed angrier and although she thought he had a seething hatred for her, he agreed to allow her to have more clothes and to let her walk about the property.

“However,” he warned her, “if you do try to escape, know that there isn’t a town for over 300 miles. You will likely die of starvation or thirst; that is if you’re not eaten by a mountain lion or a bear first.”

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In the Garden

Chapter 5

Maddie took full advantage of her new freedom by spending much time in the gardens with Julian. Julian was an older Spaniard, by way of the United Kingdom, who had come to the United States to work for Michael’s father. A blithe elder gentleman who was very proud of his gardens, he loved his plants and treated them with extreme care.

Maddie loved looking at Julian because he looked like a gardener with tan skin from being under the sun all day. When one got near him, they could smell the soil or plant matter on his skin. He always wore old light colored cotton shirts that were heavily stained under garden aprons. Julian was the only man Maddie had ever seen who dared to sport a pair of clogs, which she found amusing even though it wasn’t. The man was impressive with body strength as he would carry 50lb bags of soil around the property rather than use the dolly or wheel barrel.

Julian also loved to talk and was constantly humming or speaking aloud to his self while running through the gardens.

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For Maddie on her first day alone out on the grounds, she knew immediately that she wanted to be in the gardens. She walked into the greenroom and scared the wit out of Julian. His back was turned as he was fixing up an orchid, which was when Maddie asked if she could help. Julian was a little sour at first, seeing as she scared and embarrassed him, but he didn’t begrudge her when she said she always wished she had more time to learn about plants and gardening. The comment was a ploy on Maddie’s part, that was meant to play up to the stereotype that American’s work too much and, on Julian, it worked.

At first, they had small chit chat about where they were from and what there life was like. Apparently, Julian was married to the cook, Marie, several decades ago. Prior to that, he was a shop boy in his father’s auto repair. During one of these conversations, Julian let it slip that they were in the Big Bear Mountains. This much, Maddie was not supposed to know but she promised that she wouldn’t mention that she heard it from him.

In exchange, he allowed her to help him in the gardens of the property. For the longest time, Maddie wanted to turn her house’s back property from a plain cement pool and hot tub to a stone, water, and herb garden. The problem was she never had the time do research and, instinctively, she didn’t know how to begin. She found she could learn a lot from Julian, plus being surrounded by the gardens made her happy. They inspired the fantasy she

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always had, which was of having her own place of serenity. The place would be of natural beauty and spa baths.

Julian had come to enjoy Maddie’s company as well and together they would nurture the gardens. Maddie would listen for hours as Julian would talk nonstop about every single thing he would attempt to do. After awhile, Maddie would tune him out and, from time to time, become annoyed. Yet, she never said anything because she was relieved to have something to occupy her mind.

Through Julian, Maddie had also become extremely friendly with the cook, Marie. She was the Spaniard’s wife who had spent many years in culinary schools. After running several successful restaurants with Julian in Worcester, she sold out for an early retirement. Then when her mother died, leaving Marie responsible for a large debt of unpaid property taxes, she found herself starting over. Faced with having to go back to work and rebuild her retirement fund, Michael’s father offered her a place in his home.

For Marie and Julian, there was no better offer that could be seen. Marie’s father was good friends with Michael’s father, as they went to La Sorbonne together. So he was very generous to them and gave them their own section of the manor to retire comfortably in. In exchange, and at their leisure, they did what they loved best which was cooking and gardening. One could

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see by looking at them that they were very happy together and in Le Marcon Manor.

Marie was very much like her husband in that she loved to work with her hands. She would take excellent care of the fresh herbs and vegetables in the garden. Marie tried to make as many cooking ingredients herself as she possibly could. Like an exact science, Marie exercised extreme precision in the kitchen. Even when she was simply cutting up vegetables, Maddie would notice how she did so with total devotion to her craft.

After numerous lunches and early dinners with Julian and Marie, Maddie began to offer her services to Marie. Often times, she would only entrust Maddie to help her by preparing vegetables all the while Marie would speak of the restaurants she once owned or the details of making certain dishes. Maddie was amused by the two because they were both busy bodies who talked nonstop and she wondered how they ever managed to make time to listen to one another. Although these thoughts passed through her mind, they weren’t negative judgments on the couple because they were obviously very happy and very much in love.

During these weeks, Maddie was extremely happy because she was spending time doing the things work had kept her from. For as long as she remembered, she had always fantasized about having the perfect home with a husband and kids to enjoy. Later in life, as work

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became more of a burden, she not only dreamt of a family but of having a home that nurtured her spirit. A place where she could seek Zen, meditate and realize more important values in life, rather than her companies sales quarters.

Maddie realized that her feelings for Julian, Marie, and the gardens were ridiculous because she was being held as a victim. She knew she was getting to comfortable and when considered that she may turn into Stockholm Syndrome-like victim, she cringed. When she thought about these things, she wanted to rebel and attempt to escape but she knew that it wouldn’t help her. Julian had told her of their location but there was no telling how far to even a township would be. One wrong trek up a path and she could be lost in the forests until she died.

One afternoon, after Maddie had spent the entire morning helping Julian trim in the gardens and greenroom, she walked into the kitchen to wash up and have lunch. It had been several weeks since she had seen Michael, the first person she formally met upon her arrival. She didn’t know how to act when she saw that Michael had come down from his section of the manor and was pounding some sort of meat on the counter. Little bits of blood and liquid flew about him as he swung the mallet back and then pounded.

Maddie stood frozen in the doorway for a moment, but then decided to proceed as if he wasn’t even

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there. Michael noticed her out of the corner of his eye and figured he’d do the same as her. She grabbed all the items she needed to make herself a turkey sandwich as well as a can of soup from the adjoining pantry. Right as she was about to sit down to eat, Marie walked in,

“Hey, Maddie,” she said, “would you help me cut up the carrots?”

Maddie noticed that she had a fairly good size basket of carrots in her arm; they looked like they were just pulled from the gardens. In reality, she wanted to go upstairs and have a nap, but she was too nervous to talk with Michael standing there, so she simply said “yes.”

Maddie walked over to the sink with the basket after she was done eating her lunch and began rinsing the carrots in the sink. Michael was stirring up some kind of sauce for what Maddie assumed would be dinner for guests. She considered that perhaps this was his effort in promoting his business venture among friends because she couldn’t imagine why he would be in the kitchen. At that moment, it made her angry to know that he was about to entertain guests, meanwhile she was stuck wandering the grounds like a controlled animal. She knew she shouldn’t have pressed her luck but when Maddie was angry, there was no holding her back.

“So, let me guess. You are having guests for dinner and I am going to be stuck in my room all night. Is that correct?” she asked him with a nasty tone.

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“That’d be correct. You would actually think that I would invite you for dinner?” said Michael who sounded a little on guard. Trying to lighten up the situation, he furthered with,

“I hope that you are enjoying your time here. I have noticed that you are getting on well with everyone in the house. We definitely do not need to do this unpleasantly and I’m glad that I can trust you about the place. I can trust you, right?”

Maddie found this question odd because why should he ever trust her? Even if she did show him some loyalty, eventually she would betray him because as soon as she got a chance to escape, she was gonna turn his ass in! But instead of saying these thoughts, she mumbled,

“Yeah, sure,” and continued washing the vegetables.

After a few minutes of silence, Maddie’s rage rekindled itself and she started with,

“Have you thought about how long I’m gonna be here?”

Michael was stirring in chopped ingredients into the sauce pan and said nothing. Maddie felt anger sear under her skin,

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“You know, I have a family that I miss very much. It’s AWFUL of you to keep me here and it’s pathetic that you can’t even answer a simple question,” but Michael continued stirring his concoction as though Maddie hadn’t said a word.

When suddenly, Maddie turned around,

“Speak to me you asshole!” and she turned around and started to bang him on the back with her fists. Michael fell over onto the stove, knocking into the pan, which sent a wave of the brownish substance onto his fresh white cotton shirt.

Maddie stood back and covered her mouth in shock as he yelled out because of the heat of the sauce. Afraid he would retaliate, she rushed to the sink, wet a kitchen towel and went back to Michael who was tearing his shirt off. Maddie used the cloth to begin wiping the sauce from his abdomen, which had soaked through the shirt.

“Just hold that a minute, ok?” she said and he took the kitchen towel from her as she ran to the cooler to get ice. She pulled a fresh cloth from the pantry and bundle the ice it, then she walked over to Michael who had turned off his sauce. Maddie removed the wet rag from his hand and replaced it with the iced bundled one.

“I’m sorry,” she said as held the ice to his abdomen, “I just want to go home. I miss my husband and

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my father,” she looked him in the eyes and he looked back into hers.

Maddie was surprised to see that he actually looked like he cared. From afar, his features were uncaring and rough but up close his eyes gave away his spirit. He put his hand over hers and gently removed them from the cloth of ice she held on him. One of his hands went to her lower back and rubbed her slowly in a circular motion. He gently turned her towards the kitchen exit and guided her,

“Go to your room. We’ll clean up,” and he gently touched her chin, “don’t worry, you’ll be allowed out tomorrow.”

For a moment, Maddie was touched by the sound in his voice. The sound was caring and, perhaps, she was starved for caring because she felt her hatred for the man soften.

Not wanting to anger him anymore, she turned and went to her room. Maddie replayed the incident in the kitchen repeatedly. She was fascinated because Michael seemed to be really comfortable in the kitchen. Whatever he was making smelled intoxicatingly delicious and she spent a few hours wishing that she could be down dining with them.

In a way, she did get her wish because Michael sent Adele up with a cart of food. Along with her, she brought little Annie and together they supped by the

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light of the moon, shining through the window. Throughout dinner, she couldn’t help but wonder about Michael. He just didn’t seem like the violent, kidnapping type. For the first time, she realized that there must be more to this man. Why else would so many people keep the secret of her hostage situation? Why do the people who work in the manor, seem to be devoted Michael and the memory of his father?

In spite of everything, Michael seemed like a sincere man to Maddie and she figured that maybe if she had his sympathy, maybe she would survive her abduction. She sat at her little table by the window long after Adele and Annie left for bed and stared up at the stars as she thought about her husband and what he was doing at the moment.

A couple days passed after the incident in the kitchen with Maddie and Michael. During those few days, she hadn’t heard or seen him at all but she thought about him. As she continued to spend time in the gardens and around the property, she would try to stop thinking about what he was doing at each moment. Maddie didn’t want to admit it to herself but, deep down, she actually hoped that she would see him soon.

On one particular day, Maddie was out for a stroll and although it wasn’t a typical sunny day, it was still beautiful. It was one of those misty and dreary days that Maddie loved. The way the fog would hug the ground

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would mystify her and inspire her imagination. By imagination, it is meant that it would remind her of childhood stories; mostly the classical books she read that always seemed to inhabit a mystical garden or home amidst a fantastic weathered scene.

That day, the fog was particularly thick and massive around the property and the gardens. Between the mountains, it was trapped as though in a bowl and one could see the peaks of trees and the few peaks of mountains poke out just above the thick white blanket. Then just above the peaks, the clouds had gathered in what looked like one white comforter that closed in the land below. From her view, the optical illusion was the mountains did touch the sky; she regretted not being able to photograph the moment.

Maddie carried with her a warm sealed mug of tea that she drank as she walked around and breathed in the moist air. Concerned about the weather and the affects it would have on tea bushes she and Julian had planted, she wandered into the flower garden to check on them. It was there she got her wish because Michael was standing right in the front part of the labyrinth, examining some drooping flowers. She wanted to approach him but her heart pounded heavily and instead, she watched him walk observantly further along the path.

Maddie prepared to turn and walk away quickly but upon seeing his direction, he disappeared into

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the next section of plants. Her heart slowed and her cold sweat retreated back into her skin. Maddie walked in and sat on the stone bench and drank her tea. After a few moments, she pulled out her book and started rereading the infamous tale of Leopold Bloom in Ulysses.

Meanwhile, Michael, instead of finishing his walk through the garden, which led back into the house, came back out to see Maddie sitting there on the stone bench. She looked up to see him stroll nonchalantly toward her and sit,

“How are you?” she asked, “Not too burned, I hope.”

“It is fine,” he said while looking at some tulips.

She turned back down and continued to read her book but he shortly interrupted her.

“I would let you go, if I could, but,” he stopped at “but” as though thinking of how much he should say.

Maddie looked up at him,

“but?”

“Well, I made a promise and I need to stick with it for now. I-I,” he stuttered, “only want to tell you

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that it was never my intention to harm you in any way. Never was it ever my order that you should be treated roughly.”

She stared at him and after a moment, replied,

“It’s a relief to know that you aren’t going to kill me,” she said with emphasis, “but, since my arrival, I have been harmed and I still want to go home.”

“That was not my doing, it was those guys and I can not control them. I can’t tell you anymore but you will be home soon enough. I promise you,” he said without looking at her.

Maddie became angry with him because his neglectful way of speaking out into the air made her feel dismissed. She didn’t like being treated dismissively, so she continued with,

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t, not yet.”

Maddie stared straight ahead but she was shaking with anger on the inside.

“I see you and Julian have really made a difference to the gardens. My father started these gardens; he really loved to work in beauty. Although he was a law

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man and a business man, he really valued the satisfaction he felt when he produced something visual that one could hold or see; especially when that which he produced was appealing to the eye.” Michael told her.

When she didn’t respond, he looked around to see that Maddie was red faced and silently crying. Michael put his arm around her shoulders which confused Maddie. She didn’t understand how a man could tell her that he was going to keep her hostage and yet hug her and comfort her the way that he did. The confusion made her hate him once more and his affection made her hate think of spitting in his face, but she didn’t.

“I had you abducted because I had to. Unfortunately, it’s now safer for you to stay here. Believe me; your life now depends on it.”

“What are you talking about?” Maddie snapped.

“I can’t tell you, but you’ll know soon enough I suspect,” he looked down at her.

“I appreciate your trying to calm me but you aren’t, you’re only making things worse. How could my life be in danger? I have never done a single wrong thing in my entire life,” but Michael just sat there looking at the lavender and running his hand through his hair.

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“You mentioned Joe the other day. What does my husband have to do with this?”

Michael turned around once more to see that Maddie wasn’t breathing and her face had grown two more shades of red,

“Maddie, please. You’ll make yourself hysterical,” and he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped her tears.

After he wiped her face, he held her for a moment and rocked her gently. Maddie wanted to resist but she was too upset to do so. After a few moments, Michael left her in the garden and went back to the house. She sat there and stared around her for a few moments and then made her way back to the house herself.

Later that week, Maddie and Julian scavenged all of the lavender plants. Julian figured they may as well use it because there was due to be several continuous weeks of it cool, moist weather. Lavender was fully capable of surviving, he said, but he’d rather repot them for the winter. So, Maddie scraped large amounts of the purple flowers into barrels while Julian sealed as much of it as he could into airtight bags for later use.

After hours of tiring work, Maddie went to the kitchen to retrieve a couple of bowls. Over the weeks she spent with Julian, she had become fond of the smell of lavender. She loved the way it calmed her nerves without

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making her sleepy, like some of the other garden scents. Julian, who wanted to take advantage of Maddie’s spare time, coaxed her into the idea of using the lavender to make soap. Unknowingly, Maddie was intrigued and excited at the idea learning such a craft; especially when she would have all the contents of the garden to work with. Upon which, Julian promised her that he would buy supplies so they could make soap together. Funnily enough, Marie seemed to be fond of the idea as well and began rummaging through her cupboards for ingredients to contribute to their up and coming project.

Marie mentioned that Michael was very fond of lavender and after retrieving the bowls from the kitchen, she filled them both with the aromatic flowers. She hadn’t seen Michael in a couple of days and as a nice gesture, she wanted to bring him something to remind him of her. Maddie never realized that Lavender, in its natural scent, was a very masculine aroma. So she brought him a fresh bowl to fragrance his workspace.

She walked to his office which was two doors down from her room with the bowl of lavender and knocked. The door was half opened and Michael sat there looking down at a small computer screen and typing. He looked over and said “Come on in.” As she walked in, she noticed the office was cluttered with various law books and encyclopedias.

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“So, you’re a lawyer like your father?” he looked surprised at her.

“Sometimes; I don’t really practice but I am qualified. I became a lawyer because it was what my father wanted; these were my father’s books,” she looked at him and nodded.

She handed him the bowl, which he took and deeply inhaled. Maddie noticed the office was extremely small in comparison to most of the other rooms in the house. In fact, the room was about as big as the closet in her room, except with a tiny cramped walnut table and a small window. Taking in the room, Maddie noticed a group of monitors in the far corner; one of the images looked familiar to Maddie. Michael said,

“Thank you, I love lavender. It reminds me often of my mother.”

“What is that?” she asked.

“What?”

“That!” said Maddie, “Are you watching my room?”

“Well, you are technically kidnapped and I have to make sure you don’t harm yourself or leave; especially after that first night and the incidents that have

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followed,” as he noticed the anger on her face he said, “Look, it’s not like I get my kicks this way.”

“You Jerk! I actually was beginning to trust you!”

Michael said nothing as usual but only stared at her to see what she would do next. She wanted to hit and kick him in the groin but instead, she left without another word. Michael ran out from behind the desk and grabbed her by the elbows,

“Stop! I am sorry. I won’t watch you anymore. I promise,” he searched his mind to say the right words, “it was just that I didn’t trust you. I’m sorry.”

“I wanna go home!” she yelled and wrenched her arms from him.

He followed her out of the office, watched her walk inside her room, and slammed the door.

In her room, she lay on her bed, beat her pillow, and cried. Once again, she thought about how much she missed her father and Joe. She thought about the weekend they were supposed to have together and how it began so badly. Now, he’ll never how much she really did love him. In between thoughts of Joe, visions of Michael continued to pop into her head. She hated Michael so much but she was well aware of the fact that she was also mildly

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attracted to him. Michael appealed to her the moment she saw him, which made her hate him even more.

The next morning, she woke to sound of Adele coming in early with a cart of food for her. Normally, she never came in at that time which is why Maddie just about jumped out of bed.

“Good morning, Maddie,” she said cheerily.

“Why are you so happy this morning?”

“I’m going on vacation, back to me home,” Maddie often forgot that she was British.

She was also saddened by the news because she didn’t want to be left without someone to talk to in the between hours.

“When will you be back?”

“Two weeks. In fact, I shouldn’t even be here now but I just wanted to come and warn you that I will be gone. I do have good news for you though. Michael told me to unlock the door and that you are allowed to come and go as you please. He still warns you to stay on the grounds and not to try to run off,” she said as she walked toward a corner of the room.

Maddie wanted to say how very happy she was to hear that she would be able to do as she pleased but

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Adele distracted her with strange motions. She walked to the corner of the room and pulled down the small potted ivy and started trying to unscrew the bottom. It was very curious to see because the pot was bigger than her hand. After a confused moment, she finally managed to pop the bottom of the pot open and, from within, she pulled out a little hidden camera.

Holding it up to the light, she said, “Peculiar place for a plant, it must be water proof,” and she walked out.

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Guilty Lust

Chapter 6

That first day of total freedom felt wonderful but she still contemplated repeatedly throughout the day about trying to make a run for it. At first she thought about trying to make off with a car, but then she realized she didn’t know where any cars or car keys were. Next she thought about trying to make a phone call, but she realized that there weren’t any phones in the manor. The only phones they used were cell phones and the intercom system. She never saw any computers, so she couldn’t send any emails or call from a messenger service. Maddie was truly at a loss as to where everything was; it was something she hadn’t considered before.

She made her way down to the kitchen to drop off her cart and walked out to the gardens. Julian was gone that day because, according to Marie, he went to town to buy supplies. This made her think about just how remote their location was because Marie explained to her that Julian wouldn’t be back for a day or two. Maddie finally concluded that maybe it wasn’t a good idea for her to simply take off and that what she needed was a serious plan.

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She opened the door to the green room and walked through to see what she could do without Julian. After walking around for a moment, she sat down and sighed at the work bench that Julian would usually occupy. She didn’t feel right there all alone and the loneliness that she felt in her room appealed to her in his absence; and along with the idea of not seeing Adele.

In that moment, Maddie felt really desperate and totally messed up because she knew she needed to get out of there. Whatever was happening to her was not good because it felt like dependency. She felt as though she couldn’t live without Adele and Julian; they had been the sole support for her during the many weeks of confinement that she’d had. The feelings she had for them were completely wrong, she told herself. Maddie should not be feeling dependent on those who have helped Michael hold her there.

Thinking of the feelings that she had and then inwardly punishing herself for them gave her somewhat of a panic attack. She was holding her breath and didn’t even realize it until her mind took over her controls and forced her to inhale. Yet, when she breathed in it felt like she was pushing up against a 1,000 pound weight on her chest.

When her breathing returned to normal several minutes later, she stood up and walked outside to find fresh soil for the pomegranate seeds she and Julian wanted to plant. Had she of known that Michael would be

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out in the courtyard, where the supplies were stocked in a large cabinet, with the way she was feeling, she would’ve ran back to her room.

Unfortunately it was too late because he had turned around to see her and the twinkle in his eye made it known that he was there specifically for her; there was no way to run now. She stood there and stared motionless as he turned and observed her. When it became obvious to Michael that she was not going to go to him, he stood up and walked over to her.

“I guess I’m still on not your good side,” Maddie wondered if he was stupid when he said this. Yet, she felt obligated to remind him,

“You’re holding me as a prisoner, remember?”

“Right, well, I took the camera out and you’re free to do what you will. Isn’t that better?”

Maddie couldn’t believe it; the man was like a puppy looking for approval. What was his deal?

She tried hard to remain angry with him but, just like with everything else, she was tired of being angry all the time. It made her want to die when she felt like crying everyday so like the times before; she succumbed and embraced a happy manner.

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“Yes,” she smiled, “it’s better.”

“Good because I don’t want you to hate me. I was being completely honest with you the other day, even though you probably don’t believe me,” but at the moment Maddie wanted to believe him.

“Alright,” she said.

“I came down to see how you are doing. I wanted to inform you that Julian had gone to town.”

“Yes, I know,” said Maddie looking away.

“Well, alright. I guess I will get back to my day. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Ok,” and she tried hard not to watch Michael walk away.

All of a sudden, she turned around and shouted,

“I could use help getting some supplies. That is, if you’re not afraid to do a little heavy lifting.”

He walked back toward Maddie,

“What do you need?”

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Together Michael and Maddie spent the day managing the gardens. Michael was quite adept and Maddie couldn’t help but notice how he loved the work he was doing. Apparently, he and his father had worked together in the very place they stood; it was the only time they truly bonded. As they worked their way through the morning, he told her stories of his upbringing and how he and his cousin would run through the miniature maze and play hide and seek.

Michael was funny in the way he was quick to defend himself after telling her these stories. He declared that he was also an international football player who had one several titles as though trying to emphasize that he wasn’t emasculated because his father taught him about caring for plants. Maddie didn’t think less of him, in fact she loved it. In her mind, for a moment, she pictured herself working alongside him, trying to bring together a garden of there own.

When noon came about, they decided to take a break. Marie had come down with lunch for the both of them. Michael offered Marie to sit with them but she had to return to the kitchens because she was only half done with plucking chickens. As she turned to exit the garden, Maddie looked at Michael and said,

“I hope she washed her hands before making this lunch because that’s just gross.”

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Michael laughed a little under his breath, stood up, and positioned himself with his arm outward. This was his motion for Maddie to arise and she did, they walked back into the green room to wash up.

Michael held the door open for Maddie and then followed her to the sink. She felt a heightened sense of awareness by being in the room alone with him. Maddie stopped midway along a section of small potted tea roses,

“What is this?”

“They’re a hybrid,”

“They’re orange!”

Maddie laughed at his reaction and when he looked at her, she felt it again. What she felt was the speed of her heart increase and a brief outbreak of sweat all over her body, a little panging in her lower abdomen.

Michael saw it in her eyes and without further hesitation, slowly moved closer to her and brought his face to feel her lips. She wanted to pull away but couldn’t because the panging down below grew stronger and spread throughout her body. Maddie knew that this was all wrong but there was no stopping her at that moment. Even if she regretted it later, she was going to get him in her system.

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It didn’t take long before she was pulling his shirt over his head and he complied eagerly. She was happy to see that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Maddie kept her lips stuck to his and entwined their tongues as deeply as she could. She rubbed her hands over his chest and arms, which were smooth and warm with a slight scent of the sweat he had worked up in the garden.

Although Maddie wished they would slow down, she felt that she couldn’t get undressed quick enough. Michael was pulling her shirt over her head, which was making her wobble on her feet because he was using too much strength. When the shirt was finally gone, she continued to kiss him as she unbuckled his pants. As she messed with his buckle, he groped her breasts and then yanked her waist closer to feel her skin on his chest.

The belt unbuckled and his pants fell to the floor and he then tried to unbutton hers but his hands were too fast and clumsy. Maddie unbuttoned her jeans and stepped out of them, at that sight Michael was enraged with hormones. He picked her up and held her on one side of his hip as he pushed pots of plants out of the way. They both turned their heads when they heard a pot fall with a crash but ignored it.

The table was a perfect height, which eliminated any uncomfortable need to struggle. Michael set her on it and she lay back with her hips inched at the edge, where upon he gave them what they had wanted for weeks.

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He thrust into her and she moaned as she tried to inch her way more into him. She felt her nipples go erect and Michael became even more extended as he looked down on her.

Maddie put her hands on his hips and felt his firm backside; then she held on tight and helped drive him into her. She looked down as he pounded her hard on the table and the sight of him going in and out of her sent more endorphins to her brain. When Maddie began to orgasm, she couldn’t help her screams that filled the greenroom. When she was done, she immediately hoped that no one could hear her but as Michael came just as loudly, she knew that anyone on the lower level of the manor may know.

It was over and done with rather quickly and although Maddie was happy, she wasn’t exactly satisfied. Yet, there was nothing she could say and, after a moment, they stood and put their clothes back on. As they dressed, Maddie intentionally watched Michael because she didn’t get a chance to really look at his body which, as she saw, was excellent. Tall, lean, and tan with just enough muscle definition, she found him to be a beautiful male with an incredible body.

Michael turned to see that Maddie was watching him and walked over to put his arms around her. Maddie thought it was kind of strange, he was hugging her and it felt shallow in comparison to what they had just

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done. Then he kissed her softly and they stood there holding each other for a few minutes.

When Michael finally spoke, he said,

“I don’t regret what we just did. The truth is I have been worshipping your beauty for quite some time now.”

Maddie could think of nothing to say, so she smiled a little.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am fine. This whole thing is just a little strange.”

“I know,” and he held her even tighter.

After a few moments, he stood back and said,

“Well, I don’t want you to feel strange; even though I know the situation is weird. We’re attracted to one another and there’s nothing wrong with that. Sure, under the present circumstance, you must be feeling conflicted but it will work itself out shortly. I promise.” Then with a sigh, he continued, “I need to attend to some business, so I must leave you. Feel free to come by and say hi to me a little later. I should be done with my work around five p.m. or so. I would love to spend some more time with you,” and he leaned forward and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

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Maddie watched him as he exited the green room. She remained exactly where she was, stone solid for almost half an hour and replayed the last moments of her time with Michael in her mind. Despite the fact she immensely enjoyed what had happened, Maddie battled feelings of shame inside her. What about Joe, she asked herself but she also asked of herself, what are the other possibilities? In only a morning, she could tell that Michael was a better and more of a kindly match for her.

Silently she compared Michael to Joe who was short tempered and arrogant most of the time. With Joe, it took much persuasion to convince him of anything but Michael a reasonable, patient, and logical man with compassion. But WAIT!!! she inwardly screamed at herself! He’s her captor; she started to pull her hair as she stalked up and down the row of pots. How is it she can even consider him as someone she could be with? Besides, what does he think of her? Obviously, not much with the way he left her.

Beginning to feel her face flush with her frustration, she decided it was best to forget about what had happened between them and go back to her room. She checked herself in the greenroom bathroom mirror to make sure she looked normal and then walked back to the manor.

Not in the mood for conversation, she purposely let herself in through the side entrance that led into the enormous drawing room that was half a library.

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She opened the door to her room and slam dropped her body onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep. No one disturbed her and she remained in her dream state until Marie had knocked on her door at about six p.m. and asked if she would like to have dinner with her and Michael. Maddie tried to decline by saying that she wasn’t hungry but Marie wouldn’t hear of it. She used her authoritative vocal tones, no doubt the way she used to talk to her kitchen and wait staff, to urge her into some clothes with a quick wash up and down for dinner.

When Maddie made it downstairs, her stomach immediately agreed with the sight of pheasants and rice pilaf stretched across a table of salad, bread, and wine. The little kitchen table was elegantly set up with a white silky table cloth that looked far too delicate to eat on, along with full and proper place settings.

Immediately, Maddie felt embarrassed and a little ashamed at being under dressed. As she noticed Michael standing at the kitchen console in an elegant cotton shirt with loose linen pants and light brown leather shoes. Marie had also put on a flowery, ankle length, sleeveless, red dress that made her look pretty. Maddie looked down at her oversized jeans and blank black tee shirt and wanted to run back upstairs.

Upon seeing her enter the kitchen, Marie shouted,

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“Ahhh!! Darling! You look great, don’t worry about it! This is just for fun! Here!” and she put a glass of red wine in her hand.

Maddie wasn’t sure what to say or how to proceed, so she merely walked to the center console where Michael stood smoking a cigarette.

“You know, these things will kill you,” she said as she pulled the cigarette from his mouth and took a drag.

Michael looked down at her then looked behind him to see Marie was finishing up some last preparations with her back to them. He put his hands around her waist, lent forward and kissed her then continued to gaze down at her.

Marie turned around and said,

“Ok, it’s done. Help yourselves,” and they walked around the console, filling their plates.

For Maddie, it felt like it had been such a long time since she had sat down to eat at a table. In her mind, it almost felt like she was human again. Still, she didn’t know quite how to behave because these people weren’t her friends. She had to keep reminding herself because she, so badly, wanted to forget.

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She sliced off a piece of the light pink meat and exclaimed,

“It is delicious Marie!” and it was.

The fowl was lightly cooked in olive oil and she could taste the freshest basil she had ever had.

“Thank you, Maddie. I pulled it from your garden earlier today,” at the mention of garden, Maddie’s face turned a little red.

The table grew uncomfortable with silence and Marie asked,

“Julian mentioned that you have always wanted to have a few gardens of your own. Is that true?”

“Yes,” said Maddie, “it’s just work takes up so much of my time. I think that if I ever get to see home again, I will start my own garden of aromatics.”

As Maddie rose her head up to chew, she noticed that at the mention of her seeing her home again, they both in turn, turned red themselves.

The dinner was a bit awkward for Maddie but she could tell that Marie and Michael were both uncomfortable too. It was not everyday that a woman tried befriending a victim while her boss tried to woo her. Neither was it everyday that a hostage should fall for her

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captor. Around the table, like musical chairs, one of them would speak and another blush would ensue. The dinner was over within an hour, thankfully, Maddie thought.

Maddie and Michael insisted on helping Marie clean but she got that Spanish temper of hers and threw them both out of the kitchen. They both walked silently back up to their rooms. Michael’s room must’ve been close to Maddie’s because he followed her up the stairs and down the hall silently. Maddie tried to play it cool and when she got to her door, she turned around and quickly said goodnight to Michael.

Once inside her room, she felt safe but she locked the door anyway. She hoped Marie wouldn’t be inviting her to dinner again anytime soon. It was the worst hour Maddie had in the manor and, although that wasn’t totally true, she would’ve rather relived being bound in the basement then sit with the two of them again.

She went into the bathroom, ran the tub and soaked for an hour while listening to Dostoevsky strings. The water soaked her skin and the steam seemed to soften her mind. Every muscle in her body relaxed with the bubbling of the jets and the scent of the bath oil.

Maddie tried to tune out every thought that caused her anxiety that day.

After an hour, she left the bath, dried off and sat in the steamer for a bit. By the time she was done, she

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was nice and relaxed, ready for a night of peaceful sleep. Maddie couldn’t deny that she loved the bathroom and vowed that she would have one like it. Her skin had never been so moisturized and her sinuses had never been so clear.

She changed into a pair of boy shorts and a tank top, what she was used to sleeping in, and then crawled into bed. It wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep without any thought of Michael. With her knack for obsession, it was amazing that she could sleep effortlessly that night, or so she thought.

After being down for awhile, she was awoken by what sounded like a scratching noise. In fright, she jolted upright and held her breath. Maddie then realized that someone was at her door and she climbed out of bed and went toward it. About halfway to the door, it crept open and Maddie jumped while emitting a high pitched squeal. Her heart pounded through her chest and continued to do so even after she realized that it was Michael.

Without a word he walked up to her and put his arms around her waist. She was immediately aroused by the feel of his hands on the exposed flesh of her back and belly. He kissed her mouth and then all way down her neck and onto her breasts through the tight tank she wore. This time, he obviously wanted to take time and enjoy her because he kissed her body moderately slow.

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He put his hand under her bottom, lifted her, and walked over to the bed. They crawled in and pushed back the covers, and the sheets. Michael slowly and gently lifted her shirt off of her body and kissed almost every bit of her flesh from neck to belly button. He leaned his heavy body on top of her and united his tongue with hers while she grinded her hips into his belly.

Michael slowly pulled her shorts off and worked his way back down to taste her. She was lubricated all over. The feel of her in that condition made Michael impatient but Maddie pushed him off of her and climbed on top of him. She kissed his strong muscled breasts and down his happily trailed lean chest and stomach. Maddie pulled off his shorts and found the perfect fountain of youth waiting to eject. She tried to swallow him but Michael had to pull her off for fear of not being able to control his perfect specimen.

Maddie obeyed because she wanted the moment to last, so she climbed on top of him and he watched her slow descent onto his erection. He slowly parted the lubricated flesh that hugged his firmness with exact coverage. “Oooohhhh…” Michael moaned when Maddie left him exposed and he gently pushed her hips down and held her still for a moment. She looked down at Michael and saw him looking up at her; he gently pushed her back which made her tumble forward into his chest. Michael hugged her back and Maddie slipped her arms under his and squeezed him back.

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Michael edged her face up towards his and kissed her deeply again. Maddie began to work her hips slightly up and down. Michael tried to stop her but she kept going and kissed him harder all the while. She started to breathe hard, as did Michael, and when she was close he picked up his pace. Together they rocked each other hard and clung to each other desperately to make the moment last.

Maddie sighed deeply and Michael kissed her lips as they lay together silently. Maddie wanted to say something, but she was at a loss. She loved being with him both times and was happy that he was there in bed with her. The truth was she didn’t want him to leave and that part of her that went against what she deemed as right, told her that she would rather be with Michael than return to her old life. There was something that was familiar about him but she didn’t know what. It was completely illogical, she told herself she barely knew him; but her subconscious told her that, in fact, she did.

With these thoughts provoking her emotions, she unknowingly tightened her grasp on Michael’s shoulders. Michael misinterpreted this action and thought that she was being affectionate. Maddie had no clue that Michael, for many reasons, felt the same way for her. He held her even closer and they fell asleep without even a word between one another.

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The next morning, at the exact moment the sun came up, Michael woke her with a kiss and told her that he needed to get his day started. She mumbled ok and he kissed her again, and then left the room. Maddie rolled over and tried to sleep more but couldn’t. Instead, she lay there and thought about the mess her life seemed to be of late. The only way for her to regain order was to leave the manor as soon as possible, but Michael would not let her.

After a few hours, Maddie decided to start her day too. She rose and had a quick wash and went down to the main kitchen for breakfast. After a quick hello to Marie and half a bagel, she made her way to the gardens once more. She looked across the grounds and saw some of the other workers, who she didn’t know cleaning out the fountain. It was at this moment she remembered there were usually more people working in the house. The problem was it was so large that she rarely saw them because she was supposed to be kept a secret. Now that she was allowed out whenever, Maddie could possibly make contact with someone she thought. What scared her was knowing that she really didn’t want to make contact.

Why didn’t she want to go home? Maddie badgered herself with the thought that she really needed to see a psychiatrist. I’m sick. She tried to ignore her brain that wanted to tell her that she was a psychologically twisted woman but couldn’t. So, she buried herself in hard work around the grounds. This time, instead of fettering with the cute pots, she took the hoes and rakes and

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committed to hard labor for several hours until water-like sweat juiced through her pores.

Sometime in the afternoon, she sank down onto her knees on a patch of grass she was digging up. Maddie removed the visor and wiped her sweaty forehead. Fatigue penetrated every muscle in her body but she felt good and refreshed. She pulled herself up and made her way back up to the house. Once inside, she washed her hands and downed a two liter bottle of water.

Marie nearly had a cow when she walked in to find mud colored Maddie sitting at the table. When Maddie explained that she was making new beds, Marie chased her from the kitchen. Maddie went upstairs to shower and then fell asleep; she didn’t wake until the moon shined an annoying ray of light through her room.

She woke up feeling groggy and terrible because her muscles were not only fatigued, but were sore all over. Maddie slowly rolled out of bed then stood up on her wobbly legs. Eventually, she made it outside of her room and down the several flights of stairs. Mentally, she noted that she would need a whole lot of aspirin because she didn’t know how she was gonna make it back up the stairs and to her room.

In the kitchen, she found Marie and Julian eating a late supper together.

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“Hola,” said Julian, “nice work in the garden, I see you’re hurting now though,” and he laughed heartily with Marie.

“Ha ha,” said Maddie who smiled and helped herself to some leftovers in the refrigerator.

Just as Michael came down into the kitchen, Marie then went on to describe the mess Maddie had been when she walked into the kitchen earlier. They all laughed and Michael caught her eye momentarily. Just as Maddie looked away, it was to see that Marie and Julian were watching them. Oh great, she thought. Now they did know for certain what was going on between us. Never had she felt so ashamed of herself in her entire life.

Later that night, as she lay in bed, she wondered if Michael would visit her again. She finally drifted off to sleep around ten because she figured that he wasn’t going to make it like she hoped. Then, at about midnight, there was the same scraping noise of the key inside her door. Instead of jumping out of bed this time, she lay and watched him walk through the room and crawl into bed next to her. He put his arm around her waist and they lay there cozy together for many minutes before succumbing to their lustful needs.

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Escape Le Marcon

Chapter 7

Maddie was sitting at a table in her wedding gown while in the hall was her husband, family, and friends who celebrated their union. In the dream, she was an observer and she could see behind her the look on her father’s face, which was a sort of stern grimace. She had noticed that look on his face for years, but never really thought about until that dream. Behind her husband, she saw a group of men dressed like gangsters with guns; she also could see a man and a woman running toward them. Maddie got the scariest and most dangerous feeling from them.

In the next scene, she was in bed with Joe about to make love and then Michael appeared, grabbed her by the wrist and motioned to her. She wouldn’t leave because she promised to stay with him. There were loud popping noises in the background and the sky was dark blue but lined in red along the disc of where a horizon would be.

Upon seeing the sky, she got really scared and looked at Joe to tell him they needed to leave. Joe only looked back at her and smiled, she noticed he looked

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particularly handsome but there was something off about him. Maddie, in her dream, got up to get her robe when suddenly the door burst open and she screamed.

“AAh!” she screamed in a guttural tone for real, her heart pounded in her chest. She sat straight up fast and hard, which made her head dizzy. There in the doorway stood Michael,

“Hurry, get up and get dressed, we’re being attacked!” he shouted.

“What?” said Maddie. Suddenly, she heard the shouting and screaming from below and she jumped out of bed, went to draw back the curtain but she couldn’t see anything.

“Hurry! They’ve come for both you and me!” and he ran toward her and grabbed her by the arm to lead her away. Confused, but too scared to ask questions, she put on her shoes, jacket, and then they left.

In the background, Maddie could hear gun shots, and then someone screamed. This frightened her more because she had become fond of several of the people who lived and worked on the property, she hoped that they were alright.

“Come on!” said Michael sharply and he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down the hall.

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They took a left turn and started heading toward the front of the mansion.

“No! This way” said Adele who appeared running toward them, and went right down the hall.

They both turned to follow her all the way down the opposite direction. When they made it to the end, she opened a door behind a fake canvas that led into a secret hallway with a staircase that wound down to the kitchen and into a broom closet. As they crossed the kitchen, she noticed that it had been ransacked as there was glass and debris everywhere. Someone had scattered flour about the room making it cloudy and hard to see.

“Come on,” said Michael.

They opened the back door and heard more shouting and gunfire up above. Maddie wondered if she should try to make a run for it, what if these men were here to save her? As she started to react to her thoughts, Michael pulled her back,

“I know you don’t trust me but I swear to you, these men are not here to rescue you, but they are here to kill you. Stay with us and I will let you go but for now you must trust me!”

Maddie conceded and they stepped through the backdoor, Adele sifted through a ring of keys. They stood under the short stone archway that extended out from

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the kitchen door way. On their right was the red wood door that was always locked. When Adele found the key she was looking for, she opened the door that Maddie had always assumed was only cupboard.

Once they were on the other side of the red door, Maddie noticed that there was a hall-like extension that seemed to extend for quite a few yards. It was thin, dark, and a little scary,

“What is this? Are we going to hide here?” she whispered.

“We are inside the manor wall which, as you can see, will lead us to the gate,” and Adele began to lead the way with Michael and Maddie following.

Not that Maddie was claustrophobic, but it was disgusting running through the tight wall because it was smelly and dank. The wall was pitch black, except for tiny splashes of light that leaked through cracks in the wall. Occasionally, the ground was uneven and she needed to grope the wall for support, at which point she felt her hand crushing spiders, webs, and who knows what else all along the wall. Several times, she brushed what she assumed were spiders off of her arms and hands; she even felt a few things crawl down her shirt.

After a few quick moments, they ran into a door where they stopped and Adele sifted through keys again. Finally, she found the right one and let them into

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what turned out to be the horse stalls. Maddie realized that they must be halfway through the wall and, as they crossed the stalls to the other door, they found that Adele wasn’t sure that she had the other key.

They started to panic and Michael became very angry, but then shots fired through the window and they all hit the ground. Right as they hit the floor, the door to the stalls opened and in walked a masked man in jeans and a plain white tee shirt. At first, the man could not see them all on the floor at first, which allowed them to take advantage of the split second they had.

Adele continued to look for the right key while Maddie grabbed a few horse shoes and threw them at the man. They must have hurt him because they heard the man shriek twice. Upon hearing the man was cry out, Michael didn’t delay in wrestling the gun out of his hand. Maddie saw several men running toward them through the broken window and shouted that they needed to hurry. Michael managed to knock out the gunman he had fought with. He looked like one of his wild mastiffs, the way his hair flailed around his face when he fought.

They entered the manor wall and ran toward the gate entrance in which a small sedan was parked. They all three climbed in and Michael pressed a button on a chain he pulled from the armrest and the outside door that was disguised as stone opened. Michael put the car in reverse and spun out; they drove into the night.

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“OK!” Maddie screamed at them, “WHAT is going on? Please don’t tell me that you’ll tell me later!”

“Those men are here to kill us.”

“Yeah!” she said sarcastically, “I kind of figured that out!”

Then she suddenly remember,

“Oh my god! What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on your trip! Plus, what are they gonna do with Annie, Julian, and Marie?” Michael and Adele said nothing.

“You two are truly evil, you know that?” she spewed.

“Julian and Marie will be fine; they have their own secret escape. Annie is with her Auntie and, to answer your question, I don’t entirely know what’s really going on but, believe me or don’t, your husband is responsible. He was supposed to come and get you, pay me, but he never did.”

“I told you, Joe would never have a hand in something like this. I don’t believe you. Why do you keep bringing him into this? How do you know my husband?”

“Perhaps you should ask yourself this,” Michael said “how well do you know your husband?”

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“That’s it! Pull the car over! I want out! NOW!” she yelled.

“Don’t be ridiculous Maddie,” said Adele, “we’re in the middle of nowhere. You’ll die out here.”

Maddie said nothing but she turned her head and raged in silence.

After an hour or so, they began to slow down and they turned into a bald spot in the forest. There was music, talking, and laughter echoing through the trees.

“Where are we?” but still neither of them said anything.

“I thought you were going to let me go? If so, I don’t see any harm in telling me where we are.”

Michael continued to drive along the road and a moment later a large house came into view. It was shadowed, dark, and would have been scary if it weren’t for the fact that a party seemed to be happening. Michael parked and they all climbed out of the car and walked up to the gate.

“Where are we?”

“We’re east of Coachella Valley, off the 111 somewhere,” and he pushed the gate button.

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“Salmay here” said a man in a deep throaty voice.

“Hi, this is Lucian. I- I’ve got her,” he said looking idly over at Maddie.

It took a second for her to understand what that look meant and she turned to back away.

They both grabbed her,

“No, just trust us,” but Maddie continued to struggle and they had to drag her in the gate. They merely lost her when a gunned body guard came to the gate to help drag her in.

Inside the house was a brightly lit party where it looked like almost a hundred people were mingling. There were waiters going around with food and drinks while people stood around and talked idly. They followed the man up two grand set of stairs and into an elegant red carpeted room.

“Lucian!” exclaimed the man that was sitting on the edge of the table, “Comment allez vous?” he said.

“Tre bonne,” said Michael.

“You’re name’s Lucian and you’re French?” said Maddie in disgust.

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“Oui, Maddie,” the man walked over to observe her.

“She is beautiful, no?” asked the man with a French accent.

“Yes, very,” said Michael as Maddie gave him an angry glare.

The man was dressed in a full tuxedo as he walked around Maddie and finally he spoke.

“Well, I know that you are in trouble and wish that I could help. In consideration of the friendship your father’s meant to me, and I have always thought of you like a nephew. After all, we grew up together, went to La Sorbonne and built our fortunes together from nothing, me, your father, and Baldric,” he said thoughtfully. Then the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, “…but I can’t help you. I am clean now and wish to stay that way.”

“Is that why you have men with guns guarding your home? Is it because you’re clean?” asked Michael angrily.

“Look, I understand. Take the money I offer you and if you need more, I will send you some. You got yourself into this mess, now you must get yourself out. I’m sorry.”

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They stood there and watched the man walk out of the room and then the man who called himself Salmay said,

“Ok, let’s go,” and they all lead the way out with the gun man guiding them behind.

After they were outside the gates, Maddie said,

“So what good was that supposed to do? What did we come here for?”

“Are you telling me you totally missed everything he just said? That man was a friend of my father, his name is Sean Basteau and he went to Sorbonne with him and Baldric, Baldric Engelard.”

“What? My father?” she made a loud tuh noise, “That’s ridiculous. He doesn’t know my father because he never went to Sorbonne.”

At that point, Michael’s face turned red and his eyes bulged with anger. Yet, he said calmly, “I told you what you wanted to know and you don’t believe me. So, I guess that’s all I have for you. You can go now, best of luck,” and he and Adele turned to go to the car.

“So, wait. You’re just going to leave me here in the middle of nowhere?”

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“Well, what do you want me to DO? I have tried to prove to you that you are in danger and that it has something to do with your family and you just won’t believe me. I now need to look after myself and Adele and I don’t have time for your stubbornness.”

“Alright, alright, but you can’t just leave her here,” said Adele, “Let’s at least take her somewhere she can make a phone call.”

“FIIIIINE!” he threw his arms down, “Get in the CAR AND LETS GO!!” both she and Adele jumped as he shouted and then walked over to the driver’s side. After they were seated in the car, Maddie said,

“So what do I call you? Michael? Lucian? Or Asshole?” Michael punched the break and they sped off as Maddie slammed into the back seat because as she didn’t buckle her seat belt.

They drove down the dark road, back out to where they came in from and as they came closer to the road, a car followed them silently. The car had its lights turned low and crept behind them at a distance. They followed and waited for the perfect opportunity to take care of them. When the car made it two miles down the road, where no one would hear them, they sped up. Once it got within twenty feet of Michael’s vehicle, the men inside then turned on the lights and sprang a fire of bullets on the vehicle.

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Maddie screamed as a bullet sped through the back window and then escaped through the front. Just as Michael had swerved the car out of shock, another bullet rang through the car. Maddie laid down on the backseat and screamed some more,

“SHUT UP!! I can’t concentrate with you bloody screaming!”

Maddie tried to get her screams under control but she was scared and just then, she was sprayed with something wet. It was all over her face and hand; it tasted salty and she had stopped screaming out of shock. Then she looked up and saw the dark substance all over the window and realized that poor Adele had been hit by one of the bullets. Maddie was stunned into silence and suddenly Michael slammed on his breaks and Maddie rolled forward onto the floor.

Upon Michael’s slamming of the breaks, the car behind them smashed into their rear and then he pushed the gas pedal to the floor and they sped off once more. The damage Michael caused must’ve been great because they were no longer being followed. Michael continued to drive for several miles while constantly looking out of his rear mirror nervously.

Michael quickly pulled over, unlocked the door and pushed Adele’s lifeless body out. Maddie was angered at the sight of Michael’s ill regard for her body,

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“What are you doing? You can’t just discard of her like that? We have to go and get her and then go to the police.”

Michael slammed his feet on the breaks and pulled to the side of the road,

“The bullet hit her in the head, but if you want to go and get her, fine. I am gone though. Those guys are still back there and they want us dead!”

“Why? Why do they want us dead? I still don’t understand what all this is about.”

“Neither do I, not really.”

They continued on the road for another few hours before they finally happened upon a town. Spotting the all night pharmacy, Michael pulled over and purchased cleaning supplies. Maddie was trying to help Michael with the car but she instead made it worse by vomiting all over the seat. Michael said with disgust,

“Do you mind? I have to drive in this disgusting mess. I don’t want to be smelling vomit. You stay there and I will clean.”

After Michael finished cleaning the car, he said to Maddie,

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“Well, I guess this is it. We should part ways here I think,” and he looked at his cell phone.

“It’s four a.m.,” he continued, “so if you just hang out here for a couple of hours, you should be able to get in touch with someone to come and get you.”

Maddie’s temper flared like never before,

“So you’re just gonna LEAVE ME HERE???”

“Keep your voice down!”

“I’m tired and I have no clothes, no money! You’re responsible for my situation, if you hadn’t kidnapped me in the first place I wouldn’t be here. Now I am to go and freeze on the streets? It’s moist and cold, like 40 degrees out here!” she screamed at him.

Michael actually looked as though he felt bad for a moment. He looked around to see a heavy cold fog had blanketed the town and not even the stars could be seen. It was a pretty cold, dark night he thought and perhaps they could bunk up together for the evening at least.

“Ok, I’ll put you up for the night but in the morning, you’re on your own,” Maddie said nothing but followed him back into the car. She climbed in the back to avoid sitting in the moist seat. As they drove for another

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ten miles before finding a place to rest, Maddie seethed about how little Michael seemed to care about her well being.

The place was an old tavern like motel that had an open lobby. It was one of those tacky looking places that were meant to imitate old western décor. The sleepy desk clerk led them into a room that was decked out western style with badly brown stained walls and furnishings. The carpet was a dirty reddish color, with a layer of air that could be felt beneath it with each step. The room was old and smelly, Maddie didn’t dare remove her shoes or socks.

“I can’t believe you! You think I am gonna stay in this room with you?”

“Umm… if that’s the case, why are you still here?” he asked as Maddie looked at him with rage. “It’s here or it’s out there, you choose,” and he sat on the bed and took off his shoes.

Maddie sat on the bed too.

“Look, maybe this place isn’t up to your standards but I need to rest.”

Maddie could neither speak nor think anymore because her body was tired from being scared all night. Her muscles ached with chill and fright and although the bed was lumpy, it still made her sleepy.

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She didn’t hear another word he said but she lay out on the bed and Michael, or Lucian, or whatever his name was went to take a shower. Maddie lay and was just about to pass into sleep when she had a sudden burst of energy. She walked into the bathroom where Michael was showering and demanded that he tell her why the man, Basteau called him Lucian.

“Hey!” and Michael jumped.

“Jesus!” said Michael and he bent down to pick up the soap. Maddie’s eyes followed him down to the floor and noticed how round his butt was when tensed from a standing over position.

“Why did that guy call you Lucian?”

“Do we have to go through this now?”

“Just answer the question. Who are you?”

“I am Lucian Marcon; born and raised in Paris until I was twelve. Upon which, my father moved us to the United States but I couldn’t very well go around with a name like Lucian. My peers made fun of me and no one understood it, so I go by Michael.”

“Who is your father? You said that he went to Sorbonne with that man?”

”Anton Marcon is my father, he was a banker. He studied with Baldric and Sean at Sorbonne.”

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“Will you stop saying that? My father didn’t study in Paris. He studied at Cambridge, where he was born and practically raised.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, can I have some privacy now?”

Maddie stood there for another moment and then she left. She lay on the bed and dozed off for a few with the lights turned off. She didn’t even feel Michael climb into the bed next to her because she was so tired.

Through the night she had bad dreams about her father and her husband. In the dreams, they were both conspiring to have her killed. Maddie was scared for her life and she kept seeing her fathers face and it had that same look she had always known but this time she saw something sinister in it. It was like she had always known that there was something off about him, but she never questioned her feeling, or her father’s peculiarity.

Then she dreamed about the night that she and Joe made love that first night in the desert. The first night they realized that they loved each other. Although she was dreaming, she could feel his kisses on her neck and the heat of his chest as it closed in on her naked breasts. Maddie moaned aloud and turned over on her side. The dream continued and Maddie tossed and turned in her sleep.

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Michael vibrated on the bed as Maddie tossed and turned for a few moments, then he woke her. He was a light sleeper and couldn’t relax with the bed motioning. Michael turned her over and shook her arms slightly and she moaned. Upon shaking her a second time, Maddie opened her eyes and looked straight into his. Michael looked at her saying nothing and then Maddie put her hand around the back of his neck and pushed his face close to hers. Michael was hoping this would happen and that maybe she would forgive him for the mess they were in. He was happy when she kissed him and he knew she wanted him despite everything.

They kissed momentarily and although Maddie, in her mind, was thinking about her husband, Michael really felt like every cell in his body had come to life at that moment with her. Maddie’s thoughts bounced between Joe and Michael even more rigorously when he snuck his hand under her shirt and groped her breasts. Maddie began to tug at her shirt in an effort to get it over her head while continuing to kiss Michael. Michael released her breast and she pulled her top off and he put his lips around one of her large brown areolas and licked at the tips of their erectness. Then taking his mouth and opening it wider, he put as much of her breast in his mouth as he could and gently pulled his head back. He used is teeth to graze her skin gently and then stuck out his tongue to flick her tips. He kneaded her other breast with his mouth and stuck his middle finger down below on her mound and massaged her. Maddie, who felt betrayed by Michael,

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focused her thoughts on Joe as she tried to push his head into her so that he could continue arousing her. She put her slim hands on him and felt that he was more than ready to go; Michael almost exploded on her with only her touch.

Maddie grabbed onto his round bum and pulled his hips on to hers. They grinded there bodies together until finally Michael leaned back and looked at her laying there. His eyes enlarged as he took in her breasts and nice hips, he pushed her legs to both sides and was amazed to see that she had completely shaved on the lips but not up front, where a neatly trimmed bush grew. Maddie kissed and bit his chest, arms and neck as he ran his forefinger from her hole to her mound and back down, then gently pushed his finger in to feel her moistness. She lay back with her breasts to the sky and arched her back so as to push her hips further down on his finger. Michael pulled his finger out and tasted her; then went down where he licked and swallowed all the moisture she had to give.

When he cleaned her nice and good, he began to arouse her again so as to produce more moisture by rubbing his warm hard cock on her clit. Maddie used her fingers to spread her lips and pushed her hips forward so he could rub harder while at the same time he put his mouth on her nipples again. This time, not only did more moisture come, but so did she. Maddie’s cries echoed off the walls as her body tensed up.

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When finally her body relaxed, he rubbed the tip of his penis on her pinkness up and down with the head. He entered her slowly and he filled her up sliding skin on skin, his cock against her wet vaginal walls. As he pumped in and out slowly, she breathed even harder as every thrust he made rubbed her funny spot. Without much effort she made a crescendo and he could hold it back no longer and the evidence of his true feelings for her covered her breasts and belly.

He got up and retrieved a towel from the bathroom for her to wipe down with.

“Thank you,” she said and he crawled into bed next to her. She could hardly deny to herself that she enjoyed her moment with Michael but she wished he was Joe. The truth is she found him sexy but she her anger had returned and it made her hate him. Yes, Michael satisfied her as she hadn’t been satisfied since she had first been married. Maddie felt extremely guilty about what had happened between them and she wished she could take it all back.

Michael then caressed and kissed her neck and body. For some reason, she always saw him as a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” type. When she told him this, he mumbled sleepily,

“You’re not just an ordinary woman, but are truly exceptional. I have loved you for a long time now.”

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Maddie heard what he said but at the moment, she didn’t have feelings except for anger, and she said,

“I miss Joe,” and she rolled over, cried, and went to sleep.

Michael tried to sleep after she rolled over but he couldn’t ignore what he had heard. Severe disappointment kept him awake. He felt ashamed for what he’d done to Maddie, but he also inwardly punished himself for being stupid enough to think that Maddie would ever care for him.

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Time to Go Home

Chapter 8

Like a light, she was out cold and when the sun was completely up, she slept through the roosters that crowed up and down the street. Exhaustion commandeered her body and she barely woke in time to catch Michael getting ready to leave. He sat on the bed, took off his shoes and socks, followed by the blood sprayed tee shirt and jeans from earlier that morning.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m changing.”

Maddie said nothing as he took off his trousers; she couldn’t help but admire his smooth skin and the overall visual of his long lean body.

Maddie’s eyes hadn’t adjusted to being awake and she closed them to block out the bright sun light that broke through the shades and around his body. She rubbed her eyes and reopened them to watch him put on a cheap pair of blue jeans with cheap but overpriced loafers which he pulled from the bag with the tavern’s logo. It was

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obvious to Maddie that this man was used to dressing well as she looked at his expensive leather soled shoes that lay shredded on the carpet. He slipped a light colored button down linen looking shirt onto his smooth chest. Then he brushed the hair off the side of his face and caught Maddie admiring him.

For a moment their eyes met and a small part of her hoped that he would return to the bed with affection. Unfortunately, whatever bond they had shared only hours before was already gone in his mind. He broke eye contact with her almost as immediately as they made it and went to comb his hair. Michael grabbed his dirty clothes and put them in the bag from the lobby shop and turned to head toward the door.

“Where are you going?” asked Maddie. But Michael didn’t say a word, nor did he look back at her. Maddie laid there for a moment and watched the door close without much thought; then it dawned on her that he was leaving without her.

Quick as lightening, Maddie jumped out of bed, threw on her dirty clothes, and ran toward the door. She didn’t see him on either side of the hall as she ran toward the elevator. When she made it to the lobby, she didn’t see any sign of him there either.

“Excuse me, did you see a man in a light shirt walk by?” she asked the desk clerk who nodded his head, pointed toward the back entrance and told her he went left.

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Maddie ran out of the back of the hotel and didn’t see anyone, but the car they drove was still in the lot. She wondered if he had tricked her as she walked back inside the hotel and up to the front desk.

“Can I borrow your phone please?” the desk clerk shook his head and pointed toward a lobby phone that was hooked to desk and to a wall. She walked over to the desk and sat down. Trying to remember her father’s number, she beat her head and cursed herself for not memorizing numbers, as she had promised herself she’d do. Like a child of the digital age, she allowed technology to do just about everything for her.

She gave up trying to remember her father’s number and went over to the lobby computer and logged into her account. After sending some money to the front desk money gram service, she surfed the Internet to find a rental car. Realizing that the town she was in was too small for the Internet, she walked up to the guy behind the counter who was even less helpful when he explained to her that she would have to catch a tourist bus to Palm Desert if she wanted to rent a car.

Thirty minutes later, after the money gram came through, she walked down the street in search of food. The town was small and dusty looking with only a few buildings right under the bright blaze of the sun. Huge mountains surrounded the town, preventing the travel of the sun’s rays, which made the temperature rise. She swatted

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her shirt against her chest as she squinted her eyes and noticed a little diner across the street.

Inside the diner, there were many people sitting down to breakfast. The waitress led her to a seat and just as she was about to sit, she saw him. In that light and at that time, there was something about him that looked completely sleazy and cowardly. Maybe it was just her anger that made him appear that way. Maddie felt a ball of rage grow in the pit of her stomach at the sight of him.

In an instant, Maddie decided that she would confront the coward.

“I’ll sit over there, I know him.”

“Can I get you a drink?” asked the waitress.

“Coffee and water, thanks.” Maddie looked back at Michael who stared back at her.

“I half expected you to go running out of here when you saw me,” he just stared at her with those blue eyes that she certainly hated.

“Are you gonna tell me?”

“Tell you what?” he asked stupidly as he looked away.

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“You KNOW what!” and she continued, “I want to know why you ran out on me, and especially after last night.”

He said nothing, but continued to stare out of the window. Maddie continued to stare at him brazenly but after a moment, he spoke, “I am sorry if I hurt you. You are a truly beautiful woman but last night was a mistake. Neither one of us is in the position to get involved right now. I just think its best if we separate now before we get each other into trouble.”

“I’m already in trouble, thanks to you. Now, you’re just going to abandon me when I have no clue as to what’s going on?”

“I told you all I know but, for some reason, you don’t want to listen!” he said as he got up. She also rose and followed him outside where he tried to outwalk her, but she only walked faster too.

“So that’s it? Huh? You’re just gonna leave me here? Tell me something, how is it that we could get each other in trouble? Is that a legitimate cover up for your being a coward? You know if you want to run out on me, than fine...”

At that point, out of nowhere a black car drove down the street. Maddie didn’t notice it because she was still berating Michael. Michael turned his head slightly, looked behind him with his peripheral vision and

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saw out of the corner of his eye, the car slow down and make a 360 u turn. He slightly turned his head back and began to walk faster. Maddie, still shouting, followed Michael without noticing and as he began to once again pick up his pace, so did Maddie.

The black car caught up to them, then slowed a few paces behind, stalking them like a hunter. Michael tried to keep his cool and walked even faster followed by Maddie who continued to walk and talk faster. He veered off to the right into a parking lot full of cars just as the door to the black car opened, from where came a man who walked in their direction.

Maddie still shouted and didn’t notice how Michael looked back and saw the man, then ran toward the end of the parking lot where there was a wall he could climb over. Maddie remained completely oblivious as she screamed even harder and louder,

“FINE! GO THEN!” and she stopped right there on the tar.

Michael, having another stroke of conscience, turned around, ran back and grabbed Maddie by shoulders and shouted,

“LET’S GO!”

“WHAT? So you want me to come with you now? Why are you running?” she asked as she followed

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him. Michael jumped on a car and put his hands on the cement wall, then swung one of his legs over the side.

“What are you doing?” Maddie asked as she turned around and finally saw the man running toward them. She turned back around to see Michael motion to her as his second leg reached over the wall.

Maddie made it up onto the car, but it was too late because the man yanked Maddie by the arm, which caused her to tumble onto the bumper, and then she rolled off onto the ground. He grabbed her around the waist and attempted to drag her off but Michael, who had jumped back over the wall to help Maddie, grabbed him around the neck and jerked him back.

Maddie tumbled forward out of the man’s grip, turned around and kicked him in the crotch. He keeled over and the man in the driver’s seat of the car that followed them ran over to help his fallen accomplice. The man was a puny skinny guy and when Michael punched him square in the jaw, he fell unconscious to the ground. Michael ran over toward the driver’s seat, turned and beckoned Maddie who ran around to the passenger’s side.

“Were those the same guys from last night?” asked Maddie.

“I don’t know,” and they left the parking lot.

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Instead of trying to stop for breakfast again, Michael drove them straight back to Los Angeles. Maddie was so excited to be going home and all she could think about was what Joe would say when he saw her. After two hours, Maddie awoke and found that they were stuck in traffic somewhere. She wasn’t sure if they were in Los Angeles or Orange.

“Where are we?”

“Brea,” said Michael, which was a few hours away with the traffic involved.

“Great,” she mumbled to herself.

More than anything Maddie wanted to be home so she could shower and look good for Joe when he came home.

They pulled up to Maddie’s house in Westwood four hours later. Hardly able to control her excitement, she left the car quickly and only mumbled goodbye as she slammed the door. At this point, Maddie made another naïve mistake by trusting her captor to know her address. She didn’t even ask him what his plans were and was about to walk away when it occurred to her that she should ask. Michael rolled down the passenger side window,

“So, I guess this is it? Do you think those guys will come after us again?”

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“No, I doubt it,” he looked at her and said “I think you’ll be fine.”

“Well, what about us?”

“What about us? You’re married and someone tried to kill me. I am surprised at you; all you could think of was getting back to Joe. You don’t care about me.”

Maddie didn’t know how to respond to Joe’s attitude of indifference. She looked at her house and said,

“Well, I hope things work out for you,” and she walked up the pathway to the garage of her home.

Michael sat in the car and watched Maddie walk for a moment. As soon as she closed the door, he turned the car on and drove a quarter of a mile down the road, made a u turn and parked. Michael had no intention of leaving Maddie because she was the key to getting his life back. He would sit there and wait until the moment came and then he would take charge.

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How It Came to Be

Chapter 9

Lucian Marcon had always been a good boy with very good looks. Many were instantly charmed by his sweet, smooth face, and more so by his large unusually almond shaped blue eyes. As a child, his head was an angelic foam of white-blonde hair that strikingly contrasted his tan skin. When he was a toddler, his parents never had a hard time finding someone to babysit the handsome boy.

The little boy had long legs and long arms that greatly contributed to his ability to play football. Lucian was agile and his parents loved to send him to practice because it helped him to burn his insurmountable energy. His father couldn’t be more proud of his athleticism and although he placed a great value on his education, he also had hopes that maybe he would play football professionally.

Lucian was also the kind of person who enjoyed doing things hands on rather than theorizing, remembering, or citing events. His favorite things to do were to help either his mother or father with chores around the house. Both of his parents loved the fact that the boy

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wanted to help clean the fireplace or pick up shopping supplies for them. Lucian loved to get approval and affection from both parents which would motivate him to be as helpful as he could, except for when he really wanted to play.

His mind wasn’t all bad either; he did fairly well in all academic areas, even math. He was a well based all around friendly kid whom many people favored and showered with affection and attention. The teachers who worked with him loved him so much that even when he did poorly in class, they would favor him with extra attention or give him a few extra points where they could.

Aside from being a loveable child, Lucian was a high spirited, highly impassioned boy who either loved or hated people. At school, he was very popular amongst many; rarely was he challenged by an opponent because people’s love of him would bring them automatically to his defense. Plus, it was rare for him to meet a person who did not have a quality that the boy would admire.

To those whom he didn’t like, it was usually for good reason. Perhaps they were mean, shallow, or bullied other children and to their rescue, he would come. Toward those who weren’t as popular, Lucian would lend them his support and be their friends. Often times, he would introduce them to others who he felt they would get along with.

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He loved his mother and his father very much but he never knew too much about his other family. Once he met his grandfather from his father’s side but he died several years later. Most of his parent’s family and friends lived in, or around, Paris. Yet, Lucian was so popular that he never suffered from loneliness; he had plenty of friends and plenty of dates in addition to his mother’s constant affection.

His father was a very busy man who worked as a law clerk in an extension of his grandfather’s business in Bruges, Brussels. He rarely saw the man, for he was always the first one up and the last one down. They never had a nanny, so he had plenty of time to spend with his mother who loved taking care of him. The child was a leader and a caregiver by nature, all the way up until his father ran off with him to Paris.

For the longest time, Lucian was under the impression that his father, Anton Marcon, fled with Lucian to live in Paris so he could study law at the University. Anton came from a working class family of civil lawyers, but they were by no means poor. Unlike the children he went to boarding schools with, he wasn’t brought up in a life of decadent abundance. Still, he was well taken care of and usually got what he wanted.

When Anton was eighteen, rather than go to college as his family wished, he married his girlfriend from school, Gabrielle. She was from an entrepreneurial French

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family who had sent her away to school for most of her life. Making women’s hats, brassieres, and shoes was the family business and Gabrielle hated it and hated her mother, but she was always fashionably dressed and many boys always admired her.

What Gabrielle didn’t understand was that it was the beginning of a new age for women. Women all over were giving up the traditional family and stepping into the workplace with the goals and determination to prove themselves. Gabrielle’s mother, Heidi, was a strong activist who wanted to be an example and when her father learned that he was dying of cancer, Heidi begged him to leave her the companies. After many weeks, he finally conceded that his only child, Heidi should inherit the companies rather than her cousin. In turn, he made her promise him that she would rather work her spirit dry, than allow their family to lose the companies their family had taken generations to make a success.

Unfortunately, Heidi’s schedule was very demanding which left her with very little time to spend with Gabrielle or her husband. Although for a time she tried, eventually Heidi had to give in to pressure and ran the companies on an extremely demanding schedule. This led to the premature ending of her marriage.

With her husband gone, Heidi had no choice but to hire a staff to help raise her daughter but in rebellion, her daughter gave everyone an awful lot of heartache.

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Subsequently, Heidi could not find a nanny to successfully manage Gabrielle, which led to many who quit or were fired. Gabrielle’s father, who was always working in his family’s investment firm wouldn’t give Gabrielle the time of day, so Heidi started sending her off to school at the age of nine.

Gabrielle as a young woman didn’t understand what her mother, or Parisian women, were going through at that time. She resented her mother for most of her life and looked down on the working woman. Gabrielle vowed that she would raise a proper family, like she never had. She wanted to start a family to give and receive the love she felt she was denied.

Heidi always spoke of Gabrielle taking over the companies when she was old enough. It was her dream that her daughter should be as successful and strong as she was. Upon hearing that Gabrielle had the notion that she would be a house wife, Heidi tried to interfere by ending her term with the academy early. Unfortunately, Heidi was too late and she would regret it for the rest of her life.

When Gabrielle met Anton, it was heavenly for her because he showered her with the affection she felt she never had. To use a modern expression, she ate it up without a single question. Gabrielle gave him all her trust and in return, he blanketed on her love and affection.

Although they never lay together until they were married, she knew she only wanted to be with him.

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They would spend their days making out in her dorm, where he would sneak in by climbing up the side of the building and in through her window. They only saw each other for several months before he asked her to marry him. When she agreed, it was with the condition that they elope before her mother could interfere, and then she promised to give him a wonderful life and family.

A few years later, they both were to be found renting a Belgium house close to where Anton’s family had secured work for him as law clerk. Gabrielle was pregnant with Anton’s first child and they were very happy. Unfortunately that happiness didn’t spread out to appreciate Bruges, for at that time it was fashionable to be modern and follow entrepreneurial spirit. Bruges, in contrast, was an ancient city struggling to bridge itself from an old world to a new modern one. In addition, Gabrielle extremely missed her friends and was very lonely there. Anton never saw how much she struggled because he became consumed with working around the clock.

The Marcons lived in Bruges for almost five years and as Anton’s work schedule became more and more hectic, Gabrielle became more and more desperate. The first time she spent almost two weeks in their house alone with no one to talk to, she nearly went mad. Anton only came home in the evenings well after she was in bed while only spending as much as an hour in the mornings with her, just long enough to breakfast and leave.

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Gabrielle told Anton that it just wouldn’t do because she needed him there to help with the baby. Anton only insisted that he had no control over his work schedule and that he needed to work to keep up with their bills. When she asked him to hire help for her, he laughed at her, told Gabrielle she was ridiculous, and dismissed her entirely.

Gabrielle was never quite fooled by Anton’s swear of abiding by a stringent work schedule. Still, she tried to ignore her gut for the sake of the baby as well as their good name. After many more months of loneliness, she couldn’t take it anymore and set out to find the truth. When she confirmed her suspicions by following him after work one day, she decided that she would no longer be the foolish wife at home. If Anton was going to go out and have a life without her, than she also would have a life.

It all began when she hired Estelle, an old retired nurse who needed a bit of income. Against Anton’s wishes, Gabrielle moved Estelle into one of the guest bedrooms. She was a nice elderly woman whose husband had died and children had moved on to bigger cities for work. Estelle helped her with cooking and the baby for next to nothing and Gabrielle blissfully pursued a life of her own.

Gabrielle went out looking for trouble and it didn’t take long for her to find it. On her very first day out, without her boy or the worry of chores, she spent the

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afternoon perusing books in the city’s best bookstore. It was there she met the man she would idolize for a few months. Francois was a store clerk who had recently graduated from the University and had several girlfriends, of which Gabrielle hadn’t a clue. He first lured her with his kind intellectual savvy, which Gabrielle found irresistible.

After several meetings, a few of which were over coffee and a meal, Gabrielle allowed herself to be further lured to Francois’ apartment. For a time, Gabrielle was happy and couldn’t care about what the consequences of her actions would be. All she knew was that she had a thrill of life again and it made her happier than she had been in years.

Anton, being no fool either, noticed the change in his wife. When he asked Estelle, she said she didn’t know but, of course, mentioned that she spent most afternoons away. Now, Estelle told him exactly what Gabrielle told her, which was that she had been studying in the free bookshop across town. Anton didn’t believe Estelle’s story of Gabrielle, not even for a moment and one day, he followed her.

He kissed his wife that morning and told her he loved her, Gabrielle didn’t reply. He then went to work for a few hours but then returned to the neighborhood. He sat out of sight, down the street, up on a stoop of which he knew the residents would be gone, and where most people wouldn’t be able to see him. When Gabrielle exited the

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door, he followed her down the street to the shop on the corner.

Anton hung back and watched her enter the shop. Then he, himself, entered just in time to catch Gabrielle at a corner table as she leaned over and kissed a gentleman on the cheek. It appeared innocent enough, except it was not lady-like in those days to meet with strange men, so Anton decided to sit and observe. They conversed with affection and Anton was extremely jealous.

When they left, he continued his pursuit of them to the man’s lair, and it was when they approached the building that he knew for certain what was going on. He hung back once more and when they disappeared inside, he asked the door man which room they went into. Anton walked up two flights of stairs and down to the number the man occupied.

Anton gently tried to twist the knob but found that it was locked. He knocked gently on the door and when it opened, he forced himself inside. The man was quick and immediately tried to shut the door on him, but Anton stuck his foot in and then leaned his shoulder into the door. He pressed inward with all his strength and the man tumbled backward and fell.

He walked in, shut the door and violently attacked Francois. When Gabrielle heard Francois yell, she came out and tried to stop Anton. She placed her hands on his back and tried to pull him away, but he turned around

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and knocked her unconscious to the floor. The man was in a corner holding his eye as Anton walked toward him and continued to beat him nearly to death. When he lay on the floor unconscious, Anton kicked in his crotch so that he was from then on impotent.

Gabrielle had awoken and tried to leave, but he grabbed her by the neck and swung her away from the door. She screamed in terror as he came at her with his belt and slowly she backed away until the open window was behind her. She looked at Anton, looked at the bloody heap of Francois, then she looked out of the window, and then she jumped.

Anton returned to his home after Gabrielle jumped out of the window. Estelle was preparing dinner and Lucian was down the street with a play pal. He said hello to Estelle as though nothing was wrong and ascended to his room to pack a bag. Next, he packed a bag for Lucian and then dug out his wall safe, taking every last dollar he had hidden. Downstairs Estelle told him where Lucian was and he left.

Two hours later, they were on the train to Paris and not one individual stopped them. Gabrielle and her lover were taken to the hospital unconscious. Since they had no identification on them, the police were forced to neglect tracking down Anton until they figured out who they were.

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Apparently, both Gabrielle and her lover nearly died from the experience. They both woke up the next day in the hospital surrounded by their families. In spite of the shame they felt Gabrielle had brought them all, they agreed Anton needed to be brought up on charges. The police agreed that his actions were monstrous but they were too late, as Anton had already packed and left for Paris, taking Lucian with him.

When they got to Gare Du Nord, Anton hailed a cab at the entrance. They stopped at a hotel for dinner, Anton told Lucian to sit tight and he would be back. He walked out to the closest pay phone and called his best friend from school. The man he called was a nasty, cynical, man who nevertheless had always “been there” for Anton.

Baldric Engelard was rumored to be a young contemporary version of an impoverished aristocrat. Straight out of an historical novel, he was snobby, judgmental, and scathingly sinister. Although technically impoverished, his family was still relatively wealthy; they just were unlikely to be passing any money onto him once they died. For this, Baldric was often angry and resentful that his family should live the good life while he had to go out and be a base commoner.

As it turned out, most people’s summation of the Engelard’s lot was indeed correct. One day Baldric was away at school and his father, Earl Baldric III, died of heart failure. In his younger days, he was pretty fit but before he

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died, his doctors warned him that he had blocked arteries. Instead of taking care like the doctors ordered, he continued to drink and eat as though he had nothing to lose.

After the ordeal of losing his father, Baldric merely received 100,000 francs and his title, while his mother inherited a single million, which she depleted well before her own death then had to go live with her sister and husband. All of their assets were eventually sold off at auction, including their thirty room mansion which sold to the Vatican at a fraction of the cost. The Vatican then, later turned it into a monastery for Italian priests as an extension to the throne of Rome. As for the 100,000 francs, for a man like Baldric, it might as well have been only 100.

When Anton made it to Paris, it was to find that Baldric had indeed digressed, and not just financially. The first night or two, they had great fun catching up together about school but afterwards, it became clear that Baldric had evolved into a debase scheming man. Now, although Anton was not by any means a saint, he was not nearly as sinister as Baldric. Or at least, not at first and Anton was not easily drawn into his schemes; that is, once again, not at first.

Baldric was seeing a woman who was there as a summer exchange student. She was a young dark haired woman whose American Indian heritage was beautifully displayed in her cheeks and hazel eyes. In Paris, she was coveted as an exotic beauty for being the tall, dark

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daughter of a wealthy investor and Baldric saw her as the key to his future.

In an effort to lure her, he would bring her around to his mother’s house and bedazzle her into thinking that he was a great man of wealth. In truth, the woman knew he was poor and had only just inherited the title of Earl from his father. She was well aware that he did not have a foothold in any upper circle of society and in that day, titles had become less important than they once were. This, in essence, left Baldric as a man with no prospects aside from a University degree.

Sarah was the American woman’s name who was very much taken with Baldric at first, but after getting a taste of his nasty side, later fell for another handsome bachelor at the university. Armel was a good hearted, hardworking, Parisian from an up and coming entrepreneurial family. Seeing as entrepreneurialism was becoming more revered than titles, Sarah was naturally drawn to the man who was destined to change the world of engineering with designs his professors claimed to be ingenious.

Armel was a complete opposite from Baldric’s scathingly sinister aura which Sarah found refreshing. It only took a few dates to convince her that he was a better man and although she had promised her heart to the Engelard, she had planned to leave him for Armel. Unfortunately, she left to the United States before she

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could tell Baldric that it was over. Instead, he learned she was seeing Armel from a mutual friend.

Several weeks after Anton arrived with Lucian, Baldric went to the university pub for a couple of drinks. Armel walked in with one of his buddies; never did he notice that Baldric sat in the corner looking at him as he did. Baldric seethed in the corner with hatred but eventually Armel’s friend left the pub. Armel remained for another drink and when he left, Baldric followed him out, down the street, and up several blocks to the men’s dorm.

Baldric followed him without seeing anything around him except the back of Armel. At that moment, nothing around him was noticed, except for the back of Armel; not the city lights, not the traffic, not the people who passed them on the streets. Not that he actually was enraged because he loved Sarah, but he hated Armel for his good looks and good fortune. Then, he had the nerve to walk in on his territory and ruin his future and then, just outside of his dorm, he pulled out a pistol and shot him in the back.

The shot brought Baldric back to reality and he looked around to find there were several people that sat along the hedged brick wall that extended on both sides of the glass entry to the men’s dorm. Slowly Baldric turned his head left and right to see a dozen eyes burning him with their stares. Next he saw their eyes begin to shift toward Armel’s body that was oozing blood on the concrete. At

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first they were all stunned by the loud sound and they spent half a minute adjusting their heads from the direction between Armel and Baldric. Some were sitting while others were standing but once they realized what they were looking at, they all started to rise or walk toward them. Immediately, he got scared, turned, and ran back to the loft where he found Anton making dinner for Lucian.

Baldric, who could never hold onto a single dime, begged Anton for money. Anton felt as though he owed Baldric for taking him in, so he gave him all that he had. Baldric then boarded a plane to the United States that night and went to find Sarah. Once there, he convinced his mother to help him out and he bought a house. Having delivered a great story about Armel being shot, and consequently dead, Sarah agreed to marry Baldric and Maddie was soon conceived.

Through Sarah’s father, Baldric was able to get a good job as an executive at the investment firm which was started by her great grandfather. Baldric couldn’t have been happier because he was making a steady income and didn’t have to work to hard. They lived a rich, elegant life and were well respected in their community. Baldric was very proud until the day when Armel did the unthinkable and came looking for them.

Sarah was feeding newly born Maddie when she got the call. It was such a shock that she almost fainted. Armel told her that he was in the country, staying at the

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airport hotel, and wanted to see her and Maddie. Sarah knew that this was a bad idea because she had seen Baldric lose his temper before and she was concerned for Armel’s safety; however, Armel shook off her warning and insisted that they all have a talk.

Armel claimed that he had been in a coma and that was why he hadn’t come for her as they agreed. During their conversation, Sarah became extremely emotional and nostalgic; she confessed her real love for him and that she would allow him to see the baby. What she didn’t know was that Baldric had been listening in on their conversation, but he didn’t care if Sarah loved him or not. He only cared that she was beautiful, rich, and helped afford him his lifestyle, which is why he didn’t care about the phone call.

A couple days later, Baldric walked in after having a long stressful day at work to find Sarah and Armel sitting in the living room. Baldric was already in a foul mood because of the rain and cold outside. When he walked in, it was clear that he surprised both of them, which made Baldric suspicious and fouler. At that time, it was not proper for a woman to invite a suitable man into ones house and to see the looks on their faces only made it obvious that something was going on.

“You mind telling me what is going on here?” asked Baldric. Sarah sat frozen on the couch, staring down at her shoes while Armel looked intently at Baldric.

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“I have come to see Sarah and Madeleine. This is gonna be hard for you to hear but Madeleine is not your daughter, she is mine. You see Sarah and I were going to marry before I was hospitalized. I do not wish to drive a wedge between you two, but I want to see Madeleine?”

The look on Baldric’s face was of fierce outrage and Armel hurried to explain himself.

“Look, I understand that you love Sarah but we were supposed to be married before my accident. You see, she was pregnant and we were going to start a life together. Although I still feel that we are meant to be, she feels an obligation to you, which I will respect. Now, I just want to see my daughter.”

Baldric looked at Armel and contemplated the chance that he really did not know that it was he who had put him in the coma. He really didn’t care that Armel wanted to see Maddie; in fact, he never wanted children and hoped to be rid of her but what if he made the connection one day and came for him. The only way to prevent that would be to give him Maddie and force his wife to never see him again.

“You may show him to Maddie’s room but I want to speak with you privately,” he said to his wife.

Baldric and Sarah fought explosively after Armel went upstairs to see Maddie. Baldric left, slamming the door and peeling out of the garage. He tried to persuade

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Sarah to let Armel have Madeleine, but instead Sarah was defiant. When she realized he was trying to dump her daughter, she insisted they both leave. Sarah couldn’t let Baldric separate her from her only child. It was always obvious to her how little he cared for her and her baby girl, so she took the opportunity to declare that she was meant to be with Armel.

Now, Baldric sat in his car, a little ways down the street in the rain and waited. He had determined that he would take care of Armel once and for all. It didn’t matter if he got caught because now that he knew he wasn’t wanted for murder, he could go back to Paris. He could go back to the apartment where Anton and Lucian were.

One hour later, Sarah carried little Maddie out of the house while Armel packed the car full of bags. Baldric followed the rental car to the airport motel; Baldric sat in his car and watched them go into their room. A few hours later, when all the lights were out, he took the gun he kept in the glove compartment and walked up to the door. He walked quietly up the steps and looked out and around to see that all was dark, except for the city lights.

Baldric gently tapped on the door several times before Armel got up to open the door. As he opened the door to a crack, Baldric didn’t waste any time and kicked it in which hit Armel square in the face. Armel stumbled backward into the room and Sarah jolted upright in bed. Baldric walked in without wasting a moment of

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time and shot him in the head, then turned and shot Sarah, who only had a second to register in the dark that it was her husband who was about to kill her.

He stood with the gun pointed at little Maddie who screamed and cried in fright. Amazingly enough, Baldric found that he did have a bit of heart because when he tried to shoot the gun a third time, his grip wouldn’t let him. He was about to leave the room when he stopped with the idea of keeping the baby girl as a foothold into the family. With that thought, he turned around and picked up little Maddie, he searched quickly for Sarah’s and Armel’s wallet and purse then he left.

Baldric decided when he returned to the house that his situation couldn’t be more fortunate then the way it was. With Sarah out of the picture, it would be easier to keep an influence over the family, which would secure his place within the firm and subsequently his financial future. If he couldn’t have Sarah, that was fine, but he could raise Maddie as his own with the help of a nanny. Besides, no one knew that she was not, in fact, his and life was much easier without a woman in the picture, he thought. Then in later years, perhaps he could send her off to school like his parents did for him. In this way, he could be a father but free of any responsibility.

At home, Baldric cleaned his gun then burned the wallet and purse in the fireplace. He never called the police to file a report and when Sarah’s parents

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came looking for her several days later, he simply told them they had a fight when her lover from Paris came to claim her. When he told them she left him, they were enraged. They screamed and yelled at Baldric, called him a liar then they stormed out. Sarah’s parents had always known her to be a responsible caring woman and they refused to believe that she would leave her baby, and the town, without telling them.

Sarah’s parents insisted that Baldric file a missing person’s report, which he refused to do. It was easy to refuse them with the logic that she had left on her own and was not actually missing. Her parents could do nothing but agree with him, but after a few weeks went by, the parents took the initiative and filed a missing persons report for Baldric.

When the police came to ask Baldric questions about the night Sarah left, he kept his story short and simple. He told them Sarah said she never loved him and then left with her lover from college. During the entire interview, he fed and rocked Maddie in his arms because he knew it would bring him sympathy from the police, and it worked.

The police never figured out that it was he who killed Sarah and Armel. Although a few of them did have suspicious feelings about Baldric, they were based more on his strange uncaring attitude toward the situation. When asked if he cared about the fact that his wife went

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missing, he logically supplied the answer that he didn’t have time to worry about it as a single father. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses and it was another time with limited technology and common sense. Baldric was ruled out as a suspect and the case went unsolved.

About six months after that, Baldric brought Anton and Lucian from Paris because times were hard and the city was facing a long recession. Anton had finished his coursework and could now practice law but work competition was stiff. He needed a well paying job and Baldric felt he owed him for helping him get out of the country the night he shot Armel. Plus, he was kind of lonely without friends or family, the only person who would give him any time of day was a lover whom he had no interest in. She was getting too clingy in thinking that they “had something special” and he realized he needed to get away from depending on lovers for company. So he flew Anton and his son out with his own money and hired him to work as a lawyer at the investment firm.

Having them both from Paris was a lot of fun for Baldric. Anton got on well with Maddie and her family, who had finally forgiven Baldric for, as the mother said, “letting their daughter go.” Everyone, even Baldric, especially loved young Lucian who was adorably sharp as always. Baldric found that he rather enjoyed having a young man about the house that he could mentor and spend innocent time with. Often they would play football and go to the movies together while Anton would be working.

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They lived together for a few years while Anton saved up enough money to buy a home. Together, they were like a family in the home that Baldric purchased with the help of his mother when he first moved to the United States. Baldric turned into a real slacker at work but because of Maddie, the money continued to come in. It turned out to be a good thing for Anton, who was under a hectic work schedule, because Baldric loved to spend time with Lucian over school work and dinner.

When Anton announced that he had finally found a home for him and his son, Baldric could hardly suppress his sadness. He had come to depend on the two of them for company but it wasn’t long after they moved out that he brought Sean Basteau, his cousin from his mother’s side, to live with them too.

Sean was only a few years younger than Baldric and they had much in common. They liked the same clothes, cars, and had the same taste in women. The only difference being that Sean had an insatiable appetite for alcohol and attention. Otherwise, much like his cousin, he was scheming, snobby, once was wealthy, and sinister.

Sean walked and talked like a conman, and he was. Sean and Baldric were always scheming about how to make more money together. When Baldric brought him into the game of securities, it was like bringing alcoholics to a bar. Anton watched as together, they both schemed away at people’s money and made a huge fortune for

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themselves, and Anton was fabulous at covering up their tracks for large cuts of their profits.

It wasn’t long before they all went their separate ways. Anton had purchased an old manor from an elderly man who, in turn, inherited it from a family member; the old man could no longer afford the upkeep. Sean only worked at the firm long enough to make money that he could retire early on which, through their schemes, didn’t take too many years. However, Baldric stayed on for years with the family business out of boredom, but also to get out of the house and away from Maddie. Not that she was a bad daughter but he would’ve gotten rid of her if it wasn’t for her grandparents who insisted that he keep her. He wanted to send her away to a girl’s school and when they found out, they threatened his position with the company. Although they were no longer upset with him over their daughter, they still didn’t like him.

Even after they moved away, Baldric, Anton, and Sean all stayed in contact for a time and would often vacation together. They loved to throw extravagant parties and invite Hollywood elites and beautiful women. They would try to bed as many women as they could and be as outrageous as they could. It was a time of pure enjoyment that they all felt was deserved. Life challenged them and they took the attitude that they won.

Anton died in 2005 of old age heart problems, leaving Lucian the house and a half million

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dollars. In spite of his beginnings, he was a good father and Lucian loved him very much. They never saw his mother again because Anton told Lucian she was killed by her lover. Lucian missed her very much but he never went back to Paris to verify what his father told him; he never questioned his father because he always had complete faith in him.

Sean was now retired but still a crook at heart, living in his old mansion like a Hugh Hefner knock off. No one really knew what he was up to, but it was speculated that he was involved in numerous illegal activities. He still had crazy parties with half the guests in attendance being beautiful women on his payroll. Sean had no shame and he certainly didn’t care about anything except feeling fabulous and getting around the law.

Baldric eventually retired well too, though he remained as a father figure to Madeleine who never suspected otherwise. He never returned to Paris, not once, not even when his mother died. Madeleine’s family eventually accepted Baldric as one of their own and made him a partner as reward for the profits he turned; at which point he fully, mentally shed his old life.

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Payday

Chapter 10

He was so happy to hear from Maddie, not too mention surprised. Earl Baldric thought Maddie was dead, or so he said. Earl tried everything he could in order to rescue her and failed. Maddie sobbed when she heard tell of the ordeal that he and Joe went through. Joe had been fighting on a regular basis with the police and even hired a private detective to find her. They both missed her and were going to get whoever was behind her abduction.

Maddie told him everything that happened to her during her time away. She told him where she was, who was there, and gave all the information she had overheard or learned. When Maddie told him about Michael, he was outraged! It was just like she thought: he never went to La Sorbonne and had no idea who the Marcons or Basteaus were. He was a proud Englishman at heart and like his father, was raised in the greatest country in the world.

When she further elaborated what Michael said about him and her husband being involved in her kidnapping, he really lost his head. Earl Baldric was going to kill that Michael Marcon and swore by God that he was

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going to find him. How could people make such horrible accusations against him? He wouldn’t put up with it and Maddie would stand by his side to get back at the man who made the claims against him!

In any case, he was very happy to hear from her and insisted that she meet with him immediately at his favorite hotel in downtown Los Angeles. She tried to convince him that they could meet the next day because she wanted to surprise Joe. Her father said it was important that they meet sooner because he had some information for her regarding Joe. After a few more words, she agreed to meet him. Maddie took a quick shower and changed then she got in her car and drove off as quickly as possible.

Michael was sitting in the car down the street, eating a sandwich when she finally left the house. He put the sandwich down and took off after her, hoping that she would lead him where he needed to go. Lucian was done playing games, ever since he joined up with his longtime friend; he had been dodging bullets left and right. This was supposed to be a simple favor in exchange for a little help to save his father’s property. Now, he was an official kidnapper who was being hunted, Joe was missing, and he hadn’t even been paid; his life was now a mess.

Traffic through the cities was great as everyone was busy trying to get where they were going. Naturally at that time of day, it took almost two hours to get to downtown. Michael struggled to stay unnoticed

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behind her, which was very difficult in the gridlock of traffic. When she finally pulled off the freeway, he had to gun it on the side ramp just to catch up with her.

He followed her through the towers of downtown and when he saw the hotel she pulled into, he drove ahead. Down a few blocks, Michael made a turn at a light and parked on the street. After which, he proceeded to walk back in the direction of the hotel. The spot he parked in was a tow away at that time in the evening and he parked there because he knew that if he wasn’t leaving that hotel with Maddie or Baldric, he’d be leaving by escort to jail.

As Maddie pulled into the business part of downtown, she noted how it was a typical ghostly town of an early Friday night. There were still a few cars and straggler individuals who were going off to dinner or home. As usual, she pulled up to her father’s favorite hotel and had her car valeted.

Maddie got her ticket and made her way to the hotel’s bar and restaurant. She went in and sat down to a large Grey Goose martini. When her father came in, he neither looked happy nor relieved to see her in good health. Rather, he greeted her and continued on a ramble about business while hardly looking at her. Maddie felt like something was wrong because, normally, he would make a show of greeting her with hugs, kisses, and grand gestures.

“Stop,” said Maddie, “What’s going on?”

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Baldric stopped talking and stared at her for a moment; he was surprised by her directness. Normally Maddie was a refined and patient person but one could say that her patience had been worn through, thanks to the ordeal she had experienced. When Maddie looked into his eyes, she could see that he was lying when he said,

“Well I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can you elaborate? I am merely speaking of work. Now, what is your question?”

“What I mean is, I have been through a terrible ordeal, missing for almost two months, and all you ask of me is “’How are you?”’, don’t even wait for an answer, and then go on about work.”

“Well, I figured rather then focus on the bad, you may just want to forget the ordeal.”

“No, you’re a bad liar. Tell me something, were you worried at all about the fact that I was missing?”

Maddie and her father locked eyes for a moment then someone plopped down next to her, distracting her focus. She flicked her head to the right and couldn’t believe it.

“Michael?” she asked.

“Hello, EARL!” he said loud and obnoxiously.

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“Michael what are you doing here? You need to leave us, now!” said Maddie.

“Oh I am not here for you, sweetheart!” and he looked at her father most intently, “I was going to run off and accept that you screwed me and Joe, for whatever reason, but you had to keep sending your boys after me. Well, ya haven’t gotten RID of me yet and here I am.”

“What are you talking about? Father? What is he talking about, do you know him?” she looked incredulously between them both then she noticed that he was sitting rather rigidly. She looked down and saw that he was holding something silver in his lap. When Maddie realized what she was looking at, she shrieked. The people at the next table looked annoyed and then looked away. She looked up at her father signaling Michael with her eyes, but he stared undeterred at Michael while saying nothing.

“Well, I’ll be getting my money now. You can get up real slowly and if you try anything, the first person who will get a bullet in this room is you.”

“Michael, stop this right now, this is my father,” she said in a low voice.

“OH REALLY?” he said sarcastically, “Would you like to know how much your father loves you?”

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Maddie tried to whisper hush to him as the people were starting to stare.

“Well, I suppose now is as good of a time as any to discuss the truth of the reason your husband hired me to kidnap you. You didn’t believe that it was really your father who was responsible the entire time but you will in a moment. Your husband was acting on his orders. I was helping him out in exchange for help myself. Only instead of paying me, Joe went missing and your father tried to kill me. When he failed, he sent men to my house to finish the job, but I escaped with you. ”

Maddie exhaled a loud angry sigh that the whole restaurant heard. The maitre d’ went ot their table and said, “I’m gonna have to ask you to be quiet, or I’m going to ask you to leave.” As the maitre d’s eyes lowered, he took in Michael’s appearance which was a face distorted in anger with big beads of sweat that covered his forehead and body. It was hard to miss the look of disgust on his face as his eyes traveled down to the silver butt of the gun in his hand.

The host began to back away in shock and at that point, it was time to go. In downtown Los Angeles, police were often but a moment away in either direction. Abruptly, Michael stood up, “All right you two, get up. It’s time to go!” he said with a cheerfulness that was inappropriate to the situation. He continued to keep the gun pointed at Maddie and her father. They rose as instructed

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and Michael pointed them out and the whole restaurant watched in amazement.

They walked out of the side of the restaurant. Michael tucked the gun into the back of his pants and held his hand on the butt while pulling the shirt over to cover it.

“Ok,” he said, “let’s go out to the valet and you can call your car.”

Two minutes later, Baldric’s car pulled up and they stepped in without a word.

“Where to?” asked the driver.

“Tell him to take us to your bank, where you can get the money that you owe me.”

“But you didn’t even finish the job!”

“You didn’t pay me when you said you would and you tried to kill me!”

“WHAT? Are you two talking about?”

“Should I tell her, or should you?”

“Empire Commerce Bank, driver,” he said without taking his eyes off of the gun Michael pulled back out of his pants.

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When they finally arrived, Michael carefully replaced the gun back in his pants and they all walked inside the bank. They walked through the large marbled space and up to the teller who looked at them as though they were strange. Baldric asked to withdraw the money that was supposed to pay Michael.

“Whaaat?” Maddie squealed when she heard how much money.

“You want to take out $250,000 dollars in cash?” asked the teller amazed.

“Yes,” said her father.

“So it’s true! You hired him to kidnap me!” she tried to whisper.

“Not NOW! Maddie!” he said sternly and aloud.

When they finally walked out of the bank, “You’re coming still?” asked Maddie.

“Well, yeah. My job hasn’t been completed yet. Besides, my appearance is too bizarre to be let off around here.”

“Just what else is your job? You have your money and the job, from what I can tell, is done whether you like it or not. Now go!”

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They stepped inside the car, “Sorry, the day is not done yet,” he said in a psychotically chipper tone. Michael walked around to the front of the car and talked to the driver. He handed him $500 and told him to catch a cab or a bus home and then he sat in the driver’s seat and locked the doors.

“What the hell?” asked the father as Michael rolled up the partition window.

They screamed and banged and yelled but he ignored them and kept driving. Occasionally, their banging and screaming would draw the look of a driver next to them but, seeing as the windows were tinted black and bullet proof, there was no way for them to make outside contact. Baldric and Maddie were stuck inside the car and they had no idea where they were going. Even though they pulled out their cell phones, Michael wasn’t worried because he knew it would be difficult to track them, and especially when they didn’t know where he was taking them.

As they drove away from the city and into an area in which reception was weak, they could no longer make phone calls. All they knew was that they were about an hour inland and the area was dry, dusty, grasslands. For the first time, Maddie was truly frightened of Michael and worried about what he was up to. She gripped Baldric by the hand and held him tight.

Michael drove the car several miles up an uneven deserted road then he grabbed his gun and unlocked

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the doors. Rolling down the partition, he said “Kindly get out of the car.”

They both sat scared and looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Michael walked to the back doors and opened them, pointing his gun at them he said “Get out! Now!”

Maddie started crying, scared that this was going to be their last moment but the father just started to gab away in nervousness. Michael pointed them in a direction over a small dusty hill and into a green plain where the ground was soft. There was nothing around them for miles, not even cars which made their situation more frightening.

“You know, you’ll never get away with this, people will be looking for you,” said Baldric.

“Yes but as long as your dead, which is all I care about” Michael smiled sincerely. “Unless you want to live?” he continued. “Answer me,” he said when they didn’t reply “Am I to assume that you want to live then?”

Feeling stupid, they looked at one another, then at Michael, and then they nodded.

“Well then this is your chance to live,” he continued, “You will tell me everything I want to know.”

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“Well, I didn’t do anything, Joe acted on his own,” Baldric whined.

“So it’s true, you did know he was responsible? Do you know how scared I’ve been?”

“Yes, I know that it must’ve been terrible for you, but I made sure that you were treated right.”

“Ha! Treated right? You tried to kill us! Is that good treatment?” Maddie screeched out her last word in anger.

“That wasn’t me! That was Joe! You’ve got to believe me!”

“What would Joe want me dead for?” asked Maddie.

“Well think about it Maddie, how have things been at home? Have you noticed anything strange?”

Silence ensued while Maddie reflected on what she knew to be true. Joe had been acting strange for months now. Maddie supposed that it must’ve been another woman but her heart wasn’t ready to stand up and accept that news.

“Let me start off by saying that I love you Maddie and I would never want to hurt you. The things I did, I did because I had no choice.”

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“But I still don’t understand why,” she cried.

“Some years ago, before you and Joe met, I had an affair with a woman. I met her at the hotel lounge where I used to go for business meetings. She was a beautiful and sweet woman; for the first time in years, I was in love. The only problem was her marriage and underlying devotion to her husband.

Anna told me her reasons for participating in an affair with me were only because her husband was physically incapable of fulfilling her needs. We would meet once or twice a week and then Anna would be off and I wouldn’t hear from her again. When I tried to see more of her, she warned me not to get attached because it was an affair and would never be anything else. At first, I was alright with the conditions but like a hard headed fool, I tried to change her mind.

Her husband was a famous investor who at one time owned many properties. Well, anyway, I didn’t mean to cause anyone hurt or pain but I was in love. For your sake,” he looked at Maddie, “I kept my affairs to a minimum. I know that adapting to change is sometimes difficult for you, and it is difficult for me too. It was only when I met Anna that I lost my fear to try.

Through much persistence, and over the years, I managed to persuade Anna to spend more time with me. We would do the typical dating thing; go to the movies, theatre, or dinner. A few weekends, we even went

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to Las Vegas as well as several resorts. I could tell she enjoyed herself but she underestimated what our time together meant to me.

When Anna admitted to falling for me, I tried for weeks to persuade her to leave her husband but she wouldn’t. Well, one day I showed up at the house, ready to confront them both. Anna tried to send me away but I wouldn’t listen and her husband came to the door to see what was going on. I barely said two words but it was enough because the man figured out what was going on immediately.

I didn’t know he had a heart condition. Yes, she mentioned that he was physically incapable of having sex. How was I to know that it was a heart condition? He got really angry and threatened to kill me, and then he suddenly yelled in pain and dropped to the ground. She was so angry with me and went inside to call 911. As she sat there and cried, I held her because I didn’t want to leave her alone in that state.

We sat there for a few minutes and I told her to be strong and then Joe walked in. He was stunned to see me and when he saw his father laying there on the floor, he went crazy. Joe demanded to know who I was and when she wouldn’t tell him, he guessed. Next, he came after me and tried to assault me. Luckily, I stepped aside just in time for him to hit the wall then I left quickly because I knew

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the scene was going to get messy; not just for Anna or her husband, but for me as well.

I didn’t hear from Anna for a couple of days after the incident. Out of respect for her family, I decided to stay away for awhile. When I did hear from her, it was to tell me that her husband died that night in the hospital and that she was two months pregnant. It was a horrible conversation to have but on another level, I was excited too.

At first I didn’t believe that her pregnancy was a result of our activities but she reminded me that her husband’s heart was too weak for sexual activity, which was why she was seeing me in the first place. Joe knew that she was pregnant too and this is when he flipped out. He loved his father very much and couldn’t forgive his mother, even in spite of all the hardships he knew she endured with him.

By hardships, I mean that Joe Sr. was not a saint, not even close. In his younger years, if he wasn’t running around with another woman, he was off drinking and vacationing with buddies. He traveled the world and left to her all the responsibilities of domestication and raising their kids. Anna was bored, tired, and she felt cheated that her life was to be sacrificed while he lived life to the fullest.

In any case, after I heard how upset she was, I went over to sit and talk with her. Anna and I decided to

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keep the baby. I was excited because I always wanted another child. I was hoping it would be a boy and it was. The baby was born last year and he’s beautiful, she named him Jesse.”

“Dad! That’s great, I always wanted a sibling. Why didn’t you tell me I have a baby brother?”

“I wanted to tell you but she wanted to keep it secret until the terms of her late husbands will had been carried out. The only person who knew was Joe and he swore to keep quiet about it too, for the baby’s sake. Anna stood to inherit a healthy sum of money to take care of her, which would in turn help her with the child. Naturally, I told her she didn’t need it because I have plenty of money. I think it had more to do with her attachments to the old family and Joe.

I stayed away as she wished, until a couple months ago when Anna called me, said she wanted to talk. I went to her new house and I found her dead on the floor. There was blood everywhere; someone had beaten her to death. I was so stunned that I didn’t notice that he was there. I looked up and he was holding Jesse in his arms. The baby was screaming, crying, and covered in blood as mucus bubbled out of his mouth and nose. I went toward him, in order to take Jesse, but he stepped back and pointed a gun that he had under the baby, at me. I said ‘Joe, what are you doing with Jesse?’ and he said that he was taking

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him. Joe said that I didn’t deserve him and told me not to follow them or he’d kill baby Jesse.

I called him every 15 minutes for almost a day after he took my son. I wanted to call the police but I didn’t know if I should because I didn’t want to hurt you with all of this. Finally he answered his phone and he said I had to choose between you and the baby. I am sorry but I just couldn’t allow Jesse, a new born to be shot and killed. I just couldn’t and he agreed that he would return the baby if I trade your life for his. So I called up some friends who were in that sort of business and arranged for your abduction. I didn’t hire them to kill you, but only to hold you until I straightened Joe out. They were gonna take you away and I was gonna play it off as though you were dead.

Unfortunately, he was one step ahead of me and I didn’t know it. Joe had set me up, he had double cross me and it was planned from the beginning. I didn’t know that he was keeping such a close eye on me and was watching me from the very beginning. The money that was supposed to go to your abduction, Joe stole from me when he posed as my contact, then he had you kidnapped and taken to Michael’s house.

I didn’t know that he had one upped me until I tried to contact my man. I called his work, cell phone, and house phone but he wasn’t there. The next thing was a call from Joe telling me that he had you and wanted half a million dollars or he would kill you himself. I couldn’t

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come up with another half million dollars without arousing suspicions, my only choice was to try and get it back myself. By that time, Joe had gone missing and I still didn’t know where either you or Jesse were.”

“Oh Dad! Why didn’t tell me these things? Joe never even mentioned it. I can’t believe you too have been going back and forth like this for so long and I never knew!”

“Well, I wanted to tell you but at first I didn’t want to hurt you. Besides, I think Joe was really in love with you and I knew you loved him back. He just couldn’t deal with the fact that his mother loved me. After that, everyone went missing: the baby, you, and then Joe. I didn’t know what to think because I was lost and confused. Then the police came around asking about Anna and that became my most immediate concern.”

“Joe must’ve done what anyone in his shoes would have done, which is go on the run. You haven’t seen him since he took the baby then?”

“Well, it was about a week after I arranged for your abduction that I last heard from him. I haven’t been able to get hold of him since because he ignores my phone calls. I hired a Detective Johnson to find him but I haven’t heard from him in a week.”

Baldric turned to Michael and said, “Alright, so there you have it. It wasn’t me who double crossed you

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sir, it was her husband. I am sorry but your precious Joe, in my opinion, is a monster. Yes, I was wrong to see Anna and perhaps I am to blame for the premature end of his father. In my defense, I am a lonely old man, but he is plain crazy. In any case, I am done being manipulated and will not pay anyone anymore money until I get Jesse back!”

“You say you hired a detective to find him? What was his name?” Michael inquired.

“Detective Art Johnson but I haven’t been able to get hold of him by phone. I went round to his office several times but he’s been gone.”

“Alright back to the car,” Michael said abruptly. They looked at him for a moment and then they both turned around with relief on their faces. Michael guided Maddie to sit in the back and commanded Earl to drive them back to Los Angeles, to his house.

When they arrived, they pulled in through a large iron gate then parked in the garage. When they got out, Michael made sure to get his money. The house appeared to be empty of the usual housekeeper and other cleaning ladies Baldric like to keep around. They walked inside and sat at the kitchen console where Michael dropped the bag. Earl offered them both a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.

As they sat down with their coffees and bagels around the kitchen stove, Michael said,

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“I want the number of the detective. I figure if I am going to find Joe, I had better start there.”

With that, Earl walked out of the room, presumably to get him the information that he needed.

“You’re still going to go after Joe? You have enough money, you need to go and get yourself killed? I know Joe and he has a terrible temper, he will kill you.”

“Oh… Joe and I have an old score to settle. Believe me when I say that I know what Joe is capable of” he said most certainly.

“What!?! What is it that you’re not telling me now?”

“Later.”

“This is his office and home address, numbers are on the back. If you should get a hold of him, please call me. He is an old friend of mine and I’d feel terrible…, if anything happened to him.”

“I will. Well, I’d better be going. This situation is awkward enough,” and he walked fast toward the door.

“Wait! I am coming too,” and Maddie stood up.

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“You’re what?” asked her father.

“Uhh! I am going to find Joe and put a bullet in his ass. I am not gonna let him mess with me and my family and not retaliate.”

“No. I am trying to put a stop to all this and I don’t need to make things worse with marital problems. In case Joe really has flipped, I also don’t need to be looking after you. You could barely take care of yourself when we were attacked last night. I don’t need you screwing things up!” and he walked toward the door.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said and raised her voice at his back and followed him, “I am coming with you, Michael.”

He closed the door, and she ran toward the door and opened it to shout, “Michael. Michael! Will you wait?”

“FIIIINE! BUT HURRY UP!” Maddie was starting to get used to his sudden outbursts.

“Dad, we need a car that is less conspicuous and I’m gonna need the gun you’ve got in your bedroom drawer,” she said loud enough for Michael to hear.

Michael promptly walked back inside the house.

“How do you know about that?”

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“I snuck around when I was a teenager. I know that’s not the only gun you have but it’s small and I can handle it.”

“Whatever you want,” Earl went off to get the gun and extra ammunition for Maddie. Maddie waited while keeping an eye on Michael, who seemed likely to run off at first chance. After a moment, Michael came back in and sat at the kitchen console and drank another coffee with his eyes never leaving his bag of money. Eventually, they all walked toward the Lexus SUV that her father never drove. They threw Maddie’s bags in back and then said their goodbyes.

“So, where are we going?”

“I want to inspect the Detective’s house and office. The chances of us finding Joe are better if we follow that trail now.”

“What if we try to call him first? What if we lure him to the house? If he knew that I escaped and was alive, wouldn’t it be easier.”

“I have his numbers, here,” and he pulled out a cell phone, looked up the number and dialed for her.

“Well, you already said that you haven’t been able to reach him. What if he’s purposely avoiding you? If so, he’ll avoid anything with your number on it. Why don’t we go back to my house and I’ll call him again from the

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house phone. Who knows, there may be a chance that he’s at the house now.”

Michael conceded that Maddie’s plan was worth trying first. With traffic low, they pulled up to her house an hour later. He slowly drove the car up the street, toward the house and stopped just a few feet before the property. From that angle, the house looked empty from the outside. After a moment, Maddie took a chance and walked up to the door while Michael waited from the running car at the curb.

Maddie leaned her head up against the door and when she didn’t hear any noise, she unlocked the door and walked inside. Upon inspection of the house, she found it to be indeed empty. She then walked into the empty car garage and opened the door with the remote control. Maddie walked out and motioned for Michael to park the car inside, so as not to be seen by anyone.

Upon reentering the house with a lighter heart, now that she knew Joe wasn’t there, Maddie instantly got a feeling of abandonment. It was a feeling she hadn’t had earlier, she supposed she didn’t notice the state of the house because she was in a hurry to leave. Now that she was paying attention, the house felt as though no one had been there in quite awhile. In fact, it was possible that no one had really been there since the day she and Joe left for the desert.

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She looked around the kitchen and found several things to be odd. First, Maddie’s favorite plant, a peace lily, was extremely dried like it hadn’t been watered in weeks. Now, Joe wasn’t big on plants but he never neglected them. He never neglected any responsibilities when it came to their home because he was the kind who liked everything to be neat and presentable. His compulsion toward order especially reflected in the state of their home, which led to the next strange thing.

The kitchen looked like it was untouched as the air was cold and dank. Joe would always open up the windows and curtains to keep stale air from building up. Then she noticed the bowl of fruit that sat on the counter side of the stove, which was consumed beyond recognition with green growth. Last, being so close to the beach, there house would often quickly accumulate dust, sand, and grit, which they had to clean regularly. At the moment, there was a thick film of dust and sand on the floor as well as the counter tops.

She nearly vomited at the smell as she went up close to the bowl of fruit. Maddie had grabbed a pair of rubber cleaning gloves from under the sink to cover her hands. She took the bowl out to the trash while trying not to breathe. The site of the extremely full trash cans also threw Maddie because Joe was always on top of the garbage routine.

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Back inside the house, Michael stood at the stove and waited for Maddie. When Maddie walked in and offered him a drink, he said no and that he would rather get started looking for Joe.

“Well, here’s the thing,” she said, “I don’t think Joe’s been here. I mean, look at this place, it’s not like him. A bowl of rotten fruit, the place is filthy and dank,” she walked over to the refrigerator. “These steaks were here when I was” and she held up two old steaks that she had planned on eating when they returned from the desert. “What do you think?” she asked.

Michael looked around at the kitchen and then back at Maddie, “Honestly? I’m starting to get creeped out. I don’t like the look of things here. From what I remember of Joe, he was very meticulous. You may be right; he hasn’t been here in awhile.” He ran his hand agitatedly through his hair and said “On second thought, I will have one of whatever it is your making.”

Maddie made a pitcher of martinis and they walked into the living room and sat down on the dusty couch. Michael claimed he was sensitive to dust and got up to open the windows and curtains.

“Are you sure that it’s safe? What if someone sees us?”

“Well, I agree with you. I, too, have a feeling that Joe hasn’t been here, nor will he be. In fact, I have a

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bad feeling about some of the things your father told us. Something is just not right but I don’t know what it is.”

“What do you mean?” asked Maddie who was tired of him accusing her father of various things.

“Well, when Joe asked me to help him out with you, he promised me that he would be back for you within a few weeks. He never mentioned anything about a child or his mother having an affair. I just think those are things that he would have told me about.”

“Wait,” she said, “you still haven’t told me how it is that you know my husband.”

“Well, it was a long time ago and I don’t blame you for not remembering, but Joe and I go way back. We were roommates at the California Youth Academy and then again at CSU. We’ve known each other almost our entire lives. I was even one of his groomsmen at your wedding, though you don’t remember it.”

Maddie reflected on the idea that he was at the wedding but didn’t remember him at all. Yet, she did feel like she had known him before but couldn’t place him to a time or location. She sat in silence and contemplated the feeling of misplaced familiarity that overcame her when, suddenly, Michael pulled out a gun and looked around.

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Maddie spilled a good deal of her drink on the carpet when he did this. She helped him look around but they didn’t see a thing, the place appeared empty. After inspecting the backyard, downstairs, upstairs, and then downstairs and the backyard again, they sat back down in the living room together.

“What did you hear?”

“I’m not sure. I guess it was my imagination but I thought I heard something outside in the bushes.”

Maddie looked at him for a moment but then she decided that it was getting late.

“I’m gonna take a shower and change. I don’t know about you, but I could use a good rest. There is a guest bedroom upstairs and clothes in the Master for you to change into, i-i-if you’d like,” she stuttered. Michael looked at her oddly, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It was strange being back in her house and, even though she new her husband was not the man she thought, she still felt strange having Michael in the house with her. “After we’ve washed up a bit, perhaps we can talk about what we are going to do next. Oh and, help yourself to whatever is in the refrigerator,” she said and then she turned to leave.

“Not just yet,” he walked over to the cordless phone, took it off the handle and pointed it in her direction, “give it a try first.”

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Maddie called Joe three times but not once did he pick up. Each time, it would ring a total of seven times and then go to the voice mail. They decided it was no use and then she left to shower and get ready for bed. Since they agreed to pick things up in the morning, there was no need for her to stay up late. It had been a really tough day for the both of them and although Michael wanted to keep going, he agreed that it made no sense to continue when they were tired.

After Maddie went upstairs, Michael stalked in the kitchen looking for a bite to eat and then went up himself. He took a quick shower and changed into the jeans and a white tee shirt he found in the closet and dresser. After he was changed, he took a comforter, a sheet, a pillow, and went to lie on the couch.

Maddie, who had come down to get water, was surprised to see him there. When she asked why he wasn’t in one of the beds upstairs, Michael explained that he thought it would be safer if he were downstairs because, being a light sleeper, he would be likely to hear if anyone were to approach the house.

A few minutes later, Maddie walked upstairs in her little white cotton dress with a glass of water in hand. Joe couldn’t help but notice her rear in the dress and his eyes followed her all the way upstairs. At that moment, he had seen her for the first time without dirt in her fingernails or wearing filthy clothes from the gardens. She was fresh

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and clean, out of the shower with wet brown hair clinging to her back. The smell of her fragrant fresh skin lingered in the air and combined with the visual of her body outlined in her little white dress secretly aroused him.

Michael had managed to fall asleep for a mere 20 minutes when he heard Maddie coming back down the stairs again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I can’t sleep because I could swear that there is someone out there.”

Michael got off of the couch and walked toward her, “I am a really light sleeper and I heard nothing.” He put his hand around her waist and turned her around toward the stairs, “go upstairs and relax. I’ve got everything under control down here.”

Michael tried to coax Maddie up the stairs but she, who had been conflicted emotionally since they had been in the house, turned around and put her arms around his waist. Maddie knew that she wanted to forget the feelings she was having for him. Yet, when she was scared only a moment ago, he was the one she wanted to protect her.

Naturally, Michael was confused by her body language. He had become the victim of the typical womanly indecisiveness that he hated most about women.

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Michael tried to be patient and understanding but he felt that she needed to make up her mind about whether she wanted him or not. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say these though for fear of sounding irrational, after she was still married.

While in bed, Maddie did try to keep her thoughts pure because she knew if she contemplated Michael too much that she would give in to her physical desires. Irreversibly, simply thinking that she needed to not think of Michael made her think of him even more. As she lay in bed, the thought of him aroused Maddie and she tried to ignore her impulses but when she heard the noise, it was the perfect excuse to go to him.

Once she was down there and Michael put his hand on her, it was over. She couldn’t resist what she really wanted. Yes, she still loved Joe and despite the evil things he had done, she wanted to be good under their roof. At the same time, after everything she had learned, she wondered why she should feel any obligation to her soon to be ex husband.

In truth, Maddie always had a little voice whisper to her, asking if she were really meant to be with him. Maybe the whisper had a good point because letting go of Joe seemed easier than she imagined, especially with Michael in the picture.

She laid her head on his shoulder and Michael pulled her in close,

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“It’s ok, Maddie. Everything’s going to be okay,” and she looked up into his eyes.

“What did you mean the other night?”

“What are you referring to?” he asked.

“When you said that you’d loved me a long time. What did you mean? Have we crossed paths before the wedding?”

Michael suddenly became shy and tried to look away but Maddie caught that look in his eyes. He was uncomfortable with talking about his feelings, but she wouldn’t let him get away at the moment without answering the question. He tried to walk away but she side stepped him and locked her arms around his waist again.

She tried to be persuasive by looking up into his eyes as she said, “its ok. I won’t judge you, but don’t you think it’s time you came clean?”

Michael guided Maddie back to the couch and they sat down together. He told her all about the past that they had together. Maddie didn’t remember any of it because she was still quite young when it all happened. She didn’t remember how she and her father had picked him and his father up at the airport when he was 12 years old. Maddie also had forgotten how they used to eat cereal every morning together. He reminded her that it was he,

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who at her sweet 16 birthday party, had shown up drunk and thrown up in the pool.

Maddie remembered a boy and his friend who had crashed her party. She didn’t know who they were but she remembered one of them did puke in the pool. She was so angry and humiliated and throughout the rest of the party, they were all her friends talked about. Maddie laughed to herself at the thought that the annoying boy who ruined her pool party was Michael.

Maddie sat back and listened completely amazed that she had forgotten all those things from when she was a child. She had flashes here and there of scenarios Michael described to her and it made sense as to why he always felt familiar to her. Despite everything that had happened between them, it made her happy to know that in that crazy moment of calamity, he was with her.

When he was done, she asked him, “So you had a crush on me all those years?”

“Well, not all those years. I guess it started at

your 12th birthday party and you were in that cute little dress with your hair pulled back. You looked like a little grown up woman and you were just beginning to come into your looks. I was, of course, a horny 16 year old boy and when I saw you that way, it made my ideas go a little crazy.”

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She laughed at his bold admission while thinking back to yet another birthday party. That time, she actually remembered seeing him there too. She sat, looking far away and Michael brought her back with touch of his hand on her cheek.

Michael coaxed her head a little in his direction and gave her a sweet kiss. It was a kiss that was full of meaning; Maddie felt that he was kissing her with his soul. Michael kissed her with the feelings of memories past, for all the times that he wanted to kiss her but couldn’t. Maddie, who hadn’t had a sincere kiss in a long time, kiss him back with equal passion.

The difference between that moment and the time they made love before was that this time Maddie didn’t have visions of Joe. After their conversation about their past together, she had come to terms with the fact that Joe wasn’t who he said he was. Now, some would say her acceptance was rather quick but she figured, after all the abuse she had suffered because of her husband that she was entitled to a bit of pleasure. She wasn’t going to waste anymore moments thinking about Joe, or at least she wouldn’t as a wife.

What she didn’t know was that Michael was pondering at that moment about what it would be like to be her man and to have someone to share his home with. He had always wanted a family. The problem was the timing always seemed to be wrong. For a woman like Maddie, it

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seemed like it would be worth it to pursue a family with her. Now that he was getting older, he had begun to give up on the idea that there could be someone out there for him. Now that he had Maddie, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to let go of the idea that there was someone for him.

Michael pulled her dress off forcibly while Maddie tugged at his jeans. They made love right there on the couch with the curtained windows completely open. Michael looked up at her bouncing breasts as she rode him up and down. He put his hands around her waist and pushed up into her, her face cried out toward the ceiling as he pushed harder. Then she leaned forward and kissed him hard as she lay on his chest. They continued to push against each other and finally he felt her kiss go slack as she cried into his mouth, she came. She gripped his shoulder and rode him harder and he grabbed her nipple in his mouth as they pushed into each other.

After a moment, Michael picked up Maddie, turned her around and leaned her back onto the arm rest of the couch. He held her hips just off of the cushion and entered her once more. This time, Michael couldn’t hold back as he looked down and saw her body sexy and stretched out the way it was. This time when he came, he held her body close to him because he wanted her to know his pleasure. Michael held her head into his chest and his other arm around her waist and they swayed together for a moment.

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Back in Touch

Chapter 11

Joe couldn’t believe what he saw when he got the call. Was it really her? Or was it her father trying to lure him? He sat on the couch of the hotel room and stared down at the number on the phone. When he listened to the voicemail, he just about lost control to happiness. Joe jumped up and ran his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth while muttering oh my God under his breath.

Since the Earl tried to apprehend him last month at his house, he had enclosed himself pretty much around the clock, at the hotel in South Bay. The Earl tried to kill him, just like he killed Maddie’s mother and father, but he failed. Not only did he fail but he had proof to make everyone question his charming ways. Still, he was a dangerous man and Joe was certain that Earl Baldric would be looking for him everywhere. He only left his room briefly, always in disguise, and was very careful about being seen by anyone.

Unfortunately, he had been to the police with the evidence his investigator gave him but they did nothing. They said the case was too old and there was not enough to

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arrest him. After Baldric tried to kill him, Joe thought for sure the police would help, but they merely suggested that he get a restraining order. Now, Joe was feeling really stressed out because Maddie was supposed to be with Michael. Instead, she was at the house where it wasn’t safe. Joe put on his arm guard and gun, picked up his keys, wallet, and left.

When he got to the neighborhood, he slowed his car and turned down his lights. He kept an eye out for any strange vehicles that may have been in the neighborhood. During the last few months, Joe often had the feeling that he was being watched. It wasn’t until Earl tried to have him killed that he realized his feeling was accurate.

He slowly pulled into the space across the street from the house. Getting out, he quietly shut the door, looked left and right. From where he stood, he couldn’t tell if anything was not as it should be. Ignoring his worries, he then walked up to the house. The lights inside were on and as he walked up, the motion sensor light came on suddenly and he jumped down behind the neighbor’s garbage cans.

A moment later, the sound of footsteps could be heard as Maddie and some other strange person walked the backyard and looked around at the front. Joe tried to peak out further to see who the man was but it was too dark. He waited behind the cans and watched them walk the backyard, upstairs, and then back out into the yard

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again. Then the house seemed to settle as many lights were turned off. Joe saw Maddie and the man sit on the couch for a moment and then Maddie went upstairs.

The strange guy and Maddie walked about the house and Joe crept slowly around the heat sensor which, as he remembered, he put under the ledge of the corner roof and out of sight. This way it would be impossible for intruders to spot it and avoid being seen. He crept over to the wall and lightly lifted the latch of the gate to the backyard. Joe crept along until he got to the edge of the windowed door to the living room and looked inside. Although hard to make out, it looked as though the man was going through the refrigerator and Maddie was nowhere to be seen.

At that point, Joe didn’t know who the man was because he was unable to see his face. Joe decided that it would be better for him to wait and watch for the perfect opportunity to approach Maddie. After everything he had been through the last few weeks, one thing he learned was not to trust anyone. In fact, he was not sure if he should trust Maddie because if she were innocent in all this, she wouldn’t believe what he’d learned about her father.

He sat down on his heels, behind the lawn chairs, and waited to see Maddie in the bedroom getting ready for bed. When he saw the lights go out in all the rooms of the house, he climbed up the side lattices and onto the green shingled roof. On his hands and knees, he

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crawled up to the little attic window, which was always unlocked and climbed in carefully. Once inside, he tiptoed to the attic door, which he tried to open very quietly. Unfortunately, it kept squeaking and squealing and to avoid being found out, he had to unlatch it very slowly.

When he finished slowly lowering the attic door to the carpet, Joe slowly walked down the creaking, dusty, steps. Slowly, he walked down one level of the stairs and stood in the doorway to his bedroom where he saw Maddie moments before from the backyard. But when he got there, she was no longer in bed. He crept inside, behind the door and decided that he would wait for her. Once she entered the room, he would show himself to her and put his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

He stood against the wall for quite some time, he could hear the echo of voices down below, but then it got really quiet. Joe braced himself for her arrival, but it didn’t come. He listened really hard but he didn’t hear anything: he didn’t hear any voices, no doors opening or closing, nothing. Curiously, he left the room and slowly walked down the steps and into the walkway to the living room.

Joe poked his head around the wall and saw them. Maddie was completely naked, her full breasts hanging out as she went up and down on the stranger. He was surprised by what he was seeing at first. Jealousy boiled under his surface and just when he was about to

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walk over to the couch and kick the man’s face in, the stranger grabbed his wife and leaned her over the couch and had her that way.

Joe could feel his face get even hotter upon recognizing that it was Michael who was with her. He watched Michael thrust into her repeatedly and Maddie appeared to be enjoying herself and when Joe saw Michael cum, he looked away in horror. At first his anger was explosive but at that sight, he was frozen, unable to feel or act for shame and hurt. The man he was supposed to trust had just made love to his wife and he saw it in action. Hatred was all he could feel but couldn’t decide if he hated Maddie or Michael more.

After a moment, he decided that it would be best for him to leave. He would approach Maddie the next day, hopefully she would be alone. His entire body had broken out in a sweat and his hands were shaking terribly; he knew if he approached her now that he would be violent with anger. Joe quietly rose and he crept slowly back up the stairs, up into the attic, and back out over the roof.

Across Town

At that same time, but at Earl Baldric’s house, a Latina nanny was putting to rest, a sweet innocent baby boy; he had been fed, washed, and dressed. Now, as the nanny lay him down in the white dressings of the walnut crib, the old man came to wish the baby a good evening. He was proud of him and as he held him in his

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arms, he swore that nothing would ever happen to him. That he would have a good life and be the son he always wished he had. Earl put the baby down on the fluffy sheet and watched the baby as he gripped his finger and fell asleep.

A few minutes later, in the study, Earl was standing and contemplating as he looked up at the stars. So far, his plan to get rid of Joe had not worked. It seemed that Maddie was still ignorant of who and what was really going on. For that reason, he would neglect his earlier plan to have her eliminated but Joe had to go.

He pulled the cell phone from out of his pocket and called his man,

“This is Baldric. How’s your progress?”

“We haven’t been able to find him. Los Angeles is a vast land and it’s gonna take sometime. Plus, a man of his wealth can go a long while without using a valid form of cash or identification.”

“Well, I have a feeling that he may be home shortly. My daughter is there with someone and they’re supposed to be luring him. Just be careful, the main goal is Joe but the other two are completely oblivious. As long as they stay so, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m sending someone over,” said the man on the other end.

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Earl hung up the phone and walked over to the security system and made sure that everything was intact.

Back at Maddie’s and Joe’s house, Maddie and Michael lay on the couch in each other’s arms. She knew it was too soon to feel as she did but if they both survived the ordeal they were in, Maddie thought that she would not want to be without Michael. She felt almost as though they were meant to be together and she wondered if he had any serious feelings for her too.

Michael rubbed her back and played with her hair as he infrequently gave her kisses on her face and head.

“What are we going to do next?” she asked him.

After a moment, he answered,

“Tomorrow we will go to the investigators house and see what we can find. I think that’s a good place to start. If we can track down Joe, than we will be able to put an end to all of this. We can return the baby to your father and you and Joe can go back to your normal lives.”

“What about you and I?” she asked feeling offended and let down that he didn’t even consider their connection.

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“What about us? You’re married.”

Maddie looked at Michael and he could see the disappointment in her eyes. Feeling as though she had made a complete fool of herself, she started to get up but Michael grabbed her back and held her close.

“Well, you are married, are you not?” he said, “What about us?”

“Joe is a kidnapper who’s after my father. What do you mean?”

Michael kissed her and stroked her face, “I don’t see myself moving to Los Angeles, it’s just not for me. I’ve got my father’s restoration to complete and you’ve got your job. Are you willing to give that up? That’s all I am saying. Obviously, some things need to be considered if you want to be with me.”

“Oh that is so typical of men. Why is it that women need to give up everything just to be with a man?”

“Hey. I am being realistic. You’re the one who is asking about where we go from here. I am just trying to point out the obstacles. Plus, I want children eventually and you don’t have the time. Not to mention the way you were quick to brush me off earlier when I first dropped you off. To me, you’re all over the place with indecision and I don’t see that as supportive to an idea that we could have a life together.”

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Maddie stared through the window at the bushes and thought about it; she decided he was right. How could she consider giving up her job when she had worked so hard? Yes, she wanted a family too but was she really ready? Had she really thought hard enough about it? Because realistically her immediate thoughts were always about work. Once she asked Joe what his feelings were about having children and he said as long as she would be responsible for everything than he would be okay with it. Maddie appreciated his honesty but decided that if he couldn’t see raising children as a shared responsibility then he wasn’t a family man. There was no way that she would take on the responsibility of raising a family all on her own while Joe was off living a separate life.

Maddie could see that Michael was not like Joe at all, he would be a good father to his children because he instinctively wanted them. Michael had a great home where any child would be thrilled to grow up. Unlike Joe, he had the capacity to not only provide for children, but to care for them too. Maddie realized that if she wanted to make the changes in her life that she fantasized about during her time in captivity, she should do it with Michael. All she needed to do was find the courage to tell Michael that she would give up everything and go with him.

The only thing that held her back at the moment was a feeling of pride and responsibility. What is meant by pride and responsibility is she felt like she wasn’t being an upright modern woman for considering giving up

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everything for a man. At the same time, she would be giving up the respectability that she earned over the years. Yet, she considered, this is her life and she wasn’t getting any younger. If she were going to make life changes, now was the time to do it.

Michael waited for her to speak but she feigned sleep and he knew it. Rather than pressure her, he allowed himself to follow her into sleep. They snored lightly on the couch completely oblivious to the fact that anyone had really been to the house. Michael found himself a little disappointed in Maddie, she was right that it was unfair for her to give up her life, but what about him? He had dreams too and they never had anything to do with Los Angeles, a place that he could never stand.

The next morning, he woke from the smell of cooking meat wafting from the kitchen. He walked in and saw she was making a huge steak on the grill. Wearing her little white dress from the night prior, she looked at him fully knowing what he was thinking. She grinned as she poured him a cup of coffee,

“There isn’t any other food in the house. Like I said, this place looks like it’s been empty since I left.”

Michael didn’t say anything but chewed and drank his coffee thoughtfully as he watched her.

“So should I call him?”

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“Your husband?”

“Yeah.”

“Umm, yes I think but I can’t help but feel that it would be a waste of time. I believe if Joe were getting your calls, he would’ve called you back if he could. Either that or he would have come by. We should visit the investigator your father hired and take it from there.”

“Yes, but my father says he’s missing.”

“Yes, he’s missing. That is why we need to go and see if there are any clues. I’m telling you, I’ve known Joe for many years. The things your father was telling us last night didn’t entirely make sense. Joe is a very sincere guy, maybe a bit of jerk at times, but he did not have you abducted to hurt you, but rather to protect you. Then he was gonna help me with my father’s estate and that was the deal.”

”Oh great,” Maddie said starting to get angry, “so you’re still on about the money are you? Is there anything more important to you than money? You’ve already got a quarter of a million in that bag of yours. How much more do you need?” Maddie really made him feel bad, his face turned very red.

“Well say something!” she said.

“Alright, I’ll say something,” he came back with, “I’ve let you come along with me. YOU are

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inconveniencing me, so be a little grateful that I don’t just leave you here now.”

“I’m inconveniencing you? You’ve ruined my life!” her voice had risen.

“I ruined your life? Why, if it wasn’t for me, you’d still be wandering around here thinking your father and your husband are saints. If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead!”

“It’s always a relief to be alive. Still, it’s a bit hard to be grateful when you only care about money. You don’t care about me.”

Michael stood up and threw the plate at the wall. He grabbed Maddie by the back of her hair and she screamed as he pulled her up to her feet. Pressing her body into his, he put his hand around her waist and pulled her into him as he relaxed his grip on the back of her head.

“You want to know why you’re still alive?” Maddie was about to say something spiteful but Michael put her hand on her mouth.

“Don’t speak” and he removed his hand, kissed her lips meaningfully as he pushed in between her shoulder blades, pushing her breasts hard into his chest. She pressed his back with her hands and then worked her way down to his pants again.

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They continued to rub each other embraced. She unzipped him and took out his cock. Michael pulled off her white cotton dress, picked her up and set her on the kitchen table where he entered her once more. Michael thought she looked sexy as she sat back naked on the table with Michael pleasuring her.

He kissed her all over and then leaned forward into her, almost lying on top of her. She ran her hands through his hair and clung to his shoulders. Her wetness spilled out over her lips and into her hair and he could smell her as she made crescendo. He could smell her and he bent down to take a taste. As he licked up her belly and suckled her breasts, her vagina began to throb so much that it hurt. She urged him to lie atop her and pulled his penis into her as she spread her legs wide for his wide waist. He filled her perfectly and continued to thrust her. She could feel him warm and solid against her vaginal walls. His chest was soft and his hair tickled her warm chest and her belly. He stared down at her as she began to climax again and he tried to hold on to cum with her, and together they did. He cried out into her neck and jerked about as she held him tight around the back.

He rose and helped her down off the table. Maddie went upstairs to take a shower and change. Later, she came down to find that Michael had showered and changed clothes too.

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She sat down next to him, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it a bit to show that he cared. They looked at each other and she rubbed the top of his hand with her thumb. Maddie looked into his eyes and saw that he seemed to adore her, for the moment anyhow. As they sat motionless for a moment, she wished that they didn’t have to go anywhere. She wished they could be back at his house in the south and spend time getting to know one another.

Michael grabbed her by the hand and led her out to the car. They drove inland for about 50 miles before reaching the detectives neighborhood. It was a quiet little town and they parked 100 feet down from the detective’s office. They sat for a moment as Michael looked up and down the street to see if anyone was watching them or the place. Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a hat and a pair of sunglasses and promptly put them on. Michael instructed that she keep her face pointed to the ground as they walked up to the house quickly and quietly.

They knocked on the door several times, but all remained still. Maddie followed Michael around to the back of the house. She watched as he peaked around the windows to get glimpses inside to see if anyone was home. Although they couldn’t see much, the place looked normal to them.

Michael sat on the step of the deck and tried to think of what to do next. Maddie got impatient with

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watching him sit motionless and said, “So what do we do now?”

“Well, I really don’t know. I am not a specialist when it comes to finding people. I suppose we could break in, but what if someone calls the police? Anyone can see you and us from where we are.”

“Its funny how all of the sudden you are reluctant to break the law, but don’t you think breaking and entering is the least of your worries now? I realize that you aren’t really a criminal but I need to know why he did this to me. Besides, don’t you want your life back?” said Maddie.

Just then, there was strange sound of music coming from somewhere. Maddie was really on guard because she jumped at the sound of it, but then Michael pointed at the front pocket of her jeans and she realized that it was her spare cell phone. She pulled out the little phone and breathed in sharply at the sight of Joe’s cell phone number that appeared on the screen,

“It’s Joe! Should I answer?” she was breathless as she spoke.

At his nod, she opened it quickly, “Joe?”

“Hi Maddie. How are you?” he asked. Maddie noticed his voice sounded weird. Not the cocky

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excitable Joe she was used to hearing. His voice was empty and hollow,

“What’s wrong? Where are you?” asked Maddie.

“At a hotel in South Bay. Is Michael with you?” he asked.

“Yes, he is here,” she looked at Michael.

“Ok, can I talk to him?”

“Sure,” she gave the phone to Michael.

“Yes?” said Michael, “Ok, yes I remember. See you in a few.”

Michael handed the phone back to Maddie, stood up and extended his hand to her.

“Are we going to see Joe?” she asked.

“Yep,” he said as he led her back around to the front of the house.

“Where will we meet?”

“We’re going to a little area of beach in the South of Los Angeles. We had a party there one fourth of July, many years ago.”

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“He sounded odd. Did he sound odd to you?” Maddie ask him.

“Well, I imagine that he’s not doing too well Maddie. I mean he’s been going back and forth with your father now, and you’re supposed to be in my care. Instead you’re here with me, he’s probably feeling odd. Don’t you think?”

“Smart ass,” she said and he laughed as he placed his hand on hers, which rested on her thigh.

Maddie was amazed to see that Michael was a hand holder. Joe never liked to hold hands and she found the gesture very sweet. She leaned her body across the center console and laid her head on his should as they made their way to meet Joe.

When they finally arrived at a tourist harbor made almost entirely of wood, Maddie instinctively withdrew her hand from Michaels. She didn’t want to give Joe any reason to be angry, she told Michael. He agreed that they should act as though everything was normal. All they needed was to get little baby Jesse back and for him to call off the feud that he was having with Maddie’s father. For that, they would use calm logic first then, if that didn’t work, they would come up with another plan.

They paid the toll and parked the car in the most desolate area of the lot. Afterward, they walked down the pier to a lone standing telephone pole that was missing

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a telephone and had a half ripped up telephone book. Next to it sat Joe on a wooden fence staring out at the parking lot with his back to the ocean. He turned his head just in time to see Michael and Maddie walk up to him.

Joe looked normal, except for the enormous black sunglasses and the baseball hat. Michael reflected immediately that Joe didn’t even like baseball. They approached Joe with caution but they didn’t expect for him to act out the way he did. Just as Michael got closer to greet him, he extended his arm to shake Joe’s hand, but Joe turned his back on him momentarily and swung around fast. Maddie screamed to the top of her lungs as she watched Michael fall to the ground.

“What was that for?” he said as he partially lay on the ground while holding his blood welling jaw.

“You know what that’s for! Last night, I saw you both when I came by to talk with you.”

Michael pushed himself up off the ground, “Talk with us? No one came by last night. And don’t go all high and mighty on me, or we’ll throw down right here. We all know you haven’t been faithful to Maddie,” and Joe’s face went cherry red as Maddie glared at the both of them.

Joe charged Michael, he grabbed him by the shirt then Michael wrangled his way out of his grip. Michael arrested Joe around the neck with one arm while

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using his other arm to tighten his grip and forced him down to the ground.

“STOP!” yelled Maddie.

Joe continued to try to wrestle with Michael, who said,

“I don’t want to fight you. We’re here to get Jesse and then you need to stop coming after us.”

When Joe continued to fight, Maddie then said, “Oh come on! I know you’ve been with other women, my father warned me about you months ago, even though I didn’t believe him,” but he continued to try and overtake Michael. Maddie continued, “Just stop fight because it’s useless. If I want to be with Michael, I will be with Michael.” She looked around to see that people at the other end of the parking lot were watching. “Now you’re starting to attract attention! Will you two stoop!” she shrieked.

“Alright, alright! I give,” said Joe and he became still. Michael stepped back; Joe stood up and wiped the off white sand off the knees of his pants.

Michael and Maddie watched him momentarily, when he stopped dusting himself, Joe started with insults.

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Michael said, “Come on, this isn’t helping. I understand your angry but we have more important issues right now.”

“The most important question is where is Jesse?” asked Maddie.

“What?” stuttered Joe, “I don’t have Jesse, your father has him!” he gasped as he tried to hit Michael again. Michael assumed the same position to bring him down and Joe yelled “Let me go!” and Michael released his grip.

“Ok, bro, but if you want to go at it again, we will. I’ve had a very bad few days and would love to take it out on you.”

“Alright, that’s enough!” said Maddie, “Where’s Jesse? Stop messing around, we know you’ve got him and everything else you’ve been up to.”

“I don’t have him,” he insisted, “The reason I called you was to warn you that he would come after you.”

“Who?” Maddie asked as she stepped in between them because Joe was starting to look murderous again.

“You’re supposed father, of course.”

“Why would he come after me?”

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“Because he doesn’t want you to know what I’ve found out about him,” said Joe as he looked around self consciously.

“Which is?” asked Michael.

“That he killed your real parents, Maddie.”

Although Maddie heard him, she also didn’t hear him because it was so unbelievable. It bounced off her mind and she thought for sure that she simply misheard him.

“I’m sorry, what?” she said calmly.

“Earl Baldric killed your real father and your mother. Earl is not your father.”

“You know, this is really incredible. You are incredible. You ruined my life, you had me kidnapped, all because you’re mother had an affair! GROW UP! She’s an adult! You have no right to take this out on me.”

“THIS IS NOT ABOUT AN AFFAIR! IT’S THE TRUTH, MADDIE!” he yelled,

“HERE!” and he pulled a long rolled up manila folder from the back pocket of his pants. “That’s the report that Benny, my investigator friend, pulled up on your father. By the way, Benny, you remember him as you were just at his house inland? Well, he has been missing for over

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a week now. If you look, it says your mother and father were shot in their bed at a hotel in the middle of the night! They only had one real suspect, your supposed father Earl.”

“This man is not my father!” said Maddie

“He is your father, look at the report and put two and two together. If you look at the records the cops had no identification from the guy, except for a plane ticket that was in the suitcase. Through that, they were able to do a trace and figure out that he was French by nationality. According to the Paris police reports, he had been shot only a few months prior and had awoken from a coma. The report quotes his parents as saying he came to the United States to find his pregnant girlfriend whom he was supposed to marry.

The cops believed that Baldric was the one who murdered your real mother and father but they couldn’t prove it because there was no weapon, no fingerprints, and no eye witnesses. The lack of evidence initially delayed their investigation because they had to figure out who your parents were first, as whoever killed them cleaned them of all identification. When they finally did figure out who they were, they were able to get verifiable statements that the neighbors heard your parents fight that night. Several of them saw your father sitting in the car and later followed Sarah and this Armel man away.

After they left, no one knew anything else except that by morning his car was back in the front of his

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house. Earl, being the smooth talker that he is, used the cover story that he’s been using for years. That story is that your mother ran off with her boyfriend, whom she claimed to really love, and left him to take care of you. If you look at the report, the detective noted that there were baby supplies in the hotel room the night your mother died, which means you were there too.

Your grandparents didn’t file a report for Sarah for almost two weeks after she had been killed because they believed Earl. The police hadn’t contacted her because they weren’t able to get an accurate identification because no one in Paris knew for sure who your mother was; she was only there for a couple of months. So basically, he’s gotten away with murder almost his entire life. Fine, you don’t believe it, but its all right there in the report,” and Joe walked off without another word.

Maddie was stunned because it was too much information for her to process. She stared at Joe’s back for a moment as her brain shuffled through everything he had just said. Caught between denial and pain, she felt betrayed and angry. Her face and skin was numbed all over. The next thing she felt was Michael put his arm around her and say,

“Come on, let’s go inside and sit.”

Michael guided her by the waist into the wooden restaurant on the beach. She didn’t know what he was talking about, she didn’t look up and she didn’t say a

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word. Maddie allowed him to guide her as though she were blind. Metaphorically, she was blinded by the thoughts buzzing around in her mind.

The next thing she was aware of was the brown boarded restaurant that was decked out like a surfer’s tavern. The waitress seated them at a high table and brought them beers and two shots of tequila at Michael’s request.

“Are you ok?” asked Michael.

“No, I am not okay. What do you mean, am I okay?” she bantered, “my life has been wrecked by my father and my husband and now I am supposed to believe that my father isn’t my father? But that he killed my mother and my real father?” she downed her tequila and then she downed his.

Michael turned around and shouted to the waitress across the restaurant,

“Two more tequilas please,” and then “on second thought, bring the whole bottle. Thank you!”

“Are you even going to open the folder and look at it?” he continued.

Maddie just looked at him and then looked down at the folder. She didn’t want to open the rolled up folder, but it was already bent and misshapen. Out of the

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corner, she could see part of a picture of a bed and room. She pulled at the corner and saw that it was a picture of a man and woman. The woman was dead on the bed with a hole in her head and lying in a dark pool of blood. The man was spread eagled on the floor with a matching hole and a dark black puddle beneath him. Her mind reminded her that the black puddle was most likely red blood and that the woman in the bed was who Joe claimed to be her mother.

Maddie had to turn the picture face down on the table because she began to gag. The photo made her sick and it made her sad. Her face got really hot and tears immediately welled up in her eyes. In an effort to fight them back, she tried to focus on how much she hated Joe for everything that had gone wrong that last few weeks. Michael put his hand on her thigh and gave it a squeeze and Maddie patted the back of his with hers.

With her other hand, she took a long sip of the beer and then opened the flap of the folder. There on the front were standard newspaper clippings from the 1950s declaring that two bodies were found dead in a hotel without any identification or suspects available. Then there was an old police investigation report detailing the male as a French national about 25 years of age who had checked in with a woman and a baby, whom the hotel clerk assumed to be his wife and child. The clerk only took the man’s name which was common enough in those days. There was only one clue to the man’s identity and it was a plane ticket that was in the pocket of his suitcase.

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As Joe said, the police concluded that the man was name Armel Siroq and he had only flown into the country several hours prior to being shot. The end of the report detailed that they had contacted the man’s family and had sent the body back for burial. The next report was for Sarah Engelard who had turned out to be Baldric’s wife. The end of the investigation concluded that Sarah had in fact run off with Armel but, unlike Baldric had claimed, Sarah did indeed take her child with her. The motel clerk confirmed it and that is what made Baldric a main suspect. Unfortunately, they just didn’t have enough evidence to charge him and the case was closed.

“How do you suppose they could’ve had the case closed? If they really thought that my father was likely to be their killer, why did they not charge him?” she asked Michael.

“Well, it was another time. They didn’t have the same kind of technology and, frankly, they didn’t look too kindly at infidelity. They only saw a married woman running off with a lover; they probably thought they both deserved it.”

Maddie hated talking about her mother that way. She ignored Michael and continued looking through the folder.

The next paper detailed the history of the man she always knew as her father. The document listed the details of Baldric as a student at the University of Paris

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in part French and English. It even had a piece of newspaper clipped to a copy of a plane ticket and when she looked closer, she noticed the date of the article was the very day after the date on the plane ticket. The man in the picture next to the article was, no doubt, the man she had known as her father. The paper went further to declare him as an Englishman whose once rich family moved to Paris to be closer to the very last source of their income, which was stock in a fur company.

“If this is true, why do you suppose my father lied about being raised in Paris?” asked Maddie.

“I don’t’ know,” he took another sip of his beer, “you’d have to ask him. Perhaps he didn’t want you digging around for his family there for fear you’d stumble onto the truth.”

She continued to shuffle through the papers and it seemed the rest of them were merely riff raff. She took one last shot and Michael said,

“Well, I know that this is hard for you to handle but Joe seems pretty adamant about the baby being with your father, Earl, I mean. Perhaps we should go back and have a talk with him because if the child is in danger, then we are the only ones who can protect him.”

Glad to have something to distract her from the file, she jumped up and said “Yes, let’s go,” she pounded the rest of her beer. “We should have a long chat

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with my father because honestly, I still don’t believe it. How could the man who’s loved me and been there for me my entire life be an impostor? Do you know what this means? He’s already part owner in my grandfather’s company.”

“Maybe that’s why he kept you and treated you well.”

Maddie looked at him with eyes of death and Michael quickly apologized.

“Well, I am sorry but one thing my father said to me, on a few different occasions, was that Baldric was always scheming in his youth about how to get money. Your father resented his mother and father for not leaving him much when they died. Even Sean said he was a master at scheming. It’s quite possible that he saw your mother as way into a family with a good name as well as a good fortune.”

“Yes, I know. I am just angry and you can’t begrudge me my feelings. Try putting yourself in my shoes,” said Maddie defiantly, but it was obvious she was still struggling on the inside.

“Maddie, it’s obvious that you’re struggling now but all you have to do is think about his position in the company and the benefits to see that it’s not just a job.”

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Maddie could argue no more, instead she looked down and played angrily with her beer mug, it was all she could do to keep back the tears.

“Come on,” he grabbed her by the hand, dropped four twenties on the table, and led her out the door.

He walked her to the driver’s side of the car, unlocked the door, and opened it for her to get in. Upon turning to her, he couldn’t ignore the look in her eyes. He wrapped both arms around her tightly. She cried in his arms as he rocked her gently and kissed her on the side of her face. After a few moments, she pulled back and stepped inside the car. As Michael got in on his side of the car, he closed the door and looked left. In the side view mirror he saw a man sitting on the wooden fence. He turned around and looked through the back of the car and noticed that Joe was still there; he had been watching them the whole time.

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Change is Positive

Chapter 12

Maddie and Michael left the beach and made their way to her father’s house. Although Maddie didn’t know it, Joe was behind them the entire time. Michael kept looking out of his rearview mirror to check and make sure that he was there. Yet, he didn’t tell Maddie this because she was upset enough. Whatever he was up to, Michael would handle later. Maddie held his hand as she looked out of the window at the cars passing by.

Traffic was light at that time of day and it wasn’t long before they pulled up to the gate of Earl’s house. Michael pressed the button and Maddie spoke in a trembling voice to the housekeeper who let them in the gate. As they parked and walked up to the door, Maddie felt like gravity was crushing down on her body. Michael saw Maddie and told her to relax and to breathe. She was really touched when he promised not to let anything bad happen to her. As he entwined his arm around Maddie, he instinctively looked behind him to see Joe was across the street, sitting on his car, he flipped Michael off who didn’t respond. The housekeeper opened the door and Maddie walked in the house and Michael followed quietly.

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The housekeep took their coats and asked if they wanted anything. After which, she led them into the living room where Earl sat watching television and having a drink.

“Ahh, you’re back. How can I help you now?” he asked innocently.

“Well, for starters, you can tell us where Jesse is?” said Maddie.

“I don’t know where Jesse is,” Earl insisted. “Haven’t we been through this already?”

“Stop lying to us, Baldric,” Michael spewed, “we know who you are and what you’re capable of.”

“Is it true? Did you kill my mother and my real father?”

“Maddie! How dare you come into my house and accuse me of ridiculous things! I think I have had enough of you two and would like you both to leave now!” he motioned at the hall that led to the door.

“We aren’t going anywhere until you tell us where the baby is. What’s the problem? If the baby is really yours, all we are here to do is make sure that he’s alright.”

“I told you, I don’t know where he is.”

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“FINE! We will find it ourselves. Joe told us you have him and we believe him,” and Michael turned to walk around and back through the large house.

Baldric ran at him, but Michael knew that he would and just as he felt he was behind him, he turned around and punched him in the gut. The Earl was on his knees gasping and Michael pulled out his gun and said,

“Fine, if you want to do this the hard way, we will” and Baldric coughed and gasped while trying to get his breath back.

“Get up,” Michael said but Baldric just sat there. So Michael kicked him and yelled once more, “Get up.”

They walked throughout the eight rooms of the house and found nothing. The entire time, Earl Baldric cursed both Maddie and Michael under his breath and threatened repeatedly to kill them both. When they discovered that the baby wasn’t there, Michael still wasn’t convinced. He tied his hands and feet together with a bit of extension cord he’d pulled out of the television.

“What? Maddie? You’re gonna let this man tie me up and not even protest? I’m your father! I took care of you!”

“Well, see that is what we are going to talk about. I’m not convinced that you told us everything the

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last time we talked. I’m not convinced that you’re telling me everything now. For starters, why did you lie about being English?”

“What? I didn’t lie about being English. I am English.”

“This says you came to the United States from Paris,” Michael held up the file Maddie had in her hand.

“Joe’s friend, the same detective you sent us on a goose chase after, has provided proof that you went to college in Paris and with Michael’s father.”

“Tell her Baldric,” said Michael who was now behind the bar making a rum and coke.

“Tell her what?” he said, “there’s nothing to tell.”

“Ok, well. We’re gonna go and good luck getting out of that. We’ll go ahead and dismiss your housekeeper. Also, if you aren’t busy, we’ll go ahead and call the cops and deliver them this file. I‘m sure with today’s modern technology, they could figure out something that would link you to this event.”

“What event is that? Are you to tell me what you’re on to? Or, are we gonna play touch and go all night?”

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“I am talking about the night your wife and her boyfriend from college left here with Maddie. Even if they couldn’t convict you, I’m sure that just reopening the case may mean serious trouble for you.”

“Ah, Michael! You’re funny! Haha.” Earl laughed and smiled genuinely, “You really think you have got me, don’t you? It’s alright. You know, Joe thought he had me too. Well, then, call the cops, just get it over with because I’d like be back in time for an early bed. I’ve got a meeting tomorrow.”

“Come on Baldric, I was 12 years old and I remember things that my father said about you.”

“Yes, well your father was no saint either!” Baldric’s temper was starting to rise.

“Whatever! Where’s Jesse?” asked Maddie.

“Well hold on now,” said Baldric, “you want the truth and I am about to give it to you.”

He fidgeted and continued “but first, can you untie my hands and poor me a drink? It’s gonna be a long one.”

Michael looked at him momentarily and untied him while Maddie made him his usual godfather on ice.

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“Well,” he began, “the truth is I am English, but only by way of my father. For the first few years of my life, I was raised in an elegant manor in Sussex. My childhood was typical: my mother would be homemaking and my father would be off at work in the family businesses. He was, as you know, impoverished and the last in a line of a wealthy and highly influential family.

In times past, our family made its money through slow acquisition of many acres of land which, at one point, was a major commodity as valuable as gold. The Engelards of centuries past let many acres of land to the government and the upper class looking for short lived vacations. The government would use the land for training of the military or to house important persons. The upper class would pay ridiculous amounts of money for a custom time share with all the amenities of the time to make a person feel pampered; a resort if you will.

This was a few hundred years ago. My family didn’t really become influential until my long removed Uncle Daniel found gold on his property in the 1700s. It was then that our family rose in society by making loans to those in good business, which automatically gave our family a foothold in much of England’s economy.

Our family hired goldsmiths to fashion jewelry for a chain of stores we opened across the United Kingdom. Daniel would even send personalized gifts to people from whom the Engelards wanted favor. At one

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point, our family funded the British government during its recession back in the mid 1800s and that is when we got our titles.

Anyway, by the time it got down to my father, the family fortune was nothing more than a few old fashioned shops that sold jewelry it had manufactured abroad in America. No longer did they use gold from our property, as it had been long depleted. Or, perhaps not entirely depleted, so much as it was sparse. Through bad decision making, many of the footholds our family held once were lost. Then there was the American depression of the ‘30s in which sent many of our family’s shops straight into bankruptcy. After which, all that was really left was our mink factory in Paris. It was the only business that survived lucratively and my father decided we should move there so he could pursue expansion.

We, at first, moved in with my mother’s family but it wasn’t long before they, meaning her mother, drove my father crazy. My grandmother was French society woman whose father bought her way into the society. She was dead against her marrying my father and from the moment they arrived, she strived to make her feelings about him obvious. I remember she later lost everything when the Germans invaded.

Fortunately, my father still had the one factory that kept us afloat for many years, even after the war. Once he had the upper hand in the family, it gave him

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great pleasure to send his mother in law off to live with her husband in a retirement community. Next, he sent me off to school, where I met Anton and was later joined by my cousin, Sean. Things were good until many people started to rebel against the use of furs because of the injustice of killing animals.

Times were changing and my father was incapable of adjusting. His failures forced him into an early retirement while I was still enrolled at the local academy. For a few years he was weighed down with guilt and a silly notion that he was the one responsible for the failure of his family’s last great venture. It didn’t take long for him to find the bottle and cling to it for many years, which caused the premature end to his life.

After Baldric told his story, he went quiet and looked down at the ground. Maddie and Michael stared at him for a few moments without saying anything. Maddie got up to refresh her drink and her father held out his glass to her, and she did the same for him. Michael soon followed and then returned to his seat then asked,

“After my father moved out of the mansion, you hardly spoke. Why is that?”

“Your father is an upright goody two shoes is why. He always thought that Sean and I were up to no good. I got sick of his always ruining the party and our chances to make real money; that’s when I told him to leave if he wanted. Then when you two moved out and into

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that old manor that he’d been working on forever, I brought Sean out. While Sean and I made a great fortune for ourselves, your father chose to just barely get by.”

“So why didn’t I ever hear you speak of Sean or Anton? Why did I never know that they were your friend and family?” asked Maddie.

“Well, I didn’t feel that it was important. Who cares? What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is I’ve gone through my whole life thinking that he was just your friend, not my Uncle. You don’t think that’s something I should’ve known? Why you would lie about that?”

“Well, you’re forgetting Maddie,” Michael interrupted, “Baldric is not even your real father.”

Maddie stared at Earl Baldric and said,

“At first I didn’t believe it, I couldn’t. But, now is the moment of truth. Are you my father?”

“Well, of course. I only raised you your entire life!” he rose his voice at her.

“STOP IT! I want the truth!” she yelled back.

CRAASSHHH

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Out of nowhere there was the loud shattering of glass that made them all jump and drop their glasses.

Michael jumped off the couch and pulled his gun out of his holster. Slowly, he walked out of the living room, toward the front of the house. Immediately, Baldric started trying to untangle his cords and Maddie screamed,

“STOP!” and she slapped him hard across the face, “You are not going anywhere! You will tell me what I want to know.”

Although he was stunned for a moment, he said,

“I don’t have to tell you anything! After all I’ve done for you!” and he continued to work the cords.

Michael had walked back into the room just in time with Joe in tow.

“What the hell?” Joe yelled and he ran over to Baldric just as he was about to escape his chair and punched him in the jaw. Then he grabbed the old cord and tied his arms back together.

Earl slumped completely blacked out and slumped in his chair. Joe got a glass of water and splashed his face and he woke up again.

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Maddie looked up and noticed Michael now had a bloody nose.

“Alright, you maggot. I have been listening to this nonsense for almost an hour now. I am fed up. You had should take me very seriously; especially after the ordeal you have put me through. I am only giving you one chance to tell me what I want to know. If you play ball with me, I will walk out and you will never see me again. Don’t play ball, and I’ll do to you what you did to my mother” and Joe said emphasized the bat and the gun he had.

Baldric looked unconvinced that Joe had the guts to beat and kill him, but when he turned off the safety and put the barrel to his temple, he said “I will shoot you” and Baldric really began to sweat for the first time.

When Joe said this, Maddie shrieked “Joe, No!” but he turned around and pointed the gun at Maddie, and Michael subsequently pointed his gun at Joe.

“If you interfere, I will shoot you too.

“What?” she couldn’t believe Joe was threatening her.

“Joe, stop it!” she screamed at him and he turned to the Earl and continued,

“Now, Earl, tell me,” he said calmly, “where is Jesse?”

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“You mean, where is your son?” said Earl.

A moment of silence followed where Maddie was stunned to be hearing. Coming to once more, she said

“WHAT?”

“That’s right, Maddie,” Earl laughed “Jesse is Joe’s son, not mine! Ah ha haaa!” he moved his head up and down. “From what my sources tell me, he’d been sleeping with his own stepmother for quite sometime. Now, I am not certain but isn’t that still incest?” and he laughed in a high pitched whispy voice as he shook.

Maddie couldn’t say anything; the last few days had just been too much. She just stared at both of the men whom she had trusted with her life and wondered where she went wrong. Joe turned to her and said,

“I’m sorry Maddie but it’s true. It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“Not as bad as it sounds? You’ve had a baby with your stepmother!”

“Well, she’s only a few years younger than you. I have been in love with her since I was a teenager and, when my father fell ill, it was my chance with her. That is, until your father got in the way.”

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“You must be kidding me. You were competing with my father for Anna? She’s young enough to be your daughter. You were gonna leave me for her?”

“Well, every woman has her price,” wheezed Baldric who sounded completely crazy.

“I hate you! BOTH of you! I don’t ever want to see either of you ever again! How could you do this to me?” she screamed.

“Well, if you hate us now, your about to hate us more in a moment while Baldric confesses to the murder of your parents as well as trying to kill me and you,” Joe said nonchalantly.

“He never tried to kill her but you did, when you had those thugs abduct her and bring her in my home. They were violent and crazy!” said Michael.

“Oh he didn’t?” he asked inquisitively with sarcasm. “I confess that I am the one who arranged for your abduction but it was only supposed to be a short stay! That was until your father manipulated me into letting those guys take you that day in the desert. It wasn’t my intention that you should get hurt! Your father made me choose between you and my son. The plan was to have you kidnapped and claim you as dead to get my son back. As soon as I got him back, I would’ve brought you back too but Earl double crossed me! Shortly after his men grabbed you, they tried to kill me too!”

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“Oh yeah, whatever! John told me you were flirting with some girl all night!”

“Do you really think I went back to my hotel that night and had a good time? Well, I didn’t because John’s buddy drugged my drink and took me into the desert where he tried to shoot me. I was supposed to drop you off at Michael’s on the way back from the desert and then leave you there; instead I hitchhiked all the way back to the resort.”

“Earl!?!” Maddie half asked half exclaimed.

“What?” asked Earl who was humming and tapping his feet, “No one’s listening to me anyway” he said and then started to sing some old song aloud, and then Joe punched him hard across the other side of his face to shut him up.

“Alright!” yelled Michael, “Enough! Tell him where Jesse is so we can go. I can’t take this scene anymore.”

“No! First, tell us, what happened to Sarah and Armel Siroq,” she demanded, “You killed them didn’t you?”

“Yeah, fine. Alright, let’s just get this over with. You want a confession, fine,” said Baldric not wanting to get beat anymore.

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“Tell us from the beginning, everything that happened,” demanded Joe.

“Fine,” continued Baldric, “I was studying at La Sorbonne for a few years. I was seeing Sarah Margulie when that Armel man came along and tried to take her from me,” he spit. Baldric was truly mad and in his rage, was starting to lose it. “There was no way I could allow him to have her. I had done everything for that little ungrateful! I introduced her to all my friends and they all loved her. I was humiliated! Then I introduced her to my family who were taken with her; for the first time, my mother was excited since my father died. She always wanted me to marry an American girl and for me to take her to the States but that ingrate broke my mother’s heart. Plus, with a family like hers, I could continue the Engelard name in a respectable business manner. She made my family proud and she was going to just ditch me for that other man. So one night, I followed him to his dorm and I shot the bastard. Huh huuuhh!” he laughed psychotically.

“Unfortunately, I had acted in blind rage and haste because I hadn’t realized that anyone was around when I shot him. Had I been in the right state of mind, I would’ve been more careful. Anyway, I ran away from the scene as fast as I could and when I got back to my ‘apartement’, I told Anton what I had done. We were too much alike! He had only just escaped Bruges and his slut wife! HA HA!” Balidric’s face was completely red, “He

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was in my debt because I helped him get to Paris after he nearly killed his wife and that chap! Yes, Indeed!”

“What are you talking about?” stammered Michael who was not quite sure of what he was hearing. “What? My mother? She died in the war! That was the last time my father saw his wife” interrupted Michael.

“NOPE,” Baldric was starting to sound like Barney, the dinosaur. He seemed to be getting drunk on his own anger. Baldric continued by telling him the story of what led his father to Paris and then to the United States.

After he was done, Maddie cut in,

“You were quite the trio! You’re all violent, lying lunatics. I always knew that evil existed but I never thought that I would be so close to it. I hope I’m not related to you because today is the saddest day of my life. I was brought up with frauds and then I foolishly married one,” she cried.

Baldric merely laughed and Michael sat and stared at the ground.

“Well,” he said, “Gabrielle’s lover went into the hospital and survived, but he was in bad shape for awhile. According to the papers, he was permanently scarred in the face. Gabrielle went back to Paris with her parents once she was well enough. Rumor had it that her

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hip was messed up for life, which made her a cripple,” he grinned as tears of enjoyment moistened his eyes.

“He’s saying your mother is still alive,” said Maddie.

“I know and I believe him. I remember that night when we boarded the train to Paris; it all seemed rather fast. I could tell that my father was upset and I was scared for him.”

“That was because he was worried about getting arrested. If you could’ve seen the papers, your father did a bang up job, and especially on the boyfriend who was made permanently impotent!” Baldric laughed explosively out loud while moving his head up and down, tears rolled down his red face. Michael, who had had enough, rose and added one more grade with his fists which turned his head into a pulpy mass of red.

“That evening, I was having a romantic dinner with Sarah. I rushed her out when I got the phone call and when he came to my door, I took him in without question. I figured that Gabrielle got what was coming to her and her family, nor anyone else would’ve disagreed with me. You see, she told him that she was gonna leave and take Lucian with him. She underestimated Anton because he loved him a lot more than he ever loved that skank.”

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“ALRIGHT!! ENOUGH! YOU MAY HAVE YOUR DISCUSSIONS AFTER I LEAVE BUT WHERE IS JESSE?” asked Joe.

“Yes, hmmmmm. Where is Jesse?” he said through evil looking slits of eyes.

Joe started to motion as though he were going to hurt Baldric again and she screamed,

“STOOP!”

Joe turned around and said “SHUT UP! Nothing is going to keep me from finding my son and if it means I gotta draw some blood, then so be it. If you don’t like, then leave because you’re only getting in my way!”

“Come on, Maddie,” Michael said as he put his arm around her shoulders, “he needs to find where his son is. This is the only way,”

Just then Joe pulled back his fist to re extend it into his face and Baldric yelled, “Okay, Okay, I’ll tell you where he is.” Joe hesitated and lowered his fist, he stood back and asked,

“Where’s Jesse?”

“He’s at my condo in the city with a woman whom I’ve hired to care for him. The chateau Montmarte

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condos, lot 41. You’ll find him there,” and at that moment, twenty men ran into the room with guns.

The police had been alerted to the hostage situation by the housekeeper who was still on the property. In the midst of everything, they had forgotten about her. They screamed as they burst in yelling,

“HANDS UP, DROP YOUR WEAPONS, AND GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR,” at which everyone obeyed, except Baldric who was still tied to the chair.

Joe dropped his gun slowly to the ground and laid down himself.

They were all handcuffed and put in the back of separate patrol cars while Baldric stood innocently at the door giving a full account of how they had burst in and took him hostage. Although the file sat out in plain view, it didn’t hold much value to the cops who saw that it was an unsolved case from years prior. Upon inspection of the file, they knew that the circumstances of Earl were suspicious but they insisted there was nothing they could do.

Fortunately, Joe had recorded the entire conversation with his phone. The police listened to the conversation and decided that everyone would be taken to the station and questioned. Maddie was happy, despite her own arrest, because for a moment, it looked like Earl would once again get away with the murder of Sarah and Armel. She had finally accepted that Earl wasn’t the man whom

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she thought. Besides, after everything that had happened, even if he was really her father, she would still want him to pay for his crime.

Once they were at the station, they were all subjected to hours of questioning. Once their testimonies were fully evaluated, after repeated listening to the phone, and re reading of the documents the detective provided Joe, Earl Baldric was formally charged with the murder of Maddie’s parents and multiple kidnapping. Unfortunately, Joe and Michael were still arrested for holding Baldric against his will and beating him. The only person who went home that night was Maddie who promised Joe that she would pick up baby Jesse on the way.

Maddie was curious to see little Jesse, so she sped all the way to her father’s condo. She knocked on the door and a little woman in a dressing gown opened the door. Maddie recognized the woman at once as Lauriana; she was her father’s old housekeeper for one of his vacation homes in Newport. She let her in the condo and led her to the bedroom where little Jesse slept.

As she led her into the room, the nanny-housekeeper explained to Maddie that Earl had brought her to work with the baby several months prior. He upped her salary in exchange for fully caring for the baby. When she asked if the baby were his, he said yes but refused to tell her who the mother was. Instead, he made her swear to

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complete secrecy in exchange for the condo, which was transferred to her name.

Lauriana adjusted the wall light on low and walked quietly up to the crib and as she looked down, what she saw amazed her. It was a little Joe sleeping quite peacefully and still. Maddie was taken by the beauty of the baby and wished she could be its mother. Originally, she was going to take the baby home that night but realized she couldn’t because the baby needed to sleep.

Maddie motioned to Lauriana and they walked back out into the hallway and quietly closed the door. She asked the housekeeper to speak with her in the living room. Maddie explained to her about everything single thing that had happened that night. How it happened that Baldric, who she thought was her father, was now in jail. She explained how dangerous he was and why she needed to help her pack up all the baby’s things and then leave immediately in the morning. Maddie pulled out her checkbook and wrote her a rather large check to cover her expenses for having to look for another job.

After their conversation, the woman showed Maddie to a guest bedroom where she laid down to rest. She could’ve gone home and come back the next day but she couldn’t conceive of being too far from the baby. The reoccurring thought that Earl may somehow get out of jail more quickly than Joe or Michael made her want to stay close. The housekeeper brought her a guest night gown,

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robe, and toothbrush for the evening then Maddie fixed up the bedroom for the evening.

As she lay there and tried to sleep, she found that she couldn’t because her mind refused to let go of the events of the last two days. She mind relived the escape from Marcon Manor and the dangerous drive back and then her mind went over the conversations she had with Michael, her father, and Joe. Then her restless mind took her through memories of her life with Earl Baldric. She told herself that her entire life with him was a lie and she couldn’t stop thinking about how she never knew her real parents, nor would she ever.

After hours of tossing and turning while thinking of all these things, Maddie was finally defeated physically and mentally. She could no longer feel anything and her mind went blank as her body went numb and relaxed. Maddie drifted off to sleep and had horrible dreams the entire night but they never bothered her psyche because she was numb.

The next morning, Maddie was still numb and as she packed up as much of the baby’s things as possible, her limbs felt like they were moving by command, as if they were the limbs of a robot. Meanwhile the housekeeper was busy packing up her items and preparing to stay with her cousin until things were calm.

Maddie found Jessie to be a total sweetheart who was exceptionally bright and aware. Jesse hardly cried

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and feeding him was a cinch. Jesse was obviously very comfortable and well loved in his atmosphere and she hoped that life with Joe would be just as enjoyable for the baby. Lauriana was kind enough to make Maddie breakfast and coffee before they left.

At home, Maddie put Jessie down in the play pen she had unpacked and worked on transforming one of the guest bedrooms into a baby room. Joe had not been home yet and the house was still dusty and quiet. After she had done with room, she put the baby down to a nap and then proceeded to clean the rest of the house.

It wasn’t until about four p.m. that Maddie finally got a phone call from Joe. He had been released from jail and was wondering if she would pick him up, she agreed but when she asked about Michael, he was evasive. Still numb, she was unable to get emotional about not hearing from Michael. It wasn’t that she had stopped caring but she was too tired to be concerned as she packed up Jesse and drove out to the station.

Joe was standing in front with his sunglasses on, looking idly up and down the street. When he got in the car, she asked him again where Michael was. Apparently, he had been released earlier and went home which Maddie figured was probably a good idea. She was feeling hopeless and worthless; it made sense that Michael wouldn’t stick around for her.

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On the way back home, they stopped at the convenience store to pick up supplies for the child. Maddie was silent as they walked through the aisles picking various items because the house was practically emptied of necessities. Joe rambled on and on about various things as though nothing had happened the day before. All he cared about was his self and his baby, which was good Maddie reflected because his baby should be the most important thing in his life. Still, it was very telling that he did not once bring up the affair or how Maddie was cheated by Baldric as well. It was just like always, and what she always ignored, which was he didn’t care about her. Maybe at first he thought he did but things were different now.

When they finally made it back to their house, Joe told her that he was ready to talk. He went and put the baby down for another nap while Maddie waited on the couch for him.

“Are you sure Michael went home already? Did he say anything to you about me?” Maddie asked.

“No,” said Joe, “Listen, I’ve known Michael practically my entire life. Believe me, he is a really good guy but rarely has he committed to a woman for more than a few weeks. I know you guys had something going but he won’t be back for you. I, on the other hand, am always here for you. Michael said something to me that led me to believe that maybe you have feelings for him, but even if he does want you, the fact is I need you here. I love you

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and I want us to pick up where we left off, before everything happened. Let’s start over again,” he said.

“We can’t just start over, or pick up from where we left off. You’ve been lying to me for years now. Now you have a child and that’s the only reason you’re asking this of me isn’t it?” asked Maddie frustrated.

“Yes, I need you and so does my baby, but you’ve always wanted kids. Don’t you remember asking me? Well, you can help me with Jesse. I mean, we are still married. My father had many affairs over the years and they’re still together. We can make this work, I know we can. You can quit your job and take care of Jesse and I will take care of everything else.”

Maddie was so defeated in her feeling self worthlessness. Both of the most important men in her life thought as much of her as one thinks of a pet. She wondered if there was something wrong with her because how could she be discarded as a human with feelings so easily. How could this man be so selfish and not once acknowledge that he hurt her.

Too tired and upset to argue with him, Maddie agreed that she would stay and they could work things out. It was only her defeated side that allowed her to remain but on another side of her, she severely hated Joe. She realized that hatred was her true feeling and that they could never really start over but she was too tired to start the new chapter of her life at the moment. As she went out

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the house as though everything were finally back to normal, there was a voice within her that kept telling her that she needed to get out of her marriage but she couldn’t respond.

Joe was right, she did always want kids and perhaps this was her opportunity to raise one. Jesse could be hers and maybe he would finally inspire her to make the leap and start a family of her own. She didn’t want to return to work because a job didn’t seem to rightly compare to a family. Now that all her family was dead and Michael was gone and not coming back, Joe was all she had.

After hours of cleaning, the house finally began to feel fresh, and Maddie’s nerves finally began to calm. When every room in the house had been cleaned, she moved out to the backyard and swept up all the leaves and debris, and then she worked her way around the front. She then continued her cleaning quest by scrubbing her porch.

She was rinsing all the suds away when he walked up to the house. Maddie, who was still so absorbed by a constant replay of the night’s events didn’t even hear him. When he said her name, she jumped and screamed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.

“It’s alright,” Maddie said. “What are you doing here? Joe said you were released and went home.”

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“Well, isn’t it obvious? I’m here for you,” Maddie didn’t know what to say. She looked at him and then looked down, considering what he was saying.

In that moment, as she looked down at the ground, a book worth of thoughts flooded her mind. She worked very hard to get to her current place in life. Maddie loved her job and, despite everything, she loved her husband, but now, life was different. Her father was not her father and Joe has had a son with his step mother who was beaten to death by her own father. Maddie never felt lonelier in her life as she did the last day or so.

As she stood there and contemplated the facts of her life and her options, she saw clearly a picture of her grandparents in her mind. True, they were dead gone but while they were alive, they were very happy, or at least they seemed to be. They were one of those annoying couples who loved to brag about how they loved each other and what a happy life they had.

In reflection of their marriage, Maddie new instantly without thinking that her marriage to Joe was no where near what her grandparents appeared to have. If she wanted what her grandparents had, the choice she needed to make was to be with Michael. She threw down her broom, ran up to him and threw her arms around him. They kissed for a few minutes before standing back and looking at one another than he said,

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“Your father, or supposed father, has been released on bond. My guess is he won’t be here for long. Do you want to pack a bag and we can go see him? Then we can go back to my place where we can live happily ever after?”

“No, I have nothing to say to that stranger but I will go pack that bag. In fact, how about I pack all of my bags?” she smiled.

Maddie and Michael went inside, and a few minutes later Joe could be heard screaming and swearing up and down the neighborhood. Although they initially brawled all throughout the living room and kitchen, Maddie did manage to calm them down. For Joe, it was the screaming of the baby that brought him to his senses. Maddie went upstairs and packed a few suitcases, with which Michael helped into the car. When she was done and Joe asked her,

“So that’s it?”

She said, “Yep!” and they drove off.

Later

Two months later, Maddie was still in the middle of a divorce because of Joe’s stubborn spite. Nevertheless, she was extremely happy in the manor as the new lady of the house. She was officially semi retired and spent most of her days doing all the things she really

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enjoyed. Be it in the garden with Julian or in the kitchen with Marie, she could be found in extremely good spirits while working on some sort of project.

Julian and Marie, as it turned out, had escaped that night through the castle wall that led to the opposite entrance to the house. They returned to the property several weeks after Maddie and Michael had returned. Abilene had come back to help out but, at Maddie’s insistence, she was fired and sent back home. The house was a total wreck but she enjoyed putting it back in order with three of her most favorite people in the world at the moment.

Michael took the money that he’d gotten from her father and begun a second phase of restoration on the manor. He spent most days either making improved designs to his home or finding investors who would help turn the home into a place for tourists. Maddie, who was pretty well off on her own, insisted on helping to redesign the clashing rooms of the manor. Michael tried to stop her but she insisted that although the articles were of good quality, they were bad in design.

Not too long after they had arrived at the manor, Earl Baldric had indeed gone missing as Michael predicted. Maddie received several phone calls and several people came to the manor looking for clues as to where he might’ve gone. Apparently, they had proof he had left the

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country the very next day for Paris but they hadn’t a clue as to where he would be staying.

Never once did Maddie, nor anyone who was acquainted with him hear from him ever again. His house was liquidated to pay for the bond he took out and he apparently drained all his money from his accounts. Maddie subsequently assumed his position of ownership in her great grandfathers company.

That morning, when Maddie woke up, she knew that she needed to take the test. She was three days late and she knew that she wanted it to be true. The hopes that she now had for her future were a long way off from where she began, which made it all the more exciting, like a dream coming to life. Originally, they decided that they would wait until the divorce was final and they were married but fate would not see it that way.

She got up and washed, then made her downstairs where Marie had breakfast waiting. After breakfast, she made her usual rounds about the castle, feeding the animals and then working in the garden with Julian. On her way back in for lunch, she kissed Michael and went upstairs to wash. Maddie couldn’t wait any longer and took the test; two minutes later, the results were positive.

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