Outlaw #2
Jessie knocked on the bathroom door holding a bowl of macaroni and cheese, opened it, and turned on the lights.
She could smell that the toilet was in desperate need of flushing.
Victor quickly looked away in embarrassment.
Jessie stepped in, flushed it, then sat on the small vanity and watched Victor for a moment.
“I had to pee and poop on myself while they let me hang… don’t be embarrassed. ”
Victor quickly turned his head and met Jessie’s eyes. “Really? Who would do that?”
“Russian human traffickers. They tried to break me. I was one of the lucky ones.”
“Is that what you are going to do to me? Break me? You can save yourself the time… I think you already have.”
Anger, Jessie thought. Good. “You’ve been broken ever since you were a kid, Victor.”
“F…fuck you, then.”
“That’s not nice, Victor,” Jessie replied flatly. “I wasn’t trying to be mean.”
“You are going to kill me! What does it fucking matter?”
“Well…” Jessie set the bowl of macaroni down and suddenly she had a switchblade knife open and under Victor’s chin. “Have you heard of an artery called the cavernous artery?”
Victor swallowed hard. “N—no.”
“You have one… it’s deep inside your penis.
All I need to do is puncture, then slice it open laterally while you sit there unable to move.
It will be excruciating while you slowly bleed to death.
That is what matters. Like I said, you seem like a nice guy…
don’t make me take pleasure in your death, ok? ”
He swallowed hard again. “Ok.”
Jessie removed the knife, picked up the bowl, and scooped a spoonful of macaroni and cheese. She took a bite, then scooped another and held it in front of Victor’s lips. “Open.”
Victor slowly opened his mouth, and Jessie proceeded to gently feed Victor the entire bowl.
“That tasted better than what I make…”
“I added butter, salt, pepper, and the American cheese you had in your refrigerator.”
“Why are you feeding me?”
Jessie smiled. “It would be rude not to. Besides, you really do seem like a nice guy. It’s why I tied you to the toilet. Usually, I tie them up and throw them in the bathtub or shower and let them poop and pee themselves.”
“Oh. Uh… thank you?”
Jessie beamed her smile at him. “You are welcome!”
“Veronica?”
“Yes?”
“Do… do you really have to kill me?”
Jessie gave him a momentarily confused look, turned away, and replied, “Yes. I am so, so sorry, Victor…” She dropped the bowl and raced out of the bathroom, turned the corner, and waited.
She heard him mutter, ‘damn’. Then he called out quietly, “Veronica? I don’t want to die… please think about it. I can…”
Jessie rushed to the door, wiping fake tears away, and slammed it shut. She waited in front of the closed door, listening, and heard him whisper ‘damn’ again.
Jessie left Victor alone so he could formulate a way to convince her not to kill him.
To give him time, she sat on his couch and thought about her graduation ceremony two days away.
Unknown to anyone at Langley, she would be missing it due to her plans.
No one would be there for her anyway. She thought about all that she had been through in her life, and that one singular thought that was stuck in her mind every day since Simo rescued her…
“Simo?” she whispered. My God, how she missed him.
Seeing him at that club and not daring to talk to him or…
or to touch him. It was incredibly painful in her heart.
He was the only man she had ever truly loved, and she accepted his stupid promise.
She promised him that once, and only once, would they be together.
God, how she wished she could take that promise and note back.
To just have woken him up in that hotel bed in Athens…
to take the chance and see if he had any feelings for her.
Her guts churned at the thought of him being with someone…
but in her heart, she just wanted him to be happy.
Simo had looked so, so tired… she wiped a real tear away and looked at her watch.
Tentatively, she knocked on the bathroom door and waited.
“Uh… come in?”
Jessie opened the door and stepped inside. “Are you cramping yet?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t move,” Jessie ordered softly. She bent over and untied one knot. She slipped her hand under his arm and met his gray eyes. “Your hands and feet are still secured. Don’t be stupid and try anything. Now, let me help lift or you will fall.”
Victor watched those gorgeous, deep green eyes looking at him.
He barely heard her words, except for ‘help’ and ‘lift’.
She was very strong as she bore most of his weight.
His earlier thoughts of overpowering her if he had the chance disappeared.
He realized that she might not be crazy…
but there was no doubt that she was a trained killer.
God, those eyes, though. He could see that she didn’t want to kill him… “Oh, uh, what?” he stammered.
“I’ll let you sleep in the bathtub… I sleep lightly so do not get out or… I will have to hurt you. Am I clear?”
“Yes, Veronica.” He let her help him into the tub, as his limbs felt too stiff to move. He was surprised at how gentle she was. Then she left and returned with a pillow and his blanket. He wished he were more of a man… God, she was beautiful. “Oh, what?”
“I said, try and sleep…”
“Veronica?”
Jessie sighed. “What?”
“How did you end up with slavers? Is that really a true story?”
Jessie nodded and put the toilet seat down and sat. “Yes. It is all true. All of it.”
“So how?”
“I thought I fell in love with a man… a man who, when he found out I was a virgin, kidnapped me and sold me to a man in America. I was worth over three million dollars… if you were too afraid to ask.” Victor’s face registered shock, then anger.
“Did… did he? You know?”
“Did ‘they’ rape me? No. I wouldn’t have been worth as much.
But my kidnappers beat my privates with a rubber hose until I was black and blue and peeing blood.
I think I was about to break when… when the man I told you about rescued me and killed the slavers.
Well… I killed one of them watching his back. ”
Victor’s eyes widened. “For real? I mean, really?”
“Yes, Victor. I swear on my dead mother’s grave that all of what I just told you is true.”
“Man, I wish I could shake your rescuer’s hand…” Victor muttered.
Jessie smiled sadly. “If it weren’t for that man, you wouldn’t be in this situation…” Jessie winced in a friendly manner at him.
“Ah… oh, Veronica?”
Jessie offered Victor a friendly smile. “Tomorrow. Ok? Oh… you will have to call in sick to work in the morning. I won’t have any trouble with you, right?”
“No. I promise.”
“Good night, Victor. I hope you can get some sleep. Behave and you will be safe… for now.”
At 7 AM sharp, Jessie knocked lightly on the bathroom door. She peeked in, and Victor was fast asleep in the tub, his mouth hanging open, lightly snoring. Jessie sat down on the toilet with Victor’s cellphone in hand. “Good morning, Victor.”
Groggily, Victor opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He was barely able to reach up and rub his eyes with his bound hands. He stared at Jessie for a long moment, managed a smile, and replied sleepily, “Good morning.”
“I have your cell phone. Ready to call in sick?”
“Yes.”
Jessie held up her knife. “Please tell me that I won’t need this today?”
Victor nodded his head. “I promised.”
Jessie dialed his work number, put it on speaker, and held the phone close to Victor’s ear.
“Representative Peter Queen’s district office, how may I direct your call?” said the woman’s voice over the phone.
“Hey, Sherry, it’s Victor. Can you tell Peter that I am sick? I don’t want to infect him with whatever I caught.”
“Wow, it must be bad. You’ve never called in sick before!”
“I just don’t want to infect you all. Especially with Peter hosting the Irish business delegation tomorrow…” Victor turned to Jessie and his eyes shot open wide.
“Victor? Are you ok?” came Sherry’s worried voice over the line.
Victor coughed a few times, then answered, “Sorry. My throat is all dry and scratchy. Tell Peter I’ll try and see him when he meets the delegation before they leave.”
“I will. Take care of yourself, Victor. Bye.”
“Bye, Sherry.”
Jessie disconnected and sat watching Victor, who was staring back at her unflinching. “You are going after my boss or someone in that delegation, right?”
“Maybe, Mr. Victor O’Sullivan.”
“Oh, God… so you really don’t need my apartment. That was all a lie?”
“No. Your apartment is convenient to my plans. I have not lied to you, Victor.”
“Then why, dammit? Why do you need my apartment?”
Jessie sighed heavily. She reached down, grabbed Victor’s arm, and hauled him naked out of the tub and to his feet. “Come,” Jessie ordered, and pulled Victor out into his living room. Jessie pointed across to the building on the other side. “Who lives there?”
“I don’t know!”
“But you have seen her! Admit it!”
Victor turned red. “Uh… no?”
“I haven’t lied to you, so don’t you start with me, Victor O’Sullivan!” Jessie hissed, then opened the side table drawer next to the couch, pulled out a pair of high-powered binoculars, and held them up.
Victor hung his head. “Fine… yes, I have seen her.”
“Listen, I could give a shit if you sit on your couch and beat off to her. Yes, she is sexy as hell. I might have done the same. But you watch her when she entertains, right?”
Victor nodded. “She… walks around nearly naked mostly, but when her boyfriend comes over, she always pulls the blinds.”
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know!”