Duke(96)

“Good, hopefully my assistant will be able to work it out so we can view it today, but if not, I have a few hours early tomorrow morning, if you’ll still be in town. I have an eleven o’clock appointment, but I’m free until then.”

As they pulled into the driveway for the fourth house of the day, Gen’s assistant let her know they could view the house on the river in two hours.

“How are you holding up?” Gen asked her client. “If you need to stop for something to eat to get some rest, just let me know.”

“Oh I’m just fine. My personal trainer works my ass off, so I can go all day if I need to. This one’s probably the most hidden of any so far. How much land belongs to the house?”

“It sits in the middle of twenty-three acres, and there’s supposed to be a waterfall on the property. There are also horse trails and stables, as the previous occupants owned horses and regularly rode the property.”

Gen unlocked the door and followed Pebbles in, then followed her through the house.

As they reached the bedroom she saw Pebbles launch forward and hit the floor a second before someone grabbed her wrist with one hand and elbow with the other arm, and a half-second later Gen’s arms were zip-tied behind her back and she was pushed to the floor. Her ankles were brought up behind her, attached to her wrists with more plastic strips, and then she was forced to watch Mike put Pebbles into the same uncomfortable hog-tie.

Pebbles spoke plain and calm, telling Mike, “You have to know if I’m hurt my husband will take you apart. He’ll pay to get me back, and if you play it safe and leave the country you’ll probably be able to spend what you get if I’m unhurt. But if you hurt me, Jiminy will track you to the ends of the earth.”

“Not here for you, bitch,” he snarled, and turned back to Gen.

Gen closed her eyes, concentrated on how things smelled, and thought of Duke. Then she thought of him smelling what she did. She didn’t know if it worked, but she did it every way she could think of, hoping he’d realize she was trying to contact him.

Her phone rang and Mike grabbed it from her purse, ripped the back off, and tossed the battery. At that point, Gen knew even if she hadn’t been able to get through to him, when her phone dropped off then whoever was in the control room might notice it, and tell him where her wallet and car were located.

Now she just had to stall Mike.

“This isn’t how you go about winning me back, Mike.”

“You cost me my job, my reputation, my friends, fucking everything. And you went from my bed into Duke’s! What the fuck, Gen! You saying that lowlife is better than me?”

“I’m sorry about you getting suspended, but how is that my fault? You were spying on me!”

“You knew we were being recorded. You knew the RTMC as well as the officers in the room could hear every word we said.”

“Yeah, okay, that wasn’t cool. Tell you what — I’ll pay you three years of your salary. Will that help make things okay? That should be around two hundred thousand dollars, right? With a little extra for you to pay for your own health insurance and stuff? Give you time to figure out what you want to do next?”

He paused, considering her offer, and she thought she might be in the clear, but then he suddenly looked even more ticked off as he barked, “You can just write a check for two hundred grand, just like that? Pay me off like I’m fucking lint on your fucking suit jacket? No, Gen. You ended my life, so I’m going to end yours. If I can’t have you, neither can he. We’ll be together for eternity, you and me.”

Panicked, Gen closed her eyes and tried to send what she could smell to Duke, though she had no idea if it worked.

Suddenly, she smelled exhaust and felt Duke’s presence — he was letting her know he was on his way. Her shoulders tried to slump in relief, but the hog tie wouldn’t let them.

Gen thought of other ways to stall, and said, “You have to untie Pebbles before you do it, maybe just before the end, at least one hand, with a cellphone nearby so she can call for help? This house is empty and it’s only been shown once in the past six weeks. She could die of dehydration and starvation before anyone finds her.”

Mike shook his head. “Your assistant knows all the places you were coming.” He nodded to Pebbles and said, “Her husband’ll send out a rescue team five minutes after he realizes he can’t reach her.” He looked towards the other woman and snarled, “Not that she deserves to live, but the justice system will take care of her and her husband before much longer.” He looked back to Gen. “You did a good job of protecting your computers, and your assistant’s, but I still have access to the feeds coming from the surveillance of her and her husband, so I knew every property you planned to take her to.”