The Sentinel Ch. 20

When Jack came to, he found himself tied to the chair that sat in front of Jan's makeup table. His arms were pulled back, and when he rocked in the chair to test his bonds, they wouldn't budge. More rope was wrapped across the front of his chest, and he guessed that it was looped around the back of the chair. Trying one foot and then the other, he concluded they were tied tightly to each leg. In effect, the only part of his body he could move was his head. A gag that seemed to be made of a silky material, maybe one of Jan's thigh highs, cut into his cheeks at the corners of his mouth.

What appeared to be a beach towel hung over the mirror behind the open laptop, cutting off the view from the bed against the opposite wall behind him. Rocking a little, he decided he could turn the chair onto its side if he wanted. It felt fairly strong, and he wasn't sure what he'd accomplish by doing that.

"How good of you to show up, Jack."

The voice was male and sounded educated, but other than that, he could discern very little.

"Jan and I thought we would wait around awhile and see if you came out to chat, but in person is so much better."

With the reference to chat, Jack's blood ran cold. Rocking in the chair, he struggled once more only to feel the ropes cut deep into his skin, leaving an itchy, burning sensation. Hearing footsteps behind him, he froze trying to locate the person from the sound; it seemed to move from the side of the room where the closet was to right behind his chair.

"How's that, Jack? Is the picture good?"

Looking at the laptop's screen, he suddenly saw Jan in the broadcast monitor window, still tied spread-eagled to the bed in her panties. The arm he'd freed had been secured again, and the gag put back, firmly in place.

There was a sound of movement again as Jack's tormenter retreated. Jack decided he had taken the lens' cap off the camera so he could watch. "Yes, Jack, I think this is so much better. Just think what the sound will be like. And if you're good, I'll even take her gag off before we're finished here."

Jack slumped against his rope. Yes, Linda had been right. This was about him, and in spite of not recognizing the voice, he knew exactly who was standing in the room behind him. Watching the cam view on the laptop, there seemed to be little he could do while Scott continued to speak.

"She is lovely, Jack. I even think she's even lovelier than Lisa was. What do you think, Jackie boy?"

Jack bucked wildly in the chair, deciding that tipping it over would bring Scott closer. Maybe, it would present some kind of opportunity.

"Now, Jack, let's not make me feel hurried." With that, Jack froze, and the chair settled firmly on all four legs, leaving him to stare at the cam picture on the screen - a gloved hand, resting on one of Jan's bare breasts, toying languidly, with the nipple.

"That's better, Jack. And speaking of Lisa, what did you think of that? Quite the flair for the theatrical is what I thought. I think artists always go overboard on their first performance."

Jack watched Jan closely as she lay submissively, not struggling; her eyes open wide, staring at the ceiling. Her bare breasts rose occasionally, and he could see her swallow, but other than that, her arms and legs were motionless. There was a clinking sound, and Jack could hear some sort of liquid being poured. Watching Jan, she seemed to glance to her right before turning her face back up to stare at the ceiling. There was another small clicking sound, and a few seconds later, Jack recognized the pungent odor of a cigar. The room remained silent except for the sound of Jack's own breathing.

*****

When Linda had put forth her theory, Jack had laughed, but she'd insisted. "Look, Jack, his motive is revenge, and this type of killing fits his business. He's in the internet porn trade; he has one of the biggest in the country."

But he'd still been skeptical. "And why would he put all that in danger over a penny-ante bust for small time theft?"

"Because he can, Jack. Simple as that. He has no family. He has the money and mob connections to get whatever he needs to do it, and he has the ego to want to bring you down - to knock you from the top of Pond Enterprises so he can feel bigger than you."

"But after all these years? No, I don't buy it."

Pulling a photo from a legal-sized envelope, she handed it to him. Looking at the man in rumpled clothing on a sidewalk in a city meant little to him. Looking up at Linda, his expression was a challenge. "And?"

She handed him another photo taken from farther away but still just as clear as the previous. The man was standing on a street corner as a New York Yellow cab turned the corner in front of him; he appeared to be mad at the cab driver for pulling so close to the curb. Then, Jack noticed the street sign and shivered. It was the street corner in front of the building where the company's executive suite was located - where he and Jan had been staying just before Thanksgiving. His voice shook a little as he asked, "Are you saying that's Scott Ryan, porn king, mob kingpin and very wealthy man?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Jack. I got this from a friend of mine in the FBI. It was given to them by one of their retired agents, to try and identify the person - you know, one of those good ol' boy favors. When they were able to identify both the man and where it was taken, he sent me a copy. He knew I had been in almost the same place, at almost the same time, and that I had gotten into a lot of trouble over it."

Knowing that Scott had been so close to both of them was what had spurred him on, sending him to the airport to try and get to Jan as quickly as possible.

*****

The cigar smoke was becoming stifling, and Jan seemed to be coughing behind her gag. The smoker was close enough to the bed that Jack could see grey swirls blow out across Jan's body.

"Yes, Jackie boy. This is going to be so much better. And you know what I really like about it?" Pausing as if Jack could actually carry on this conversation with him, another cloud of cigar smoke wafted over Jan's breasts. "You will never know who I am. You see, as soon as you and I finish with Jan, I will have to kill you. Yes, Jack, I learned an important lesson the first time. I wanted you to be left behind - to live. I wanted you to suffer the rest of your life, and when you ended up in that wheelchair, you have no idea how happy I was. But then you seemed to pull yourself together. You seemed to put your life back together and move on. So this time, the buck stops here, Jackie boy."

Jack decided he wasn't going to sit here, and do nothing at all, he couldn't. Even if it provoked Scott into killing him first, that might be enough to scare him away from Jan. Maybe he'd panic and run. Moaning low and long, Jack started rocking his chair, violently from side to side, trying to tip the thing enough to fall on its side. He stopped though as quickly as he started when he saw a gloved hand come into the picture, pointing a stainless steel pistol at the side of Jan's head, and it appeared to be the same gun that killed Lisa, His stomach knotted as he admitted just how helpless he really was.

"That's better, Jack. I thought you might see it my way again."

The gun withdrew, but the glove-covered hand returned with a small knife - its blade shinning ominously, as it neared Jan's head. Jack lurched and moaned until the blade slipped under her gag and cut through it. The knife withdrew, and the hand returned to pluck the cloth out of her mouth and slide it from behind her head.

"There, Jan. Now you can talk to Jack for me. You want to do that don't you? A few last words of goodbye?"

Jan whimpered and drew her breath; Jack knew she was crying. Suddenly, her head jerked, and Jack heard the muffled sound as Scott slapped her.

"Listen, bitch. You'd better want to talk to Jack, or this could take a very, long time. I assure you I know what to do with a beautiful woman like you for a very, long, time, and it will hurt. A lot."

Jan's chest moved again, and Jack heard her suck her breath in. "J-Jack? I'm okay, Jack. He didn't do anything…" The gloved hand slapped across her face again. Rage now. "Did I tell you to give him a fucking report about your day, bitch? No, I said you might want to say goodbye."

"Okay. O-Okay," came out between sobs. Taking a deep breath again, Jan sniffled before starting. "Jack. I'm glad I'm getting a chance to talk to you. I was afraid I wouldn't." Pausing, she seemed to calm herself to continue. "I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to tell you how much I love you. To tell you how much this little time we've had together has meant to me."

"Good, Jan. That's good. This will only make it hurt more for our Jackie boy."

Jack watched Jan breathing and tried to think of what he could do to stop this hell.

"I know you lost Lisa, Jack. I know you loved her when you lost her, but believe me when I tell you Jack that if I am to know no other love before I die other than yours, I'm grateful and happy."

There were padded clapping hands and a hearty, "Bra-vo….Bra----vo. Very good Jan. Look at what I've done for you two. It's amazing how I always bring out the best in relationships." The sinister chuckle of a very sick man left the room in silence again.

Jack chewed at his gag which made him cough as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Yes, Jackie boy, you could take lessons from this bitch. To bad there won't be time."

Scott's laughter cut deeper than any knife. "I bet you don't remember your dad calling you 'Jackie boy' at the warehouse, do you?" Jack heard another short bark of a laugh which was more like a dog choking on a bone as Scott continued, "Your old man didn't care. He didn't give a shit about me when the cops showed up at the house with a search warrant."

After a long quiet, Scott continued, sounding more like a little boy. He was unnervingly like the defiant Scott that had yelled at his father that day, when the police had cuffed him on the warehouse floor. Jack had looked on, almost old enough to understand, but not really. "I'll show you, Mr. Pond. You'll regret this!"

Jack's father only shook his head as the Ryan kid was dragged through the large freight doors, kicking and screaming, head pushed down before he was shoved in the backseat of the police cruiser.

"I had a Lisa once, Jackie boy. Did you know that?" With another short bark of a laugh, Scott added, answering his own question, "No, Jackie boy, nobody thought about me, about that, about what it would do to us."

Jack was confused when the picture from the cam went out of focus, but when it cleared up again, he realized Scott had zoomed in tighter on Jan. Her breasts were no longer in the picture, and now, he could see only her neck and chin, the tip of her nose, and her brow as she stared blankly at the ceiling, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.

Gagging again on the material in his mouth, he was startled when Scott's gloved hand suddenly appeared, and he pushed his pistol deep enough into Jan's mouth to make her gag as well. "There you are, bitch. Suck it. One thing Lisa didn't do very well was suck it for me. But every second you suck, it is another second you live."

Jack closed his eyes in disgust as he watched Jan's lips make a sucking motion around the cold steel of the barrel. But he opened them just as quickly, not wanting Jan to have to live through this alone.

"What do you think, Jackie boy? Is she good or is she good?"

Jack could only mumble his curses into the gag as Scott started moving the gun in and out of Jan's mouth like a man rolling his hips, making his cock move in and out. Then he saw another gloved hand grab Jan's hair and jerk her head on and off of the barrel in time to the movements of his hand's jerking motion. "Hey, Jack, I think this girl's got talent," Scott exclaimed with excitement. Suddenly, Scott's voice became low and husky, almost intimate as he whispered, "That's right, babe, make me cum. Do it good. Come on, baby. I'm going to cum." And with that, Jack heard the sinister click of the hammer being pulled back on the pistol. "Take it all, baby. Swallow it all! I'm going to cum!"

The sound was deafening as the gun went off, and Jack slammed back against the chair. It fell with a thud, the back of his head connecting hard with the ceramic tile floor of Jan's bedroom as he sobbed into his gag, and the light faded as he passed out.