The Lawyer and the Killer Ch. 03

"Yes there is." Kia added, "You threatened a very nice man yesterday."

"Do you think it's all right to kidnap someone and threaten to kill them?" Susan was a little put off by Kia's defensiveness.

Kia responded, "It's not my place to say what is or isn't right." She paused and added, "By the way I'm not Vietnamese. I'm Tibetan, and no one in your country seems to care too much about the genocide in mine."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Kia responded with her typically graceful smile, "Come downstairs when you feel like it." She quietly left Susan to her thoughts.

All right thought Susan, I was wrong about Kia, and I was out of line maybe saying what I said to her. But he kidnapped me, and he made a deal to murder me too. And he raped me to boot! Those things are wrong. I have every right to be angry and upset. She gave a little huff. I am angry and I am upset, and I'm still tired. She lay back down on the bed and went back to sleep.

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Shawn was more than just an occasional killer and fixer. He had a lucrative legitimate business, but even more than that, he was a gambler. The woman in his house wasn't stupid. He bet she'd give very serious thought to leaving before she made a decision. If she half believed what he told her about someone hiring him to kill her she'd want to track that mystery down first. Then if somebody had planned her murder wouldn't she be a little concerned about being seen in public? He also bet she was terribly curious about what he might be up to. He bet her thinking would be; why is he letting me go? What's in it for him? Shawn was gambling she wouldn't flee right away. In fact he bet her first order of business would be to check in at her office.

Downstairs, outside the house, Shawn saw to it his Jeep Cherokee was parked and ready to drive. He even left the registration in the glove compartment with his name on it. If she did decide to flee, she could do it in his car.

According to his calculations by the time she was physically able to travel there would be little trace of any of the physical suffering she'd incurred in the woods. Let her run to the police and accuse him of kidnapping, what proof would she have? She'd be driving his car, leaving his house after saying goodbye to his employees, all of whom knew exactly what to say. He'd even taken her lap top and e-mailed her office the day she disappeared telling her employees she'd be away for a few weeks, and they should hold down the fort, and farm out any of the cases they couldn't immediately manage. He even mailed them each a bonus check. Of course his original purpose was to cloud her disappearance if he did decide to kill her. Now he was glad he did it because he didn't want to kill her.

Shawn chuckled, by the time she figured things out she'd be more his prisoner than before. She'd be his by choice.

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Susan awakened for the third time in several days. Shawn was standing at the far end of the room looking out the window. Of course, Susan had no way of knowing how long she'd been sleeping, or how much of the sleep had been the result of fatigue or the chemicals they'd been feeding her.

Awake and alert she turned to her captor and asked, "I see the bastard's here to torture his victim."

Shawn turned, "You're awake."

Susan wasn't feeling very solicitous, "What happens today? Pins under the finger nails? You pull out a few teeth with pliers? Or is this the day you finally kill me?"

Shawn gave her a dumbfounded look, "I don't understand. What do you mean?"

Susan was irritated, "I mean I'm still your prisoner aren't I."

Shawn smiled, "You can leave whenever you like."

She smirked, "Sure."

Shawn pointed out the window, "If you'll look outside you'll see I've got my Cherokee outside for you. It's all gassed and ready. In case you forgot the route when we came in I've left you an electronic map in the console to help you get home."

Susan sat on the bed, sheets pulled up to hide herself, "You've got it all figured out haven't you?"

Shawn smiled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Get out! Get out of here!" Susan yelled.

Shawn silently left the room.

Susan got up. She was dress in a short salmon colored pajama set, V-neck collar, short sleeves, and short cuffed panties. She walked to the window. Sure enough, out there on the driveway was the Cherokee she'd seen him standing beside so many days ago. Well he wasn't getting away with this. He'd kidnapped her, raped her, and threatened to kill or cut her up. She was getting cleaned up, dressed, and going straight back to the city. She'd turn him in, have him arrested and thrown in jail. She laughed to herself; he'd see what happens when an ass hole confronts the long arm of the law.

Downstairs Shawn curled up with the newspaper. Though it was the middle of the afternoon he still hadn't read it. The news was the same shit, just a different day, and nothing good in the sports section. He checked his and her horoscopes. He didn't believe in that sort of thing, but it was always fun just to look. Here again it was more of the same mind numbing mumbo jumbo. He checked his watch, his trusty Timex. He wondered what was taking Susan so long. He called out to Kia, "Kia would you be a dear and go up and check on our guest?"

Kia went upstairs. Moments later she came to the top of the stairs, "She's gone!"

Shawn walked out the front door and looked down the driveway. The Cherokee was gone.

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Susan was barreling down the highway as fast as the law would allow. Listening on the radio she realized it was the middle of the week, and a cool three weeks since he'd kidnapped her, "Three weeks," she exclaimed into the radio, "My law practice could be ruined!"

She took the cell phone her foolish kidnapper had left in the car and called her office. She got her secretary. Her secretary answered on the other end, "Hello, law offices of Susan Slattery."

Susan spoke rapidly, "What's going on? Have I missed much? She remembered a case she'd been working on, how about the Oglivie situation?"

Her secretary responded, "Oh Ms. Slattery. First let me thank you on behalf of all the people in the office for the generous bonus. Ms. Oglivie is being handled by the Marcus brothers as per your instructions. They'll be glad your back. Everything else is fine. How are you enjoying your holiday?"

For Susan her secretary's remarks were unbelievable. Bonuses? Marcus Brothers handling her cases? Everything's fine? Holiday? She responded once she caught her breath, "Yes I had a nice holiday. Sorry I didn't give everyone more warning. I'm glad you're all pleased with the bonuses. You all deserved them."

Her secretary continued, "Are you coming in today? We thought you'd be out the rest of the week, at least that's what your e-mail indicated."

Susan was having trouble catching her breath, "Oh yes. I won't be in until Monday. I just wanted to call and make sure everything was going smoothly."

Her secretary answered, "Everything is good here. Enjoy your holiday. We're all looking so much to seeing you back next week."

Susan thanked her and turned off the cell. She pulled to the side of the road. What the fuck is going on? For several minutes she stared straight ahead through the windshield. That son of a bitch has set this up. If I did claim I was kidnapped nobody would believe me. That bastard! That son of a bitch! She pulled the car back out on the road, made a U-turn and started back toward the bastard's house. He wasn't getting away with this!

Shawn was in the back yard looking at the flowers and just strolling around. He was wondering what Susan was going to do when he heard the Cherokee pull back in the driveway. He turned and waved.

Susan was out of the car and walking straight toward him.

He watched her as she approached. Her hair in a loose pony tail was bobbing up and down. She had on a thin short sleeved beige V-neck blouse. He could tell several buttons were undone. Her breasts were bouncing gaily as she walked. The blouse went beautifully with the dark brown slacks and dark brown high heeled shoes. He could see how mad she was, but she was so damned pretty he had to smile.

She exclaimed, "You God damned son of a bitch!"

"Hi! You look really pretty today."

Red faced with anger she yelled, "Don't give me that bull shit! You know what you've done."

Shawn gave her his most innocent smile, "No. What have I done?"

"Oh you're so fucking smart." She was close enough to hit him. She swung out and threw a punch at his head.

He ducked and retreated, "Susan!"

"Don't you fucking Susan me!" She threw another punch and missed.

"Come on now," he tried to grab her arms.

She threw a third punch and landed it right on his chin.

"Wow! That hurt!"

She yelped with glee, "Damn right it hurt! Wait till I get you in court! You'll really holler in pain then!"

He grabbed her and held her in a bear hug. She tried to kick him in the groin but he kept his legs slightly crossed and she missed. He could feel her start to relax just a little so he stopped with the bear hug and settled in on more of man woman hug. He put his left hand up to the back of her neck and pressed her in close to his chest, "OK. OK. You win."

She relaxed, "Damn straight I win."

"I'm glad you came back. Did you call your office?"

"I did." She was trying to squirm out of his embrace but he wouldn't let go.

"Don't worry I paid the bonuses. Everybody else thinks you're on some kind of vacation."

She'd completely relaxed in his arms by then, "You're a strange one Shawn McClellan."

"No I'm not, not really. I wasn't sure about what I was going to do with you. I didn't want you to just disappear, but I did want the person who hired me to think I completed the deal."

"I called my office. They all think I'm on vacation, and now they know I am. I mean if you wanted me dead, and you wanted whoever it is who paid you to think I'm dead that's all over isn't it?"

Susan tried to push away again, but he wasn't letting her go, "Yes, he knows you're probably still alive."

"What makes you think so?" she asked.

He shrugged, "I haven't collected the money."

"Where does that leave me?"

"Susan. You're with me."

"No I mean where does that leave me as it relates to someone wanting to kill me?"

"Oh I suppose they still want to kill you."

"That's nice," she paused, "Look I'm not getting any answers here. Tell me. What happens next?"

Shawn had his hands on the back of her head. He pulled her head backward slightly so she had to look at him. He looked down and saw her vivid blue eyes, the loose blouse revealed her beautiful breasts as they pressed against his chest. He knew what he wanted to happen next, "What do you want to happen next?"

She wanted to go home. Go back to work, "I want my life back. I want to go home. I want to be able to go back to my office and not be afraid someone else like you might drug me and do something bad."

He understood all that, and he was willing to help her, but he wanted something too, "I can help you, but I expect some kind of quid pro quo."

"You'll do something for me, but I have to do something for you."

"More or less I guess."

"What do you want?"

Shawn scratched his chin. It was a phony expression. He knew what he wanted, "I can help you, but it won't be easy. The person, or people, who wanted, that is want you dead contacted another group who contacted me. I could easily defy the people who want you out of the way, but it isn't so easy to go against the people I deal with directly. Do you get my meaning?"

Susan listened and answered, "The man or men who want me dead called a syndicate, a syndicate you work for. If you don't kill me you're not just fucking over the people who are paying to kill me. You're going against the people you work for."

"Exactly right now everyone knows you're still alive, just on a vacation. Sooner or later they're going to want to know if I'm going to follow through. If they think I've bailed they'll be after me too."

"So what do you want me to do," Susan asked?

"Nothing, just stay here, no one knows where I live. Give me some time to work this out."

Susan was perplexed. Something wasn't adding up, "Why are you doing this? I mean wouldn't it be a whole easier to just kill me?"

"Yes it would."

"Why don't you just get it over with then?"

He stared at her, "I don't know why. If I knew that I suppose I would just kill you."

"So you want me to stay here until you decide whether I'm to live or die. What am I supposed to do while I wait for the big decision?"

He was still hugging her, "Let's go over this again. I said it would be the easiest thing to just kill you." He gave her a meaningful look. "But I also said I have no intention of doing that. Like I said I'm not going to hurt you, period end of story. Why am I not going to hurt you?" He reached over to touch her hair, but she backed her head away. "You're interesting. You're pretty. I think you're nice having around."

She grimaced, "You think I'm fun to have around. What you think I'm some kind of toy? A puppy you can play with?"

"If that's how you want to take it. I guess so."

She bristled, "Look Mr. Shawn McClellan, or whoever you are. I'm nobody's toy. I'm nobody's pet dog."

He was quick to answer, "I never said that. You did."

"So what happens if I try to leave? You're going to stop me?"

He shrugged, "No. Leave whenever you like. But know this. If you leave they'll know I didn't pull the trigger. They'll get somebody else. You'll be killed and then they'll kill me too."

"So I'm a fucking hostage."

"No. You're my guest until I work something out."

"And if you don't work something out?"

"They'll find us and kill us both."

She spat out, "Great!" Susan stood there, in his arms and not in his arms; ready to leave and test the truth of what he was saying, but afraid to leave at the same time, "You won't hurt me?"

"I won't hurt you."

"You won't try to take advantage of me?"

"I won't try to take advantage of you."

"This is ridiculous isn't it?"

He smiled and tried to pull her closer, she still resisted, "Maybe, how about something to eat?"

She took his hand, "Yeah I could use a bottle of Mylanta."

He laughed, "I don't know if we have any. We'll get carry out."

She laughed too, and together they walked back toward the house.

She couldn't help thinking this was one hell of a mess. He must be crazy. He wants to work something out. He wants her to stay around. He's got to be out of his mind.

He kept thinking this was going to be so much fun. He'd figure things out eventually. Meanwhile she'd be here with him. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this good.

To be continued.

Any comments or suggestions are always welcome.