The Product Ch. 38

"They left a card in the mailbox, so I called the number on the back," said Deirdre. "It was for our neighbor across the street, the Boyntons."

"OK?" said Richard, trying to follow Deirdre's story.

"Well, as it turns out these gardeners do every other house on this block and their rates are much lower than our current gardener," said Deirdre. "So, I hired them. He said he had already talked to you."

"Yeah, he did," said Richard, not wanting to relate his version of the conversation in the driveway.

"The gardener said something about 'gringo loco' so I knew he had to be talking about you," added Lisa with a dig.

"Oh, and he complemented young Rebekah before he left," added Deirdre. "He said something like 'ela tien bonito peches' or something."

"He say ella tiene bonitos pechos," replied Beatrice, again without turning away from her work. "He say young lady have beautiful breasts."

"Well! Wasn't that nice," said Lisa, drawing Rebekah to her with her arm around her waist as Rebekah continued to struggle in the stilettos. "They thought you had nice tits!"

Rebekah blushed from head to toe as she hid behind her hair again and the other three exchanged wicked smiles.

"What's on the boards for tomorrow?" asked Richard, looking at Deirdre.

"Jana is arriving in the morning," said Deirdre. "So, we'll spend the afternoon filming the family reunion from the boys' suite. We've added extra cameras."

"Don't be surprised if the filming goes on into the evening," added Lisa. "As far as I can tell, all three of them are insatiable."

Both Deirdre and Richard shook their head in agreement.

"Well, it will be 'Must See TV' won't it," said Deirdre as she headed toward the living room and the other's followed.

Deirdre curled up next to Richard on the large couch and Rebekah next to Lisa on the smaller love seat that faced them.

"Can we talk about my mom now?" asked Rebekah, her voice conveying the sadness that she was feeling.

"Sure, kitten," replied Deirdre softly as she watched Lisa hug Rebekah to her bosom. "Richard, where are we at on this? Do you know when they are going to call? Wasn't it supposed to be tonight?"

Deirdre was trying to buy Richard some time to formulate his story. She hoped that he had one and that it was good.

"Actually, they won't be calling tonight," said Richard as Rebekah gasped. "Oh, it's nothing to worry about Rebekah, nothing ominous. They called me at my office today and I was going to tell you about the call after dinner. But I suppose we can talk now if you like."

"Yes, please," replied Rebekah, sounding meek and vulnerable.

"Well, as it turns out, it's good news," said Richard.

"Really?" said Rebekah, brightening.

"It didn't start out that way. At first it was the usual threats and bullying," said Richard. "But I explained that we simply did not have the money."

"What did they say?" asked Rebekah.

"Well, I explained that while we didn't have the money, we soon would," said Richard. "I told them what you were doing to save your mother and they believed me once I emailed them a link to the website promoting the event and the video and stills from your photo shoot."

"And?" asked Rebekah, expectantly.

"And they agreed to wait," said Richard. "But we have to pay them a ten percent premium. So, it is all going to work out."

"Will my mother have to stay in that dungeon?" asked Rebekah, finally losing control of her emotions as the tears started flowing. "Will they keep beating her with a whip?

"No. As a matter of fact, she has ingratiated herself to one of her captors," said Richard softly. "She is staying with him in his room and she is being well fed and treated well now."

Rebekah was quiet for a moment before speaking again.

"Is she, are they," said Rebekah in almost a whisper. "You know are they doing things? Is he making her do things?"

"Oh, kitten!" said Lisa as she hugged and kissed Rebekah, "Your mom is being held captive, trying to stay alive. I'm sure she will do whatever she has to, so she can come home to you. It will be OK. This was good news!"

Lisa was staring at Richard now with a dead look in her eyes. He could really be a duplicitous and cruel bastard, she thought. But at least his story allayed Rebekah's fears and anxiety, if only for a few days. Lisa looked at Deidre, who nodded her head almost imperceptibly in agreement. Lisa saw that Deirdre sensed exactly what she was thinking.

After dinner, no one was in a lovemaking mood and the three women retired to Rebekah's room for the night. Richard did not go to bed right away. Instead, he adjourned to his office and once again tried to check the cameras in the dungeon at Villarreal's ranch, but to no avail. There continued to be no answer on either Villarreal or Xavier's phones either. Frustrated and growing increasingly concerned, Richard went to bed alone.

In the other bedroom, Rebekah quietly sobbed herself to sleep in Lisa's arms, just as she had every previous night.