PRESENT DAY

“AAAAAARGH!!!! AGH!!!”

Jenny had to have been the toughest woman in the world. Both her hands and her legs had been chained to the ceiling, and she hung upside down. Two men had taken turns tearing her flesh with leather whips, and she had refused to answer the question they asked her. Caris and Carol were also in chains, but they were seated next to a metal pipe, with the best possible view of Jenny’s flogging. If they physically could, they would be pooping their pants.

“WHO DO YOU WORK FOR? WHO IS THIS BOSS WHO NEVER SHOWS THEMSELVES?!”

Jenny summoned every last bit of strength in her, and spat in the man’s face. Angered, he and the other man resumed the lashing. The whips echoed through the room, and the sound had Caris and Carol saying their last prayers.

After a while, the door to the room opened, and the person who stepped in had Carol absolutely certain she was going to die that day.

“Swanson! Girl, I am so glad to see you! Where you been?”

Kane looked very excited to see Carol, and he completely ignored Caris. He headed towards her but stopped short of actually touching her. His two guards followed suit, as did the two men already in the room.

“I would give you a hug but you are in no shape for one. Now, how have you been?”

Carol was still in too much shock to say anything. Kane crouched down to her level.

“Unreal, is it not? The dead coming to life, the dry bones receiving the breath of God? Biblical, wouldn’t you say?”

Carol was about to speak but Kane put a finger to her lips. Caris moved in anger but the chains held him to his spot. Kane smiled at him.

“What a remarkably futile allowance of your ego to drive your decision there, buddy. Now back to you, Swanson. I have really missed you. In fact, I have missed you so much that I have had to go through all this trouble just to see you again. I promise you, I made sure they knew not to lay a finger on you when they captured you. I would not have been able to live with myself if they had harmed you.”

He leaned over and she closed her eyes as tightly as she could. He smirked, then kissed her on the forehead and both cheeks before standing up and walking towards Jenny.

“I wanted you alive and unharmed so I could ask you why on God’s green earth you were in on the plan to end me.”

*****

PRESENT DAY

Karla and Stella ran through the tunnel as the women led them. They owned the island, but they both had looks of astonishment on their faces when the women led them to the entrance of that tunnel. Then they learned that these women had been monitoring them the whole time they were there. Stella wondered if they had played a role in breaking Carol out of the warehouse, but that would have to be for another time.

They got to the end of the tunnel and there was a massive door that looked like it led to a plane. The two of them both had their reservations but given the continued rocking of the ground as they ran, they figured it was either trust the women or die. So they ran in and the door was immediately shut behind them. Once they were in, they quickly realized that they were in a small, floating can.

Karla whispered to Stella, “Motherfuckers got us in a damn submarine. We should’ve thought of this!” Stella shook her head, still apprehensive of the situation.

The woman who’d spoken at the house yelled, “We are all clear! Go!”

The vehicle began to move as the other woman spoke with Karla and Stella. “We’re heading towards a seaplane that will take us to the final destination. Meanwhile, do you know this person?”

The woman pulled out a small photo from her pocket and showed it to the two of them. There were two small boys in the photo. One was taller than the other, but they looked alike. Stella shook her head and Karla said, “No.”

The woman nodded and put the photo back in her pocket.

****

“I took you from nowhere. I taught you many tricks that helped you survive the world I brought you into. I backed you in every way, even gave you a piece of the business for your years of loyalty. And then the first chance you got, you tried to kill me? I was thoroughly disappointed, Swanson. Thoroughly disappointed. I had years to think about it, and then it hit me.”

Kane walked back over to Carol and bent over, looking directly into her eyes.

“Someone had to have told you about the escape plan.”

He walked back over to one of the guards and took the leather whip in his hand. Then he spoke as he walked back over to Jenny.

“Someone had to have informed you of the weight that would fall on your head should things go wrong in my empire. That same person had to know exactly how you could use that to your advantage, which would give you the perfect incentive to end me. Now, I must admit, I respect the hustler mentality in you. I would take the same shot that you did. What I need to know is if you told anyone else, because for the life of me, this one over here refuses to tell us who her boss is. I figure you might know, since she risked her life to protect you.”

Carol fixed her mouth to speak when Kane cracked the whip so hard on Jenny that her body literally caved inward as she yelled like a newborn. Carol could barely watch the horror that was transpiring in front of her. Kane looked up at her again.

“That was just so you understand the consequence of any attempt on your end to deceive me. Now, sweetheart, speak. Did you tell anyone else so they would be able to rescue you in the event of danger?”

Carol spoke, her voice quivering through the tears. “Kane, I swear on my dead mother’s life, I did not speak to anyone else.”

Kane looked at Jenny, then looked at Carol, then looked at Jenny again.

“It appears there was a flaw in my thinking. It was my understanding that you were a compassionate enough soul not to allow a guiltless person to die. I was wrong, and I should have known better.”

He nodded over to the guards and pointed at Caris.

“I should have remembered your knack for pleasure.”

The guards unchained Caris from the pipe and dragged him, very much against his will. Carol kept screaming No but she was powerless in that moment. Caris tried to resist and got clocked by one of the guards. Then they hung him in the same manner as they did to Jenny.

“Kane, please, I swear on my life I never told anyone else. Please, let them go. They are not a part of this.”

“Do you mean ‘let them go,’ or are you trying to say ‘let him go?’ I assure you, my dear, you are more than welcome to speak freely here. I certainly cannot judge you for it. I am not certain that this young lady minds either.”

“Kane, please, we don’t know anything.”

Kane nodded to one of the guys, who brought him a big, black box. Kane took the box apart, and it was a car battery with two small banana cables and some other circuit hooked up to it.

“You know, one of the wonderful things about men is that we have a very sensitive anatomy. A punch or a slap to the face will most certainly hurt, but with training, any man can overcome those in order to fight back. Any kind of force or untoward stimulation aimed at the loins is a whole different matter.”

As Kane spoke, one of the guards took a cutter and started to cut Caris’ shirt in half from the back. Then they cut his pants and left him in his briefs. Carol continued to chafe against her chains as she fruitlessly tried to free herself. With his eyes fixed on her, Kane took the banana plugs, pulled Caris’ briefs just enough to find the space to clip the plugs onto his inner thigh.

“Do not worry, Swanson, I have no intention of exposing to you that which you have already seen. I am not entirely sure that you will not enjoy seeing his member even as he suffers. That is how sick I think you really are.”

Kane stepped back and took the switch which lay next to the battery. He took a step forward so that he stood between Caris and Carol.

“Now, look at me, Carol. I really have no interest in harming your boy toy. Any man who makes it that easy for me to capture him is not worth this much attention from me. However, if you continue to refuse to tell me who this woman is, I will proceed to give your man all the attention in my hand until he is no longer with us. Then, I will turn my undivided attention to you. You have thirty seconds.”

While Kane waited, the other guard resumed his whipping of Jenny. As her screams pierced through the room, Carol winced and began to cry. Kane remained in his spot while he spoke to her.

“Poor woman. Simply doing her job and now you have her being tortured because you will not give up the truth. I believe she knows what I am asking of you, but she is honor-bound not to give away anything. If she worked for me and she cracked at the first wave of torture, I would want her dead. But you, Swanson, you do not owe this person anything. Your husband is about to be tortured right alongside someone who is just doing her job. All for what? The secrecy of your benefactor?”

“Malcolm, I promise you, if I knew what you were asking, I would tell you. You know I have no loyalty to anyone but me and mine. I don’t even know who you’re talking about to begin with. This lady showed up at our spot and forced us to go with her. Everyone else who was with her is dead because your people blew them up. I don’t know who this person is you continue to ask about.”

Kane shook his head in disappointment. “I tried, Swanson, I really tried. God knows I tried. I know he will forgive what I am about to do next.”

Carol’s face immediately changed from concern to something unrecognizable. She was still freaking out because Kane seemed set to press the button, but there was something else that seemed off. In that moment, she couldn’t put her finger to it.

Just as Kane was about to hit the button, another guard burst in. Everyone stopped and looked at him. He rushed to Kane and whispered something to him, which had Kane irritated. He turned to Carol.

“It appears my fun will have to wait. I have other business to attend to. But no matter, for I will be back to continue our chat.”

Kane put the switch down and signaled all the guards to follow him. The slamming of the door once they’d left brought both relief and anxiety to the room.

Damn, relief for Caris! That long-awaited showdown with Kane nearly went south. What’s on Carol’s mind, though?