Rise of The Iron Eagle (The Iron Eagle Series Book 1) (31 page)

Walter opened the door to the bedroom where he had put Sara. John was in the dark doorway with the door barely cracked. He could see Walter enter with a syringe in his hand. He walked over to Sara, rolled up her sleeve, and gave her an injection. She didn’t respond to the pain. It was only a few seconds before she was alert. “Walter? What’s going on?” “Good morning, Sara. You’re a little confused. Right now you are experiencing what is known as lost time.” She sat up on the bed and looked down at the robe. She could see her own cleavage and asked, “Where are my clothes, Walter?” “How about some breakfast? You look hungry. We can talk over our meal.” She got up and was a little wobbly. He caught her as she started to fall back onto the bed. “You want to move slowly, Doctor Cook. I gave you a powerful sedative earlier.” “You drugged me?” “You had a rough night, and I knew you wouldn’t sleep, so I put a little something in your beverage at dinner.” “What did you give me, Walter?” “Please calm down. It was just Valium.”

She was regaining more and more of her faculties as John watched and listened. “How much drug did you give me, Walter? Benzodiazepines can be fatal if not dosed properly.” “You needn’t worry about that. Let’s have some breakfast.” She clutched her chest and said, “I’m having some tachycardia,” and started to cough. “It’s harmless; it’s supraventricular tachycardia. You’ll be fine. I gave you a stimulant to wake you up.” “Walter, what the hell are you doing? You’ve kidnapped, drugged, and done who knows what else to me.” “Oh Sara…kidnapped is a strong word. We’re on a date.” She looked at him, perplexed. “A DATE?” “Please don’t raise your voice, Sara. I don’t like being yelled at.” “Well, you better get used to it, pal. I want my clothes, and I want out of this room. I’m going home.” Walter looked sad. “I was really hoping that we could spend some quality time together, Sara. You were so pleasant last night after we talked. We had a nice meal. Now, I have breakfast for the two of us out on my sundeck. It’s getting cold as you argue. Can we talk about these things over breakfast?” “NO! I WANT OUT OF HERE. I WANT TO GO HOME, WALTER. YOU HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM.” His dejected look fell away as he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her out of the room.

The Eagle crawled out of the dark room and followed, not that Walter would have seen him in his blind rage. He struck Sara in the face and tore the robe from her body, throwing her to the floor. “I tried to be polite. I tried to be respectful, and you continue to disrespect me. Fine, I will treat you in the manner fitting a two dollar whore.” She was sprawled nude on the concrete floor. He grabbed a leather strap from the rack that he had been pulling her toward and tied her left wrist. Using the strap, he pulled her over to the table. There was a steel clip on the other end of the strap, and he opened the latch and connected it to the steel mesh of the table. He walked over to the torture room and moved to open the door, digging around in his pockets for the remote when he realized he must have dropped it in all of the confusion in the guest room. The Eagle saw his fumbling and noticed a small black device on the floor by the bed. He grabbed it and rolled under the raised bed, it was nearly two feet off the floor and the Eagle had to be careful not to hit the steps that led up to the bed on both sides. He slid under the dust ruffle, keeping out of sight, as Walter began walking quickly in his direction. The Eagle could see his feet and hands as he methodically searched for the remote. He could see motion on the bed above him as Walter looked desperately.

“Where can that thing possibly be?” He knelt down on the floor and began to feel around near the bed. The Eagle placed the remote in front of him just underneath the edge of the bed. Walter must have seen the dark color because his hand reached in to grab the remote. He no sooner had the remote when he felt the grasp of a hand on his arm. He screamed as The Eagle pulled him toward him. Walter’s eyes were huge as he stared back into the deep black eyes of The Eagle under the bed. He kept a firm grip on Walter’s arm, and with all his might stood up against the box spring and mattress, and the bed went flying as The Eagle rose from the floor holding Walter firmly by the arm. His hulking frame made Walter look like a child. He pulled him up by the arm and threw him against the wall, the concrete stunning him. The Eagle dragged his body into the bathroom, and he zip tied his hands and feet, then hog-tied him. He took a piece of nylon rope and put it around Walter’s neck and tied the other end to his feet. If he attempted to move, he would strangle himself. He grabbed his bag and walked out into the red room where Sara was restrained on the table. She started screaming when he came into the room.

“Silence! I’m here to help you not hurt you.” She stopped screaming and asked, “Who are you and where’s Walter?” “Walter is…let’s say… napping. As to who I am, you might know me by reputation or nickname. I’m The Iron Eagle.” She started screaming uncontrollably, and as he tried to calm her down he mumbled “Where’s the Valium when you need it?” She shot him a dirty look. “That’s not funny. So, you heard what he did to me?” He nodded. “Well, what are you going to do about this?” He untied her wrist and said, “First, I’m going to get you somewhere safe.” He handed her the robe, and she put it on. “I have no idea where I am, so how can I go somewhere safe?” He took her by the hand and walked her out of the room. They walked through the wine cellar and into Walter’s bedroom. He crossed over to the sun deck where breakfast was waiting. “Now, listen to me very carefully,” he said, “I don’t know what I’m dealing with here.” She cringed while looking into the lifeless eyes in the mask. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with? Are you blind? This nut job kidnapped and drugged me, stripped me and had me chained to that, that…table thing in there last night. Then he drugged me again, and he just slugged me and ripped off my robe. After all of that, you still don’t know what you’re dealing with? Are you diminished in some way?”

He started laughing, and he could see that she was getting more and more angry. “Look, I want you to stay right here.” He opened the gym bag and laid it on the table. He pulled out a small case with two small brown objects inside. He said, “Which ear do you use when you speak on the phone?” “What?” “Please, just answer the question.” “My right ear.” He took out one of the brown objects and said, “I’m going to place this into your ear.” “The hell you are…” She pulled back as he heaved a sigh, “Look, Sara…is it?” She nodded. “I’m trying, at minimum, to keep you from being raped, but I think in reality from being murdered. This is a two-way transmitter; it will allow you to hear me and vice versa. It will also allow me to hear you if you’re in distress. Now, I need to go find this guy’s panic room, and I need you to sit still until I return. Okay?” “How do I know you aren’t going to kill me?” He shrugged. “Believe me, lady, if I was going to kill you, you would already be dead.” She tipped her head to the right, and he placed the unit into her ear canal. “I’m going against my better judgment and trusting you.” “The way I see it, you don’t have many options.” He started to leave but stopped, “Oh…and if you get any bright ideas about running off, the whole house and the grounds are booby trapped, so if you run, while Walter might not have killed you with his own hands, his traps just might.” “You’re a real people person, aren’t you? You should do motivational speaking.” He just shook his head as he walked away with her yelling, “I can take care of myself, you know… I took self defense classes when I was in school.”

He walked back toward her and said, “Really? And how are those classes working out for you?” She shot him a look, “He got me by surprise.” He walked toward her and half bent down, “He got you by surprise? He just kicked the shit out of you. Might I suggest a refresher course? That’s if I get you out of this alive. If you know my M.O., I’m usually dealing with folks who have done really bad things to people. In your case, so far, I’m not too late.” He left her at the table in her robe looking out at the sea. There was a basket of pastries on the table. She took one and started eating.

Jim and Barbara were lying next to each other in bed completely spent. They didn’t sleep a wink; she looked over at him and said, “We haven’t fucked like that since we were kids.” “I don’t think we’ve ever fucked like that.” They were breathing heavily and were covered in sweat. She laughed and said, “How cliché is this? Two old farts laying in bed smoking cigarettes after sex.” He laughed, “Oh shit…think of it like one of those old black and white gangster movies. The PI gets the sexy client into bed.” They chuckled and continued their conversation until late into the morning.

Molly staggered bare-assed and hung over into the bedroom. Steve was asleep with Gail on his chest. She shook her head and said, “Well, he has certainly enjoyed himself this week.” She went into the bathroom and promptly threw up. She had a skull crushing headache, so she took some aspirin then brushed her teeth. She staggered back to the bedroom and slid in next to Steve, putting her hand on his chest. He roused from sleep and asked if she was okay, “Never again, Steve, never again.” He looked alarmed. “But you two started it. I just took advantage.” “Not that, silly….I’m never mixing wine with gin ever again.” His laughter woke Gail, and she rolled off his chest and onto her back. She asked the time in a sleepy voice. Steve lifted his arm and looked at his watch, “Eight fifteen. What time is your flight?” “Five thirty.” Steve put his arms around the two woman and held them tight. He could hear them both gently breathing as they fell asleep. He laid there thinking about all that had happened in the past week and over the past several months. He turned his head and pressed his nose into Molly’s hair and took a deep breath. For the first time since he learned she was sick, he started thinking about what his world would be like without her. He tried to put the thought out of his mind, but it wouldn’t go away. He laid in the bed, his imagination running wild, with tears running down his face, thankful for what he had and afraid and sad about their future.

The Eagle knew that Walter had a panic room in his bedroom; it was just a matter of finding the entrance. He also knew that, like the rest of the locking mechanisms in Walter’s house, it would be an electromagnetic lock, so the most difficult thing was to find the entrance. He scanned the room visually. There were several promising areas. There was a large library off the master suite with ornately carved mahogany book shelves. He moved around the area concentrating on the internal walls but nothing moved or gave a reading on his remote sensor. He walked across the room and placed the remote against the only outside facing case and picked up a signal. He moved the remote slowly over the books until the unit’s red lights began to move back and forth and lock into position. He heard the click of the lock release and found the book on the shelf where the strongest signal emanated, “The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe.” He shook his head. “This doesn’t bode well.”