Chapter Seven

Jake felt the world swirl inside his head and strong hands were shaking him causing the swirl to grow into a whirlpool that threatened to swallow him into oblivion. 

"Stop shaking him, his eyes are open," a female voice implored.  "Mr. Shaw, can you hear me?"

"I hear you," Jake moaned, slowing sitting upright.  "What happened?  I feel like I was hit by a bus."

The woman laughed.  "No sir, just too much to drink."

Jake finally looked up to see he was talking to the hostess and the manager was standing along side him.  Their images blurred and faded as he disappeared into the dark vortex that swirled in his head, and just before he succumbed to the blackness a disturbing thought tickled his brain...Frank Donovan was no longer at the table.

The manager shrugged.  "Get some of the men and we'll get them to their hotel.  Mr. Shaw mentioned they would be staying at the Ritz-Carlton when he made the arrangements for his friends.  Thank God he also gave us his credit card information in advance."

************

He heard a slap immediately followed by another and slowly realized it was his face that had been slapped.  He tried to move, to get up and leave, but his limbs would not respond.  Not sure at all how he had gotten here in the motel room he was in, he glanced around.  Lilly and CariAnne kneeled on the bed to either side of him completely naked and as the brunette leaned over him with a lecherous smile to encircle his hardened shaft with her ruby lips, he became conscious of the fact that he was also completely naked.

Like a spectator, he watched the disgusting scene as if he was out of his body.  Knowing he would not do this willingly, the sight of his body enjoying the pleasurous torture he was experiencing no less repulsed him.  What had they used on him?  Why couldn't he do something...anything to stop this?

A flash of light distracted his attention.  Wonderful.  Lilly was taking snapshots.  Blackmail?  He heard a moan and felt hair stiff from hairspray in his hands.  He wanted to scream...he was moaning and gripping CariAnne's hair to hold her in place on his engorged shaft.  Was he really enjoying this?  To any voyeur watching this sordid scene, yes, he was.  Lord, why was she doing this?

Lilly untangled Frank's hand from CariAnne's hair and handed her something.  His eyes showed little interest in what they were doing.  "I know you're in there somewhere Donovan, and chances are, you won't remember any of this."  She held up the Polaroid camera.  "So, I'm going to provide you with a little memorabilia to take with you.  Of course, I'll keep some to share with your pretty little fiancé."  A wicked laugh escaped Lilly. 

CariAnne laughed as she tore into the package containing the condom with her teeth.  She placed the circle of rubber on her tongue and grinned as she once again lowered herself to his erection.  With expertise, her mouth moved down the shaft, unrolling the condom into place as she went.  When she lifted her head in triumph, Lilly handed her the camera and pushed her aside.

He watched the transition with little interest.  At this point, he didn't care what they did to him.  When Caitlin found out about this, she would surely kill him, or worse...let him live...without her.

Lilly cried out as she straddled Donovan and impaled herself with his hardness.  She rode him hard, eliciting unwilling responses from his sexually charged body.  CariAnne, taking on the role of photographer, circled the bed making sure to get plenty of proof of his misdeeds. 

Time lost all meaning.  How long had it taken until he felt his body tense with his climax and heard Lilly scream that she would have the last laugh.  Jesus, what had he done to make her so crazed?  And, what the hell had she done to him to make him do whatever she wanted; no will of his own?

He struggled and managed to ask, "Why?"

"Why?" Lilly laughed menacingly.  "You needed a little comeuppance, Mr. High and Mighty Donovan."  She pushed off his spent member and began dressing.  "All that time ago, when you visited my club, you watched and wanted Lilly.  And just when Lilly was ready to give herself to you, you declined.  What was it you said?  Something about not taking chances with a woman like me."

She slapped him—hard.  "This might teach you to stop playing with women's emotions."

All of this was happening because he wouldn't sleep with her all those months ago?  She surely was a few bricks shy of a full load.  Did that matter now?  No, the damage was done.

"Now, Mr. Donovan, this lowly stripper girl will tell you what's going to happen next."  She sat on the bed next to him and poked his chest with her forefinger.  "We're going to turn you loose to go back to your prissy little girlfriend.  Let's see if she'll think so highly of you...if you manage to make it back on your own."  She saw Donovan glance at the pictures scattered over the bed and floor.  "Oh, don't worry about those...you'll take some with you...and we'll have some sent to your girlfriend.  Special delivery."

************

"Mr. Shaw!  Mr. Shaw!" Jake heard the shout and pounding through the door of his hotel room.  

"Coming..." He stumbled to the door; vaguely aware he was still wearing the clothes he had on the previous night.  He opened the door to look into the smiling face of the concierge.

"Sir, you said you needed an urgent 8 a.m. wakeup and to make sure you were really awake," the timid man explained.

Jake nodded.  "Thank you.  Will you make sure my three companions are awake?"

"Yes, sir.  I already have," he told Jake.  "But, sir, Mr. Donovan was not in his room.  His bed was still made."

Jake was fully awake now.  "Thank you, you've been most helpful."  He didn't wait for a response.  He ran across the hall and pounded on Cody's door.

The door flew open.  "What!  I already said I was awake!" Cody growled.

"Cody, I can't find Frank!"

"Come on, Jake...he's too big to misplace," he joked, a wide grin on his face.

"You heard me...he didn't slept in his room last night.  Did he say anything before he left the club?"  Jake couldn't remember past the introduction of Lilly and that menacing look Frank shot him.

"No, but I can't remember much after Tom Fallon left," Cody admitted, ashamed he had lost control last night.

The door to the room beside Cody opened and Jason stumbled into the hall. 

"You okay?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, just a headache and a little dizzy," Jason said, leaning against the doorjamb.

"Did Frank say anything about going back to Calais last night?" Jake asked.

Jason shook his head.  "No, he wouldn't have gone back last night.  He promised Misty he would stay away.  You know...that 'you can't see the bride before the wedding' curse.  Misty's a sucker for that kind of stuff."

"Damn."  Where was he?

"Look guys, Frank's missing and we need to find him fast."  He ran his hand through his hair in irritation.  "Jason—run to the tailor's and pick up our tuxedos.  Cody and I will see what we can find out."

************

"Nervous?" Monica asked, watching Caitlin push her breakfast around her plate.

"No.  Preoccupied, I guess."  She looked at Monica.  "I wish they would have at least called.  Something's not right."

"Caity," Alex said, joining them at the table.  "You're overreacting.  Men are notorious for leaving you hanging.  Besides, they're probably on their way back here."  She smiled and flipped open her cell phone.  "I'll prove it to you."  She dialed Jake's number.

"Frank?!" Jake yelled into her ear.

"Not the last time I looked.  Wrong gender," Alex joked. 

"Damn."

"It's nice to hear your voice, too," she said, smiling for Caitlin's benefit.  She stood and walked away from the table.  Something was very wrong; she could hear it in Jake's voice.

"What's up, partner?"

"Frank's missing.  We checked around...he was seen being helped from the Gentlemen's Club by two women last night.  God, how could I have been so stupid?" 

"What do you mean?" she whispered, moving further from the room.

"I flew Lilly in from Chicago to perform at Frank's bachelor party," he began.

"You did what?!  Are you insane?"  She yelled before she could stop herself.  She turned and smiled sweetly at the gawking Caitlin.

"What?  I thought he had the hots for her..."

"He might have, at one time, but she became obsessive and she even scared the hell out of me.  You know I'm not easily frightened, but Jake, that woman is mental."

"Thanks for sharing that...now!  Look, we've got bigger fish to fry.  We have to find Frank.  Cody, Jason and I woke with little recollection of what happened last night.  I think we were drugged.  Frank probably was too."

"Shit.  What am I going to tell Caity?" Alex lamented.

"Don't tell her anything.  Go on as planned.  We'll find him and get him there, just stall if you need to."

"Okay.  Hurry, Jake."  She snapped the phone closed and returned to the table.  "Just a lot of hangovers going around, but everything's fine."  Caitlin quirked an eyebrow, but smiled.  Alex breathed a silent sigh of relief—Caitlin had bought her lie.

"Wish I was there to pay him back," Caitlin commented mischievously.

************

Donovan woke to the feel of something hard biting into his cheek.  He opened his eyes slowly.  Gravel...damp grass.  He was lying along a roadside.  How did he get here?  And just where was here?  The last thing he remembered was Cody trying to pull a dancer off the stage at the bachelor party.

He rolled onto his back and gazed at the blue sky and wondered what time it was.  Well, "duh" as Alex would say...look at your watch.  It was almost 10 a.m.  The ceremony was supposed to start at 12:30 p.m.  "Let's go, Donovan," he told himself as he stood and began walking down the road. 

He headed north in hopes he was near Calais, but if not, he would see about renting a car in the next town he came to.  He patted his pockets absently, feeling for his wallet.  Good, it was still there.  He reached into his back pocket and pulled it out, along with a folded envelope.  He checked his wallet first—his money and credit cards were still intact.  That eliminated a mugging. 

He wondered where Jake and the others were.  His cell phone was missing, so calling anyone was out of the question.  He looked at the thick envelope folded in his hand.  He didn't recognize the envelope.  Maybe it was a clue to what happened to him the previous evening. 

He opened it slowly and could see several Polaroid photos inside.  He pulled them out of the envelope and stopped in his tracks when he saw what was captured in the photographs.  He was sprawled out on a bed, naked as the day he was born, with a brunette giving him, for lack of a nicer term, head.  There were several photos of that situation.  "Lilly!" he almost yelled, when he came to the photos of the exotic dancer straddled across him, taking him for all he was worth. 

"Jesus."  He hung his head and began to walk lethargically, crushing the photos in his hand.  He didn't remember any of this.  Why on earth would he do something so stupid?  He loved Caitlin and no other woman had even stirred his interest since he'd met her.  How could he be so stupid and careless?  And pictures?  Damn, how foolish it had been to allow someone to take those.  If Caitlin sees them...

He heard a car screech to a halt behind him, a car door open and someone scrambling toward him.  He turned slowly to see Tom Fallon walking speedily toward him, cell phone in hand.

"I found him!" he yelled into the phone to Jake.  "He seems okay, a little shaken up maybe," he told Jake as he drew a little closer to Frank.  "No, you go on to Calais.  We'll meet you there."

"Frank!  What the hell happened to you?" He demanded as he put an arm around his friend's shoulder and led him back to the car.

"I don't know Tom.  I can't remember a thing," he admitted.  He didn't say anything about the pictures.

Tom started the engine and headed toward Calais.  "That's odd."

"What?"

"Jake, Cody and Jason have no memory of last night either."

Frank nodded.  He knew why now.  "We were drugged."

"Why?  Why would someone want to stop your wedding?"

"Revenge," he spat.  "Simple and pure revenge."  He tossed the envelope into Tom's lap.

Tom fumbled with the envelope while steering the vehicle.  He glanced at the photos while keeping an eye on the road.  He looked at his friend.  "God, Frank.  How could this have happened?"

"I...just don't know."  He didn't have any good answers.  "Just get me to Calais."

To be continued...