The morning sun peeked through the curtains covering the two windows of Della's bedroom prison. She'd slept very little the night before. Mostly, she thought of Perry and worried. She had known him many years and was closer to him than anyone except maybe Paul. How had he reacted when he returned from his meeting with Hamilton Burger and found the office destroyed and her missing? What was his reaction to the mysterious dead body? 'He must be frantic right now' she thought. 'I know I would be if the roles were reversed.'
In her mind, she had replayed the attack at the office dozens of times throughout the course of the long night. The vision of the dead body outside the back door…the stinging pain of the hit she had taken across her face. 'I have never been hit by a man' she thought indignantly. As she sat up in bed, she replayed the chilling assault from her captor. She knew she would not be able to hold him off forever. She felt sick to her stomach at the idea of this man being with her. Any longings or fantasies she'd had for other men ceased when she met Perry. She anxiously stood up and walked over to the bedroom window. She looked out and saw she was on the second floor of a home, but nothing looked familiar. 'No neighbors either' she noted as she looked as far around as possible and saw only open land. She checked the lock, but the window was nailed shut. Her thoughts turned back to Perry.
She was head over heels, crazy in love with this man. She knew he felt the same way about her. He didn't have to say it. She could see it in his eyes and feel it in his touch that night, on the couch in her apartment, when they'd kissed for the first time. She knew Perry would move heaven and earth to get her back. The question was: They had only been together a couple of days. What did this man mean when he said he had been watching her and Perry for a long time? What was there to watch? Had their attraction and desire for one another been that obvious? What was he going to ask Perry to give up for her safe return? In her heart, she knew Perry would give up everything for her, but this man…this monster…wasn't even going to take that sacrifice as enough and let her go. He wanted to completely destroy Perry. I have to be strong. This man is trying to tear us apart. He wants to hurt Perry deeply and has chosen me as the weapon. That is simply unacceptable.' she thought as she walked to the other window and checked the lock. It was also nailed shut. She sighed and sat back down on the bed.
Her thoughts turned to the second night they made love and the morning after when she found Perry cooking her breakfast. Her heart flooded with love and, it was in this flood, her resolve was strengthened. She was going to escape and get back to Perry somehow. She was not going to spend the rest her life a prisoner with this man. Her heart, body, and soul belonged only to Perry. If this man thought he was going to keep her, then he was about to have a hell of a fight on his hands. Deep in the innermost part of her being, she was sure Perry was out there, somewhere, fighting for her too.
Very quietly, the door to the bedroom opened. Della's head spun quickly around to see her captor walk in, carrying with him, a tray with eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, and coffee which he sat on a table in the corner of the room. He then went back out the door and brought in a tape recording device. Della refused to make eye contact with him as he sat the recorder next to the tray on the table and pulled out a chair for her.
"I brought you some breakfast" he stated pleasantly, "and some entertainment too."
Della remained silent. He walked towards her, but she moved away from him…pulling the cobalt blue silk robe tightly around her.
"Aah…that does look stunning on you. May I see the gown underneath?" he asked with a smile.
"I believe you saw it when you stole it from my apartment" she replied hatefully.
"Yes…but not on you. So, why don't you take the robe off for a moment? Years in prison taught me to appreciate the beauty in so many things, especially the beauty of a woman such as you" he said. The last words dripped off his tongue with a sugary sweetness that repulsed Della.
"Mr. Mason" she emphasized "is the only man I care to have 'appreciate the beauty' of this gown…but then I believe you already know that. I will not take it off!" she stated emphatically and glared back at him. She crossed her arms in a protective manner that sent the signal he was not getting what he wanted from her.
He could not keep his composure. He did not like this new sense of strength and purpose she had gained since their earlier encounter. He stormed across the room towards her, but she did not back down nor did she turn to escape him. He stopped just inches from her and tried to re-compose himself, but her expression was too much for him. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her across the room to the table where he slammed her into the waiting chair.
He leaned in closely to her face as he placed both his hands on her shoulders.
"Listen here, my dear…there is a concept you had better start warming up to very quickly! You are staying with me. It does not matter how many demands he meets…the more the better for his destruction." He allowed his hands to run from her shoulders, down her arms, and then he caressed his thumbs across the top of her breasts before continuing. "You know… I finally spoke to your beloved Mr. Mason on the phone."
Della's eyesslightly widened at this revelation.
"That's right" he said shaking his head up and down. He released her, pulled another chair up in front of her, and sat down.
"As can be imagined, he is most anxious to get you back. I left him instructions for step one." His sinister smile made her skin crawl.
"Well… aren't you so proud of yourself then?" she replied mockingly.
He stood up slightly, leaned into her, placed his hands firmly on either side of her face, and kissed her lips forcefully. She brought her knee up in an attempt to give him a repeat from last night, but he broke the kiss, released one side of her face, pushed her leg back down and held it there. Only inches separated them. She felt his breath upon her and tried to turn her head, but he would not let her. Then, slowly, he let her go and sat back in the chair across from her. Never breaking eye contact, he reached over and hit the play button on the recording device. He smiled with delight as she was forced to listen to a recording of the recent phone call he'd made to Perry.
When the ransom demand was complete, he hit the stop button. "He's a wealthy, successful man. I was too before he sent me briefly back to prison this past year. It's amazing how one can lose so much in such a short amount of time." He reached across and stroked her hair with his hand. She made no move to resist. Her thoughts had gone somewhere else.
"We should live quite well on his money…" Della interrupted him.
"When did you tell him I was 'delicious'?" she asked almost inaudibly.
"What do you mean?" he replied still stroking her hair.
"You said, 'By the way, I was right when I told you she seemed delicious.' When did you say that to him? Just moments ago, you told me you finally spoke to my beloved Mr. Mason. That implies you had never contacted him before…yet, in the recording, you said you were right when you told him I seemed delicious."
"I meant I had finally contacted him for the first time since I won our little game…that's all" he said with a rather puzzled expression.
"What are you talking about? What little game?" she asked.
The man sat there for a moment and studied her expression. Then, he let out a small chuckle…which turned into a full belly laugh…which left his eyes watering with happiness.
"Are you telling me" he asked through his laughter, "you did not know that I had called Mason on two previous occasions and warned him I would come after you?"
Della could not speak. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
She diverted her eyes from his gaze.
"I see" he replied. "Well…allow me to catch you up. I was on parole when your Mr. Mason had Hamilton Burger file extortion charges against me. I was sent back to prison. Thanks to my underworld connections, I was not there very long, but it did end up costing me everything I had worked so hard for since my first release from prison. Naturally, I wanted to get even with Mason so I began watching him…looking for signs of weakness…and I found you…the loyal secretary whom his glances lingered upon a little too much for just an employer/employee relationship. You went to dinner together…you went dancing…and that's how I knew…you would be his undoing."
Della was in shock. She felt nauseous. Angry tears filled her eyes and she turned her entire body away from him as she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them to her. She did not want to hear anything else and, yet, she needed to hear everything he had to say. He watched her…waiting for a response.
"Continue" she said quietly.
"My first phone call to Mason was made a couple of nights ago when he took you to dinner at Ferrold's Café."
Della flashed him an angry look and then quickly looked away again.
"I told him I was a little voice from his past come back to haunt him. I let him know I had been watching him for some time and asked if you were as indispensable as you seemed…because I thought you seemed delicious from afar." He stopped his story and studied her expression.
Della wiped her eyes and looked at him. "Is that it? Is that the only time you contacted him?"
"No…I phoned him at his apartment the night after an associate and I ransacked the Paul Drake Detective Agency. I believe you were there with him…were you not?"
Della shot him another angry glance.
"I see" he replied with a smirk. "You didn't know about that call either. Interesting…" He sat back in the chair and tapped his fingers together while he watched her.
"Go on" she said spitefully as she stared into the distance.
"There's not much more to tell. Mason hired Paul Drake to put detectives on you around the clock. I had to step up my efforts to get to you, and, unfortunately people died."
Della quickly turned back to him and sat up quickly on the edge of the chair.
"What do you mean 'people died?' I saw only one dead body that night?" Fear flooded her mind. For a split second, she wondered if Gertie had really left for home that night or if …she couldn't bring herself to think or even say it aloud.
"My men killed three of Drake's detectives just to gain access to you. It started with only two men watching you and then Drake added a third. I still don't know why unless my phone calls were really worrying Mason that much."
Della stood up abruptly and pushed past him. He tried to grab her by the arm and pull her into his lap, but she was too quick. He made no attempt to go after her, but instead chose to remain comfortably in the chair. She walked half-way across the room and turned to face him. Her expression was as cold as ice.
"Perry and Paul knew you were stalking me? Knew you were planning on kidnapping me as revenge against Perry?"
He smiled, got up, and walked over to her. "You are so beautiful." He tried to pull her into an embrace, but she pushed away. He smiled and took another step towards her. "Take off the robe" he demanded.
"I've already told you no" she said defiantly.
"All right then Miss Street. Have it your way…for now. I have some business to attend to" he said looking her body up and down. "But…be assured…when I return…more than just this robe will be coming off."
With that, he turned and briskly walked out of the room…shutting and locking the door behind him.
