Part 4...
2000 EDT
Galindez's Apartment...
Austin settled back in the tub sighing in delight as the warm vanilla scented
water eased the tension from her muscles. God Victor was good to her. He had
discovered her favorite fragrance and gone to Bath and Body Works and from what
she could gather had bought the store out of Vanilla scented products. Candles,
bubble bath, lotion, shower gel, massage oil...all for her.
Her favorite was the Vanilla massage oil and the best thing about it was the
feeling of Victor's long strong fingers kneading and working her muscles until
she was so relaxed she could barely keep her eyes open.
"Mmmm...maybe when he gets home tonight I'll give him a massage,"
Austin purred before she lifted a novel from the edge of the tub. She opened
the book and was soon engrossed, forgetting completely about the time only
rousing herself from the plot and characters to turn on the hot water tap to raise
the temperature of her bath water.
Finally she did emerge from the tub, wrapping herself in a fluffy towel, glad
she had insisted Victor buy some new towels to replace the threadbare ones he
had had to offer her the first night she stayed over. Austin looked at Victor's
alarm clock as she walked into the bedroom her brows knitting together in a
concerned frown. It was 9:00 pm and Victor hadn't called her back yet, she
shrugged telling herself it was probably because he and Mr. Webb were busy...or
her message had never been relayed.
"Men...can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em," Austin groused to
herself wandering into the kitchen for a snack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile...
Victor kicked at the metal above his head while he fumbled in the pitch black
trunk for the release lever. He'd thought it was stupid when the dealer had
told him of the trunk release feature when he'd bought the car, but Victor had
never been more thankful for the feature than he was now. If he could
just find it and get the trunk open he could jump out. Of course jumping
out of a moving vehicle presented some pretty serious challenges, but nothing
as serious as what he was sure awaited him if he stayed.
The references the two men had made to what had been done to the two Dartmouth
college professors had chilled him to the bone. He was a Marine sure, but even
a Marine could be beaten and killed.
His aching head, coupled with the exhaust fumes leaking into the trunk slowed
his response time and by the time his fingers found the trunk release his car
had pulled to a stop and he heard the muffled sound of 2 car doors
slamming.
"Dammit!" he seethed. This was all Webb's fault. Had it been up to
him he'd be sitting on his sofa holding Austin while they watched a movie or
something. No instead he was locked in his trunk waiting to find out what would
happen next.
The trunk eased open and Victor heard a chuckle."Well, well, well...what
have we here? Trying to call for help or something Jarhead?"
Victor then noticed his cell phone, he'd forgotten about that. He remembered
vaguely hearing Webb's irate voice then another wave of fuzziness had
rolled in obscuring any other thoughts. "What do you want?"
"For starters your wallet pal. Then I think I owe you a good ass
kicking."
"He's a Marine...he's trained not to let you kick his ass," another
voice commented sounding strangely eager.
"I imagine if you tie him up first that's not going to be much of a
problem."
"Should I do it now? I have some duct tape."
"Go for it...just let me do one thing first."
Victor wasn't sure what was coming and had attempted to roll out of the
way when a fist crashed into his jaw making more stars dance before his eyes.
Stunned and docile for the moment he didn't react or fight when he was rolled
to his back and his arms were pulled roughly behind him, wrists taped together
so his hands were palm to palm.
At least they wouldn't get his wallet, he thought blearily. He'd left it at
home taking only his driver's license, deciding if Webb wanted to call him away
from Austin he could damned well buy him a few
drinks.
"There...get him out and we'll beat the hell out of him right here."
Waiting until he'd been set on his feet Victor charged at the two men, hoping
to head butt at least one of them down so he could escape. The shorter of the
two men had been expecting something like that obviously, because the next
thing he knew Victor found himself flat on his face warm blood pouring from his
broken nose after his feet had been swept out from under him.
"Where the hell's your wallet Jarhead?!" A voice spat after he'd been
frisked.
"Victor Galindez, Gunnery Sergeant,United States Marine Corp.
09951290," Victor answered.
"Son of a bitch...I don't want your name, rank and serial number!"
A flurry of sharp, angry kicks pelted his torso and he winced despite his
decision to remain strong and silent when a boot stomped hard on his back into
his kidney.
"Now...let's try this again. Where is your wallet?"
"Victor Galindez, Gunnery Sergeant,United States Marine Corp.
09951290."
"Screw the money...I'm going to kill this
asshole!" a voice seethed as a booted foot buried itself in his stomach
while another stomped down on his kidney again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2145 EDT
Georgetown...
"Nice neighborhood. Now I know Galindez has to be in trouble. I don't
think he'd come here voluntarily," Webb muttered his eyes scanning the
street. Melissa Briggs had been able to give him an area to look in and now
Webb was combing a seedy side of the town in search of the stubborn Marine.
He glanced down an alley as he passed slowing down to see two cars pulled in.
"Hmm...suspicious. If nothing else I can maybe bust a drug deal
tonight."
He continued to drive by, pulling to a stop a few hundred yards away getting
out and doubling back to the alley taking his time to study the layout of the
street and possible hiding spots. He had his gun with him and he'd use it if he
had to, but Clayton Webb far preferred using his skills in stealth to his
marksmanship skills.
He arrived at the beginning of the alley and crept to hide behind a dumpster,
crouching down to avoid notice as he let his eyes become accustomed to the
darkness. The first thing he heard was voices raised in anger.
"WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR WALLET JARHEAD...YOU GOT ONE LAST CHANCE THEN I'M
GONNA FINISH YOUR SORRY ASS!"
"Victor...Galindez, Gunnery...Sergeant United States...M-Marine Corp.
09951290," Victor shot back in as belligerent a tone as he could manage
with the pain shooting up his spine and into his brain.
"Oh that's it-!"
Clayton Webb wasn't going to wait to hear anymore. He rose from his hiding
place raised his gun into the air and fired a round. "Step away from the
Marine-Now...or the next shot is going to ensure you both sing soprano for
the rest of your lives!"
The two men stepped back against the wall, neither willing to find out if the
man approaching them was bluffing.
"What have we here boys? A little hate crime going on?" Clayton asked
shaking his head as he trained his gun on the two thugs getting between them
and Victor Galindez. "I hope you won't think I'm rude if I invite the
police to this little party."
"This guy got off for beating gays!" Todd shot back.
"So you thought you'd teach him a little lesson and take his wallet
too?" Webb asked sarcastically as he pulled his cell phone out, putting a
call through to 911 requesting an ambulance and police to his current location.
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