When Rory got the door unlocked he slowly opened it. What he saw pained
him.
"Jerrica." he screamed, running over and kneeling beside her.
Just then he heard the door slam shut and lock behind him. Turning, he saw
Eric walk toward them with his gun drawn.
"Raymond. What the hell did you do to her you son of a bitch."
"Now is that anyway to talk to the man with the loaded gun? I
think not. Now shut up and don't make any sudden moves or you'll get the
same treatment as your girlfriend."
Rory gave Eric a cold stare before turning back to Jerrica. He lifted her
head up and gently lay it on his knees. He stroked her hair and whispered
softly to her as tears welled in his eyes."Jerrica, baby, speak to me."
"Rory?" she asked. He could hear the strain in her voice.
"Shh. Don't speak. Just relax. I'm here now and everything will be
alright." he assured her as he kissed her on the forehead. "Can I at least
lay her on the sofa where she'll be more comfortable?" he turned to Eric
and asked.
"Oh, fine. Go ahead. But no funny business." he warned. Eric took a seat
behind Jerrica's desk and propped his feet up.
Rory gently lifted Jerrica off the floor and carried her to the sofa. He
lay her down and covered her with the blanket that lay over the back. He
took notice to the bruises on her face and neck. Eric watched him
closely.
"You like my work?" he gloated.
"What on earth did she do to you to make you torture her this way?" Rory
growled.
"She pissed me off, so I knocked her around a little. I'll have you know
she gave almost as good as she got." Eric said gesturing to the red, raw
appearance of his eyes.
Rory simply turned back to Jerrica and continued to whisper words of
reassurance and comfort in his love's ear. A half an hour went by in complete silence. Suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello?" Eric cheerfully answered.
"Hi, is this Eric I'm speaking with?" A man asked.
"Why yes it is. And who might you be?" Eric asked.
"My name's Bob. I'm with the local police department. How is
everyone up there?" he asked.
"Just fine Bob. We're having a regular party. Except for Jerrica. She's not
doing too hot."
"Well, maybe you should send her down so we can have a doctor check her
out." Bob suggested.
"You'd like that wouldn't you Bob? No, I think I'll keep her
and her boyfriend here for awhile. You guys can just wait outside for now
until I decide what to do." Eric said.
"We'll do that Eric but first I'd like some proof that those people are
still alive. Can you let me speak with one of them? As a gesture of
goodfaith." Bob asked.
"Oh, alright. Here Rory, speak to Bob."
Rory walked over and took the phone from Eric.
"Hello?"
"Is this Rory Llewelyn?" Bob asked.
"Yes, it is. Are you with the police?"
"I am. How's Ms. Benton doing?"
"Not good but alive."
Eric grabbed the phone away from Rory.
"That's enough. Go have a seat." he said, directing Rory with the gun.
"It's me again Bob."
"Eric what can we do to help this whole situation along? We just want to
see all of you walk out of there alive." Bob said.
"Well I'm not altogether sure that's possible Bob. You see Jerrica here has
screwed up my life for the last time. Only now if she doesn't cooperate I'm
not going to be as nice as I was in the past. So you see it's all up to her whether or not
the three of us make it out alive, or just I do." Eric said as he glared at
Jerrica. "Now if you'll excuse me I have some business to attend to. Feel
free to call back later. Goodbye Bob."
With that Eric hung up the phone. He stood and began to pace again.
"Water." Jerrica croaked.
"There is none. Now shut the hell up." Eric yelled.
"There's some in the refrigerator behind her desk. Can I please get one for
her?" Rory asked calmly, still stroking Jerrica's hair.
Eric rolled his eyes and sighed. He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. To his surprise there was also a bottle of champagne. He pulled that out as well. After he tossed the water to Rory he opened the champagne and greedily began to drink from the bottle.
"MmMm. I have to admit you have good taste Jerrica. Sorry if you were
saving this for some romantic interlude. You see us poor folk can't afford the fineries. If I want a drink the most I can hope for is some cheap whiskey or bourbon, if you can imagine." Eric moaned.
Rory meanwhile had opened the bottle and helped Jerrica turn on her side
enough to sip from the bottle of water. When she had finished he gently lay
her head back down and continued to soothe her. Eric managed to finish off the entire bottle of champagne and tossed the empty receptacle into the trash with a loud clang.
"Now all we need is some caviar and we've got ourselves a party." Eric
commented as he took a seat and propped his feet back up. Rory stood up and walked over to Jerrica's desk. Eric was on alert and quickly righted himself and aimed the gun at Rory.
"Don't go trying anything stupid, pretty boy." Eric warned.
"Eric listen. Jerrica needs to see a doctor. Keep me for as long as you
want but please let her go. I'm begging you." Rory pleaded, his arms raised
in the air in a gesture of surrender.
"Yes of course. Let go the one person who can give me what I want and the
one person I want to see dead above all others but keep her nobody boyfriend? Why didn't I think of that? Sit down. No one is going anywhere." Eric said, waving the gun toward the sofa. Rory walked back and sat down. Outside the employees of Starlight music as well as many curious onlookers stood behind police barricades, waiting to see how the afternoon would end. The building had been evacuated immediately after the police arrived. Several tv news stations were setting up as well. A young brunette stood in front of a camera and prepared to give a live report.
"This is Maggie Stone reporting from outside Starlight Music. A little over
an hour ago police were alerted to a possible hostage situation. From what
we have been able to gather CEO of Starlight Music, Jerrica Benton and her fiancé, Rory Llewelyn, a.k.a Riot, former lead singer of The Stingers, are being held hostage by former head of Misfits Music Eric Raymond. No word yet on what prompted Mr.Raymond to take such action. More as it develops."
Across town in her office at a Gabor Enterprises office, Roxy clicked off
her radio where she had just heard about the hostage situation and picked
up the phone. She dialed her friends number and waited impatiently for her to pick up.
"Gabor Enterprises. This is Phyllis."
"I know. It's Roxy. Have you heard the news?"
"What news?" Phyllis asked as she typed on her computer.
"We better get down to Starlight Music. Raymond took Jerrica and Rory
hostage."
"What? Then what are we sitting around for. Let's go. I'll
meet you there." Phyllis said as she hung up and grabbed her purse.
Stopping a moment she realized there was one other person who had to be
notified. She flipped through her Rolodex until she found the number to
Kimber's apartment in New York. Jerrica had given it to her in case of an
emergency. She dialed the number and waited. On the fourth ring someone
answered.
"Hello?" a man answered.
"Hi, may I speak with Kimber Benton please."
"Sure, hold on." The man said. Phyllis could hear
talking going on and then a woman came on the line.
"This is Kimber." A cheery voice said.
"Kimber, it's Phyllis, Pizzazz. Listen there's a situation. You need to fly
out here tonight."
"What's going on. Is it Jerrica?" Kimber asked, her voice reflecting the
growing panic she was feeling.
"Yeah, look I don't want you to panic but Eric Raymond took Jerrica hostage at Starlight Music."
"Eric Raymond? What the hell was he doing at Starlight Music? Why would he take Jerrica hostage?"
"I don't know the specifics. I do know that Rory is in there with her so I'm sure she'll be alright."
"I'll be on the first flight out."
"I'll give you my cell phone number. Call me when
you find out what gate your going to land at and what time so I can pick
you up."
"Thanks." Kimber said as she took down the phone number. After relaying the
situation to Bobby she quickly threw a change of clothes into an overnight
bag while Bobby called the airport. As soon as she was packed they climbed
into Bobby's car and he drove her to the airport.
Back inside Jerrica Benton's office at Starlight Music Eric
began pacing again.
"Alright, now let's get back to discussing my terms. Sign over full control
of Starlight Music tonight and I will let you both go. Free as birds. What
do you say Jerrica dear?" Eric asked. Jerrica managed, despite the pain, to
lean up on both elbows and look directly at Eric.
"Go to hell." she said before collapsing back down again. Eric became
angered.
"You, lover boy, over to the desk."
"No."
"Want me to shoot her now?" Eric said, pointing the gun at Jerrica's head.
Rory walked over and stood by the desk.
Eric walked over to Jerrica and kneeled down beside her.
"No sweetheart. You're the one going to hell." Eric whispered before he put
the gun to her head. "Now, let's try this again. Will you give me what I
want?" Eric asked as tears spilled down Jerrica's cheeks. Rory stood by helpless, not wanting to anger Eric anymore.
"No." she said. Eric took his free hand and punched
her in the stomach. She cried out, clutching the spot where he struck her.
Rory began to move toward them when Eric anticipated him and turned to look
at him, the gun still pointing at Jerrica.
"One false move and boom." Eric warned. Rory stepped back. Anger raged
through his veins as tears streamed down his face. "Once more Jerrica. Will
you sign?" Eric asked.
"No." she spat at him. Eric wiped his eye, then stood and walked over to where Rory was standing. He walked behind him and grabbed him around the neck with his free hand and pointed the gun at his head. Rory struggled to free himself.
"Eric no, don't." she screamed, sitting up and putting up her hand to stop him.
"I'm only going to ask you one last time. Will you sign?" he screamed.
"Yes, anything. Just please don't hurt him. Please." she begged. Her sobs broke Rory's heart.
"Good girl." Eric said as released his hold on Rory and ushered him back to the sofa. "And I just happen to have a document right here. It's already notarized and everything." Eric said, pulling the paper out of his jacket. "Nice to know that there are still a few crooked lawyers around." Eric held out a pen and the document. Jerrica signed her name to the document. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and the room began to spin. She lay back down and closed her eyes.
"So can we go now?" Rory asked as he kneeled down to check on her.
"Not quite so fast. I want to savor the moment a little while. Too bad
we're out of bubbly. Oh well, water will have to do." Eric said. He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. He twisted off the cap and lifted the bottle into the air, motioning toward where Jerrica lay on the sofa. "To my ultimate victory, and to finally breaking Jerrica Benton. I always knew I would get what I deserved, and you would get exactly what was coming to you." Eric said as he took a drink of water. While he was drinking Rory slowly crept around
the desk and as quick as a cat leapt at Eric, tackling him to the ground.
Eric and Rory struggled with the gun. Jerrica tried to stand so she could
see what was happening behind the desk. Suddenly she heard the gun go off
with a loud bang.
him.
"Jerrica." he screamed, running over and kneeling beside her.
Just then he heard the door slam shut and lock behind him. Turning, he saw
Eric walk toward them with his gun drawn.
"Raymond. What the hell did you do to her you son of a bitch."
"Now is that anyway to talk to the man with the loaded gun? I
think not. Now shut up and don't make any sudden moves or you'll get the
same treatment as your girlfriend."
Rory gave Eric a cold stare before turning back to Jerrica. He lifted her
head up and gently lay it on his knees. He stroked her hair and whispered
softly to her as tears welled in his eyes."Jerrica, baby, speak to me."
"Rory?" she asked. He could hear the strain in her voice.
"Shh. Don't speak. Just relax. I'm here now and everything will be
alright." he assured her as he kissed her on the forehead. "Can I at least
lay her on the sofa where she'll be more comfortable?" he turned to Eric
and asked.
"Oh, fine. Go ahead. But no funny business." he warned. Eric took a seat
behind Jerrica's desk and propped his feet up.
Rory gently lifted Jerrica off the floor and carried her to the sofa. He
lay her down and covered her with the blanket that lay over the back. He
took notice to the bruises on her face and neck. Eric watched him
closely.
"You like my work?" he gloated.
"What on earth did she do to you to make you torture her this way?" Rory
growled.
"She pissed me off, so I knocked her around a little. I'll have you know
she gave almost as good as she got." Eric said gesturing to the red, raw
appearance of his eyes.
Rory simply turned back to Jerrica and continued to whisper words of
reassurance and comfort in his love's ear. A half an hour went by in complete silence. Suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello?" Eric cheerfully answered.
"Hi, is this Eric I'm speaking with?" A man asked.
"Why yes it is. And who might you be?" Eric asked.
"My name's Bob. I'm with the local police department. How is
everyone up there?" he asked.
"Just fine Bob. We're having a regular party. Except for Jerrica. She's not
doing too hot."
"Well, maybe you should send her down so we can have a doctor check her
out." Bob suggested.
"You'd like that wouldn't you Bob? No, I think I'll keep her
and her boyfriend here for awhile. You guys can just wait outside for now
until I decide what to do." Eric said.
"We'll do that Eric but first I'd like some proof that those people are
still alive. Can you let me speak with one of them? As a gesture of
goodfaith." Bob asked.
"Oh, alright. Here Rory, speak to Bob."
Rory walked over and took the phone from Eric.
"Hello?"
"Is this Rory Llewelyn?" Bob asked.
"Yes, it is. Are you with the police?"
"I am. How's Ms. Benton doing?"
"Not good but alive."
Eric grabbed the phone away from Rory.
"That's enough. Go have a seat." he said, directing Rory with the gun.
"It's me again Bob."
"Eric what can we do to help this whole situation along? We just want to
see all of you walk out of there alive." Bob said.
"Well I'm not altogether sure that's possible Bob. You see Jerrica here has
screwed up my life for the last time. Only now if she doesn't cooperate I'm
not going to be as nice as I was in the past. So you see it's all up to her whether or not
the three of us make it out alive, or just I do." Eric said as he glared at
Jerrica. "Now if you'll excuse me I have some business to attend to. Feel
free to call back later. Goodbye Bob."
With that Eric hung up the phone. He stood and began to pace again.
"Water." Jerrica croaked.
"There is none. Now shut the hell up." Eric yelled.
"There's some in the refrigerator behind her desk. Can I please get one for
her?" Rory asked calmly, still stroking Jerrica's hair.
Eric rolled his eyes and sighed. He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. To his surprise there was also a bottle of champagne. He pulled that out as well. After he tossed the water to Rory he opened the champagne and greedily began to drink from the bottle.
"MmMm. I have to admit you have good taste Jerrica. Sorry if you were
saving this for some romantic interlude. You see us poor folk can't afford the fineries. If I want a drink the most I can hope for is some cheap whiskey or bourbon, if you can imagine." Eric moaned.
Rory meanwhile had opened the bottle and helped Jerrica turn on her side
enough to sip from the bottle of water. When she had finished he gently lay
her head back down and continued to soothe her. Eric managed to finish off the entire bottle of champagne and tossed the empty receptacle into the trash with a loud clang.
"Now all we need is some caviar and we've got ourselves a party." Eric
commented as he took a seat and propped his feet back up. Rory stood up and walked over to Jerrica's desk. Eric was on alert and quickly righted himself and aimed the gun at Rory.
"Don't go trying anything stupid, pretty boy." Eric warned.
"Eric listen. Jerrica needs to see a doctor. Keep me for as long as you
want but please let her go. I'm begging you." Rory pleaded, his arms raised
in the air in a gesture of surrender.
"Yes of course. Let go the one person who can give me what I want and the
one person I want to see dead above all others but keep her nobody boyfriend? Why didn't I think of that? Sit down. No one is going anywhere." Eric said, waving the gun toward the sofa. Rory walked back and sat down. Outside the employees of Starlight music as well as many curious onlookers stood behind police barricades, waiting to see how the afternoon would end. The building had been evacuated immediately after the police arrived. Several tv news stations were setting up as well. A young brunette stood in front of a camera and prepared to give a live report.
"This is Maggie Stone reporting from outside Starlight Music. A little over
an hour ago police were alerted to a possible hostage situation. From what
we have been able to gather CEO of Starlight Music, Jerrica Benton and her fiancé, Rory Llewelyn, a.k.a Riot, former lead singer of The Stingers, are being held hostage by former head of Misfits Music Eric Raymond. No word yet on what prompted Mr.Raymond to take such action. More as it develops."
Across town in her office at a Gabor Enterprises office, Roxy clicked off
her radio where she had just heard about the hostage situation and picked
up the phone. She dialed her friends number and waited impatiently for her to pick up.
"Gabor Enterprises. This is Phyllis."
"I know. It's Roxy. Have you heard the news?"
"What news?" Phyllis asked as she typed on her computer.
"We better get down to Starlight Music. Raymond took Jerrica and Rory
hostage."
"What? Then what are we sitting around for. Let's go. I'll
meet you there." Phyllis said as she hung up and grabbed her purse.
Stopping a moment she realized there was one other person who had to be
notified. She flipped through her Rolodex until she found the number to
Kimber's apartment in New York. Jerrica had given it to her in case of an
emergency. She dialed the number and waited. On the fourth ring someone
answered.
"Hello?" a man answered.
"Hi, may I speak with Kimber Benton please."
"Sure, hold on." The man said. Phyllis could hear
talking going on and then a woman came on the line.
"This is Kimber." A cheery voice said.
"Kimber, it's Phyllis, Pizzazz. Listen there's a situation. You need to fly
out here tonight."
"What's going on. Is it Jerrica?" Kimber asked, her voice reflecting the
growing panic she was feeling.
"Yeah, look I don't want you to panic but Eric Raymond took Jerrica hostage at Starlight Music."
"Eric Raymond? What the hell was he doing at Starlight Music? Why would he take Jerrica hostage?"
"I don't know the specifics. I do know that Rory is in there with her so I'm sure she'll be alright."
"I'll be on the first flight out."
"I'll give you my cell phone number. Call me when
you find out what gate your going to land at and what time so I can pick
you up."
"Thanks." Kimber said as she took down the phone number. After relaying the
situation to Bobby she quickly threw a change of clothes into an overnight
bag while Bobby called the airport. As soon as she was packed they climbed
into Bobby's car and he drove her to the airport.
Back inside Jerrica Benton's office at Starlight Music Eric
began pacing again.
"Alright, now let's get back to discussing my terms. Sign over full control
of Starlight Music tonight and I will let you both go. Free as birds. What
do you say Jerrica dear?" Eric asked. Jerrica managed, despite the pain, to
lean up on both elbows and look directly at Eric.
"Go to hell." she said before collapsing back down again. Eric became
angered.
"You, lover boy, over to the desk."
"No."
"Want me to shoot her now?" Eric said, pointing the gun at Jerrica's head.
Rory walked over and stood by the desk.
Eric walked over to Jerrica and kneeled down beside her.
"No sweetheart. You're the one going to hell." Eric whispered before he put
the gun to her head. "Now, let's try this again. Will you give me what I
want?" Eric asked as tears spilled down Jerrica's cheeks. Rory stood by helpless, not wanting to anger Eric anymore.
"No." she said. Eric took his free hand and punched
her in the stomach. She cried out, clutching the spot where he struck her.
Rory began to move toward them when Eric anticipated him and turned to look
at him, the gun still pointing at Jerrica.
"One false move and boom." Eric warned. Rory stepped back. Anger raged
through his veins as tears streamed down his face. "Once more Jerrica. Will
you sign?" Eric asked.
"No." she spat at him. Eric wiped his eye, then stood and walked over to where Rory was standing. He walked behind him and grabbed him around the neck with his free hand and pointed the gun at his head. Rory struggled to free himself.
"Eric no, don't." she screamed, sitting up and putting up her hand to stop him.
"I'm only going to ask you one last time. Will you sign?" he screamed.
"Yes, anything. Just please don't hurt him. Please." she begged. Her sobs broke Rory's heart.
"Good girl." Eric said as released his hold on Rory and ushered him back to the sofa. "And I just happen to have a document right here. It's already notarized and everything." Eric said, pulling the paper out of his jacket. "Nice to know that there are still a few crooked lawyers around." Eric held out a pen and the document. Jerrica signed her name to the document. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and the room began to spin. She lay back down and closed her eyes.
"So can we go now?" Rory asked as he kneeled down to check on her.
"Not quite so fast. I want to savor the moment a little while. Too bad
we're out of bubbly. Oh well, water will have to do." Eric said. He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. He twisted off the cap and lifted the bottle into the air, motioning toward where Jerrica lay on the sofa. "To my ultimate victory, and to finally breaking Jerrica Benton. I always knew I would get what I deserved, and you would get exactly what was coming to you." Eric said as he took a drink of water. While he was drinking Rory slowly crept around
the desk and as quick as a cat leapt at Eric, tackling him to the ground.
Eric and Rory struggled with the gun. Jerrica tried to stand so she could
see what was happening behind the desk. Suddenly she heard the gun go off
with a loud bang.