Trinkets - Part 14

Clinton had rushed up the stairs so as not to give Mac a chance to try anything before he got to the monitors to keep an eye on her. He was satisfied when he reached the second floor and saw that she was dutifully putting the soapy water on the floor, getting ready to scrub. It reminded him a bit of Cinderella, and the thought made him smile.

Harm, on the other hand, was very displeased. "I told you what you wanted to know. Why are you still having her … do stuff with the body?"

"Oh, Harmon, … You're still not functioning at a hundred percent yet, are you?" Clinton explained, "You talked, so I am not having her do anything 'extra' with the body, … at least as long as you continue to cooperate. But, I said before that I need her to help clean things up. Remember?"

(())

As Mac dipped the sponge into the bucket of water, tainting the clear liquid with the rusty color of Jake's blood, her mind was reeling with all sorts of thoughts about Harm and what, if anything, was about to happen upstairs. Had Harm been able to use the key to free himself? If he had, was he really in any condition to gain the upper hand?

She wanted so desperately to go up there, go hand-to-hand with Clinton, giving him a good beating in the process, and get Harm to safety. But that gadget on her back kept her trapped. It wasn't so much that she was scared of being electrocuted as she knew that she would be of absolutely no good to Harm if she got herself killed.

Mac finished wringing the excess blood from the sponge into the bucket and was ready to moisten it again in the rapidly reddening water in order to continue cleaning up the gory mess made when Nichols had been shot. It was then that a movement near the window caught her eye. The panes had been covered over by boards, but there was a crack of light on the right side of one window that had suddenly been blocked.

A surge of hope, followed quickly by panic, ran through her. Could it somehow be help? If so, she prayed that they would not come into where she was. If Clinton saw intruders on the monitors, he'd zap her and likely shoot Harm.

The alternative was that bad guys were outside - the killers who Clinton was doing business with. She assumed they were killers, anyhow. After all, they were looking to get their hands on a deadly device. They were probably terrorists.

Her guess was those people were not really on friendly, trusting terms with Clinton and wouldn't think twice about killing him once they got their info and device. They probably wouldn't even think once about killing her – they would just do it automatically.

Mac forced herself to continue her gruesome task, but she kept her eye on that windowpane. When a small, metal object appeared to snake its head through the small opening, Mac knew that someone out there, good or bad, was doing surveillance with a special camera. If it was help, Mac needed to urgently let them know NOT to break into the room she was in.

If it were terrorists looking to storm in and take over, she probably wouldn't fare much better. It would be best if whoever was out there managed to get upstairs directly from the outside. That would surprise Clinton and take his attention away from her rather than setting her up as a target.

Of course, she didn't know if having extra bad guys upstairs would be a better or worse thing for Harm, but she hoped that whoever was there would change the variables in a way that would give an advantage to her and Harm. Sometimes it helped when your enemies started fighting each other.

She needed to signal whoever was out there, friend or foe, that they needed to find a way upstairs without coming into the front room she was in. But she needed to do so without being obvious. Clinton's words echoed in her head, " … if you so much as stretch in a suspicious manner, I won't hesitate to push this button."

So, big hand gestures were out, as well as mouthing any words. She tried to remember the viewpoints from all of the monitors upstairs since looking around for the cameras would let Clinton know she was planning something. Recalling where she thought there might be a relative blind spot for her face, she turned her head slightly and pretended her nose itched. With her hands covered in blood, she wouldn't use her fingers to scratch it so she used her wrist, in the process, outstretching only her pointer finger.

As she rubbed her wrist upwards several times over her nose and stared at the snakelike camera, her eyes wide with urgency, she hoped the viewers got the message to head upstairs. She also hoped that her nose-scratch, which also involved a little sideways shake of the head with a message of 'no, don't come in here,' didn't appear to be suspicious enough for Clinton to zap her.

So far, no electricity. That was a good sign.

(())

"You have something for me to draw on?" asked Harm, knowing he had to act quickly. His arms could not stay up much longer. Besides, if he waited and Clinton got too close, the captor would notice the gum stuck on the cuffs.

Clinton's eyes narrowed. "You seem awfully eager to help all of a sudden."

"I'm tired," said Harm. "I just want to get this over with."

The other man walked over to the table and stared at the monitors for a bit. The marine down there was doing as she had been told, but she seemed rather fixated on something near the windows. Perhaps she was planning an escape, but he could tell from her body language, reticent as it was, that she was going to continue cleaning the area around Jake. She was scared of that thing on her back, … as well she should be.

Satisfied that the woman was under control, Clinton placed the remote on the table and picked up a pencil that he had set there earlier.

Harm sent up a quick thanks to God that the remote was out of the equation and that Mac was safe for the moment. All he had to do was take Clinton out … one way or another.

"I'm so glad you're cooperating," the villain stated as he made his way over to the bag to get some paper. "The one drawback, of course, is that you won't get to appreciate all the extra games I had in store."

He started taking several things out of his bag, showing them to Harm as he did. "The drugs, of course, you're familiar with. Some restraints … these are a bit more versatile than the handcuffs you're in. These would be great for pinning that lovely woman of yours …" He nodded towards the monitors "… to some piece of furniture while I have my way with her." Clinton smirked. "… That may happen, yet, … just for kicks."

Harm's jaw clenched. This guy was so going down! Clinton would be dead before he ever had a chance to even touch Mac again, even if that meant that Harm would kill himself in the process, too.

And the next thing out of the bag gave Harm the idea as to just how to do that.

TBC ...