After Midnight (48 page)
Including a bullet wound to the right side of her head. The gouge from that was out of sight, hidden under the curls of her wet, blond hair. I knew she had it, though. And knew I’d done it.
Shot her. My God. Tried to kill her.
What’s the matter with me?
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“Shut up,” Steve said. “You can look, but don’t talk.”
So I kept on looking.
In spite of all the damage to her body, Judy didn’t seem beaten. Hurt, badly hurt, but not beaten.
She knelt like a proud soldier at attention, her body straight and rigid, belly sucked in, chest out, shoulders back, chin up. She had a fierce look in her eyes. The only sign of weakness or vulnerability—her lower lip was clamped between her teeth.
My throat felt tight and thick, but I managed to say, “I wish I’d never gotten you into…”
“Shut up,” Steve said.
“Go to hell,” I told him.
He smiled at me. “Better be nice. Only one of you gets to be my loyal sidekick. The other stays here, toes up, ticket cancelled, farm bought, dead as dirt. And I’m the sole judge. In other words, you’d better start kissing up.”
“Kiss my ass,” I said.
“I’m sure I’ll get to it sooner or later,” he said. “Now, let’s start the audition. Is everyone feeling well rested and fit as a fiddle?”
Judy and I looked at each other, but said nothing.
“Good!” Steve blurted. “Let’s begin. Who would like to go first?”
“Go first?” I said. “I thought we were supposed to have a fight.”
“All in good time, my dear. This’ll be a multi-part audition, with the fight as the finale.” Grinning, he added, “We’ll work our way up to it.”
“So what else do we have to do?” I asked.
“Anything I say. Now. Who would like to start? Do we have a volunteer?” He turned his grin from me to Judy. “How about you, sweet thing?”
She glared up at him, but didn’t answer.
“Remember, ladies, cooperation counts.”
“What do I have to do?” Judy asked.
“Competition number one?” Raising the saber high, he used his other hand to unfasten his belt. “The Great Suckoff!” he announced. His cut-offs dropped around his ankles.
Even though I despised him and he disgusted me, I’ve got to admit he had a wonderful body. All slender and smooth, with sleek muscles and a small, tight rear end. His penis stuck out straight in front of him. It was only about halferect, but already seemed pretty huge.
Resting the saber on his shoulder, he stepped out of his shorts and walked over to Judy.
She stared straight forward, her lips pressed together in a tight line.
Steve stopped by her left side.
“Turn and face me,” he said.
She turned. It didn’t look like an easy task, the way she was tied. But she managed.
“Excellent,” Steve said. He moved closer to her. When he stopped, he was almost touching her lips.
Judy’s mouth was shut. Apparently breathing only through her nostrils, she sucked in air as if she’d just finished a sprint. The quick panting made her chest swell and contract, her breasts lift and fall. She looked as if she’d been dipped in melted butter.
“Open wide,” Steve said.
She didn’t.
He prodded her lips, but she kept them shut.
“Do you want to lose by forfeit?” he asked.
“
I’ll
do it,” I told him.
“I’m talking to Judy,” he snapped. All the tease was gone from his voice.
“Do me instead! She doesn’t want you. I do. Come on over here and put it in. I’ll suck your brains out.”
“Your turn’ll come. Now butt out.” To Judy, he said, “Open up, honey. Right now.”
She shook her head.
So then Steve grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head back. Her mouth stayed shut.
“Don’t!” I cried out.
Ignoring me, he did a little prance. I couldn’t tell exactly what was going on, but he must’ve knocked her in the belly with either a knee or a foot. She suddenly grunted and her mouth sprang open. With the hand clutching her hair, he jerked her head forward.
He shoved himself in.
“Yes!” he cried out. “Now
suck
, honey,
suck
!”
He waved his saber high.
Judy wheezed and gagged as he thrust.
“Stop it!” I yelled. “Leave her alone!”
“You’re next!” he shouted.
“Bite him, Judy! Bite his fucking cock off!”
Maybe afraid she might follow my advice, Steve suddenly flung her away. She fell onto her back, her tied arms trapped beneath her and her knees in the air.
Steve tossed the saber aside. Hands free, he threw himself on top of Judy. His hips shoved her legs even farther apart. He clutched her shoulders to pin her down. Then his ass rammed forward and she gasped and I knew he was in her.
“NO!”
I shrieked.
“STOP THAT!”
He hadn’t done much of a job securing me.
I had no trouble at all working my feet free. By the time I’d managed to stand up, the cord that Steve had wrapped around my waist was hanging in a couple of loose coils down my rump and legs.
But my hands were still lashed together.
I struggled to jerk them free. The cord had no give, and only dug into my wrists.
But I didn’t intend to let it stop me.
Steve was still on top of Judy, grunting and thrusting.
I couldn’t take the risk of going for the saber. It was in his line of sight—if he happened to look up from Judy. Besides, it’d be a tricky weapon for someone whose hands are bound together.
Whereas the carving knife was conveniently located high on the inner side of my right thigh—and just the perfect size for one-handed use.
It had come from Serena and Charlie’s kitchen.
Before setting out to hunt for Steve, I’d decided against a flashlight but in favor of a knife.
Hurrying toward him now as he raped Judy, I used both hands to reach in through the slit of my skirt. With my left hand, I drew the knife downward, freeing it from the single strip of tape that held it to my thigh.
The way Steve was huffing and thrusting, he must’ve been just about ready to come.
I changed the knife to my right hand and twisted my wrist so the blade pointed forward.
Judy was writhing and sobbing under him.
Steve’s firelit ass bobbed up and down, buttocks flexing.
I dropped toward him, my hands low, the blade straight out like a steel version of his penis and aiming for the shadowy crack between his cheeks.
The blade slid in easily and deep.
Suck this, asshole!
Steve squealed.
I gave the handle a hard twist, turning the blade, and his squeal jumped an octave higher. My ears hurt. He jerked and thrashed under me. Hot fluids flooded out over my hands. Mostly blood, I suppose.
He tried to throw me off, but he didn’t stand a chance. Not the way he was caught between Judy and me. Not the way his nervous system had gotten trashed with the first thrust of my attack.
I’d nailed him but good.
As badly as I wanted to climb off and escape from Steve’s gushing ass, I wanted even worse to keep at him until the job was done. So I stayed on him with the knife buried deep, and went on working its blade around, really ripping him up inside.
For quite a long time, he shuddered and twitched and screamed.
Finally he settled down.
Underneath me, underneath Steve, Judy wept.
“It’s okay,” I told her. “It’s over.”
“Is…is he dead?”
“If he isn’t, he wishes he was.”
“Could you…get him off me? He’s…” She started crying too hard to go on.
I shoved myself off Steve’s back. On my feet behind him, I bent over and grabbed him, clutching his right ankle with my right hand. As I dragged him off Judy, his face rubbed between her breasts and down her belly. About the time his mouth got to her navel, I gave his ankle a strong jerk and stumbled backward. His face sped the rest of the way. The slight rise of her pubic mound must’ve acted like a ramp. Going over, his head jumped up as if he needed to take a last peek at her. Then he dropped off and his face struck the ground.
I kept staggering backward as fast as I could, dragging him by the foot, until our momentum ran out. Then I let go and stood above him and tried to catch my breath.
Judy rolled onto her side. She lay there sobbing quietly.
Crouching, I pulled the knife out of Steve’s butt.
Then I stood up straight. I raised my hands and studied them in the firelight. They were crossed at the wrists and tightly wrapped with the electrical extension cord.
Right away, it was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to reach the cord with the knife’s blade.
I could think of only one way, without help, to free my hands from the cord.
By loosening it
with my teeth
.
Both my hands were bathed with blood and filth from Steve. I brought my hands toward my mouth, anyway, but the stench made me gag.
Forget it.
Maybe there was a way to use the knife, after all.
Bending over, I spread my skirt open and clamped the knife’s handle between my knees so that the blade pointed upward. Then I lowered my arms, easing my wrists down until the blade slipped between them.
I moved my hands up and down, rubbing the cord against the blade’s edge.
The coating of the cord—rubber or plastic, I guess—was so hard that the blade didn’t have much effect on it.
Maybe try it with the saber.
This’ll work. Just gonna take a while.
I tried to apply more pressure, but my knee-grip wasn’t secure enough so the knife slipped.
“What’re you doing?” Judy asked, her voice quiet and shaky.
“Trying to cut this damn cord off me.”
“Can’t you…just untie it?”
“Not with my hands tied.”
“I’ll do it for you.”
“Thanks anyway,” I said, and kept rubbing. Pretty soon, my legs began to tremble from keeping such a tight hold on the knife. Also, my back started to ache.
“Are you afraid of me?” Judy asked.
“Give me a break.”
“Then why won’t you let me help?”
“I’d have to cut you loose.”
“So…now I’m
your
prisoner? Again?”
“I don’t know.”
“Just great,” she murmured. “I thought…after all this…you’ve saved my
life
, Alice. Twice.”
“I know.”
“You just…killed Steve for me.”
“For both of us.”
“I’m the one he was raping.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Sure.”
“And you’re afraid I’ll…
jump
you?”
“You might,” I said.
“I won’t.”
“Sure.”
“So what are you going to do, kill me?”
When she said that, I pushed too hard or flinched or something. I’m not sure exactly what went wrong, but my knees let go of the knife and it fell to the ground. I blurted, “Shit!” and almost felt like crying, myself.
“Just come here and I’ll take care of you,” Judy said.
“Okay. Okay.” I squatted, picked up the knife, and walked over to her with the long end of the cord trailing behind me.
“Do you know what I think?” Judy asked.
“What?”
“I think we should go away together.”
“Huh?”
“Just disappear. You and I.”
“Yeah, right.” Crouching behind her, I slipped the knife blade under the taut line connecting her hands and feet. With one hard tug, I severed it.
Judy said, “Ah.” She straightened her legs. “Oh, God,” she said, and stretched. “That feels so good. Thank you.”
Her feet were still tied together. I decided to leave them that way, and started to cut through the rope binding her wrists together.
“No funny stuff,” I said, “or I
will
kill you.”
“I mean it about going away together,” she said.
I stopped cutting. “The hell you do,” I told her.
“These guys have a van,” she said.
“I know.”
“Maybe we can find it. They sure as heck don’t need it anymore. We can use it for our getaway.”
“You don’t want to run away with me. Hey, I was pulling the same stunt with Steve. So were you, apparently. It’s not a bad ploy if you can pull it off, but…”
“This is different.”
“Oh, yeah? How?”
“I hated him. I don’t hate you.”
“You should. Everything I did to you.”
“You were just scared, that’s all. Trying to protect yourself.”
“By killing you.”
“But you didn’t kill me,” she said. “And you saved me from Steve
and
Milo. I owe you.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t owe me for anything. After all the awful things I did to you…”
“Forget about that stuff, Alice.”
“Sure.”
“I think we’d be great together. We could take their van and hit the road.”
“Why?” I asked.
“You know why.”
“You tell me.”
“Because we’re in this whole thing too deep,” Judy said.
“
You’re
not. You’re just a victim.”
“The cops won’t know that. My ex-boyfriend’s body is in the trunk of his car—in the parking lot of
my
apartment building. I’ll be a suspect right from the start. And one look at me, they’ll know I’ve been tangling with someone.”
“Right. Milo and Steve. And me.”
“That’s the point, Alice. I can’t tell the truth without telling on you. And I won’t do that. So I’ll be in deep trouble if I stick around.”
“I guess you’re right about that,” I admitted.
She
was
right. We’d gone way past the point where all might be explained by a few simple lies.
The truth would get Judy off the hook—if the cops believed her—but it would destroy me.
“You’d really…give up everything and go away with me?” I asked.
“What’s to give up? I’ve got no family, no boyfriend, a crummy job. We can drive off and start all over, just you and me. Change our names, maybe dye our hair…Wouldn’t it be great?”
“Sounds pretty good to me,” I said.