The first cut is not always the deepest...
Dan watched Megan walk away and out of the corner of his somewhat still blurred vision he saw another woman walk out of a room in the corner of the building, turn and head toward her. Megan stopped as soon as she saw Sarah and smiled.
Sarah hugged Megan warmly and then walked over to Sally while Megan headed on over to the Merc. The guys had all left the building except for two. Sarah stopped just short of Sally, gave her a long, slow look and then turned towards Dan.
She walked over slowly having seen what Megan had done to him earlier and stood before him. One of the guys was now removing Dan’s bindings from his wrists as the other was doing the same for Sally.
“Does it still hurt, Dan?” She sounded genuinely concerned but Dan knew it was a ruse.
“Yes. It hurt. But I’ll live so don’t worry about it, ok?” The sarcasm was heavy in Dan’s voice, even if the pain was equally evident. Sarah just smiled.
“That Megan can be so mean, can’t she? I know what a temper she has! But you know what, Dan? She is sooooo good at kissing and making up….” Sarah grinned and walked over to the other Mercury where Megan was opening the hood by reaching through the open driver’s door. As she was raising it, Sarah walked up behind her and reached around from behind, cupping Megan’s ample chest in her hands and then kissed her neck. Megan leaned back against her and sighed, the hood popping on up to full open.
“I’ve missed you, Megan…”
“I know… but it will be over soon and we can catch up. Doesn’t that sound like fun, Sarah – catching up?”
Megan now turned to face Sarah as Sarah’s hands slipped free. Whispering softly, she spoke in her ear.
“Do you think he knows?” Megan asked as she reached her hand beneath Sarah’s sweatshirt. Sarah shook her head as she cast a glance in Dan’s direction, leaning her body against Megan’s.
“Nah… he doesn’t have a clue – yet. Ahh… yes…. Right there… But he will… he definitely will soon.” Megan’s hand had found its quarry and felt the pliant softness and warmth silky skin. She kissed Sarah slowly as her hand emerged again from beneath her lover’s shirt. “We’ll do more catching up later. Right now, we need to get to work – after I explain a few things to Danny boy”
The guy behind Sally led her over to a couple of chairs and instructed her to sit. Sitting there, she watched the other guy lead Dan over to the Merc where Megan leaned against its black fender. Sarah was sitting in the car in the driver’s seat.
“Listen up, chump. Megan’s gonna explain the rules of the game here, ok?” The guy gave Dan a little shove, just to prove pecking order. It only added this guy to Dan’s growing list of people he ‘owed’ something to.
“Dan, remember a long, long time ago when Harry was still alive and he told you about him and me?”
“Go on.” Dan was short on patience and had no time for a lecture – he needed to find a way out of there and fast. Sally looked like she was going to lose it any minute with the guy sitting next to her and a gun on his lap.
“Well, remember you getting all noble and stuff and decided that ‘we’ weren’t worth saving? Even though I begged you to give us a chance once more? Remember that Dan?”
“To have a chance, Megan, you have to love each other. You obviously did not love me or you wouldn’t have been polishing Harry’s knob every chance you two could sneak off.”
Megan just grinned. Not quite the reaction Dan thought he might see…
“Well, Dan, if you must know I DID love you. Yes, I got tangled up in something with Harry I didn’t know how to get out of at first but then I didn’t care. It didn’t look to me like you cared so I guess I just got swept away. But hey, that’s all in the past, right? In the past indeed…” Megan’s face was smiling but her eyes showed something much darker.
“The past can never be relived, can it Dan? But all too often, some of us tend to live in the past don’t we? Like you, sweet Dan… you couldn’t wait to hook up with that little bitch, Sally, could you? I’m sure you felt like the white knight every time you were with her didn’t you? I bet you still do.”
Dan’s fists were clenched but he knew this wasn’t the time or place to set Megan straight. That would come soon enough he hoped – but not here.
“Well, I’ve got another huge surprise for you but first, I’ve got another surprise for you. Sally – come here.”
Sally stood up and walked toward the three, finally stopping near Dan.
“Over here Sally. It’s time he knew. You haven’t told him, have you? You didn’t already ruin the first part of ‘our’ little secret did you?”
Suddenly, Dan’s blood ran cold. The way Megan talked to Sally had an eerie tone in her voice. A tone of – what was it? – familiarity…
Before Dan’s eyes, he saw a transformation in Sally. Where before she was scared and crying, she now was grinning. She stepped over to Megan and kissed her hard on the mouth before she turned to face Dan with her arm around Megan’s waist.
For the second time tonight, Dan wanted to throw up. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as he knew now that the plan he and Sally had made would NOT occur – Megan surely had been tipped off. His options now were slim and none.
“Surprised Dan?” asked Megan.
He didn’t speak… actually, he was unable to speak. Sarah got out of the car, came around behind Sally and leaned against her putting her arms around Sally’s waist. The three girls now all grinned at Dan.
“Why Sally? Why?” was all Dan could say.
“Money, Dan. It’s all about the money. But this isn’t all of it, is it Meg? Is you-know-who here yet?”
Megan didn’t have to answer. A deep voice from within the office spoke.
“Hey, Danny – it’s me.”
A tall sinewy figure walked into the light. Dan was stunned beyond belief – it had to be a ghost.
It was Harry.
“How can you be alive? I SAW you die at the street race that night. That guy shot you and I know you were dead!”
Harry chuckled, the same childish chuckle that Dan knew from the years he and Harry had hung around together. It was Harry all right.
“Well, Dan – for a few seconds, I was dead, at least that’s what they told me. But hey, miracles of medicine, you know? Here I am!”
Dan’s world crumbled even more – Sally walked over to Harry and hugged him close, grinning at Dan all the time. For the first time in his life, Dan was scared. He had no ally here. He had no backup plan. And the deceit cut deeply to everything in him that was man – he had been duped and duped good. By the best of them it seems.
Harry and Sally.
Megan read his mind. “Feeling a little, shall we say, alone Danny? Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I know about your plan. Carl won’t be coming Dan. Sally turned of the GPS just to make sure and besides, she never told him and I’m pretty sure you didn’t either. Did you Dan?”
If it was possible to sink lower in despair, Dan just did. Here he was, in the midst of crazies and in the middle of nowhere. No one knew where he was. And NO one was coming to help.
“Hey, Dan – I’ve got an idea.” It was Harry, mocking him.
“Let’s you and I have a little race. That would be fun won’t it? Maybe that will take your mind off of everything. I’ve always wanted to run that X of yours but of course, I couldn’t – I was ‘dead’! Ha-ha-ha!”
At first, racing was the furthest thing from Dan’s mind. But then, an idea popped into his brain. Maybe, just maybe, a race might be just the ticket out of here. He had to forget his feelings for now. He had to get out of there to fight this fight another day. He had seen the pistol tucked in Harry’s belt. He saw the others with the guns and he knew his only chance was to run.
Megan spoke again, reading his mind once more.
“Oh Danny, you aren’t so foolish as to think that we would let you escape from here are you by allowing you the means to do so in your own car? There is only ONE road in and out of this place Dan – the others were torn up and made into farm land long ago. This is my uncle’s old farm – one of them anyhow. Uncle Darrel always loved this place. He said it was the best place in the state for oranges. And he was right – he made a fortune off this old land. Best of all – he died and left it to me!"
She continued. "So, don’t go thinking you’re going to fake a race and then bolt out of here Dan. There’s nowhere to go but out the road we came in on. And right now, the gates are closed and two of my guys are waiting for you if you DO try it. I’m sure they would love to try out their new AK’s I just bought them. It would be a shame though to see holes shot into that car of yours – but make no mistake, they will – if you try to get away.”
But Dan didn’t really care. NO matter what Megan or Harry or even Sally said, he had to find a way out of there.
“Ok, Megan. I know what you mean. So what’s the REAL deal here? You said it was about the money. What money? It looks like you’ve got plenty – why mine and Sally’s?” He then realized how stupid it sounded to say “mine and Sally’s” after the disclosures he had just seen.
“Oh, Dan. We don’t want your little nest egg. We want your Company’s. I think that’s a LOT of money isn’t it?” She was right – his firm was in the top 20 of Fortune 500’s most profitable companies – worth hundreds of millions. He knew that at any given time, he had the codes to transact cash amounts of 250 million dollars or more from one account to another.
And now, so did Megan.
“Look over there.” She pointed to a table near the office that had a computer set up on it with several cables strewn about. One cable snaked down the table, across the floor and through the wall to a satellite uplink outside.
That was when it all began to make sense, if crime ever made any sense. Sally of course knew that Dan had the account numbers and all the info necessary to make transactions for his firm. But when did Sally and Megan get together? He still racked his brain on this one…
“We’re going to make a friendly little wager on tonight’s race Dan. You win – you walk; but we still get your money. You lose? Well, let’s just say dead men don’t walk. By the time someone finds you here, we’ll be long gone.”
Dan laughed which amused Megan. She knew where he was headed.
“So why should I give you the info Megan if you’re probably going to just kill me anyhow? You kill me, you don’t get the money. And someone will figure it out one way or another, sooner or later. You’ll be caught – all of you. You have to know that, don’t you? So why should I even let you bust my company if you’re just going to kill me anyhow?”
He was sure he had made some sort of impression.
He was wrong.
“Bring him out here, Harry.” Megan’s voice was ice once more.
Harry went into the office where some scuffling of chairs was heard. Dan could here what sounded like a muffled voice and then he saw the source.
Harry was hustling Carl out of the office towards the group. Carl’s arms were tied behind his back and tape was across his mouth and his left eye was nearly shut from a vicious looking bruise surrounding it. Apparently they hadn’t gotten Carl without some resistance. The though made Dan happy for just a moment.
“You see Dan, Carl here is our insurance. You run, we kill Carl. You try anything funny, we kill Carl. Now, you wouldn’t want that to happen would you? You wouldn’t want THAT on your conscience for the rest of your life would you Danny? You would run away scared and maybe even get away, knowing that you left Carl’s body behind?” Megan circled around Harry and Carl, her Sig again drawn and in her right hand, sliding it up and down and around Carl’s back and chest.
Again, Dan was sick and he knew she was right. He couldn’t leave Carl behind. If he did, Carl would die and he knew it. Running was not the option now.
“So here’s the deal Danny. You give Stan over there – he’s the geeky, computer guy at the table – the account info and password. He’ll upload the info and prepare the transaction. Then, you and Harry have your race. You win, you and Carl get left here to walk out on foot and we’ll be long gone. You lose – well, let’s just say you don’t want to lose. Got it Danny? It’s all about the winning now. So give Stan those numbers or we’ll kill Carl – now.” She abruptly put the pistol to Carl’s head and thumbed off the safety.
“I mean it Dan. NOW! If we have to kill you we will because I’m sure we can get the codes from the info Sally brought from your safe, somehow or other. Either way, just make it easy on all of us and give Stan the numbers - NOW.”
Hoping to buy some time for Carl and himself, he gave in. “Bank of America, account number 234 2190T, access code TR98TT, password “2U8Y9G838.” Stan entered the data.
“Got it Megan. I’m in.” He continued to type furiously as he prepared to send millions offshore.
“Ok Danny, that’s enough for now. Curt here will take you to your car in a moment. Harry, are you ready?”
“I’m ready, Meg. I was BORN ready.” Harry grinned. The same old Harry, Dan thought – joking even in the face of danger.
Megan walked over to Dan and stood in front of him, her face squarely in Dan’s.
“Remember Dan, no funny stuff or you’ll never see Carl again. Race Harry heads up. You’ll like the track. The first 330 feet of it is heated via coils just beneath the track surface. The surface temperature is kept a steady 75* when the temps drop and it’s sprayed – you’ll hook great! Of course, you need to as you know! And, it’s dry thanks to the work of the crew. This is where we test and tuned ANNIL8R so I can vouch for it – it’s a perfect track. Any questions?”
Dan shook his head. He was too busy thinking to ask one anyhow.
“Ok, go with Curt. If you need race gas or alky, he’ll get you hooked up. Meanwhile, we’ll keep Carl nice and cozy till you get back.”
Dan and Curt turned to walk out when Sally spoke again.
“Dan?”
He stopped and turned to face her.
“Sweet Dreams…”
To be continued...
Dan watched Megan walk away and out of the corner of his somewhat still blurred vision he saw another woman walk out of a room in the corner of the building, turn and head toward her. Megan stopped as soon as she saw Sarah and smiled.
Sarah hugged Megan warmly and then walked over to Sally while Megan headed on over to the Merc. The guys had all left the building except for two. Sarah stopped just short of Sally, gave her a long, slow look and then turned towards Dan.
She walked over slowly having seen what Megan had done to him earlier and stood before him. One of the guys was now removing Dan’s bindings from his wrists as the other was doing the same for Sally.
“Does it still hurt, Dan?” She sounded genuinely concerned but Dan knew it was a ruse.
“Yes. It hurt. But I’ll live so don’t worry about it, ok?” The sarcasm was heavy in Dan’s voice, even if the pain was equally evident. Sarah just smiled.
“That Megan can be so mean, can’t she? I know what a temper she has! But you know what, Dan? She is sooooo good at kissing and making up….” Sarah grinned and walked over to the other Mercury where Megan was opening the hood by reaching through the open driver’s door. As she was raising it, Sarah walked up behind her and reached around from behind, cupping Megan’s ample chest in her hands and then kissed her neck. Megan leaned back against her and sighed, the hood popping on up to full open.
“I’ve missed you, Megan…”
“I know… but it will be over soon and we can catch up. Doesn’t that sound like fun, Sarah – catching up?”
Megan now turned to face Sarah as Sarah’s hands slipped free. Whispering softly, she spoke in her ear.
“Do you think he knows?” Megan asked as she reached her hand beneath Sarah’s sweatshirt. Sarah shook her head as she cast a glance in Dan’s direction, leaning her body against Megan’s.
“Nah… he doesn’t have a clue – yet. Ahh… yes…. Right there… But he will… he definitely will soon.” Megan’s hand had found its quarry and felt the pliant softness and warmth silky skin. She kissed Sarah slowly as her hand emerged again from beneath her lover’s shirt. “We’ll do more catching up later. Right now, we need to get to work – after I explain a few things to Danny boy”
The guy behind Sally led her over to a couple of chairs and instructed her to sit. Sitting there, she watched the other guy lead Dan over to the Merc where Megan leaned against its black fender. Sarah was sitting in the car in the driver’s seat.
“Listen up, chump. Megan’s gonna explain the rules of the game here, ok?” The guy gave Dan a little shove, just to prove pecking order. It only added this guy to Dan’s growing list of people he ‘owed’ something to.
“Dan, remember a long, long time ago when Harry was still alive and he told you about him and me?”
“Go on.” Dan was short on patience and had no time for a lecture – he needed to find a way out of there and fast. Sally looked like she was going to lose it any minute with the guy sitting next to her and a gun on his lap.
“Well, remember you getting all noble and stuff and decided that ‘we’ weren’t worth saving? Even though I begged you to give us a chance once more? Remember that Dan?”
“To have a chance, Megan, you have to love each other. You obviously did not love me or you wouldn’t have been polishing Harry’s knob every chance you two could sneak off.”
Megan just grinned. Not quite the reaction Dan thought he might see…
“Well, Dan, if you must know I DID love you. Yes, I got tangled up in something with Harry I didn’t know how to get out of at first but then I didn’t care. It didn’t look to me like you cared so I guess I just got swept away. But hey, that’s all in the past, right? In the past indeed…” Megan’s face was smiling but her eyes showed something much darker.
“The past can never be relived, can it Dan? But all too often, some of us tend to live in the past don’t we? Like you, sweet Dan… you couldn’t wait to hook up with that little bitch, Sally, could you? I’m sure you felt like the white knight every time you were with her didn’t you? I bet you still do.”
Dan’s fists were clenched but he knew this wasn’t the time or place to set Megan straight. That would come soon enough he hoped – but not here.
“Well, I’ve got another huge surprise for you but first, I’ve got another surprise for you. Sally – come here.”
Sally stood up and walked toward the three, finally stopping near Dan.
“Over here Sally. It’s time he knew. You haven’t told him, have you? You didn’t already ruin the first part of ‘our’ little secret did you?”
Suddenly, Dan’s blood ran cold. The way Megan talked to Sally had an eerie tone in her voice. A tone of – what was it? – familiarity…
Before Dan’s eyes, he saw a transformation in Sally. Where before she was scared and crying, she now was grinning. She stepped over to Megan and kissed her hard on the mouth before she turned to face Dan with her arm around Megan’s waist.
For the second time tonight, Dan wanted to throw up. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as he knew now that the plan he and Sally had made would NOT occur – Megan surely had been tipped off. His options now were slim and none.
“Surprised Dan?” asked Megan.
He didn’t speak… actually, he was unable to speak. Sarah got out of the car, came around behind Sally and leaned against her putting her arms around Sally’s waist. The three girls now all grinned at Dan.
“Why Sally? Why?” was all Dan could say.
“Money, Dan. It’s all about the money. But this isn’t all of it, is it Meg? Is you-know-who here yet?”
Megan didn’t have to answer. A deep voice from within the office spoke.
“Hey, Danny – it’s me.”
A tall sinewy figure walked into the light. Dan was stunned beyond belief – it had to be a ghost.
It was Harry.
“How can you be alive? I SAW you die at the street race that night. That guy shot you and I know you were dead!”
Harry chuckled, the same childish chuckle that Dan knew from the years he and Harry had hung around together. It was Harry all right.
“Well, Dan – for a few seconds, I was dead, at least that’s what they told me. But hey, miracles of medicine, you know? Here I am!”
Dan’s world crumbled even more – Sally walked over to Harry and hugged him close, grinning at Dan all the time. For the first time in his life, Dan was scared. He had no ally here. He had no backup plan. And the deceit cut deeply to everything in him that was man – he had been duped and duped good. By the best of them it seems.
Harry and Sally.
Megan read his mind. “Feeling a little, shall we say, alone Danny? Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I know about your plan. Carl won’t be coming Dan. Sally turned of the GPS just to make sure and besides, she never told him and I’m pretty sure you didn’t either. Did you Dan?”
If it was possible to sink lower in despair, Dan just did. Here he was, in the midst of crazies and in the middle of nowhere. No one knew where he was. And NO one was coming to help.
“Hey, Dan – I’ve got an idea.” It was Harry, mocking him.
“Let’s you and I have a little race. That would be fun won’t it? Maybe that will take your mind off of everything. I’ve always wanted to run that X of yours but of course, I couldn’t – I was ‘dead’! Ha-ha-ha!”
At first, racing was the furthest thing from Dan’s mind. But then, an idea popped into his brain. Maybe, just maybe, a race might be just the ticket out of here. He had to forget his feelings for now. He had to get out of there to fight this fight another day. He had seen the pistol tucked in Harry’s belt. He saw the others with the guns and he knew his only chance was to run.
Megan spoke again, reading his mind once more.
“Oh Danny, you aren’t so foolish as to think that we would let you escape from here are you by allowing you the means to do so in your own car? There is only ONE road in and out of this place Dan – the others were torn up and made into farm land long ago. This is my uncle’s old farm – one of them anyhow. Uncle Darrel always loved this place. He said it was the best place in the state for oranges. And he was right – he made a fortune off this old land. Best of all – he died and left it to me!"
She continued. "So, don’t go thinking you’re going to fake a race and then bolt out of here Dan. There’s nowhere to go but out the road we came in on. And right now, the gates are closed and two of my guys are waiting for you if you DO try it. I’m sure they would love to try out their new AK’s I just bought them. It would be a shame though to see holes shot into that car of yours – but make no mistake, they will – if you try to get away.”
But Dan didn’t really care. NO matter what Megan or Harry or even Sally said, he had to find a way out of there.
“Ok, Megan. I know what you mean. So what’s the REAL deal here? You said it was about the money. What money? It looks like you’ve got plenty – why mine and Sally’s?” He then realized how stupid it sounded to say “mine and Sally’s” after the disclosures he had just seen.
“Oh, Dan. We don’t want your little nest egg. We want your Company’s. I think that’s a LOT of money isn’t it?” She was right – his firm was in the top 20 of Fortune 500’s most profitable companies – worth hundreds of millions. He knew that at any given time, he had the codes to transact cash amounts of 250 million dollars or more from one account to another.
And now, so did Megan.
“Look over there.” She pointed to a table near the office that had a computer set up on it with several cables strewn about. One cable snaked down the table, across the floor and through the wall to a satellite uplink outside.
That was when it all began to make sense, if crime ever made any sense. Sally of course knew that Dan had the account numbers and all the info necessary to make transactions for his firm. But when did Sally and Megan get together? He still racked his brain on this one…
“We’re going to make a friendly little wager on tonight’s race Dan. You win – you walk; but we still get your money. You lose? Well, let’s just say dead men don’t walk. By the time someone finds you here, we’ll be long gone.”
Dan laughed which amused Megan. She knew where he was headed.
“So why should I give you the info Megan if you’re probably going to just kill me anyhow? You kill me, you don’t get the money. And someone will figure it out one way or another, sooner or later. You’ll be caught – all of you. You have to know that, don’t you? So why should I even let you bust my company if you’re just going to kill me anyhow?”
He was sure he had made some sort of impression.
He was wrong.
“Bring him out here, Harry.” Megan’s voice was ice once more.
Harry went into the office where some scuffling of chairs was heard. Dan could here what sounded like a muffled voice and then he saw the source.
Harry was hustling Carl out of the office towards the group. Carl’s arms were tied behind his back and tape was across his mouth and his left eye was nearly shut from a vicious looking bruise surrounding it. Apparently they hadn’t gotten Carl without some resistance. The though made Dan happy for just a moment.
“You see Dan, Carl here is our insurance. You run, we kill Carl. You try anything funny, we kill Carl. Now, you wouldn’t want that to happen would you? You wouldn’t want THAT on your conscience for the rest of your life would you Danny? You would run away scared and maybe even get away, knowing that you left Carl’s body behind?” Megan circled around Harry and Carl, her Sig again drawn and in her right hand, sliding it up and down and around Carl’s back and chest.
Again, Dan was sick and he knew she was right. He couldn’t leave Carl behind. If he did, Carl would die and he knew it. Running was not the option now.
“So here’s the deal Danny. You give Stan over there – he’s the geeky, computer guy at the table – the account info and password. He’ll upload the info and prepare the transaction. Then, you and Harry have your race. You win, you and Carl get left here to walk out on foot and we’ll be long gone. You lose – well, let’s just say you don’t want to lose. Got it Danny? It’s all about the winning now. So give Stan those numbers or we’ll kill Carl – now.” She abruptly put the pistol to Carl’s head and thumbed off the safety.
“I mean it Dan. NOW! If we have to kill you we will because I’m sure we can get the codes from the info Sally brought from your safe, somehow or other. Either way, just make it easy on all of us and give Stan the numbers - NOW.”
Hoping to buy some time for Carl and himself, he gave in. “Bank of America, account number 234 2190T, access code TR98TT, password “2U8Y9G838.” Stan entered the data.
“Got it Megan. I’m in.” He continued to type furiously as he prepared to send millions offshore.
“Ok Danny, that’s enough for now. Curt here will take you to your car in a moment. Harry, are you ready?”
“I’m ready, Meg. I was BORN ready.” Harry grinned. The same old Harry, Dan thought – joking even in the face of danger.
Megan walked over to Dan and stood in front of him, her face squarely in Dan’s.
“Remember Dan, no funny stuff or you’ll never see Carl again. Race Harry heads up. You’ll like the track. The first 330 feet of it is heated via coils just beneath the track surface. The surface temperature is kept a steady 75* when the temps drop and it’s sprayed – you’ll hook great! Of course, you need to as you know! And, it’s dry thanks to the work of the crew. This is where we test and tuned ANNIL8R so I can vouch for it – it’s a perfect track. Any questions?”
Dan shook his head. He was too busy thinking to ask one anyhow.
“Ok, go with Curt. If you need race gas or alky, he’ll get you hooked up. Meanwhile, we’ll keep Carl nice and cozy till you get back.”
Dan and Curt turned to walk out when Sally spoke again.
“Dan?”
He stopped and turned to face her.
“Sweet Dreams…”
To be continued...
