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This time the three men were in the main room, Dan Wallace and DJ on either end of a long couch, Alex in a chair. Mara’s eye fell on the cell phone resting on an end table beside his chair.
“Nice,” DJ said, dragging out the word as he raked Mara’s naked body with an insolent gaze. “Smooth as a baby.”
“What’s the report, Chuck?” Wallace asked. “All good?”
The doctor nodded. “She’s clean as a whistle and birth control is in place. No vaginal penetration for twenty-four hours, otherwise, she’s all yours.”
Mara most emphatically did not like the sound of that. Somehow she had to get out of here. She had to get off this island.
“Excellent. Good work, Doctor,” Alex said.
“Yes, well done, Chuck. Would you care for a drink?”
“Sure,” the doctor replied.
Alex stood. “I’ll get it. Your usual?” The doctor nodded and Alex moved toward a bar in a corner of the room. Mara’s gaze slid once more to the cell phone, which he’d left beside his chair. She was standing alone in the center of the room, the doctor and Alex now by the bar, the two others seated on the couch. If she could just punch in 9-1-1, someone would have to come, wouldn’t they? Even if she didn’t get a chance to speak, a coast guard or someone would ping the phone and follow up to make sure everything was okay, wouldn’t they?
She stole a glance at Alex, who had his back to her. It was now or never.
All at once, she hurtled herself toward the table and snatched up the phone. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely punch in the numbers. 9-1-1, yes! Her finger was poised over the send button when a sharp pain in her wrist made her cry out. The phone fell with a clatter from her hand to the ground.
In the next instant, the floor rose suddenly to meet her face, her shoulder and right cheekbone making hard contact with the cool tile. Her arm was wrenched sharply behind her back and she screamed.
“Hey there, ease up. Take it easy, DJ,” Wallace said from above. “What the hell just happened?”
“The little cunt was trying to use the phone.” DJ’s voice rumbled near her ear. He jerked her arm higher and she cried out again.
“Let her up.” This time it was Alex’s voice. Her arm was released and Mara was hauled roughly to her feet. DJ remained behind her, his hands on her shoulders. Alex regarded her with a cold gaze. “What was that about, Mara?”
She turned away, tears burning in her eyes, her heart still beating wildly in her chest.
Hard fingers gripped her chin, forcing her head upright. Alex leaned in close, his face inches from hers. “I said, what was that about? Answer the question. What were you doing?”
Like he didn’t know, the bastard. She wanted to spit in his face. She wanted to kick him in the balls. Naked, powerless, alone, she just stood there, staring back at him. His lips lifted into a small, amused smile. He reached for her throat and gripped it, squeezing lightly at first, and then harder, until she began to choke, the pressure building in her skull. She struggled, but DJ held her firm. Over the blood roaring in her ears, she heard Alex say in a calm voice, “You’re in a lot of trouble, little girl. I asked you a question. You will answer the question or it will go so much worse for you.”
Mercifully, he let go and she sucked in a bushel of air between sputtering coughs. He stared at her, waiting.
“I was trying to call for help.” Her voice trembled. “I was trying to call 9-1-1.”
“Oh dear, dear, dear,” Alex replied with heavy sarcasm, shaking his head. “Tell me, Mara, is that how a good girl behaves?” He cocked an eyebrow as he waited for her answer.
By whose definition, you fucking asshole, she wanted to scream. He continued to stare. Mara mumbled a reply.
“What’s that? Speak up, girl.”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Both eyebrows now lifted in mock incredulity. “Then I’ll tell you. Good girls don’t grab other people’s things without permission. Good girls do what they’re told.” He reached toward her face and Mara instinctively squeezed her eyes shut and shrank back against DJ, sure Alex was going to slap her. DJ held her fast.
Instead of a stinging blow, however, Alex gently stroked her cheek. “Bad girls,” he said softly, caressing the words, “get punished.” His face was suffused with a strange, demonic light and Mara shivered with pure terror.
“That’s right,” Wallace said, appearing suddenly behind Alex. “But before you teach her a lesson, I want to inspect the goods. This girl has a mouth on her like ripe strawberries. I want to see if she’s as sweet as she looks.”
