Slowly, carefully, he opened his eyes a little. The blur in front of him resolved itself into his white polo shirt and just below that, his dark blue denim jeans. He felt his chin brushing the soft, slightly fuzzy material.
To either side, his forearms rested comfortably on the broad, flat, wooden arms of the chair he sat in. Curiously, someone had left their belts looped over the chair arms and his wrists.
Raising his head seemed to speed up and intensify the pain but it also helped clear away some of the fog. Inch by inch, he managed to turn his head, taking in the bare gray walls and floor, the single overhead light bulb and the closed door in the right wall.
Futilely, Harm yanked his wrists. The belts he realized now were thick leather straps locking him to the arms of the large wooden chair. Bending over at the waist, he saw his legs, spread slightly, secured to the chair at the ankles with another pair of straps.
Suddenly, the room plunged into darkness. Harm struggled against the leather, adrenaline and fear pounding into his blood and gut.
A light came on in front of him and he found himself looking into another room. On a bed in the center of the other room, Elgin lay on her back, her head resting on a pillow, her arms at her sides. The red sundress in place, even her little red sandals on her feet. But he knew Elgin didn’t sleep on her back, at least not so perfectly posed.
“Noooooo!” he screamed, everything including the pain swept away by the horrible thought that she wasn’t merely sleeping.
The light flashed back on as the door opened.
“She can’t hear you,” Fisher told him calmly.
“I’ll kill you,” Harm snarled, his surprise at Fisher’s appearance erased by his fear for Elgin. The effort made him nauseous and he leaned back, shutting his eyes and gasping for air. A small line of sweat beads formed at his hairline and he prayed his head would explode. At least then the pain would stop.
“Oh, she’s not dead,” he continued. “At least, not yet. Little chloroform to relax her. Get her to come along without makin’ a lot a hoo-hah and spoilin’ everybody else’s Fourth.”
“You left the note for me.”
“Yep. Waited ‘til you were gone and then had the waiter take Ellie a note sayin’ fer her to meet you in the clearin’. Had a blanket and champagne. I knew that’d bring her. When she left, I put the note fer you and followed her. Knew you’d come sniffin’ after her like a hound after a bitch in heat.”
Fisher leaned down into Harm’s face, hate filling his body, twisting his face into a horrible caricature of the kindly old uncle he’d seemed.
“I knew the first time I saw you, you weren’t anybody’s secretary.” The word spit out like an obscenity. “I couldn’t believe my little Ellie’d bring her cheap lay up here and rub everyone’s nose in her dirt.
“Only thing that’s kept me alive all these years was Ellie comin’ home…comin’ back to me. Not that tramp who writes that trash, but my sweet little girl. But the tramp came back and I knew I had to get rid of you and her so I could have my Ellie back.”
“Go ahead and kill me,” Harm answered, trying to keep his voice calm but feeling the fear building inside him, “but don’t hurt Elgin. She’s not to blame.”
“Oh, but she is,” Fisher assured him coldly. “Everything that’s happened is her fault and she’s gonna make up for it before…before I’m finished with her.
“I’m gonna bring her in here and let her see you. Touch you. Talk to you. And I’m gonna tell her that if she does what I want, I’ll let you both go after a while.”
“She’ll know it’s a lie. She’ll know you can’t let either of us live now.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But she’s gonna want to save your skin and hers as well. She’ll do it, believe me.
“Then I’m gonna take her back in that room and she’s gonna strip naked and get in that bed and I’m gonna tie her down and do all the things I’ve dreamed of all those long, lonely nights, years. And you’re gonna sit here and watch me while I take her. Over…and over…and over. Listen to her squeal and scream ‘til she’s too weak to make any more noise.
“And when I’m finished, I’m gonna drag her back in here and make her watch while I kill you.”
Slowly, he reached behind him and pulled out a large, ugly automatic, a forty-five Harm noted almost in passing.
“First the knees.” He pressed the barrel against Harm’s knee and grinned. “Then the thighs. Lots a meat, lots a blood. Then your arms and hands.” The gun moved as he marked his targets.
“Next’ll be your balls. That’s how they do it in the big city gangs. Finally, your gut.” Fisher drove the gun barrel into Harm’s stomach so hard he gasped with pain. “Gut shots take time to die and they hurt like hell. I worked in a hospital once as an orderly. Saw lots a gut shots. When you’re finally gone, I’m gonna put a bullet in Ellie’s head.”
“Someone will miss us at Marty’s,” Harm tried to bluff. “The waiter you had give the note to Ellie will remember you. They’ll come looking.”
“Probably right. But even if someone does miss you, they’ll just think you two snuck off for a little nookie. And if the waiter says I gave him a note, I’ll just say you gave it to me to give to him. Won’t make any difference, though.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because in a day or two, one of the search parties’ll find what’s left of my number eight boat up on ‘Devil’s Fangs.’ Real nasty rocks up toward the north end of the lake. Everybody’ll figure you and Ellie took the boat, got drunk or lost or careless. Out there, they won’t even bother draggin’ for your bodies.”
Elgin stirred and Fisher’s attention focused back on her. “Well, guess it’s about time to get our little party started. You stay right there. I’ll get Ellie and then the three of us can get to know one ‘nother better.”
Harm watched as Elgin gradually came to, Fisher leaning over, trying to talk reassuringly, calmly to her. But by now, she’d figured out that she was his prisoner, not his guest and when she tried to get away, he grabbed her wrists in one big paw, raising his other one and obviously threatening her. Tearfully, she stopped struggling and he dragged her out of sight.
A moment later, the door flew open and Fisher almost threw her at Harm.
“Oh God, Camp!” she cried, clambering into his lap and kissing him. “Are you all right! Oh God, I’m sorry.” Her hands remained behind her back and as she cried into his chest, he saw the glint of handcuffs.
“Shhhh,” he tried to comfort, her tears like acid on his skin. “I’m all right. Shhhhh. Don’t cry, please.”
“I…I don’t understand Camp. What’s happening? What’s going on?”
“He’s the stalker.” The words caught in his throat. Not only had the maniac who’d been terrorizing her turned out to be someone she loved and trusted, he hadn’t been able to save her.
She blinked those beautiful dark eyes in amazed confusion. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s a lie,” Fisher told her hurriedly. “I’m not no stalker.” His features softened then, his eyes filled with the love and caring that had so carefully hidden the truth.
“I love you, Ellie.” The words she’d longed to hear, soft and warm and real but filling her now, not with joy but with bone chilling fear.
“I’ve always loved you, Ellie. Since you were a little girl. You were so pretty. Remember how we’d go out fishin’ er boatin’ and you’d be in yer little swimsuit er yer T-shirt and cutoffs? How many times did you fall asleep in my lap, lookin’ like a little angel? I wanted you then. Wanted you real bad. Coulda had you more’n once but I knew I had to wait for you.