The man came up behind her and shut the door, securing it with some kind of electronic lock. There was a small toilet, a clock on the back wall and a cot-sized mattress on the floor. A thin blanket lay spread over the mattress.
Drake entered his cell, equipped with the same interior. The walls were thick concrete all the way up to a concrete ceiling. The wall between the two cells consisted of half bars and half concrete. She could see Drake and his cot, but not the back area where his toilet would be, nor could he see hers.
He’s done this before.
She knew these cages weren’t just erected for her. In that case, could it be possible Vivian had allowed her to be taken so she’d locate this madman and be able to stop him?
He had an expert approach. The cages, the decked-out vehicle with fake ID, and a police siren. The man was a professional. He had nerves of steel to pull off what he did to get them there.
She sized everything up. All the bad guys were the same, they just wore different clothes. It was always a different set of circumstances, but she would prevail. Vivian wouldn’t have let her get trapped this easily. Something good would come her way.
The man stepped away from view and then a moment later came back with three water bottles in his hands. He tossed one through Sarah’s bars and the other two through to Drake.
Drake fumbled around and then grabbed one, tilted his head back and poured it all over his face, using his free hand to rub the water in.
The man stepped to Sarah’s cage and stared at her. His eyes roamed her body. She wanted to reach through the bars and tear them out of their sockets.
“I’ll be back later to talk. I will explain everything soon enough. I’m sure you’ll grow to enjoy your stay with me. Once you know my rules, things’ll become easier.” He stared into her eyes. “Sarah Roberts, you’re my little hostage now.”
He stepped away, ascended the stairs and left the basement, turning off the light as he shut the door.
Chapter 21
Something burned Sarah’s ankle. She rolled over and smacked at it with both hands. Then something hot touched her side by her hip bone. She got up and swatted at it. She idly wondered if she’d been stung by a bee.
Then she remembered where she was. A cage in a madman’s basement. A burned-out match smoldered on the floor. Her tormentor had thrown lit matches at her.
“Wake up,” he said. “It’s five in the morning — time to wake up.”
“You wake me up with fucking matches?”
The man hadn’t uncuffed them yet as he didn’t return last night. A single overhead light cast him in an eerie glow. Sarah could barely see Drake’s feet at the edge of his little mattress. She couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.
“Don’t worry about him. He’s fine. We need to talk.”
“About what?”
The man slipped a thin box through the bars of her cage’s door and tossed it close to her. Then he leaned down and slid a small piece of something metallic along the floor.
“That’s a nail clipper. No long nails are allowed in my cells. Clip your fingernails and then your toenails. Do not let them touch the floor. Once you’ve collected all of them, hand them to me and slide the clipper back out.”
“Forget it. You aren’t getting shit from me until you tell me what this is all about.”
The man seemed to consider this for a moment.
“My name is Elmore. I operate an international company that sells used panties. In that box, you’ll find a variety of panties in many colors. Over the course of the next few days, you will wear the panties for at least six hours a day and then place them back in the box after you’ve been photographed wearing them for authentication purposes. That’s what this is all about.”
Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you serious? Used panties? That’s insane. Who would buy such a thing?” His expression didn’t change. He wasn’t joking. “You kidnapped me to make me wear panties for your company? Are you insane? What the fuck are you? Nobody does shit like that.”
“You’ll do as I say. I know you will, because you’re not my only hostage. He is too.” The man nodded toward Drake. “When you prove difficult, I will start to take body parts off him one by one and mix it in with his food. You can watch your friend eat himself alive over the coming months. I’ve got all the time in the world, as do you.”
Sarah felt something akin to horror. “You are certifiably fucking gone. Those words you just said signed your death sentence. When I get out of here, I will murder you with these hands.” She held them high for him to see.
Elmore stepped back from her bars. “You might want to monitor your threats as I’m the one on this side of the cage. Clip your nails now. You don’t have the option to say no. And don’t worry, we’ll get along in time. You’ll grow to depend on me and love me.”
“Fat fuck-off chance,” she said. Then she mumbled, “The only thing I’ll love about you is watching you die at the end of my arms, you sick fuck.”
“I warned you about the threats.”
Elmore moved away from her cell door and started toward Drake’s.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
“The tongue is better than a sharp knife. It kills without drawing blood,” she said. She couldn’t let anything happen to Drake on account of attitude. “Sometimes, my words get away from me.”
“Nails. Start clipping.”
She got off the mattress and picked up the clipper. After doing her nails, she stepped over to the toilet, held them over it and then flushed them down.
She turned around and smiled at him. “Sorry about that. This batch was a little dirty. I saw how clean your house is. You wouldn’t want those nails.” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “You’ll have to wait a few weeks until they grow back out.”
“You really don’t get it, do you?” he walked under the light and crossed his arms. “I’m your everything now. All my girls break. You’ll break too. I’ve been looking forward to this for five years. You’re not super human. I’m your only source of food, water, the outside world, companionship. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is right here. I’m it.”
“You’re a hierarchy of asshole if you think you’ll be able to break me. I’m the one looking forward to this, because I will get out and when I do, the price will be too high for you. You won’t be able to handle the cost.”
Elmore blew air out of his mouth. “I expected you to be strong, but you’re showing strength beyond your years. Admirable, Sarah, admirable. But I’ve been doing this for a long time. There have been a lot of young girls in those cages over those years and all of them are buried out back after spending a few months servicing me and my needs, whether it was business needs or personal needs. You will be no different. And guess what?”
He stepped closer to her cell door. “Not a single cop ever came to my door looking for a lost girl. I’m too good. Are you even aware of how many people go missing every day and are never seen again? My basement is soundproof. No one saw you come here. You’ve disappeared. The next time you see the sun again will be when I take your used dead body upstairs to bury you out back. That’s what’s going on here.”
She couldn’t let him see how he was getting to her. She realized he was right. If no one knew where they were or where to look, she may be in his cell for some time.
Keep him talking, find a hole somewhere.
“How could you be that good?” she asked. “No one can stay under the radar that long.”
“I have. It’s been so easy. The girls come to me. They’re so stupid.”
“How’s that?” she asked. Keep him talking.
Elmore unfolded his arms and turned away from her. He grabbed a small armchair and carried it to the front of her cell where he sat and leaned forward on his thighs.
“The panty business is legitimate. I own a photo studio downtown Toronto. I have ads in local papers for non-nude photography, no experience necessary. Do you know how many responses I get for those ads? In the hundreds per week.”