Retaliation

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Hank III

“You really didn't think that you were going to just take off out of here with all the goodies, did you, Dickhead?” He heard the voice, knew at once that it was Her and slowly reassembled his blurry mind.

What happened? He remembered going down to the cellar to get his wine and then nothing. Now his head still hurt and there was a bandage on his right arm, just above the wrist. He was naked and everything hurt.

Once again, he knew: She had outsmarted him. She knew he'd go for the wine and while he was stuffing his personal possessions into the bags, She was lurking in the cellar, betting big that he'd come back for the wine. She won. He lost. Now what?

Lying on his back, he tried to get up but found he was unable to move his arms or legs. He lay on a table of some sort, not any piece of furniture he recalled having in the cellar. He was blind. There was tape or something like it over his eyes. His limbs were strapped to the sides of the table and there was some sort of fabric stuffed into his mouth and held there with a strap that also held his head immobilized against the table between two padded cinder blocks, one on either side of his head. He stopped struggling and listened.

“Welcome to your new and permanent home, you worthless fucker.” Melinda's voice was tinny, sounding far off, as if She was talking through some sort of electronic system. “Get comfy, Asshole, because you are going to be here for some time to come. How thoughtful of you to pack your traveling stash of hand cuffs, gags, hoods, shackles and chains in that lovely leather bag. You will note that I have taken the liberty of using a few of those bondage toys on you, just so you’ll be more uncomfortable knowing that I am fully wise to your weekend games with your stupid girl friends. Oh, and don't worry. I'll divorce you as soon as the proper amount of time passes in mourning your death and then I'll find some other moron who wants a piece of this body and this fortune. Meanwhile, you, my stupid former husband, will be enjoying the proximity to your precious wine collection. It's very close by. And you'll know it’s there, in the wine cellar with the rest of your collection that I paid for. But you will be on the other side of this stone wall, unable to reach it or anything else. You'll be part of MY collection. Later, Dickhead. You'll get a brief overview of the future that's in store. I have many plans for you.”

The audible hiss of the audio system went off and the room was quiet. Hank heard his own heart and his shallow breathing. He heard the creaking of the thick leather straps that held him to the table and in the distance; he thought he heard the heating system switch on. He wondered what Melinda planned for him and knowing Her, he felt a deep pang of anxiety in his stomach. Hank knew only too well how truly vindictive his wife could be when She was annoyed. He had seen more than one of Her friends end up on the wrong end of Melinda’s plotting. Susan Cade immediately came to mind because Hank and Susan had a brief affair and when Melinda found out, Susan’s life took a curious turn for the worse. Her facelift of only a few months before became a mask from a horror movie and Melinda, all sympathy and concern, after reminding Susan that if She, Melinda, had done the work this unfortunate mishap might not have happened.

Hank overheard one sob-saturated phone conversation where Melinda referred Susan to a noted plastic surgeon in Rumania, telling her that although She would prefer to do the repair work herself, Her schedule would not permit it and this repair needed to be done immediately.

“The clinic is high in the mountains where the thin alpine air will work wonders for your recovery, Susan dear.” Hank heard Her say. “Doctor Evans is an old friend and has agreed to take your case, but you must leave at once before the tissue degenerates any further. I recommend that he work on the botched breast augmentation first and then on your face. That way, your chest will begin to heal sooner and the multiple surgeries on your facial tissue will take some time,” she added.

Susan left for Belgrade the next day, but returned a few months later in a coffin, complications from the surgery apparently being too much for her. Hank knew this was a plot that Melinda was responsible for but could never be connected to, but it served as a warning as to what might happen to anyone who crossed his wife the wrong way.