FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel (24 page)

She tugged at the chains that bound her wrists and kicked her feet wildly as he looked on becoming aroused at watching the useless struggle.

"Shhh baby, don't struggle, you will only hurt your wrists. I need you to calm down, I need you to be a good girl," Nate said, as he stroked her hair, now free and splayed out in a wild mess about the hay lined stall she was lying in.

Her body stilled and she closed her eyes tight, as if to turn off the scene displayed before her. When she opened her eyes again she looked at him, her face devoid of expression. He could tell she was aware, now, of what was happening. He could tell that she understood the gravity of her situation and even though she was trying, with all her might, to give a false appearance of serenity he could sense her unmitigated fear. Try as she might, she couldn't disguise that, and it made him hungry with desire.

"You are going to do exactly as I request. You are going to remember your place, and if you resist, I will be forced to remind you. I have yet to punish you harshly, Kali, and I do not want to. But I will if you do not do as I request. Do you understand?" Nate asked his tone harsh, and matter-of-fact.

Kali nodded her head yes, and as she did, the pounding returned, causing her to become dizzy and nauseous. Sweat was dripping from her forehead, the drops making their way across her face, disappearing into her hairline. The color of her face had become a grayish tint; Nate knew he needed to remove the tape from her mouth. She heard a sound, a zipper perhaps, and she tried to position herself to see its origin. She strained but just couldn't lift her head high enough to get a clear view. Nate re-appeared into her field of vision and, in a swift motion, a knife sliced at her face. She shut her eyes tight, a moan coming from deep inside her, and then, air.

Kali inhaled sharply, gasping, and tried to gobble in full breaths through her mouth. Nate had sliced a hole in the tape over her mouth, and she was momentarily grateful until the overpowering feel of dread returned. Trying to speak she moved her lips, the small portion that was free, but no words came. Nate looked down at her and raised a single, index finger to his lips, "shhhh," he whispered.

He began lifting the edges of the tape from the side of her mouth and when he freed a corner, he pinched it between his thumb and index finger and yanked the entire piece of duct tape from her mouth. Kali let out a shrill scream and immediately, her mouth was covered, smothered by his large hand. Returning his finger to his mouth, he repeated his earlier warning, "shhhh."

"I am going to take my hand off of your mouth, and you are going to be silent unless I request you to speak, do you understand, Kali?" Nate asked.

"Yes," she said, barely audible, her voice a low whisper.

Nate placed a hand over the front of her neck, squeezed tightly then released the pressure. His hand continued traveling down her body until it stopped, resting on her breast. She followed his hand with her eyes, trying to formulate a plan in her head. She knew she was in grave danger, but she also knew that she had a way of getting inside of Nate, deep inside, to the place that rendered him defenseless. She realized that her only hope of survival was to be able to play the part of the submissive, while gaining control of the situation. She shuddered. It was a game she hadn't played before, but the stakes were higher than ever, and she had to master it. There was no room for error.

Looking up at her, Nate was turned on by her eyes, which fixed on him. The look on her face, he had seen it many times before; it made him long for more, long to take her to darker places, places no man had taken her before. His body tensed. A flash of anger went through him like a bolt of lightning, and he recalled that night, listening to another man touch her. He stood up swiftly, towering over her, she didn't see the whip in his hand until after it struck her with a loud crack; her face stung and her cheek became hot. A sharp pain followed the sound of the crack, and she screamed out involuntarily. Another crack followed, more pain, and another, and another...

Her loud cries turned to sobs, and she heard the whip land on the soft hay on the stall floor. Nate leaned down next to her, tugged at the running pants she had on until they were down, past her hips. With one quick motion, he moved her panties aside and plunged a finger into her, and she let out another scream. Removing his finger, he leaned in lower, next to her ear, "You, Kali, your action, caused that punishment. I do not enjoy hurting you, but you like it, don't you? You enjoy the pain, and you cannot deny that, the wetness between your legs gives it away."

He pulled back, so he could see her face; lines began to swell on one side where the whip had struck repeatedly, forming red, raised lines on her cheek.

"I enjoy making you happy," Kali said.

"You do?" Nate asked, moving in close to her face, "why would you give yourself to another man, Kali? Do you think that makes me happy?"

Confused, she tried to figure out what he knew, or how he knew about Andrew. There was no time for confusion, and no time for her to try to piece together Nate's apparent knowledge of her private life; she had to focus on the task at hand, "I could never give myself to another man, I belong to you," she said. Sadness began growing inside of her; the conversation she had had with Sutton playing in her mind. In that moment she realized that she was not dealing with a rational human being, and that she could not allow her emotions to rule her right now. She gulped as she opened her mouth, knowing it was a brazen move on her part, "No man could do to me what you do to me, Nate, please hurt me, make me wet, make me feel your power, please, I need you, I need you to make me feel."

The second she stopped speaking the whip began striking, the crack so loud that her ears rang. Pain. Pain on her face and on her breasts. Pain between her legs. Closing her eyes tight, she escaped to a safe place in her mind, a soft, white, sandy beach, the blue sky above pouring sunlight down on her, enveloping her in warmth. Then, darkness. And then, nothing.

Tessa Drake answered her ringing office line, "Hello dear, how are you this morning?" she chirped, assuming it was Kali as the call came from the rehab room.

"Um, good morning Tessa, this isn't Kali it's Bella. Actually, that's why I'm calling you. Kali's first patient came in this morning and, after he waited for over half an hour and I couldn't reach Kali, I took him. But, now her second patient is here and she still hasn't made it in, and I have been unable to reach her. Was she scheduled off today?"

"Can you hold on for a moment?" Worried she quickly hit the hold button and looked at her staff calendar to make sure Kali wasn't scheduled off, and she wasn't. Then Tessa checked her cell phone to see if she had missed a call or text from Kali, and there were none. She rang the front desk and asked the receptionist if Kali had called in, and she hadn't. Tessa hurriedly tried Kali's cell phone - it rang many times and then went to voicemail. Picking the rehab line back up she strove to sound calm, "Bella, would you take the patient and give me some time to try to track her down?"

"Sure Tessa. Let me know if you want me to try to get one of our part time staff members to come fill in for the day."

Ending the call, Tessa pulled up her email to see if Kali had sent her an email, nothing. Thinking back, she couldn't recall Kali telling her of any events going on today, and she hadn't seemed ill yesterday. Tessa walked to the front desk to see if the receptionist knew anything.

"Good morning," Tessa said cheerfully.

"Morning Dr. Drake."

"Did you see Kali Hanson yesterday?" Tessa asked.

"Yes, she came in and said goodbye on her way out. She left early. I think it was about 11 a.m."

"Did she by chance tell you where she was headed?"

"No, she just told me that she was done with her patients for the day and that she would be back in the morning, is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure everything is fine." Tessa walked back to her office. She scrolled through her contacts and pulled up Colonel Carmichael's number hoping he might know where Kali was.

"Kali?" Andrew Carmichael answered his phone, instantly feeling relief when he saw the facility's number come up.

"Colonel, it's Tessa. I was calling you to see if you knew where Kali was. I can tell by the way that you answered, that you don't."

"She isn't there with you?" Andrew asked.

"No, she had patients scheduled, but she hasn't shown up down here, or called, and she hasn't returned any of our calls," Tessa said.

Silence settled in.

"Colonel?" Tessa said.

"Andrew, please call me Andrew, and yes, I'm still here."

"Andrew, do you have any idea where Kali might be? Have you seen her since yesterday?" Tessa asked.

"No, and no. Tessa, let me look into it, I'll call you back if I hear anything," Andrew said, and hung up.

Andrew felt sick. He walked out the front door of his temporary housing to get some air. He felt light headed and struggled to clear the frantic thoughts running through his mind. His biggest fear being that Nate Warner had gotten to her, or worse, that he had hurt her. Andrew couldn't go through this again. He dammed himself for wasting time parked on Nate's street; he should have gone to her, he thought. Sutton told him how upset she was, he should have driven to her condo the night. Pulling his phone out of the pocket of his khaki's, he dialed Sutton's number and listened as it rang and went to voicemail. He hung up and dialed it again, and again, it went to voicemail. Andrew left a message stating that Kali was missing and asked that he call him back right away. The next step was an easy one to figure out. Andrew went back into his place, gathered up his briefcase and his keys, got into the rental car and headed back to Nate Warner's residence.

Tessa Drake sat in her office looking once again at the call log on her cell phone, at her emails, at the staff calendar. Concern had taken over and she called human resources, "Hello, this is Tessa Drake, and I need an emergency contact number for one of my employee's, please," she said.

"Sure, Dr. Drake, what employee?"

"Kali Hanson, she is a rehabilitation specialist," Tessa said.

"Hold on for a moment, Dr. Drake," the woman said, "Okay. Do you want me to email it to you, Dr. Drake, or would you like me to give it to you now?"

"Now, I have a pen," Tessa said, becoming impatient.

"Meg James, and her numbe-"

"I have her number, thank you," Tessa said, clicking the line off, and immediately dialing Meg's number.

"Hi, K!" Meg answered.

"Meg, it's Tessa, do you know where Kali is?" Tessa asked.

"Hi Tessa, is something wrong?" Meg asked.

"I don't know, I need to reach Kali, do you know where she is?" Tessa asked, again.

"No, is there a reason that she's not at work?" Meg asked.

"I don't know Meg, that's why I'm calling you. When is the last time you saw her?" Tessa asked.

"Yesterday, we had lunch." Meg said.

"Any idea where she was going after you had lunch or if she had plans last night?" Tessa asked.

"I know she had an appointment after she left me, but other than that, no I don't know of any plans she had," Meg said, sensing that something was wrong, "Tessa, what's going on?"

"I don't know, she didn't show up for work this morning, none of us can reach her and I just want to make sure she's okay."

"Has anyone gone to her condo?" Meg asked.

"Not that I know of."

"I'm heading there now. I'll call you if I find her, and thanks for calling me, Tessa," Meg said, as she ended the call.

Nearly two hours had passed since Olivia had fallen asleep. Her breathing had become shallow and her face was now absent the tense, pained look that she had worn since Sutton met her. Sutton looked at his phone display. Andrew was calling again; he had been ringing Sutton's phone repeatedly over the past hour. Beginning to think that he should answer for fear something might actually be wrong with Kali Hanson, he eased himself off of the couch. Stepping outside onto the small, enclosed patio off of Olivia's living area, he dialed Andrew's number.

"Hey Andrew, what's the fuss all about?" Sutton asked quietly, before Andrew had the chance to say anything.

"Kali is missing. She was supposed to call me after her run last night but, she didn't. She didn't show up to work today either, and hasn't returned my calls or the ones placed by Tessa Drake today. I think he has her," Andrew said, his voice rich with trepidation.

"He?" Sutton asked, knowing precisely whom Andrew was referring to.

"Nate Warner, I think he has Kali," Andrew said.

"Why do you think that?" Sutton asked.

Andrew explained that she didn't call him after her run the previous night, and not being able to reach her today then relayed the details of his conversation with Tessa Drake. He left out his visit to Nate Warner's neighborhood.

"Call Ryan Bradley and have him do a welfare check at her residence, and I'll be in touch later this afternoon," Sutton said, his mind already back on Olivia and hung up. Ryan was there and could handle anything that might come up.

When he stepped back into the small apartment, Olivia was sitting up on the couch rubbing her red, swollen eyes. She looked up at Sutton and gave him a small smile, "Hi detective, sorry I dozed off," she said.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over that, Ms. Foster, you needed some rest. How are you feeling?" Sutton asked.

"Better, thank you," she answered.

"If you're feeling up to it, I would like to know what happened the night that you followed Meg," he said, as he moved towards her and sat down next to her.

"Will you make me go back?" she asked.

"Back to San Diego?"

Olivia nodded her head, yes.

"Why would I make you go back, Olivia?" Sutton asked.

"I don't want to go back," she said, tears welling in her eyes again.

"Please finish your story Olivia, and then we can discuss why you think I would make you go back to San Diego."