Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 04 - Jupiter Returns (14 page)

“I’m so good at what I do,” she said.
“I can’t believe the FBI can be so stupid. Why did they take my prints if they were going to be lazy about running them? Now I want you to strip, unless you have any other clothes in here.”

“I have my gym clothes,” I said
. I didn’t work out that often, not like Tracy, so they were hardly used. I reached over in the back of the vehicle and grabbed the gym bag and handed it to her.

They were a little tight on her but she put them all on, including the headband.
“How do I look?” She asked turning around in her seat. “I bet these look better on me than they do on you.”

I didn’t answer.
“Hey, bitch. I’m talking to you and I don’t like being ignored, just ask Christina. Oops, that’s right you can no longer ask her anything, can you?”

CHAPTER 29

She taunted me like that the whole time while giving me directions.
We were heading down I-45 toward Galveston. But before we got to the exit for the beach she told me to exit and turn right instead of left.

We ended up on a blacktop road for about ten miles and then turned right again on a narrow dirt road.
There weren’t many trees but a lot of weeds and bushes, some growing over the road in places and I knew this road hadn’t been used much.

The one l
ane road ended at a huge mansion. I was hoping this was where she had Julia and that Julia was all right.

She held the gun on me and told me to get out of the car.
I cut the engine and she held out her hand for the keys. I dropped them in her hand and got out of the car.

This house was even bigger than ours and looked new.
There was a huge foyer open all the way to the roof with skylights above. There was a spiral staircase that she shoved me up and into one of the bedrooms about halfway down the hall.

Jul
ia was lying on a king-sized bed with her hands tied behind her back. She wasn’t gagged but she was blindfolded. She was facing away from the door.

I ran to her and put my arms around her and she started crying.
I pulled the blindfold off and was surprised when Jupiter didn’t try to stop me. I then untied her hands and we hugged.

I looked over at Jupit
er and she laughed and said, “Aww, how sweet.”

“Are you all right?” I asked Julia.

“Better than the last time you rescued me” she said.

I didn’t see any bruises or abrasions anywhere on her and no burns like when I had found her after Mr. Lessiter had captured her.

Jupiter paced like a wild animal and her eyes darted from us to the window. “What’s keeping that bitch?” she mumbled to herself.

We heard a car drive up but couldn’t see who it was from where we were.
“It’s about time,” she said and ran down the stairs. “Get your fucking ass in here,” I heard her scream.

We heard them coming up the stairs and when they came in
Julia and I both gasped. We couldn’t believe who walked in. It was Tracy. Jupiter giggled and bowed, “Agent Carr, I presume.” She then took Tracy’s chin in her hand and turned her face from side to side. “They did a good job. I’m impressed. How do you feel?”

As soon as she spoke I knew it wasn’t Tracy a
t all but someone with her face.

“I feel damn good and look good.
But these contacts are killing me.”

Her voice was not Tracy’s.
It had a foreign sound to it and as soon as she spoke Jupiter drew back.

“You got to work on that voice, Mar…Tracy.
Agent Carr’s voice is very refined.” She turned to us. “There will be more folks you know joining us later today.

“You will get started right away.
”

Julia and I looked at each other, “Started on what?” I asked.

“Come on, Dr. McCain you’re the one with all the education. You can start by helping Tracy here get rid of her accent. You will prepare her psychologically to take Agent Carr’s place also. You will teach her everything she will need to know to fit into society. When the real Tracy Carr gets here she will teach her all about the FBI.”

“I won’t co
-operate, and neither will Tracy, if you’re lucky enough to capture her.”

“Oh, you’ll both co-operate.
I have my insurance sitting right next to you. That’s why I’ve taken such good care of Julia, even though I really wanted to have some fun with her. She would be such a fun victim to enjoy. Oh and, by the way, we already have Tracy.

“As soon as she realized you were missing she ran outside the agency alone to see if she could spot you.
All we had to do was to grab her, chloroform her, and put her in the back of the van.”

She clapped her hands and grinned, “Okay, let’s get everyone settled in.
If you’re a good girl,” she said to me, “You will have every comfort. You know what will happen if you’re not.”

She took my arms and pulled me off the bed, “Come on, I’ll even give you your choice of bedrooms.”

I looked at her and tried not to show how much I hated her, “If I do have a choice, I’ll stay here with Julia.”

“Oh, I see, ‘
my sister, my lover?’ I think I read the book.” She laughed, “Sure, why not. Whatever floats your boat.” I heard the lock click in the door as the two left.

CHAPTER 30

Julia chatted a mile a minute like she always did, explaining about being picked up at the airport.
It was things I already knew and while she was talking I looked around.

The room was pure luxury, but it was a cell nevertheless.
It had two bathrooms so we could each have one and the two closets were filled with clothes. But when I parted the curtains to look out there was only a brick wall.

As I let the curtain fall back into place, Julia stopped talking, “We’re not going to escape this time are we Judith?”

“Tracy will think of something,” I said.

“No, Jupiter explained it to me.
If any of us escapes, the others will be killed.” She hesitated like she was debating on whether to tell me something. Then she continued, “They’re going to grab Mimi and Brad, Judith,” she said. Her shoulders shook as she cried.

I was so angry I couldn’t comfort her.
Mimi was the most kind and generous person I knew and she had been through so much and had only found us about fifteen years ago.

Brad was a sweet little boy who didn’t need to know about this part of the world.
I vowed then and there that when I got a chance, I would kill that bitch.

There was no TV in the room but there were books.
We each took a book and propped up against the headboard to read while we waited. We must have dozed off because we were woken up by a noise coming from the hallway.

There was
no way to see what was going on since our door had been locked but we went to the door and put our ears against it.

Several people were arguing.
“No, you cannot have her. You can’t have either one of them. Our mission is far greater than you satisfying your damn sexual needs,” It was Jupiter’s voice.

Then I heard a man’s voice, “What’s it going to hurt, one way or another, just a little fun, huh?”

“I’m not arguing with you, you lay one finger on either one of them and I’ll pull your eyeballs out the back of your head.

“After they’ve served their usefulness, you can do what you want with Julia, but Judith is mine.
I have very special plans for her.”

I looked at Julia and her face reflected the panic I was feeling.
I knew we had to escape somehow and hoped Tracy in all her experience with the FBI would have some tricks up her sleeve.

We dozed off again and at around seven we heard a key being turned in the lock.
We jumped off the bed just as a man in a uniform walked in. It was Burt Jamison.

The uniform was bright pink and was made up of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt with much braiding in white.
He had sneakers on his feet and pink socks. I almost laughed out loud and I heard Julia snicker.

It was the craziest uniform I could have ever come up with in a nightmare.
It would take a mind as sick as Jupiter to come up with it.

He smirked, “You didn’t think I was going to waste my time guarding your sorry ass, did you?
Jupiter offered me this wonderful job after the FBI fired me. They didn’t deserve me anyway.”

I couldn’t help myself, I knew there would be consequences but I had to say it, “You look really cute in your little pink uniform.”

He slapped me across the mouth and split my lip. I ran into the bathroom and got a washcloth and held it to my mouth. When I came back out he said, “I was sent to take you down to supper. Just keep your mouth shut.”

As we were going down the spiral staircase I counted seven guards standing in the foyer talking with drinks in their hands.
None of the other’s had on pink uniforms but wore different shades and hues of a different color for each one.

Burt led us into a huge dining room with a long mahogany table that seated twenty four.
None of the guards sat at the table and there were a lot of empty chairs. I assumed more would be joining us later. Tracy came in and…Tracy. They were dressed just alike in tan colored silk pants and white silk long-sleeved blouses.

The only way I could tell them apart was that one of them kept blinking her eyes and I remembered the fake Tracy telling Jupiter that the contacts were driving her crazy.
The guards seated them side by side across from us.

I started to speak to Tracy but one of the guards said, “You will not address each other.”

Several other men and women that I recognized from the funeral came and took what looked like their regular place. No one spoke.

There was no food on the table and not even water.
As we waited, several other people joined us. I didn’t recognize any of them. We waited some more and then the president of the United States came in. I started to stand but the same guard said, “You will remain seated.” I realized it couldn’t be the real president.

Next a man wearing a general’s uniform came in.
There were several government officials and I looked at Tracy and could see she was getting worried.

I was beginning to get it.
Last time Jupiter ruled a pedophile ring, now she wanted to rule the country. She was not only a sociopath but a psychopath. She had completely gone round the bend.

We waited some more and no one said anything.
Then Jupiter made her grand entrance. She had shaved her head and had spirals tattooed on her head. She had on so many gold chains around her neck, I thought of Mr. T. She had rings on every finger and was wearing a long metallic gold gown.

One of the guards shouted, “Show proper respect,” and I noticed most of the people had gotten up out of their chairs and were bowing to Jupiter.
We did the same and waited for Jupiter to be seated.

She was wearing tons of makeup and her lips were bright red.
The guards hurried around filling everyone’s wine glasses. Jupiter raised her glass and licked her lips and said, “I announce tonight the beginning of the reign of Jupiter.”

As we raised our glasses, Tracy looked at me and shook her head.
There was much more at stake here than what we had dealt with before. I hoped she had a plan.

CHAPTER 31

I saw part of Tracy’s plan as we were eating.
We had been served gourmet food, that rivaled anything in New Orleans, and expensive wine. The fake Tracy watched the real Tracy and I noticed that Tracy was eating weird. She asked one of the waiters for ketchup and put it on everything on her plate and then shook salt over the whole thing.

The fake Tracy did what Tracy did and I put my head down to keep from laughing.
I don’t know how Tracy did it, because it must have tasted awful, but she grabbed her fork and started shoveling food into her mouth like she was starving to death.

The fake Tracy look at Jupiter, who was talking to the president of the United States, and then forced herself to follow Tracy’s example.

I noticed some of the other people at the table watching Julia eat and trying to copy her. I looked down at my plate. It was still almost full. I had been busy watching everyone else.

We had a choice of dessert: cherries with cream,
peach cobbler or chocolate cake. Julia, of course, got the chocolate cake. I didn’t think she had been paying attention, but she took her knife and spread some of the chocolate from the cake on her thumb and stuck it in her mouth.

I looked around and saw four people do the same.
I had ordered the cherries jubilee and I took one of the cherries and put it in my fist then put my fist to my mouth and sucked the cherry out.