The Promise (16 page)

The local security and even some of the police kept a respectful distance during these hours because they might be busting the son or daughter of a state Supreme Court Justice, district attorney or a congressman.

In reality, the kids had their own Magic Kingdom Card. On those Friday and Saturday nights, the Colony was, “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

              Elie had been invited to a party her first weekend there, but had refused because, as an undercover officer, she would have to perform her duty.

Her job right now was more serious than busting some kids for drugs. She had plenty of time to do that later. For now, she had to stay focused on finding Allison Taylor. That was her job. But, with the second weekend in full swing, she was running out of excuses to avoid socialization.

              “Verna, you go ahead. I’ll meet you there. I think I can remember the directions. Besides, I want to finish up my paper on Central American dictators. I’m almost finished. Have fun and say hi to a cute guy for me!”

              With that, her roommate waved and walked out the door. Elie was left alone to pursue her academic responsibilities and more importantly, keep her cover from being revealed at some silly party.

After an uneventful hour, she put down her book and decided to take a shower. As she ran the water and undressed, she let her mind process over the case and where it stood at this point.

When the water was warm enough, Elie stripped down and stepped into the water as it cascaded around her.

She had a nice body, lithe and athletic with breasts that were deceptively large for her medium-boned frame. Standing at 5’6” and weighing 126 pounds, Elie Larsen was in great shape and capable of defending herself against most men.

She had sandy blonde hair and piercing green eyes. She was a very attractive woman at twenty-three years of age.

              As she soaped herself off, however, she felt a little uneasy. She couldn’t remember if she had double-bolted her dorm room door and she debated checking it, but the water felt so good.

As she continued to wash herself, she thought about Mike Gallagher and his goofy trivia and lucky mascot and she smiled. He was a good guy, Elie thought to herself. She was enjoying working with him. He was a lot better than most of the men she had been with.

It was too bad she had not met him before he had gotten married. Laughing to herself, she realized it wouldn’t work anyway, two investigators who were married and police partners, too? 

No.

              As she went to turn off the shower, she suddenly got a queasy feeling in her stomach.

Her senses told her she was being watched. Hoping her instincts were wrong, she stepped out of the shower and reached for her towel.

As she did so, she saw a hand pull it away from her and she heard a familiar laugh.

It was Malcolm Oden.

A chill went through her. She was in a very compromising position. She drew back into the shower, grabbed a second towel and wrapped it around her.

              “Nice try, Bree, but I saw everything. You have a very sexy body for a high school student, if you are a high school student.

Some of the girls in The Promise are wondering if you might be a little older and placed here for a special purpose to find Allison Taylor.

I told them they were way off base. You were placed here to find me!”

He laughed again. But, I do believe one thing they are saying, that you are not in high school.

So, who are you really, Miss Kelly? If you want to protect our little secret, you better play along with any leverage you have.

He looked lustily at her.

             
Elie was shaking with both fear and a sense of doom. “Dr. Oden, if you leave right now, I will not report you. I promise. Just go away and leave me alone. You don’t need this on your record. This is a violation of your job and you could get fired so let’s just end it right here, sir.”

She realized her gun was under her mattress on the bed Dr. Oden was now sitting on.

She cursed her own stupidity. “W
ay to go, Elie. Take a shower and leave the damn piece where you can’t get to it.”

              “Shut the hell up, Bree. I’m not leaving. You will do as I say and you will not tell anyone a thing. If you are who I think you are, you will not want anyone to know it.

Play along with me here, young lady. You will be able to continue on with your cover, I will keep my job and we will be lovers for the rest of the year.

Understand?”

              Elie was scrambling to find the right words to extricate herself from this potentially dangerous situation. This was far more serious than her previous two encounters with Dr. Oden.

She looked up above the bath and saw a window. She measured it with her eyes and decided to try and crawl through it.

But, she never had the chance. Before she could move, Oden had his arms wrapped around her as he pulled her abruptly from the bath area.

Throwing her on the bed, he grabbed the towel and spun it off her leaving her completely naked and looking up at him helplessly.

Standing there mockingly, he spoke slowly, “You are one hot, young lady, Bree. God, what a body! Don’t move, just let me look at you. You are beautiful.”

Elie reached down and quickly wrapped her towel around her body and looked defiantly at him. He just laughed again, “We’re alone here. No one is walking in tonight. This time it’s just you and me, Bree.

Or is it, Elie?”

              Elie was screaming inside her soul. But, outwardly, she kept her calm. As the assistant headmaster moved closer to her, his face took on a look of satanic proportions.

“Yes, I did some
digging on you, Miss Larsen. You’re quite an actress.

I can usually recognize a cop, especially a sexy one like you. Don’t deny it, that would be against the law.

We both know you’re an adult and it will be your word against mine. Of course, my version will be that you came on to me.

This community does not take well to the police getting into their private business. Now, why don’t we get rid of that silly, little towel?”

              It was at this point that Elie had to make a bold move to turn the sordid encounter in her favor.

She smiled sexily at him, “So, you know who I really am, huh, Dr. Oden? Well, well. It looks like we both need something here. I need to keep my cover so I can find out more about Allison Taylor and you need something a little more earthy here.”

With a sensual grin, she stood up slowly and let the towel fall to the floor. She rotated her body to the left and right for Dr. Oden. She could feel her nipples harden with the dangerous excitement of what she was doing. Her mouth was dry, her stomach was churning and her head was spinning, but she continued to put on a sexy show for him stalling for her next move.

              Dr. Oden moved to her and began to touch her breasts. Elie closed her eyes with disgust. He moved his head closer and began to kiss her lightly on her lips. “You have a very nice mouth, Elie,” he whispered.

She wanted to gag. But, this was her only chance to get her gun, “
That’s right, scum bag, keep looking at my body because I have a surprise for you.”

              Elie let him touch all he wanted as she maneuvered her body around to reach under the mattress. As Oden relaxed and continued kissing her, her hand was searching frantically under the mattress.

Suddenly, Oden moved his mouth down her face towards her breasts. As Elie opened her eyes she saw him dangling her gun in his hand, “Looking for this?”

Horrified and realizing how much trouble she was in, Elie switched into an even higher sexual gear. Forget about being coy. She had to really seduce him now. It was her only hope to avert the impending rape.

“Look, maybe I’m just a little afraid here. I honestly do find you attractive. Give me a minute.” She stood up and took Malcolm Oden’s face into her hands and kissed him deeply.

Wishing she were dead, she stepped back and let him gaze upon her even more. She felt wave after wave of nausea in her stomach as Oden’s eyes moved up and down her naked body as he smiled smugly waiting for her next move.

“You’re right, Malcolm,
I did want you the first time I saw you. But, I don’t want to do it here. Verna is due back any minute to take me to a party. There is a little shack at the edge of the woods. A lot of the girls use it with their boyfriends. There’s a mattress there. We can bring a blanket and pillow and make love all night long.”

She gave him a sexy grin, “Let’s get the hell out of here, okay?”

At that moment, she was worthy of an Academy Award.

It worked. Malcolm Oden bought it.

He smiled perversely at her, “A mattress huh?”

Elie felt her legs turn to jelly. “Let me put something on and I will make this evening a night to remember for you. I promise.”

As the assistant headmaster continued to survey her body, she walked calmly over to her bureau, pulled out some undergarments and dressed quickly as he obediently waited for her to finish dressing.

When she was finally clad in a tank top and jeans, she turned back to him, kissed him on the lips and smiled. “I want you, Malcolm.”

              He stood up and smugly said, “I know.”

              As they made their way down the stairs she was angry and disheartened. But, she was thinking of a plan to neutralize him as they walked.

Elie continued to make small talk to gain a measure of control here.

She asked him about his job, his education, his family, anything to keep herself from fainting. She pretended to listen attentively as he rattled on about himself.

Finally, as they approached the shack, he moved ahead of her and looked inside.

He exclaimed, “There’s no mattress here. This place smells like a dead animal. Why did you lie to me?”

He reached out and began to rip her top off. As he did so he heard some whispered voices and saw some students observing him as he violated her.

“He cursed at the gawkers. “Get the hell out of here!” He yelled at them. “Give me and my girlfriend some privacy!”

As the students moved slowly away, he put his hand over Elie’s mouth  and quickly moved her behind the shed. “You bitch. I have spent my entire life building my reputation and because of you, I’ve lost everything,”

He pulled out the gun and cocked it.

A horrific thought flashed into Elie’s mind, “S
omeone here is going to die.”
As she processed that realization she heard the sound of a gunshot.

Then everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-three--Recovery