Her arms couldn’t move because she was in a straitjacket. Her bed was white sheets. Her walls were white, and padded up to about six feet. And the door, also painted white, had bars instead of glass.
Outside, she could hear moans and an occasional shout.
This is it, she thought. I’m in the loony bin.
Mary struggled against her restraints and heard the bolt to the door being thrown, and then it swung outward, allowing three men to enter the room. One of them was a security guard type in a blue wannabe-cop-looking outfit, wearing a gun and a Taser. The second was Torrance. The third was Dr. Frank Fallon.
“This really is where you belong,” Fallon said.
“She was so obnoxious,” Torrance said.
“That’s her style,” Fallon answered. “If she were better looking men would put up with her mouth. But alas, she’s only average looking.”
“Stop with the compliments, Dr. Frank. Maybe I should sue you like most of your female patients who turn you down.”
“They are the exceptions,” he said.
“You’re a joke, Frank. About as attractive as your buddy’s goofy outfit.”
Was she still on drugs? She felt a little funny.
“So Valerie Barnes was your real victim, wasn’t she? You had her cooking your books for you?”
Fallon made the motion of applauding her.
“How did you figure it out, though?” Torrance asked her.
“Your joke with the baby stuff, the infantilism was too over the top. You were trying to hide something with the display. I had a hunch it was all about the Barnes woman.”
“It was fun,” Fallon said. “We used the support group to try out experimental drugs. It fucked a lot of people up, but then we realized that we could sell the shit illegally. One of the drugs Synergy Labs made was practically like crack. Once we started making money, we needed a way to launder it. And beautiful Valerie Barnes in our support group was the key.”
“But then what happened? She got better and realized what was going on? Blew the whistle?”
“Oh, she tried. But we rammed the whistle down her throat before she could get a sound out.”
Both men laughed.
Fallon checked his watch again then turned to Torrance. “Well, should we keep her doped up for the next thirty years or will there be a deadly mix-up in her medication?”
“You know, it’s hard to keep all of this stuff straight,” Torrance said. “So much confusion with dosages and drug interactions. I think if she dies from a nurse administering the wrong amount of drugs, while tragic, wouldn’t be surprising.”
“Should we bang her first?” Fallon said.
“No, I played tennis this morning and pulled a hamstring. But feel free.”
Fallon checked his watch.
“I can slide my morning appointment into the afternoon, which will give me time to slide the sausage into Miss Cooper here.”
The two men laughed.
Fallon began unbuckling his pants and turned to the security guard.
“You can leave now,” he said.
The security guard nodded, pulled out his Taser, and zapped Torrance who fell to the ground. Fallon tried to pull his pants back up but the security guard pressed the Taser into his neck and Fallon fell on top of Torrance.
The security guard looked at Mary, then took off his cap and his moustache.
“I’m sorry, you were finally going to get laid!” Jake said.
Chapter Forty-One
“Well, I figured you’d wind up here eventually,” Jake said, as a team of cops snapped handcuffs onto Torrance and Fallon and led them away.
“Don’t we have to leave her here?” Alice said, as she, Uncle Kurt, and Jason got out of Alice’s car which was parked behind Jake’s unmarked. “After all, she was committed.”
“Very funny,” Mary said. “How…?”
Jake said, “Derek Pitts. He was their dealer for the synthetic crack Synergy Labs was making. We tracked down his crew and they led us to his girlfriend who gave it all up. She was out of her mind from withdrawal.”
“But you were undercover?”
“I knew you were here, but not where, and I didn’t have time for a SWAT team. So I improvised.”
Mary took Jake’s hand. “Thank you,” she said.
She felt a surge of warmth toward him.
“Were you really upset that I wasn’t going to get laid?” Mary said.
Jake nodded. “It was in my plans, they just didn’t include those two clowns.”
Mary slipped her arm around Jake’s waist.
“Well, why don’t we go back to my place and see if your plan was a good one.”
THE END
About the Author
Dan Ames is a crime novelist living in Detroit, Michigan and winner of the Independent Book Award for Crime Fiction.