Riley set her up in bed and tucked her in. He'd taped Maddy up again, her hands entwined in the headboard. He stripped to his boxers and lay next to her. Her thoughts rambled on. This man thought that he was in love with her from one chance meeting at the bank. There was no telling what he was capable of. She lay still and dormant, listening to the steady beating of her heart and the rhythm of his breathing. She could feel the heat from his body only about an inch from her. The closeness not only frightened her but also in some odd way gave her a sense of comfort. She wasn't alone.
When Maddy woke up, the sun gave her no comfort through the thick blinds that were shut tight. Her arms were sore and losing circulation. She was warm though, still snug in the blankets. The shower turning off caught her attention and soon he came out, dried, yet completely nude. She shut her eyes quickly but his image was still in her eyelids. He was tan all over. He must have had to use a tanning bed. The dreary skies of Oregon wouldn't have allowed that much sunshine. She scolded herself for even thinking the thought but she could help looking towards his manhood. And he defiantly did not lack in that department.
He must have not noticed that she was awake because he didn't speak to her. She kept quiet and listened as she heard the rustle of clothes. She held her breath as she felt the mattress dip under his weight when he sat down. His hand came to her wrists and cut away the tape, freeing her hands. "Morning," he cooed to her.
She opened her eyes to find him smiling down at her. "Morning."
He began to rub her arms, bringing back the circulation. "We have a long drive ahead of us. I bought you some new clothes to wear and some food to eat."
It was then that she realized she was naked under the covers. He had stripped her. The thought half scared her and half excited her.
Once her arms got the feeling back in them, he stood and set a pair of jeans on the bed. "I hope they're the right size. I got them one size larger than what I thought. I figured too baggy would be more comfortable then too small." A light blue sweater was placed next to the jeans along with some white cotton panties and her bra.
She swallowed. "Could I take a shower?"
He nodded. "Sure. There's no window in there and I've taken all the sharp objects out." He combed his hair out and smiled to her. "Do you need any special products for your hair, darling?"
She flinched as he called her 'darling.' "Uh, no thanks."
He nodded and motioned for her to go into the bathroom.
He had set out several generic products for her; shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, and some lotion. He had also set out a comb and brush. But her eyes landed on a specific item. A curling iron. She plugged it in and turned on the shower, letting it have time to heat. Her skin was chilled and the warm water was soothing. He had actually chosen pretty good skin products and shampoo. She began to scrub her pale arms, depleting the layers of dried skin as well as the feeling of contamination she felt from this man's touch. He was entirely insane. No matter how many times she ran it through her head, it didn't make it any easier.
She stepped out onto a small towel while wrapping another one around her body. Tiny droplets fell from her hair to the floor in their own desperate attempt to flee. After sufficiently drying herself, she slipped into the clothing he had brought for her. She shudders as she slipped into the jeans and found them a perfect fit. Swallowing, she ran a comb through her hair and took a look at herself in the mirror. Clean and refreshed, she looked completely normal, like a psycho wasn't holding her captive.
She held her hand over the curling iron for a moment to check its readiness. The heat soaked into her skin and she grinned a little as she unplugged it and held it like a dagger in her hand. She wound the cord around her other hand so that it could be wrapped around his neck of she got the chance.
She took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. He was sitting in a chair watching TV, peacefully. She took advantage of this and lunged, growling as she aimed the hot iron for his face.
But Riley was anticipating. He leapt from the chair and to the side, causing Maddy to lose her balance and tumble into the chair, the hot iron landing on her left forearm. She cried out in pain as he grabbed the iron from her and tossed it aside.
"You failed your test, Maddy." He lifted her into his arms and set her on the bed. "I wondered if you would try that. You're brave." He reached to the nightstand where she saw he had a first aid kit ready.
She let the tears roll. "Please," she begged. "Please let me go?"
He pulled out some burn gel and tended to her wound. "I was in the military once. Covert operations and secrets and all that shit." He placed some gauze over the burn and wiped her tears with his thumb. "I had to listen to people ask to be let go. But they were prisoners, you see. Like you. You're a prisoner of love."
"What love?" she sniffled. "I still don't understand."
"Shh…" He placed a finger over her lips. "All in due time. Then we'll be married and our house will be filled with love."
The gel soothed the pain of the burn but Maddy felt her heart drop as he spoke. His mind had been manipulated by some rotten military experience. He didn't seem to have a grasp on what was real. This was something she was used to.
Maddy's eldest brother, Marshall, had gone insane in his latter teen years. He had suffered some mild delusions as a child but Maddy could remember his sixteenth birthday where he pulled the knife from his cake and stabbed her mother, trying to kill the bugs that he saw on her. She was in intensive are for three months and Marshall was tossed into a psychiatric facility.
Riley seemed to need the same thing. "What would you like for breakfast?"
"To go home?" she tried.
He seemed to pause on that. "All right."
Her eyes widened and she began to feel lighter. "Do you mean it?"
"Of course. The house should be finished by now I'm sure." He began to pack up their things. "It's a wonderful three bedroom house with a brand new hot tub and wicker furniture."
Her hope sank. "But I like my old house."
"Old. That's just it, Maddy. It's old. It's time to put away these things as get on with your life. With me."
"Do you even know my last name?"
"It will soon be Riley as soon as we're married." He tossed the bag over his shoulder. "Let's go. We still have a couple of hours to drive. And I'd like you to be home in time to cook dinner."
She took a deep breath, holding back the tears of fright that threatened to brim her eyes. "What am I? A slave too?"
"Not at all. It's just your place. And when we start having babies…" He chuckled. "Well I don't think that there will be much time for you to work. But I'll support us. I promise."
"Babies?" She paled briefly before the anger set in. "You don't think I'd actually spread my legs for a no good piece of shit like you, do you?" She felt the sting of his hand against her cheek and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
"You will not disrespect me. Do you hear me?" He grabbed her arm and shoved her out the door. Whatever tenderness or love he had been expressing before wasn't there in that face she saw. His jaw was clenched tightly, a vein poking its way through the skin on his forehead. His eyes were hard and cold. She trembled under their gaze as he sat her in the front seat this time and belted her in. The car door shutting sounded more like jail bars to Maddy. She was trapped again. She knew she could try to run but she also knew that he would track her down like an animal and she didn't know if he would be sane enough not to kill her.
After checking out, he proceeded down the coastline again. Maddy rested her head against the cool glass of the window and prayed for a solution to come to her. But the passing trees gave no comfort as they submerged themselves more into the wild. There would be no one to hear her screams. And there would be nowhere to run.
They spent the drive in vocal silence. He had a CD player installed into his car, which was the only good idea Maddy saw he had. The radio reception - and for that matter cell phone reception - was horrible in these parts. He had put in a CD at the beginning of the trip and looped it on one song.
"Wanted to buy you shiny red thing. Thought I'd be with you until the end. How did I know that I would be there? Blow me away. See if I care." The drone lyrics from Bush lingered in her mind, slowly melting their way in. "Death of a future. Goodbye to my friends. Wish I could see you all again. Family hollow, family real. Wish you were here see how I feel."
She jumped and squealed as the lyrics became violent and Riley joined in. "Kill a man! Kill a girl! Kill a man! Kill a girl!"
The lyrics smoothed out again, calming her pulse but not her fear. "Jekyll in you brings out the wired in me. I have no defense. I'm all that you see. The night is a bomb blast. The night is on fire. Sing with me in the gasoline choir. And you say you want to change our minds. I've paid for your belief with mine. Of all the bravest stands in time. You." The song wouldn't end. The continuous loop played the lyrics loud and long. And every time, Riley would join in.
*~*~*
Maddy must have dosed off. She opened her eyes to find that they had stopped. The sting that invaded her nostrils let her know that they were at a gas station. She figured the classic car probably guzzled gas like no tomorrow. She winced at the pain in her neck as Riley rounded the corner and smiled to her with a brown bag in his arms. She flipped him off in return.
He frowned as he opened the door. "Rough nap?" He opened the bag and handed her a sealed sandwich. "I thought you might be hungry."
She took it at the request of her growling stomach. "Thank you," she whispered as she tore into the plastic. "Did you remember something to drink?"
He handed her a bottle of water. "I wasn't sure what you liked so I figured that water was a good call." He took out his own sandwich and opened it. "Our trip is a little longer then I thought. Seems I can't remember exactly where I put that damn house." He grinned to himself. "You'd think I'd remember something like that."
She bit into her sandwich to stop her comments on his insanity. Calming her aching stomach helped relax her a bit. Her eyes wandered around, taking in the visual atmosphere. The sign on the gas station read "Arco." Big help that was. There were hundreds in Oregon alone. More trees surrounded them but amidst the fumes of the gas, she could smell the salt of the ocean. They were still traveling the coastline at least. The sun was heading to the west but had yet to set. Late afternoon. People would realize she was missing by now, she was sure. Her boyfriend, Juan, would have no doubt seen that she had left a bottle of tequila opened in her living room and gone to the police. She was never one to leave tequila to air like that. She had too much of an appreciation.
Her mind swam away for a while with the waves of ocean air, pulling her back to her home. She was away from him. She was back in the arms of the man she was sort of in love with. Juan had met her at the bank as well. His pick up line was much better that chloroform though. He had filled out a withdrawal slip with the amount reading "You." It had taken three dates before she let him have her phone number. That was four years ago. They still hadn't moved in together. In her heart, it was the fear of losing her independence.
That was a laugh now.
Riley pulled the car out of the station and headed south along highway 101. Whatever independence she thought she would lose with Juan was completely gone now in the steel cage of the car.
"You're awfully quiet," he observed. "Wanna talk about anything?"
Maddy kept her eyes out the window. "No. I just want to go back to my life."
"Things move forward and change. You know that."
"Yeah, but you kidnapped me."
He grinned. "I rescued you."
"From what?"
"From the mundane life that consumed you. What purpose have you really got working that lame nine to five job where you go home to a lonely house with nothing in it?"
She mumbled: "It's furnished."
"Filled with love. You need a place filled with love." He placed a hand on her thigh. "And I'm willing to give you that love."
"Get that hand off of me before I break it."
He chuckled. "You've got spunk. I like that. But like any good soldier, you'll break under enough pressure." He moved his hand back to the wheel. "My dad told me that I would get what I deserve. I served this country from the age of fifteen and I think it's time to reap my rewards."
"Fifteen? But you were a minor."
He nodded. "The CIA recruited me because of my high IQ and put me to work. Who would expect a kid, right? Then when I grew up it was out with the old, so to speak." He sipped on his soda. "All that time I was trained to infiltrate and kill. I worked as a political assassin."
She swallowed. "An assassin?" His physique and response to her failed attack made more sense after hearing that.
"Yeah. But I put that behind me. I worked security for a while and now I'm fixing up that house for us." He suddenly slapped the wheel, causing her to squeal. "I know! I remember now! It's in Port Orford!"
Maddy knew that location. The closest major city was maybe only twenty minutes away if she remembered right. Perhaps there was something still to be done. If his issues were mental, then maybe she should try a different approach.
"You said it had wicker furniture?" she asked.
He nodded. "Something about wicker just reminds me of the down home feeling. There's a wicker swing on the porch that you can sit and watch the ocean in." He seemed lost in thought. Although no one could really know what type of thoughts this man had.
"I like the ocean. My dad used to take me on weekend trips all the time before he died." She glanced out the window again. "He'd tell me to always remember that the ocean was there to listen. Its voice would calm me on the nights that I was restless. Even when the waves crashed high, it was the most serine thing I knew."
He paused, as if choosing his words. "When did your father die?"
"When I was fifteen. A drunk driver hit him. The medics told me that he died instantly so there wasn't any pain."
"What about you mother?"
"She lives in Silverton. We don't talk a lot anymore. She took Dad's death pretty hard. I guess both of us did. I finished high school and got some money from her to put a down on my house." She wiped her eye. "It was something that my father would have liked. I had planned on finishing the house the way he would."
Riley swallowed. "It must have been nice to have parents like that."
"What about your parents? I mean, if you were recruited so young…"
"My parents were given five million dollars for me and their silence."
"Oh."
"I guess having a son like me wasn't something they really needed anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"A freak."
Inside, Maddy wanted to agree with him. "What makes you a freak?"
"My mind. The fact that I think about too many things." He fell silent again, his eyes focusing on the road, both hands on the wheel. Maddy wasn't sure whether she should disturb him or not so she let her eyes drift to the road signs instead. To her surprise, the next sign read: "PORT ORFORD 3." Three miles? Were they that far down the coastline already?
He smiled. "Almost home."