Man Detox: A Novel Read online

  For Ethan, it was the perfect fitting message to bring him out of delirium. ‘See you soon’ was the message of hope he needed to decide to fight on. He could see her clearly now as she sent him the promise. She shouldn’t be sorry, he said to himself. He was the one that brought this danger to her. Would his determination to fight on outlast the pain and anguish in his body? Hoped, desperately trying to stay conscious, he would give this challenge his all.

  ∫---∫

  Chapter Eighteen

  Irene had given up on the moment and life. The stress and pain had exceeded her capability to endure before Roger came back for round two of his interrogation. He looked surprisingly calm before he went on a rant about the unfairness of life.

  For an instant, seeing the man smiling and happy made her escape from her own pain. It shocked her that she wondered what she would be willing to do to earn her freedom. What would Irene be prepared to do indeed?

  If it came down to it, would she be willing to give up her dignity? The purity she had carefully protected and came so close to losing. Would this be how it would come to end? How silly it was to think Jared was rude to her. Was she wrong to resist? Would this ordeal have come to pass if it weren’t for her resistance? If she had let herself go, who was to say she wouldn’t have enjoyed it? Wouldn’t it have felt good to experience the kind of pleasure that makes one lose control and scream and bite out of ecstasy?

  Irene could feel the barrage of questions loosening her resolve. This moment was about survival. It was about coming out alive, and if it meant giving up so much about herself to be free, she came to conclude, so be it. What she couldn’t be sure about was Ethan’s situation.

  The more she dwelled on what appeared to her to be a sanctimonious fixation about the future, the guiltier she felt about her complicity in the danger she brought on a good man. He had done nothing but help her when he didn’t have to. There was no reason why he should suffer for her stupidity.

  “Please let him go. You can keep me here,” she said, hoping to plead with all her feminine power.

  “Why would I do that?” Roger snickered.

  “He came to Mexico because of me. There’s no reason for him to go through this situation.”

  Irene felt braver for thinking this thought. The most epic moment of self-sacrifice in the cause of another. This is what was meant by the empowering paradox of selflessness, she thought.

  “Interesting. How’s that a valuable proposition for me?”

  “You can do anything you wish. He’s innocent, please let him go.”

  Irene felt increasingly bold. An instinct to shelter Ethan suffused her body imagining the gloriousness of her sacrifice for him. Why was she saying this? She didn’t know.

  In that sense, she felt as if she had stepped outside the cocoon of her body. The pampered and protected and nurtured external shell of existence that had meant so much to her all her life.

  What was budding now was the missing other half of her existence. The emotional and tender and caring being driven by a sense of justice. Where was it before?

  It didn’t matter what was before. What mattered now was she was sitting in a dimly lit enclave with a menacing man, barely clothed to keep the body that had toiled. She had turned around to keep herself protected somewhat. The strain in her neck from having to talk to the man facing sideways and the increasing boldness had given her the impetus to confront the situation head on.

  Irene turned around, sliding in measured hopping steps. The skin and tissue on her buttocks carrying the weight of her body were now numb. Her shoulders screamed of pain. To lessen the discomfort, she had leaned forward putting her body against the pole. Now, she sat upright. With her legs tied together, she was acutely aware how exposed her body and private parts were to the glances thrown her way.

  How ironic she would offer herself so nonchalantly? Purity now seemed like a ridiculous concept, a luxury of a life disconnected from the harshness of the world. There was no strength left in her body to endure, she knew from how much pain she suffered. But there was something foreign starting to take shape inside of her. Was it toughness or determination?

  Whatever it takes, Irene said to herself as she settled into the new position. Whatever it takes, she will get out of this situation alive. She will know not to take her life too seriously. She will remember to enjoy the pleasures of the moment. She will find someone and love with all her heart. She will give her all for a worthy cause knowing she will have lived her life fully, without any regrets. Before that can happen, she needs to convince the man she was worth his while…

  “Anything I want?” Roger asked as if reading her mind.

  This was routine for his. He knew there was a threshold beyond which everyone breaks down. It was a matter of patience. Men or women. It didn’t matter. If it were the old days, he would have done something by now. Brute force method that gets the result but didn’t give the satisfaction of mastery, as he would later learn.

  In years past, he might have tied her to a bed and did as he wished, until the scream is screamed out of her body. Getting whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He had lost count of how many times he did it. They all resist at first, but eventually give in when they know there is no escape. They stop fighting, and they let him have it all. He would go on until the novelty wears off and passes them on to the next guy in line.

  It was a relay. He always made sure he got the first dipping because he was the master of this operation. He was the link that made it all possible. The perfect cover to travel back and forth to the States while pursuing targets of opportunity and exploiting them.

  Roger had generated millions for himself and partners on this side of the border. Without him, they knew there was no sustainable business when the majority of the hardened criminals would never have a chance of ever crossing the border let alone developing the extensive business intelligence network that identifies the three to five targets that make up the year’s haul. All the local partners needed to do was create a safe operating space by greasing the pockets of local officials.

  Before Roger came on the scene, the kidnapping and ransom business had focused mostly on petty targets that had their minor rewards. They came with high risk and bad publicity. The unique insight Roger, the highly respected business executive, brought to bear was limiting the targeting to a handful of high net worth individuals who not only had the resources to pay up, but also the inherent interest to avoid publicity at all cost.

  It was a revelation that came to him when he was sent for training by his company. He was told he would be traveling to high-risk places and in the interest of minimizing insurance liabilities, the company was required to provide him sufficient warning and preparedness. Instead of cowering, he learned everything about the multi-billion dollar business and created his own twist.

  Away from the two children and trophy wife, Roger had enjoyed the fruits of his innovative schemes. The day he sodomized an unsuspecting young high achiever from Wall Street on a honeymoon was when he realized there were more aspects of life he was yet to discover.

  It had started on a dare and ended up being the most satisfying adventure of his enterprise. The softness of those cheeks as he spread Vaseline all over them, gingerly stepping forward into the body that was held at the edges of a makeshift structure intended to spread and lock the hands and legs. The clenching and squeezing and the screaming had all awoken a primal urge in him. That was all the justification he needed to keep going. As far as he was concerned, this was a delicious icing on the cake few were lucky enough to enjoy.

  More than the money, it was the glory of control. The idea that he was doing his business while his own very wife was fucking someone in his very own bedroom. He would take out all his pain and anger and frustration on these privileged few that trotted around the globe controlling everything.

  Having come from a broken home, he had promised to never subject his sweet and adorable children to a divorce. Early on, he confronted the
wife and got the longest stretch of subservient treatment he got tired of it all. No matter how much she acquiesced to his every demand, it was never satisfactory for he knew she kept going about her cheating ways when he was away from home for many days.

  It was a cat and mouse game until he found his own muse and rebalanced the equation of treachery. He made the hostages pay for the sins of the world. In his mind, he taught them a valuable lesson they should be grateful for. It paid handsomely in many different ways. So he has kept going for years, and he has found no reason to stop.

  The one constant that had remained in all the years of operation was the fighting of his urge that made his blood boil as was happening to him now sitting across Irene. There was no reason to rush this one, he thought. She looked pretty and sheltered. He needed to break her slowly at first. He could imagine how it would feel sweeter to be begged.

  When that moment comes, it will be real. When the screaming begins, he knows it will be genuine. Not like the fake moaning he knew his wife acted out for him. No, here when he gets to a point where he decides to do it, it will be as real as it gets. What was more satisfying that witnessing pain and agony transform into pleasure?

  “Yes, anything you want as long as you let him go…” Irene said to him, wondering what he was thinking the whole time he kept quiet and stared at her. Was she succeeding in trying to distract him? She couldn’t tell.

  “As long as I let him go?” He burst out laughing.

  Irene was scared. Maybe she was overplaying her hand. What was to stop him from taking anything she was prepared to give him and more while keeping Ethan under his control? It occurred to her how silly her reasoning had been. Wasn’t it a lost cause after all?

  But what if she managed to win over his heart? What if she got him to care about her wellbeing, and by extension Ethan’s life too? Did she know how to do that? That was the tragedy of her situation. The truth was she didn’t know what she needed to do if she were to do it on command, shackled as she was, hungry and thirsty and scared.

  That was what her purity had prepared her for, she concluded. A weakness when strength mattered most, left her a wanderer when she needed to find a compass out of danger. She couldn’t fix herself to equal the needs of the moment. She wanted to be a hero without knowing what being a hero meant. She was a broken arrow flailing mid-flight. She came back to one realization. She needed to be as agreeable as she could be. That was the only thing left to do.

  Roger rose from his chair and squatted next to her. Up close, he was the most repulsive man she had ever seen. He stretched out his hand to brush her hair with his short and stubby fingers. The touch on her skull sent repulsive and repellent reaction throughout her body that she tried to control and suppress.

  “You will have plenty of opportunities to prove your commitment to that promise, darling,” he said to her before leaning in and kissing her on the cheek, the same place where he had slapped her before.

  Irene wanted to scream. Instead she shifted her body away from him. She couldn’t help it. His hand slid down to her shoulder and squeezed her. Surprisingly much more tenderly than Jared had done so earlier. Maybe this won’t be that terrible, Irene hoped.

  ∫---∫

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Sir, we have a positive identification,” the officer coordinating the rescue mission said, screaming out loud.

  The command center was staffed with four personnel including Rob. Two were sitting in front of giant computer screens monitoring satellite tracking activity. Out of the speaker of the phone came voice of the commander leading the search and rescue mission.

  The team had arrived at the resort and connected with on the ground resources to complete a threat assessment matrix. Within the radius of ten miles, there were more than a dozen suspect locations identified for a door to door search.

  The conclusion had been this was unprecedented and would require a considerable amount of resources and time. The chances of survival were deemed to be less than fifty percent given the lack of communication from the captors, who under ordinary circumstances wouldn’t waste time to kick off the negotiation process.

  Based on the feedback received from everyone, Rob was contemplating how big an embarrassment it would be for his firm if, and more likely when at the pace events were progressing, his client is paraded in front of the television. That might as well be the end of his promise to protect and defend his clients by all means necessary.

  It was in the middle of this back and forth with the ground team that the senior officer at the computer announced there was a positive identification. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the blinking light on the screen. A shout of jubilation and hand claps filled the room.

  “SLR is working, sir. It came alive.”

  “Get the coordinates immediately!”

  As the officer read out each digit, Rob spoke out the numbers to the phone receiver. “Get to him fast! How far are you?”

  “About five miles, sir. On our way!” answered the commander on the ground in Cancun.

  “Where is the overhead? Give me a live feed!” Rob shouted to the second officer at the computer screen.

  As if targeted through a rifle scope, the satellite image zoomed at the coordinate where there is still a red blinking light. There was so much excitement to be had. The fact that there was light indicates the client is in distress. The fact that it is red shows the client is still alive, but in critical condition. They must have beaten him to a pulp, Rob thought hoping it wasn’t too late to rescue his number one priority.

  They zoomed in on a thick forestation. Green all around with no signs of buildings or human activity. How could it be? The coordinates were verified and re-entered resulting in the same dense forestation.

  “They must be there. When can we get the Infrared imaging?”

  “Satellite positioning is in progress, sir. Three minutes.”

  This was going to be the longest three minutes of Colonel Rob Ratner’s career since he left the military. He had seen plenty live action coming up the ranks during and after the Gulf war. Since then, he had volunteered for multiple tours of duty through the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He used to live for those moments pregnant with hope and catastrophe. Now he was back in action. An action of his own making.

  As the Infrared image started coming to life showing a heat map of the area, it was now clear there were some individuals scattered in two regions about fifty yards from each other. The SLR was signaling from one side where a man appeared to be lying down on the floor. On the other image, there was a profile of a woman, distinguished because of the ample breasts giving larger lateral width to the body profile below the head.

  “There you go! Max, do you copy?!” Rob shouted into the phone receiver.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m sending you pictures through the satellite uplink. The client and the other hostage are at the location. Six other individuals are roaming the area. How far are you now?”

  “3.5 miles, sir.”

  “Call me when you are within half a mile. We will do a threat assessment and let you know. Be careful out there!”

  “Copy that, sir.”

  The satellite feed is alive, Rob can now have a hope of a good outcome. He can study the patterns of movement on the ground. His men will reach the area in the dead of darkness, on foot and fully equipped to mow down any threat in the area before extracting the client.

  This was what the team lived for. With the aid of sophisticated technology and elite highly trained forces, no threat in the world can't be neutralized in the appropriate amount of time.

  Rob looked at the screen in disbelief as the senior officer announced the obvious, “They are moving, sir! There are mobilizing!”

  Sure enough, the infrared images on the screen appeared to be in a frenzy aggregating and desegregating from the two bodies. Soon both hostages were whisked to the middle area as the whole aggregate of bodies started moving.

  “Max, they are
evading. What’s your ETA?”

  “Less than a mile, sir!”

  “Keep going. Fast! They are moving North East.” Rob said.

  “Isn’t northeast toward the sea, sir?” Max asked.

  “Shit! They are trying to escape for a getaway. Move fast!” Rob said as the rescue team appeared on the edge of the zoomed-out version of the image they were tracking.

  These were smart and well-prepared people. They are trying to escape by boat, Rob realized, and the most unfortunate thing was that he wasn’t prepared for this eventuality. This operation was identifying a lot of holes in his firm’s capability. A side benefit he made a mental note to remember.

  “Don’t engage unless you can assure the client’s safety!” Rob announced to his team leader. He could see they were closing the gap. Will there be enough time?

  “Sir, they are less than two hundred yards from the edge of the sea,” the senior officer announced.

  The car upfront was slowing down, and soon they saw sprays of flashlights aimed at the rescue team.

  “Sir, they are firing at us. Need ago to engage.”

  “Disable the car and if you can take them out without endangering the client, do it.”

  How Rob wished he was on the ground with his men? The adrenaline rush watching the satellite feed wasn’t all that much. If he hadn’t known his entire second career depended on this mission, what he saw play out on the screen might as well have been a video game.

  There was no booming sound of shots fired at a rapid clip. No smell of gun powder and smoke. No screams of gallantry. Here, it was a quiet exchange of flashlights streaking from one side of the screen to the other. That is what his professional life has come to. He sat and watched and hoped for the best as did the rest of his team in the room.

  The pace of gunfire exchange slowed down. He was absolutely sure his team was equipped with necessary night vision goggles to pick out the bad guys. As the rescue team charged forward, the captors dropped to the ground one by one. Ethan and Irene, who have now been marked and tracked on the screen utilizing the initial image of imprisonment at the camp, remained stationary. It appeared there was one man left standing.