24
When his sister did not return home that night, Avery became very
worried. By the next morning, he was frightened. He called David's house
repeatedly, but there was no answer. Something had obviously gone wrong.
He had the address of the place to which David and Lisa were supposed to
have gone, but no phone number. He was nervous about going there, but as the
morning passed and Lisa still did not show up, he felt he had no choice. It was
nearly noon by the time he had made his determination and set out.
The address turned out to be a large, modern apartment house in one of
the better districts. He had no trouble getting into the building, but when he
had taken the elevator to the floor he wanted, he was met by a guard outside the
apartment, who blocked the door and glared at him suspiciously.
He didn't know what to do but tell the truth. He drew himself up and
tried to look authoritative. "I'm Avery Childs," he told the guard. "I think my
sister may be here."
The guard nodded, as if he'd been expecting him, and rang the doorbell.
He gave Avery's name to the man who opened the door. The man smiled and swung
the door wide, extending his hand to Avery and motioning him inside.
"Mr. Childs, how do you do? We've been expecting you. I'm Alex Trifford.
Do make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink?"
"No, thank you. Look, is my sister here? My sister Lisa?"
"Oh, yes," Trifford said. "Yes, she is indeed. Lovely child, Lisa. Just
lovely."
"And my friend? David?"
"Ah," Trifford said. "No, David's not here, I'm afraid. I'm afraid
David's met with a little accident."
Avery frowned. "An accident?"
"Yes. Most unfortunate. But your sister is fine, just fine. Would you
like to see her?"
"Well... yes."
"Lisa," Trifford called out. "Would you come in here, please?"
Two men brought Lisa out. They brought her out on her hands and knees,
crawling between them. She was naked. One of the men held onto a leash that was
fastened to a dog collar around her neck. When she saw Avery she looked
surprised, but only a soft moan escaped her lips.
"What's going on?" Avery said. "Where's David?"
"I thought I made that clear," Trifford said. "David is no longer with
us."
Avery felt weak. "I--I don't--"
"You see, Avery, we're taking your sister off your hands. She belongs to
us now. As you can see, we're keeping up the training you gave her so well. I
think she'll be every bit as unhappy with us as she was with you."
"Wait--you can't--you can't just--"
"Why not?" Trifford said.
"Damn it!" Avery burst out. "What do you think you're--You can't get
away with it! I'll go to--I'll--"
"You're a fool," Trifford said, his tone suddenly changing. "Who would
you go to? The police? And tell them how someone has stolen your sister, who you
kept prisoner and abused and tortured, and sent out to whore for you? I don't
think so." He shook his head. "I had hoped you would be more intelligent," he
said. "A reasonable man would know when he's been outplayed, and would accept
the situation. We might even have given you visiting privileges. But you're too
much of a fool, and you could be dangerous."
Avery was pale. "What--what do you mean?"
"I mean you have to be gotten rid of, like your friend. But with you
it's easier; we won't have to stage any accident. A brother and a sister, two
orphans, connected to nobody, suddenly disappear--it'll be thought you just ran
off someplace or something."
"You--" Avery choked, swallowed. "You're--you're going to kill me?"
Trifford smiled. "I have a fine idea," he said. "No, Avery, I'm not
going to kill you. I'm going to let Lisa do it."
