35
She ran. She couldn't stay around and be Trifford's private whore. She
knew he might still track her down, even if she kept quiet, but maybe he
wouldn't bother; and if he did, she would rather be dead than to be at his beck
and call, giving her body as a bargaining chip to strange men, with no end in
sight...
She quit her job, she packed only what she could carry, and she left the
city and flew as far away as she could get. She told nobody that she was
leaving. In the new city she changed her name, dyed her hair, and found herself
a job that had nothing to do with journalism. She found an apartment and kept to
herself.
For a long time she was nervous. She told herself that Trifford wouldn't
come after her just for running away, but she didn't know if that was true. It
took months for her to stop looking over her shoulder constantly, to stop
jumping at every tiny noise. When six months had passed and nothing had
happened, she was able to relax a little, but never completely.
Slowly she started rebuilding her life, making a few friends, even
seeing one or two men, though she never let it develop into anything serious.
Then one day she saw a news story about a scandal in her home city. She caught
her breath as she read about the secret investigation, initiated by the governor
himself, that had been going on for some time into the activites of the City
Council. All seven Council members had been indicted on various charges,
including fraud, grand larceny--and murder. All had been convicted, and were
going to jail.
She cried for joy.
The story didn't say anything about Lisa, and she wondered what had
happened to her. She thought about calling a friend back home and seeing if she
could find out more; but even though she felt relatively safe now, she decided
it was best to just leave things alone.
Another month passed. She was doing well on her job, and was getting
more involved in the world around her. There was a man she was quite fond of,
and though she had not gone to bed with him yet, she was happy to find that the
sexual feelings she thought she had lost forever were gradually returning.
She was becoming whole again.
One evening in May she returned home rather late from her office,
looking forward to a hot bath, a light dinner and a relaxing evening in front of
the TV set. As she entered her dark apartment after unlocking the door, she
heard a small sound from inside, muffled yet somewhat familiar. Puzzled, she
reached for the light switch. A sudden, terrified cry of astonishment tore
itself from her throat, and her body froze with fear and horror at what she saw.
A gagged and naked girl hung by the wrists from the chandelier in her
ceiling.
The girl was Lisa.
Before she could begin to absorb the shock of this discovery, there was
another small sound, this time from behind her. She whirled around, and nearly
passed out at the sight of the smiling man standing between her and the door.
"Hello, Joyce," John Collins said.
