Leah felt Master wrap his coat around her and hold her close as he carried her down the stairs. The smell of sandalwood soap comforted her and she could hear his heart beating. Her whole body seem numb, yet throbbed with pain. He was giving orders, but the words seemed to float over her without any meaning.
He was going to be mad, she thought. She should have fought harder. Somewhere she heard a door slam and a motor start. She reached a hand up and touched his chest, "Please, Master..." darkness pushed in at her senses. It was so hard to talk. "...sorry... forgive me, please."
Carlton looked down in horror at his little rabbit as her hand fell from his chest and she lay limp. Frantic, he felt for a pulse. She was still alive. "How much longer until Dr. Larson's?"
"Five minutes, Sir," called the driver, glancing nervously in the mirror.
"Do you want the smelling salts, Sir?" Raymond asked worriedly.
"No," Carlton said, his eyes never leaving Leah, "If she is awake, she will just be in pain. I can't bear to see her suffering like that."
The rest of the ride was in silence until they pulled up to a sprawling country home. An older gentleman and two strapping young men were waiting outside. Carlton brushed off their offers and carried Leah in himself. When Dr. Larson would not let him stay in the exam room, he took to pacing the hallway outside with a fury that Raymond had not seen before.
Some time later, Dr. Larson came out, halting Cartlon's pacing.
"Well?"
The older gentleman gave a sad sigh, "Your girl has not been treated well. I take it that you did not do this to her?"
"Never! You would have my hide if I treated a slave like that." Carton was disgusted that Larson would even consider that he had done this. He explained what had happened and how he found her.
"Well, Son, she is dehydrated and in shock. Her left leg is broken as are a few of her ribs. Her cheekbone is fractured. She has been raped but there is no permanent physical damage there. The wounds on her back are a bit infected. They are also rather deep and I worry there will be scarring. There are bruises on her neck that indicate that her attacker tried to strangle her. In my opinion, someone was trying to kill her."
Carlton was white with rage and walked away from the doctor trying to control it. He was going to kill that bastard. He turned to Raymond and spoke in a voice of deadly calm, "Raymond, get a hold of that English guy Pempelby or whatever his name was and tell him that I want to hire him and his best team, ASAP."
"Major Bently, Sir?" Raymond inquired already getting out the cell phone.
"Yes," Carlton said drawing out the "s" a bit, "We are going to pay Bruger a visit." He turned back to the doctor. "When can I take her home?"
Dr. Larson took off his glasses and polished them carefully before answering, "I have her in one of the beds right now under a sedative. I still need to set the leg, and I want to see the infection cleared up before I send her home with you. Perhaps once you have finished your - um - business with Mr. Bruger. Then we will see. Go home, get cleaned up, deal with your business. I will take excellent care of her and will make sure she won't slip off into the night."
Carlton nodded, oddly reluctant to leave Leah here. What if she woke in the night frightened? He wanted to be there to comfort her. Still, he knew Dr. Larson well enough to know that his word was law here. He gave the doctor a brisk nod and headed toward the end of the hall and the door where Raymond was finishing up on the cell.
"Good news, Sir. Major Bently and his team were doing exercises reasonably nearby. They will be here in two hours." Raymond trotted to keep up with employer.
"Good, we can go night hunting then."
--------- Major Bently stood silently in the dark hall and made firm hand gestures to his men. They gave crisp nods and melted into the darkness ahead of him, checking each room.
"Room 1, clear."
"Room 2, clear." came the whispered signals in his earpiece.
Bently mentally checked them off and moved up the hall.
"Room 3, bound female, breathing."
"Leave her for now, continue with mission." Bently wondered if that was the girl Carlton had said they would find. It didn't really matter right now, she wasn't going anywhere and they could free her when they had the creep.
"Room 4, suspect in bed, asleep," the voice was very soft, but the microphone picked it up. It also picked up disgust, "Also bound female."
"Hold until house is secure," Bently ordered. It seemed like an eternity before the rest of the team cleared each room and they converged on the bedroom in which Bruger lay sleeping.
Bruger, buoyant from his "success" at getting back at Carlton had come home in high spirits. Along the way he had even picked up a young woman hitch hiking. This was a benefit for him, since Ming was too damaged from his attentions the night before to be played with again. He had enjoyed her fresh terror and screams, but the continual sobbing afterward was annoying.
Binding his new play toy tightly, he put her in one of the spare rooms. He had caught the disgusted look on Ming's face as she prepared him for bed, so he had to punish her, but her cries no longer pleased him. He was going to have to sell her, she just wasn't fun to hurt anymore.
He woke now in the dark with the feeling that there was something wrong. If that bitch Ming had woken him up with her moaning from a little suspension, he was going to cut the bottoms of her feet and give her something to really moan about, damn the loss in selling price.
Something cold and metal pressed against his head at the same moment a powerful flashlight was beamed into his eyes.
"So you like to knock the ladies around, do ya?" asked a disembodied voice.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Bruger tried not to panic, but he could feel terror creeping in on him. Were these men business partners of that Italian man he had overcharged?
"Payback, that's all." Carton said stepping enough into the light that Bruger could see him.
