"Why are we behind schedule, Missy? Please explain," said the voice in the earpiece in Melissa Mitchell's ear.
The woman took a deep breath and tried to speak. "There was a large transaction by one of your lieutenants. I had to move some money around to cover it so they wouldn't be suspicious."
"That's not a satisfactory answer, Missy," the voice of Marcus Torres replied. "You were supposed to have contingencies for this."
Melissa gasped, "I did. I do. It's a temporary setback." A stream of ice cold water landed on Melissa's neck at that moment, cascading down her bare back and buttocks. The woman screamed as the torrent of water struck her.
The woman was completely naked and sitting on a chair with no back. Her wrists had been handcuffed behind her back and then lifted into the air by a chain, causing her to bend forward at the waist. Her shoulders ached as her arms were bent back behind her. She felt like her shoulders were going to snap at any moment. Her crouched position was amplified by a noose tied tightly around her neck. The rope from the noose was stretched and tied to her upper thighs so any movement of her head choked her. The woman's bare breasts were pressed into her knees. Her ankles dangled uselessly beneath the chair, tied to its underside. Melissa was already sopping wet from several hours of torture before Marcus began his interrogation.
The shower over her head slowed to a trickle as the voice spoke again. "We've had this discussion repeatedly, Missy. Unless all the money is transferred on time, we are all dead. Me, you, your daughter. All of us. I thought these mistakes were behind us."
"Please, Marcus," the woman sputtered. "This amount was very large. If I didn't cover it, they would know the money was missing. I don't know why this money was needed. But it is covered. I swear, we will be fine." The woman was begging for the tortue to stop and Marcus knew she would say anything.
The trickle of cold water continued to fall on Melissa's neck. It was just an annoyance now but it was also a reminder of the torrential downpour her ex-husband Marcus Torres could send down onto her at any time again. He spoke again, "I will deal with individual responsible for the transfer. Large transfers such as that should have been approved by me. You will, however, need to redouble your efforts to get the transfers completed."
"Yes, Marcus. It will be done," Melissa replied. The shower started again, sending icy shockwaves across Melissa's bare flesh one more time. She heard laughing in the earpiece as she shivered in the cold.
"I love the movies," Torres said. Melissa did not understand why her ex-husband said this. "You see, I got this little idea from a movie. Our friend Krutz isn't the only one who knows how to torture a woman." Melissa had no response as the cold water continued to pour over her. The mention of Stephen Krutz' name made Melissa think of her daughter Susan and whatever inhumane punishment she was going through today. Melissa had to complete the money transfers and complete her escape plan if she had any hope of rescuing her daughter from the inhumane abuse she had inadvertently brought down upon her.
A few hundred miles upstate, Susan Mitchell was sitting cross-legged on the floor of her tiny cell eating breakfast when the cell door opened. "Well, we have a little theme going this week," Susan's fellow cheerleader Kylie said as she entered the room. "We might as well keep it going."
Susan just kept her head down and finished off her breakfast. So far this week she had been scrubbed and soaked by her classmates and forced to carry buckets of water through the school. So water bondage must be the theme Kylie was referencing. Susan looked up at Kylie and braced herself for today's torture.
Kylie let out a small chuckle. "Hey, remember a couple years ago when we all did that 'ice bucket challenge' thing? A lot of guys enjoyed our little wet t-shirt contest. I thought maybe we could raise a little money for our cheerleading team by repeating that today."