I barely heard him. I looked at my arm in frozen shock. In a flash all the missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fell into place. James had spiked my drink. They were all in this together.
The picture was now complete. Ivan was talking to the doctor yesterday. Of course, the good doctor always hated me. Oh no, I was beginning to feel disorientated. I was going to black
out.
Then everything went black.
CHAPTER 34
Tawny Greystoke
“I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you!”
– Samwise Gamgee
(A Hobbit & the real hero)
Dr. Spencer was holding smelling salts under my nose when I came to. My head lolled about but my seated body was totally immobile. I tried to speak and realized that my mouth taped shut.
I coughed and blearily tried to make sense of my surroundings. I was immobile because from my shoulder to my ankles I was tightly mummified in Clingfilm.
One look at the ceiling and I knew that I was in Barrington Manor. I swiveled my eyes around and saw there were other people in the room. My vision was still fuzzy and they appeared as
blurred shapes. I blinked to clear my vision.
‘Can you hear me Mrs. Maxwell?’ Dr. Spencer asked calmly.
I pulled my eyes back to him and focused on his face. There was no expression at all on his thin, sallow face, but he was wearing what appeared to be a white boiler suit.
I nodded.
‘She’s fine. She’s was always as fit as a horse,’ a woman’s voice dismissed rudely, and Rosalind came into my sight. She was wearing a similar white boiler suit. ‘Anyway, it doesn’t
matter if she’s not. She’ll be dead soon.’
My blood ran cold at her words.
‘I can’t have any chemicals found in her system,’ Dr. Spencer explained patiently. ‘It has to look like an accident or we’ll all be going to prison.’
‘Look, can we get this over with. This place is giving me the creeps. All these fucking sheets over the furniture look like ghosts, Bianca said with a shudder. She too was dressed the
same way.
‘Don’t be such baby. We have to wait for Ivan,’ Rosalind scolded her sister.
‘And me,’ an amused man’s voice said.
Dorian came into view. He was not wearing a white suit.
‘For heaven’s sake. I thought I told you stay away. What are you doing here? And why are you not wearing one of these.’
‘Ivan asked me to come and why should I wear those ridiculous things. It’s not like I’ll be the one who’s going to do the deed.’
The mention of Ivan’s name hurt me more than I cared to admit.
‘Why did Ivan ask you to come’ Rosalind asked suspiciously.
‘I think he didn’t want to leave any loose lips and, figured correctly, I might add, that I might have loose lips. All who benefit must be implicated was what he said.’
Dorian strolled over and stood in front of me.
‘Why on earth is she covered in plastic?’
‘We didn’t want to leave tie marks on her wrists or ankles,’ Dr Spencer explained. It has to look like an accident.’
‘What kind of an accident?’ he asked almost childishly.
‘An accidental drowning in the lake. I’ve already prepared a large pail of lake water that her face will be submerged in until she drowns and then she will be put in the lake so it looks
like she fell into the cold water and drowned.’
‘A pail of lake water?’
‘Yes, if she downs in the bathtub the type of water inside her will be different than the lake’s.’
‘Fan of CSI, are you?’ Dorian asked sarcastically.
‘No,’ Dr Spencer denied stiffly. ‘Unlike you I thought it out.’
I listened incredulously. They had thought of everything and I had been led here like a lamb to slaughter.
‘I’m far too squeamish for details like that.’ He turned to look at me. ‘Goodness is it kinky that all this plastic is giving me a hard on.’
‘Shut up,’ Bianca said nervously. ‘None of this is funny.’
Dorian ignored his sister and turned to Dr. Spencer. Can I fuck her very quickly?’
‘You’re drunk, aren’t you?’ Rosalind fumed. ‘Just once you couldn’t come sober.’
‘Chill out, sis. I had half a glass of Merlot at lunch. It isn’t like I was going in bareback. I’ve got condoms.’ He comes closer to me. ‘I’ve always wanted to give her one. Ivan got to,
I don’t see why not me too.’
‘God, you are such an idiot. Do you want to leave your calling card inside her,’ Rosalind sneered.
Dr Spencer cleared his throat. ‘Yes, you definitely don’t want to leave your DNA on her. Even the smallest particles can incriminate you.’ He lifted up his hands to show that he was
wearing surgeon’s gloves.
Dorian shook his head regretfully at me. ‘All you had to do was fucking share.’
In his weak jaw I saw my chance. The weak link in the chain. I made a muffled sound and begged him with my eyes.