JC: William Redman Carter Noble Savage Chapter 54 By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2005 “No! I will not allow your sister to participate,” Rock shouted while he hit his fist on the table with a loud resounding bang with each word. There were so many reasons to argue against her participation that it was impossible to count them all. Foremost among them was Ling. She’d kill them if anything happened to Betsy. With a definite chill in her voice, Ling asked, “What is wrong with Betsy?” “Nothing is wrong with Betsy,” Rock answered backpedaling. The second reason to object to her participation was that she was even more difficult to control than William. Of course, he wasn’t brave enough to tell her mother that. He said, “I just don’t feel that we can provide the kind of coverage that would assure her safety.” “Who else do you suggest?” William asked watching the reactions of Natalie and Nicole. He was sure that they had a candidate in mind. The pair of bodyguards looked at each other with a smile. Ling noticed the exchange and asked, “Who?” “Marissa,” Nicole answered. Both Rock and Colt groaned at the suggestion. Slumping down in his chair, Colt said, “Not Marissa.” Sitting up with increased interest in the direction the conversation was going, Ling asked, “The Marissa?” “Yes, the one and only Marissa,” Natalie answered with a smile. Lucy looked around the room confused by the reactions. Curious, she asked, “Who is Marissa?” Shaking his head, Rock said, “I can’t think when she’s around.” “Do you think you can get Marissa?” Ling asked. “She’s here,” Nicole answered with a smile. Impressed, Ling said, “Get her.” Nicole went to the door and opened it. Calling out, she said, “Marissa. Come on in.” Marissa flowed into the room and looked around the room with the expression of a Queen meeting her subjects. She posed like a racehorse in the winner’s circle fully aware of the effect she had on those who looked at her. She wore high heels that shaped her calves and a short skirt that showed off her perfect legs. Her blouse was tight enough to show off her well proportioned waist. It was cut low enough to show off significant cleavage. Her perfume filled the air without being overpowering. Her makeup was perfectly applied. Everything had been selected to impress her client. Her eyes fell upon William and she thought to herself, ‘He’s nice looking, but young. I’ll get his attention by visiting the older men. Then I’ll turn up the heat.’ She smiled upon seeing Rock and moved over to him. Hugging him and kissing him on the cheek, she said, “It’s so nice to see you again, Rock.” “Um,” the man answered aware of nothing other than her soft breasts rubbing suggestively across his chest. “You’re still the strong silent type, I see,” she teased while running a hand over the side of his face. “Um.” Natalie rolled her eyes on seeing how Rock reacted to Marissa. She could understand it since the woman looked like a sex goddess. Every movement the woman made was the result of years of careful study for its effect on the opposite sex. Poor Rock didn’t stand a chance and Natalie knew it. Marissa stepped back and turned to look at Colt. Giving him a very sexy look, she flowed across the room to where he stood. He was unaware that he had risen from his seat. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. Somehow, she managed to rub her leg against his crotch without it looking intentional. She said, “Hello, Colt.” Colt didn’t even try to respond. He just stood in place breathing heavily. Nicole nudged him in the side, but it didn’t have any effect. His hand reached up to where she had kissed him. Marissa turned from him and looked around at the others in the room. Her eyes widened a little at seeing the small oriental woman seated next to Colt. Leaning over, she kissed Ling on the lips. It was not a chaste kiss. Standing up, she said, “Ling, it is such a pleasure to finally meet you.” Licking her lips, Ling was impressed by the greeting. The woman had pushed the kiss to the point of leaving her breathless without crossing over that line where she would be insulted. Breathless, she said, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Seeing the kiss, both Colt and Rock groaned and sat down in their chairs. Natalie and Nicole looked at each other in surprise. They had not expected Marissa to do that to Ling. Ling had a reputation for being dangerous and giving her a kiss without invitation was like kissing a cobra. Natalie, under her breath, said, “She’s good.” Marissa turned to William and licked her lips in a very suggestive manner. She flowed over to him fully expecting him to stay in his chair. William stood and held out his hand to her. Seeing his hand, she lifted hers for him to take. She knew how to turn a simple handshake into a lot more than just a business greeting. Taking her hand, he said, “So you’re Marissa. I’m William and this lady next to me is Lucy, my wife.” Surprised at the fact that he was still talking, Marissa went to caress his hand with her other hand. Marissa cranked up her sex appeal. In a husky voice, she said, “My, you have such a firm handshake.” William looked at her with a puzzled expression. No one had ever commented on his handshake before and he didn’t know how to respond. He said, “Thank you. You have a firm handshake too.” Surprised by his reaction, Marissa closed the distance between the two of them. Before she made contact, William turned away so that he was sideways to both Lucy and Marissa. In a cheerful voice, he said, “Lucy, this is Marissa.” From the moment Marissa had entered the room, Lucy had been nearly breathless from the grace and beauty of the woman. If there was ever a woman who could tempt her into bed, Marissa was the one. She had watched her approach William and felt helpless to act against her. She was confident that he would end up tongue tied just like Rock and Colt. When he treated her just like every other woman, the spell the woman was casting over Lucy was broken. She smiled and said, “Hello Marissa.” Confused, Marissa looked at William wondering if he was gay. He turned back to her and looked her in the eye. Getting down to business, he said, “Natalie and Nicole said that you might help us stop a sexual predator. Do you think you’re up to the challenge?” Incredulous at even having the question asked, Marissa looked over at Natalie open mouthed. She asked, “Is he for real?” “Yes,” Nicole answered with a grin. Turning to look at Natalie, she said, “You owe me a hundred bucks.” Amused at the side bet, Ling shook her head and said, “He’s just like his fathers.” “What?” William asked looking at his mother. At the amused expression on her face, he said, “I didn’t do anything.” “Don’t worry about it, William. You’d never understand,” Lucy said rolling her eyes. Based on Lucy’s reaction, William figured out what was going on. He turned to Marissa and said, “Please excuse my wife. She thinks every woman I meet is hitting on me.” The comment caused every woman in the room to laugh with the exception of Marissa. Looking at him as if he was an idiot, Marissa said, “I was doing my best to seduce you.” “Oh,” William said. He looked down at the floor for a moment while he replayed her actions once entering the room. Still not sure, he asked, “Why?” “Because that is what I do,” she answered shaking her head. She decided that he wasn’t quite right in the head. It was hard to believe that Natalie had described him as some sort of child prodigy and whiz with money. The pimpliest faced kid would figure that her attention was because he was irresistible. “You go around seducing men?” William asked. He looked over at Lucy and asked, “How does one make a living doing that? Besides the obvious way, of course.” Lucy looked down at the table and giggled. Looking up, she noticed Natalie hitting Rock to get his attention. Nicole was doing the same thing with Colt. Ling was looking over at William and shaking her head. Marissa was staring at William with an open mouth. Not for the first time, Ling wondered how it was that the Carter men were so blind to women’s advances. She said, “Marissa is a private investigator. Seduction is a good method for investigating.” “It’s an advantage in getting the information my clients want from men who are helpless when faced with an attractive woman,” Marissa answered. “Okay. I assume she’s good,” William said after a glance at his mother. He recalled that she had recognized the name and had been impressed that she was being brought into the operation. Marissa leaned over the table exposing an impressive cleavage and said, “I’m the best there is.” “I imagine that you’ll need some details about the man we are after,” William said looking her in the eye. Two evenings later, Professor McDonald sat in his van parked near the rear of an apartment complex watching the activity around the place. He was waiting for a woman to show up. He had seen her the day before in the student center on campus, but that was as close as he had gotten to her. She was absolutely stunning in appearance. Every thing about her appearance screamed sex. Her dress had a slit up the side that showed off perfect legs. Her blouse was loose so that one could catch glimpses of the treasures beneath it. Her long hair came down to the middle of her back. After watching her for an hour, he had followed her to this apartment complex. A car pulled up in the parking lot by the mailboxes and the woman got out. He used a pair of binoculars to check her out. His mouth fell open as he watched her adjust her hair and then, after parting her long coat, lift her skirt to adjust her stockings. His mouth watered at the fact that she wore real stockings rather than panty hose. He had to adjust his cock inside his pants. Speaking to himself, he said, “Damn, she’s hot.” The woman walked over to the mailbox and checked her mail. When she didn’t find anything in it, she actually pouted. Even her pout was sexy. He watched as she made her way back to her car. He knew that she would return to her car and drive to the rear of the complex where her apartment was located. It was time for him to get ready. He got out of the van and positioned himself where he could grab her while she walked to her apartment. This was the perfect location for a simple snatch. Only two of the apartments on this end of the complex were occupied and none of the occupants were home. There were a couple of decorative shrubs at the beginning of the walkway behind which he could hide. The woman pulled up in her car and got out. Looking through the shrub, he was treated to a nice sight of her legs when she exited the car. After opening the small bottle of ether that he had stolen from the biology department years earlier, he doused a handkerchief with the liquid. He closed the bottle and put it in his coat pocket. When she walked past, he jumped out and put the handkerchief over her mouth and nose while holding her with his other arm. She didn’t struggle too much. Her purse dropped to the ground and fell open. Once he was convinced that she was unconscious, he picked her up and carried her to the van. He put her in the back and took a moment to feel her breasts. Licking his lips, he said, “You are going to make me a very happy man.” He put a ball gag in her mouth, a leg spreader on her ankles, and handcuffs on her wrists. All of it was bondage gear that he had bought in a sex shop in Pittsburgh years ago. More than one coed had discovered to her chagrin that it was more than sufficient to restrain her while permitting him to inflict whatever damage he wished. Once he was convinced that she was restrained, he threw a blanket over her to hide her from view in case he was pulled over. He moved to the driver’s seat and turned on the motor. He drove off satisfied that no one had seen him. No cars had passed by and no curtains had moved. Natalie walked out of the apartment and picked up the purse. She walked over to the car and placed the purse inside it. Looking down the road, she said, “Asshole, you’re going down.” Walking around the area, she collected the cameras that had captured the entire abduction. William had gone for overkill and had placed ten cameras at various locations to provide total coverage of the entire area. Even if two of them had broken down, there was enough overlap that it wouldn’t matter. She looked at the one up in a tree and frowned knowing that she was going to have to climb up to get it. In a car down the street, Rock watched the blip move across the map on the screen. William had gone for the high end equipment with a GPS based tracker with an effective range of twenty five miles. Of course, he had requested four devices be planted on Marissa. There had been one in her purse, one in her watch, one sewn into her coat, and one that she had swallowed. There was one blip that was stationary. The GPS readings put its’ location in the parking lot of the apartment complex. He fiddled with a button and saw that it was the transmitter that had been in her purse. He watched the van drive past and shook his head. He hoped that the chase wouldn’t last long. Turning on the motor, he pulled out and followed the van at a distance of two miles. He tapped the button on his radio and said, “I’m following him now.” William, Ling, and Lucy sat across from the Chief of Police drinking coffee. They had just finished watching the streaming video of the abduction. The Chief asked, “How did you know?” “He’s pretty predictable,” William answered. “Where’s he going?” “I have no idea,” William answered. He pointed to the computer screen and said, “Rock’s receiver is sending us data once every fifteen seconds. We’ll know where she is from here.” The Chief looked over at the screen and then brought up one of the recordings of the abduction. He watched it again and said, “He worked fast. I’ve never seen anything like this.” “He was given the perfect conditions in which to perform the abduction,” William said knowing that everything about the setup had been arranged to facilitate the abduction. “True,” the Chief said. The prosecutor looked around the room and said, “I hope that he doesn’t claim entrapment.” “That’s a little farfetched, isn’t it?” Lucy asked. “You never know. Parading an attractive woman in front of him who was guaranteed to incite him into action,” the prosecutor answered. He wished they had discussed the matter with him before they had started this action. Of course, he doubted that he would have made any changes. It was just that he didn’t like being left out of the loop like that. “Don’t worry,” William said. Looking at the prosecutor in the eye, he said, “I have a feeling that you’ll have a much bigger case than a simple abduction by the time everything is said and done.” The man stared at William with a frown. It was only a few weeks earlier that a couple of terrorists had attacked the young man. He was still trying to deal with all of the government agencies to figure out who had jurisdiction over the men. Although the report suggested that William and his people had ambushed the terrorists, there was no evidence that they had intelligence that the event was about to happen. The Chief had tried to convince him that William had feelings about things, but he didn’t buy that explanation. The Chief said, “It looks like he’s about to reach his destination. He just turned down a road that ends in the woods.” “Is he in your jurisdiction?” William asked. He was seated too far from the screen to make out the location. “No. I’ll have to call Bob,” the Chief said making reference to the Chief of Police for the neighboring town. Once the blip stopped moving, he turned and picked up the phone. While the Chief was talking to his counterpart over the telephone, Ling stood up and said, “Let’s go.” “Where?” William asked. Surprised that William wasn’t ready to charge out to the site, Ling answered, “To be there when the arrests are made.” “I was planning on staying here and letting the police handle it,” William said. He couldn’t look at Ling when he said it. Stunned, Ling stared at William open mouthed. She never expected to hear about a Carter sitting back and watching a plan unfold. Always in the past, a Carter led when a plan of theirs was being executed. She didn’t know what to say. Somewhat surprised herself, Lucy looked over at William and asked, “Why are we staying here?” “You know why,” William answered looking down at the floor. He added, “I could get someone killed.” Not understanding his answer, Ling looked at Lucy and asked, “What is he talking about?” “His ability to know what is about to happen has been leaving him on occasion,” Lucy answered looking over at William. It wasn’t news to her that William was worried about the inconsistency of his sixth sense. She hadn’t thought it would extend to limiting his involvement in this action, but now that he had mentioned it she understood his reasoning. “Does your father know?” Ling asked returning to her seat. It wasn’t necessary to identify which of his fathers to which she referred. “Yes, he does,” William answered. “What did he say about it?” “He’s just as confused about it as I am. It appears that Oscar Meyers is borrowing my gift on occasion,” William answered. Frowning, Ling said, “I still don’t understand why you aren’t going to where the action is.” Gesturing to Lucy, William stared at the floor feeling ashamed at not leading the raid. The problem was that when his gift left him, he had difficulty functioning at his normal level. It felt like he was thinking, seeing, and moving in slow motion. Recognizing that he wanted her to explain, Lucy said, “He’s trying to learn how to cope when his gift leaves. He’s spent his whole life with it and doesn’t really know how to deal with things without it. Imagine having your sight come and go without warning. Would you want to join some operation knowing that it could leave you at any time?” The significance of what Lucy was saying was not lost on Ling. She looked over at William with a worried expression. Strong confident William wasn’t looking so strong or confident at the moment. No one would intentionally go into battle knowing that they could lose their sight unless they were pressed by dire circumstances. She asked, “Do you get any warning?” “No warning. It is as if someone turns off a light switch,” William said. Amazed that she was actually saying it, Ling said, “You’re showing good sense by staying here.” William looked at her for a minute and said, “I sure did make Rock and Colt happy.” She laughed and said, “I bet you did.” Knowing Ling, Lucy said, “You can go there.” “Ah, it’s no fun if William isn’t there for me to rescue,” Ling said putting her purse back down on the floor. The expression on William’s face made her laugh. The Chief of Police said, “We have twenty feet of separation between the transmitters in the coat and the other two transmitters.” “I would say he’s got her where he’s going to keep her,” William said. Looking pensive, Lucy said, “I hope that she’s okay.” William looked off into space for a minute and then said, “She’s okay.” Thirty minutes later, Marissa was sitting in a police car covered by a blanket and drinking a cup of hot coffee. The officers on the scene were falling all over themselves to make sure that she was comfortable. Professor McDonald was in the back of a different police car. He was getting more attention than he wanted, but it wasn’t of the same type or quality as that which Marissa was receiving. Rather than a cup of coffee, he was given a pair of handcuffs.