Anatomy of a Nightmare - M J Marlow (i read a book .txt) 📗

saw the anger in his eyes, but she was past caring. He was going to kill her anyway. “I am not going down without a fight, Neil!”
“If I didn’t like the idea of milking the idiots who are my constituents for all they’re worth, darling,” Ambrose said coldly as he leaned over her, “I would strangle you here and now.”
He laughed and left the room. Esme winked at her and Lily hid her smirk. Everything that had been said was now on a tape recorder that had been hidden under the blanket. A copy would go to the police, another to Gregory, and a third would be included in her petition of divorce. She was going to be a free woman and Ambrose was going to jail. She and her son would be able to have a life free of the bastard.

The next two weeks were ones of increasing horror for Lily. The police had taken Neil in for questioning and he had convinced them that she was unstable. The lawyer she had hired had never received the tape or her petition to divorce, and Gregory was overseas. Neil finally approached her after leaving her alone for those two weeks. He forced her down onto a chair at the dining room table and took a vial of pills out of his pocket and put them in front of her.
“You are going to take an overdose, Lily, or you are going to surrender; those are your only options,” he told her. “My poor unstable darling, you just could not handle the stress of nearly losing our son.” He stroked her cheek. “I will arrive home too late to save you.”
“Neil, please…”
“You promise me here and now that you are going to do as you are told,” Ambrose said to her as he held up the pill, “and I will let you live instead of killing you outright.” Lily nodded and he kissed her. “That’s my angel.” He gave her one of the pills; which he smilingly informed her was a performance enhancer. “We’re going to bed,” he said as he yanked her to her feet and shoved her towards the master suite. She could not stop herself from responding to him as the drug took over; she passed out as he shuddered to release and he smiled. “It was a valiant try, Lily,” he said as he stroked her hair, “but you are an innocent in the political arena. My people warned me what you were going to pull.”

Esme scowled as she received the overnight package at her apartment that night. She saw the cashier’s check and the letter telling her that her services as a nurse were no longer required. Their trap had not caught its prey. She would have to look into that. It was obvious someone with a lot of clout was behind Ambrose. Someone knocked on the door and she let Evelyn and Geoffrey in.
“Your brother picked the absolute worst time to go overseas, cousin,” Esme snapped at Geoffrey. He held up his hands in defense. “I don’t like this! Ambrose is going to hurt Lily for trying to blackmail him into a divorce.”
“But he has to keep her alive now,” Evelyn reminded her. “People are going to question him too closely if she ends up dead for any reason now.” She sank down on the couch. “We’re just going to have to think of another way to get my sister away from that bastard.”
“It’s too bad someone can’t just shoot the bastard,” Geoffrey said, only half joking. “That would solve Lily’s problems quite neatly.”
“But not if it was someone she cared about,” Esme replied. She saw the couple looking at her. “Lily’s brother, Edward, has been making noises. Only when he’s drunk so far,” she said with only a bit of relief; “but he is going to snap if we don’t stop him.”
“How would you know?”
“From that nice Sergeant Patrick Murphy,” Esme smiled. “He and I were dating on my days off,” she blushed as they looked at her curiously. “He’s a very nice man and he is concerned about his partner.”
“It can’t be easy for him,” Geoffrey frowned, “having to watch from a distance while his sister is being abused.” He saw the look on Evelyn’s face and sighed. “What is going on in that sneaky little mind of yours, darling?”
“You’ll only find out if it works,” Evelyn replied. She got out her cell phone and went into another room. “You can?” she squealed a moment later as she came back. “We owe you big time!” She hung up and smiled at the pair. “Claudia Ivanescu is coming to town,” she told them. “It seems she has been asked to find a location for a photo shoot.”
“You’re siccing the piranha on Lily’s brother?” Geoffrey choked. He saw the look on her face and shook his head. “I am not helping. You Machiavellian females can do your own headhunting without my assistance.” Evelyn came towards him slowly and he closed his eyes as she ran her hands over his chest. “No,” he shook his head as she pulled his head down, “not going to work! We men need to…” He groaned as Evelyn kissed him and then he was into it. When she finally let him up for air, he looked stunned. “I surrender. Where and when?”

“Edward,” Murphy frowned at his younger partner as the boy slammed his glass down and announced it was ‘time to hurt the bastard’. “Your sister is not going to thank you for ruining your career for her.” He saw the door open and he smiled as he saw Esme and a strange woman.
“Here’s Esme with your date,” he said to Edward. “Try to look presentable. This one is a lady.”
“How do you know?” Edward asked as he turned to look. His heart went down to his stomach as he saw the long-legged woman with raven hair and storm gray eyes. She was poured into the flame red knee length dress she was wearing. She moved towards him and her smile melted him into a puddle at her feet. He wanted her to bear his children!
“Claudia Ivanescu,” Esme smiled as she saw her cousin had made another conquest. “This is Patrick’s friend, Officer Edward Randall.”
“Edward,” her voice was husky and Edward knew he was lost. “I am so glad you agreed to show me around town. I am really quite hopeless with directions. I would be so hopelessly lost if I had to scout locations on my own.” She grazed his shirt with her finger tips. “You would come looking for me, would you not?”
“I’d much rather get lost with you,” Edward said and then groaned inwardly. Smooth move, Randall. She will probably write me off as a nerd and run for the hills. But she was not looking at all annoyed at his clumsy words. In fact, her look was telling him such an event would not be at all distasteful to her. Edward shook his head and told himself to get a grip. Beautiful women did not think things like that about him. “So Esme told me you work for an advertising firm,” he said as he pulled a chair out for her. “What else do you do besides scout locations for their photo shoots?”
“Oh very boring things,” Claudia said to him. “I do not wish to talk of my work. I am far more interested in hearing about you.” Her hand lay on his and he was afraid to move. “Esme tells me that you are a police officer and you are studying for the bar. That interests me.” She saw him frown and his hand clenched. She turned to see a couple come into the restaurant. “Handsome people,” she noted. “Who are they?”
“Our mayor, Neil Ambrose,” Edward told her, his voice tight with anger; “and his wife.”
“Down, boy,” Murphy said to him. “This is a public place and you have a lady to entertain.”
“There is bad blood there?” Claudia asked, intrigued by the emotion in this man. He was far more intense than she had realized at first and she was starting to like what she was seeing in this man. “The woman is someone you care about?”
“My sister,” Edward nodded. He waited until they were out of sight and turned back to her with a smiled. “Sorry. It’s really none of my business if she wants to be paraded around like arm candy, is it?” Claudia could hear the anguish in his voice and knew he cared a great deal about his sister. He struggled, but he finally got himself under control. When he smiled Claudia knew she was lost. “So we were talking about…”
Lily looked over to the bar as she heard her brother’s laughter. He was with Esme and Murphy and an exquisitely beautiful brunette. Esme had told her that her cousin, Claudia, was in town; but she had failed to tell her she was gorgeous. She jumped as Ambrose put his fingers to her chin and turned her head back so she had to look at him.
“So who’s the goddess?” he asked as he ran his eyes over Claudia.
“Esme’s cousin,” Lily told him. “She’s here scouting locations for a photo shoot.” She could see he was interested, and she didn’t care. If he was with some other woman, he was not abusing her. “She works for an advertising agency in New York.” She shivered as he ran his hand along her thigh under her skirts. “Neil…”
“We’ve had this conversation, darling,” he smiled as his hand moved under her panties and he began stroking her. “Anywhere, anytime, and anyhow I wish; remember?” Lily nodded and bit her lip to keep from moaning as he stroked her. “You are so damned beautiful when you’re hot, Lily.”
The waiter came over and he ordered wine and their entrees. Lily didn’t know how she got through dinner as he continued stroking her. The torment ended finally and they left. She heard one of the women commenting to her dinner companion.
“They are so in love with each other it’s sickening,” she laughed. “She looked as if she wanted to tear his clothes off right there at the table.”
“Wouldn’t have someone who looks like that pretty creature,” one of the men at the table laughed, “throwing herself at me!”
If they only knew, Lily sobbed to herself. She turned away and her eyes met Edward’s for a brief moment .She saw his go cold as he saw Ambrose and he turned away from her. Lily wanted to die then as she realized her own brother was abandoning her. Neil took her to the car and they drove away from the restaurant.
“Mayor,” the housekeeper said when they got home. “Mr. Randall is here to see you.”
“Go get ready for bed, darling,” he said as he turned her to the master suite. “I’ll get rid of your annoying cousin.” He went into his office and saw Gordon Randall sitting there. “What do you want?”
“Interesting little set up you have here, Neil,” Gordon said as he replayed the tape of the night Lily had been raped. “The FBI would be very interested in that little scene.” He held up another tape. “Or maybe they’d like this one where you tie her to your bed while you abuse her?”
“What do you want, Gordon?” Ambrose repeated.
“You’re the Mayor now, Neil,” Gordon smiled at the man. “I’m sure there are all sorts of things you can do to make it worth my while to stay quiet.” He saw the gun in Ambrose’s hand and wondered where it had come from. “Oh come on, Neil. There’s no need for violence.”
“Blackmailers can’t be trusted, Gordon,” Neil said as he cocked. “They just never