Chapter Twenty Six - My Zero Tolerance Policy

The blindfold was the worst part for Raven. Being immobile with her hands tied behind her back was bad enough but it was worse by far not to see. The utter confusion in her head was amplified by the lack of input from her strongest sense.

Her confusion fueled her fear and she found herself fighting an overwhelming panic that swept from her head to the last nerve ending in her little toe. She took several deep breaths in an effort to stop herself from shaking.

Think...think. Be cool, be patient. Wait for your opening, she told herself, they’ll make a mistake, they always do.

She continued talking to herself and gradually withdrew from the confusion to a safer place in her head. Slow down... take a breath... take it easy. It wasn’t as if she’d never been in a spot like this before but she was less prepared for it now. She thought that those days were behind her. What was this about?

An hour later she and her hosts reached their destination. When her blindfold was removed she found herself standing in Leonard Azeri’s study.

“Well, Ms. Olsson. At last we meet. I must say, you are as lovely as your sister.”

Raven stared back at Leonard without so much as blinking. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

“It’s truly unfortunate what happened to her. I was devastated when I found out.”

“Go to hell, Azeri.” Raven blurted. So much for the poker face.

“Ah, she speaks.” Leonard was clearly enjoying toying with her.

He had so much power yet so little to amuse himself with these days but this was certainly amusing to him.

“I expected something a little more eloquent from one as brilliant and talented as you. As you can see, I’m a great admirer of your work.”

The room was full of her work.

“You have a unique gift. It would be a shame if I had to deprive the world of it.”

“If you brought me here to discuss my work, I’m sure you could have found an easier way to accomplish that. Why am I here?” she demanded.

“Have you heard the old cliché about things not always being what they appear?” he asked smugly.

“Yeah, so?”

“So how well do you know your boyfriend, the beach bum? The one who pretends to be a writer?”

“Well enough. Are you coming to a point any time soon?” Even under good circumstances, Raven had no patience with sarcasm. She’d always been a direct person and appreciated that quality in others.

“The point, Ms. Olsson, is that he is a thief. He and his so-called ex-girlfriend conspired to steal from me. At this very moment, he is in possession of a quarter million dollars of my property.” Leonard watched her closely for a reaction.

“Even if I believed you, what’s a quarter million dollars to a man like you? You’re risking kidnapping a well-known artist and going to all this trouble over chump change like that? You do realize that as soon as the word gets out that I’ve been kidnapped, it will be all over the media. I think you’re going to have to do better than that.” Raven held her ground.

“You are correct that I can easily absorb the money but that really isn’t the point, you see.”

He spoke slowly, enunciating carefully, as if explaining a complicated issue to a small child.

“The point is that stealing from me is prohibited. Not in any amount, not ever. I call it my zero tolerance policy.”

“So this is about testosterone? You are risking your whole illicit empire to feed your male ego? You truly are an insecure sumbitch, aren’t you Lenny? Small penis, is that it? Is that why my sister had to look elsewhere for satisfaction?”

For the tiniest millisecond, anger flashed across his face. He’d gotten where he was today, alive, precisely because he kept his emotions under control and always, always kept his wits. This artist wasn’t about to get the best of him.

“If it’s the penis thing, Lenny, you could have saved us both a lot of trouble and just bought yourself a Corvette.” Raven continued.

“Let’s stick to the subject matter. The fact is that you have made a couple of incorrect assumptions.”

“The first is that the media, or anyone else for that matter, knows that you are missing. The truth is that only one person outside of my organization knows that your have been detained and that would be your Mr. Davis, in whom you’ve placed so much faith. In fact, he chose to risk harm to you rather than returning my property.”

“The second is that your sister was ever anything more to me than one of many drug addicted concubines that I kept for my pleasure.”

“Go to hell.” Raven said.

“Hell, my dear, is exactly where you are headed unless your boyfriend returns my property very soon.”

“Who are you kidding?” Raven asked. “You’re not going to let either of us walk away from this thing alive. You’ll kill us both no matter what Rudy does.”

“Perhaps, but if there is any hope for you, it’s that your young man comes through. But don’t take my word for all of this, ask the young woman sharing your quarters what Mr. Davis has been up to while you were away.”

Leonard turned toward the door and motioned his goon to take her away.


When the door slammed shut behind her, Raven could hardly believe what she saw. This building had been built for the express purpose of detaining human beings. It was not the first such place she had ever seen but it was the first one in this country.

Made of cinderblock and cement, the cell was small, perhaps 15 X 15 feet. The only windows were two tiny barred holes in the wall facing the rear of the property. Several metal bunks protruded from the walls and there were no mattresses or pillows in sight. In one corner was a lone, metal toilet. In the opposite corner, a pale blonde woman sat shaking.

“Who the hell are you?” the blonde asked.

With her pale skin, greasy hair and raccoon eyes, she looked like a character from ‘Night of the Living Dead’. Raven had seen severe withdrawal before and this was a pretty clear case.

“Name’s Raven. Who are you?”
“Circe.”

“Circe? From Salt Lake City?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Rudy’s ex-girlfriend.” Raven muttered, mostly to herself.

“Yeah, how did you know that?” Circe was beginning to take an interest in the conversation.

“I’m his girlfriend.” Raven paused, and then added, “at least for now.”

Sensing a chink in the newcomer’s armor, Circe put her head down to conceal the smile creeping across her face. Life in the hole just got much more interesting.

“Well, don’t expect to see him anytime soon. He’s probably on the Mainland living the good life with the money he stole from me. That worthless sumbitch was never good for much more than a good tumble.”

If this Raven chick had any doubts about Rudy or their relationship, Circe would find them and have some fun. She’d turn a tiny crack into the Grand Friggin’ Canyon.

“I’ve known you for all of 30 seconds now and I can already see why Rudy dumped your drug addicted ass.” Raven had no patience to lose but she was smart enough to redirect the conversation.

“Did Rudy ever tell you about the time he and I made it on the pool table in Pete’s bar? He never could get enough of me.”

“Like I said, I can see why he dumped you. Only thing I’m wondering is what took him so long.” Raven countered.

Circe cracked another smile. “He stayed so long because I give the best head on the planet.” She was beginning to get to Raven and she moved in like a shark on a feeding frenzy.

Raven tried to ignore her. This was truly one classless human being.

“Besides, I was the one who left him. He’s still hopelessly in love with me. He begged me to come back and when I finally showed up on his doorstep, he begged me to move in. After we made it 3 or 4 times, that is. You should have known better than to leave a horn dog like Rudy alone for a week.”

Circe was on her feet now and approaching Raven.

“You keep running your mouth and I may just have to cheat Azeri out of the pleasure of killing you.”

“How about you? Do you give head or are you one of those prissy bitches that doesn’t do that?” Circe was moving in for the kill.

Raven had heard all she was going to and grabbed Circe’s arm when she got close enough. She had Circe in a half-nelson with her face pushed up against the cold cinderblock wall before she knew what had happened. It was obvious that Raven knew what she was doing.

“One more word out of your filthy mouth and I’ll break this arm right off and gag you with the bloody stump. You got that?”

Circe didn’t answer.

Raven twisted Circe’s arm harder and mashed her body against the wall until she could barely breathe. “You got that?” she asked again.

“Yeah, yeah. Got it.” Raven let her go.

“Just having a little fun.” Circe said. She wouldn’t antagonize Raven again, this chick was dangerous.

“Yeah well, just keep your mouth shut and we’ll get along fine.”

Raven sat down on one of the steel bunks. It was cold and rock hard. She leaned against the wall and thought about Rudy. What the hell was he up to? She’d known him for less than a year now but she understood him, at least she thought she did.

She couldn’t imagine Rudy with someone as foul as Circe and it made her wonder if she really knew him as well as she thought. She’d trusted him like she’d never trusted another human being and at this moment she was trusting him with her life; she had no choice.