Kidnap, Part 9

Kidnap
slimv2001@yahoo.com
Part 9

Detective Ferguson's patience was beginning to pay off.  The more Linda
smoked the more cohesive her thoughts became.  She told him about Dr.
Blacklung and described his physical characteristics in great detail right
down to the medical pin he wore on his lapel denoting him as an employee of
Midway Hospital.  

She told him about the Plexiglas cage and the metal floor.  She told him
about being forced to smoke more and more on a daily basis or suffer the
punishment of electric shock and starvation.  Detective Ferguson's penis
pushed painfully against his trousers as she told him about smoking 10 packs
a day.  He called the doctor a bastard for her to hear but wondered to
himself if perhaps there was something almost admirable inside that sick
man's brain.

They pulled up to an empty house.  It was only 1:00 so Tammy was still in
school and wouldn't be home for several more hours.  The detective walked
Linda up the steps to the locked front door.  Linda rummaged through her
purse of cigarette packs looking for the keys.  Surprisingly they were still
there and she opened the door, letting them both inside.

She looked around her house.  She was home at last and it was just how she
imagined it would be:  the couch, the curtains, and the hardwood floors.  A
feeling of coziness and safety overcame her for the first time since her
abduction.  She looked around the room for an ashtray but saw none.  Why
should there be an ashtray?  There had never been a need for one until today.
Maybe she should smoke outside.  The thought of Peter or Tammy seeing her
with a cigarette disturbed her.  What the hell was she thinking about?  She
needed a cigarette now!  Fuck Peter!  She loved him, but he'd just have to
understand.  After all she had been through a hell of a lot.

She lit a Pall Mall rather rebelliously and marched to the kitchen and took a
glass bowl from the cupboard and took it back with her to the living room.
She sat down in the easy chair with the bowl in her lap.  Detective Ferguson
took a seat on the couch.  While they waited for her husband to come home, he
watched her inhale cigarette after cigarette down to the nub.  The bowl on
her lap was beginning to fill up and he was about to offer to empty it for
her when the sound Peter's Mercedes roared up the driveway.  The brakes
screeched and the door opened and slammed shut.  Seconds later the front door
burst open and Peter Torrance stood in the foyer wild eyed and exuberant.

He didn't see Detective Ferguson on the couch.  He didn't even see the
burning cigarette between Linda's fingers or the cloud of thick tobacco smoke
that permeated the room. She took a final puff and put the cigarette out as
Peter flew past the detective and took her in his arms.

Her hair and clothes reeked of smoke but Peter's brain ignored the scent as
he tried to kiss her only to be rebuked.  He felt her shake in his arms and
held her tighter.  They stood like that for several silent minutes making
Detective Ferguson extremely uncomfortable.  He stood up and put a hand on
Peter's shoulder.

"We need to talk alone for a minute", he told Peter.

Peter looked at Linda and she nodded.  "Its OK", she said.  "I'll be fine."

Linda lit another cigarette as soon as she was sure they were in the kitchen
and sat back down.  She had wanted to kiss Peter, but she wasn't prepared to
see the look of disgust on his face- at least not yet.  She knew he loved
her, but how much?

Peter's jaw dropped as Detective Ferguson explained what he knew so far about
Linda's ordeal.  He told her about the man who called him self Dr. Blacklung
and his obsession with making Linda smoke.  

"As far as I know", said Detective Ferguson, "your wife wasn't raped."  The
guy just wanted to make her smoke.  It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen
but he got what he wanted.  Your wife smokes 10 packs a day of unfiltered
cigarettes.

"What" asked Peter?  "10 packs of cigarettes a day?  You're kidding!  Linda
doesn't smoke."

"She does now Mr. Torrance", said Detective Ferguson, "and considering what
she's been through- she really needs your support and understanding right
now.  This isn't her fault.  She didn't ask for this you know."

Peter Torrance was an intelligent man but he was having trouble absorbing the
situation.  His wife was alive and she was home.  But she was different.  God
only knew what was going through her mind right now.  He knew she would need
counseling to cope with the issues regarding her abduction.  And now this
detective was telling him that Linda was some kind of chronic smoker and that
it wasn't her fault and that he should be supportive.  Of course he would be
supportive.  Linda was his wife and he loved her.  Sure he hated smoking but
he loved his wife a lot more than he hated smoking.  How bad could it be?
Besides it wouldn't last forever.  He knew Linda and he knew she'd want to
quit as soon as possible.  He just had to be tolerant until then.

"I want to be alone with her Detective.  Do you think you could come back
tomorrow and finish whatever you have to do then?"

Detective Ferguson nodded.  "Sure, I can do that.  Just let me know if you
need any thing before then.  You still have my home number, don't you?"

Peter assured him that he did and that he wouldn't hesitate to call if he
needed him.  Then he walked the detective past his smoking wife to the front
door.  The two men shook hands and Peter closed the door behind him and went
to his wife.

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