Rated R
"What are you talking about Dietz?" Danny asked. "You never told us you had a brother."
"You ever care enough to ask?" Dietz retorted. He didn't care if he made Danny mad. He had crossed a line and he was going to let him know that he wasn't going to stand for it. Danny couldn't get past his own confusion to realize that someone else might be suffering as much as he was due to this situation.
"Your right Dietz" Danny conceded. "I admit I never tried to find out anything about you. It's just that you were always a fixture in the house. It seemed like you were part of the family sort of, you know? It never dawned on me that you had a family somewhere else. Hell, you could have been married for all I know" he said with sudden realization that there was more to Dietz than anyone had known.
Dietz saw that Danny was being sincere and apologetic. He needed to cut the kid some slack. Now was not the time to bring up old wounds. Their primary focus needed to be on their mission, which was very clearly different for each of them. Dietz wanted Mick and Michelle as did Danny but for entirely different reasons and he hoped that when it was all said and done that Danny would one day be able to forgive him.
"Don't worry about it kid." he said and entered the coordinates . "Let's go," he instructed and Danny followed him out of the terminal.
As if out of nowhere, a dark colored four-door sedan pulled up and stopped in front of them. Danny's instincts went on edge when he saw the foreign car stop as if it were meant for them. Dietz calmly walked over to driver's side of the vehicle and once the window was let down to reveal the driver, Dietz began to talk to him. Danny didn't recognize the person in the car but he appeared to be of island descent. He walked over to the car to join Dietz and get a better look at the inhabitant of the miracle car.
Dietz spoke in hushed tones with the driver and they ceased talking when Danny stood before them. "What's going on Dietz?" Danny asked impatiently. "Who is this?"
"This is our ticket to Mick and Michelle" Dietz answered dryly. "Come on kid, get inside. Jorge knows exactly where these coordinates lie and we will be there in no time," he said with a smile and the previously unnamed man in the front smiled in unison revealing two large empty spaces in the front of his mouth where teeth used to be.
Danny smelled a rat. These two knew each other and he suddenly felt a distinct disadvantage. He was at the mercy of these two men. If he wanted to get to Michelle, he would have to go along with them. He just wished he could be sure of Dietz. He realized Dietz had as much at stake in bringing Mick in as Danny did, but he wasn't sure about what Dietz was going to do where Michelle was concerned. He had to prove that Michelle was innocent of the ridiculous things that Dietz had said she was a willing participant in.
Reluctantly, he climbed in the back seat of the sedan and settled in for their journey. In just under two hours, he would have the answers he sought. Before the sun would rise up on another day in this beautiful country, he would know the reason Michelle had been taken from him. He just prayed that he would be able to live with the answers he received. He hoped that he would be able to go on for himself and for his daughter if any of these allegations were even remotely true.
Deciding not to borrow any more trouble than was already looming on the horizon, Danny buckled his seatbelt and settled in with his thoughts and begged the fates to be on his side this time.
As Michelle feared, Mick rushed out to greet them upon their arrival. It was dark and she couldn't make out his expression, but she knew he would be livid. She would pay dearly for her jaunt to the United States but finding Danny had been worth anything that Mick would do to her.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the hacienda while issuing orders to Miguel in an angry voice.
Once inside, he dragged her into the back room where she had resided before she made her escape. The room was empty and she immediately feared for Rosie. "Where's Rosie?" she asked in a defiant voice. For some odd reason, running to the states to find had given her a new found courage to stand up to Mick.
That courage proved to be foolhardy though when she felt his hand strike her across her cheek, knocking her to the floor. Brilliant pain streaked with white light echoed throughout her brain as she struggled to open her eyes. The pain was devastating, unlike any she had ever experienced before.
Knowing it would be wise not to stoke his anger further, she remained on the floor and did not make a sound. She opened her eyes and tried to call his image into focus. His figure was a masked blur to her as he paced back and forth and she could hear him muttering incoherently to himself.
"Get up" he suddenly demanded and she rolled over onto her side to try and right herself. She had fallen at an awkward angle and it was only now that she realized that the pain in her wrist could mean she had fractured it when she fell. She wasn't moving fast enough for his liking and he grabbed the injured wrist and tried to yank her up from off of the floor. Her yelp of pain fell on deaf ears as he continued to pull on her pained wrist.
She finally was able to get her feet under her long enough to stand and face him. She would be careful not to anger him again. "Please tell me where Rosie is," she said trying not to sound like she was in pain. If she let on that she was hurt, he would use it to his advantage. She had to think of Rosie.
"Don't worry about that just yet. You and I have some matters to discuss and if I like the way you answer my questions, then and only then will we talk about where my brother's brat is" he said and Michelle had to fight her urge to cry.
Please hurry Danny, she prayed. She hoped he was on his way to find her. Surely he had noticed her missing by now. Surely he would be trying to find her. Maybe someone was in the parking lot when Miguel put her in the trunk of his car. Maybe someone saw something and when Danny asked questions, maybe just maybe someone had the right answer for him.
It was all she could hope for. She had no way to contact him now. Mick was going to make her pay for her betrayal and she knew first hand how sadistic his payback to anyone who had crossed him could be.
"Okay" she said "but could I get a drink of water first please?" she said trying to see if he would show any sympathy to her whatsoever.
He studied her for what seemed like an eternity then shouted for Louisa to come to the room. Louisa's face lit up when she saw Michelle standing by the corner of the little room. Mick ordered her to go and get a glass of water for Michelle. Louisa nodded her head in understanding and snuck a quick glance at Michelle who was positioned behind Mick.
Michelle looked at Louisa with a pained expression on her face and pointed to her injured wrist. Louisa's brief, barely noticeable nod was not lost on Michelle and she knew that Louisa understood what she was trying to tell her. She placed her good hand above her breast signaling to Louisa that she wanted to know where Rosie was.
Louisa nodded once more discreetly and then left the room to get the water for Michelle. Filled with some semblance of hope, she faced Mick again and put on a contrite face hoping to convince him that she was genuinely sorry for running away from him.
"Now' he said. "Let's talk."
"Okay" Michelle answered.
"Did you really think you would get away with running from me?" he asked rhetorically. "Don't you remember what happens to people who disobey me? Do I have to give you a reminder in the same fashion as the last time?" he threatened.
"No Mick" she answered calmly." I don't need to be reminded what happens when you get angry. I will never be able to close my eyes at night to go to sleep again without recalling what happens when you get inflamed" she said in a voice disguised with sweetness.
She had to keep him talking. A plan had formulated in her mind and she was pretty sure that Louisa had picked up on it. Once that glass of water was in her possession, she would pretend to drink it, then break the glass and she would have a weapon to use on him. She felt fairly certain she could use it on him. All she had to do was remember the atrocities that she had witnessed due to this man and the rest should fall into place. If that didn't work, she could recall the long agonizing months that she had spent separated from her husband. And even still if she needed a reason, the fact that she had been forced to give birth on the floor of the hacienda with no medical supervision and no anesthesia in the middle of summer, should provide enough fodder for her to use the glass against him.
"Good Michelle" he answered her. "I would hate to see a similar fate fall on someone you loved," he said cryptically and Michelle felt her blood turn cold. What did he mean by that?
Was he talking about Rosie? Danny? Would he really turn his hatred onto his own flesh and blood just to make her pay for rejecting him? Could he really be that callous and cold hearted?
Oh God, she thought, yes, yes he could and she knew he would. She had to do something fast. Hurry Louisa, she thought. The water glass was the only chance she had right now.
Louisa appeared in the doorway with the glass full of water. She extended her hand and Michelle began to walk towards her to collect the glass. Mick held her away from Louisa by pushing her back and he took the glass from Louisa himself.
He smiled at Michelle and then dismissed Louisa who hesitated briefly before realizing it would be best to do as he said.
Michelle's shocked look at his interference gave her plan away. Mick looked at her with an amused look and sadly shook his head. "Michelle, Michelle, Michelle" he posed. "Did you really think I was that stupid?" he asked. "Did you really think that I would give you something to use against me? I know you want me dead but that is not going to happen, you got that?" he said and grabbed her chin hard and brought it up to his face. She could smell the stench of his body that the humid weather and probable skipped shower portrayed.
Michelle didn't back down from him. She stood toe to toe with him and said, " I would do anything to keep Rosie safe. Do you hear me? I would risk facing Satan himself to keep her out of your clutches. Tell me where she is Mick," she said with more bravado than she felt.
"I am glad to see you still have a little fight left in you Michelle" Mick said with an amused tone. "Your whining and whimpering was really beginning to get on my nerves. There is that fire that little Michelle Bauer had in her the day she bashed my skull in with a rock. That is what I wanted to see" he said and drew her to him and placed his mouth on hers.
She struggled against him with her good hand. She tried wriggling out of his grasp and it only served to make him angrier. His vile breath, hot on her face, threatened to make her vomit.
He worked them over to the bed and threw her down on it and reached for his belt buckle. Her eyes opened in horror as she realized what he was going to do.
"No Mick" she screamed. "I am not healed yet. You know that. Don't do this," she said.
"I don't care if you are healed or not" he answered. 'I have been denied this for too long. If you are well enough to go traipsing back to the states after my brother, then I think you are well enough to give me what I deserve. I feel sure that you gave it to little brother Danny while you were together but I am going to show you which Santos is the real man" he said as he worked his zipper down.
Michelle closed her eyes and begged God not to allow this to happen. She could take anything but this. She wanted to remain untouched by Mick. She needed Danny to believe that she had remained true to him despite all of this adversity.
Mick didn't wait to get his pants down before he laid his body on top of hers. She struggled to push him off and he merely laughed at her weak efforts. He was pretty sure that her arm was broken by the way she was holding it close to her body and by the way she was protecting it. Her pain only added to his arousal and he was just about to claim his long awaited prize when he heard some commotion outside the door.
He heard his name being called by Rudy, one of the servants at the hacienda. He remained on top of Michelle and screamed, "This had better be damn good".
"Mr. Mick" Rudy answered, "Come quick".
"What is it?" he said through gritted teeth. This was the closest he had ever gotten to Michelle and he was not going to let his golden chance elude him.
"A car has just pulled up on the property on the east side," he said. " I think your brother is here".