First Part

A Woman Scorned

Francesca Vecchio stood a little way from the bed on which Ray Kowalski lie, bound and blindfolded. She watched his taut body and rehashed her plan in her mind.. With Ray missing, Fraser would turn to her and she would give him all the love and support that she could give him through this terrible time. Fraser would realize that he could not live without her. He would learn to love her and forget this skinny blond. She switched the case she was carrying to her left hand and set the case on the floor. Ray responded to the noise. He knew she would be coming, because he was only blindfolded when the boss put in an appearance. He tried not to think what she had planned for him.

He knew it would be bad. He knew if she gagged him, it would be worse. He had never been left alone with the Boss. Always before at least one of the thugs stayed in the cage while she was present. But not this time. Ray did not like this turn of events. It was like she did not want any witnesses.

Frannie approached the bed. She set the case on the bedside table .and flipped the latch. She removed several items and placed them on the table. She sat in the chair beside the bed. Then she picked up one of the items, a fingernail file and began to file her nails. Ray's sensitized hearing caught the scritch, scritch, scritch of the file on her nails. It took him a second to realize that she was filing her nails. He immediately thought of Frannie, his pretend sister. She was always filing .her hails. He wished she was here now, even though she talked constantly and was always flirting with Fraser, a familiar face would be welcome. Although in the couple of weeks before Ray had been taken, Frannie seemed distant and mad at him. He had tried to talk to her, but she just brushed him off. He figured it was one of those "Female" things.

Frannie stopped filing. She replaced the file. Ray felt extremely sharp nails slide over his exposed flesh. He hissed as they found his right nipple. He screamed as his nipple was savagely gouged. Right away the dread cotton was crammed in his mouth and duct tape was applied over his mouth. Ray struggled vainly, mostly to delay whatever was sure to come. His nipple was pinched between two sharp nails. Ray screamed into the gag. His body arched and he was shoved roughly back onto the bed. Then something cold and metallic was touching his skin. "Oh, God, not the fingernail file. Christ"

The pain sent shocks through Ray's nervous system as the file was raked over his already sore nipple. Then his left nipple was subjected to the same treatment. Ray was almost delirious with pain. He didn't think it could get any worse. Then he heard a cap being removed from something and a spray of perfume was directed at his chest. The alcohol in the perfume felt like fire. Once again his body arched off the bed and he screamed into the gag. Tears slid from under the blindfold and his body began to shake. Frannie placed her hand on Ray's stomach, as she began to play with his genitals with her other .hand Ray's shaking became uncontrollable. Frannie slapped him roughly on the face. He tried to calm down. Then searing pain coursed through his body as the fingernail file was applied to his testicles. Ray roared in pain. Even the gag was not enough to mute his scream. His body jerked wildly and before he lost consciousness, he heard the sound of metal hitting the floor as the fingernail file flew out of Frannie's grasp and landed somewhere by the end of the bed. Frannie was furious, Ray did not respond when she pinched his testicles and penis. Surely he wasn't that big a wimp. But nothing she did elicited a response from Ray's body., even the perfume sprayed directly on hispenis and testicles. Frannie went to the sink. She filled Ray's cup with water, returned to the bed and threw the water on him.. No reaction. Frannie began to worry, maybe she had killed him.. She ripped the duct tape from his face and removed the wadded cotton from his mouth. Ray groaned. Well, at least she hadn't killed him...yet. It wasn't time . She needed more time to make Fraser hers. She reluctantly got up from her chair the fingernail file forgotten. She left the cage, relocked the padlock and exited the room. After consulting with the thugs, she left the building and went to her car. She entered her car and sat for awhile trying to focus her anger. Who did Ray think he was? Ruining her plans. She had had several other games in mind, but he had to lose consciousness and playing without pain wasn't fun for Frannie. She hadn't realized how much she enjoyed Ray's pain until she started to play with him. He was so vulnerable and innocent looking when she played. Frannie shook herself. Feeling sorry for Ray was not part of the game plan. Frannie drove off to find Fraser and once again be his strong shoulder in his time of need.

Back in the cage, Ray began to gain consciousness. He was still tied to the bed, but the gag and blindfold had been removed. Someone had placed his blanket over his body . As he came to' waves of nausea rolled over him and he began retching as the pain once again claimed his attention. One of the thugs must have been watching, because someone entered the cage and a basin was thrust under his head. Ray was well and thoroughly sick. Finally he could only dry heave. It was like his body wanted to expel every trace of the Boss's intrusions. The thug shook his head at the Boss' handiwork. He helped Ray to a drink of water and then he untied his hands and feet. He brought Ray's handcuffed arms down and placed them under the blanket. Ray looked at him and croaked: "Why ...why is she doing this to me? Why?" He almost sobbed.

The thug shook his head again and said, "That is between you and her. Now try to get some rest."

Then he left the cage. Ray lay still for a long while. Then he remembered the fingernail file. He didn't know if the Boss had found it while he was unconscious, but looking for it would give him a purpose and he badly needed something to concentrate on. After painfully sitting up and even more painfully, trying to get up from the bed, Ray finally succeeded in shakily standing. He moved slowly to the other end of the bed. He noticed flecks of blood on the walls and winced as he remembered the sick games the Boss had inflicted on him. He reached the end of the bed and gingerly lowered himself to his knees.

He looked under the bed and at first missed the metallic gleam of the file wedged near the foot of the bed. Ray retrieved his treasure and returned to sit on the bed and really look at what had recently been an instrument of torture, but now might lead to his escape. Ray managed to put his manacled leg on the bed and he tested the chain links that secured it to the floor. He decided to concentrate on the link that was third up from the manacle. He began to work the file back and forth on the link. He couldn't tell if it was working or not, but it gave him hope and something to think about,.so he continued. He began to notice a small, but growing pile of dust. He was making progress. For the next couple of hours, Ray worked on the link. He was definitely making progress. He quickly slid the file under his mat when he mattress when he heard someone enter the room.

Meanwhile Fraser was entering the 27th's bullpen, when Frannie accosted him and began invading his space. He tried to be courteous, because she was obviously concerned about Ray and himself.

But he wanted nothing more than to tell her to leave him alone.. Dief must have picked up on Fraser's feelings, because once again he growled when Frannie tried to embrace Fraser.. "What's the wolf's problem?" She almost spat.