Heartstone

Eddie gave Willie twenty dollars and Willie handed it to Ralph. Then Willie led him into a darkened kitchen. There was a basement door secured by a strong lock next to the refrigerator. Willie worked the lock and switched on the basement light. There was only a single 60-watt bulb and it left most of the basement in shadow. The rickety wooden stairs squeaked with each step and, in his condition, Eddie had to hold onto the banister to keep from tumbling down them.

Eddie was concentrating so much on the stairs that he didn’t notice anything else until he had his feet planted firmly on the concrete. It was cold in the basement, but there was some heat emanating from an old-fashioned furnace that was set off near the far wall. Willie headed toward the furnace and Eddie thought he heard something moving near it.

“How you like that?” Willie asked softly. His voice had changed and his speech was coated with a coarse layer of lust.

It was dark in the basement despite the light, and the corner where Willie was pointing was mostly in shadow, but Eddie could make out a figure, covered by a blanket, huddled on a bare mattress. The mattress gave off a rank odor and there were stains on a corner of it that looked like dried blood. The only part of the person that was not covered by the blanket was the head. He moved closer and he could see that it was a girl. She had not moved since they had come into her line of vision, but her eyes were open and she was watching their every movement. The girl’s hair was dirty, stringy and matted and Eddie had trouble making out whether it was black or brown at first. When he got closer, he could see that it was brown.

“We got this one well-trained, Eddie. Yes, sir, don’t we?” Willie said, half to Eddie and half to the girl. The girl made no response. Her face was a blank and she seemed past caring.

“This one’ll do whatever you so desire, won’t you, darlin’?”

Eddie could hear Willie breathing heavily as he stripped off his jacket. Willie was wearing a heavy belt and he drew it out of the loops of his pants as he talked, never letting his eyes stray from the girl’s face.

Willie jerked the blanket off with a sudden movement. The girl was dressed in slacks and a blouse. The blouse was unbuttoned and the girl was clutching the halves together with her right hand.

The girl moved for the first time when the blanket was removed. It was not much of a movement. Just a quiver, accompanied by a whimper and a rattling metallic sound. Eddie found the source of that sound in a length of chain that was attached to the girl’s right ankle and a metal loop that was fastened to the cellar wall.

Eddie began to feel sick. He didn’t go for this kind of thing. He wanted to back out, but he was too scared of Willie and Ralph to say anything.

“You happy to see me, darlin’?” Willie crooned. As he talked, he switched the doubled belt against his thigh. The girl’s eyes did not leave the belt and they began to fill with tears. Willie squatted down and cupped the girl’s chin in his hand, forcing her to look into his eyes.

“I asked if you was glad to see me.”

The girl croaked an answer that sounded like yes.

Willie chuckled and released the girl’s chin.

“I knew you was. I knew you was. ’Cause you know what’s behind these shorts, don’t you? You know what good stuff’s there.”

The girl bit her lip to try to hold back her tears, but the effort was useless. The sight of the girl’s helplessness seemed to fuel Heartstone’s sadism. He snapped the belt lazily across the girl’s hips. Eddie was certain that he had not used enough force to hurt her, yet the girl’s buttocks jumped as if she had been struck with great force.

“This here’s my friend Eddie, darlin’. I want you to show him what you got.”

Eddie wanted to stop it, right here, but he knew that one false move on his part and he would be dead. Knew it for certain.

The girl was removing her slacks with fast, jerky movements. Each effort seemed to cause her pain. When the slacks were to her ankles, Heartsone pulled them off. Underneath, she was naked.

“Now the blouse,” Willie said in a husky whisper. “Show this man those fine, fine tits.”

The girl obeyed weakly, then lay back on the mattress with her legs spread. Heartstone drew the belt down her stomach, letting the leather touch one of her nipples. The tip of the belt stopped where her curled brown pubic hair began. Willie gri

“See how well she learned her lessons. It took some doin’ to get her to lie back and spread those legs. Many a interestin’ hour.” He shook his head and closed his eyes, savoring the memories. “But she’s smart and she learns good. We even go

Despite his revulsion, Eddie could not keep his eyes off the girl’s body. He noticed how emaciated she looked. Her ribs could be seen easily and there were dark shadows under her eyes.

Eddie was certain that Willie would mount her first while he watched, but all of a sudden, Heartstone seemed to lose interest. He zipped up his pants and stepped back.

“I’m go

Eddie heard Heartstone’s footsteps climbing the stairs and the sound of the door closing and locking. The girl shuddered visibly with relief. For a moment Eddie was afraid that he too might be a prisoner and he started to walk toward the stairs.

“No,” the girl mumbled feebly. “Don’t go, please.”

She was begging. He turned back to her.

“Look miss, I…I don’t know what’s going on here, but I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

He was whispering. As afraid as she that Heartstone might hear them. All he wanted to do was to get away.

“Don’t talk,” she begged in a whisper. “If he hears me talking, he’ll…”

She began to sob.

“You don’t have to worry. I won’t force myself on you,” he whispered in an attempt to comfort her. She became terrified when he backed away.

“No. You have to. It will be worse for me if they find out you…I didn’t do what they said.” She turned her head away. “Just be quick.”

Toller’s voice had gotten lower and lower as he wound toward the end of his tale. As he talked, Caproni began to feel the same fear and revulsion that Toller seemed to be reexperiencing. When the prisoner stopped talking, there was a strained silence in the interview room.

“Did you have intercourse with her?” Caproni asked in a choked voice. Toller shook his head.

“I was too scared to get it up. I done some bad things in my life, but I ain’t never done anything like that to no person.”

“What did you do when Heartstone came back?”

“He didn’t come back. I had to bang on the basement door. He asked me how it was and I made up some story. Then he drove me to town after chargin’ me five more dollars for gas. I was scared all the way, but Willie didn’t do nothin’.

“The next morning, I packed up and moved out of town. A few days later I read how they found this girl’s body in a ditch by the highway. I could see it was her from the picture in the paper.”

“Why didn’t you tell the police?”

“Look, I wasn’t goin’ to no police. Not with my record and not after not reporting it first. I was scared and, besides, the cops never did anything for me. She was dead anyway.”

Yes, I suppose she was, Caproni thought. Dead long before they killed her. He tried to imagine what it must have been like for the girl, lying in the cold, damp basement, afraid to even speak.

“Did you ever see Heartstone or Ralph again?”

“No, sir. And if I had I woulda gone the other way. Like I said, I done some bad shit in my time, but nothin’ like that. I knew what they was capable of.”

“Do you know Ralph’s last name?”

“He just called him Ralph and I didn’t ask.”

Caproni made some final notes. Then, he put his pad in his attaché case and stood up.