The sun burned the fog off the ground.  Collette stirred, hearing a shouting.  She sat up in bed, listening for the sound to return.  It was coming from the basement; Mark was calling.  She climbed groggily to her feet and made her way to Mark as he stood in his cage dancing from one foot to the other.  She looked at him quizzically.

    "I've got to piss," he said pleadingly.

    Collette couldn't help it; she laughed.  She watched him dance from one foot the next like a school-aged child.  She nodded, "okay."  She fetched her gun and the key to the chain holding the cage shut.  She unlocked the cage and escorted him to the bathroom opposite the bedroom.

    "Thank you," he said with obvious relief after emptying his bladder.

    Collette suppressed a smile.  She controlled Mark now; all of him.  When and what he ate right down to his basic biological needs.  He belonged to her.

    Mark washed his hands and then dutifully walked slowly back to his cage, his hands hanging limply at his sides.  When he was locked back inside the confines of the cage, Collette asked, "hungry?"

    Mark nodded.  "Yes.  And can I have some coffee?"

    "Call me mistress."

    Again Mark nodded, "Can I have some coffee, mistress?"

    "Yes.   I'll bring you breakfast shortly."

     "Thank you."

    "You're welcome."  She turned and left the room.

    Mark smiled at her back, so far, he thought, she is buying his act.  Perhaps, he hoped, I won't be here long.

    Whenshe was gone from his view he dropped to the ground and sat there silently, saving his strength for when he needed to act.  He would surprise her and her friend Graham and he would break free.  He had escaped from her plans for him once; he would do it again.

    "And you will pay," he whispered as he nodded, "you will pay."

* * * * *

    "How is he doing?" Graham asked.

    "Very good.  Almost too good." 

    Graham looked at her with confusion, "almost?"

    Collette shook her head, "he broke too easily."  Yes, too easily.  She would keep an eye on him.  She doubted he was that crafty, that he was that good of an actor.  She would keep her guard up. 

   Graham smiled at Collette and asked, "do you want me to make him something to eat?"

    Collette returned his smile.  eh would do well seeing to Mark's needs, Collette thought.  "Yes, please.  When you are done with that, meet me upstairs."  She winked at him playfully.

    "Absolutely," Graham agreed happily.  He nodded like a puppy.  He climbed to his feet and made his way to the kitchen while Collette made her way upstairs. 

    Graham made Mark two eggs with toast while Collette started the water in the tub.  She filled it with hot water, almost too hot.  By the time she was naked and settling into the water, Graham returned to her side.

    Hearing him come in, her eyes closed, Collette whispered, "bathe me."

    She heard him smile.

    Graham dropped to his knees at the edge of the tub and picked up a bar of soap and a wash cloth.  He dropped his hands into the water and lathered his soft cloth with the bar of soap.  He set the soap aside and ran the dark cloth over Collette's soft shoulders. 

    With her eyes closed, she purred.

    Graham enjoyed the sound.  He washed her neck and shoulders and each of her arms down to her slender fingers.  He bathed each finger individually, washing them and then sucking each one into his mouth.  He savored the throaty purr that escaped her lips as he set her hands back into the water and, smiling, he began to wash her breasts.

    It washis turn to moan.  His hands brushed over her breasts and he exhaled a quiet sound of happy bliss.  He bathed her breasts and softly tweaked her hard nipple.  He listened to her purr and he moaned with her.

    He continued to bathe her body, running the wash cloth lower, over her stomach, past the swell of her hips and down each leg individually.  He washed her body and she lay there with her eyes closed and her full lips parted slightly.  He set the clothe aside and lifted one foot to his mouth.  He massaged the wet foot, pressing his thumbs firmly into the bottom of her foot and into her heel.

    "That's nice," she said softly, her eyes still held closed.

    Savoring her praise he finished the first foot and set it back gently into the hot water.  He picked up her second foot and massaged it as well; massaging the heel, the arch and each toe individually.  As he finished he kissed each tender toe and returned her foot to the warm bath. 

    Collette opened her eyes and motioned Graham towards her with a beckoning finger.

    He inched forward on his knees, stopping with his body next to her soft breasts. 

    "Kiss me," she said.

    Graham raised himself up and bent over the tub.  He leaned into her, bringing his mouth to hers.

    Moving quickly, Collette grabbed him and pulled him into the tub with her.  He gasped in shock and lifted himself up on his hands until one crumbled and he fell onto her body with a splash. 

    Collette laughed heartily, looking at the shock in his eyes and his open lips.

    She leaned forward and bit his lower lip, pulling it from his body.  He collapsed onto her and the two of them merged into one, their lips the focus of their passion.  They were one and their passion escalated until they both came in explosive bliss.  

    "Wow," Graham said, kissing her another tender kiss.

    Collette smiled at his childlike tone. 

    The bed was wet, the sheets having served to dry their bodies.  Lying together, naked, Collette said, "I am going to leave you alone with him for a few hours today.  Are you ready for that?"

    Graham nodded, "I think so.  You have a cell phone, right?"

    "Yes."

    "As long as I have a way to contact you in an emergency, it will be fine."

    It was settled, "okay."

 * * * * *

    Mark stared at the screws holding his cage to the ground and the wall and a plan started to form.  Would it work? Perhaps.  Would he try?  Of course.

    He waited.

* * * * *

    Collette drove back to Kilandra's house.  She parked her rental car when the front door just snuck into view.  She watched the front door for over an hour, waiting, watching, and hoping that the door remained unused.   She saw no activity in the house or the property immediately surrounding the house.  She figured it was safe, but slipped the safety off her gun anyway. 

    Momma didn't raise no fool.

    Exhaling sharply, she exited the car.

* * * * *

    "Can I get some coins?"

    Graham eyed Mark with caution, "coins?  What for?"

    Mark forced a smile, "to pitch.  It gets awfully boring in here." He shrugged for emphasis.  "If you gave me a deck of cards and some coins and maybe some dice, or something.  It would help me pass the time.  I could play solitaire with the cards. Pitch pennies or dimes or quarters against the wall or with the dice I could play craps.  Just something, anything, to make the days seem a bit shorter.  You could always bring me a TV with a remote control instead."

    Graham thought about it and decided, "I guess I can find something."

    He sounded genuinely happy when Mark replied, "thank you."

    Graham'sbrow furrowed, if Mark was pleased than wasn't it possible that he was making a mistake?  He pondered Mark's request and could not see any reason to deny him his request.  What harm could come from allowing Mark access to a few small trinkets to help him pass the time?  He could think of no excuse and so he made his way upstairs.  He had a deck of cards lying around and after counting to fifty-two (make sure they are all there before playing any games) he gripped them in his hand.  He found a few pennies, nickels and dimes lying around and gathered them up as well.  He had no dice.

    Mark watched him arrive with the cards and more importantly the coins.  "Thank you," he said, beaming.  He sat down and shuffled the cards.  He did not count them.

    Graham watched him deal a game of solitaire and was happy with himself.  If Mark, Graham reasoned, was occupied with a mindless game, he would be less likely to be a problem.  He was happy with himself as he made his way upstairs.

* * * * *

    Markfinished the first game of solitaire and then began to deal a second.  He listened for any signs of Graham and when he reasoned that he was alone he picked up the dime.  He inched across his cage and eyed the flat head end of the screws holding the cage to the floor and the wall.  He used the dime as an adhoc screwdriver and with a little effort he was able to remove the screw.

    "Yes!"  Then, "shit."  He had spoken too loudly and he returned to his half-finished game of cards.

    Mark listened for Graham and after five minutes had passed he reasoned that Graham had not heard him.

    He returned to his task of freeing himself from his prison.

* * * * *

    Collette pushed the front door of Kilandra's home open.  The house was still and quiet.  The two dead bodies that had been lying there when she left two days ago were still there and the smell caused her nose to wrinkle in disgust.  It was the smell of death and decay.  Flies buzzed around the bodies, the sound deafening in the still home.

    She stepped past the bodies and climbed the stairs, making her way back to Kilandra's office.

    As downstairs the stench was nearly unbearable.  She ignored it as well as she could.  She had seen bodies in much worse conditions, smelled death and decay much worse than this.  But this was the here and now, and wasn't that always worse than the last?  She reasoned that it was.

    Once again Collette poured through Kilandra's desk.  Now that she had an inkling what she was looking for, the search was more productive.  And before ten minutes had passed she found what she needed.  A pair of lane tickets to Paris with follow-up train tickets out of the country and into Monaco.  Taped to the tickets was a note that read "Tress" and below that a number and a date two days after the plane arrival in France.

    Whoever or whatever "Tress," was, Collette had a goal.  She was going to Paris and then to Monaco to find this Tress. 

    She hoped Graham would be okay without her.

* * * * *

    Mark finished pulling the last screw holding the cage to the wall free.  Next, he started freeing his prison from the floor.

* * * * *

    Grahamwas anxious for Collette to get back from her foray into, what was her name?  Into some dead woman's home and he was stuck here feeling uneasy. Uneasy that she had been gone so long, uneasy that a known killer was caged downstairs in the basement playing solitaire and pitching pennies against the walls of his cage.  Shit, he thought, I have a cage in my bedroom, how strange is that?  Very, he thought.

    Very strange indeed.  It was the strangeness those silly horror movies he liked as a kid always seemed to portray poorly.  Alien strangeness, zombie strangeness; a general something is not right in the world kind of strange.  He couldn't shake that there was something even more sinistar going on.  He couldn't place it; maybe it was just the uncomfortable feeling of having Mark downstairs in his cage and knowing that given the chance Mark would kill him. 

    That was probably it, he frowned.

    Graham made himself a stiff drink and swallowed it down in one sip.  He felt invigorated by the liquid courage and sat down on the couch to await Collette's arrival.

    Where was she?

* * * * *

    Collette stopped and picked up a bottle of whiskey and a case of Diet Coke.  She needed a drink to wash the memory of the smells from her mind.  Kilandra's house has smelt horrid and she was glad to be away from there.  She knew Graham would be anxious for her to return but she knew that he would have no problems with Mark.  She had shaken the walls of the cage and knew that it was sturdy; Mark could not break free. 

    She paid for the purchases and continued the drive back to Graham's.  She had two tickets to Paris.  Perhaps, she reasoned, it would be better to take Mark with her.  He was a known employee of Kilandra, even if he had never gone to Monaco with her, she assumed that his name had at least been mentioned.  She also did not want to think of what would happen if she left Mark alone with Graham for days instead of hours.  How would he cope with that and what if Mark attacked him through the walls of the cage.  The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that Mark would accompany her to Paris. 

    "I'd rather bring Graham," she said with a heavy breath.

    The sun slowly sank and Collette snapped the headlights on.  She kept her speed just above the speed limit, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to herself.  The smell of death was on her and she did not want an over zealous cop pulling her and asking why she stank. 

    Itmade more sense to bring Mark but would be much more exciting to bring Graham.  Sadly, she thought, intelligence would most likely win over; she would bring Mark and use him as necessary to make her trip to Monaco easier.  And, she reasoned, it would be easier on Graham if he did not have to slave-sit Mark.  Shaking her head, she continued driving back to Graham's house.

* * * * *

    Mark pulled the last screw free.  He listened for any sounds of movement and satisfied that he was undiscovered he climbed to his feet.  He stepped forward to the front of the cage and pushed. 

    The cage slid forward.  He reached above his head and slowly, every so slowly as to not make any sounds, he tilted the cage away from the wall.  It tilted.  He walked the cage up the back wall of the bedroom until there was a foot and a half gap between the floor and the bottom of the cage.  He stepped away from the cage and shook his head in stunned amazement; happily amazed but amazed. 

    He was free.

    Mark climbed under the cage and briefly hesitated.  He thought of sneaking upstairs and taking care of Collette's lackey but thought better of it.  He would need any time he could get to maximize his distance from Graham's house.  Once he was back in the city and well hidden, he would plan his revenge. He knew Collette would be heading to Monaco; he would surprise her there.

    He opened a bedroom window and climbed to freedom.

    Mark ran.

* * * * *

    Colletteparked the rental car and walked into the living room.  Graham was sitting on the floor in front of the glass coffee table, holding his head in his hand and sobbing softly. 

    She ran to his side, "what's wrong?"  Her heart was a jack hammer in her chest.  What was wrong?

     He raised his head to look into her powerful eyes and shook his head.  "I'm sorry," and he broke down and cried deep, slow hitches of fresh tears.

    "Graham," Collette said softly, "tell me what's wrong."

    He spoke one word, "gone."

    And Collette understood.

* * * * *

    Twenty minutes later Graham and Collette were sitting on Graham's bed and staring at the cage as it rested against the wall, tilted at an odd angle.  The triangular gap taunted Graham, screaming to him, you let the cat out of the bag this time, didn't you?  Yes, he admitted sadly, I did.  Once again he repeated, "I'm sorry."

    She stared at the cards lying neatly on the cold floor, the half-finished game of solitaire staring back.  She had listened to Graham tell her about the coins and she knew immediately what had happened.  Mark had used the coins as a make-shift tool to unfasten the cage from the floor and the wall.  It was brilliant, she had to admit.  She was surprised that Mark had it in him. 

    One question kept leaping to the forefront of her mind, where was he going?  Was he going to run away, never to be seen or heard from again?  Or would he plan his vengeance again?  She bet on the second.  She had not heard the last of Mark and exhaling heavily, she was not looking forward to it.  She would not have Carlos to hand her newest adversary over to her this time. 

    "Don't worry about it," she finally said.  "It will be fine.  Now," she said as she turned to look at him in his tired eyes, "can you take time off from work?"

    He nodded, thinking, for you, anything.  "Yes," he said.  "How long?"

    "Three weeks?"

    Another nod.

    "Good.  We are going on a trip."

    "To where?"

    "Monaco.  Do you have a passport?"

    He shook his head.

    "That's okay," she smiled.  "We'll get you one tomorrow."

    Graham looked at her and whispered, "I'm sorry about Mark."

    "I know."  She could see a frown on his face and real regret in his eyes.  He had failed her and that was what was killing him.  "It really is okay.  You helped me, actually."

    He perked up, "how?"  He was grasping at a faint hope that his failure wasn't totally hopeless.

    "I wanted to take you with me to Monaco; I figured it would be fun.  However, with Mark here, I knew that that wasn't the wisest course of action.  I had decided to bring Mark with me; to keep him in my sight, if you will.  This allows me to bring you instead.  Not a bad thing at all."

    She was smiling genuinely, "then you're not mad?"

    "No." She shook her head to punctuate her word.

    Graham returned her smile.

    "Now," she said.  "We are going to Paris.  You need to get the time off of work and I need to change the tickets over to our name."

    We spent the morning taking care of the necessities of travel and finally, as three p.m. rolled around, they were finished.  Graham had called into work and had taken the time off and he had also made a call to the local City Hall and had made an appointment to get a passport the next morning. 

    Collette had called the airline and had not only changed the tickets to their names, she had also upgraded them to first class.  Seems Kilandra had charged them to a credit card and that card was still active; nobody having called the issuer to cancel the card.  First class, all the way, Collette thought.  Thanks Kilandra. At least in death you have some use to me. 

    Their flight was for six the next evening.  Graham had packed and was ready to go; Collette had her suitcase still packed from her trip to Chicago, she was ready to go as well.  Only Graham's passport could prove problematic.  Thinking quickly, she made a phone call and took care of that possible problem.  If he couldn't' get a legitimate one in the morning, she'd have one waiting for him at O'Hare when they got there. 

    She had learned long ago; never leave anything to chance.

    * * * * *

   Graham had no problem getting a legitimate passport.  It took ten minutes to do the paperwork, an hour to get a picture made and another hour waiting in line to have the passport completed.  Today's society allowed for easy travel between foreign countries.  With GAT and NAFTA leading the way, the easy passage of people was sure to follow. 

    At 5 o'clock their luggage was checked and Graham and Collette were sitting in comfortable first class seats.  Collette was sipping from a small bottle of Crown Royal while Graham was drinking a screwdriver.  They were comfortable and anxious about their trip.  Graham had never been out of the country and Collette had not been to Paris for nearly a decade. 

    An hour later they were airborne and heading across the Atlantic to Paris.  The flight was long and boring and the two of them slept, totally undisturbed.