Tony's Last Task

Thumbing through the mail, surprised by the return address; Law offices of Murphy, Brooks and Hargraves; Sarah shuddered. She had reinvented her life after divorcing her husband. She had moved into her brother’s best friend’s cabin, and had rarely ever gotten any mail here. She wanted to know how and why they found her.

Once inside the house she sat at the kitchen table and opened the letter:

Dear Sarah VanPeltier,

We have a personal business matter that we must discuss with you. This matter is urgent and we need to speak with you before the 15th of January 2025. You can contact us at 706-555-5555. Please contact us as soon as possible.

Kind Regards,

Stephen L. Hargraves Esquire

Sarah reached for the phone and dialed the number from the letter. The phone rang three times and a perky woman answered the phone:

-Law offices of Murphy, Brooks and Hargraves, my name is Lindsey, how may I direct your call?

-Hello my name is Sarah VanPeltier and I got a letter from Mr. Hargraves.

-Hold for transfer.

-This is Freddie, paralegal for Mr. Hargraves. How may I help you?

-Hello my name is Sarah VanPeltier, Mr. Hargraves sent me a letter.

-Hold for transfer.

The next man to answer the phone had a very thick southern accent.

-Good afternoon Mrs. VanPeltier, I am very relieved to see you got the letter we sent, you are a difficult woman to contact.

-That is for a good reason Mr. Hargraves, could you please let me know what this is all about?

-Yes ma’am, I am hoping you may be able to swing by our office at 305 Greene Street before 5:00 PM tonight.

Sarah looked at her watch; it was 2:30 PM. If she got ready she could be there by 4:00 PM.

-Yes Mr. Hargreaves, I can be there in about an hour and a half.

Sarah went to the bedroom, found her comfy shirt and some sweat pants. Since she was no longer married to Tony she no longer had to keep up pretenses. Since her family disowned her after the divorce she no longer had to bring respect to the VanPeltier name. She slipped into her car and began the trip from the Cabin to Greene Street in Augusta, GA.

Her parents approved of the wedding because Tony had a ton of money to his family name. Tony had been a sexual sadist, and in the beginnings of their relationship it was all fun and games. Then when Sarah became pregnant he was angry and elated at the same time. He was more aggressive and when she was too tired one night the game turned and it never went back to just being a game. The abuse got so bad that the last time he disciplined her she started bleeding and had to walk to the hospital that was about a mile from the house. When she got to the hospital, they immediately took her back. She had two broken ribs, multiple facial contusions and her placenta ruptured causing her to lose the baby.

No one had ever known the torture that she endured and the only one who believed her was her brother Jeffery. Jeffery died in a car accident about three months after the divorce. They were able to determine that someone tampered with his brake line, but they never found a guilty party. Of course, Tony had an airtight alibi.

As Sarah drove down historic Greene Street, she slowed as she got to 4th street to begin looking for 305. The huge sign in the front of the building tipped it off “Law office of Murphy, Brooks and Hargraves”.

Their office was one of the anti-bellum houses that were most likely on a historic register somewhere. Their stair well leading up to the main entrance had a true southern feel. The Parlor was a large room with mahogany floors which appeared pristine. Sarah walked up to the reception desk; a desk weight said Lindsey Stephens.

-Hello Lindsey, I am here for Mr. Hargraves.

Lindsey got out of her seat and asked Sarah to follow her. She lead her through the arched door way past several rooms till they got to the end of the hall, the plaque on the door read Steven L. Hargraves Esquire. Lindsey opened the door and smiled at the young man sitting behind a desk with several folders on top.

-Hi Freddie, this is Mrs. VanPeltier.

Freddie had already started to rise from his seat when they walked in, as any good southern trained boy would do.

-Of course Linds, he is expecting her. He rounded his desk and shook Sarah’s hand.

-Right this way Ma’am.

He led her through the closed door. The office was lit well due to all the windows around the office, it was a lighter wood maybe cedar or oak, which made It a contradiction to the rest of the building.

-Ms. VanPeltier it is a pleasure to meet you. Please come in and have a seat.

Sarah took a seat across from Mr. Hargraves desk. He sat when she did and Freddie sat next to her.

-Ms. VanPeltier after your husbands passing he left us with his last will and testament which has specific instructions for you.

-Wait… Tony is dead? Sarah was having a hard time grasping this concept.

-I am sorry Mr. Hargraves, there must be a mistake. Tony and I did not split on good terms. I am sure I am not in his will.

-Yes, Ms. VanPeltier, your former husband left some very cryptic messages for us but assured us that you would understand what needed to be done.

-I don’t know how, I have not been Married to Tony for over three years

- Upon your former husband’s death, he had put our law offices on retainer in the event that anything should happen to him. He wrote this letter to you. If I may be so bold as to read it?

-Go Ahead.

Dearest Sarah,

Even on the brink of death I am drawn to our special relationship. (Sarah Shuddered). I tried to move on with my life but there were no women who could handle a man like me. I am sure you know what I mean. I have provided the law offices a key to a lock box, in that box you will find the little black book. Please feel free to read what I documented about us. However, I think it would be prudent for you to start with page 45, you will see that my desire has not changed, but they just were not you. Once you determine what you have to do with the information you find you will then return to the law offices and retrieve your inheritance of $200,000. Remember, had you just stayed and had our happy little family I may not have had to go to such extremes. Hopefully you have gotten this letter before January 15th, if you have not it may be too late for some.

Love my love,

Tony

Sarah’s stomach was in her throat, she knew that this was a nightmare. She knew that there had to be someone watching with a camera somewhere and this was someone’s sick joke.

-Here is the key to the lock box. He said you would know where it is.

No. No. No. this can’t be happening. There is no way that he got that sick after she left. There is no way that he could expect her to help him.

She went to Tony’s old house on Walton Way, It was a beautiful house with Spanish Architecture. No one would ever suspect what happened behind those columns. She entered the house and the flood of memories hit her, the abuse, the miscarriage, the torture, the humiliation, the breaking of her self- esteem. She trembled as she walked down to the basement. All the torture devices were in the same place. She went to the mat where she had knelt on so many occasions and knelt. She felt around the mat until she found the latch. She pulled up the mat and found the lock box. Dear God, what has he done? What was she going to find? She pulled out the black book and she indeed saw an account of her torture, she turned to page 44 where he wrote, he went too far and lost the baby, too bad he hadn’t killed the slut mother who wasn’t a good enough hostess. Page 45, Valerie, this slut takes it so good. Makes me forget that slut Sarah. I have had to move locations as I fear that at some point Sarah may want to come home. I can’t have her finding her surrogate. I keep her at the farm and I feed her on Monday and Friday. She is then bedded on Tuesday and Saturday, then I leave her for the rest of the week in the position Sarah liked most.

Sarah gasped in horror. He was leaving her standing up with chains on her legs and arms spread eagle. It was not her favorite. It was the one that was the most painful because it was then that he would beat her to submission. She grabbed the keys and ran out of the house to the car and started the drive to the Farm in Windsor. Once she crossed state lines she contacted the police and asked them to meet her at the house giving them the address.

She was a little frantic.

She pulled into the drive way and noticed that the lights were not on and the windows had been blacked out. This poor woman.

She entered the farm house door. She knew where he would hide her. He and his buddies kept all their women in the basement when they were being disciplined. She opened the door to the basement and could hear Valerie’s body tense up.

-Hello my name is Sarah, are you alone?

-Muffled cries. Of course he has the gag on her.

-Valerie, I am here to help you, please if you are alone cry out once.

One single solitary muffled sound.

Sarah took the stairs at a rapid pace. She knew that it was Thursday and Valerie had not eaten in a while. She got down to the bottom of the stairs and she was stopped in her tracks. There were pictures of Sarah everywhere, also pictures of her brother, and a cable that looked like a brake line. In the center of the room was a woman who looked as scared as Sarah remembered being.

-I am here to help you. I don’t want to hurt you. I have also called the police.

Valerie started to cry.

-Don’t worry Tony isn’t here, he won’t be punishing you anymore.

Sarah approached Valerie and took the gag out of her mouth.

-You are the reason I am here, when I get free I am going to kill you. He did this to me because you left him. He hurt me because you are weak.

Sarah was stunned, yet aware that sexual sadists, like Tony, who cannot get their fill will find a surrogate and pervert their affections.

Sarah waited for the police to get there, and once Valerie was taken away she too left.

Officer Williams, or at least that is what his badge said, stopped her short of the door.

-I am so sorry you had to see this ma’am.

-I used to live it sir.

Sarah got back in the car, drove back to the law offices, collected her $200,000 and returned to her secluded house. Hopefully no one would ever find her again. The black book was still in her purse. She turned the page and noticed that there was a page 46, Emily… Page 47… Nicole… Page 48… Maxine. Sarah put her head in her hands and cried.