“Hey, Van Peltzer, you’ve got bigger problems than a murder beef. Now I’m in your life, and it’ll cost you to get rid of me. I know way too much about some dead bodies.” A stony pause of several seconds passed before, “Does Clayton Furber ring a bell?”

Martin didn’t respond. The voice was disguised, sounding like a synthesizer.

“I take it from your silence you know I ain’t playin’. If you don’t wanna fry, it’s gonna cost you, punk. I’ll be calling back. Make sure you start collecting some big cash. Got it, punk?”

The phone went dead.

Martin had no idea how the caller got his private number, but he wasn’t concerned. He’d let Dino know about the call. He’d know what to do. The fact that it came through at three o’clock in the morning was annoying. Whoever this bastard might be, Dino would know how to handle it. He called Dino’s cell number but got no answer. He was probably with a woman and would call back later. After all, a man must have some fun; he smiled at the thought.

Martin returned to his bedroom where Anna was still cuffed to the bed posts with the soft leather wrist restraints. He chose leather to keep her wrists from showing evidence of the abuse. Martin loved to see her nakedness exposed to him for the taking. He usually kept her like that for hours. She was helpless, unable to resist. Since the murder of Troy Terry, he sentenced her to a short life of pain and suffering. She cheated and was going to pay. Anna rarely spoke a word to Martin during these evenings of torture. She had resigned herself to his madness and deeply feared for her life.

During some of his drug-induced rages, Martin would whip her severely. He usually hurt her enough to make it clear that he truly enjoyed her suffering. She believed that one day he would kill her and bury her where no one would find her body. She was rarely allowed out of the house, and if so, Dino always accompanied her. Although he never spoke to her other than to tell her to go here or there, she sensed Dino did not approve of the way Martin treated her. He never witnessed any of the physical abuse, but he saw how Martin spoke to her.

When Martin was in jail, Dino was her constant companion. They never left the house. Dino arranged for deliveries of food and any other necessities. Anna had no phone; the only phone available was Dino’s. Martin’s cell phones were kept behind the locked door to his study. Dino received daily calls from Martin until he was released.

Anna tried to get Dino to listen to her, but he simply put his finger to his mouth and said “shush.” She never tried to speak with him again. He was dark inside, and she knew he was loyal to the money Martin paid him. She suspected he did bad things for Martin and feared he might be the one to kill her. She had thought she might soften him with conversation. That hope shattered, she fell into herself, depressed and waiting to die, hopeless. Then Martin came home from jail, and torture became her daily existence.

Had anyone examined her body, it would have been obvious that Anna was beaten into submission regularly. Although she hated Martin, she began to look forward to the abuse—a phenomenon not uncommon for victims of torture.

She knew she was becoming twisted and hated him even more. It wasn’t that she wanted to be hurt, but that was the only kind of stimulation she received.

Martin pierced her nipples after he was released from jail. Gold rings were inserted and glued so they could not be removed. When they began to heal, he clipped a small chain to each nipple ring. He loved to tug on it and make her moan. She refused to scream. She knew it would thrill him, and would never give him that pleasure. He promised her he was going to pierce her clitoris. She knew that he would. She’d heard about it being done and knew it was going to be horribly painful.

Without the bondage and torture, Martin Van Peltzer was impotent with

Anna. His continued use of methamphetamine had impacted his ability to perform sexually. His rage and brutality was his real source of sexual stimulation.

That morning, after he released her, Martin told her to “clean up and make me some breakfast, bitch!” She refused to look him in the eyes, which was just fine with him. He wanted her to grovel. Her submission to his demands was satisfying.

He kept the house locked and secured with a very expensive security system that required a password to enter or exit. Because of the location of the house, noises would never be heard outside the boundaries of their property. Anna was his prisoner and would remain so until he tired of her, then she would disappear.

When his case got close to trial, he would report she had packed up and left one morning and that he hadn’t heard a word from her since. He already discussed his plan with Dino. Dino simply nodded. Secretly, Dino began harboring murderous thoughts toward Martin.