Chapter 2

Two days later, Elizabeth and I showed up a little after noon, 20 minutes early, on the section of Boston Common reserved for personal duels. A high wall was built around an area about the size of a tennis court; the wall was capable of stopping any known hand gun bullet and load, so it was safe enough for innocent bystanders. Several view ports were in place in the wall so that the public could easily watch the duels in perfect safety.

As it turned out, Boston Common had become quite a tourist attraction since the city Recreation Department had also put in the section reserved for nudists. It was very popular with the secretaries, clerks, etc., who worked in the surrounding office buildings. They came down on their lunch hour and shed their clothes while they ate lunch. The construction of the reserve was quite attractive for all concerned, since the reserve was surrounded by a high wall to keep out the people who would annoy the nudists, but the wall was made of see-through mirrors. The mirrors faced into the enclosure, so that the nudists could see only themselves; that way, they were not embarrassed by the sight of people staring at them through the walls which were transparent from the outside.

The reserve was equipped with several secluded nooks where couples could meet for a quick coupling before returning to work. These walls were also transparent from the outside, and the city sold tickets for people to see the sights, thus paying for the upkeep of the place. During the summer, at lunch and just after work (4:00 PM) found the spectator area crowded with people who paid $5 each to see the sights, and there was always something to see.

There was talk of enclosing both the nudist and the dueling reserves so that they could be kept open the year round. The city could certainly use the money! I am proud to say that the Worcester city council had not been asleep at the switch—they had put out for bid a similar facility for our fair city.

Elizabeth and I were early because we had been availing ourselves of one of the nooks off the nudist reserve, and I swear I could hear cheering through the wall when Elizabeth came for the fifth time. In any case, we were dressed and armed in plenty of time to meet with the rest of the dueling party at the reserved time.

The man who had hired us showed up only a minute or two after we did, so we had a short conversation before we were due to meet the other side in the duel. He continued to assure us that we were there only to meet the formal requirements of code duello. The formal witnesses were seated in their protected boxes and waiting for the representatives of the other side to show up.

Damn, there was one hell of a screw-up! Who should walk in, but our bitter personal enemies, the Jacobs brother and sister, to represent the other side. They had sworn to shoot us on sight the next time we met, and we had reciprocated the vow. As soon as they saw us, Zeke Jacobs pulled his gun. I knocked the civilian who had hired us to the ground and what I hoped was safety. I was a faster draw than Zeke, so I got my gun out at about the same time as he did. I had moved enough when I bumped my employer that Zeke's bullet nicked my shoulder, but I was able to put a .44 magnum slug into his chest.

The bastard was wearing a protective vest which would have stopped most slugs, but my bullet got through far enough to lodge in his chest. He dropped to the ground and I didn't take any chances, I put a bullet through his head. Man, does a magnum make a mess of an unprotected skull!

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was exchanging fire with the Jacobs broad, Helen. My wife was the far superior gun hand, so she dispatched the woman with only one shot. I turned to congratulate her as the EMTs on duty rushed in to look after the two people who were down. Our employer struggled to his feet (he was a bit overweight) and apologized profusely for the way the duel had turned out. I assured him that we bore no ill will, since we had sworn to kill the Jacobs pair the next time we met. The official witnesses signed off that the killings had been a fair fight, so we had no problems with city management and were not fined.

This also settled the argument, whatever it was, between the employers on both sides, so we had honorably discharged our duties. When that was agreed to, we left for home. I was ready to relax with a beer, and so was my wife. I put the car into autodrive and relaxed with my drink. Liz had already started on hers, so we both leaned our seats back a far as they would go, and let the car drive itself all the way home and into our garage. I always preferred to do it that way whenever I was in no hurry; but the speed was limited to 60 MPH under those conditions.

We had a quiet two days before another case showed up. During this time, I was elated over the fact that the Red Sox had swept the Yankees. We wouldn't make the playoffs this year, but, at least, the mighty Yankees had had their noses rubbed in the dirt of hallowed Fenway Park.

This case was one that really shook up both my wife and me. The call was from Mr. Nathan Herschal, a prominent Worcester banker. He and his family desperately needed protection, and his regular security firm had just quit on him. I didn't get any details over the phone, but I agreed that Liz and I would meet him at his home for a 3:00 PM meeting.

We arrived at the most palatial mansion that Worcester had to offer and were ushered in by Mr. Herschal, himself. We followed him into his study and sat down. He offered us some refreshments, but he was obviously so upset that we declined and asked him to explain his problem.

"Mr. and Mrs. Brewer, please bear with me if I seem to ramble. This whole affair is so upsetting that I am having trouble keeping my wits about me. Yesterday afternoon, Ann, one of my daughters, was kidnapped and viciously attacked. She was visiting The Hilltop Mall when it happened.

"Ann and her friends had gone into the restroom at the Mall when three men wearing masks burst in on them and kidnapped Ann. Just before entering, they had murdered her two bodyguards who were waiting outside the door. They knocked Ann out with chloroform and dragged her out an emergency exit. The next thing that Ann knew, she was in a room that had all of the aspects of a medieval torture chamber.

"There was a metal collar around her neck, and a chain ran between the collar and a hook on the wall. The whole episode was being recorded on video tape and was sent to us last evening.

"Four men were in the room with Ann, at least, that was how many we saw on the tape. We don't know if there were more present that were never photographed. All of the men were nude except for stocking-masks, so we have no idea what their faces look like.

Two men held Ann while a knife was used to cut away every stitch of her clothing. The chain was unfastened from the wall, and Ann was dragged to a frame where she was bent over and her arms and legs were fastened to the floor. The result was ... Oh, dammit, I can't say anymore. Please watch the tape for yourselves. Look at the TV on the wall."

We saw a beautiful young girl standing near a wall with four naked men standing near her. All four of the men had monster erections, and that may well have been why they were the ones who tortured Ann. The erections were certainly impressive, even to me.

Two men grabbed one of Ann's arms, each, and held them out to her sides as a third man cut away her clothes. She didn't look like a typical 14 year old girl. Her breasts were already well developed and her shaved pussy was well on its way to becoming that of a full-grown woman. It looked to me like Ann did not struggle very much from fear of the knife and the residual dregs of the chloroform.

Ann was draped over what resembled a sawhorse with her ass sticking up in the air. Her feet were fastened far enough apart that it was easy to see her pussy exposed between her thighs. Her breasts hung obscenely down from her chest and her nipples were prominent, suggesting that it was relatively cool in the torture room.