Out of Bounds
Chapter 17
Par 4 – 375 Yards
Rescue
“Okay, sweetie, time to wake up and pose for some pictures. Come on, give Jesus a big smile.”
Mary struggled to regain consciousness and figure out what was happening, but she couldn’t think clearly. Who was this guy? Where am I? What am I doing here? The man was shaking her and her thoughts were starting to come back. She remembered a man calling to her in the club parking lot.
“Ma’am, wait, I have something for you from Mr. Bradford.” She hesitated and waited as the man approached, and that was her mistake. The last thing she remembered was another man grabbing her and putting a smelly towel over her mouth. It must have been chloroform or something that knocked her out.
Mary was starting to think more clearly and realized she was in trouble. She was on a bed and her hands were tied to the bedpost. The man was holding a camera. “Who are you? What do you want?” she said aloud.
“Jesus will answer all your questions, but first I need to take a few pictures to show your boyfriend. Smile. That’s it; I like the angry look. Let’s show a little more of you on this one.” The man grabbed her blouse at the throat and yanked down. Button’s flew as the blouse separated. Mary’s only satisfaction was getting in a hard kick to the man’s leg before he pulled back.
“Ouch; you are a lively one. Jesus might have some fun with you before I let you go. Jesus took two more pictures and left the room. She heard voices and realized there was another man in the room. Minutes later she heard the door slam and there was silence.
Mary knew she had to escape quickly before the man, Jesus, came back. She struggled with the knots, but she couldn’t budge them. Her only chance was to break the bedposts that the rope was tied to. After ten minutes, her wrists were raw and bloody, but she had made progress. The posts were loose and in another five minutes she would be free. Jesus entered the room.
“Ah, I see you have been busy getting ready for Jesus.” He sat on the edge of the bed and separated her blouse. “Very nice,” he said, as he started tugging at her shorts. Mary tried to knee him but he grabbed her thigh and said, “Si, I was right, you are a feisty one. Jesus will enjoy this.”
Mary screamed as loud as she could. Jesus only laughed. “No one can here you, sweetie, but I do like it when you scream. It excites me.” Mary was about to lash out us again when she noticed the bedroom door open behind and another man limp into the room.
“Jesus, I don’t think the senora likes you. I don’t like you either so that makes her my amigo.”
Jesus jumped up and turned around, but was knocked to the ground by a blow to the head. Mary didn’t know who this man was, but was happy to see him. His face was covered with scars and he walked with a cane, but Mary didn’t care.
Jesus was bleeding from a gash to his head and looked up at his tormentor. He stared at the gun directed at his chest. He didn’t recognize the face, but knew the voice. “Diego, my amigo; is that you?”
“Si, senior, I’m back from my swim with the fishes. Are you glad to see me?”
“I am glad to see you, amigo. I feel bad when that other man in the boat tried to kill you. I tried to stop him.”
“I know, Jesus. Let’s go into the other room and give the woman some privacy. We can talk about old times.”
Mary sat on the edge of the bed for what seemed like hours, afraid to move. She could only guess what was happening in the other room, but she knew it wasn’t pretty. The screams of pain and moans were horrible. Jesus begged for mercy, but apparently to no avail.
Thirty minutes later the man limped back into the room and approached the bed. He carried a bloody knife, which Mary was sure he had used to torture Jesus. Now he was coming for her. She was laid out on the bed with her blouse open and her shorts down below her thighs.
“Please, don’t kill me. Do what you want, but let me go.”
The man reached for her with the knife and Mary grimaced and closed her eyes in fear. She recoiled when he grabbed her wrist, but relaxed when she felt her hands come free. “Jesus likes to hurt people, but he won’t hurt anyone again. I hope Mr. Bradford does well in the golf tournament. I don’t like the man he is playing.”
“Thank you, whoever you are,” Mary murmured as the man limped away. Mary didn’t move until she heard the outside door close. She dressed quickly and left the apartment, trying not to look at the bloody body on the couch. It was obvious that Jesus had died a painful death. Mary wasn’t sorry.
Her car was parked downstairs and her cell phone was still in her purse. A street sign told her where she was. She dialed 911 and waited.
The 17th was a dogleg right with trees guarding the right side of the fairway. Both players had bogeyed the hole last week. Bradford’s drive had found the trees on the right and he was forced to pitch out into the fairway. Buzz had played the hole perfectly tee to green, but three putted.
It was important to get past the corner of the dogleg to get a view of the green. Buzz took 1-iron with the intention of just hitting the ball 220 yards past the dogleg, but inexplicably hooked the ball into the left rough. It was the worst shot he had hit in two days. Bradford hit the center of the fairway and was in good shape, only 170 yards to the green. Buzz’ shot was surprising. It was unlike him to miss a shot that badly. It was also the first time he had used his driving iron off the tee. The 35th hole was no time to experiment.
Buzz was up against bushes that restricted his backswing and had no shot to the green. His only option was to pitch out towards the fairway, but could only advance the ball 15 yards. He was still away, 190 yards to the hole with a bad lie in the heavy rough. Buzz had no chance to reach the green and hit 6-iron 50 yards short of the green. He lay three.
Dave had 175 yards to the green and chose 5-iron. There was trouble behind the green and he was taking no chances. With Buzz in trouble, he didn’t want to be long. He hit the iron squarely and ended up 25 feet short of the center pin. Perfect.
Buzz hit lob wedge to 15 feet and would need to make that for bogey and hope that Bradford 3-putted. Dave’s lag putt stopped just inches from the hole and the match was even with one hole to play.
Bradford spotted Chris approaching in a golf cart as he walked off the green. He held his breath and waited for the news. He envisioned the worst. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, mostly bad. How could I go on without her? What would he tell the children? He vowed to never again take her for granted, if she were safe. Each day would be special.
Chris’ smile and thumbs-up gesture told him all he needed to know. “Yes!” he shouted. The weight of the world was lifted from Dave’s shoulders. Mary was safe.
“I can fill you on the details later, Dave, but Mary is fine. We caught the guy who kidnapped her. She wanted to go home to the children. She said she is looking forward to kissing the new Club Champion.”
Buzz came up behind and put his arm on Dave’s shoulders. “I gather everything is fine.” he stated. “I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was praying for her. Thank God she’s all right.”
“Thanks, Buzz, let me tell you what happened.” Bradford told Buzz about Mary being kidnapped and the threat he had received at the turn. “The only thing I could do was keep playing until they found her.”
“I can’t believe you could play under those circumstances,” Buzz replied with sincere admiration.
“I appreciate that.”
“Let’s play some golf,” Buzz said with a smile.
Chapter 18
Par 5 – 555 Yards
Out of Bounds