"Did you think I wasn't coming, Mrs. Bernstein?"

     Her eyes snapped open. She tried to rise. His hand pressed down roughly against her chest. She stared at the face looming over the bed.

     "I...I knew..." Her voice drifted off, swallowed by the silence of the room. A metallic taste coated her mouth. She tried to hold her breath. Was forced to release the pent-up air, she quickly sucked in more through clamped teeth.

      "Where is it?" He crushed down harder, smashing her back down into the mattress.

     She stared blankly at him.

     He slapped the other hand down onto her chest.

     "Where is it?" he hissed.

     "There wasn't enough time," she said, struggling to lift up. "I ... the bank ... tomorrow!"

     His fingers curled, nails squeezing into her breast.

     "Listen to me... please!" Her hands clenched into claws, then rounded fists. "Please don't hurt me. I'll do anything you want, but please don't hurt me."

     His lip arched into a sneer. "What the hell do you think you could do for me? All I need from you is money." He straightened, wiped his hands on his pants.

     She bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming, twisted her head from side to side.

    He flung off the covers, pulled up her gown, allowing the cool air to wash across her naked skin.

    "Look at you!" he ordered. "Go ahead, look!" He forced her head down into her chest. "You're not even human anymore. Look like a turkey that's been plucked and carved.” He wrapped a finger around the silastic tube in her chest and pulled at the IVs that were attached to it. The plastic bags bobbed up and down.

      She tried to blink him away. Her mouth was frozen; only her eyes seemed to function. In the dim light, he'd become a ferocious animal, toying with its catch, waiting to consume her.

      Suddenly, he yanked off her silk headscarf, rubbed his hand across her bald scalp. "Bet you used to be a real looker." She reached out, tried to snatch back the scarf. But he pulled it away from her, stuffed it into his pocket.