Chapter XII
he office of Dr. Kny-pel was quite large. He held several buildings, and had many experiments running simultaneously. He now had full control of William at his largest office complex of which Len Mathers knew nothing. William, Sharon nor Melinda were aware of the true identity of Dr. Kny-pel
He had whisked William, Sharon and Melinda away quite suddenly using the term "special cognitive echo testing." Sharon had never heard of it, and was only temporarily convinced. She was fast losing her trust of Dr. Kny-pel, and was not afraid to let him know it.
But she had been reunited with William, and, she had her new best friend along, so she had come along peacefully. But now, she was horrified at Williams actions upon seeing Connie's photos in Dr. Kny-pel's office. She was the woman on the floor of the warehouse in Las Vegas! William had recognized her instantly.
Not only that, Sharon had recognized her as an old friend and classmate. They were appalled when they saw her in a bikini, posing and smiling with Dr. Kny-pel. How had she wound up in a warehouse in Las Vegas with a bullet wound?
They held their conversation down and used extreme self control to keep from going ballistic thereby giving themselves and their newfound knowledge away. They must get this news to Melinda, and quickly! Sharon feigned exhaustion and asked to lie down. Alone in the little room, she waited until the steps died down, then picked up the phone.
Not knowing which number to push to access an outside line, she opened the door just enough to see William still in the little alcove where he was getting his blood pressure checked. As soon as the technician left, she quietly made her way back out the door to the waiting room in which Melinda was seated. She had been instructed to wait there until the Travises returned, at which time they could have a nice dinner in the motel restaurant.
Melinda took one look at Sharon's face and immediate alarm became evident. Sharon plopped down beside her and in her most cheerful voice said "hey, what's happening kid?"
Melinda knew something was very wrong, and looked at Sharon's pleading eyes. She countered, "not a whole lot, you?" She then scrunched down in the seat as if she was going to get some shut eye, raised the folded magazine up to her face, and mouthed "what's wrong?"
Quietly Sharon told her about the girl in the warehouse and her picture was hanging in the little alcove in which William was being tested. Melinda said quietly, "is there any way you can get back in to see William? "
Sharon's nod almost imperceptible.
"OK. Walk back in there as if nothing whatsoever is wrong, and get William. Walk out, and if you have to, run. I'll be waiting, with gun in hand if need be. Do this as quickly as possible."
Sharon nodded again, then deliberately yawned, and said out loud, "I'm going back in to see William. They should be about done with him by now." After she had stepped back through the door, she realized she hadn't identified the woman to Melinda.
But he was no where to be found! While she was gone, he had been instructed to report to a certain room, instructed as to how to arrive there, and turned loose on his own. He had walked away slowly expecting to see Sharon. He turned the corner merely seconds before she returned through the door.
"Would you retrieve Miss Pierce, Sharon?" It was Dr. Kny-pel. "We'll take you to him as soon as you get your friend."
"Sure," she said, and stepped to the door, opened it just enough to peek through and motion for Melinda to come. Unsure of what was going on now and that obviously, the plans had changed. Melinda stood up, straightened her clothes, picked up her purse and sauntered to the door. "We're going to see William," Sharon said.
Melinda was confused as to what had happened to their plan, but followed Sharon to the little alcove in which Dr. Kny-pel was sitting behind a desk. "William is in room 332, and you can go there now," he explained. "Turn right at the end of the hall, and you'll see the room on your left halfway down."
At that, he went back to writing on some paper on the desk in front of him. With the dismissal, they girls scooted out the door and headed for the room in which William was. They pecked on the door, then entered when it swung easily in. William was sitting on the couch, but acting very tired. "I think I'll take a little nap while they get our room ready," and set his bottle of water on the couch beside him.
He leaned back and just kind of nodded off. Sharon asked Melinda what they should do now, she said, "I think we should get out of here, but let's get a drink and use the restroom first."
"Good idea," Sharon giggled. You use the potty, and I'll locate something to drink."
"You've got a deal!" Melinda said, and dropping her purse on the bed, headed for the restroom.
Sharon opened the door of the refrigerator and saw several bottles of water, some juices, sodas, and even a beer. She grabbed a couple bottles of water, set one on the table, opened and took a long drink from the other.
The restroom door opened, and Melinda stepped across the room, and picked up the other bottle. She deftly twisted the seal, turned it up and took a long drink while Sharon closed the door behind her in the restroom. Within a minute or two, she opened the door and walked over to the chair adjacent to where Melinda was sitting. "I'm so sleepy," she said, and scrunched down in the chair.
She looked over at Melinda and saw her already asleep. "Now that's odd," she said half out loud. Suddenly, something rose to the top of her memory like a long lost log freed from the vacuum of mud at the bottom of a river. The taste in the water was the same odd taste as was in the tea they'd had in Las Vegas. They had been drugged again! Only this time, they had Melinda as well.
She was vaguely aware that the door was open, and someone was picking her up, laying her down on a stiff flat bed, and wheeling her out. She struggled to turn over and call for help to William, but, could see him being placed on some sort of rollaway bed. She tried to talk, but nothing came out.
Sharon and Melinda would be separated, and William would be hypnotized again. Dr. Kny-pel had his back against the wall now, and he wasn't about to get lax and lose his chances at an immense fortune now! This was his chance to rule the world! He couldn't chance them getting away. "No," he thought to himself. "I'll kill them all before I'll allow that."
He had attempted to hypnotize William several times since he had acquired custody of him compliments of the FBI. But, he was never able to take him under. The tactics he'd learned from his experiences with William prior to courtroom were of no use to him now. Suddenly, the thought came to him. Torture. No, not the physical type, but mentally using something very close to William: his wife.
When William awoke he he was coming through a fog. He could hear someone breathing close to him, and reached over to see who it was. It was his lovely bride, and she was so very beautiful lying there. He started to turn over and give her a wake up kiss, but something rattled. He then felt the tug as he tried to move his feet.
He was shacked again. Then he noticed, they were in separate beds, and she was shackled as well. At that instant he came alive and began kicking at the shackles, severely cutting his legs. The pain came searing through the flesh on his legs, and he ceased the struggle.
He had made such a racket Sharon was coming to, but still groggy. The door opened and in walked Dr. Kny-pel. "Good morning William, and you too Sharon."
At the sound of his voice, Sharon sat up in the hospital bed. Instantly she lay back down because of the horrific pounding in her head. The cold hard truth settled onto William, and many pieces of the puzzle which had not fit from the very beginning of his relationship with Dr. Kny-pel, settled into place like sand settling to the bottom of a glass of water.
He wasn't sure about the connection before he was drugged, but when he woke up shackled in a hospital bed, and Dr. Kny-pel walking in he knew without a shadow of a doubt, Dr. Kny-pel was the one link he'd missed all this time. Another thing, something from out of the thick fog rose up into his recollection as well.
During some of the testing before the trial in which Dr. Kny-pel had originally defended William, he'd heard the names of those he'd dispatched personally, Greg Wheaton, Henry Thomas, over and over again. One day while he was thought to be 'under,' a secretary had come in and asked what Dr. Kny-pel wanted done with the files on those same men.
"Shred them," was the quick reply. "We don't need any possible connection to those names found that could link them back to us."
William was brought back to the present by the coarseness and the seriousness of Sharon's voice. She spoke although she could not sit up. She was feeling nauseous from the effects of the headache as before, only this time she had no place to retch except in the bed with her. She fought the mighty throes of nature struggling against the very core of her being.
"William." She paused, opening then closing her eyes again. The pounding in her head must have been deafening. She started again. "William, he's the culprit against whom we've been fighting this whole time. I finally figured it out when I saw Connie's picture in the hallway."
Sarcasm dripped off his voice as he said "She was a lovely girl wasn't she? Too bad she got fat and nosy. I was afraid she was going to spoil everything before I could get what I needed the most. She had to be removed . . ." Dr. Kny-pel made no attempt at defending his actions.
"And with us in the know, you'll have to do the same thing to us won't you?" William growled. Sharon had never seen William act this close to an animal before, but then, heck fire, she was feeling the same way! She was just as mad as William now.
Sharon had grown quite close to Melinda, and asked "and what have you done with Melinda? Did you have your way with her while she was drugged and restrained? Did you get any pictures of me as well? You're a very evil man Dr. Kny-pel. But worse than that, you're a very sick man."
Dr. Kny-pel walked to the door, opened it and called to a nurse, then when she walked in, gave instructions for Sharon to be wheeled to her room. "She's feeling very poorly and I'm tiring of this conversation."
"Love ya Babe." William said softly to her as she was wheeled past. "You'll get yours Dr. Kny-pel. If I ever get my bare hands on you, I'll end it for all of us. Were you able to get the Codes?"
Dr. Kny-pel brought up short, and slowly turned. William spoke again, this time more vehemently. That is what you're after isn't it? The Codes?"
"If you knew what I was after, why didn't you just relinquish them in the beginning?" Dr. Kny-pel spat. The meanness had settled into his face.
"Because I didn't want the technology to fall into the hands of someone who would use it for personal gain instead of the good of the whole world. Because of that, I destroyed the original disks. The original technology is gone forever," William lied.
At that Dr. Kny-pel slammed the folder he held in his hands down on the table and stomped out. Take his bonds off and lock him in his room!" he yelled.
"Aha, just the chance I've been waiting for," William thought to himself. "The instant the bonds come off, then I'll make my move." Then he just kind of relaxed while they wheeled him away.
The next thing he knew it was dark, his legs were free, and he was alone. He hated being in the pitch black like this. He attempted to stand, and after feeling around the little room, he realized it was some kind of padded room, something similar to what he thought a mental patient would be kept in.
He found what he thought would be the door, and strained to pick up any sounds whatsoever from the outside. Nothing. He tried to get an idea as to the size of the room, and his head touched something. He finally located it in the dark, and the blood ran cold in his body when he learned what it was. It was a hangman's noose.
William just stood there, feeling as if the icy fingers of death were tracing the outline of his body for a coffin. He couldn't move . . . He could only stand there as the fear gripped his body. Suddenly, for the very first time in his life, he realized he needed help, and that in a way in which it seemed possible that help would ever arrive.
The many times and elements in his life in which he was in dire need of help, there always seemed to be someone or some thing around through which he could see some kind of solution. But this was different. He was completely all alone, he knew his back was up against the wall, and, he knew this time, that not ony his life was hanging in the balance . . . Sharon and Melinda were in just a great a danger as he was facing right this very second.
William did not know how to pray, yet, he'd heard quips and lines all his life as to how, 'there are no atheists in foxholes,' and 'it's never too late to pray.' So, how do you learn how to pray? William figured it out in a second. It's usually when all hope is gone, no where else to turn, the only thing you can do is call on a higher power.
So, in his ignorance of the matter, William simply knelt down right in the middle of where he was, and simply said "God, if you are real, I'm asking you in the only way I know how, please, even if you don't help me, please, help my wife and Melinda Pierce
No lightning, no thunder, no earthquakes, no huge move . . . nothing.
"Oh well, maybe there is nothing to this Christian business after all."
But William didn't know that God not only heard his prayer, He was already moving. For nothing takes God by surprise.
But, still others were to die before William would ever figure out that God had heard his prayer.
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