“He never had a liking for you, did he?” the man said, letting go of her hair. “I mean, I would understand it if he did. A pretty blonde like you. Young enough to be his granddaughter. I could forgive him even. I mean, look at you.”

He took her chin in his hand and turned her face toward him.

“But that wouldn’t be right, would it? He’s your boss after all. It would be an abuse of his position. There are rules in America against that sort of thing, aren’t there? I mean, we all know they’re not always obeyed, but you still pay lip service to them, don’t you? You try to obey them, am I right? You wouldn’t ever let a man like him get under your skirt, my dear, would you?”

He got up and went back to the wall, where he pushed the green button. The rope pulled her back up above the ground. When he stopped it, he said, “It goes higher, you know. All the way to the ceiling.”

Then he put his finger on the red button and looked at her. She was sure she’d never seen a face so vile. He smirked at her as he pressed the red button and she dropped suddenly. She fell hard against the ground and screamed in agony. When the pain receded enough for her to think, she was sure he’d broken her legs.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my dear. I must have pressed the wrong button. Let me try that again. I’ll have to get it right this time because you’re going to be so much higher.”

He pressed the green button and the machine began cranking her up again. He held it down until she was not one foot above the ground, but two.

“Anything to tell me about your old friend?” he said.

She spat, and blood came out of her mouth.

“I’ll tell you what. You tell me if he ever fucked you, and I won’t press this red button any more. I mean, I don’t see why you should suffer for a secret like that. Do you? He never should have done it in the first place. It was illegal. He should have kept it in his pants. Why keep that secret for him here? Why pay in agony for his pleasure? Especially when you paid so dearly for it already.”

Laurel said nothing and the man put his finger on the red button. She braced for the pain. There was something about this line of questioning though, it got under her skin.

She tried to speak but no words came out.

“What’s that?” the man said. “Throat a bit dry, is it?”

Laurel moaned.

“No, didn’t quite make that out,” he said. “Maybe another spill will loosen you up.”

“He never laid a finger on me,” Laurel managed to croak.